VITP Ladder - Round 29, Game 1

IJN Report: I was in a bit of trouble as Jon has 4xLBA available for T2. It allowed Jon to be a little more aggressive, placing 3xLBA in Indo and the damaged 5th AF in the USM. While trying to place some pressure on the USM, I clearly did not do enough as Jon went to save Indo.

USM-A day action sees Lexington and Hiryu sunk. Zuiho is disabled as well. With only a single LBA to deter them, the IJN stays and tries for some attrition. However, this backfires as the IJN sinks only one CA. The USN sinks 2xCA and the IJN retreat.

Indo-A fairly close fight going in. This quickly changes as the USN beats the flag and sinks both Junyo and Shoho during the night action. Then the I-Boat missed. However, the IJN LBA have a great first day round in that they disable all 3 USN CV and sink a British CVL! In return, I lose one LBA and have a second hit for 3d. Rd 3-I cripple an 027 and hit an LBA for 3d. He hits an LBA for 1d in return fire. Rd 4-I dis Hermes and hit another LBA for 3d. He whiffs! Rd 5-Both sides whiff! Rd 6-We each shoot down an LBA Rd 7-I shoot down a 3d LBA while he hits an LBA for 3d Rd 8-My 2xLBA, both 3d, shoot down the last USN LBA. However, it takes one of my LBA with it. I manage to hold Indo w/a 3d LBA! Wow!

IJN Report: T3-At the end of T2, with the USN losing 3xLBA, I decided to not invade Johnston Island with the Yokosuka NLF. Yokosuka will be used to try for Guad on T3! With 4xCV's, Jon still is very dangerous. My main goals will be to take Pearl, invade Guad and get some CV attrition.

HI-My main force will go there. I send 8 carriers so I can end the battle quickly, lose fewer carriers and hope to get a bunch of airraids! I sink 2xLBA on the first pass but Jon's 6 shots sink Zuiho and Zuik while tacking on a disable on Ryujo! Ack! After his last LBA(2d) leaves, I proceed to the airraids. I sink NC, MS and the 1st marines. I also cripple CO(5d). Jon will have the 2nd marines for T4. That, combined with losing 2 carriers in exchange for 2xLBA, makes this a hollow victory.

SPO-My grand plan of getting "free" shots at a CV are for naught as I whiff on Saratoga. Saratoga completes her mission by disabling Yokosuka. The best laid plans...

CS-We each lose a 117. USM-My CA's pay the price for helping to keep Jon's LBA away from the SPO. All are sunk! Marshalls-Jon's marine takes a base during the night so he will probably have a hole for T6.

Indo-I-Boat misses. My LBA does the job that I ask of it, sink a CV (Enterprise)! But wait! The combined Allied airpower hits the LBA for 3d (Shades of Indo on T2)! My LBA then disables Saratoga while the return shots miss. Humm...could my LBA hold the area against Hermes? Yep! Hermes is disabled and then whiffs.

I unexpectedly hold the entire perimeter and sink a CV to boot! Wow! Together with my NLF taking Guad., the USN is in real trouble now. POC goes to 29.

IJN Report: All I want to do this turn is to "funnel" Jon into the Marshalls as that is the area he can hurt me the least in the coming turns. I also want to be sure that his Aust.-based NLF can't invade a base via Indo. To those ends, I place 3xLBA in each of SPO and HI. I also patrol heavily in Indo to make sure I control that. I will give Jon the Marshalls uncontested.

SPO-I sail an NLF here in order to make taking Guad cost the USN 2xmarines. It ends up drawing in the Vicky who disables it onto Guad. Knowing that Vicky will be removed, I target her with just a single LBA while 2xLBA shot at WA. WA is hit for 3d. Vicky is disabled.

Marshalls-My I-Boat, searching for the American carriers, finds the listing WV(4d). Her aim true, WV(4d) slips beneath the waves. It could have been a CV! However, Jon had wisely decided not to sail them this turn. Drat!

Indo-I got a gift in that Jon decided to commit the Brit forces on patrol in Indo. I am sure that Jon figured that they would either 1) try to get their shots now or 2) not figured that my entire raiding force was headed there. Either way, there they were, meat for the grinder! The pref roll help the Brits a bit as a day/night action came up. During the day, my carriers target just the BB's. I sink Repulse, Revenge, POW while hitting Ramilles for 3d. Hermes disables Ryujo. In the night portion, I easily sink the damaged BB and Hermes eliminating the British BB and CVL threat for the rest of the game. The British fireback misses.

The overall turn is a big success in that the Brits are effectively out of the game. I also sunk a USN BB, thanks to the I-Boat! The Marshalls hole is not a big deal at this point. POC still at 29.

IJN Report: The big battle for the game is at hand! Jon will need to win the battle in order to stay in the game. Jon hopes for "crazy dice"! Well, he pretty much gets it, at least for one round.

Rd 1 night action-I sink a total of 2xCA and the damaged WA(3d). That's it! I also disable 8 more ships so I am thinking it is not the worst thing that could happen. And the I-Boat comes through and sinks the Wasp! However, on Jon's fire, he sinks Hiyo, 3xCA, 3xBB and disables 7 more ships! Outstanding shooting! While I thought that I would have the wrap on rd 2, his wrap has grown to 2! Ack!

Rd 2 night action-Another night action. Bad news as 2 more CV's will need to be put "on the line". I feel as if a "Perfect Storm " cloud is over my fleet! If this keeps up, I could be in some real trouble! My fire gets better and I sink 2xBB and 3xCA. I also cripple his last BB, the NM(5d). No disables. Jon's fire is bad this time...no sunks, 4 disables (2 CV and 2 surface). I am back in the drivers seat, for the moment.

Rd 3 night action-Going in this round, I had Mutsu(4d), Yamato and 5xCA's vs Jon's NM(5d) and 5xCA's. My wrap was one. I decide to place the Kaga on the line in order to have my 2xBB shoot at USN CV's. It also will leave Jon with 3 key ships (Yamato, Mutsu(4d) and Kaga) in which to get rid of or face their wrath! And he only has 6 shots do do it with. The IJN BB's don't miss as Essex and Saratoga are sunk along with 2xCA and the crippled NM(5d). One CA is also disabled. The "Perfect Storm" cloud is now over Jon's fleet! The USN manage to disable the Kaga w/3d but that is all. My wrap is now 6 and I feel that victory could come with another night action.

Rd 4 day action-My forces sink a CVL, disable a CVL and cripple, disable CV16. Not bad but Jon just needs a great day round and I will be nervous again! Jon is no better than I as he shoots down and LBA, sinks Ryujo and Mutsu(4d).

Rd 5 day/night action-Sweet! My night guys will get to shoot! During the day action, I sink CV10 and Monterey. After Jon's day action fails to knock down any of my 3 remaining LBA, and only having a single CVL left, he resigns. My night forces will not get to shoot after all...something I can manage to live with.

I made a high risk (stupid LBA), high reward (Singapore, Lae, Phillepenes) move on turn 2 which didn't pan out for me. I think I would have had a playable game if I could have controlled Indo on 4 (threaten the flip, threaten lae and phillipenes with marines, open a raiding lane to JI). As it was the battle in Hawaii was closer than it had a right to be. A day action after R2 and I would have had a shot.

Thanks for the game. I apreciate your integrety and sportsmanship. Good luck as King of the Hill. I've got another game going, but I'll let you know when I'm done. I think you owe me a rematch.

IJN Comments: Thanks for the match Jon! It sure was different playing you. The T2 Indo move was a bit of a surprise, and, after beating the flag, I thought you had it. However, LBA fights are always unpredictable. The deciding T6 HI battle gave me a bit of a scare after your early torrid shooting! Placing Kaga on the line in the 3rd round of combat enabled me to gain the big surface edge which gave me a little breathing room.

As far as the POC count, I had a .5 lock, after the bid, going into T7. With the USN losing 7-9xCV/CVL on T6, the IJN would have easily held JI on T8. AI was inaccessible for the USN on T8 as well. Figuring just that, the final count would have been IJN +12, +7.5 after the 4.5 bid.

Thanks again for being patient after my computer crashed. Even with that 2-3 week delay, we still finished w/over a month to go! I will try to take care of the King of the Hill title. You held it for FIVE rounds! Something to be mighty proud of! I'll look forward to our Top Ten match! Happy Holidays!