Turn 1

Turn 2

Turn 3

Turn 1

IJN Report: The Prince of Wales escaped in Indonesia.  More terrifying was that the 5th AF survived the initial two rounds of raids and got to shoot back during the first day action.  Thankfully, no IJN LBA were lost.  Whew!  At Pearl Harbor, five battleships were destroyed along with both cruisers.  Three beat up battleships and the LBA escaped (including one cripple).  A pretty average Pearl Harbor raid.  The I-Boat whiffs on Maryland.  The Allies also decided to raid the Japanese Islands with three cruisers against two 444s.  The first round saw Houston sunk while the cruisers whiffed.  That was enough to get the remaining two cruisers to retreat.  This will be my very first game using ADC2 -- even though I've owned it for about five years!

Sunk

5-5-3 West Virginia
4-5-3 Tennessee
4-5-3 California
4-4-3 Nevada
4-4-3 Arizona
3-3-6. Repulse
1-1-7 New Orleans
1-1-7 San Francisco
1-1-7 Houston
2-4-* 5th A.F. [Returns 3]

IJN gains the standard 7 PoC.

Turn 2

IJN Report: The movement mechanism in ADC2 is so clunky that I don't want to unstack my piece any more than I can help.  Alas, since it's impossible to tell what's a stack and what isn't in ADC2 without being in the program itself, I'm afraid the maps it'd generate would be almost useless.

I went with the standard 6/4/2 patrols in the Allied Home Areas.  The USN responded by using all three LBA in the U.S. Mandate.

As a consequence, I made a minor attack on the Coral Sea plus a heavy emphasis on Pearl Harbor with a few CV around my perimeter to exact attrition if the Allies attack.  The Allied response was to go heavily (5 CV) for the SPO where Kaga, one LBA, and one BB awaited them (joined later by the I-Boat).

The first round in SPO was day.  However, my LBA and Kaga could manage anything better than a disable.  Aack!  In return, Kaga was sunk and so was my LBA.  The BB faired no better.  Fortunately, in the Coral Sea Hiryu managed to trade herself for a USN CV.  My CA then managed to remove the patroller while losing only one along the way.

The low amount of Allied attrition is bad news for the IJN.  However, we convert the entire NE corner and leave only Lae (of the usual conversions) in Allied hands. 

IJN converts Johnston Island and Dutch Harbor by invasion; Attu, Midway, Singapore, and the Philippines by isolation.

IJN gains 7 PoC to increase the over-all IJN lead to 14 PoC

Turn 3

IJN Report: I decided to relent and include a picture anyway.  It'll give some idea of what's where.  Each stack is confined to the type of unit on top, at least.

This turn my focus is on converting Pearl Harbor.  However, because Mike's got two Marines I'm not going to rely on LBA.  In fact, I'm only going to use one -- principally to lure the Marines out to sea.  I'll use the rest to keep control of Indonesia.  I'll use flag defenses and small attacks elsewhere to try and attrition Mike's CV.  Thankfully, the entire NE corner and the Japanese Islands are free for a CV each.  I'll milk as much POC out of that corner as I can for the rest of the game!

I send my NLF to the Philippines in the slight hope of securing Lae.  My ulterior motive is to draw the British in for a fight (which, given two withdrawing CVL next turn, shouldn't be too hard).  I hope to sink one 027 and the Hermes this turn to end British air power for good.

I decide to use one CV in the U.S. Mandate because I figure the USN can't let it pass and, at the same time, can't stop me in Indonesia while stopping me in the Mandate.

My plan works (somewhat) as the USN goes strongly for the Marianas, Marshalls, and U.S. Mandate.  Belatedly, I think I could have helped myself by using one BB raider in the SPO (albeit a patroller would have been even better).  Oh well...

IJN Battle Report: My 118 in the Marshalls makes good her escape when Mike's CV whiffs.  In the Marianas, daylight sees Hiyo sink Lexington.  In return, Mike whiffs!  That draws a retreat.  During pursuit, Yamato sinks Pennsylvania.  That'll leave me with a nice, guarded interior next turn.  In Indonesia, day action sees me disable one CVL while putting 1 damage on another.  In return, the British sink Kure.  That'll make taking Lae next turn much, much tougher!  The British then withdraw with their air power as intact as possible for next turn.  (So much for THAT plan...)  In the U.S. Mandate, the first round is day which enables Junyo to sink Saratoga.  In return, Junyo is sunk while Mutso takes 4 damage.  The I-Boat wings Yorktown for 1 damage.  That (and a flag) gets the IJN to withdraw.  The 118s escape.  Mutsu manages to roll a night action but whiffs her attack on the Pensacola while being sunk in return.  At this point I'm very happy -- I've lost only one CV while taking down two USN CV and the surface attrition has been even.  Mike will have three CV next turn which is still too many, but it's not nearly the problem it could have been.

The big fight is in the Hawaiians where one LBA and 8 big CV face off against 6 LBA.  The first round sees one LBA shot down and another dinged for 3 damage.  Not good.  However, in response the IJN sinks Ryujo and disables Zuiho -- a pretty even exchange.  I'm still favored.  The second round sees another LBA downed and another LBA dinged for 3 damage.  In response, the USN sinks Shokaku and Shoho while crippling Ryujo.  That tips things in the USN favor, but I'm hopeful the damage markers on two of the LBA will let me come back.  The next round I shoot down another LBA and wound another for, you guessed it, 3 damage.  All three remaining Allied LBA have 3 damage...  In return, Zuikaku is disabled and Soryu is sunk.  I decide to fight on.  Hosho takes down an LBA.  In return, Hosho is sunk and my LBA takes 1 damage.  That leaves my wounded LBA against two crippled LBA.  I fight on.  We have two rounds of complete misses.  Finally, the USN connects with high damage to win the battle.

As I look over the smoldering wreckage of my fleet, I see just three CV -- Zuikaku, Hiyo, and Zuiho.  If it weren't for removals, my fleet would have to be scared of the British.  The USN CV fleet is definitely superior to the IJN.

No change in score leaves the over-all IJN lead at 14 PoC

The POC is a disaster for the IJN.  The CV attrition and port conversions are catastrophic for the IJN.

That's enough for Yamamoto.  The IJN throws in the towel.

Interestingly, this is my first game to end in the early turns in quite a while.  Thankfully.  One final comment:  I don't ever plan to play a game using ADC2 again.  It's by the far the least intuitive of the electronic formats, produces ugly graphics, and takes the most time to manage.  I remember one occasion taking more than 20 minutes just to record the results of one round of combat.  I won't do that again.  Fortunately, it's just a few months until VASSAL becomes the PBEM standard.

Congratulations, Mike!