VITP KOTH Rd 42 Game 15 Summary Daniel Blumentritt (IJN Bid 4) Mark Traylor (USN) Turns 1-2. IJN made a fairly clean sweep of Pearl Harbor, but the British are doing relatively OK. IJN is working a dual thrust, trying to take out Samoa and Pearl Harbor at the same time, effectively ending the game. The suicide carrier in the Hawaiian Islands failed, so Johnston Island is Japanese. On the other hand Central Pacific remains uncontrolled with a sizeable US force at Midway, and the Marshalls ended up controlled by USN. We're at IJN 15 for POC. Here's a snapshot toward the end of Turn 2.
Turn 3. In a surprising development, the dice took over just as IJN was closing in for the kill in both Hawaiian Islands and U.S. Mandate. The USN concentrated on saving U.S. Mandate, with all six available LBA and essentially the entire fleet. The IJN split their forces, hedging against an attempt to recover the Hawaiian Islands. An initial night turn allowed the USN to put down one large carrier and disable others, as seen below: The IJN withdrew to get away from the USN LBA, the USN pursued, but next round turned out to be a day engagement, so the USN prospects were looking poor. However the USN had none of their carriers sunk and managed to sink or disable 4 of the 5 remaining IJN carriers, leaving only Hosho to be the rear guard. Ensuing pursuit rounds took out the damaged Hiei, the Hosho, and the Sasebo SNLF, leaving the USN, while largely now isolated by controlled IJN areas, at least floating. IJN expanded their POC count to 24. The snapshot below depicts the gratifying outcome of the day action in round 2. 2
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Turn 4. In musical chairs fashion, the IJN seized Guadalcanal from the south, rolling over the 2x BB speed bump in Coral Sea, while the USN landed on Lae, taking out a carrier in a night action, then 2x LBA during the next round. The IJN also made a push up in the Aleutians, knocking out 1x LBA there with two carriers. Other USN LBA managed to hold on to the North Pacific and Central Pacific, sinking their single surface opponents before they could get away. IJN is maxed out POC-wise, and is set to yet further expand their holdings in the north with an amphibious unit at Pearl Harbor. The USN is in somewhat of a central position, with plenty of LBA available, and the British just next door. Map just prior to USN returns is below: 4
Turn 5. In an effort to preserve the main body of the IJN, while delaying USN advances, the Hawaiian Islands saw most of the IJN surface fleet, with raiders and amphibious units working against the USN selectively. The USN for its part tried to catch the IJN raiding force but missed. A consolation prize was Kaga in Indonesia, but the two LBA there, as well as the Philippines garrison, survived contact with a fairly robust USN force composed of three LBA and all the US carriers. The IJN managed to seize Dutch Harbor. The USN took Guadalcanal at the end of the turn. POC remain at 29. A big fight seems in order for Turn 6. The snapshot below depicts the middle of the turn, with most forces still on the board and engaged. 5
Turn 6. As expected, a major fight developed this turn, focused on the Hawaiian Islands. A large USN patrol/raid effort took on an equal IJN force there. The US Marines demurred from service as aerial targets, anticipating a more benign environment next turn. A combination of day and night rounds resulted in heavy losses on both sides. Eventually the IJN broke, but pursuit was weak as USN remnants saw the IJN surviving BBs off. USN cemented its hold on Indonesia, scraped by to gain control of the Marianas, and ended up with a net +6 POC, leaving the count at IJN 23. Below is a snapshot of the action at its height. 6
Turn 7. As the last turn of the game began, the outcome was definitely in doubt. The IJN deployed two patrollers and its amphibious units to try to knock out Saipan and relieve the POC pressure, as well as retain some POC in outlying areas. They concentrated almost all their remaining strength to defend the Japanese Islands. The USN felt led to press hard this turn, given the POC disparity and the unreachable nature of the POC in the north and east. Turn 7 reinforcements scattered out to oppose the amphibs and lone patrollers in areas within range and the remnants of the USN main body converged on the Japanese Islands. Seven rounds of combat later, with heavy losses on both sides, the USN was left at sea, with one CA, 5x CVL (one crippled), and the Marines holding Okinawa. USN earned 15 POC, taking the IJN total down to 8 POC, with a 4 POC bid waiting in the wings. With good prospects for the USN repeating something like that in Turn 8, the IJN resigned. The snapshot below shows both fleets in action at the end of round 1 combat. Overall this was an exciting game, with lots of shifts in momentum. Dan Blumentritt s analysis included: You made the right move going in on T7, because even if you didn't win the area, you pinned all my forces in and didn't give me the chance 7
to steal any points anywhere else. I didn't understand the Marines though - if you control the area the game's over, but if you don't, the base flips back to me. Ultimately I think it boiled down to this: you outmaneuvered me back on T4 when you traded Guadalcanal for Lae and you kept exploiting that advantage and I never found a way to recover. From my perspective I was going in (to the Japanese Islands) with the idea of either controlling JI or having it uncontrolled [thus preserving Okinawa], but as you saw it was a very close thing! I felt I had to press, since your early clearing of the northeast Pacific limited my point gain potential. I just couldn't get there from Samoa, with the Hawaiians all learning Japanese for two years! 8