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After an improbable string of lucky die rolls, it has come down to Chickenboy and me for the first AE Tourney Deathmatch Finals. It will be the Marinara Scenario with mirror games. Highest total points wins.

The USN starts with 7 CV's and 8 CVL's plus a bunch of CVE's plus 4 or 5 fast BB's and 4 prewar BB's. The IJN also has serious carrier firepower though the pilots are not all prewar hotshots. The IJN also has a "shedload" (as Admiral Lord Sprior would say) of BB's. There could be many squaws crying in teepee over this one. The Marinaras (Saipan, Tinian, Guam and another I cant remember) have some serious point values and one of them, Tinian, is the garlic capital of the Central Pacific.

My strategy is in a nascent stage right now, but my major emphasis will be to score more points. I'm hoping for the details to present themselves as I go.

Good luck, Cap. PoultryLad is a Yankee, so you need to thrash him good.

Casey Kasem? [:@]

OK, Cloacaboy, you asked for it. I extend my hand according to Marquess of Queensberry rules and I get back a handfull of liquified urea and bacteria.

Imagine his chagrin when he gets his neck wrung by a guy who never read the rule book.

ORIGINAL: Cap Mandrake

Casey Kasem? [:@]

Imagine his chagrin when he gets his neck wrung by a guy who never read the rule book.

"Chickenboy, you magnificent bastard," he shouts, "I didn't read your book!"

You are a laydown misere to win this one, Cap Mandrake. With all the experience your bombers have accrued dropping bombs on schools of anchovies, your marinara sauce is going to be pungent at 40 nm.

Alfred

Wouldn't that be a recipe for Ceasar's dressing?

Here are the Jap defences at the start. Saipan is the big prize in points but it has nearly 1000 AV with a level 5 fort and CD guns.

The US has 1480 AV (6 USMC Regt. and a US Army Div, plus armor) fully prepped for Saipan. A 1.5 ratio in amphibious attack with level 5 forts? Huh?

There are 600 prepped for Guam and 280 for Tinian. No way 3 regiments is enough for Guam either.

What is needed is either to transfer the Guam troops to the Saipan attack or to degrade Jap defences before the landing. I favor the latter. My plan is to use the Guam and Tinian troops to attack Pagan, seize the arifield and bring the B-24's and P-47's and Corsairs into play. The Jap carriers and BB's show up on turn 17, so the USN will have to be on station near Pagan or the airfield would get crushed. By that time I hope to seize Pagan, repair the airfield and perhaps increase to level 6, crush Saipan airfield and fight the Jap carriers within range of SBD's and TBF's at Pagan.

Gonna be reading both sides (of both sides) of this one, so not many comments.  Good luck, Cap! 

ORIGINAL: USS America

Gonna be reading both sides (of both sides) of this one, so not many comments. Good luck, Cap!

Is Chickenboy doing the Japanese perspective? That would be interesting.

I can't believe how many ships the USN has for this operation:

4 Fast carrier groups with 3-4 CV/CVL each (total 15) and 1-2 fast BB's per taffy. Each fast carrier taffy has > 7000 AA points. [X(] The carrier fighter squadrons are nominally 40 F6F's per squadron (I converted two to Corsairs).

11 CVE's now configured as:

........... a carrier aricraft replenishment taffy (2 x CVE's)
........... a ferry (not fairy) TF (5 CVE's) to ferry non-carrier trained USMC Corsair squadrons, P-47's and Marine SBD squadrons to Pagan when the airfield is captured. This allows a CAP on day 1 instead of trying to glue the wings back on as they are unloaded from transports. The B-24's can fly in from Eniwetok.
........... a security taffy (4 CVE's) bearing F6F's and TBF's to guard the chickens.

A bombardment group of 4 pre-war BB's

DE and DD's coming out the wazoo

3 fast fuel oil replensihment taffys with 6 fleet oilers each.

What is lacking are ground troops.

What was the line from "A Bridge Too Far" as the German general stands on the balcony watching wave after wave of DC-3's roll overhead? "Oh, to have such power, even just for one day" or words to that effect. Don't mess with the Big Green Machine is a lesson worth learning.

ORIGINAL: Cap Mandrake

Is Chickenboy doing the Japanese perspective? That would be interesting.

He is but it's all hen scratching. [:D]

it has come down to Chickenboy and me for the first AE Tourney Deathmatch Finals.

Ahem! That would be the second AE Tourney Deathmatch Finals.

ORIGINAL: erstad

it has come down to Chickenboy and me for the first AE Tourney Deathmatch Finals.

Ahem! That would be the second AE Tourney Deathmatch Finals.

Oh bloody Hell. It appears I have been misinformed. That would make this, at best, the semis. I'm guessing you may know the winner of the First Tourney? [;)]

Oh bloody Hell. It appears I have been misinformed. That would make this, at best, the semis. I'm guessing you may know the winner of the First Tourney?

Yes, but sadly I am much better acquainted with the runner-up [8|]

ORIGINAL: erstad

Oh bloody Hell. It appears I have been misinformed. That would make this, at best, the semis. I'm guessing you may know the winner of the First Tourney?

Yes, but sadly I am much better acquainted with the runner-up [8|]

You let your wife beat you? Oh, man, that hurts.

Perhaps you threw the match to preserve harmony?

Day 2:

The fast carrier groups are away. 8 CV/CVL to beat up on the airfields in the Marianas. 7 CV/CVL's to intercept movement of potential ground troop reinforcement via sea from Truk or Palau. Before the Jap carriers arrive, the carrier groups will unite. Nearly 1000 AV worth of infantry and armor plus engineers and 250+ of air support and 4th Marine Air wing HQ have left for Pagan. F4F and Avenger squadrons that vacated soem of the CVE's to allow transport of Corsairs and P-47's and SBD's have moved to Laysan and Midway. Even now there isn't enough dock space at Pearl for all the AO's.

[>:]

The Northern fast carrier group is just East of Midway. The escort carriers are about 160-200 mi back with the amphibious group.

The Southern fast carrier strike group is 300 E of Eniweetok.


We have picked up a bug. On the intel report it shows 36 ops losses for Corsairs even though there weren't any. I think this might have something to do with the Marine Corsairs on the CVE's. They are not carrier trained and therefore were hoisted aboard by crane and are merely being transported.

Loading of oilers at Pearl goes slowly.

The current plan is for the Northern group to suppress Saipan and Tinian airfields and for the Southern group to raid near Truk then move NW to cover a landing by fast tranport TF on Ulithi (if it remains unccupied) and to suppress the airfield at Guam.

The bombardment group of 4 prewar BB's will be used for preinvasion bombardment at Pagan or to finish off Saipan airfield. I would rather not damage Pagan airfieild, if possible. If pagan is captured, I have 2 squadrons of Marine Corsairs, two Marine SBD squadrons and one squadron of P-47's aboard CVE ready to fly off to Pagan and then be replaced by F4F's and Avengers from Midway.

The force for Saipan is not embarking yet. Pearl Harbor is still clogged with oilers.


Question: What do I do with these LCI(G)'s? I presume they are for shore bombardment?