Making Lemonade: JocMeister (A) vs. SqzMyLemon (J) BabesLite-B

[ny59giants]

I've gotten caught with either part or all of KB going off to east of Pearl to sink shipping, so I don't send out anything important quickly from the West Coast. The large 18 knot AOs are too valuable for my CVs early in the war to risk any of them for some time. They stay safely in port.

PBYs at Hilo, Palmrya, and Christmas Island to check on KB and until she is west of that line, no shipping in eastern Pacific. Patience my young Jedi. [:D]

[JocMeister]

ORIGINAL: ny59giants

I've gotten caught with either part or all of KB going off to east of Pearl to sink shipping, so I don't send out anything important quickly from the West coast. The large 18 knot AOs are too valuable for my CVs early in the war to risk any of them for some time. They stay safely in port.

PBYs at Hilo, Palmrya, and Christmas Island to check on KB and until she is west of that line, no shipping in eastern Pacific. Patience my young Jedi. [:D]

NOW you tell me!? [:D]

[JocMeister]

Ugh, decided to withdraw a bit toward Flores and Timor. Lets see if airsearch can clarify a bit. He might actually go for Balikpapan.

Have a bad feeling about this turn...

[BBfanboy]

My guess re: Mini KB is that after expending its ops points killing the shipping fleeing Luzon and Singapore, it may have gone to the Palaus to refuel/reload. Expect a day or two repairing minor sys damage and then they go hunting again. I think Boise is pretty exposed and Houston will be soon. He can cover his Ternate/Manado landing with Netties from Peleliu so I would not try to raid there with cruisers, just DDs.

Use the cruisers for deeper strikes in his rear where air coverage is likely to be weak - e.g the Kuriles, Marcus. You can also use them for carrier escort. Not as much fun but it could save a carrier.

Re: KB, at the game start there are about 8 AOs nearby PH to refuel it, and they probably would have enough left to do at least one more refuelling. That means KB will not be short on fuel any time soon. It will be short of ammo/ops points unless it has visited Truk since game start.

[obvert]

In my game against Dan Nichols I sent the KB all of the way to Tahiti and it was still ready to roll farther. Play to the best possible capability of your opponent and you'll be fine.

Wait ... but not in our game! [;)] Assume the Japanese don't have enough fuel but are too silly to realize it and will end up stuck in Rorotonga. Send all ships there to intercept. I'm sure the KB'll be out of ammo. Really. [:)]

[JocMeister]

BBfanboy,
Very good info on the Netties from Peleliu. Hadn´t thought of that. Thank you! [:)]

Erik, that is also good info and bad news. More on that later. And thank you for the advice on Rorotonga! I will do as you...wait? Are you trying to fool me? [;)]

[JocMeister]

18th December

Not the best day for the allies. I had a bad feeling about this turn but it wasn´t THAT bad though. Some minor crap moments though. I´ll sort them in order.

1. He swept Ambon wrecking the P40 squadron there. I had hoped he would sweep with Claudes on the CVLs but instead he swept with 40 Zeroes from Manado completely destroying the unit. I lost 7 decent pilots and only the crap ones are left (40 exp ones). Only 1 plane left. No losses for him.
2. Netties at Kuantan had been stood down for the last 2 turns so I tried to send in a small supply convoy. That didn´t work. All sunk.
3. Netties found 3 small tankers at trying to flee from Singkawan. All sunk.
4. A bloody AMC popped up in the middle of Sopac killing off 4 AKLs. That one is going to be dealt with shortly. I have 2 CAs and 12 DDs ín range.
5. Miri was invaded. Can´t do anything about it as the Netties from Kuantan are in range.
6.Armour is beginning to appear in China with predictable results. They just destroy the Chinese for virtually no losses at all even when severely outnumbered. I hate China.

KB
Sigh, Gone AGAIN. So this means he either turned North (good thing) or due south (bad thing). I´m really worried about Lex and Ent that are almost completely out of fuel and stuck at Malden Island. Worst case scenario I will have to drain their escorts dry and leave them to their fate escaping with only the CVs. This is turning into a real nuisance. If he goes directly south that will delay me for quite some time. But it has the benefit of opening up PH at least.

China
He stared doing unescorted bombings close to Yenan. I have 12 Chinese fighters in range. Going to try and get some more free kills. With all likelihood this is a trap and he will sweep the hex this time but I figured its worth a shot anyway.
Armour appeared on the planes SW of Chengchow wrecking to already severely understrength Corps. Time to get the hell out of open terrain and into the woods and mountains.

SoPac
The KB business has wrecked the timetable. Most TFs are now on its way to Balboa. ETA 10 days. [:(] So I´m looking at getting stuff into theater in about 30 days at best. Crap.
I´ll try not to mull about it too much right now. Done is done. I can´t really do anything about the KB anyway. If he wants to roam about down there the only thing I can do about it is to get Airsearch up to track it and then redirect shipping as needed. That would hopefully frustrate him enough to leave sooner or later.

All SoPac convoys leaving WC are on hold right now. If he goes south the will go to PH. If he goes North they will have to remain a bit longer.

Celebes

[ny59giants]

Use large xAKs to either carry fuel or to use them to refuel your CV TFs from themselves.

[JocMeister]

ORIGINAL: ny59giants

Use large xAKs to either carry fuel or to use them to refuel your CV TFs from themselves.

None within immediate range. My problem is if he is heading due south with the KB he will run smack into Ent and Lex so I need to refuel them yesterday...sort of! [:D]

[BBfanboy]

I think the rule of thumb is that a level 3 AF can handle up to 150 single engine aircraft within the staking limit, so 47 is not overcrowded. However, bombarding it will delay its development to level 4, and you might be lucky enough to bump into a supply convoy. Good luck!

[obvert]

I think the sparrow battalion is not enough to make much difference at Kendari if he's bringing what he should. I'd think Port Moresby or another location in the back lines like Koepang that you can really make into a bear would be a better use for these guys. If it seems he's not pushing forward quickly, be wary. The Japanese forces have a lot of stuff at this point to throw around.

[JocMeister]

19th December

Quiet time is officially OVER! Again not a very good turn for the allies. Nothing catastrophic but some very worrying developments.

Centpac/SoPac

The AMC I was sending some Cruisers after veered due north. Despite a react setting of "4" my cruisers just let it sail past 1 hex away. [8|] This had the VERY unfortunate consequence of bringing it within strike distance of Lex and Ent. So now Joseph knows where at least one carrier is. Severe storms hindered a full strike and judging by Josephs E-mail his thinks this only one carrier. This is very worrisome since I still havn´t got a clue where the heck the KB is. If he went due south since the last sighting he can actually be E or NE of Lex and Ent. So I will divide up the escorts and fill up Ent and Lex plus 6 DDs with fuel from the rest of the escorts. They will sprint SW towards Pago Pago where a bunch of AKs are coming to refuel them. The remaining escorts will be left to their fate disbanded in dot islands close by.

I´m forming up all the major shipping from OZ and NZ. They will be given a CA division for protection and be sent off map to WC via Balboa. The CA division will sail about 10 hexes N/NE of the shipping trying to shield it KB is actually around. Its close to 200 ships including Tankers so this is vital to protect.

China
I hate China.

SRA
As the title implies the quiet time is over. Landings at Kutching and Singkawang. I first thought everything around Ambon had been a feint but he is moving there as well. See screens.

[JocMeister]

Singers.

[JocMeister]

If anyone wondered why I´m doing a gazillion updates its because I´m home from work with a nasty cough. And I´m BORED to death.

I also have the unfortunate timing of temporarily having both my opponents in the same (wrong one of course) timezone as Erik is off to the states this weekend. That mean I get no turns at the moment. Buuuh! [:(]

Anyway, so I was mulling over what implications his opening move has. By stealing Ambon away early he doesn´t need to fear a mini festung there and he also cuts off Darwin from the SRA. I was thinking about what this will mean and I came up blank. I can´t see it change much at all. Except for one thing. He can capture Darwin way earlier then usual if he wants to. And why would he want that? I can think of only two things. Keep in mind I´m speculating wildly here out of boredom.

He might go for a very early thrust to take the bases in the SoPac area. Noumea, Fiji, Pago Pago. They are virtually undefended and easy to grab. But he will have to hurry up to strengthen them before the Allies take them back. This would be a hassle for the Allies adding very long supply lines from the WC or make OZ completely dependent on CT for fuel and Supply. But nothing catastrophic. But would he need Darwin for this? Probably not since Raubaul would do the same job better.

Could this be a indication of an strike on OZ or NZ?
I find NZ an unlikely target. But if NZ is taken out together with Noumea OZ is pretty much cut off from the states. That would isolate OZ. But he can´t really do OZ and NZ both? I´m going to rule that out for now.

That leaves OZ as a target. He WILL come for either OZ or India at some point. In his last PBEM he regretted switching to the defensive too early because he reached the historical boundaries. He won´t do that again I´m sure and I don´t think he will go for India. I know of only one that ever managed to capture India and that is PzB. No offence to Joseph but I doubt he is a PzB in disguise. [:D] At best he could achieve a partial invasion somewhere in India perhaps wrecking some industry. I know he has a serious dislike for Burma as well. I would fear an invasion of OZ more then one in India. India would allow me to fight very close to supply with short distances between bases allowing the short legged allied aircraft to come to good use. Since Joseph is involved in another PBEM playing as allied he knows this too. If he were going to do a push in India it would have made a lot more sense to try and grab Singapore early yet he is very light on troops there so far. I think I will dismiss India for now.

So that would leave OZ.
I came by this AAR this morning and read it from start to finish Click I know its a mod we are not playing but it still gives reason to pause...

If he goes for OZ he will certainly go for the East Coast. I started thinking about what this would mean in terms of my plan to try and reinforce SoPac early on. I can´t see reinforcing SoPac will have some negative effects on a possible assault on the EC of OZ. It will give me good bases to strike his flank. Troops will be nearby. So I will continue as planned and see how it develops. But its fun thinking of all the "what ifs"... [:)]

I even managed to bore of myself with this monolog! [:D]

[obvert]

You might be less bored if you sent me the right turn file! [;)] I've got 199 in the dropbox and it says it has different PW hex info, so I'm thinking it's not our game.

I'm around for a bit.

[JocMeister]

I´m an idiot and the right one is up now! [:D]

[JocMeister]

16th and 17th of December

Things are rolling a lot faster now. Landnings on Southern Philippines and Brunei.

Ambon will fall next turn as he brough about 2 (6 regiments) divisions worth of troops!? [X(] The CD guns was a disappointment with only 3 or 4 hits. Lots of shots fired and lots and lots of misses.

Confirmed fleet Carrier in the Banda sea! Can only be the Kaga I guess. I loose an AVP and a PC in the strike.

China
Two attacks ordered for tomorrow. We will see how it plays out. With some luck I can trash a division worth of troops. He has started rotating his bombings so I just have to guess where he will bomb and try to pop up there. Failed two days in a row now. Third is a lucky charm?

KB

No sign. Could still be in CentPac/SoPac.[:(] Not going to take any more chances. Convoys now sent via Balboa.

Allied Carriers

Moving towards Sydney to refuel and replenish. Still only 1 spotted I think. Sara is waiting for Yorktown at SD.

And I also managed to do a really stupid thing. I tried re-routing a TF in off map transit. Well it worked great if I wanted the TF on the WRONG SIDE OF THE FRIGGING GLOBE! I know you shouldn´t re-route them but I did anyway and now I´m paying the price. I won´t do that again. Ever. Patience is a virtue!

Just a short update since the GF decided we need new pillows for the sofa and new curtains. Someone please shoot me? [>:]

[ny59giants]

Just a short update since the GF decided we need new pillows for the sofa and new curtains. Someone please shoot me? [>:]

[JocMeister]

You try and go shopping with a eight months pregnant GF that is just as likely to start crying as yelling at you if you fail to look interested enough in the colors or shapes of a certain curtain! [:D]

[ny59giants]

I quickly admit to females I get to know that I'm "fashionably challenged." [:D] I have trouble even faking an interest in that kind of shopping, but you have to do it as it is important to them.