The I-Boat Raid and CPO Withdrawal adjustments are in play.
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IJN Comments: I followed my usual pattern in my
raids against Pearl - first round, Akagi, Kaga, Shokaku and Zuikaku against
443s, Hiryu and Soryu against the 453s, Ryujo and Zuiho against 553s. Second
round - clean up whatever I can. I like this first round pattern because it
means no wasted hits (unless one CV gets four hits, which cannot be helped!).
Sometimes I get lucky and sink/bottom a BB with a smaller CVL - and then it
really pays!
Alfred gets Tennessee (-3), Nevada (untouched through two rounds!), New Orleans
(-1) and the 7th Air Force out of Pearl.
In Indonesia, the 5th is shot down; Prince of Wales is hit for 3, and Repulse is
hit for 1 before they escape in the subsequent night round.
With the WXYZ rolls, Lexington and Saratoga get to base in Australia.
No surprises - POC after Turn 1 is IJN +7.
IJN Comments: Given Alfred's two BBs out of
Pearl, and his skill, I feel I must press him early on to dictate what he can
do. I patrol Hawaii and the US Mandate strongly. Single CAs cover most areas,
while my LBA deploy three to Indonesia, two to the South Pacific, and one joins
two 127s in the Marshalls.
Alfred's response is to send three green CAs to the Marshalls, two USN CAs to
the Coral Sea and a single CA to the North Pacific. LBA: two to the US Mandate,
one to the Marianas.
Yokosuka heads for Hawaii and Johnston Island, while Sasebo sets course for the
Marianas, hoping to take out the 7th Air Force's base in the Philippines.
IJN raiders support Hawaii (though both Shoho and Junyo fail their speed rolls!)
and the US Mandate in strength.
Alfred's response is to sail New Orleans (-1) to the Coral Sea, and all else to
Hawaii.
The I-Boat goes to Hawaii.
After all combats, the Allies keep the IJN out of Hawaii at the cost of three
sunk USN CVs, although Johnston does fall to Yokosuka. The US Mandate is
flagged, and the perimeter is secure. The Allies do hold the Marianas,
controlled by the 7th Air Force.
POC after Turn 2 is IJN +14.
Allied Comments: I don't raid HI if one of John's
carriers makes it. It's day/night first round, which is costly because 5 CVs can
only sink Kaga and Zuiho. Plus Saratoga takes 2 damage. On the plus side I get
night in USM so 2 LBA don't have to face 15 air factors from 5 carriers. I'm
whittled down enough John decides to stay several rounds with the only air power
on either side being Saratoga. I eventually prevail and sink two maxed-out 444s
in pursuit.
IJN Comments: With hopes of an easy Pearl Harbor
conversion dashed, I attempt to capitalize on the USN's shortage of CVs. Alfred
will only have Yorktown and Saratoga (-2) this turn.
IJN patrols: once again, heavy into Hawaii and the US Mandate. Single CAs to all
other reachable areas except Indonesia. LBA support Hawaii (2), Marshalls (1)
and Indonesia (3). I decided NOT to abandon Indonesia to the British navy.
Alfred sends pairs of CAs to the Marshalls, South Pacific and Coral Sea.
Northampton once again cruises the North Pacific alone. The Brits come in force
to challenge the IJN LBA. Alfred's LBA split between the US Mandate
(5) and Coral Sea (1).
Kure heads for the Marianas to try for Manila, while Sasebo breaks into the
Coral Sea heading for New Hebrides. Both 1st & 2nd Marines sail in Hawaii.
IJN raiders support the Aleutians (CVL), Central Pacific (CVL), Hawaii (3 CVs
plus escorts), South Pacific (CVL) and the Coral Sea (2 CV & Hosho plus
escorts). Alfred goes after all the opportunities that don't put his fleet up
against the major IJN concentrations: South Pacific, North Pacific and Central
Pacific. The Brit CVLs sortie to Indonesia to protect the BBs patrolling.
After the smoke clears, Alfred has won his three chosen battles, even flagging
the South Pacific, but IJN flags grace the Coral Sea and Hawaii. New Hebrides
falls to Sasebo, and Kure ends the threat in the middle board by finally
subduing the Philippines. Both Marines in Hawaii are sunk, making the next turn
easier - no Marines to snuff LBA flying from a base!
In a dumb move, I place Shoho, who failed her speed roll, in Truk. Hornet
air-raids her to death after victory in the South Pacific. Duh! And, I make
another bonehead move, very similar, later on!
POC after Turn 3: IJN +22
Allied Comments: For some reason I put my last LBA
in USM instead of CS. I might entertain holding it otherwise. I do get night in
CS but 3 CAs fail to remove Suzuya. Shoho dies only because Ryujo can't remove
Yorktown. I want to push my marines forward but need them to threaten Johnston
and let me attack elsewhere when John puts overwhelming force in HI. In
retrospect maybe I should've using LBA to hold HI and letting Samoa fall.
IJN Comments: Because of the flags in the South
Pacific and US Mandate, my basing is tricky this turn, and whatever I want, I
cannot have the freedom to get many ships into the Coral Sea, which I flagged
last turn.
I decide to pressure as much as I can. Single cruisers patrol most areas, while
for Hawaii, only two LBA patrol. Other LBA deploy to the US Mandate (1), South
Pacific (1) and Indonesia (2).
Alfred's Allies send two CAs to the Coral Sea, one CA and two LBA to the US
Mandate, the trapped BBs and Wasp, along with four LBA to Hawaii, and two LBA to
the South Pacific. Nevada repairs damage (received in T2 CPO) in Pearl Harbor.
Returning Yokosuka enters the Aleutians to invade Dutch Harbor.
IJN Raiders support Aleutians (2x118), Coral Sea (4x117) and Hawaii (lots!).
Alfred's Allies raid the Marshalls, Coral Sea and Hawaii, trying to prevent the
conversion of Pearl Harbor.
Combat - Hawaii - Alfred has four LBA and three CVs. I have two LBA and seven
CV/CVL. In more than six (6) rounds, and with only one of the two LBA remaining,
the IJN holds and converts Pearl. Of the seven CV/CVL beginning in Hawaii, only
Hosho is left to raid Nevada, just coming out of dry-dock. Hosho is enough, and
bottoms Nevada as the port changes hands dooming her.
In other areas, the Allies do fine - except where Yokosuka takes Dutch Harbor
and clears the pesky Northeast Corner. Boy, will this help later!
From 22 at the end of last turn, the POC maxes at IJN +29. I will try to
maintain that edge as long as I can, especially considering the -4.5 bid.
Basing is again an issue, with Allied flags in the South Pacific and US Mandate.
Tough to get to the Coral Sea, but any ships at New Hebrides are limited in what
they may do.
Allied Comments: This turn is a disaster! John's
dice aren't too good, but mine are horrible! He damages one LBA in USM for 2
points before running after I miss. He damages one in SPO for 2 points and
could've killed it but on that very round he targets the other one and damages
it for 3 points. On round 9 he sinks the LBA damaged for 3 points and I finally
hit twice and sink his LBA. That's 2 hits in 36 shots.
I can't get night to save my life in HI in 7 rounds, and indeed it kills me. Two
rounds it would've been night and one round it would've been day/night if the
rolls were transposed. Again John sinks 3 CVs round 1. And I suck again on
return fire. Saratoga sinks Akagi. Yorktown puts just 1 damage on Zuikaku
without disabling her. Wasp maxes out Shokaku. My LBA can only max out Hiryu and
Soryu. That makes a perfect total of 6 damage that John repairs next turn.
Zuikaku eventually downs one LBA.
Despite the awful luck I blame myself for not putting 6 LBA in HI. It was more
important than SPO and USM.
IJN Comments: This turn, my objectives are - 1)
maintain the +29 POC; 2) try to preserve my perimeter; 3) preserve my ships. I
have three (3) max damaged CVs from the Hawaii takeover, so repairing them is
critical. That only leaves me two CV/CVL plus Hosho, in addition to my four LBA
(1 damaged). Fortunately, Alfred has only Hermes and Victorious as functional
CVs, so my LBA can be stretched quite a bit.
I patrol three BBs and Hosho in the South Pacific, and single CAs elsewhere
except Hawaii , Indonesia, Coral Sea and US Mandate, which each get one LBA. I
know Alfred has three Marines, but I must do what I can.
Alfred patrols no USN ships, and only two Brits for the Bay of Bengal and Indian
Ocean. Five (5) LBA all go to the South Pacific.
My two SNLF both enter the South Pacific, to try to take Guadalcanal and nullify
the Allied LBA. I won't keep the 'Canal, but I'd like to hold South Pacific.
Alfred's three (3) Marines all go to the Coral Sea, where he knows he can
protect them from my few possible raider 117s.
IJN raiders all go to South Pacific, hoping to screen the SNLFs. Alfred simply
picks on single IJN cruisers in Central Pacific, Marianas, Coral Sea and
Marshalls. Victorious joins the LBA in the South Pacific hunting Japanese
marines.
The I-Boat joins the four 117s and one LBA in the Coral Sea, hoping for a
miracle vs the three Marines poised to take New Hebrides and retake the 'Canal.
Combat: every IJN area that can be lost is, except the Japanese Islands, North
Pacific, Hawaii and Indonesia. This only gains the IJN 9 POC. However, the
Allied lack of patrols means that their successes score only 2 POC, maintaining
the IJN +29 Game POC score.
It is looking grim - Alfred has his T6 CVs coming in, along with a bucketful of
LBA and an Allied flag in the South Pacific. My early ship losses in Hawaii make
me fearful that he might outmatch me on the surface. At least my three maxed CVs
are now repaired and ready for action.
Allied Comments: I should've arranged my units more
neatly at Samoa. I lose track of a marine there I could send to Marshalls.
John's highest rolls in SPO are two 5s but they're against the right target,
sinking Victorious.
IJN Comments: Looking at the basing for the
Allies, placement of his Marines, the POC and my assets, I count, and I count
again. If I force him to use his Marines early, and if I keep him out of Hawaii
for another turn, I can pull off a victory. I must intimidate him out of Hawaii,
regardless of the cost. Still, I don't want to give him Indonesia. He must pay
something, and I need to get his CVs away from the Hawaii side of the board.
I patrol the North Pacific and Aleutians with single CAs. These cannot be
reached, so they are safe. I want a flag in the Aleutians in case of fighting
there next turn. I patrol the Central Pacific with a 118, in the hopes of ships
raiding, that must then retire outside to the Allied ports. The Marianas gets
Yamato, Musashi, Fuso and Hyuga. Two CAs patrol the Japanese Islands. LBA split
- four (4) to Hawaii; two (one damaged) to Indonesia.
Alfred patrols two CA to Hawaii and two CA to the Marshalls. The Brits patrol
Indonesia. LBA cover Bay of Bengal (3), South Pacific (4), Coral Sea (1) and the
US Mandate (2).
The IJNs two SNLF sail unescorted into danger in the South Pacific, striking for
Guadalcanal again. Having spent only one Marine to take New Hebrides last turn,
Alfred sends two to Indonesia and one to the Marshalls.
IJN raiders all go to the Marianas except for Hiyo, who supports the two LBA in
Indonesia..
Allied raiders go to Indonesia (CV/CVL), South Pacific (CVL, BBs, CAs),
Marshalls (BBs), and Central Pacific (CAs).
The I-Boat will target Marines in Indonesia, if any survive the onslaught of the
Hiyo and IJN LBA. Yeah.....
Combat: South Pacific - one SNLF is sunk, the other damaged and disabled. I
disable it to Lae (bonehead move), where it is later obliterated by airstrikes
from CVs and CVLs. Central Pacific - Chikuma escapes during a day non-event.
Indonesia - Hiyo sinks CV16, but both LBA and Hiyo go down in one round! One US
Marine is hit for 2 damage, the other disabled. Can the I-Boat do it????????
Unfortunately, NO! Hawaii - both Allied cruisers are sunk.
The damaged 3rd Marines takes the Philippines, giving the Indo USN a base.
After all combat, the IJN control the Japanese Islands, Marianas, Hawaii,
Aleutians and North Pacific for a total of 8 POC. Allies control US Mandate,
Coral Sea, Marshalls, South Pacific, Indonesia and Bay of Bengal,
total.......... you guessed it, 8 POC.
POC at the end of Turn 6 - IJN +29.
Allied Comments: In retrospect I should've looked
at board more closely. I had to put more LBA in SPO and gamble they could handle
marines without help. Even though I didn't have the strength I had to gamble to
make Marianas neutral. It wouldn't have been a gamble without the unequal
exchange of carriers in two previous turns. With Marianas neutral any surviving
CVs can raid NPO from Phillipines, but those 2 fewer POC mean I don't have to
worry about NPO.
IJN Comments: Once again, I thought and counted,
thought and counted. Since Alfred had no bases north of Kwajalein on the eastern
end of the board, he wouldn't be able to patrol the NE corner easily. He could
get raiders into North Pacific, but NO CVs. I determined that if I patrolled
North Pacific with an LBA, and dumped everything else into the Japanese Islands,
the most Alfred could get this turn (unless he broke the Japanese Islands) was
12 POC. I'd have JI (3) and NPO (1) for 4, net gain for the Allies 8. POC would
be 21 after 7. Since Alfred couldn't patrol the Aleutians on Turn 8, the most he
could score would be 16 POC, assuming he swept what he could reach. That
guaranteed me a 0.5 win, after the 4.5 bid.
I sent out my patrollers, and at that point, Alfred did his counting and
resigned.
End Game IJN Comments: This game was marked by poor
dice rolls. We both suffered mightily, but Alfred had far worse luck. His rolls
were even worse than Alan's in my previous game, and THAT is saying something.
Alfred, thanks for an enjoyable, challenging game.
End Game Allied Comments: John has a great
aggressive opening attack, discouraging a HI attack on the 5/6 shot one of his
T2 carriers makes a speed roll. After he got the better of the CV battles he
kept up the pressure. John said, "A few years ago, I set my sights at getting
better at VITP." He certainly has.