2007-2009 VITP Top 10 - Andy vs. Nick

IJN Report: This is my fourth game in this edition of the T10. Nick and I are playing with options 1, 2, and 3b with a bid of 3.5 POC. The first air-raid in Hawaii bottomed two ships but hit hit 4 others for sizeable damage on just 6 hits. The second air-raid featured the same even distribution of hits (10 this time) over the remaining 8 ships, sinking 3 while bottoming 4 more. In the end, only the MD(3d) makes it out of Pearl and that was after evading the I-Boat. In Indo, the Brits/5th were sunk/shot down in the first 2 rounds. POC at the normal 7.

IJN Report: With a good Pearl, I decide to press the action on T2. I would go with a 3 area attack with the emphasis on Hawaii since Nick has spread his LBA around the board. I also make an NLF supporting move up in the AI. This would allow me to either pick up a lot of POC, if he dodges, or to pick up a lot of bases if he doesn't. If he dodges, I stand a good chance of shooting down some LBA which would make the conversion of Pearl much easier.

We start off ominously for the IJN with the preference rolls. The USN beats the flag in Indo and wins both the CS and USM rolls. That means that Nick will probably face only the I-Boat shot against his CV's. It also means that he will get 4 shots at both Kaga and Akagi (USM) while 5 shots will go against the Shokaku (CS).

Rd 1-Unfortunately, winning the pref rolls and doing something with them eludes the USN as Akagi and Shokaku are disabled while Kaga is missed completely. In fact, Nick was so snake-bit that this 23 night shots do not register a single hit! Meanwhile, my 32 non-bonus and 4 bonus shots (I-Boat missed) are pretty average as 6xUSN CA's are sunk. Already low on surface ships, this was the last thing the USN wanted. In the NPO (my best pref roll), I invade DH and Nick retreats his LBA (for T3) so the entire "north" is mine.

Rd 2-Even though I removed both of Nick's surface ships (and have a CA wrap) from the CS, I elect to withdraw Suzuya/Ryuho. This was a close call but I knew that Nick would not chase them naked and my thinking centered around having better odds later. Also, I knew the perimeter was intact w/a lot of bases falling, the surface attrition was big, the IJN CV fleet would probably be intact and the USN carriers options for T3 would be limited. In the USM, I retreat in 5 groups. Mutsu and Kaga (No pursuit), 3x118's (Can't pursue) and 3 single 444's. Nick chases the 3x444's, sinking 2.

Overall, the turn is a huge success for the IJN, as many bases flipped, the "north" is secure, POC gain was an acceptable 8, the perimeter was setup, and the surface attrition favored me 6-2. The difference in the surface attrition was due entirely to the dice gods for not allowing Nick to hit anything during his night round.

USN Surrender: Andy Gardner has defeated Nick Markevich in the VitP T10 game started on December 31, 2007 (see below). I had pretty good luck winning most of the day/night rolls, but Andy kept sinking most of my ships while I mostly disabled or damaged his ships.

IJN Reaction: Thanks for the game Nick! While the pref rolls may have favored you, the battle dice were truely unkind. I'll look forward to playing you when the dice are a little more even! Good luck in your remaining T10 games!