RE: Solitaire game starting late '42

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RE: Solitaire game starting late '42 - 7/28/2021 7:14:03 PM

EUBanana

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I'm gonna try and give packing Sicily a chance, I mean... it's a board game, you gotta play by those rules, and that's what everybody is telling me to do.

It's gonna take 2 turns though, at least. i suppose when winter arrives it'll happen quickly enough.

It's mildly annoying though as I think if it was more a war sim than a board game I'd probably be trying a 1943 D-Day about now as I'm pretty sure there's enough force to manage it now. But I guess I'll try and form the Italian Social Republic instead.

Anyway.

Jul/Aug 1943. Axis lose intiative, but then get a reroll and gain it.

Italy/Germany take air actions. The airforces are big enough now that using the ones you get as a land action, isnt really working so well anymore. Also, there's so many HQs around I'm hoping to maybe get some cheap reactivations, but that's not exactly planned per se.

So a giant wave of aircraft bombs the hell out of the Eastern Front. The Soviet airforce is about equal in size now, fighter wise (but way less bombers). And challenge every bombing run. I think it's about even in the air, but the dice are surprisingly merciful to the Germans and pilots in general, as almost no aircraft are shot down.

So plenty of bombing to hopefully open it up for a land action.

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RE: Solitaire game starting late '42 - 7/28/2021 7:16:55 PM

EUBanana

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And some more...

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RE: Solitaire game starting late '42 - 7/28/2021 7:17:54 PM

EUBanana

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BLAM

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RE: Solitaire game starting late '42 - 7/28/2021 7:18:51 PM

EUBanana

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And some more...

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RE: Solitaire game starting late '42 - 7/28/2021 7:20:04 PM

EUBanana

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Even Sevastapol gets good and strafed...

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RE: Solitaire game starting late '42 - 7/28/2021 7:29:24 PM

EUBanana

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As mentioned almost the entire Soviet airforce was used to counter that, but not a lot really happened in the air, everybody got to live another day.

Also the Italians put up all their NAVs over the Italian coast and the Germans put their usual Bf110 assistance, the CW put a Mosquito interceptor over the transport fleet. But they didn't find each other anyway.

The Japanese meanwhile take a naval move but its quite a restrained one - setting up convoy escorts, moving a TRN carrying Yamashita from Singapore to the China Sea, and a GARR from Japan to the China Sea. Also a single BB moves a MAR-div to Truk from Rabaul (Rabaul itself has a division garrisoning it but the rest of the Solomons is empty of land units). A couple of aircraft rebase to the Philippines.

Again the Japanese kinda want to save oil.

Kesselring and Guderian reorg a bunch of bombers.

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RE: Solitaire game starting late '42 - 7/28/2021 8:49:11 PM

EUBanana

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Lots of naval moves from the US/CW but its mostly boring stuff, the Med gets covered with fleet, the Atlantic does too. Trying to move materiel to Sicily basically far as Europe is concerned.

One more daring move. In the Solomons 1 MAR is stuck on Tarawa because I thought, idiotically, that it might be useful to garrison it. Well, no, Tarawa is worthless, only the atolls on the borders of sea zones are really worth anything, and Tarawa is unsuppliable at the moment.

But an entire MAR corps is valuable. And an invasion is also... at least not bad, right? And the Solomons has now been ringed by ground based fighters.

So this is one part rescue mission, one part invasion. Question is to the Japanese simply attack it, from the 4 box, or attack something else.

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RE: Solitaire game starting late '42 - 7/28/2021 9:21:38 PM

Courtenay

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quote:

I'm gonna try and give packing Sicily a chance, I mean... it's a board game, you gotta play by those rules, and that's what everybody is telling me to do. It's gonna take 2 turns though, at least. i suppose when winter arrives it'll happen quickly enough.

One thing you can do is fly your strat bombers in England at extended range and land them in Italy. They will reorganize before the garrisons are calculated.

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RE: Solitaire game starting late '42 - 7/28/2021 9:29:07 PM

EUBanana

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Courtenay

quote:

I'm gonna try and give packing Sicily a chance, I mean... it's a board game, you gotta play by those rules, and that's what everybody is telling me to do. It's gonna take 2 turns though, at least. i suppose when winter arrives it'll happen quickly enough.

One thing you can do is fly your strat bombers in England at extended range and land them in Italy. They will reorganize before the garrisons are calculated.

Mm that's pretty nice idea, and there's certainly a lot of them.

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RE: Solitaire game starting late '42 - 7/28/2021 10:45:29 PM

EUBanana

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American subs from Eniwetok attack the Japanese in the China Sea again, and are seen off by the naval air, again.

I was hoping for more getting a sub base up reasonably close, than perhaps I got. Though Japan has so few spares even one good attack would be devastating.

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RE: Solitaire game starting late '42 - 7/28/2021 10:52:13 PM

EUBanana

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Then the Italians are unwillingly brought into a naval air combat in the Mediterranean. I say unwillingly, because the Uhu has not yet been deployed. But the Allies of course roll a 1. The Italians have no luck. And actually engage the Axis aircraft quite deliberately rather than avoiding combat, wanting to abort them ideally before the Uhu lets them devastate the carrier air.

The Italians for their part decide not to back down, which would sacrifice the turn essentially, and press on. And get cut to ribbons like every time before. But they got some more coming at least.

Be much nicer if the Uhu was there but... it only deployed this turn, so is one impulse behind. Maybe I should've waited.

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RE: Solitaire game starting late '42 - 7/28/2021 10:54:22 PM

EUBanana

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AA even aborts the last bomber, so the Italians bolt is shot and missed again. Unless an HQ reorgs for another go I suppose.

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RE: Solitaire game starting late '42 - 7/28/2021 10:57:16 PM

EUBanana

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The Allies are having a pretty good turn in general. That exposed German armour is still exposed, price of that air action. And there is a Shturmovik in range.

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RE: Solitaire game starting late '42 - 7/28/2021 10:58:03 PM

EUBanana

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I see how you rail move factories now. Right click. :(

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RE: Solitaire game starting late '42 - 7/28/2021 11:03:10 PM

EUBanana

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Germans prove far too cocky leaving that ARM there... white print or not.

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RE: Solitaire game starting late '42 - 7/28/2021 11:06:09 PM

EUBanana

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Chiang's airforce is getting quite large again, and the weather is good in the communist area. So it looks like he might get to try being Mao's airforce again for a while, though the Japanese have not neglected the IJA air units.

Though the Philippines has them busier than normal.

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RE: Solitaire game starting late '42 - 7/29/2021 7:57:04 PM

EUBanana

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Jul/Aug 1943, Impulse #3, weather is nice except for southern China (South Monsoon?).

Axis go. Do or die, this might be Germany's last chance, the situation seems pretty good ish, the enemy is softened as much as they are going to be. The last o-chit they probably will have gets used.

In the same vein I think it's actually going to be the Japanese's best shot right now. The US isn't building many CVs, it's true (major screw up on my part as FDR, but Japan isnt building any. They are still going to end up outnumbered. And the US is mass producing everything else, especially air power. So... whatever. They will use an o-chit too, on a naval move, and just seek Decisive Battle in the Solomons. As its only going downhill from here.

Question is... how on earth do I use the naval o-chit. The books are so massively unclear on the actual UI (quite clear on the rules of WiF). Not seeing how you allocate rerolls to fleets... at all. right click, de nada.

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RE: Solitaire game starting late '42 - 7/29/2021 8:42:00 PM

EUBanana

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uh... what???

I want the rerolls. But... how?

That looks like unfinished code to me.

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RE: Solitaire game starting late '42 - 7/30/2021 12:14:39 AM

cfinch

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side note: stuffing Sicily i wasn't trying to be too a-historical. once significant (overwhelming?) force was there IT had had enough (after losing most of their territories and sicily and lower half of the boot...)and figured there are enough allies to protect us to at least some degree

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RE: Solitaire game starting late '42 - 7/30/2021 9:43:07 AM

EUBanana

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quote:

ORIGINAL: cfinch

side note: stuffing Sicily i wasn't trying to be too a-historical. once significant (overwhelming?) force was there IT had had enough (after losing most of their territories and sicily and lower half of the boot...)and figured there are enough allies to protect us to at least some degree

Yeah I did mull over it, Italy really did split into two, Germany really did have to send commandos over to rescue Il Duce, I assume that sort of situation is what the rules are trying to reflect. It doesn't bother me too much. I'm not really a huge stickler for 'historicity' anyway to be honest, probably not compared to most who post on these boards anyway.

Didnt' play it last night as I was wondering what this naval o-chit business is about. looks like it hasn't been implemented. So Japan won't be able to go entirely all out. It's probably a terrible use of an o-chit anyway, search rerolls.

This is probably quite an ahistoric situatin right now, the US should really have a lot of CVs in the pipeline but due to my own incompetence and not noticing the ticking clock they only will get very modest reinforcements. so the IJN seeking mutually assured destruction is probably a damn good move for Japan right now. I'm thinking the Commonwealth might have to send some junk carriers to the Pacific or something. Or the final bit in the Pacific is going to be some weird, navy-scarce battle of B17s and naval air only.

I guess when the US is on that 10 point income as they are for much of the game, thats when you should pumping out CVs. Instead I was pumping out naval transports.

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RE: Solitaire game starting late '42 - 7/31/2021 2:50:06 PM

cfinch

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can't be everywhere, with a lot of transports you can threaten much and then go where they ain't... and if jp split forces over time you can dog pile on some location and maybe hit them in parts with your main force e.g. small forces protecting convoy lines - overkill maybe but over time the CLs etc need to be replaced by "something" and that takes from the main jp forces
and, i am no expert so this may be bad idea, piling subs and main force into an area is going to make even a cv heavy jp force concerned and naval battles are part luck

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RE: Solitaire game starting late '42 - 8/1/2021 11:57:12 AM

EUBanana

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Alright lets get this show back on the road.

Given the naval o-chit does not exist, I redid the turn so Japan gets their offensive back. I guess I'll have to use it in China or something, still, its a lot to waste on a missing feature.

They basically do as before. They challenge the Solomons sea zone with the Kido Butai and LBA. Yamato and Kongo raid the stormy Marshalls where US convoy cruisers are. And a couple of BBs go to the Coral Sea to challenge the old junkers, which is actually a bad idea but I've already clicked next phase so we'll see.

The US should've done this after an air action to adjust LBA, so as it is some of their LBA is slightly out of position to cover the Solomons. Eniwetok and such. The Japanese have mountains of LBA in comparison. But they do have a Hellcat, which is better than anything Japan has.

The Axis roll a 10, and the Allies roll a 1.

I would avoid combat but with such an extreme roll, the US is compelled to engage without all their possible LBA.

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RE: Solitaire game starting late '42 - 8/1/2021 12:00:19 PM

EUBanana

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mmm, should've put down more fighters for the US I think...

But they seem bomber heavy in the CVA.

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RE: Solitaire game starting late '42 - 8/1/2021 12:06:36 PM

EUBanana

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The Hellcat does an amazing job of escorting bombers through but eventually a lucky roll and its shot down.

And then the slaughter on both sides really commences, but the US manages to shoot down a lot of the LBA.

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RE: Solitaire game starting late '42 - 8/1/2021 12:09:52 PM

EUBanana

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The last Nell LBA is shot down by AA fire, so Japan's advantage in LBA turns out to be for naught. (Shades of the Mediterranean here, LBA really has not dominated navies in this game I feel).

Japan rolls abysmally for AA and doesn't abort or shoot down anything, 3 less factors though.

End result of the Battle of the Solomons...

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RE: Solitaire game starting late '42 - 8/1/2021 12:11:59 PM

EUBanana

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Big E is sunk right away...

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RE: Solitaire game starting late '42 - 8/1/2021 12:14:38 PM

EUBanana

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Japan rolls a lot better on defence, so despite the 'battle' going somewhat worse for them until the bombs start dropping it looks like the end result is Enterprise for Shokaku.