RE: A Road Less Travelled

RE: A Road Less Travelled (Full Version)

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zuluhour -> RE: A Road Less Travelled (9/11/2013 12:48:47 AM)
I'm reading both and I complimented him some time ago about his attitude. I wish more of the experienced AFBs would offer advice or at least commiserate with him. In ones first AAR it can be easy to imagine yourself on an island in a sea of your own pixel blood.[:D]

Quixote -> RE: A Road Less Travelled (9/11/2013 3:13:58 AM)
Zuluhour, I assume from your post that he isn't getting a lot of advice, or even sympathy. That's too bad - he's a very likeable guy. He really hasn't made any huge errors yet, just minor ones (and we all make our share of those), but if he wants to avoid auto-victory he's probably going to have to do a little better than just not making mistakes for the next year. He's going to have to fight back and make an impact, even though it's still 1942. You're right - some experienced advice might be welcomed. FYI, Cannonfodder isn't new to PBEM. (I wouldn't have chosen anyone even remotely new to AE to play this type of game against. I waited probably two months before deciding on an opponent.) Cannonfodder did a couple of AARs before this one, but since he was considerably better and/or more experienced than both of his opponents, those AARs didn't last very long. Until we started this game, I get the impression that he was never really challenged much in a PBEM. I've more or less looked at it as my job to change that.[:)]

desicat -> RE: A Road Less Travelled (9/11/2013 3:24:57 AM)
I'm not sure if any advice would have helped up to this point. Not many players have seen an opening like this and with the way the DEI's fell there really wasn't much he could have done. Points are currently being made in India and China, with the latter being the only theater where he can put up much of a fight. The trick here is going to be how CF can leverage the undamaged US Pacific Fleet and his CV's (both US and RN) to either take back some VP bases or destroy some IJN assets.

Quixote -> RE: A Road Less Travelled (9/11/2013 3:42:55 AM)
Agreed. When you look at the game from a victory point standpoint though, all the targets Cannonfodder can realistically expect to take and hold right now are very low point value targets. He could take back Wake, Tarawa, Tabiteueau, and all of the Aleutian Islands and it would amount to a drop in the bucket. His losses doing this would probably outweigh his gains. He's going to be stuck trying to either: A - Do major damage to my fleet, without losing too much of his own fleet, or B - Taking back at least one high value target (Ceylon, Calcutta, New Caledonia, etc.) also without taking outrageous losses. Tough assignment there...

Quixote -> RE: A Road Less Travelled (9/11/2013 7:37:53 PM)
January 29 - February 1, 1942 Oz - Massive battle at Port Hedland, where a 5AV Japanese base force is going to to toe with a 4AV defending base force. (Recon showed this to be empty. We'll see if a small naval bombardment and one air attack will be enough to tip the scales, or if I'll have to divert an SNLF.) Java - Malang captured on the 31rst. The Japanese are now marching on Soerbaja, but it looks like the Allies are leaving the city in a hurry and heading north - presumably to Batavia. China - Up north, Lanchow is taken, and the tanks continue to roll. In central China, Cannonfodder found adequate forces to block both the Japanese push from Ichang and the push from Sian headed west towards the central plain. Both Chinese positions are in good terrain and have significant AV. Looks like he's starting to get at least some of China stabilized after a rocky start. South Pacific - One turn after saying that Cannonfodder would need to start fighting back more and sinking some of my ships, the crafty bugger sent a small SCTF into Luganville. I've been running mostly fast transports into Luganville, Efate, and Koumac for the past week or two, and any of those would probably have done OK against some Allied DDs. Unfortunately I sent in some regular xAKs with a PB escort a turn or two ago. Alas, I'm out about 60 points worth of shipping now. My fault for getting lax, and well played by Cannonfodder in taking advantage of it. Indian Ocean - Landed at Diamond Harbor against the 6" CD guns, but there weren't many additional Allied units backing them up. A fairly painless landing this time - not much damage across the board, and maybe only one xAKL that will be lost outright. Japan dropped two different airborne units in conjunction with the landings. See below. [image]local://upfiles/29916/6D2EEB5063B041C7B88CB7D972B2FABF.jpg[/image]

desicat -> RE: A Road Less Travelled (9/11/2013 10:53:05 PM)
quote: He could take back Wake, Tarawa, Tabiteueau, and all of the Aleutian Islands and it would amount to a drop in the bucket. His losses doing this would probably outweigh his gains. Of course to avoid a Jan 43 auto victory so long as he loses assets at less than a 4:1 VP rate he would be actually gaining ground.

Quixote -> RE: A Road Less Travelled (9/12/2013 1:19:58 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: desicat quote: He could take back Wake, Tarawa, Tabiteueau, and all of the Aleutian Islands and it would amount to a drop in the bucket. His losses doing this would probably outweigh his gains. Of course to avoid a Jan 43 auto victory so long as he loses assets at less than a 4:1 VP rate he would be actually gaining ground. If he could realistically do this, then you'd be correct. Let me put it in perspective, though. In our current game, the base points for Wake, Tarawa, Tabiteueau, and the five Aleutian islands Japan hold right now total 18 points. Think as the Allies that you could take them all back for even four times this amount? Lose even four decent xAPs to mines, CD guns etc. and you're already in the hole...

Quixote -> RE: A Road Less Travelled (9/13/2013 8:49:17 AM)
February 2-4, 1942 Java - Soerbaja falls on the 3rd. Cannonfodder appears to be consolidating his remaining forces around Batavia - no great surprise here. India - Calcutta falls on the 4th. Half the units in Calcutta moved out the same turn I moved in, heading west to Howrah to gang up on the trapped 1rst Raiders, I assume. The remaining units in Calcutta retreated east. Japanese units are in pursuit of both. At this point it looks like Cannonfodder is doing his best to strat move all his units out of upper Burma before they get trapped there. Smart play, and there's not much I can do about it right now. I'll just have to settle for the troops left in the Irrawady valley and on the trails heading north. Miscellaneous - The engine pool for the Nakajima 35 surpassed 500 several days ago, so there's one R&D bonus down. Production has been re-started on the Zero and Oscar Ic. Zero pools were still good, but the Oscar Ic pool was empty. The Mitsubishi 32 bonus will take another two weeks at the rate I'm going. The R&D for the George/Frank engine is fully geared up and has already advanced a month. The engine itself should be in production by June '42. Bought out a divsion from Manchuria on the 2nd, which is now in transit to Luzon. When it arrives, the siege there will start in earnest. Also bought out all of the small engineering units in Manchuria. These guys are extremely inexpensive in terms of PPs, and since Japan doesn't have Seabees it never hurts to start using the few engineers they do get sooner rather than later.

Quixote -> RE: A Road Less Travelled (9/15/2013 4:19:23 AM)
February 5-10, 1942 China - The north has been completely overrun by the Japanese. Sining and Lanchow have both been taken, and a few tank units will continue mopping up the remaining Chinese bases farther north. The rest of China has stabilized somewhat, and reorganization has started for stage two. On the 7th, Japan did lose its first (albeit small) battle in China when hordes of Chinese from Henyang heading flattened a single IJA regiment that failed to get out of the way quickly enough. Calcutta - Modest expansion in the area. See the picture below. The only item of note is that the railroad from Burma to India has been cut. No easy way out any longer for Allied troops still stuck there. Java - Steady progress towards Batavia/Bandoeng. Recon indicates that Cannonfodder has split his defense between these two bases, but since I don't have the AV needed here to lay siege to even one of them right now, I'll worry about this later. Oz - Progress south has stopped at Daly Waters. The Japanese have no designs on Tennant Creek, so this is likely as far as they'll go. To the west, Japan won the tiny battle for Port Hedland, and the rowboat corps dutifully rowed inland across the desert to take Corunna Downs shortly thereafter. [image]local://upfiles/29916/C184B13AC40841D9B9BF37A660B27E77.jpg[/image]

Cap Mandrake -> RE: A Road Less Travelled (9/16/2013 3:28:47 PM)
February already and San Francisco is still red, white and blue? Bah!

Quixote -> RE: A Road Less Travelled (9/16/2013 7:33:56 PM)
February 12th, 1942 * [image]local://upfiles/29916/A9A2A5D4043E40209625591945522A58.jpg[/image] (*An historic day for Japan)

Cap Mandrake -> RE: A Road Less Travelled (9/16/2013 9:40:55 PM)
It must be very satisfying to be the Head of Diego Garcia! Sure, Singers is nice but Diego Garica is sublime this time of year before the sand fleas hatch,

Quixote -> RE: A Road Less Travelled (9/17/2013 3:45:23 PM)
February 11-17, 1942 India - Along with conquest of Addu Atoll, Madras was taken by the Imperial Guards in an amphibious operation on February 14th. Further east, the Allied remnants from Calcutta and Diamond Harbor are completely wiped out by bombers and tanks, and Dacca is captured on the 17th. Near Bombay, Cannonfodder finally got a unit to Goa to probe the Japanese base there. As there were only 50 or so Japanese troops left at the base, Goa was predictably recaptured. Burma - Meiktila and Magwe are taken. Oil facilities at Magwe are completely intact. Sumatra - Cannonfodder had turtled up at Sabang, which at AF1 wasn't a threat offensively, but was a great place to base Allied search planes to spot what was heading into and out of the IO. Since it was about time for the IJN carriers to leave the IO, and since I didn't want Cannonfodder to see them doing it, Sabang was taken on the 11th. Most of the Japanese CVs began transitting the Straits towards Singapore the following day. Kaga and one CVL were left behind. They were sent to Columbo to be spotted (already done), and to keep him guessing. Java - Nothing exciting, but the march north (west) continues. Semerang and Djakarta are now Japanese. South Pacific - Cannonfodder ran another one or two surface/bombardment groups into the Efate/Luganville/Noumea triangle. No surface combat took place, and the lone bombardment (at Efate) was largely ineffective. quote: It must be very satisfying to be the Head of Diego Garcia! Sure, Singers is nice but Diego Garica is sublime this time of year before the sand fleas hatch Diego Garcia - Sunny and warm [:)]. (and very few sand fleas...)

zuluhour -> RE: A Road Less Travelled (9/18/2013 2:55:31 AM)
Quixote, Have you ever heard of SP (as in a sch. in Md.)

Quixote -> RE: A Road Less Travelled (9/18/2013 4:54:38 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: zuluhour Quixote, Have you ever heard of SP (as in a sch. in Md.) If by sch. you mean school, then I assume you're talking about St. Paul's? If so, then sure I've heard of it. I knew one or two girls who went there back in the day (though for me "back in the day" is now getting to be a long while back...)

zuluhour -> RE: A Road Less Travelled (9/18/2013 11:21:27 AM)
'78. Your avatar was our year book cover in like '76 or so.[;)]

Quixote -> RE: A Road Less Travelled (9/21/2013 5:46:28 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: zuluhour '78. Your avatar was our year book cover in like '76 or so.[;)] I've always liked that sketch. (And you have a terrific memory if you still remember what was on the cover of a yearbook back in the 70's. I frequently forget what I had for breakfast by noon...)

Quixote -> RE: A Road Less Travelled (9/21/2013 5:50:39 PM)
February 18-26, 1942 China - Japanese troops are one hex from Hami up north with no resistance left in sight. In mid and south China, the reorganization is almost done. Round 2 should start in 3 or 4 more turns. Phillipines - The first attack at Clark went off at 1-1 (not bad), but failed to reduce the forts (only level one, but they stayed at level one despite ample combat engineers. ) Two or three more turns and we'll try again. India - More very modest expansion. No blitzkrieg here. I don't really plan to take much more in India (and nothing else with a garrison requirement), but I don't want it to look like I've stopped expanding quite yet. I do plan to invest all of northern Burma from the Calcutta side, though. Indian Ocean - Just to keep Cannonfodder honest, the Kaga paid a visit to Karachi (came close to paying a visit, anyway.) The Japanese CV TF got within 17 hexes before spotting a convoy outbound from Karachi to Aden. At that point a fair number of Allied xAPs found their way to the bottom of the sea, and Kaga showed up spotted. Would have been nice to have hit the convoy on its way in, but the overall result wasn't bad, and this should make him more hesitant up there going forward. [image]local://upfiles/29916/14F4534C3EC44D6298D27565ED71BAF0.jpg[/image]

zuluhour -> RE: A Road Less Travelled (9/22/2013 2:49:22 PM)
Still reading both and I must say you guys went to the cool school of AAR graphics. Kudos. Easy, easy to follow and fun. Interesting IJ garrison requirements, I saved for future. It also made me sand box the Australian requirements as that is of pressing concern to me.[;)] ps. In regards to my memory, it seems there are very detailed portions and vast gaps.[:D]

Quixote -> RE: A Road Less Travelled (9/22/2013 4:43:41 PM)
quote: ps. In regards to my memory, it seems there are very detailed portions and vast gaps. [:D] It's too early in the morning in Maryland to be drinking and laughing out loud, but I'm doing both at the moment.[:'(]

Quixote -> RE: A Road Less Travelled (9/22/2013 4:47:54 PM)
March 1-6, 1942 Phillipines - Clark falls with the usual massive Allied casualties on March 5th. Down to just Bataan now. IJA troops started the march to Bataan on the 7th. India - Two or three more small bases taken, one towards Delhi, the rest towards the oil at Ledo. South Pacific - Japan has been heavily reinforcing the Efate/Luganville/New Caledonia triangle this week. While he never actually spotted them, I'm guessing Cannonfodder still knows that a good part of the KB is present since every one of his (many) subs in the area were spotted by dive and torpedo bombers over two or three turns. Java - The Dutch are down to the five western-most bases. Japan now owns two thirds of the island. China - Reorganization for Phase Two completed on March 3rd, and the troops started rolling again the next day. It's still too early to count chickens perhaps, but both new offensives look to have caught Cannonfodder at least somewhat by surprise. See below. [image]local://upfiles/29916/AE14990BB8A0489484C79EE6732616F5.jpg[/image]

pontiouspilot -> RE: A Road Less Travelled (9/24/2013 6:51:03 PM)
I have been following both AARs....I'm trying to figure how I would as Allies cope with this! I take it from your comments above you are not going after Karachi or bombay. Why stop, from your perspective?

Quixote -> RE: A Road Less Travelled (9/24/2013 10:05:12 PM)
quote: I take it from your comments above you are not going after Karachi or bombay. Why stop, from your perspective ? You are correct. I don't plan to take (or try to take) either Bombay or Karachi. It may still be possible to take one of them at this point, but not both. Without both though, I don't think it's worth the investment. Taking just one right now (Bombay) would be expensive and time consuming, and even if I succeeded I might not be able to hold it until autovictory in 1943. Unless you commit to parking the KB in the Indian Ocean for the rest of the year, you can't prevent Allied buildup from getting through (and if the KB did stay here, how long do you think Japan would hold places like Noumea, Luganville, Wake, etc?) With the position I have now, I can still reinforce Madras and Calcutta without interference from the Allied navy (lots of torpedo-carrying Netties on Ceylon make sure of this.) Any fighting will take place over my bases, not his, so pilot losses should work in my favor. Tojos should be flying by the time he tries pushing, so I don't think there's any way he can get even local air superiority over me in 1942 here. Without any Allied air or naval support, I don't think he can take either city back. In this situation, he almost has to clear out Ceylon first. It's my goal to make that a very expensive thing to do. As for why I'm not taking the rest of India, that's simple. If I took it, I'd have to garrison it.[:(] Look at the garrison requirements not just for the picture I posted above but for the whole country, and you'll see what I mean.

pontiouspilot -> RE: A Road Less Travelled (9/24/2013 11:35:39 PM)
I agree. I do think MKB is enough to keep buildup well checked. I take an MKB to be as good as the Brit carriers available until '43.

zuluhour -> RE: A Road Less Travelled (9/25/2013 12:00:14 AM)
Quixote, your a monster.[;)]

Quixote -> RE: A Road Less Travelled (9/25/2013 1:33:39 PM)
quote: I agree. I do think MKB is enough to keep buildup well checked. I take an MKB to be as good as the Brit carriers available until '43. I haven't seen an Allied carrier yet this game, Brit or otherwise. For all I know he could be operating them all together in the Central Pacific, or have the Brits pulled back to Capetown. If they were all at Capetown right now, that could interesting, but you're right - I don't really have to worry much about the Brits by themselves quite yet. quote: Quixote, your a monster.[;)] Rawr. [:)]

Quixote -> RE: A Road Less Travelled (9/25/2013 1:35:46 PM)
March 7-10, 1942 India - Cannonfodder seems resigned to Japan grabbing anything they want here right now except for major cityies, so not much is being defended. He did move in hordes of Blenheims to bomb and harass the lead elements, though, and they've been busy the last couple of days. I'm going to cap an advance along a rail line in northern India next turn, since he's been sending the bombers in without escort thus far. China - The reorganization seems to have worked nicely. Both new offensives appear to have taken Cannonfodder by surprise. Realizing that his forces were likely to be trapped there, Cannonfodder began pulling out of the Changsha area on March 8th. Changsha is now an open city. [image]local://upfiles/29916/69EFFE44CF0F460B92D580197585FA02.jpg[/image]

Quixote -> RE: A Road Less Travelled (9/25/2013 1:36:58 PM)
March 7-10, 1942 South Pacific - Cannonfodder hadn't tried a bombardment or a surface raid down here in two or three weeks. On March 8th, he changed that by sending a detroyer squadron into Luganville. His TF was spotted approaching, so Japan cleared out everything but the covering force and waited. Got an even better result than I expected. Ashigara will need a little yard time, but otherwise a clean sweep. [image]local://upfiles/29916/AF0313BA67064E0BA920AB0DDB357763.jpg[/image]

zuluhour -> RE: A Road Less Travelled (9/27/2013 12:00:00 AM)
Bad Cannonfodder [sm=fighting0056.gif][:D] I've had good success at night thus far in my current game. Only losing one contest due to a direct hit to a magazine on the Australia in the opening salvo. The Long Lance really came through for you here. If the IJN fires a dozen I usually see one hit. That result would hit me hard as I really crave destroyers for all kind of duties throughout 1942. Ramble ramble...

Quixote -> RE: A Road Less Travelled (9/27/2013 3:31:51 PM)
March 11-16, 1942 India - I overextended a bit, and Cannonfodder made me pay for it. The Japanese regiment that captured Benares had been repeatedly bombed by Blenheims (my LRCAP did succeed in shooting down a bunch of Blenheims, but not before they disrupted the heck out of that regiment), then he sent in a Brit armor unit to cross-river shock. Japan was sent packing with its mangled regiment, and Benares retaken by the Allies. Even if I don't plan to hold any of this area, I'll still have to commit a bit more in the way of air and ground here to prevent this from happening again. Good play by him. South Pacific - Having noticed a lot of activity and multiple Allied TFs at Norfolk Island, the KB decided to pay a visit. The Allies lost a few more cruisers and destroyers, but nothing essential. (Cannonfodder seems to be taking it in stride. Zuluhour may be crushed by the news, though. [:'(]) I was hoping for troops, or one of the old BBs from Pearl, but no dice. China - The entire Changsha pocket is now Japanese, and the rout continues westward from the pocket. Cannonfodder was forced to pull back the large stack blocking the Ichang-Changsha road, so Japanese forces are advancing along this axis now, too. In the mountains by Sian, the single Japanese division left to block in the mountains held against an attack by 3000+AV worth of Chinese troops. (He did pull off a 1-1 though, so I may reinforce just a bit.) [image]local://upfiles/29916/F55D8C0045E34493BE0B64F847473A36.jpg[/image]

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