The Good The Bad & The Indifferent

[rkr1958]

ORIGINAL: rkr1958

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

Hey, John.  I thought of you a couple of days ago.  This time last year, you persuaded me to read "With the Old Breed."  I did so over the course of several days including once or twice at quiet outposts on a nearby mountain.  (Reading outdoors is one of my secret "vices.")  Got any other recommends?

Obviously I'm not John and this is 4 1/2 years after you asked but I do have several recommendations. I too got around to reading, "With the Old Breed" by Eugene Sledge. I've seen HBO's mini-series, "The Pacific" and "Band of Brothers" a half of dozen times each. I read Eugene's book last summer after rewatching the, "The Pacific". I highly recommend the following books which I read last Summer and Fall (2016).

(1) "With the Old Breed" by Eugene Sledge.

(2) "Helmet for my Pillow" by Robert Leckie.

(3) "Islands of the Damned" by R.V. Burgin (Burgin was Eugene's squad leader).

(4) "You-ll Be SOR-REE!" by Sid Phillips (Sid and Eugene were best friends and grew up together in/near Mobile, AL).

(5) "Band of Brothers" by Stephen E. Ambrose (I shift now to the ETO)

(6) "No Surrender" by James J. Sheeran

(7) "The Liberator" by Alex Kershaw

Sorry again for posting out of the blue but I wanted to add another book to the list. A book which I just finished and recommend for any person interested in WW-2 Pacific Naval history. The book is, "Under a Blood Red Sun" by John J. Domagalski. It details the story of PT squadron 3 operating in the Philippines in the early days after Japan bombed Pearl Harbor. PT squadron 3 is the the squadron that evacuated MacArthur from Corregidor to Mindanao in the southern Philippines as MacArthur's first leg of his escape to Australia. The squadron CO, John Buckley, received the Congressional Medal of Honor. The war time movie, "They Were Expendable" by John Ford, and starring John Wayne, was based loosely on PT squadron 3.

It's a short book (~300 pages) and an easy read. I highly recommend it.

[Canoerebel]

Thanks, rkr, for be-posting that. I've only read numbers 1 and 5 on that list. When I finish the game with John, I'll concentrate on my game with Erik for awhile, but I also intend to not take on another game for awhile, to give my mind time to relax, to spend some time doing other things, and to re-evaluate and make sure i'm not neglecting priorities. There's room in life for AE but it is a vampire that draws blood - and by late '44 and '45 the amount required is impressive.

Right now I'm finish Atkinson's Liberation Trilogy. I've read them in weird order - 3,1,2. Three (Guns at Last Light) is superb writing. One (An Army at Dawn) is very good (but not superb) writing. Two (The Day of Battle) is superb, at least through its first 50 pages. Atkinson is a master of describing the flow of complicated events through smoothly flowing narratives sprinkled with copious fascinating tidbits that give fresh insights to the immensity of what was taking place and to to the horrors and triumphs. He writes thick volumes about major history and never bogs down.

I teach an adult Sunday school class at my church. Each Christmas, the class gives me a Barnes & Noble card as a gift. I have about three now with balances remaining. To celebrate the end of the game with JIII, I intend to order a bunch of books from that list above. Reading and hiking are the best ways to spend time apart from AE (other than, may I say...procreating? I mean, that is the best way, right? I'm trying to be honest here. Perhaps I shouldn't. Unfortunately, the amount of time spent in that pursuit doesn't nearly match the amount of time spent with AE. But I digress).

[rkr1958]

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

Thanks, rkr, for be-posting that. I've only read numbers 1 and 5 on that list. When I finish the game with John, I'll concentrate on my game with Erik for awhile, but I also intend to not take on another game for awhile, to give my mind time to relax, to spend some time doing other things, and to re-evaluate and make sure i'm not neglecting priorities. There's room in life for AE but it is a vampire that draws blood - and by late '44 and '45 the amount required is impressive.

Right now I'm finish Atkinson's Liberation Trilogy. I've read them in weird order - 3,1,2. Three (Guns at Last Light) is superb writing. One (An Army at Dawn) is very good (but not superb) writing. Two (The Day of Battle) is superb, at least through its first 50 pages. Atkinson is a master of describing the flow of complicated events through smoothly flowing narratives sprinkled with copious fascinating tidbits that give fresh insights to the immensity of what was taking place and to to the horrors and triumphs. He writes thick volumes about major history and never bogs down.

I teach an adult Sunday school class at my church. Each Christmas, the class gives me a Barnes & Noble card as a gift. I have about three now with balances remaining. To celebrate the end of the game with JIII, I intend to order a bunch of books from that list above. Reading and hiking are the best ways to spend time apart from AE (other than, may I say...procreating? I mean, that is the best way, right? I'm trying to be honest here. Perhaps I shouldn't. Unfortunately, the amount of time spent in that pursuit doesn't nearly match the amount of time spent with AE. But I digress).

I'm impressed by all you do. Your time management must be incredible. By the way, I know where you can find an extra 5 to 6 hours a day to do what you want you really want to do (i.e., hike, read, procreate and play AE). Give up sleep. [:D]

[JohnDillworth]

[/quote]

I'm impressed by all you do. Your time management must be incredible. By the way, I know where you can find an extra 5 to 6 hours a day to do what you want you really want to do (i.e., hike, read, procreate and play AE). Give up sleep.

Your not going to want to hear this. I didn't. Dan doesn't own a TV

[rkr1958]

ORIGINAL: JohnDillworth

I'm impressed by all you do. Your time management must be incredible. By the way, I know where you can find an extra 5 to 6 hours a day to do what you want you really want to do (i.e., hike, read, procreate and play AE). Give up sleep.

Your not going to want to hear this. I didn't. Dan doesn't own a TV

[/quote]Wow ... now that explains a lot. That would be torture for me especially during college football season, especially when the Tide is on. [8D]

[Canoerebel]

Playing the game at work usually isn't counterproductive either. A man can only spend so many hours a day working with words before his brain fries. During the day, I take breaks to read or run or bike or play AE. On the flip side of that, I also tend to work over the weekends and sometimes at midnight or 3 a.m. Today, for instance, I've been working on a story about a woman who survived the Holocaust to marry a GI (her wedding dress was made of parachute silk) and a story about persecution of Mormons in Georgia. And I just returned from a 2.5-mile run I call the Hyper Mountain Goat, the steepest run I do. I love television (history, old movies, Atlanta Braves) but I enjoy these kinds of things more.

[Reg]

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

ORIGINAL: JohnDillworth
I'm not following. From here it looks like you lost the sea battle and John controls the waters around Fusan. How is this preventing John from bombarding you, evacuate troops from Fusan, engaging you in another see battle or all of the above? He won the battle, controls the field and you are not really in a psoition to contest that unless you send more ships in.

I have the advantage of looking at the map and seeing what's close by.

John's TFs were victorious but beat up. In two days, he lost 9 DDs. His two BBs are at least somewhat battered. His CA TF is in pretty good shape and is dangerous. I don't know what else he has out there. I suspect not much.

I have five good TFs at Moppo that re replenished and ready to go. They include two Commonwealth CLs and CA Baltimore. I have Death Star and it's strong combat TFs two hexes west. And I have about eight good TFs at Gunzan (and more at Shanghai). So sort of like the Union Army in 1864, I can feed big, fresh units into the front lines. John still holds that line at the moment, but I don't think he has the depth to maintain that control.

And what happens in three days when the Allied army arrives at Fusan? I think he's going to lose the base within ten days and then air cover becomes problematic for him.

If John has lots of strong combat ships in reserve, I may be wrong. I think I'm right. Let's see what the sea lanes look like in a week.

Friction CR, friction.

You used to use the term a lot earlier in this AAR. Heads up, you're doing OK.

[Canoerebel]

Sea power is only a small part of winning an AE match but it gets an oversized amount of attention. Yesterday's Naval Battle of Fusan was noisy and fun and costly for the Allies from a short-term VP standpoint. Now that I've worked with the next turn, however, I think it was rather marked Allied victory. It removed from action nine IJN DDs and at least one BB, possibly two. John could ill-afford those losses. I think (but I'm not sure) he'll have trouble replacing them at that point. The Allies lost a beautiful and valuable CB and two good CLs. But a vastly larger and more powerful fleet has come in to replace them. Unless I'm badly mistaken, the Allies should take control of the sea lanes around Fusan soon, possibly as early as tomorrow. That will have a major impact on the ground war and the strategic bombing campaign.

It also illustrates the difference between focus for the Allied and IJ player. That naval battle resulted in more passion and unrest than anything else recently and no doubt more "Banzais!" on the Japanese side. That's understandable. The IJ player loses control of the overall sweep and momentum of the war and must focus on stinging and ambushing and little ops that slow the slide to defeat. The Allied player, however, had better not focus too much on individual events lest he lose sight of the larger sweep of the game. As a game moves along there will be perturbations in the graphed line that represents the declining state of Japan. Some of those perturbations are positive (as in the defeat of John's AO/TK fleet three days ago that might've cost him well over 200 points) and others are negative (the air battle two days ago and the naval clash yesterday).

I don't get too excited about the good things or too alarmed about the bad ones, because it's the overall picture that is key.

But readers really seem to note naval battles while perhaps overlooking much more significant events. John probably lost 1,000 Army points in the past week, but little was said about that and similar events.

Let's see if my crazy prediction is right - that yesterday's naval clash proves to be an important Allied victory.

[Canoerebel]

Reg, our posts crossed "in the mail" (IE, I was typing and posting mine before I saw yours). We are thinking along the same lines.

[JohnDillworth]

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

Playing the game at work usually isn't counterproductive either. A man can only spend so many hours a day working with words before his brain fries. During the day, I take breaks to read or run or bike or play AE. On the flip side of that, I also tend to work over the weekends and sometimes at midnight or 3 a.m. Today, for instance, I've been working on a story about a woman who survived the Holocaust to marry a GI (her wedding dress was made of parachute silk) and a story about persecution of Mormons in Georgia. And I just returned from a 2.5-mile run I call the Hyper Mountain Goat, the steepest run I do. I love television (history, old movies, Atlanta Braves) but I enjoy these kinds of things more.

history, old movies, Atlanta Braves)

Funny thing about baseball. I actually enjoy it more on the radio. Maybe I know the game so well or have seen so many games but a good announcer (one who knows when to explain and when to pipe down) and a game on the radio in the car or when your doing yard work is really something special. As for the brain frying. I know this is true. I'm a software guy and I can tell you that a good programmer only has about 8 good hours a day in him. A couple of times a year some nitwit will come in and try and drive a deadline by making people work longer hours and it actually is counter productive. Errors go way up and you just pay on the back end.
I also have experienced "Museum Fatigue" . I thought it was just me but after a few hours of something really engaging my brain just can not absorb anymore. I recently attended the Michelangelo retrospective at the Met in NYC and it was huge. After 2 hours I was absolutely done. Stupid, fried brain done. The beauty, genius and practical ingenuity of this mans mind was just too much. Physical activity is a fantastic tonic and a terrific compliment to brain work. We are magnificent creatures. Our brains want to work. Our bodies want to work. Do both to live life to the fullest

[Canoerebel]

Huh. That's beautifully put, John.

I agree on baseball on the radio. I suppose I haven't watched a game in eight or ten years. But I listen to radio accounts of the games whenever I'm in my truck while a game is on, which is fairly often. Baseball via radio has a pleasing, relaxing rhythm that allows the listener to also do other things (paint a bedroom, build a porch, whatever).

[SierraJuliet]

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

Huh. That's beautifully put, John.

I agree on baseball on the radio. I suppose I haven't watched a game in eight or ten years. But I listen to radio accounts of the games whenever I'm in my truck while a game is on, which is fairly often. Baseball via radio has a pleasing, relaxing rhythm that allows the listener to also do other things (paint a bedroom, build a porch, whatever).

A little out of your ball park but a good radio commentary of the cricket has the same effect. It you have a liking for cricket of course. Typically one of the sounds of an Australian summer. A hot lazy afternoon with the sounds with the match humming away in the background. When I am on night work tuning into the BBC to catch the live report from the EPL games has somewhat the same effect.

[Lokasenna]

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

ORIGINAL: BBfanboy

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

Thanks. Those are encouraging words.

Neither John or I did things that might be natural under these circumstances - late in a game with one side powerful and the other side battered and reeling but able to strike. I'm not coasting to victory - I'm giving this everything I have and I'm still playing as though the game can continue indefinitely. I'm working supply lines in the Pacific and gathering troops at Ceram to invade Java and prepping troops in Korea to invade Japan. I want to win as soon as I can but I know that there are no guarantees. From John's standpoint, he's never given in or thrown up his hands. He's looking for ways to fight and parry and delay the inevitable.

As I mentioned yesterday, I do wish I could see the invasion of Java and Japan and do all the other things that are in the works. But at some point within the next couple of weeks (I think), the game is going to suddenly and abruptly end. That's going to be a shock. I bet I'll have more regrets than pleasure!

Now there's a question - if you do invade Japan and capture a city with industry, do you get strategic points for 'destroyed' industry, even if it is captured rather than destroyed? If so, you could reap a huge amount of points very quickly that way.

I don't know the answer to that, but I suspect you do not get credit for industry but only for the actual points value of the base. I'd love to invade Japan but hope the game doesn't last long enough to require or allow it. Does that make sense?

I'm pretty sure the answer is no.

[MakeeLearn]

But readers really seem to note naval battles while perhaps overlooking much more significant events. John probably lost 1,000 Army points in the past week, but little was said about that and similar events.

Dog bites man. [>:]
Man bites dog.

[MakeeLearn]

Sea power is only a small part of winning an AE match but it gets an oversized amount of attention.

That and the aircraft. Grunts get reduced to supporting role for the ships and the planes. Even in real life the grunts usually get the short stick. Sledge often brought up the lack of vegetables for front line soldiers, the ones that needed them the most. And that "supply difficulties" could have been dealt with to at least provide them every few days. From just physical stimuli, being subjected to almost constant explosions does a number on the digestive system. Even the explosions that were not threatening to you can still be felt. Peristalsis goes haywire. And then there is the mental stress on the body. All your senses begin to pick up static. As you eat the worst on the menu.

[Canoerebel]

5/1/45

A noisy, violent turn.

Korea: The Japanese are fighting to Dunkirk at Fusan; the Allies are fighting to take control of the sea lanes there. This results in a kind of meeting engagement with both sides accomplishing some of what they want.

You'll see from the map that a messy sea battle takes place involving minefields. John told me via email that more than 100 AK/AP Dunkirked troops despite the presence of so many Allied combat TFs (his CAs didn't intercede). I think he pulled out 35k men, leaving about 115k in southern Korea. I think Dunkirking is a mistake. While his army represents points, leaving them at Fusan gave me a complex problem - he could bombard unless I contested the sea lanes, and those sea lanes are tough with mines, not to mention his big airfields nearby.

My army should be up at Fusan in two or three days (if the good road goes all the way there - I can't tell from my map).

The rest of the IJ army in southern Korea is in a bad way.

Home Islands: B-29 raid hits Ominato airfield hard, destroying 240 aircraft on the ground (no CAP). Big sweeps easily take care of modest fighter numbers of Osaka. 2EB then hit the industry with modest success. Sweep of Nagoya scrubbed due to weather.

John still has lots of fighters at Fusan and at Singers. He can pull them back to the Home Islands and no doubt create lots of problems. But his air force seems to be steadily weakening.

[Canoerebel]

5/1/45

Singers: The attack takes place tomorrow. The intel branch of my service has me wonderfully uncertain as to the opposition my army will encounter.

[Canoerebel]

5/1/45

CenPac: This is who he is.

9/3/61, Sendai: While sitting nude in a sauna, Rear Admiral (Ret.) Yani Cokranseki organizes Inveterates of Foreign Seas.

[Canoerebel]

5/1/45

Air Losses: Two charts, the first organized by "On Ground" the second by "Air to Air."

B-29Bs destroy a lot of bombers on the ground at Ominato. The Shirigaku is a late war trainer, not a super weapon. I had to look it up on Google.

In a-2-a combat, John lost of most of the fighters over Osaka and I lost the Liberators over Fusan.

[BBfanboy]

The good road and RR do indeed go to Fusan.

Singers has been isolated for a long time and I don't think it has enough industry to feed what was there. I think the battle will have a supply malus for the IJA.