The Good The Bad & The Indifferent

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Canoerebel
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RE: The Good The Bad & The Indifferent

Post by Canoerebel »

6/28/42
 
At the moment, John and I are fighting two very different wars, reflecting two different philosophies about how to wage this war.
 
John's War:  Major IJN bombardments of Dutch Harbor (Mutsu, Nagato, Yamato), Tarawa (four CAs), and Luganville (Hyuga, Ise).  John is landing troops at Dutch Harbor.  The Allies aren't contesting these moves because each place is "too hot" to take chances.  I'm outgunned and the enemy controls the air.  This is okay by me, because none of these places are strategically significant.
 
Dan's War:  Part of 63rd Indian Brigade lands at Ramree Island, bringing the total AV to 274.  More to come tonight.  No opposition by the enemy, either because John doesn't realize the place is strategically important or because he's outgunned and doesn't control the air.  He's got to change that.
 
NoPac:  The Japanese are landing at Dutch Harbor and should take it tomorrow.  Akutan's garrison has nearly full supply.  I'm hoping that as John inches forward and continues to build his big bases at Umnak and Adak, it won't occur to him to attend to his bases far to the rear.
 
CenPac: No sign of the KB today, but probably still close by.  Lots of enemy activity, so I'm not chancing sending in supply by ship.
 
SoPac:  SigInt that 2nd IJA Div. is prepping for Luganville.  So John's gonna try again once his troops are ready.  Still lots of sub activity around NZ.
 
Oz:  My carriers are a day or two out of Melbourne.  My hope is that John doesn't catch wind of them.  If he doesn't, he has to allow for the possibility that they've gone to the Bay of Bengal.
 
India:  I should be able to buy 41st USA Div. at Capetown in three days.
"Rats set fire to Mr. Cooper’s store in Fort Valley. No damage done." Columbus (Ga) Enquirer-Sun, October 2, 1880.
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RE: The Good The Bad & The Indifferent

Post by Canoerebel »

6/29/42
 
NoPac:  Continued IJ landings at Dutch Harbor, but no attack yet.
 
CenPac:  Half KB is well to the east of Tarawa, looking for shipping.
 
SWPac:  USN CV TF will reach Melbourne tomorrow.  York with 14 SYS damage, Lex with 10, and Portland with 20 are especially in need of time.  Carrier will also fill out some F4F squadrons and swap out one or two Devastator squadrons for Avengers.
 
India:  Part of 147th RCT lands at Ramree, boosting AV to 314.  The rest should arrive in two days.  This should be enough to secure the island long term.  When 41st Div. arrives in India in four weeks or so, I may send the unit in at Akyab - or possibly Ramree - to take position on the coastal road.
 
China:  Looking good.
"Rats set fire to Mr. Cooper’s store in Fort Valley. No damage done." Columbus (Ga) Enquirer-Sun, October 2, 1880.
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RE: The Good The Bad & The Indifferent

Post by Canoerebel »

The RAF is notably absent from my top pilots list. In fact, the highest-ranking RAF pilots are in 96th and 97th places, with two kills each. I have six Canadian, six Australian and one Dutch pilot with more kills. The reason is simple - Canadian Kittyhawks ambushed a big IJ raid over Cold Bay a few days back, and Aussie Kittyhawks chewed up several IJ raids over Perth a few months back. The RAF is present at some forward bases in India, but thus far the P-40Es have been the workhorse in that theater.

The AVG will be retiring in three days. Pappy Boyington only has two kills to date. Cooper-Slipper, made famous in GreyJoy's first game, doesn't even seem to be present in my pilot roster. Perhaps John, the architect of this Mod, did some creative editing.

One final note: The Allies have been winning the air war, currently enjoying a lead of 1,200 in aircraft downed.

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"Rats set fire to Mr. Cooper’s store in Fort Valley. No damage done." Columbus (Ga) Enquirer-Sun, October 2, 1880.
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RE: The Good The Bad & The Indifferent

Post by Cpt Sherwood »

It is interesting that in reading different AARs, P40-Es do well in some and die in droves in others. It has to be how they are used.
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RE: The Good The Bad & The Indifferent

Post by Canoerebel »

In the game to date, my use of fighters has been almost entirely defensive.  I haven't flow a single sweep.  My carrier fighters haven't escorted a single mission against a target covered by more than nominal CAP.  In other words, nearly all fighting has been done over my carriers or over my airfields.  Allied aircraft, including the P-39, can be used effectively under those conditions.  I love the P-40E!
"Rats set fire to Mr. Cooper’s store in Fort Valley. No damage done." Columbus (Ga) Enquirer-Sun, October 2, 1880.
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RE: The Good The Bad & The Indifferent

Post by Canoerebel »

Girls keep asking my oldest son to various proms, which puts me to shame since I never attended a prom during my years in high school.  I was far too shy back in the day.

Anyhow, I called my 89-year-old dad today to find out if he'd ever been to the prom.  He had, the rascal, and here are the World War II-flavored details:

Dad went to his Senior Prom (Miami High School) in 1942. He took a classmate named Ladonna.  His stepmother, Ann, made her a bouquet of gardenias grown at their house. He wore a white dinner jacket and drove his 1936 Ford Coupe. The prom was at Miami’s Biltmore Hotel, which was quite a place in those days. Dad says that 50 of the men in his class had already joined the military in the aftermath of Pearl Harbor (I’m unclear whether these 50 were already gone into the service or had signed up and would be departing after graduation).

At the time of Pearl Harbor, dad was in the hospital after having his appendix out.  He joined the Army in 1943.  He did some basic training in the Chicago area, I think, before joining the OSS.  Most of his OSS training was in northern Virginia.  He spent alot of cold winter days traversing various Civil War battlefields while in training.  (When he left the Army after the war, he swore he'd never spend any more time where it was cold - a vow he's kept.)

That's my off topic but World War II inspired note of the day.
"Rats set fire to Mr. Cooper’s store in Fort Valley. No damage done." Columbus (Ga) Enquirer-Sun, October 2, 1880.
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RE: The Good The Bad & The Indifferent

Post by Cribtop »

Awesome!

Ahem, I was invited to prom by a Senior when I was a Junior. Yeah, boy!

Attended my senior prom with my BRAZILIAN girlfriend.

I was not shy... [;)]

PS If GreyJoy and I were of similar ages, I suspect we would have burned several towns to the ground. I will now resume being a responsible middle-aged father of three.
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RE: The Good The Bad & The Indifferent

Post by obvert »

ORIGINAL: Cpt Sherwood

It is interesting that in reading different AARs, P40-Es do well in some and die in droves in others. It has to be how they are used.

If you notice CR almost never writes about CAP settings or similar operational details. Makes me think he's got some tricks up his sleeve!

There are also no 2nd maneuver band HRs or other limitations on the P-40E, and that makes them more effective, potentially, if used above sweeping or bombing altitudes of the enemy.
"Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm." - Winston Churchill
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RE: The Good The Bad & The Indifferent

Post by Crackaces »

One final note: The Allies have been winning the air war, currently enjoying a lead of 1,200 in aircraft downed.

I am still not convinced that aircraft shot down is a linking construct to a higher short term or long term outcome. Aircraft shotdown is clearly a metric in this game but to what end does a 1K advantage lead to victory? In my limited experience this this game I keep shooting down aircraft and the IJA/IJN aircraft keep coming no matter how many I shoot down. Thoughts?
"What gets us into trouble is not what we don't know. It's what we know for sure that just ain't so"
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RE: The Good The Bad & The Indifferent

Post by princep01 »

No sign of the KB today, but probably still close by.  Lots of enemy activity, so I'm not chancing sending in supply by ship.
 
Hummmm, sometimes, when I really need/want to know where KB or a substantial part of it is, I find an electronic pawn sacrifice useful.  The pawn usually takes the form of a trio of AMs or similar light craft of which the Allies have a surfit or a pair of AKLs that load supplies and go straight to a place like Tarawa.  If they get thru all the better.  If large enemy fleet or CV elements sink them, then the loss is far outweighed by the intel.  It is something seldom done by real western admirals for obvious reasons, but in wars of electron units, it is a quite useful tactic.
 
The poison pawn variant takes the exact same form, except all six US CVs and maybe the Br CVs trail along behind the sacrifical lamb plotting an ambush.  When one learns that KB is split, the poison variant is definiely in play.  This is particularly useful against a very aggressive opponent. 
 
Of course your CVs are not positioned to play the poison variant at Tarawa, but it might be worthwhile to at least play the pawn sacrifice to draw out his CVs in the area.  Like you said, when there are CVs in the Gilberts, they cannot be where you're up to actual mischief.  Knowing which ones are in the Gilberts is significant a leg up.  If nothing happens, Tarawa might get resupplied.
 
Water as an issue in Tennessee and Georgia....come to Texas.  Riparian  (spelled right?) rights here can lead to gunplay and mayhem.  It will likely become a leading national issue before much longer. 
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RE: The Good The Bad & The Indifferent

Post by princep01 »

I am still not convinced that aircraft shot down is a linking construct to a higher short term or long term outcome. Aircraft shotdown is clearly a metric in this game but to what end does a 1K advantage lead to victory? In my limited experience this this game I keep shooting down aircraft and the IJA/IJN aircraft keep coming no matter how many I shoot down. Thoughts?
 
Cracker, I would think it matters from a trio of different angles.  First, in response to a long term outcome, if one is playing for victory points, it matters.  Second, in both the short and long term outcome, destroying that differential of AC means a larger number of experienced IJ pilots are toast.  This can never help the IJ cause.  I'm sure John is adept at training and that he keeps a close eye on maintaining a high  level of trained pilots. However, I would think (never having played the IJ) that with losses like that in mid-42, he may be struggling to keep the quality of his pilots up.  Third, relating to a short term outcome, having a loss differential like that gives the Allies a better chance to achieve areas of local air superiority, thus potentially snowballing the IJ loss differential.
 
So, while the IJ AC do come on forever, maintaining or increasing a large loss differential like that can aid the Allies and offer the potential for creating a cascading effect on IJ aerial/pilot losses.   While your point has merit, I do think that kind of loss differential can be harmful to IJ ambitions. 
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RE: The Good The Bad & The Indifferent

Post by princep01 »

Most of his OSS training was in northern Virginia.
 
Gee, given this, I'm surprised he tells you anything at all:).
 
Amazingly, our fathers are the same age (89) and living.  Dad served as an artillery FO, mostly with the 7th Armored.  He has exactly the same opinion about "cold" that your father exhibits.  Having nearly frozen to death at St Vith in the Battle of the Bulge, I understand why.  Like your dad, he sired a son who also became a lawyer.
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RE: The Good The Bad & The Indifferent

Post by Schlemiel »

If anything, Greyjoy's first game pretty strongly points against a Japanese pilot spiral, at least in scenario 2 (not sure what the raw recruit numbers look like in RA, obviously). Constant aggression meant Greyjoy had a huge mass of super ace pilots, and the Japanese will still able to use superior numbers of good pilots (I think Rader said that beyond some specialty roles (like escort) he was using 70 airskill pilots for the most part) to take advantage of their airframe numbers. Greyjoy was shooting down 2 for 1 for pretty much the entire war, iirc, almost exclusively over his own bases.
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RE: The Good The Bad & The Indifferent

Post by Canoerebel »

The air war is significant for several reasons:
 
1.  The points totals help me know that the Allies are fighting efficiently, which is important given limited replacement pools.
2.  John suffered a stinging repulse at Perth back in March, which has made him reluctant to stick his nose back into the major airfields.  That makes it much easier for me to park ships - including carriers - with some assurance of security (John's so aggressive that it's nice to build up some relatively "safe" zones).
3.  John suffered bad losses over Ramree Island and Akyab over the course of a week, so he's stood down his massed air force at Rangoon, making it easy for the Allies to bring in reinforcements.
 
"Rats set fire to Mr. Cooper’s store in Fort Valley. No damage done." Columbus (Ga) Enquirer-Sun, October 2, 1880.
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RE: The Good The Bad & The Indifferent

Post by crsutton »

ORIGINAL: GreyJoy

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

Nunc pro tunc?

Fieri facias?

In limine?

Res ipsa loquitor?

LOL...i write those the whole day, every day

De quo, de qua or de quibus
Sub iudice
Contrariis rejectis
Ut supra
Tertium non datur
Contra mores
Contra ius
Obiter dictum

And so on.... How do u call these latin quotes in english?


archaic
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RE: The Good The Bad & The Indifferent

Post by crsutton »

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

The RAF is notably absent from my top pilots list. In fact, the highest-ranking RAF pilots are in 96th and 97th places, with two kills each. I have six Canadian, six Australian and one Dutch pilot with more kills. The reason is simple - Canadian Kittyhawks ambushed a big IJ raid over Cold Bay a few days back, and Aussie Kittyhawks chewed up several IJ raids over Perth a few months back. The RAF is present at some forward bases in India, but thus far the P-40Es have been the workhorse in that theater.

The AVG will be retiring in three days. Pappy Boyington only has two kills to date. Cooper-Slipper, made famous in GreyJoy's first game, doesn't even seem to be present in my pilot roster. Perhaps John, the architect of this Mod, did some creative editing.

One final note: The Allies have been winning the air war, currently enjoying a lead of 1,200 in aircraft downed.

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Boyington returns in the game as a squadron leader. There are some who think he outright lied about his victory total in China. A complex person no doubt. Interesting in that Maj Neale was my top ace in 42 in both of my campaigns. Retired as a Brigadier general in one and died in the air in the other.
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RE: The Good The Bad & The Indifferent

Post by crsutton »

ORIGINAL: Crackaces
One final note: The Allies have been winning the air war, currently enjoying a lead of 1,200 in aircraft downed.

I am still not convinced that aircraft shot down is a linking construct to a higher short term or long term outcome. Aircraft shotdown is clearly a metric in this game but to what end does a 1K advantage lead to victory? In my limited experience this this game I keep shooting down aircraft and the IJA/IJN aircraft keep coming no matter how many I shoot down. Thoughts?


Concur. In my scen 2 game with Viberpol I have destroyed close to 40k of his aircraft while losing less than 30k of my own. It has had no impact on his ability to field a first rate air force. Better give up any idea of winning an attrition battle as a path to victory in this game. However, the Allied air force is superior across the board and can win any battle at the point of contact in 1945. Numbers don't matter so much.
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RE: The Good The Bad & The Indifferent

Post by Canoerebel »

I have no illusions about "winning the air war" in the sense that the Allies did in the real war by forcing Japan to its knees.  I've played deep into 1945 (vs. Miller) and read enough AARs (GreyJoy's, in particular) to know that the supply of Japanese pilots and airframes is nearly limitless. 

Now, on a more serious note, I suddenly lost 220 PP this turn for no reason that is obvious to me.  I went from 1853 to 1533, which is significant.  I was just a turn from buying 41st USA Division, but now I'm more like eight turns!  I have no overdue ships or aircraft squadrons.  There weren't any messages.  The only out-of-the-ordinary event during the day was that some of my carrier aircraft squadrons re-sized from 27 to 36 aircraft.  Does that take a PP draw?

[&:]
"Rats set fire to Mr. Cooper’s store in Fort Valley. No damage done." Columbus (Ga) Enquirer-Sun, October 2, 1880.
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RE: The Good The Bad & The Indifferent

Post by Crackaces »

ORIGINAL: crsutton

ORIGINAL: Crackaces
One final note: The Allies have been winning the air war, currently enjoying a lead of 1,200 in aircraft downed.

I am still not convinced that aircraft shot down is a linking construct to a higher short term or long term outcome. Aircraft shotdown is clearly a metric in this game but to what end does a 1K advantage lead to victory? In my limited experience this this game I keep shooting down aircraft and the IJA/IJN aircraft keep coming no matter how many I shoot down. Thoughts?


Concur. In my scen 2 game with Viberpol I have destroyed close to 40k of his aircraft while losing less than 30k of my own. It has had no impact on his ability to field a first rate air force. Better give up any idea of winning an attrition battle as a path to victory in this game. However, the Allied air force is superior across the board and can win any battle at the point of contact in 1945. Numbers don't matter so much.

You have frame my point well! I think there is some sort of linking construct between measuring local air victories and results leading to X..Y..Z .. and as a result the total air loss ratios reflect this .. and maybe this leads eventually to victory ... but I am now more convinced then ever that is no direct linking constuct .. that is for example . I see an airwar ratio of X:Y and without looking at the map I can say with certainty the Allies are winning the way. I do think there is some linking constructs for total air losses from the view of the IJ. I contend this is because Allied air reinforements are finite and a true zero exists [even though it would be pretty interesting to reach [:'(] ] . So an IJ player measuring total Allied air losses as a % of total availible might be an indicator. But not the other way around. I might propose that the Allies might measure total Allies aircraft lost in respect to time and measure the rate of losses as an overall adherence to a plan to have a certian number of platforms availible at certain milestones.

OK now for somebody to answer why CR has lost 220 PP's! [X(] More so without any messages in the Combat Report [&:]
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RE: The Good The Bad & The Indifferent

Post by Canoerebel »

Actually it's 320 PP (or 370 if you count the additional 50 i would have received on the day).
 
[&:]
"Rats set fire to Mr. Cooper’s store in Fort Valley. No damage done." Columbus (Ga) Enquirer-Sun, October 2, 1880.
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