Lambs to the slaughter (Lowpe (J) vs Jocke; BillBrown (A)) Finished

[jmalter]

ORIGINAL: HansBolter
If you want balance play chess!

Chess is 'orrid ughbalanced, white always moves first, the game is borked.

[Lowpe]

ORIGINAL: Bullwinkle58

ORIGINAL: Lowpe



Then this little gem again, I decided to bombard San Diego again -- since I have seen one off bad bombardment results in the past. Never in all my days have I seen the Japanese artillery fail so badly.

I wouldn't say they failed. I'd say 790 guns.

Great guns, Bullwinkle! Don't confuse me with facts when I am ranting![:D]

[obvert]

ORIGINAL: HansBolter

Too bad Japan is so concentrated and with bases so closely interlocking.

Too bad the Japanese player doesn't have to play with a constant look back over his shoulder to be sure his home base is secure.

It's a real shame the Japanese players have it so easy defending their homeland.

Too bad the Allied players can almost never hope to pull of a coup de main invasion of the HI catching the Japanese with their pants down.

If Jocke hadn't put the effort in, as many Allied players probably don't, he would be facing disaster.

I've seen some talk in other threads lately about "game balance" coming from a JFB.

It took every bit of will power I had to resist a tirade.

Nothing about the game is balanced. Nothing about the war it depicts was balanced.

If you want balance play chess!

The very imbalance that makes something like this invasion of the WC in '43 possible is what makes this game great!

As an AFB I just wish there was less imbalance in favor of the Japanese and more imbalance in favor of the Allies.[:D]

After all we have to pick a side. [;)]

Play for VPs and balance takes care of itself. [;)]

[Bullwinkle58]

ORIGINAL: Lowpe

ORIGINAL: Bullwinkle58

ORIGINAL: Lowpe



Then this little gem again, I decided to bombard San Diego again -- since I have seen one off bad bombardment results in the past. Never in all my days have I seen the Japanese artillery fail so badly.

I wouldn't say they failed. I'd say 790 guns.

Great guns, Bullwinkle! Don't confuse me with facts when I am ranting![:D]

Ooops. Sorry. Play through, sir. [:)]

[Lowpe]

I am working on Jocke's turn, and something he emailed me has me a little worried.

It seems we had a synch bug last turn. We did upgrade to the latest patch, but who really knows.

Anyhow, Jocke mentioned the bug, and also that luckily for me it was a sync bug meaning I gather his forces really savaged me.

So that got me to thinking. What exactly does a sync bug show the Allies. Does Jocke get meta-intelligence from the bug, perhaps seeing something that he capitalize on this next turn.

Should I be worried about an all out attack?

On the west coast, and all out attack on my shipping? or the runways? I have 400 fighters roughly, would he fly right into them for a massive strike?

I have been struggling with this decision for a day or two, I am also incredibly busy and hence slow with my turnaround right now, but this has been a little bothersome to me.

I may set up a cap trap over the water and move all my shipping there in an attempt to really shred his naval attacks, but at the price of leaving my runways totally vulnerable. A huge, and somewhat gamey gambit I fear...but if I guess right I can really accomplish something in the the short term. If I guess wrong, it will be up to my AA to protect the runways...probably close to 100 4Es could hit me.

Oh well, decision time here...since Jocke didn't sweep yesterday, I know he is coming today. The question is how?

[Lokasenna]

Nope, he wouldn't be able to take advantage of a sync bug in any way.

[Lowpe]

Thanks, Lok!

I was really wondering if the sync bug would show deficiency in my defense.

Turn is away. Nail biting time!

[Lokasenna]

ORIGINAL: Lowpe

Thanks, Lok!

I was really wondering if the sync bug would show deficiency in my defense.

Turn is away. Nail biting time!

Well, he wouldn't be able to trust anything since it's a sync bug and all. He doesn't know if what he saw is the truth, or if the die roll is at all reliable, etc.

[HansBolter]

Lowpe's question makes me wonder though.

If the Allied player sees a false combat animation for an event that didn't happen could that provide some intel?

Suppose he saw a surface combat encounter that actually never happened.

Although the encounter never happened, its possible the two involved forces actually are in the area and the random die rolls caused no encounter to happen.

The Allied player seeing the false encounter would then have intel on the composition of the TF that is in the area but he never had a dust up with.

This is the kind of thing I think Lowpe was alluding to.

[Lowpe]

ORIGINAL: HansBolter

Lowpe's question makes me wonder though.

If the Allied player sees a false combat animation for an event that didn't happen could that provide some intel?

Suppose he saw a surface combat encounter that actually never happened.

Although the encounter never happened, its possible the two involved forces actually are in the area and the random die rolls caused no encounter to happen.

The Allied player seeing the false encounter would then have intel on the composition of the TF that is in the area but he never had a dust up with.

This is the kind of thing I think Lowpe was alluding to.

Hans, you are quite correct. Nicely worded.[:)]

[Grollub]

ORIGINAL: HansBolter

Lowpe's question makes me wonder though.

If the Allied player sees a false combat animation for an event that didn't happen could that provide some intel?

Suppose he saw a surface combat encounter that actually never happened.

Although the encounter never happened, its possible the two involved forces actually are in the area and the random die rolls caused no encounter to happen.

The Allied player seeing the false encounter would then have intel on the composition of the TF that is in the area but he never had a dust up with.

This is the kind of thing I think Lowpe was alluding to.

I had exactly that scenario in one of my earlier campaigns. A surface engagement with a Dutch CL SCTF grossly outgunned by a Jap CA SCTF. The engagement didn't go well for the Dutch.

After having a later look at the combat report, it appeared that the engagement never had happened. Instead, one of the Dutch subs in the area had put two torps into CS Nisshin in another TF apparentely trailing what I guessed were the SCTF I (hadn't) fought.

I avoided Surface combat the next turn, instead vectoring subs to the presumed retreat routes.

[Lokasenna]

ORIGINAL: Lowpe

ORIGINAL: HansBolter

Lowpe's question makes me wonder though.

If the Allied player sees a false combat animation for an event that didn't happen could that provide some intel?

Suppose he saw a surface combat encounter that actually never happened.

Although the encounter never happened, its possible the two involved forces actually are in the area and the random die rolls caused no encounter to happen.

The Allied player seeing the false encounter would then have intel on the composition of the TF that is in the area but he never had a dust up with.

This is the kind of thing I think Lowpe was alluding to.

Hans, you are quite correct. Nicely worded.[:)]

This is true, but that would involve different ship movement. So far as I know, the only way this could occur is if there was a night-time reaction based on night aerial search hits, as that's the only part where there would be RNG rolls. TF movement is almost never based on RNG rolls. The only time I can think of is an aggression check for reacting or retreating.


Edit: or the sub action thing above, which would affect a TF's movement by slowing it down. That's also subject to RNG.

[bigred]

Hi Lowpe. So is the main hammer coming down at Seattle?

[CaptBeefheart]

Boy, that would be a masterstroke, no?

Cheers,
CC

[Lowpe]

I don't know what you guys are smoking...I don't have that many troops, and quite frankly Portland and Seattle terrain preclude taking the base quickly.

Argh...last turn went poorly in the air over southern California. Working on it now after a hiatus for Jocke's vacation.

More later today...

[crsutton]

Is it time for a Dunkirk?

[Encircled]

Whatever Greyjoy did to pull out 100,000 troops overnight at Madras is what you need to pull off here.

Not going to be easy, and its a loooooooonnng way back even to Pearl

[Lowpe]

Jan 23, 1943

Let's see missed an update.

I really screwed up the 22nd turn. After spending hours on it, setting up a 300 plane strike at Port Blair and destroyer raid there, retrenching my planes in the West Coast I sent the turn off to Jocke and forgot about it.

Then checking my email later, I see that I had two posts from Jocke...I didn't do an end turn send, so I thought I merely saved the game and didn't click end turn and save.

My bad, and since I am running slow I opened the turn, checked on one thing that I thought I did last, and ended the turn and sent it promptly to Jocke.

Oops. In reality I save the first and proper turn to a different file number, and sent Jocke a turn with about 5 minutes worth of orders in it. No attacks in the west, which judging by the replay would have done really well as there was no air CAP over all Jocke's juicy APs. No destroyer raid.

In the West Coast my ships don't move, so no bombardments, etc and Jockes Jugs come screaming in and get a 9-1 or so kill ratio.

Argh.

Ok, not the end of the world...today I send my destroyers in at Port Blair (but since the base fell yesterday, the Allied ships are gone, my 300 betties don't fly, nor my 100 Lilly DBs).

Then to add insult to injury, Jockes killer CL task force closes during the night with portions of the mini KB and in two fights does wonderful work savaging them and sinking one outright with others in danager of burning up to a crisp. His TF threaded between destroyer scouts to the north and hit paydirt.

The Hei and Ise and Tone Task Force that is hanging out in this area, anticipating such a move, diverted back to Pearl to refuel another careless lack of a click on my part and there are even oilers following them. Yuck.

Well done...I doubt his ships are sunk, but you never know. [&o]

And then, after having the baby carriers savaged, a Yank sub fires off a spread on the Akagi...but misses.

Two poor days, I cannot wait until I get one game going again. Two is clearly way too many for me as all I have done is screw up in the last several weeks.

And then Jocke flipped the turn while I slept and the ball is back in my court. At least the DNC convention is over and perhaps I will regain some time lost.

Time to knuckle down and think things thru, and click on them. I am my own worst enemy here.

[Capt. Harlock]

Then to add insult to injury, Jockes killer CL task force closes during the night with portions of the mini KB and in two fights does wonderful work savaging them and sinking one outright with others in danager of burning up to a crisp. His TF threaded between destroyer scouts to the north and hit paydirt.

What's the damage situation on the surviving flattops? Since they're on fire (but I assume not torpedoed), do they still have enough speed to get to a friendly base?

[Lowpe]

Jan 23, 1943

Allies pushing ...Solomons, Burma and the Andammans.

Looks like all four baby carriers will burn up and be toast. Added ships and set to cruise but they are all gone. Sigh, silly me. Might catch his CL force tomorrow.

Another big attack at LA...

Naval bombardment causes 300 losses at San Diego.

In trouble, and getting worse...[;)]