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I just finished my first month of my first game against a real opponent. I am currently playing two, one as the Japanese, and one as the Allies, this one against IKE99


The main action was my CV's going against orders and charging off against the Japanese CV's of Iran and promptly getting suck for the trouble. My bombers did manage to sink the Shoho, one CV, and slightly damage the 3rd. I have seemed to inflict a moderate amount of damage on his convoys, sinking several AP's escorts, and a couple of DD's. Now it's time to get ready for the great Japanese push and decise weather to defend Luganville or not.

Borner is a very aggressive Allied opponent.

The first few days of May he began bombing Lae with bombers by the score. While this was going on our carriers clashed south of Irau as he attempted to stop my landings there with his carriers. Later in the month of May he attacks my transports with his bombers again.

So basicly everything I do he has contested. The whole first month of the campaign has been fought.

Recon flights over Port Moresby shows it's well garrisoned and transports have been seen going in and out the first 2 weeks of the month.

Great.

I've been looking forward to someone who wants to keep the Japanese from taking Port Moresby. I've worked on an operation to take it while minimizing my losses. We'll see if it works.

Next two months should have lots of action in them.

All this Allied aggression has come with a cost though...

237 Allied planes were lost in 30 days. This is compared to 87 Japanese planes.

Out of this, 16 B-17's were lost. This is roughly half of the starting total number of B17's the allied player starts with.

Both fleet carriers of the Allies have been

sunk...Lexington-&-Yorktown. The Japanese lost Zuikaku.

5 Japanese destroyers have been sunk and numerous troop transports.

Keep in mind all these losses have occured in 30 days. It's been a lot of fighting.

So certainly an interesting game going on here.

I must say IKE99 has been a very good opponent, especially from the viewpoint of someone still learning the game. (as is the Allied player in the other game I am playing, but unfortunately I do not know his user name to give him credit here, bit if you read this, your help has been much appreciated as well.) I have sent several questions his way, and he has given very helpful answers, even though we are opponents.
 
So far my game has been from the viewpoint of a good plan going very badly. Not only did my order problem loose me my 2 carriers, but also their complete air groups, Giving IKE99 a considerable amount of extra points. After this engagemnet I transferedmy B-17's to PM, Launching against the port at Shortland to try and catch any cripples he may have sent there due to batle damage. The losses were high, but I did manage to sink a few AP's/escorts.
One reason for the aggressive stance I had taken early in the game belief that in the first month, both sides are very equal. My though was to hit around the edges as hard and fast as I could, then hold fast for the next few months until more CV's arrived.
Overall, I a greatly enjoying this game, and have easily doubled my knowledge on the detailed workings of the system. I am looking forward to playing the next few months out, and either getting up off the deck, or the rematch!
stay tuned!

Leaflets dropped on Port Moresby....

I think I am the other person you are playing borner. Don't worry, you do not realy need CVs to win as the Allies, it is just a bit harder without them. Actually, trading two USN CVs for one CV, one CVL, and damage to the other CV is probably acceptable. You just need to slow down the Japanese player while you wait for reinforcements.

nice leaflets, be assured they are being put to good use.

July 30th and the first Jap units have reached PM. I think it will fall, being so out-gunned by his CV's I do not think I can afford to try and keep running major supply operations in there. Hopefully I will be able to slow him down a bit though. I am sure IKE will have some good artwork on this shortly. [8D]

By the numbers....

Yes, PM has fallen. Rather suddenly I might add. As this is my first game playing the US against a real player, I was very curious how long the base could hold out. Against 40,000 Japanese troops, it turns out not long at all. Not all is lost though. In spite of his attacks, I managed to get a good portion of my aircraft out, and used up as much fuel as posible topping off my Sub units. This month has seen constant Japanese shipping losses, and thus our lost ship point count is nearly even. I admit he has a seemingly unlimited supply of AP's now, but sooner or later this will begin to tell.
 
Now we will see what IKE's next target will be.

As the Japanese player presses forward those transports begin to pay a price.  Remember that the Japanese player by mid July '42 is as strong as he'll get while the Allied strength continues to grow throughout the entire game.  

yes, apart from his WWI battle-line and some DD's, HIs Navy is now at full strength, and I will be getting more airpower than he will be from this point. Getting it far enough forward will be the challenge. He has managed to land a small force in the Santa Cruz area. Hopefully he is still planning to push on to the Southeast.

Firgive my lack of artwork, I will leave that to Ike as he has far more talent than I do, but I thought it was time to post an update
 
Air loss points are 202/478 in favor of Japan. Again, due in larg part ot our early carrier battle. To date, I have lost the Yourtown and Lexington. 1PG, 3SS (two due to mines where i foolishly sent them into shallow water), 1AP, and 1AK
 
Japan has lost the Shoho and Zuikaku, 1AV, 5DD's, 3MSW, 1PG, 6PC, 2TK, 3AO, and 29AP's. If I can keep getting my subs in the right spots, the loss of transports and tankers should begin to tell by the end of the year. My B-17 have been conductin bombing runs on Iran mainly to gain experience, but get lucky and find some transports evey now and again. His Bettys have launched a few raids, but have not hit much to this point.
 
It's nearly September, so my good fighters are closer and closer to arriving. Then it will be time to see what kind of counter-attack I can manage.

by the way, please forgive my spelling errors on that post. Guess I should know better than to try to type a long entry when my doc has me on painkillers [X(]    LOL

Death of the Japanese Minelaying force. [&o] 
 
 It has been a nice couple of turns for the good guys. last turn I managed to put a bomb each into a CA and DD sitting in port at Tulagi. Plus, hit yet another TK with 2 torps. It is close enough to shortland, that it may live to see another day, but will not be hauling any more old this year!
 
This turn, Ike was laying a huge minefield off Nevea. My 4 remining carriers caught this force and managed to sink all 6 ML's he had sent. Given how strong mines are in this game, I am thrilled not to have to worry about them anymore. As a bonus, long range bombers sank one AP off Buna, and put 2 bombs into another.
 
Of course, Ike's CV's can still squash my navy like a bug if it runs too far out from land based air cover, but the game is still young. [:-]
 
nice way to start out September! [:D]
 
 

The playing field evens out somewhat.
 
Ike decided to chase my 4 carriers after a raid on Irau with 4 of his. In the battle that followed, he put 4 bombs and 4 torps into the Hornet, sinking that same turn. Fortunately, this time there were many airbases in range, and so her planes survived for another day. He also hit the Saratoga with 10 bombs, and the Big E with 2, and no torp hits on either. Details on the extent of damage on these two is classified - sorry IKE.
 
In the return stirkes, my flyers were obsessed with the Kaga, Hitting her with 34!!! bombs. Akagi took 9 bombs hits, and the Soryu 6 and a single torpedo. While I have not gotten any reports on these 2 flattops yet, I exepct Ike to scuttle them to save points, as I doubt either will be able to reach port. (land based recon and bombers failed to find these two ships the following turn). Finally, land based SBD's put a single 1000LB into the Junyo. Although I would have loved to see a few of the overkill hits on Kaga go here, I would expect that fragile hulled carrier to be out for a while.
 
Japan lost 147 planes to my 72.
 
Stay tuned for IKE's spin on things, and the usual quality artwork I am sure.

Big mistake by Ike. He should have sent the whole KB after your carriers. 3 lost for only 1 in return is a disaster for the IJN.

The only trouble is that he is unlikely to make the same mistake in my game against him[:@]

May I ask where the term KB originated?

i figure it balances out for loosing the Yorktown and Lexington so foolishly early in the game.

last two turns has seen Ike get even more aggressive. First, he sent a bombardment group to Gavigamana. he sunk several PT's on partol, and two APD's that never knew what hit them. In return, a brave PT hit the Atago with a torp, and a DD wandered into the protective minefiled at the base.
 
 last turn, he got even bolder, and is apparently sending an even bigger force my way. My air forces, still apparently drunk from the celebration party, did not do nearlythe damage I had hoped.  
 
I struk with 50+SBD's, 15 Avengers, and 11 B-26's.  The results?
2 1000lb each for Mutus and Kirishima, (did they even notice?) one for a CA, 2 for a CL, with another CL taking a topredo, and one unlucky DD took 5 bomb hits. I lost 25 planes.   Hopefully I will get another shot at this group next turn.
 
still, with this, the CV battle, and the ML losses, it has been a very good month indeed for the good guys.
 

May I ask where the term KB originated?

Originated in Japan.

KB is an abbreviation for two Japanese words meaning ¨carrier strike force¨