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RE: Of Rabbits, Dogs, and Windmills.........Quixote vs Ctangus

 
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RE: Of Rabbits, Dogs, and Windmills.........Quixote vs ... - 12/2/2012 5:54:31 PM   
Quixote


Posts: 773
Joined: 8/14/2008
From: Maryland
Status: offline 		January 28 through February 1

SRA - Captured Malang, and landed the 11th brigade at Semerang instead of further south, with the intent of moving it one hex across the island to take Djokjakarta. CL Sumatra shows up at Semerang and picks a couple of fights with my covering force, but neither side accomplishes much. Sumatra rudely sinks a minesweeper at Merak while running away. A few more sporadic air attacks from Chuck's LBA on Java, but most of his bombers get chewed up by CAP for very little in the way of results.

Phillipines - Clark falls. With the expected heavy casualties and disruption, the Allies fall back to Bataan for a last stand. Instead of pursuing directly with everything, I'm going to rest up a couple of my strongest land units in Manila, then attack. I'd like to avoid another protracted seige, so I'll try being a little patient - it shouldn't cost me any more than a week of time doing it this way, and it may save me from another four or five 1-1 attacks here.

Burma - Although I hadn't planned to send much here until Singapore fell, I railed in a few smaller units after the initial landings in Malaya. Two of those units (small armor) crossed into Pegu from the south a turn earlier than I expected (I tried to time them to get there at the same time as an infantry brigade coming across country from Chiang Mai and missed by a turn), but the Burmese troops were bad enough (and in move mode, I think) that I got a 1-1 despite being outnumbered 4-1 in AV. The infantry unit came in next turn, and Pegu is Japanese now. Not that I expected differently, but Rangoon doesn't look too heavily defended.

China - Threated with encirclement, Ctangus pulled his big stacks back from Sinyang and Hankow. Pity. He did manage to maul two of the armor units trying to encircle him on the way out, though. 2000AV vs 100AV isn't a very fair fight, even in China.

Solomons/South Pacific - Small CL skirmish at Luganville, but again not much damage inflicted by either side. My second attempt to take Horn Island went off exactly the same as the first one, despite bombardment by cruisers and a landing force three times larger than my original one. I'm now getting as much practice at withdrawing troops here as I am at landing them. Score a win for Ctangus at Horn so far. Following up on the small landing at Koumac, I'm bringing down enough troops to make a run at Noumea. They're covered by the KB, though, which Ctangus found out the hard way. I guess he has at least one CV not in San Diego, since he flew in the whole complement of one US carrier's planes to Noumea. They attacked, but not a single bomber made it through to the ships. Taken with a grain of salt, he lost 21 Buffaloes, 16 Vindicators, and 11SBDs - not a bad day for me, although watching the replay of any DBs or TBs attacking your carriers does get the adrenaline going.




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< Message edited by Quixote -- 12/4/2012 12:59:33 AM >

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Post #: 31
RE: Of Rabbits, Dogs, and Windmills.........Quixote vs ... - 12/4/2012 1:08:37 AM   
Quixote


Posts: 773
Joined: 8/14/2008
From: Maryland
Status: offline 		February 2 through February 6

China - Stabilizing a bit, but still messy. See below. I've taken enough casualties (my fault, aided by good play on Chuck's part) that I've bumped armament and vehicle production up a bit more. Ctangus hasn't gotten off too lightly in the casualty department, either. Win or lose, China still projects as bloody for both sides for a while.




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RE: Of Rabbits, Dogs, and Windmills.........Quixote vs ... - 12/4/2012 1:16:21 AM   
Quixote


Posts: 773
Joined: 8/14/2008
From: Maryland
Status: offline 		February 2 through February 6

Java - Couple of positives. 1. I've already taken a third of Java, and it's only February 6th. 2. I'm playing slightly better here than I am in China. I'm still taking more in the way of casualties than I'd like to, but I haven't really lost many planes or ships in the process. So far getting to this point has cost me one DD and one (I think) small AK. It's cost Ctangus most of the air units he had here, along with several more tankers, subs, and AKs, not to mention the Repulse.




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RE: Of Rabbits, Dogs, and Windmills.........Quixote vs ... - 12/4/2012 1:42:39 AM   
Quixote


Posts: 773
Joined: 8/14/2008
From: Maryland
Status: offline 		February 2 through February 6

Malaya - Singapore falls on 2/2. Lots of Allied losses. I don't think Ctangus got much out of Singapore before it fell. Most of his early shipping here went down in the first days of the war, and the couple of times I caught him trying to airlift into or out of Singers LRCAP intercepted him.

Burma - Rangoon falls on 2/6. Not many Allied losses, unfortunately. I've got a couple of tanks and an infantry brigade trying to flank what he still has left in the lower part of valley, but I don't have enough to really push hard here yet.

Phillipines - Luzon is down to Bataan, and on Mindanao it's Cagayan and Zamboanga. Zambo is due for an invasion next week - I think he's airlifted most of the troops out already, but he's still running search planes there. Ctangus is trying to send in single ship supply AKs (to Bataan and formerly Clark, I guess), but so far I've been able to pick them up and sink them (at least the ones I've known about) with the small SCTFs I've got guarding the straights just for this reason.




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RE: Of Rabbits, Dogs, and Windmills.........Quixote vs ... - 12/7/2012 5:27:19 AM   
Quixote


Posts: 773
Joined: 8/14/2008
From: Maryland
Status: offline 		February 7 through February 12

China - All the way to the south, a combined para drop/shock attack on Nanning fails miserably (relatively equal AV, attack goes off at 1-6.) My forces are unceremoniously evicted from the hex on the following turn. All the way up north, several smaller tank units and an infantry regiment savage the Chinese corps which was blocking supply to my far right flanking troops. Somewhere in the middle, the AVG racks up even more kills on defenseless bombers. This time, in a novel twist, my 29 fighter escort flew with the last of four waves of bombers, all of which were traveling exactly one hex from their airbase to the target. Level 6 airbase, same target, same altitude, all two engine level bombers, one hex of travel...25 more easy kills for the AVG. In a "be careful what you wish for" moment, I was almost dying to get to the point in the game where I get to be on the defensive end of these exchanges, but then I remembered that B-17s don't really need escorts. Oh well, the war goes on, albeit with fewer bombers.

Java - Madioen is taken without a fight. Ctangus appears to now be moving to consolidate his forces, but like in Malaysia I think he may be a little late. The first of the victors from Singapore came ashore on the 12th with the 21rst Division landing up north at Kalidjati. Artillery and an HQ will be joining it in another couple of turns. See below for the overall situation here.




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RE: Of Rabbits, Dogs, and Windmills.........Quixote vs ... - 12/7/2012 6:29:45 AM   
Quixote


Posts: 773
Joined: 8/14/2008
From: Maryland
Status: offline 		February 7 through February 12

Phillipines - The rested 65th Brigade and the 33rd Division make it to Bataan on the 9th, and the first deliberate attack goes off at 1-1 (1178-605...oh so close) - forts drop to level 2. I haven't been hitting any airfield supply in the past couple of turns, but he didn't suffer any supply penalty on the deliberate attack so he's not out quite yet. Since I'm probably close enough to being able take Bataan without having to wait for his supplies to run low, I'm just going to rest, attack, rinse, and repeat until it falls.

New Caledonia - While waiting for the combat engineers and some additional infantry to land, the units already on the island are taking their time marching to Noumea itself. (They've been in rest mode half the time while marching...) After Ctangus tried the move with his carrier planes attacking from Noumea, I drifted to KB around for a couple of turns off the island, never moving more than 3 or 4 hexes, just trying to make the two subs I saw down here have to guess where I'd be, and to give the impression that this was the only reason I was moving at all. On the 8th I moved them 4 hexes west, which looked the same as the moves I'd been making the past three turns, but which put the KB within a sprint of Brisbane and Sydney. I didn't really expect to find it, but I thought I'd take a stab at those ports in hopes of finding the CV that Chuck had flown those planes off of on the 6th. If I got lucky, great. If not, I hoped I'd end up hitting at least something worthwhile (see below.) Anyway, sinking 10 or so transports and denting some of his cruisers certainly won't win the war for Japan, but it's better than nothing. In another interesting twist, it looks like Ctangus flew a second set of CV bombers to Noumea (thank god for good recon - I saw they were there before they had the chance to attack any of my transports.) I sent the transports packing a few hexes to the north of Koumac, and put up a small LRCAP from Zuikaku. Splash another 25 or so Allied bombers for no loss. (They all flew with no escort. Recon with high DL showed a bunch of fighters present. Maybe he had them resting, or he flew them back off, thinking that all my CVs were at Sydney...who knows.) I know he has mines at Noumea, but he's had mines everywhere, so I think there may be few enough of them here to risk a bombardment from a couple of BBs. I'll probably wait until the KB gets back and my ground troops are ready to attack, though - I don't need to tempt fate too badly, and I'm making good enough time everywhere else on the map (except China) that I can afford to spend an extra day or two here.




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RE: Of Rabbits, Dogs, and Windmills.........Quixote vs ... - 12/8/2012 11:42:03 PM   
Quixote


Posts: 773
Joined: 8/14/2008
From: Maryland
Status: offline 		February 13 through February 16

China - I think we've established some ground rules for this game. Outside China, Quixote wins. Inside China, Ctangus wins. It would not be inaccurate to sum up the entire game this way so far. There are some exceptions, but they seem to be growing fewer in number. On the "what did I lose in China this time" question, after I managed to almost trap a large attacking force in Canton, Ctangus managed to pull out the entire force (temporarily, I'm sure) long enough to savage another entire Japanese division. I should probably start using PPs to buy each one of these guys out - I'm creating my own fire sale here...

Java - Is not in China. More Japanese forces have landed at Semarang, I pummeled his units trying to escape from Djokjakarta, and it looks like I'll suceed in cutting his forces in half and be able to deal with them piecemeal. All good stuff here.

Noumea - Is also not in China. Ctangus has lost 2CLs, a couple of DDs, and probably another CV worth of planes in the last couple of turns, and to add insult to injury I think I stand a good chance of taking Noumea away from him this coming turn, anyway. All this has been done with almost no loss on my part.




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RE: Of Rabbits, Dogs, and Windmills.........Quixote vs ... - 12/9/2012 4:56:51 AM   
Quixote


Posts: 773
Joined: 8/14/2008
From: Maryland
Status: offline 		February 13 through February 17

Noumea - The attack went off at 1-1 (exactly 1-1, 256 vs 256 adjusted), and the forts dropped from 3 to 2 (which is probably why I only got the 1-1 in the first place.) Combat engineers and additional AV are marching in from Koumac, so it should just be a matter of time. The CVs are going to try to close the airfield at Noumea, then retire. I only hit one mine at Noumea - CA Aoba took one for the team in the leading SCTF. No danger of sinking, but she'll join three or four of her sisters in drydock in the Home Islands, if she makes it past the subs rapidly gathering. I counted 6 around here last turn, but hey, at least I can see them...

Solomons - One of the only bases in or near the Solomons I don't own is Horn Island. Horn has already become it's own little microcosm of the war, and unlike most other theaters, Horn has seen successes and failures on both sides. I'm determined to take it sooner or later, but Ctangus is doing his best to make sure it's later. After running the turn on the 16th (see below), I decided to send in my cruiser TF to mix it up with Australia and Canberra next turn. The Air HQ is in place at Port Moresby, but I need one more turn before I can buy torpedoes, so I'm going to buy a little time with the cruisers (I hope) until LBA makes this area too dangerous for Chuck to reinforce. Even if I don't outright win the naval engagement, if I can damage Ctangus's CAs enough to slow them down then my Nells should be able to do the rest. My settings and TF commander look good, so we'll see how this plays out.




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RE: Of Rabbits, Dogs, and Windmills.........Quixote vs ... - 12/15/2012 6:53:34 PM   
Quixote


Posts: 773
Joined: 8/14/2008
From: Maryland
Status: offline 		February 18 through February 24

Phillipines - Forts are now gone at Bataan. One or two more turns of rest, and Luzon should be completely in Japanese hands. R&R for the victors in Manila, then probably off to save China before Chuck overruns the place.

China - Hasn't been that bad the past week. No new debacles. In the "insignificant but entertaining" category, Ctangus continues to use a small group of B17s to hit an even smaller group of tanks trying to flank him in the farthest remotes of north China. This has been going on almost every day for three weeks now with minimal effect on either side. My recon unit is going nowhere fast, but I'd still rather see his heavies here than elsewhere.

Burma - A few more units are starting to come ashore at Rangoon, but I still don't have much committed here yet. I've pushed north with a few tanks and two infantry regiments, but have stopped everywhere Ctangus has decided to defend. Apparently, he's decided to try to defend quite a bit. We have a house rule on crossing borders with restricted units, but Chuck already has a Chinese corps or two helping out the defense in lower Burma. Going to have to bring in a division or two of my own at this rate.

DEI - Java is all that's left of the DEI, and there really isn't much left of Java. My attempts to fragment his defense worked out almost perfectly. His decision to continue to try to defend from further invasions helped. He's down to one base, and even that's not very well defended. All of his remaining units are stuck outside of base hexes, on the paths or roads they were using to move from point A to point B, when point B was still Dutch and worth defending. Since he has no more 'point Bs' left that he can reach in time, 50,000 Dutch troops now scattered in pockets around the island are going to end up surrendering sooner or later without much of a fight.




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RE: Of Rabbits, Dogs, and Windmills.........Quixote vs ... - 12/15/2012 7:04:11 PM   
Quixote


Posts: 773
Joined: 8/14/2008
From: Maryland
Status: offline 		February 18 through February 24

Noumea - Koumac hit AF2 on the 20th, and has had a small group of Vals there since the KB retired. It's been quiet until the 24th, when Ctangus moved in a small group of ships. Since he moved his fighters and what was left of his carrier-based bombers out (I'm sure he doesn't want to get them captured on the ground in a shock attack), his ships had no cover. The attack didn't sink any troops, so I'm assuming this was an evacuaton force, but he's going to have a tough time evacuating much this way. The last attack only cost him one ship, but unless he's got a sizeable force ready to land and reinforce within the next day or two, Noumea is looking like a dead end for him.




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RE: Of Rabbits, Dogs, and Windmills.........Quixote vs ... - 12/20/2012 12:31:52 AM   
Quixote


Posts: 773
Joined: 8/14/2008
From: Maryland
Status: offline 		February 25 through March 1

Central Pacific - This theater has been very quiet since the opening week of the war. No Allied shipping or movement to speak of, and even sub activity has been minor at best. So surprise, surprise (or supplies, supplies ala Mandrake) Ctangus goes and bombards Tabiteuea with several of those US BBs he has to play with since I didn't hit Pearl Harbor. Since I didn't have many planes there I -

A) didn't spot him coming, and
B) didn't lose many planes in the bombardment.

He did wipe out most of the island's supplies, but that was about the extent of the damage. At this stage in the war, I'm not really expecting him to try and take anything here yet, but who knows. He does have assets, and if he thinks he knows where my carriers are he may elect to give it a shot. I could always take back almost anything he invades for now, but it would buy him some time and keep me occupied here when I could be making better use of my forces elsewhere.

Phillipines - Bataan falls. There is much rejoicing. Cagayan remains in Allied hands on Mindanao, and I still have to take Illiolo and Cebu, but these shouldn't last long. I'll use a few of the troops from Luzon as soon as they're rested and ready.

Java - The last base on Java falls (Buitenzorg). The Japanese are rejoicing, but I think the Dutch may be irritated. There are now four pockets of Dutch left, and two of those pockets never even fought or lost a battle. Since they have no bases and supplies now though, it's just a matter of time. I'd estimate that Java will be clear of Dutch troops in week, excepting the small group that retreated into a mountain hex with no road access. They'll probably end up as target practice for bomber pilots in training for a while. Christmas Island (IO) fell unopposed to paratroops, and is getting it's own base force next turn. Early recon (only one turn, and from Mavis float planes) shows the Cocos to be empty as well. Since I have a whole division prepping to take them, that operation could end up being a bit anti-climatic...

China - The last of my trapped forces (two regiments) by Nanning continue to erode, and will soon be guarding Tokyo when I buy the cadres back. On the plus side, I finally caught the AVG in a fight that was advantageous for the Japanese. I've had a large group of VERY experienced zeroes in Central China trying to pick a fight with the remaining AVG for a while now with no luck, since this is all I have that can now beat all those AVG double-aces (all those free bomber kills from earlier in the war hurt.) On March 1rst, I got him in a sweep over an impending land battle and took out a dozen or so of the AVG planes. I'm hoping that I got at least half of the pilots, too since his nearest base was 4 hexes away, but he had enough troops in range that I probably just unhorsed them for a bit.

Solomons/Noumea - Nighttime on the 25th, two US BBs show up at Noumea, presumably to bombard my troops, but end up running into a SCTF headed by a couple of my CLs and filled out with DDs. There was a lot of firing, but not much in the way of hits on either side. One of his BBs took a single torpedo and a few smaller caliber shells, but that's it. Daytime arrived, and Vals sunk (probably) two more AKs here. After a short stop for fuel and ammuntion, the KB turned back for Noumea to help finish it off. After making a pit stop east of Oz to sink a few Allied cruisers that were trying to help reinforce or resupply Horn Island, as of March 2nd they are now two days out from New Caledonia escorting what I hope is enough troops to finally take the island. Noumea is now down to fort level 1, but has been going more slowly than I had hoped.






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< Message edited by Quixote -- 12/21/2012 8:03:47 AM >

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RE: Of Rabbits, Dogs, and Windmills.........Quixote vs ... - 12/26/2012 10:21:49 PM   
Quixote


Posts: 773
Joined: 8/14/2008
From: Maryland
Status: offline 		March 2 through March 7

Solomons/New Guinea - Horn Island falls. Engineers are on the way there now to begin working on the forts and AF.

Java - The first few Allied troops have begun to surrender, but many more of them remain, mostly outside of Tjilatjap and Buitenzorg. Deliberate attack, bombard, repeat. I'm hoping they go away sooner rather than later, but even the 6-1 attacks haven't been causing incredible casualties yet so we'll wait for the odds to get higher as the last of his supply disappears and his disorganization mounts. I've got probably three and a half divisions worth of troops mopping up here that I'd like to use one last time before the landing bonus expires - It'll be close.

China - Not much change. I brought in 1000 AV at Shanghai and marched them down to Wenchow on the coast. I'm guessing it'll take me a week or two, but I should be able to pick up the base there. The "small" flanking manuever all the way up north in China seems to be drawing more troops from both sides as the days wear on. Everywhere else, there is minor back and forth, but no major pushes at the moment.

Burma - My small forces have been stopped along the Toungoo-Taung Gyi line. They are now waiting for the Imperial Guards, an HQ, and some tanks to break this line and push forward - probably in the next week.

Noumea - New Caledonia turned into a small meat grinder for both sides for a few turns. Ctangus landed paras behind me at La Foa to cut off my supply. I responded by landing my reinforcements directly at La Foa instead of walking them down from Koumac. Ctangus moved planes back in (both fighters and SBDs) despite the risk of losing Noumea to ground attack, and sank 6 AKs and a DD - most of them after they'd already discharged their troops, thankfully - then lost a bunch of his planes the same turn attacking a second TF of DDs covered by many more zeroes. The following turn, I ran BB bombardment group into Noumea hoping his planes would still be there, and launched a shock attack. Bonzai! A more costly operation for me than I'd planned for, but worth it for the Allied units I took out and for the time it should buy me later. That said, I really don't plan to defend the island heavily when he decides he wants it back in four or five months - I'll be content with trying to sink a bunch of transports and escorts with mines and dive bombers, and then pulling back to the Solomons.





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RE: Of Rabbits, Dogs, and Windmills.........Quixote vs ... - 1/3/2013 5:29:00 AM   
Quixote


Posts: 773
Joined: 8/14/2008
From: Maryland
Status: offline 		March 8 through March 20

I've been slightly delinquent with my updates during holidays, but this post should bring things current.

Phillipines - Cebu is now the sole remaining Alllied base in the P.I. I've got a regiment ashore here already, but am waiting on a second regiment to land before taking the base. Ctangus still has those good old Stearmans operating out of here, so they have about two more turns of spotting for subs left in them, then it's curtains.

Java - The last of the Dutch around my bases surrendered, leaving just a few troops stuck in the mountains with a regiment of IJA infantry keeping them company until they disappear. As of the March 20, all three Japanese divisions on Java are all at Batavia resting up and waiting to load themselves onto transports.

New Caledonia - I picked up one or two more dot bases close to Noumea, and started fighter sweeps against Norfolk Island. Subs torpedoed and sank CL Concord near Norfolk between the 14th and 15th. Norfolk Island has a garrison of around 4000 troops, but the AF is still level 1, and Ctangus hasn't had much time to mine it since Noumea fell. I believe I have enough assets in the vicinity to take it, but I'm not sure I'm quite ready to yet.

Central Pacific - It's been a ghost town since Ctangus sent some of the old Pearl Harbor BBs to bombard Tabiteuea. Except for the recons that have flown over Tabiteuea since then. It's only a guess, but I have a feeling that Chuck is looking for someplace to put his old BBs to good use, and that the Gilberts area, even this early, might just be it.

Rangoon - Funny how a full IJA division will change things (every place but in China, anyway.) The stalemate in Burma has now been broken, and Ctangus is in retreat. Toungoo fell on the 17th, and Magwe was taken (uncontested and in perfect shape) on the 20th. As of the 20th he's still moving backwards, so we'll see where he choooses to make his last stand in the Irrawady Valley.

China - Holy cow, I made some modest progress here without suffering any major setbacks. Wenchow and its industry fell to the IJA on the 18th, inflicting 300+ destroyed Chinese squads/devices, and I managed to whittle away at the AVG again in the air near Nanchang that same turn. Since I was blocking roads at Wenchow, his survivors were forced to retreat in an unfavorable (for Ctangus) direction. I may now be forced to tempt fate and push on to Chusien...

Indian Ocean - Port Blair seems to be set up very nicely as a roadblock to Japanese I.O. expansion, boasting almost 20,000 troops and a level 4 airfield. My soon to be expiring amphibious bonus aside, Port Blair also makes a very tempting target. I've already run a couple of fighter sweeps, using some of the best pilots and planes I have in the game, but with only mixed results. The first time was a tie (which makes it a loss for me), while the second time I won with a 4-1 kill ratio. Current fighter play notwithstanding, this will be a major operation when I decide to pull the trigger. Nearby at Trinkat, I landed a base force to secure the dot base and to pick up an advanced position for my search aircraft. Somewhat to my surprise, Ctangus had a Brit CV covering Port Blair from the rear, and its torpedo bombers were more than happy to sink a few of my happless AKLs. Alas, these things happen, but no great loss. Until I forget to re-route my follow-up TF the next turn, and lose another three AKs to the same CV group. Not exactly stellar play on my part here...











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< Message edited by Quixote -- 2/25/2013 5:25:35 PM >

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Post #: 43
RE: Of Rabbits, Dogs, and Windmills.........Quixote vs ... - 1/14/2013 11:59:53 PM   
Quixote


Posts: 773
Joined: 8/14/2008
From: Maryland
Status: offline 		March 21 through April 10

Between work and actually playing the game, I've fallen quite behind with the AAR. In the past three weeks of game time, we've had several unilateral CV strikes, significant movement in Burma and China, a few minor invasions, and two major invasions. Picking up where I left off, right after the fall of Noumea I split the KB. Half went to cover an invasion of Midway, while the other half went to cover an invasion of Port Blair. I'll do a post for each theater to bring things back up to speed. We'll start with the Indian Ocean.

Airfield attacks and sweeps on Port Blair started on 3/21. Minesweeping started on the 25th, and abruptly ended later that day when a Brit CV TF showed back up and sank a pair of AMcs. Japanese carriers waiting (for several turns) off of Sabang hoping the Brits would return, and into the fray they went on the 26th. The Brit CVs were clouded in, so the Japanese carrier planes attacked a BB group instead, putting a torpedo each into BB Ramillies and BB Resolution, sinking an AMC, and damaging a couple of CLs. The following turn, my CVs stayed in the vicinity of Port Blair while Ctangus pulled his CVs back towards India. No CV engagement.... On the 3/27, a small Allied CL TF sank a couple of DMS at Blair. Chuck also ran a heavier SCTF into Blair (looking for the invasion forces, I guess), and on it's way out BB Warspite took two torpedoes from a Japanese sub. When the sun came up, Warspite took three more torps from Kates and went down, along with a group of 6 AKLs too slow to flee from the CVs. On the 28th, three IJA divisions came ashore at Port Blair, capturing it two days later causing over 13,000 Allied casualties. Things then quieted down for several turns, except for one sub attack on CV Formidable just outside Trincomalee. Only one torpedo hit, but there was a "Fuel Storage Explosion" message. She showed up next turn on my Sunk Ships list, but I didn't really believe it. I decided to take my CVs and raid Trinco to see if I couldn't finish Formidable off in her damaged state. Ctangus spotted a SCTF one turn away, but not the CVs, so I elected to send in the raid anyway. There was no Formidable in port, but CVL Hermes was there, and so took the bulk of the raid. Unfortunately, with that one turn of warning I gave Chuck (or maybe they were there already), Ceylon had every Brit TB in the game waiting for me. Five different raids came in on the half-KB, four of which were swatted away. I wasn't so lucky with the fifth one, though, as he put several torpedoes into both Kaga and Junyo. Four turns later both are still floating. They're now headed slowly back to port, being hunted by every sub Chuck can muster and supported by every piece of ASW I can give them. We'll see who wins this one in four or five more turns....




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< Message edited by Quixote -- 2/25/2013 5:21:40 PM >

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Post #: 44
RE: Of Rabbits, Dogs, and Windmills.........Quixote vs ... - 1/15/2013 6:16:18 AM   
Quixote


Posts: 773
Joined: 8/14/2008
From: Maryland
Status: offline 		March 21 through April 10

Cent Pac - Ctangus continues to show interest in Tabiteuea. Recons are frequent if not daily, and he's run a couple of BB bombardment TFs in. As the Japanese CVs are busy elsewhere, I decided to reinforce the island with a Naval Guard unit. Unfortunately, both my timing and my luck were terrible. I had the Guard unit loaded onto two AMCs, and I ran them into Tabite purposely during daylight hours, so that even if Chuck bombarded that turn I'd miss his forces. As it happened, Chuck did bombard that turn. Per his email, he also miscounted hexes, so his BBs ended up hitting during the second phase - right after they sank my entire reinforcement TF. Sigh...

On a larger scale, Japan invaded Midway. Subs reconning the island on and off for weeks reported just two units present. Two days before my air strikes were to begin, APDs were spotted in transit to Midway, so literally the day before my attacks began Chuck shipped in another defending unit.... Air attacks began on 3/27 from four Japanese CVs (Akagi, Zuikaku, Hiryu and Soryu) and ran for three days. Landings took place on the 29th, following a large bombardment by Japanese BBs. The results were beyond pathetic. I had one negative combat modifier, Ctangus had five. Straight AV was 152 to 83. Adjusted AV was ZERO to 52. Mind boggling. (My one negative modifer was disruption - looking at the landing results disruption wasn't too bad.) The attack thus went off at 1-99, and I pulled my landing forces back the next turn and headed for Kwaj. I've had a few good dice rolls in the game thus far, but Midway certainly was not one of them...




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(in reply to Quixote)
Post #: 45
RE: Of Rabbits, Dogs, and Windmills.........Quixote vs ... - 1/15/2013 10:17:27 AM   
Empire101


Posts: 1950
Joined: 5/20/2008
From: Coruscant
Status: offline 		Good job on Port Blair Quixote!!

I have a very similar problem in my game ( similar numbers at PB ). You took it in two days!!
Banzai sir!! Well done.

Its a shame you did'nt have a couple of spare Div's for Midway.

Are you planning to invade Ceylon and deny ctangus Trinco and Columbo?


I shall be watching with interest the saga of Kaga & Junyo.....I hope you get them back to drydock.

_____________________________

Our lives may be more boring than those who lived in apocalyptic times,
but being bored is greatly preferable to being prematurely dead because of some ideological fantasy. - Michael Burleigh


(in reply to Quixote)
Post #: 46
RE: Of Rabbits, Dogs, and Windmills.........Quixote vs ... - 1/16/2013 1:44:05 AM   
Quixote


Posts: 773
Joined: 8/14/2008
From: Maryland
Status: offline 		Thanks Empire. Good luck with Blair in your game as well. With Midway, unfortunately we're playing Scenario 1 - I don't have too many spare divisions lying around quite yet. I'll make sure to update the AAR when Kaga and Junyo either make port, or when they make a terrific target for one of Ctangus' subs. As to your question about invading Ceylon, I'm strongly considering it. I have units prepping (one or two over 50 already) for this, but I haven't completely decided to pull the trigger yet. I'm still mulling a move on Calcutta for the HI, and might do this in lieu of Ceylon.

March 21 through April 11

New Caledona - Most of the action here (real action, anyway) has been by Ctangus. With the KB split and headed to different areas, I still wanted to keep Chuck's attention on this area - making him think I would soon to be going after Norfolk Island, Fiji, etc. For several turns, I had many small AKLs running around Noumea, along with a dozen CAs and CLs with DD escort. Recons taking pictures of Norfolk, the occasional fighter sweep, etc. On March 22nd or 23rd, one of my subs just north New Zealand was spotted by an SBD, and I decided it was time to get the more valuable actors out of harms way. All but one of the cruisers headed back to the Solomons. I left CA Kinugasa with two DDs to keep things interesting, and on the 24th they raided Norfolk Island. A small surface skirmish with some Allied CLs took place there, but nothing decisive. When the sun came up though, Ctangus struck. He had two or three full US CVs (hard to tell with the losses he took at Noumea - I'd guess three CVs, but who knows) parked off of Noumea, and they promptly sank Kinugasa in the morning, then hit Noumea in the afternoon. Since everything else big was gone, Chuck ended up bombing a couple of DDs and PBs with all his planes. Since they're tough to hit, he ended up hitting very little - I think he sank one DD and damaged a couple of PBs. From his emails, I know he was pretty disappointed by the strikes, but I don't think he realized that he did get to attack the best ships I had here, but that they purposely weren't very good. Knowing for sure at this point where his CVs were on the other hand made me a lot more comfortable with my decision to split the KB, and more confident in my pending attacks on Midway and in the I.O.

Burma - As of last turn, Burma is mostly Japanese - only one non-dot base left to take. See below.




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< Message edited by Quixote -- 1/27/2013 2:53:53 PM >

(in reply to Empire101)
Post #: 47
RE: Of Rabbits, Dogs, and Windmills.........Quixote vs ... - 1/21/2013 3:56:36 AM   
Quixote


Posts: 773
Joined: 8/14/2008
From: Maryland
Status: offline 		Two things. First, Kaga and Junyo made port two turns ago. Screenshot below, looks like both will live to fight another day which makes the raid semi-worthwhile. Second, Ctangus lives in Boston. I live in Baltimore, which is perfect if you happen to follow football, since the AFC Championship game was today. We had a "Lobster vs Crabcake" bet. I believe I just won a lobsta', though since we had no weight limits established this may end up being a crawfish. Either way, go team, go! Any AARs mirroring Baltimore vs San Fran? I'll have to check them out if so.




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< Message edited by Quixote -- 1/21/2013 3:57:20 AM >

(in reply to Quixote)
Post #: 48
RE: Of Rabbits, Dogs, and Windmills.........Quixote vs ... - 1/27/2013 3:25:38 PM   
Quixote


Posts: 773
Joined: 8/14/2008
From: Maryland
Status: offline 		March 21 through April 27

China - Last major theater to catch up, but China updates are easier to look at over a period of weeks rather than daily anyway - you get more of a sense of flow and progress (see below.) I pulled some forces from the Nanyang area and brought in a few of the Phillpines troops to supplement a push through Central China, taking Wenchow, Chusien, then moving aside some of the resistance to finally put a division into Changsha. All the circled Chinese units are now either low on supply, have been routed at least once, or both. The 17K near Chusien have been completely enveloped. Just south of the Changsha block of cities, I've got 1000+AV cutting the rail and road to Kukong and contemplating a shock across the river to the north. On the northern part of the map, Ctangus went on a cross-country trip with 150,000 of the troops he had near Ichang to cut off my units just off map at Ankang. I threatened his supply line (I had enough to break through and take Ichang if he did nothing) so he turned the stack around and is headed back to the cover of those woods. Almost every bomber in China has been harrassing him on the way, and I've got a stack of 1600AV trying to catch up to his stragglers - I'm hoping to catch at least a couple of corps. Off map, he now has Ankang surrounded, but I've got the supply and forts to last long enough (I think) to mount a relief effort. His first (and only) attack there went off at 1-2 with no reduction in the fort level.




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(in reply to Quixote)
Post #: 49
RE: Of Rabbits, Dogs, and Windmills.........Quixote vs ... - 1/31/2013 3:17:15 PM   
Quixote


Posts: 773
Joined: 8/14/2008
From: Maryland
Status: offline 		State of the Empire - May 1, 1942

We're now more or less five months into the game, and neither of us has managed to lose the war quite yet. Japanese progress has slowed (somewhat intentionally) everywhere but China the past couple of game weeks. The Allies at Little Andaman were eliminated, Akyab is now filled with Japanese troops ready to march north along the coast, and all the small bases on the north coast of Oz have been occupied (leaving only Darwin for now) but that's been it outside of China for the month of April. Inside China, things have really picked up. Changsha is now threatened from the rear, Nanning has a sizeable force headed its way from Indo-China, and Hami to the north fell on May 1. Took a while to get moving here, but things are starting to look much better. As China was the one area of the game where Ctangus had been doing relatively well, I think this has demoralized him just a bit (and it may get worse, since I don't think he knows about the troops two hexes from Nanning yet...) but such is the fate of the Allies in the early going. I'll post some additional shots of shipping losses and victory points etc. later this evening, but here's a map of how things stand as of now.




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< Message edited by Quixote -- 2/5/2013 11:06:01 PM >

(in reply to Quixote)
Post #: 50
RE: Of Rabbits, Dogs, and Windmills.........Quixote vs ... - 2/1/2013 3:06:38 AM   
Quixote


Posts: 773
Joined: 8/14/2008
From: Maryland
Status: offline 		May 1, 1942






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(in reply to Quixote)
Post #: 51
RE: Of Rabbits, Dogs, and Windmills.........Quixote vs ... - 2/10/2013 1:03:30 AM   
Quixote


Posts: 773
Joined: 8/14/2008
From: Maryland
Status: offline 		May 2 through May 10

Central Pacific - After reinforcing Tabiteuea, I'm feeling comfortable with defenses in the Gilberts and Marshalls for this stage of the game. Just to keep Ctangus on his toes, I've started pushing out again and taking dot bases that I don't have much interest in defending, but which may serve as small tripwires when it becomes his turn to attack. One of these raids paid off with the elimination of a squadron of PBYs which had been flying recon on Tabite from an atoll nearby. At some point Chuck may decide to react (before I start taking Baker, Canton, etc.), but the fact that none of my CVs has been sighted in the past 25+ turns has probably been adding to his reluctance to commit here.

Aleutians - There's been no action in this theater at all since the second day of the war. On a very small scale, I've started to move forward with some completely expendable assets here, too - again just to keep Chuck on his toes.

Australia - I have the equivalent of roughly two divisions currently at sea, en route to Wyndham. Half of them will make port in the next day or two. No sense landing at Darwin when I can take it from behind with far fewer losses, and maybe capture a unit or two in the process. I've been bombing Darwin at will for a while now, and Ctangus seems to have pulled most of his search assets back. I'm not sure that he knows I've finally started to commit here yet.

Burma/India - Japan has worked it's way up the coast and taken Cox's Bazaar. The Brit division that had been the garrison at Cox's elected to withdraw instead of sticking around to fight the three incoming Japanese divisions. Akyab should be AF4 in a few more turns (and already has an Air HQ), and Cox's Bazaar should have a working AF1 within about the same time frame. Slow and steady here, until I decide to change gears.

China - The way I read things, China is ready to start really paying off after some early frustrations. Unless Ctangus has reserves that I haven't caught a whiff of, the Allies look to be on the receiving end of a rather large breakthrough in the not to distant future. How far back they'll manage to re-establish an effective defense remains to be seen.




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(in reply to Quixote)
Post #: 52
RE: Of Rabbits, Dogs, and Windmills.........Quixote vs ... - 2/21/2013 3:18:15 AM   
Quixote


Posts: 773
Joined: 8/14/2008
From: Maryland
Status: offline 		May 11 through May 18

Unfortunately, the game is now proceeding more slowly than the real war. I think we've managed two turns in the past seven days (with none in the last four days.) Ctangus tells me his work schedule has really ramped up (good for him in this economy, especially considering he's self-employed), and that he'll only be able to manage between 2-4 turns per week for the next few months. I'll post this update through May 18 (our current date in game) and another one in two or three weeks provided we continue creeping along.

CBI - At the India border, airfields at Cox's Bazaar and Akyab continue to grow, with more supply and support arriving daily, uncontested by either Allied sea or air. In northern Burma, one Japanese division is nearing Myitkina, the last Allied non-dot base in the country. Just across the border in China, another Japanese division with artillery, armor, and HQ support crosses the river and shocks Paoshan, lowering forts and achieving a 1-1. Two or three days of game time (or a week or two of real time) and Paoshan should be in Japanese hands.

Oz - Two divisions worth of troops landed at Wyndham and are now marching along the trails headed east in an attempt to take Darwin from behind. Wherever else Ctangus is thin, it doesn't look to be northern Oz. Recon of all his bases north and south along the Tennant-Darwin stretch show multiple defenders at every base. I have paras ready to go down here, but it doesn't look like I'm going to get too many good chances to use them.

CentPac - Nothing of consequence. I gobbled up 6 or 7 more small undefended bases and dot-bases with no response from Chuck, and moved one or two of my scout planes out a little further, but this is as far as I'll go. If he opts to try for Tarawa or Tabiteueau early, I should at least be able to see it coming a day or two ahead of time now.

China - China is still shaping up nicely. See below.




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(in reply to Quixote)
Post #: 53
RE: Of Rabbits, Dogs, and Windmills.........Quixote vs ... - 3/11/2013 7:28:09 PM   
Quixote


Posts: 773
Joined: 8/14/2008
From: Maryland
Status: offline 		Unfortunately, I think this game is now officially dead. Since Chuck's email three weeks ago indicating that he needed to slow the game down to between two to four turns per week, I've heard nothing else from him. I think 3+ weeks of silence is enough time that I can safely assume that he's done, which is too bad. Ctangus may not have been the craftiest player in all WitP, but he was/is a nice guy with a good sense of humor, and was fun to play with. Anyway, things happen, and I hope he's OK. On the bright side, although I was hoping it was going to be another year or two in coming, I guess I'm safe reading his AAR now. Chuck is the first guy I've ever played who did one, and I must admit that I've been dying to take a look ever since we started the war. After that, I guess it's back to the drawing board, and maybe another PBEM a few weeks down the road.

(in reply to Quixote)
Post #: 54
RE: Of Rabbits, Dogs, and Windmills.........Quixote vs ... - 3/11/2013 8:25:12 PM   
Rapunzel


Posts: 141
Joined: 4/20/2005
From: Germany
Status: offline 		What a shame. It was a good game.

(in reply to Quixote)
Post #: 55
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