The Good The Bad & The Indifferent

[Canoerebel]

That's the genius of the game's victory point system. Right now Japan is getting clobbered militarily but is still waging a tenacious struggle for victory points. From that aspect, the game is just as exciting as it was in '42 and '43, perhaps even more so. It's far more challenging than it was then, because the Allied OOB is much more immense, as are the logistical challenges. I'm spending much more time with each turn and enjoying even aspect of the game. There's magic in the victory point system.

[CaptBeefheart]

I think waihi makes a solid point: Fighter-bombers are not properly modeled in this game. Plus, there's the opportunity cost of using B-24s against ground forces and not industrial targets in the homeland.

Regarding the movement of IJA forces to Fusan, J3 could be thinking he might be able to pull off another Sumatra or Celebes victory. I would encourage that thinking. Your botched DS intervention may actually pay off in causing him to think you're worried.

Cheers,
CC

P.S. Moving thoughts on the short life of Beaulah Buchanan. Much appreciated.

[adarbrauner]

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

John included this comment in an email yesterday: "Your man-killing ultimate weapons did well today.  I don’t have that base…" That comment didn't register until I re-read the email today.

I think John is suggesting that the House Rule limiting 4EB strikes against ground units to ground units in base hexes is further limited to Japanese-held bases. This is the first time I've heard of this, although I've engaged in lots of previous missions. The most recent was the planned campaign to "lure" enemy ground units into the Allied-held bases in Coastal China. You may remember that what happened to John's units wasn't pretty.

In this case, he advanced 5th Division one hex NW of Fusan to a little base then held by Allied paratroops and two armored battalions. 100+ B-24Js did mighty work against 5th Division the next day. John didn't like it and included that comment.

I just wrote him: I received and read one of your emails yesterday, but  "Your man-killing ultimate weapons did well today.  I don’t have that base…" didn't register until re-reading it this afternoon.

Are you suggesting that the House Rule that limits 4EB strikes vs. ground units only if those units are in base hexes is further restricted to 4EB raids only for Japanese-held bases?  That wasn't part of the House Rule and wasn't mentioned on previous occasions when my 4EB hit your troops in my base hexes (most recently in coastal China on many occasions).  

The House Rule specifies that 4EB are to only be used against troops in base hexes.  There wasn't a qualifier on the type of base.  If you think or know it was different, let's discuss it.


I think the idea behind the House Rule was to allow him to provide CAP for ground units on some kind of "fair" basis. In this case, 5th Division is one hex from a level 7 airfield and was covered by several dozen good fighters. He doesn't have an AA in the hex. But he wants to be able to approach an Allied base in clear terrain without any risk that his units will get hit by 4EB.

I'm going to miss John as an opponent, but I'm not going to miss House Rule ideas like this one.

There's been a big deal of discussion in John's AAR around the effectiveness of supposed CAS by heavy bombers, where the opinions have been discussed in length an supported by historical arguments and material (very interesting as you shall read it, in the future).

Briefly, there has been lot of thinking and confrontations between players and forum members on it.

I came out, again after deep reflections on overall game mechanics and historical reports on carpet bombing on ground troops, particularly in Normandy campaign, with the conviction that the heavies should not be used to "blind" carpet bombing of ground troops in game, unless from lower heights;

the reasoning behind it is that carpet bombing, again, is "blind", done over a pretty restricted area (say, roughly a mile square) where the pilots have no sight at all of enemy units. They just bomb the well defined area - to utter hell - they were briefed to to bomb.

Whatever in that area, is either obliterated (British and Americans brought 800, 1000, 1150 heavy bombers on it...), or completely disabled.

IF is there. If the intelligence war right. If enemy units targeted have not moved away meanwhile.

Besides, to raise the effectiveness of this carpet bombing the sides at times, namely the US Army, requested bombing of positions as close as possible to the front line and to friendly units.
Because of caveats by the air force in the safe way to approach the front line, this resulted many times in particularly painful friendly losses and fire, up to the point to drive the ground commanders to distaste this form of bombing.


As a consequence me personally, in my game, use and request the use by the opponent of ground bombing, either Japanese or allied, either by light or heavy bombers, not higher than the altitude from where the pilots may have a chance to spot the targets on the ground - let's say, not higher that 6-7000 feet? .
A compromise.
To be noted also that the lower the bombers, the greater should be, hopefully, their vulnerability to AA fire...


Incidentally, many, including the opposed to indiscriminate carpet bombing in game, has critisized, or at least noticed to John, that he did not much to defend his units from this well known and hanging over menace, namely with more concentrated AA (if at all in the case of John), or fighters.

[paullus99]

Sometimes the game mechanics just are what they are...if John isn't protecting his troops from nearly unlimited air bombardment (by LRCAP or AA), then he gets what he deserves.

[ny59giants]

In my phone calls with John, I sense his heart and mind are already with his new game playing latest BTS version that is due to begin around Christmas time. In this game, he is just going through the motions. Without an invasion of Japan itself, I don't see his mindset changing.

[Canoerebel]

John is fighting several morale battles. The first is the inevitable letdown following his SoPac raid (he loves raiding). The second is the prospect of committing his beloved navy in an unfavorable environment when I know he's likely to come (he loves raiding, not fighting set-piece battles at poor odds in places he didn't choose). The third is he's probably a bit of a control freak. If that's the case, he doesn't want the game to end on any terms but his. So he's either going to Banzai with his navy, ending it decisively...or he's going to drag things out for seventeen moons, with turns coming sporadically and possibly him conceding before Auto Victory is reached.

[Canoerebel]

2/11/45

Strategic Air War: A small daytime raid vs. Niigata at 2k finds no opposition to speak of and fails to score. Hmmm. What's this latest wrinkle in the air war? Tonight, Superforts to hit Gifu Frank and Tony factories at 7k with Liberators to hit Shimonoseki Resources at 7k.

Funnel Cakes: John has massed a decent army at Keijo. He attacks the Allied armored units newly bolstered by 1st Cavalry Div., which arrives in Move mode. The result is an Allied victory. John's going to have a tough time dealing decisively with the Allied invasion of Korea, undercutting the boasts he was making on the eve of the invasion. Most importantly, Gunzan aifield to level 4.85. Death Star is buttoned up and awaiting an enemy onslaught, if John pulls the trigger. 50% chance he awaits arrival of KB East, way down in the Solomons.

Fancy Pants: Hong Kong defenses collapse today. The final unit should be eliminated tomorrow. Canton will come next.

Real War Map: The December 1991 issue of National Geographic included a fabulous map of World War II - ETO on one side, PTO on the other. The PTO map shows the territory held by Japan at the end of the war. To my surprise, I've far exceeded the actual territorial gains by the Allies in the real war...and did a long time ago. In the game, the Allied positions in China, Korea, Indochina, Thailand, Burma, Malaya, and the eastern DEI are far, far beyond what the Allies achieved. Borneo, the Philippines, and western New Guinea are roughly equal. John has an edge in the Solomons, New Britain, north New Guinea coast, the western Aleutians, and the Ryukus.

This was eye-opening to me. In the past, I recall so many games in which I was "behind" the actual Allied operations in the real war. Here I'm far, far ahead.

The difference is that the Japanese navy and air forces are not yet battered beyond putting up effective opposition. There's still hard fighting to come. But I'm doing pretty darn well.

And that reminds me of something I said post-Sumatra: that the Allies wouldn't be able to conquer everything, given troops losses at that time, but that they would be able to conquer enough to win the game.

[Canoerebel]

If I'm reading ardbrauner's comments correctly, he's advocating a House Rule limiting 4EB to lower than 10k? That's interesting, because John previously and belatedly tried to say that his house rule limited 4EB to 10k and above. (There were no altitude restrictions on 4EB use, but I have voluntarily kept most of my 4EB at 10k since he made that request).

John's hands aren't tied here. He has lots of AA. But most of those units are defending Home Islands industrial targets. It would be nice for him if he didn't have to commit them to frontline infantry defense or to make tough choices in allocating AA.

[paullus99]

He's protecting all of the wrong spots - his ground units might stand a bit of a chance, if you didn't have complete control of the air (and his general lack of AA in the field).

His desire to try to kill your units is putting him in the position of attacking fresh troops, under significant air cover - which, at this stage of the war, isn't anywhere near a winning strategy.

I am reminded of Sherman's strategy of forcing the Rebels to attack him, in prepared position, rather than the other way around. John bleeds good troops & then loses them to the inevitable counterattack.

As you, I suspect he's going to try to commit the bulk of his remaining surface forces - but at this point, it won't really do much, since it won't disrupt your invasion of Korea (which already happened) & any ships of his which get crippled, will be forced to go back to shipyards well within range of everything you have to throw at them.

[Canoerebel]

To this point, I haven't attacked his shipyards. All of them are in range now, and I think he has a lot of his ships disbanded in port with big airfields and stout CAP. When Gunzan airfield is ready for offensive operations - perhaps ten more days - that'll open up the air war considerably; strategic bombing and port bombing should increase significantly.

[Canoerebel]

The invasion of Korea really got John to rolling with bravado. Here's the sequence of emails he sent over those few days:

1. November 10: Are you seriously looking at making another Amphib Landing in China/Manchuria/Korea?  Wow.  Roll the dice Sir.  I’ve got anywhere from 600—3,100 AV at the coast ports.  This could be interesting to watch.

2. November 10: This should prove interesting.  I was thinking you’d land on the China side or deep into the Yellow Sea.  OK.  For years, 8,831 AV have sat idle.  Orders go out…

3. November 11:

You’ve fully activated the Manchurian/Korean troops.  Never thought in a million years they would actually get a chance to fight.  This WILL be fun to watch.  Part of me—in the AAR---talked about your China move that it would be telling at four points:
 
Form the coastal lodgment and use it to directly jump into Japan by Nov 1944.  OR
Advance deeper into China and take all of Southern China to the Yangste.  Japan by February 1945.  OR
Advance and take all of China but stop short of crossing into Manchuria.  Japan Landing by May 1945.  OR
Stay and take the entire Mainland.  No Japan Landing until late-Summer 1945.
 
I hoped for this so the Mainland could continue to develop new ‘toys’ and rebuild destroyed units.  Looks like it is Option 4 so it should be interesting to see just how much TIME and Casualties this decision costs.  You get AFs right next to the Homeland but the troops will be occupied for quite a while.
 
Should be fun to see how it plays out…

4. November 12:

Oh…no…the Fleet is here.  Been engaged in some subterfuge.  Several of them appear this turn.  More on the way…
 
Speaking as a player, I really like your move here.  Might have waited another 10-14 days so you could be engaged or threatening to engage my line up in Eastern China/Western Manchuria.  If that had happened I would not have a wealth of reinforcements to send south to the knew threat.  Reality is that you have 3,000 modern AV landed and will be on the move with a strong chance of crushing anything in its path but at least I do have the option of making it a fight.  As said, nice move.

5. November 12:

The debate going on in my AAR is something.  I have 8,771 AV and another 3,500 at the border.  You have everything going for you!  We’ll see how right Rommel was about the only chance of winning the invasion was at the beach.
 
My 600-3,100 comment was farther NORTH.  I thought you would work farther north to cut off the troops up there.  WRONG on John’s part. 
 
You are right ‘it’s fun and wacky and violent and frenetic.’ 
 
Were you surprised to run into a capital ship at Fusan?  There are more baby.  The Kaigun will make its final stand…
 
Best of Luck to you Sir!

6. November 13: The carriers have been obvious for nearly a year.  The BIG BOYS are another story. 

He got very fired up and was flipping turns like the old days. But since his SoPac raid ended with a whimper, he's pulled back into his shell. He's no longer jazzed about prospects in Korea.

[BBfanboy]

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

To this point, I haven't attacked his shipyards. All of them are in range now, and I think he has a lot of his ships disbanded in port with big airfields and stout CAP. When Gunzan airfield is ready for offensive operations - perhaps ten more days - that'll open up the air war considerably; strategic bombing and port bombing should increase significantly.

HB offensives take lots of supply. I'm thinking you will have to send DS south to escort another massive slug of it in a couple of weeks. That may give John an opening to try use his navy.

[Canoerebel]

Yes, I'll have to orchestrate one more delivery of supply to fund the war in March and April. I'm waiting until Gunzan airfield is about level 7 or 8 (or until the Allies win a decisive naval battle). But if John commits KB to the Home Islands, I won't need to detach Death Star at all.

[AcePylut]

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

John is fighting several morale battles. The first is the inevitable letdown following his SoPac raid (he loves raiding). The second is the prospect of committing his beloved navy in an unfavorable environment when I know he's likely to come (he loves raiding, not fighting set-piece battles at poor odds in places he didn't choose). The third is he's probably a bit of a control freak. If that's the case, he doesn't want the game to end on any terms but his. So he's either going to Banzai with his navy, ending it decisively...or he's going to drag things out for seventeen moons, with turns coming sporadically and possibly him conceding before Auto Victory is reached.

Consider yourself lucky. I think I just had another opponent quit on me (turns every day, good communication, then nothing for the last week. No communication at all. I’ll give him another week before I declare it over – Allies win in Jan ’42, AGAIN!) Probably had something to do with me sinking 3 Baby CV’s and 5 DD’s in the North Pac, and 4-5 heavy CA’s and about 5-6 DD’s at Townsville all in a single day’s action. Not my fault he didn’t have any search of planes scouring Oz before he sent in an SCTF without any CAP to bombard Townsville, only to run into the Repulse, about 10 CA’s, 10 CL’s, and 30 or so DD’s. Not my fault he didn’t account for 2 of my heavy CV’s before he sent in some baby CV’s to cover an invasion force of Dutch Harbor (far far away from his 6 fleet CV’s) Sigh - so demoralizing to have “tried” to PBEM this game for years and years, and all I get are a bunch of quitters. And oh yeah, I see the quitter from before this match posting for an opponent in the “Opponents Wanted” section. I feel I should PM anyone that shows interest to warn them that once the Japanese Fun Time is over, be prepared for him to disappear.

[Canoerebel]

Yeah, you ought to warn folks of your flannel-footed opponent, Acepylut. He tiptoed right out the door, so his future opponents will appreciate a heads up from you.

[adarbrauner]

Just give him a chance as you'd liked to be given the same.

[Encircled]

No one minds people quitting, as long as they let you know.

its a tough start as the Japanese, because every Japanese player tries to do too much to go for auto-vic and its very, very hard to do.

(Sorry for hijacking your AAR)

[Canoerebel]

2/12/45

A mostly good day, but pressure is building in the cooker. Both of us have a lot of power in the Yellow Sea/Korea area. John is making explicit threats via email that he's hit upon a big plan. I think things will build to some point of culmination. Meanwhile, the Allies are moving forward in the key theaters: Malaya, northern China, Korea.

[Flicker]

CR -are you going to call it the Loyang pocket, the Sinyang pocket, or just the China pocket...

[BBfanboy]

ORIGINAL: Flicker

CR -are you going to call it the Loyang pocket, the Sinyang pocket, or just the China pocket...

[:D]
Looks like China is a giant poke-sack right now! The critters in the sack may thrash and punch at the sides of the sack but in the end they will be taken to market and delivered to the butcher!