Schlemiel
Posts: 154
Joined: 10/20/2011 Status: offline
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Full disclosure I do read both threads, but haven't read Rader's since this second invasion so I have no idea what he did or planned, this is all speculation on my part based on what Grey has said. There might be some exceptions, but you can strat move into a contested hex, but you may not strat move out, even if you own all the hexsides. I had this problem in China with the rail bottleneck near kaifeng in my first ai game. My troops were blocking the Japanese at the railroad junction and, in fact, had them surrounded, but when I tried to strat move units through the rails, they would get stuck in this hex and have to be switched to move mode to get out. If I remember right, you had your blocking force at Hirosaki, which would prevent strat units there or in Onimato from reaching you, though they could rail in from the south (a more likely spot for rail reserves anyway, imo). Since you believe the units came directly from Hachinoche, I presume they must have come in move mode, and must have been moving that direction before the landing for some reason. Entering in move mode might have tripped the -ops for defenders that first turn and they would be completely combat ready the second. Barring some clause I"m unaware of, they would not be able to strat move from a hex with your units in it. That said, it could be a combination of the two with a strat reserve railed in while other units moved out of Hachinoche. I don't plan to parse the combat reports of both battles like you presumably have. I've got no real idea if a breakthrough is possible if you keep up the naval and air pressure, but if it were me, I would probably not pull my units out unless something really drastic changes. As people have said, they will build organic forts and will be forced to be in clear terrain against your armor. Do you believe Rader has enough and is willing to commit enough of his strategic reserve in the HI to attempt to throw one of these attacks into the sea? If not, you've effectively tied down a very large amount of his forces in a place they are potentially subject to naval and air bombardment in a clear hex and will be burning supplies. You get to tie down a large chunk of his land assets while having further opportunities to maybe attrit his carriers and other naval assets, as well as putting his airframes at risk for a Tokyo style bombing if they attempt to intervene too closely. That said, some bad dice rolls or odd bugs may have cost you your best early opportunities at each beachfront. Such is the cost of war, and it's unfortunate that the only one to require a replay ended up much worse for you than the original Hachinoche landing. Interested to see how this plays out.
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