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Canoerebel -> RE: Notes from a Small Island (5/17/2018 3:29:10 PM)
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9/18/44 to 9/28/44
This game is a real chess match with alot going on behind the scenes and forces moving in proximity and little things happening here and there. It's a great deal of fun, but because so much is behind the scenes, I figured that the show wasn't particularly mesmerizing for Ye Peanut Gallery. In fact, for many turns, I could simply refer to the 9/17/44 strategic map posted above, and say, "Ditto." The would be the truth insofar as what I want to present, but it's far from the whole truth. What's going on is tense and significant and requires about 10,000 clicks per turn. The quiet may end with the next turn or may continue for another six or seven turns. So I may resume posting or remain "in the shades" until the appropriate time.
NoPac: Erik hasn't attacked since the initial onslaught at the first of the month. Allied 4EB finally returned to Shikuka and hit Onnekotan pretty hard yesterday. Tomorrow, moonlight will be 96% and a ton of enemy shipping - riff-raff and probably big stuff - is just of the SE cape of Sikhalin Island. It could be a probe but I think 50/50 Erik comes full bore. My "relief force" isn't quite in place yet but it isn't too far away. A lot will happen in the not-too-distant future.
About three days ago, I think I caught wind of Erik's carriers moving SW from Hokkaido, as though bound for the Pacific through the Sea of Japan - as though perhaps sniffing out Allied activity around Marcus Island or in order to slip unseen up the Japanese east coast in preparation for what's coming.
The war almost surely will be won or lost in NoPac in the next two weeks. If the Allies prevail at sea, I should be able to prosecute future operations in good position. If the Allied navy gets hammered, I may never get this show rolling properly. I feel pretty optimistic given the strength of the Allied naval OOB, but this could turn on die rolls or weather or clever use of game mechanics (LRCAP, follow, tolerance levels, etc.).
Burma/China: House Rules violation! Oops. I forgot there's a HR prohibiting strategic bombing in China. Some Allied 2EB and 4EB from Ledo scored two hits against Light Industry. Erik politely pointed out the HR, so I am back on the straight and narrow. Memory violation! I have various units feinting moves to create movement dots that leave Erik a bit uncertain as to what's happening where. I forgot to stand down one stack before it crossed a river against a large Japanese stack. I was fortunate that outright losses weren't large - mostly disablements. Allied bombers have been working against Toungoo and a second IJ stack to the SW. The impact has been fairly small but Erik has employed his fighters a few times - twice they've run afoul of Allied fighters that performed very well. The ground war remains stalemated in Burma but the Allies have done well in the air (no doubt because so much of his best stuff is at Hokkaido).
Australia: There was a fun kind of "race to the Bridge at Remagen" event. A small Aussie armored squadron was due to withdraw in 30 days, so I used it to move against empty bases west of Darwin, hoping to pick up as many of the bases as possible before the unit vanishes. The unit picked up Wyndham, moved over the desert to take Nookanbah, made it to Derby...and with two days remaining will make Broome tomorrow. To the west, a small Allied amphib op took vacant Esperance. Additional units are moving overland and should begin arriving on scene soon - one unit is just a few days from vacant Kalgoorlie. Allied fast transport also managed to handle a successful invasion of unoccupied Saumlaki. Erik responded by sending in a CL/DD bombardment TF. So this is apparently across his "line in the sand."
Pacific: I've cleaned up all the vacant dot bases in the Marshalls and Solomons.
No I shall slip back into those fabled shades of yore for a few hours or few days.
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