Slitherine

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ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

Thanks. Those are encouraging words.

Neither John or I did things that might be natural under these circumstances - late in a game with one side powerful and the other side battered and reeling but able to strike. I'm not coasting to victory - I'm giving this everything I have and I'm still playing as though the game can continue indefinitely. I'm working supply lines in the Pacific and gathering troops at Ceram to invade Java and prepping troops in Korea to invade Japan. I want to win as soon as I can but I know that there are no guarantees. From John's standpoint, he's never given in or thrown up his hands. He's looking for ways to fight and parry and delay the inevitable.

As I mentioned yesterday, I do wish I could see the invasion of Java and Japan and do all the other things that are in the works. But at some point within the next couple of weeks (I think), the game is going to suddenly and abruptly end. That's going to be a shock. I bet I'll have more regrets than pleasure!

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ORIGINAL: BBfanboy

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ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

Thanks. Those are encouraging words.

Neither John or I did things that might be natural under these circumstances - late in a game with one side powerful and the other side battered and reeling but able to strike. I'm not coasting to victory - I'm giving this everything I have and I'm still playing as though the game can continue indefinitely. I'm working supply lines in the Pacific and gathering troops at Ceram to invade Java and prepping troops in Korea to invade Japan. I want to win as soon as I can but I know that there are no guarantees. From John's standpoint, he's never given in or thrown up his hands. He's looking for ways to fight and parry and delay the inevitable.

As I mentioned yesterday, I do wish I could see the invasion of Java and Japan and do all the other things that are in the works. But at some point within the next couple of weeks (I think), the game is going to suddenly and abruptly end. That's going to be a shock. I bet I'll have more regrets than pleasure!

Now there's a question - if you do invade Japan and capture a city with industry, do you get strategic points for 'destroyed' industry, even if it is captured rather than destroyed? If so, you could reap a huge amount of points very quickly that way.

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They include two Commonwealth CLs and CA Baltimore.

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ORIGINAL: HansBolter

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ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

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ORIGINAL: HansBolter
We are dying to know if Halsey survived the sinking of his flagship....

Yes, Halsey survived. He's aboard CA Baltimore at Moppo. Should I continue to use him? He didn't run rings around the Japanese TF but he fought hard and did pretty well.

Personally, Arliegh Burke is my favorite surface combat TF commander. I'd give him a shot at the next round.

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ORIGINAL: BBfanboy

Apparently the CBs were very good AA vessels (less crowded AA armament and directors than the Baltimores) and were very maneuverable. They could stick with their CVs through the evasive maneuvers during an air attack (usually posted ahead or astern the CVs).

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ORIGINAL: rkr1958

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ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

Hey, John.  I thought of you a couple of days ago.  This time last year, you persuaded me to read "With the Old Breed."  I did so over the course of several days including once or twice at quiet outposts on a nearby mountain.  (Reading outdoors is one of my secret "vices.")  Got any other recommends?

Obviously I'm not John and this is 4 1/2 years after you asked but I do have several recommendations. I too got around to reading, "With the Old Breed" by Eugene Sledge. I've seen HBO's mini-series, "The Pacific" and "Band of Brothers" a half of dozen times each. I read Eugene's book last summer after rewatching the, "The Pacific". I highly recommend the following books which I read last Summer and Fall (2016).

(1) "With the Old Breed" by Eugene Sledge.

(2) "Helmet for my Pillow" by Robert Leckie.

(3) "Islands of the Damned" by R.V. Burgin (Burgin was Eugene's squad leader).

(4) "You-ll Be SOR-REE!" by Sid Phillips (Sid and Eugene were best friends and grew up together in/near Mobile, AL).

(5) "Band of Brothers" by Stephen E. Ambrose (I shift now to the ETO)

(6) "No Surrender" by James J. Sheeran

(7) "The Liberator" by Alex Kershaw

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ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

Thanks, rkr, for be-posting that. I've only read numbers 1 and 5 on that list. When I finish the game with John, I'll concentrate on my game with Erik for awhile, but I also intend to not take on another game for awhile, to give my mind time to relax, to spend some time doing other things, and to re-evaluate and make sure i'm not neglecting priorities. There's room in life for AE but it is a vampire that draws blood - and by late '44 and '45 the amount required is impressive.

Right now I'm finish Atkinson's Liberation Trilogy. I've read them in weird order - 3,1,2. Three (Guns at Last Light) is superb writing. One (An Army at Dawn) is very good (but not superb) writing. Two (The Day of Battle) is superb, at least through its first 50 pages. Atkinson is a master of describing the flow of complicated events through smoothly flowing narratives sprinkled with copious fascinating tidbits that give fresh insights to the immensity of what was taking place and to to the horrors and triumphs. He writes thick volumes about major history and never bogs down.

I teach an adult Sunday school class at my church. Each Christmas, the class gives me a Barnes & Noble card as a gift. I have about three now with balances remaining. To celebrate the end of the game with JIII, I intend to order a bunch of books from that list above. Reading and hiking are the best ways to spend time apart from AE (other than, may I say...procreating? I mean, that is the best way, right? I'm trying to be honest here. Perhaps I shouldn't. Unfortunately, the amount of time spent in that pursuit doesn't nearly match the amount of time spent with AE. But I digress).

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I'm impressed by all you do. Your time management must be incredible. By the way, I know where you can find an extra 5 to 6 hours a day to do what you want you really want to do (i.e., hike, read, procreate and play AE). Give up sleep.

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ORIGINAL: JohnDillworth

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I'm impressed by all you do. Your time management must be incredible. By the way, I know where you can find an extra 5 to 6 hours a day to do what you want you really want to do (i.e., hike, read, procreate and play AE). Give up sleep.

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Your not going to want to hear this. I didn't. Dan doesn't own a TV

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ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

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ORIGINAL: JohnDillworth
I'm not following. From here it looks like you lost the sea battle and John controls the waters around Fusan. How is this preventing John from bombarding you, evacuate troops from Fusan, engaging you in another see battle or all of the above? He won the battle, controls the field and you are not really in a psoition to contest that unless you send more ships in.

I have the advantage of looking at the map and seeing what's close by.

John's TFs were victorious but beat up. In two days, he lost 9 DDs. His two BBs are at least somewhat battered. His CA TF is in pretty good shape and is dangerous. I don't know what else he has out there. I suspect not much.

I have five good TFs at Moppo that re replenished and ready to go. They include two Commonwealth CLs and CA Baltimore. I have Death Star and it's strong combat TFs two hexes west. And I have about eight good TFs at Gunzan (and more at Shanghai). So sort of like the Union Army in 1864, I can feed big, fresh units into the front lines. John still holds that line at the moment, but I don't think he has the depth to maintain that control.

And what happens in three days when the Allied army arrives at Fusan? I think he's going to lose the base within ten days and then air cover becomes problematic for him.

If John has lots of strong combat ships in reserve, I may be wrong. I think I'm right. Let's see what the sea lanes look like in a week.

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ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

Playing the game at work usually isn't counterproductive either. A man can only spend so many hours a day working with words before his brain fries. During the day, I take breaks to read or run or bike or play AE. On the flip side of that, I also tend to work over the weekends and sometimes at midnight or 3 a.m. Today, for instance, I've been working on a story about a woman who survived the Holocaust to marry a GI (her wedding dress was made of parachute silk) and a story about persecution of Mormons in Georgia. And I just returned from a 2.5-mile run I call the Hyper Mountain Goat, the steepest run I do. I love television (history, old movies, Atlanta Braves) but I enjoy these kinds of things more.

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history, old movies, Atlanta Braves)

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ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

Huh. That's beautifully put, John.

I agree on baseball on the radio. I suppose I haven't watched a game in eight or ten years. But I listen to radio accounts of the games whenever I'm in my truck while a game is on, which is fairly often. Baseball via radio has a pleasing, relaxing rhythm that allows the listener to also do other things (paint a bedroom, build a porch, whatever).

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ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

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ORIGINAL: BBfanboy

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ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

Thanks. Those are encouraging words.

Neither John or I did things that might be natural under these circumstances - late in a game with one side powerful and the other side battered and reeling but able to strike. I'm not coasting to victory - I'm giving this everything I have and I'm still playing as though the game can continue indefinitely. I'm working supply lines in the Pacific and gathering troops at Ceram to invade Java and prepping troops in Korea to invade Japan. I want to win as soon as I can but I know that there are no guarantees. From John's standpoint, he's never given in or thrown up his hands. He's looking for ways to fight and parry and delay the inevitable.

As I mentioned yesterday, I do wish I could see the invasion of Java and Japan and do all the other things that are in the works. But at some point within the next couple of weeks (I think), the game is going to suddenly and abruptly end. That's going to be a shock. I bet I'll have more regrets than pleasure!

Now there's a question - if you do invade Japan and capture a city with industry, do you get strategic points for 'destroyed' industry, even if it is captured rather than destroyed? If so, you could reap a huge amount of points very quickly that way.

I don't know the answer to that, but I suspect you do not get credit for industry but only for the actual points value of the base. I'd love to invade Japan but hope the game doesn't last long enough to require or allow it. Does that make sense?

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But readers really seem to note naval battles while perhaps overlooking much more significant events. John probably lost 1,000 Army points in the past week, but little was said about that and similar events.

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Sea power is only a small part of winning an AE match but it gets an oversized amount of attention.