The I-Boat Raid, CPO Withdrawal, and West Coast Bases adjustments are in play.
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Daniel: I'll target a CA rather than Hermes with the I-Boat, since every USN cruiser sunk limits Scott's late-game patrolling ability.
HAWAIIAN IS: The IJN gambles in round 1 by assigning 8 shots to 7th AF. Not only do those all miss, but San Francisco is the only ship sunk and only 3 BBs are damaged. Results are better in the second wave of attacks as New Orleans, West Virginia, Maryland, & Nevada are all destroyed or sent into the mud to be finished off in the 3rd round. Tennesse, Pennsylvania, and Oklahoma survive with, respectively, 5, 4, and 3 DP. Location uncertain group Y shows up in the Hawaiian Islands, all others go to the West Coast, and the USN promptly retreats from the area. (Control: none)
INDONESIA: The combat round is not necessary as the 5th AF goes down in flames in the first air raid and both battleships are sent to Davy Jones' Locker in the second. (Control: IJN)
U.S. MANDATE: The I-Boat locates and sinks the Pensacola. (Control: USN)
IJN +12
USN +5
TOTAL = IJN
+7
Daniel: My SPO force is probably overkill and in hindsight I should have used one more CV in the North.
Scott: Six BBs (2 crippled) escape Pearl, that should help me surface wise. I'll divide my LBA with 1 in Marianas to draw his Marines and keep pressure off Dutch Harbor, and 2 in USM. His raiders make Marshalls and SPO very unattractive, so I decide to try for saving the northern bases. Wanting to minimize my carrier exposure I only put 1 carrier in CPO, and count on my surface force to handle the rest.
ALEUTIANS: The USN calls for night against the flag and gets it. Junyo fires and misses but Ashigara sinks Northampton. The USN cruisers record no hits and Junyo escapes with a timely disable as the I-Boat's torpedoes find their mark and cause massive internal explosions which doom Hornet to a watery grave. The 2nd round is night again and Ashigara records her second kill, sinking Chicago before being disabled. (Control: none)
CENTRAL PACIFIC: The IJN gets day and exchanges the Lexington for the Soryu. Shoho alone isn't going to scare a trio of battleships away, so she and Tone retreat together at speed 5 and the USN cruisers do not pursue. (Control: none)
MARSHALLS: It's night. Australia sinks but is able to cripple the Fuso before going under, and the De Ruyter is disabled to Samoa. (Control: IJN)
SOUTH PACIFIC: The USN wants Night, but the result is Day and Canberra is quickly annihilated. (Control: IJN)
INDONESIA: Revenge slips away at Night from the menacing air units. (Control: IJN)
U.S. MANDATE: The USN wants Night, and gets Day/Night, which is even better. Suzuya and Mikuma are decimated by USN airpower and Mogami is destroyed courtesy of surface gunnery, inflicting no damage in return. (Control: USN)
MARIANAS: Day/Night is rolled, the same result as the Day the USN wanted. The 7th AF scores a hit but inflicts only 2 DP, so Sasebo survives to invade the Phillipines and disable the air unit. The hit would have stolen 2 POC if applied to the patroller, but of course, die roll hindsight is 20/20. (Control: IJN)
CORAL SEA: The IJN's quest for day is successful and Chikuma immediately withdraws. (Control: USN)
HAWAIIAN IS: Yokosuka invades Johnson Island with no resistance. (Control: IJN)
[Singapore and Lae convert to IJN control. Hermes retreats from Singapore to Ceylon.]
IJN +13
USN +6
NET = IJN +7
TOTAL = IJN +14
Scott: I managed to get some cruiser attrition this turn. The real blow was the I-Boat sinking Hornet, otherwise I would have only lost 1 carrier this turn. 7th AF hits Sasebo, but can't sink her! Arghh! I hate wasted hits.
Daniel: I Thought about trying to seal off Indo by controlling Coral & SPO but decided against it. I should have used a CA and a CVL in Marianas since it's worth less than Japan and (unlike CPO) it has no USN base. A move into Indo will likely preserve his CVs, but I'm okay with that if I convert Pearl, threaten Samoa, and he doesn't threaten Singapore/Saigon. I wanted to put one ship in Coral Sea to steal 2 POC but if he moved into Hawaii or USM then I would need the ship there more. I suspect he'll move into Hawaii with 2 CVs and use the other in Marshalls. Consequently, I should have put Hosho in Hawaii. Even putting it in Coral Sea wouldn't have been that bad, since it would have had air-raid potential in Australia.
Scott: I decide to go almost all out to defend Pearl since if I win I should be in great shape. If I commit all 3 carriers, I'd be a pretty sure bet to win, but I'd likely lose all of them. So I only send in 1 carrier with the surface fleet. He'll have to shoot at my Marines if its a day, so hopefully I'll come out of the 1st round with an advantage. I keep 1 carrier in the NE to preserve a threat, and will attempt to flag Marshalls to threaten a base flip next turn if other things go well. In Indonesia I send in the British. If they can knock down at least 1 LBA, he should be very short on LBA next turn, which may give me some oppertunities.
MARSHALLS: The USN wants day and gets it, and Yorktown sinks Ashigara. The I-Boat misses De Ruyter. (Control: USN)
ALEUTIANS: The IJN wins the roll and gets Night. Chokai saves a POC by disabling Astoria and the USN return shot misses. Now Chokai alone faces the Enterprise and neither side wishes to retreat. It's a Day-Night round, but Chokai never makes it to the dusk. (Control: none)
INDONESIA: Combat begins with Day as both LBA disable a British carrier. However, 26 AF goes down in flames at the hands of Illustrious. The British retreat to ensure the survival of an 027 after the withdrawls. (Control: IJN)
HAWAIIAN IS: The IJN wants Day and wouldn't mind a Day-Night; the result is pure Day. The IJN assigns 6 bonus shots to each Marine unit, shredding the transports of the 2nd Marines with 14 DP and disabling 1st Marines with 4 DP. Ryujo disables Saratoga and the IJN air units destroy 5th AF and put 2 DP on RAAF. In return, the USN sinks Akagi, Ryujo, Shoho, and cripples the Kaga. The players agree on Day for the second round and trade the 7th AF for Zuiho. The USN retreats and the IJN surface fleet, although slightly outgunned, pursues, sinking Oklahoma, Mississippi, and Chester. Four other USN battleships are sent away, one of them (Colorado) with 4 DP. North Carolina and New Mexico, the only battleships which remain, have 4 DP also - the USN factor-5 armor has served them very well. In return, the USN rolls poorly, sinking Ise, Maya, Myoko, and disabling 3 cruisers and Kirishima. Kongo survives with 1 DP, Haruna with 2. The results do let the USN CAs (with a 6 to 2 advantage) split and escape, but the damaged battleships, which also split, are too slow to get away. North Carolina and Hygua sink each other, while New Mexico sinks Hiei and gets away. (Control: IJN)
U.S. MANDATE: The Japanese carriers dissect the crippled Pennsylvania into debris and shrapnel. (Control: IJN)
CENTRAL PACIFIC: Kure captures Midway Island with no opposition from the American fleet. (Control: IJN)
[Pearl Harbor converts to IJN control. 1st Marines[-4] retreat from Pearl Harbor to Australia.]
IJN +15
USN +5
NET = IJN +10
TOTAL = IJN +24
Daniel: On R2 in Hawaii it was so tempting to use Zuiho on a CA instead of an LBA, since I'd be better off attacking the CA if I rolled a 4 or 5, or a 6 if it was followed by a 2 or 3, and only upset if I rolled a 6 and then a 4 or better. Sure enough, I attacked the air unit and rolled a 4. My reasoning for pursuing was that I could afford to ignore his CAs, while he could not ignore mine. Therefore I could gang up and remove most of his BBs on round 1 so that even if I lost more ships, I would have more firepower in the 2nd round, and then shred his cruisers. It worked to a point except that I forgot that he could split off and run after a round, and my BBs couldn't catch his CAs. Luckily for me, poor USN dice meant I still came out on the winning end of the pursuit.
Scott: The 1st round in Hawaii goes well, even though my Marines don't get through. My carrier gets away to boot! I only wish I could have sunk the Kaga instead of crippling her. I also get a LBA in Indo for no losses. My 2 LBA on Zuiho in Rd 2 get 12 pts damage. Complete overkill, which would have nailed 2 LBA if shot at different targets! Instead I'm left after 2 rounds with 4 LBA (1 damaged) against 3. Caution gets the better of me, since if I lose, I'll be unable to avoid a virtual KO next turn. (Even though we're playing with Option 5, the POC count would be too high for me to recover). So, even though I'm slightly favored, I decide to pull out. I didn't think Daniel would pursue with his surface because of my large numbers of BBs. I shot at cruisers to try and get more sinkings as well as letting my own cruisers get away. While I saved my cruiser fleet, I didn't sink much!
Daniel: By using four patrollers in USM and having only 118s patrolling Coral Sea, I hope to make Scott think I'm going for the knockout in USM turn. I want him to put many LBA in the USM so that I can take Coral Sea. This way, any ships disabled this turn will not be able to base in Australia (due to air raid threat), and so if I control SPO as well, I will minimize the threat to Indonesia next turn. His fleet in the NE corner is annoying, but at least I can block him off with a flag in CPO with just 1 ship. It won't matter if he attacks CPO and blows a hole in the line, since his ships can't return to the NE corner to take advantage of it. I'll hit +29 easily so the Marianas doesn't need any ships at all. I don't need the POC in Japanese Islands either but I need ships there because the Kaga is repairing.
Scott: I probably should have gone with 3/3 LBA in USM/Coral instead of 4/2. As it was I couldn't challenge Daniel in Coral and now have little chance other than insane luck to save Guadacanal. I'll keep my 1 carrier in the NE. If I can hold on there till T6, it will come in handy.
NORTH PACIFIC: The I-Boat misses the Enterprise during Day, but Enterprise can only put 1 DP on the Aoba. Enterprise gets a second chance with a Day-Night and finishes Aoba off. (Control: none)
U.S. MANDATE: The USN wants Day and get it, sinks Kumano and Takao, and inflicts 1 DP on Atago. Fortunately for the IJN, the 2 surviving ships are both disabled. (Control: USN)
CORAL SEA: Both sides agree on Day, and the IJN sends 7 and 8 shots against the USN LBA, destroying the 11th AF but leaving the 10th untouched. One air unit fires back at each Japanese NLF, with the only result a meaningless 1 DP on Yokosuka, which immediately invades Guadalcanal. 10th AF retreats. (Control: IJN)
IJN +14
USN +3
NET = IJN +11
TOTAL = IJN +29
Daniel: In hindsight, the Aoba was wasted in the NPO, but when I patrolled it I was considering raiding the Hiryu there, thus either forcing Scott to either risk the Enterprise or else let me prevent it from reaching Hawaii. Eventually I decided that the absence of Hiryu would giving him too much chance to win with his LBA in Coral Sea. Seeing as how his LBA were going for the NLF, perhaps I should have put Hiryu in NPO afterall. I realize now my decision to not patrol the Marianas could hurt if he returns a Marine in Australia, since he can take Phillipines and it wouldn't threaten to flip back to me by isolation. Scott decided to keep all his Marines in Samoa, however, which is probably his smartest decision since he needs a base that his main fleet can return to.
Scott: Another low damage on a Marine wasted! I was hoping I could sink one to give me a better shot at retaking Guadacanal next turn. Instead, my hopes are sinking.
Daniel: My network of flags means that he MUST also decontrol whichever area he wants to land a Marine in. This is good for me since there is therefore no reason to divert air shots to attack Marines - I can focus 100% on CVs. He can surely decontrol Coral Sea and make Guadalcanal vulnerable to capture with 9 LBA and not many places to put them, but any other base I hope to make very difficult for him. I can protect Guadalcanal with one NLF of my own from SPO and a suicide CV into Coral Sea, which would force him to use all 3 Marines in Coral ensure capture and mean that he could not take any forward bases on T6. I was glad to see Scott not patrol Indonesia - it will allow me to secure Hawaii while gambling in Indonesia, a cheaper gamble if he cannot flag the area.
If he has to battle it out with his whole fleet in SPO, the game should be over, no matter who wins the battle, so I can afford to offer him a slight edge and divert carriers elsewhere. I want to flush out the Enterprise so I'll use some of those CVs in the NE corner. Without them, Enterprise could move to the Aleutains and land in Attu even if I took Dutch Harbor. Now the Enterprise will be forced to either risk an airstrike from one of my best ships or else flee the corner. I think she is unlikely to just stay in port because Zuikaku has a good chance to win the NPO. Kaga has no realistic chance to win the Aleutians, but she's there to trade herself for Enterprise. If Enterprise goes elsewhere then Kaga will likely survive the first round due to the diversion provided by the NLF and due to her armor, and then can just retreat. If the Enterprise does go there and fires at the NLF instead of Kaga, Scott then has to face the reasonable probability of the Kaga sinking Enterprise and surviving the nonbonus LBA shots. So, I'm not likely to end up with Kaga sunk and Enterprise afloat - I don't mind losing Kaga if Enterprise dies as well.
Scott: Without LBA to help in SPO, I don't want to force a massive fleet encounter. I'd probably win, but would have little left to patrol with in future turns. So I'll go for the Marshalls, even though I figure I'm around a 55-45 underdog. If I can win it I should have a base, a hole into the interior for my T6 reinforcements, and the IJN will be short several LBA. Very good move on Daniel's part to try and flush out my NE carrier. I'll have to take my chance on my LBA holding out to avoid the air raid.
MARSHALLS: Day is the initial roll. Hiyo misses the Yorktown but Saratoga and Wasp both sink at the hands of the LBA. The USN's return shots roll horribly as they miss 22 AirFlot entirely and dish out only a single DP to the 21st while the I-Boat disables Yorktown to Australia. The USN fleet retreats and is not pursued. (Control: IJN)
NORTH PACIFIC: In Dutch Harbor, the crew of the Enterprise holds its breath as Zuikaku misses the 14th AF and is disabled in return. Nachi retreats and follows Zuikaku into Truk, but the 14th AF is removed from the area later on due to the fall of Dutch Harbor. (Control: none)
ALEUTIANS: The IJN wants Night and gets it, invading Dutch Harbor with Kure and sending Enterprise, Astoria, and Indianapolis to Attu. Now Kaga faces 4 LBA, but the IJN gets a second Night and withdraws. (Control: USN)
HAWAIIAN IS: The IJN gets Day, sinking De Ruyter and inflicting 1 DP on Washington, which immediately retreats. (Control: IJN)
INDONESIA: The British want Night and get it against the flag, allowing the cruiser flotilla to sink Hosho. In a second-round Day, the Indomitable is sunk without inflicting any damage on the lone LBA. (Control: IJN)
SOUTH PACIFIC/CORAL SEA: The IJN cannot wait indefinitely to see what the US Marine in the Coral Sea does since the USN gets the last chance to land, so Sasebo reinforces Guadalcanal. The counterinvasion by the U.S. eliminates both units. (Control: IJN/USN)
POC remains at IJN +29
Daniel: The USN luck in Marshalls battle can only be described as atrocious at best. I was favored to win, but not by much, and there was no way I should have removed all 3 USN carriers while my LBA went virtually untouched. Scott has done a great job in the NE corner - I diverted everything I thought I could afford to divert and he still has the Enterprise and Attu functioning as a thorn in my side!
Scott: Absolute disaster for me. I can't bring down either LBA in the Marshalls, and you remove all 3 US carriers in the first round. Plus you get night in Aleutians to take Dutch Harbor. I do sink Hosho in Indo, not much but I need all I can get at this point. And my LBA disables Zuikaku in NPO, so the Enterprise avoids the air raid, and transfers to Attu. A 2nd night in a row in Aleutians allows Kaga to get away unscathed. You've got far too many carriers left, I'm not getting many shots, and not hitting when I do.
Daniel: My basic goal is to keep the POC even, which will also let me form a perimeter from Indo to CPO so I can get Japan cheaply next turn. Even if he beats me in the upcoming Hawaii battle, he should lose enough CVs that my entire fleet can still win a battle against his in Indonesia, Marianas, or CPO next turn - especially if the I-Boat can remove a Marine and keep some of his slower BBs out of the fight. If I were him I would have concentrated 2 Marines in the same area and put almost his whole surface fleet there, ensuring a forward base. As it is I have a 28% chance to knock half of it back to Samoa or Australia.
Scott: I need help at this point. I can't touch Indonesia, so I'll have to send every carrier I have to Hawaii, including the Enterprise, finally giving up its base in the NE. I spread out my Marines to increase the odds of getting at least one advanced base, and hopefully multiple ones.
SOUTH PACIFIC: The I-Boat disables 3 Marines, preventing it from invading Lae or Guadalcanal. (Control: USN)
MARSHALLS: The 2 Marines convert Kwajalien into a USN base. (Control: USN)
HAWAIIAN IS: Independence is all that the IJN can sink in round 1, although CV-10 is crippled, Essex takes 2 DP, and Enterprise is disabled, while the USN sinks Hiyo and shoots down four LBA as 4 Marines invades Johnson Island. The remaining 2 astonished IJN LBA turn tail and fly for home. (Control: USN)
IJN +9
USN +12
NET = USN +3
TOTAL = IJN +26
Daniel: I can't complain about my bad luck in Hawaii since Scott had similar luck last turn. Perhaps the two huge dice swings have balanced out.
Scott: Well, this turn the luck swung back my way big time. Even though I was a 40-60 underdog or so in Hawaii, I knock down 4 LBA in the 1st round for minimal losses. The only downside to the turn is I-Boat disabling the Marine in SPO. I really needed that base to make next turn alot easier. Well, I'm back in the game now though, and if I can somehow pull off control of the board outside Japan next turn, I can concede Japan on T8 and still win. Won't be easy though, as he's still got alot of carriers left.
Daniel: I had planned on controlling Japan and Marianas this turn, which is why I went for the SPO Marine last turn (knocking his slow BBs back to Australia/Samoa would keep them out of range of Marianas). However, he based 2 CVs and 4 CVLs in Johnston Island, out of the reach of Indonesia, so that is where I will make my main effort. If I control both areas, all I will have to do on Turn 8 is deny him Japanese Islands.
I had planned to put all my NLF in Aleutians, but since I'm fighting in Indonesia, his carriers in Johnston, with nowhere else useful to go, will easily stop me if he gets Day, and then from there he could base those ships to patrol Japan next turn. I need to position my NLF to draw his ships into an area from which they can't base patrol Japan, and I also want to prevent him from capturing the Phillipines if possible. However, the move to Marshalls was just stupid. I should have put 2 NLF in Indonesia and 1 in Marianas, or vise versa.
Ryuho patrolled Japan to prevent him from removing both CAs - one with his CA from Attu and one with the F-Boat. Although the odds would be against him, it would be a low-risk move with an extremely high reward, therefore it behooves me to not even give him the option.
Guess we'll see if Kaga to SPO was a smart move. If I still win Indonesia and Kaga sinks the Marine to deny him Lae, I'll have the game won as he will have almost no forces that can patrol Japan on T8. If I lose a close battle in Indonesia, I will be lamenting Kaga's absence. With 4 LBA coming back for the final turn, if I win Indonesia then I'll probably have enough firepower to deny him control of Japan even if he takes Lae, therefore Kaga should have been in the crucial battle instead.
Scott: I can't get as much as I'd like to Indo, but I still think I'm favored to win. And if I can do serious damage to the IJN fleet also, I should be able to pull out the game.
MARIANAS: The USN gets Night but can only disable Kure with 3 DP. (Control: USN)
MARSHALLS: The USN declines to fire during Day, waiting for nightfall after which California blasts Kure NLF into oblivion. (Control: USN)
INDONESIA: The first round of combat is Day-Night and the longest campaign of the war is about to begin. During Day the IJN forces sink Yorktown, Enterprise, CV-12, Intrepid, while the USN sinks Zuikaku and Taiho. Bunker Hill survives crippled with 3 DP, CV-18 and 24th AirFlot have 2 DP, Hiyo has 1 DP; Portland, Shokaku (with 3 DP), and Hiryu are disabled. As the sun sinks below the horizon, the IJN can only sink Hermes although CV-18, Idaho, Arizona, Iowa, New Jersey, and South Dakota are disabled, South Dakota and Indiana both crippled with 6 DP. Tennessee takes 2 DP. USN return fire is deadly, sinking Atago, Haruna, Kongo, Nagato, Yamashiro, Fuso, and disables Mutsu (4 DP), Kirishima (2 DP), Kako, Chikuma, and Hiyo. Both sides invade the Phillipines, which remains in IJN hands. The 2d round is Day, and the IJN attacks 1 CVL each with either an LBA or an 016(1), sinking Bataan and disabling San Jacinto with 1 DP while the USN shoots down the 24th AirFlot. Round 3 is Day again as the IJN removes all USN airpower from the area by inflicting 2 DP on Cabot and disabling Langley II - the USN must shoot down the air unit or be forced to control Japan with virtually no patrollers against 5 LBA + a fleet on T8, and they do it! The IJN still has two CVLs afloat and unopposed, but the 4th round is Night. Alabama is disabled with 2 DP, Tennesse and Quincy II undamaged but disabled - the Japanese can't seem to sink anything with surface gunnery but now 2 USN battleships are at speed 3 and in a port where they must speed roll to fight in Japan next turn. The US and British each are able to turn a battleship on an IJN carrier; Chitose takes 1 DP, Musashi is sent away with 2 DP while Furutaka sinks. The next 3 rounds are Day but with only Chiyoda attacking, no damage is done for 2 rounds, but in round 7 she sends Resolution to the bottom. The USN retreats. (Control: none)
SOUTH PACIFIC: The IJN needs Day to kill the Marine, but the USN gets its wish instead with Night. However, Kaga disables Astoria and receives no damage in return. 3 Marines converts Lae to USN control. The next round the IJN gets Night against the flag, and Kaga sinks Canberra II while again going untouched. The 3rd round is finally Day, and Kaga can merely inflict 1 DP on Cowpens before being sunk. (Control: none)
[Pearl Harbor, Maloelap, and Dutch Harbor convert to USN control.]
IJN +3
USN +12
NET = USN +9
TOTAL = IJN +17
Daniel: My surface ships kept disabling his ships while he sunk mine, but since SPO is after Indonesia, none of those disables could go to Lae, so a disable on a slow or damaged battleship is almost as good as a sinking.
Scott: Daniel's first round shooting was good, and I spent 13 shots on the LBA to no avail. Those LBA are either indestructible, or else fall like flies, nothing in-between. Plus I forgot that it was a D-N, so I could have shot at some surface ships to keep my carriers protected in the night round, but instead I lose a CV and Hermes at night! I removed all the surface patrollers at the end of the round, but those LBA were just too tough. At least I got them to clear the flag, so my Australia ships can attempt to reach Japan on T8. In SPO, the Kaga removes 2 cruisers to drop my flag! Argh!
My big mistake was basing too many CV's at Johnston. I could have based them as Samoa, and they could have reached anywhere but Aleutians.
NOTE: San Jacinto was not sunk last turn but is not on the map this turn because the gamepiece set we used contained an error. San Jacinto is supposed to be a T8 reinforcement but it came in with the T7 reinforcements instead. We decided the fairest thing to do was to simply remove it from the game before T8 started. Instead of participating in a big crucial battle on T8, it participated in a big crucial battle on T7, so the net effect is about the same and neither one of us can claim an advantage or disadvantage from the error.
Daniel: I hedged my bets just slightly since I gained 1 more POC than expected last turn thanks to Kaga. I can now win by controlling Japan, or denying him control of Japan and stealing 2 other POC. I'll don't expect to steal 2 POC but I'll leave a few ships as raiders so I can threaten it so as to draw some of his firepower away from Japan. Unfortunately, it looks as if it didn't work. Of the 3 ships diverted, 2 could not get to Japan anyway and 1 would have to pass a speed roll with only a 33% chance. Perhaps I should have used Hiryu in Marianas instead, which might have drawn away a 137(4+), but then, because stealing only 1 POC means nothing to me, he might have left Marianas alone and concentrated on USM with California and CV-10.
Scott: Down 13 poc with the bid, I have to break control in Japan, and it's a real longshot. I send everything that can reach, but it starts bad when my damaged CV fails the speed roll.
CENTRAL PACIFIC: With no chance to win the area the IJN accepts Night and the USN disables Chitose. (Control: none)
U.S. MANDATE: The USN gets Day and CV-10 sinks Oi. (Control: USN)
MARIANAS: The USN gets Day and Belleau Wood sinks Kitakami. (Control: USN)
JAPANESE IS: The IJN gets Day - all preference rolls in round 1 have gone just as expected. The IJN puts 3 nonbonus shots on each CVL, and either 6 nonbonus or 3 bonus and 1 nonbonus on the CVs, sinking Ticonderoga, Essex, CV-16, Monterrey, and crippling Langley II. The USN sends 4 and 6 shots against each LBA unit, but only 26 AirFlot is destroyed although the F-Boat contributes by sending Hiyo below the waves. Now the USN badly needs Night to pull out the miracle. They get a Day-Night but it's not enough - the IJN sinks Princeton and Cowpens, ending the game before the USN return fire because it is impossible for the 2 carriers to shoot down all 3 AirFlots, so at least 1 will survive and be untouchable for the remainder of the turn. (Control: IJN)
IJN +3
USN +14
NET = USN +11
TOTAL = IJN +6
BID = IJN -4.0
FINAL SCORE =
IJN +2
Scott: Daniel shot well enough in the 1st round, and once again I could do little against the LBA. A first round night would have given me a shot, but without it, I was an extreme longshot.
POSTGAME REMARKS:
Daniel: I didn't play the endgame especially well which, along with your insane T6 luck (which was only fair since I was so lucky on T5) kept leaving you a shot. But most of my minor mistakes on the last few turns were masked by dice - I don't think I shot better than you on T7 and T8, but my good shots came more often when it mattered most. For example, you best dice came in indecisive night rounds in Indonesia which didn't make much of a difference in hindsight.
I don't blame you for withdrawing from Hawaii on Turn 3 after the first 2 rounds even though you were probably a 60-40 shot to win, because if that 40% chance happened it would be all but an instant win for me since I would have almost certainly flipped Samoa on T4.
I also don't think returning those carriers to Johnston Island after T6 was a mistake because had they not been there, I would have fought in Marianas instead of Indonesia where your surface fleet would have been missing the 4 British surface ships and 2 or 3 of the slow American BBs, letting me really pound your CVs when Night came up.
'Twas a hard fought game and you kept me on my toes the whole time - despite being ahead I could never be confident I'd won it untill the 1st round of T8 fire was done. Good luck in the next round.
Scott: Congratulations. I thought you played very well and kept me reacting to your moves most of the game. I needed to sink more of your big carriers so you didn't have them for the end game, but I missed on the few chances I had. T5 really hurt me, not just losing the battles, but I didn't sink a single carrier of yours! (OK, the British did get Hosho, but the 2 nights in Aleutians cost me both Dutch Harbor and a chance at Kaga with 4 LBA).
In the end I came up a disable and a damage point short! Overall, a very tense and exiting game. I'll look forward to a rematch sometime in the future.