The Open Turn Two scenario is in play.
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PRELIMINARIES: We agreed on a die roll for sides after settling on OT2 with
no bid. Allies started with Enterprise, Yorktown, Maryland[-5], and three
cruisers in Australia, Houston in the Philippines, the four cruisers in New
Hebrides that could get there, the two free battleships in Samoa, and everything
else in Pearl Harbor. The Japanese chose to invade the Philippines, sending
Houston to Pearl Harbor and Yokosuka to the Turn 3 reinforcement box.
MARSHALLS: The first round is Day. Shokaku disables Yorktown and 26 AirFlot misses Hornet, and then both are destroyed in return by 8 dice apiece. The I-Boat disables Hornet. The Japanese retreat and the Allies pursue only Kinugasa. They get Day, and Lexington sinks her – Enterprise having stayed back to threaten Truk and force Mutsu back to the edge of the map. Control: Allies
CENTRAL PACIFIC: The Allies get Night and Japan chooses to fire with Akagi. Houston is disabled and Pensacola sunk in exchange for disabling Furutaka, crippling Akagi, and sinking the Sasebo amphibious unit. The IJN splits up and retreats. The Allies sink Ashigara and Akagi in pursuit without any loss to themselves. Control: neither
INDONESIA: The IJN gets Day, sinks Formidable and Hermes, and puts 1 DP on Indomitable. Five standard shots from the British carriers only disable the Shoho. The British retreat to Ceylon. Control: Japan
SOUTH PACIFIC: The USN wants Night so that Chester can escape, but she’s sunk by the Japanese LBA in a Day action. Control: Japan
CORAL SEA:
The Allies get Day and then disable Mogami, saving it the need to withdraw.
Control: Allies
US MANDATE: The Allies get Day and then disable Chokai, saving it the need to
withdraw. Control: Allies
ALEUTIANS: Both sides want a Day. 7th AF is destroyed by the Japanese
carriers and, with two patrollers at large, targets the Hiryu with its Parthian
shot, disabling her. Control: Japan
HAWAII: There is no combat; all three American battleships are destroyed in the air raids. Control: Japan
Japanese player comments: Hmm, you have successfully prevented me from being able to patrol Hawaii next turn. Let’s see what I can come up with instead. Had I brought Yokosuka along I could patrol with LBA and back it up with raiders, but I still think eliminating your base in the Philippines was worth it.
END OF TURN: Sinagpore, Lae, and Attu convert to
Japan via isolation. POC as follows:
Japan 3, Indonesia 3, Marianas 2, South Pacific
2, Hawaii 2, Aleutians 0 = 12
Bay of Bengal 1, Indian Ocean 0, Coral Sea 2,
US Mandate 2, Marshalls 1, North Pacific 1 = 7
Net Japan +5
TOTAL: JAPAN +11
INDONESIA: The first round is Day-Night and the
Japanese eliminate British carrier power (excepting the one turn of Victorious)
from the game, sinking both Indomitable and Illustrious. Trusting their
battleships to remove Zuiho in the Night portion, the doomed carriers target 24
AirFlot, but inflict just 1 DP. Zuiho does indeed go under afterwards, and the
British surface fleet then withdraws. Control:
Japan
ALEUTIANS: Japan gets Day and retreats without pursuit.
Control: Allies
NORTH PACIFIC: Japan gets Night and retreats their cruisers from the LBA. Control: Allies
CENTRAL PACIFIC: The Allies need Day for a chance at saving Midway Island, and get it. Ryujo and Shoho miss the 10th AF, Hiyo destroys the 11th AF, and the air units destroy Kure. 10th AF, now facing three carriers alone, withdraws. Control: Japan
SOUTH PACIFIC: The Allies get Night against the flag and retreat. Control: Japan
MARSHALLS: The Allies get Night thanks to the flag and retreat. Control: Japan
HAWAII: Japan gets Day in round 1. Hiryu inflicts 2
DP on Saratoga and Saratoga sinks Hiryu. The Japanese cruisers retire to Truk
without pursuit. Control: Allies
US MANDATE: The Allies want Night but the result is Day. Kaga rolls 2-2-2-2
against Enterprise but Soryu sinks the Yorktown. The USN fires two carriers each
at Soryu and Kaga, sinking the former and disabling the latter with 4 DP, and
fires RNZAF at Kirishima, disabling it. The I-Boat inflicts 1 DP on the Hornet,
and then the Japanese withdraw, each ship for itself. Daniel pursues Maya,
Nachi, and Kongo each with 2 cruisers and a carrier, sinking Maya and Kongo for
no loss while disabling Nachi to safety.
CORAL SEA: Japan wants Night to assure a successful landing but the Allies get
Day. RAAF goes down and then fires with no effect. Seeing the loss in US Mandate
to the East but the successful end of British airpower, Joe has Yokosuka invade
Port Morseby rather than New Hebrides. Control:
Japan
END OF TURN: No bases are encircled. POC as follows:
Japan 3, Indonesia 3, Marianas 2, South Pacific
2, Coral Sea 2, Marshalls 1, Central Pacific 1 = 14
Bay of Bengal 1, Indian Ocean 0, US Mandate
2, Hawaii 3, North Pacific 1, Aleutians 1 = 8
Net Japan +6
TOTAL: JAPAN +17
INDIAN OCEAN: The British want Night, and it’s a Day-Night, 25 AirFlot sinks Valiant. Warspite and Resolution hit Tone for 1 DP while Tone hits Warspite for 4 DP. The RN battleships withdraw and Tone does not pursue. Control: Japan
ALEUTIANS: The first round is Night, and Idaho disables Kumano away. The next round is Day. 23rd AirFlot sinks Lexington and is shot down by return fire. Control: Allies
NORTH PACIFIC: Both sides agree to Night. Oi sinks
the patrolling Northampton and is itself sunk by the 6 standard shots from the
US cruisers. Control: neither
CENTRAL PACIFIC: An opening Day-Night round lets the Allies fire first, sinking
Myoko. At night, the Allied ships receive no damage but in return only disable
Haguro. Nachi withdraws and is not pursued.
Control: Allies
MARSHALLS: The IJN gets Day and sinks Canberra. 1st Marines, unable
to make a meaningful invasion because the control flag would flip the base right
back, withdraws. Hiyo pursues, waits for Day, and sinks the Marine unit.
Control: Japan
US MANDATE: The Allies ask for and get an opening Night round. Japan sinks
nothing; disables Maryland, Washington, Indiana (with 6 DP, crippling it), South
Dakota (with 1 DP, removing its bonus), and the patrolling Vincennes and
Tennessee. America sinks Chokai and Ryujo, disables Ise with 1 DP, leaves Junyo
in the area with 1 DP, and disables Yamashiro, Hyuga, Haruna, and Kirishima. The
I-Boat fires and scores, sinking Enterprise. Only Junyo and Takao are left for
the IJN, so they split up and retreat. Takao gets away and Colorado pursues
Junyo but is disabled before she can fire.
Control: neither
CORAL SEA / SOUTH PACIFIC: The IJN gets Day, sinks Mississippi, and invades Guadalcanal with Sasebo, disabling the two Allies LBA from South Pacific, which prevents any combat from taking place there. New Orleans retreats from Coral Sea, and is disabled to safety by Zuikaku. Control of both areas: Japan
HAWAII: The Allies get their wish with Night. All IJN surface units attack and sink North Carolina, which can only manage to disable Mogami in return while Australia misses and then withdraws. The IJN cruisers pursue and sink Australia without suffering loss. Control: neither
Allied player comment: My cruisers and bonus-shot
battleships rolled about average this turn. My standard-shot battleships rolled
44 dice and got 2 hits, for 1 damage point each.
END OF TURN: Attu converts to the Allies via isolation. POC as follows:
Japan 3, Indonesia 3, Marianas 2, South Pacific 2,
Indian Ocean 2, Coral Sea 2, Marshalls 1 = 15
Bay of Bengal 1, Central Pacific 0, Aleutians 1 = 2
Net IJN +13
TOTAL: IJN +29
MARSHALLS:
The IJN wants Night so the I-Boat can fire before the air combat, and gets it,
but misses the Hornet. Both sides stick around for a Day action in which 26
AirFlot is destroyed after firing to no effect. Maloelap is invaded.
Control: Allies
JAPAN: The Allies want Night and get it, trading Massachusetts and 1 DP each on
New Mexico and Minneapolis for Zuikaku and a disable on Musashi. The four
remaining Japanese surface ship withdraw together and the USN forces do not
pursue. Control: neither
CENTRAL PACIFIC: Japan wants Day they want to minimize the firepower that can be directed at their amphibious force. Instead, it’s Day-Night. Victorious and 5th AF attack Aoba at Day to avoid prematurely disabling Yokosuka, and miss completely. At Night, they miss Aoba with 3 more shots and destroy Yokosuka with 14. Aoba misses Quincy, then withdraws, pursued by Quincy and Victorious. Aoba gets Night and sinks Quincy while Quincy misses, then gets Night again and cripples Victorious. Control: Allies
ALEUTIANS: The Allies get Day and miss Kako, which promptly withdraws. Control: Allies
SOUTH PACIFIC: Japan gets Day and merely disables Astoria; no different than a miss in this case. Control: Japan
CORAL SEA: Japan gets Night and pulls their LBA out. Control: Allies
INDIAN OCEAN: Japan gets Night and retreats their patrolling cruiser and their LBA. Control: Allies
INDONESIA: First round is Day and Shoho only manages to disable Devonshire to Ceylon. The remaining cruisers retreat there as well. Control: Japan
BAY OF
BENGAL: Both sides agree to Day. Hiyo and Junyo go overkill, scoring 4 hits and
14 DP on the unfortunate 10th Air Force. Shaken by the result, 10th
AF misses Atago. With no chance to save the flag, the F-Boat fires at Kure and
misses as well. Ramillies and Devonshire are destroyed in air raids on Ceylon.
Kure does not invade. Control: Japan
Japanese player comments:
I had to think about this for a while; finally decided not to invade Andaman
Islands.
Allied player comments: I couldn't decide if I was hoping that you would invade,
or hoping that you wouldn't.
END OF TURN: No bases are encircled. POC as follows:
Indonesia 3, Marianas 2, South Pacific 2, Bay of Bengal 2 = 9
Indian Ocean 0, Coral Sea 2, US Mandate 2, Hawaii 3, Marshalls 1, CPO 0,
Aleutians 1, NPO 1 = 10
Net Allies +1
TOTAL JAPAN +28
Allied player comments: I’m forced to fight in either Marianas or South Pacific
this turn, but the problem is that even if I win, I’ll have to send everything
back to the edge, unless I fight in Marianas AND he fails to send away my lone
Marine. I would pick up 4 POC to cut his lead to 24, but then if he holds Japan
and Indonesia both next turn – which would be likely since all my carriers but
Wasp would be in either Pearl Harbor or Australia, only able to threaten one of
those two areas each. This would only cut it to 17 and force me to sweep the
board on the final turn just for a tie.
To avoid this, I feel like I need a few carriers to base in the Marshalls where
they can threaten both Japan and Indonesia on Turn 7. But if I put too much
there, I’ll lose in Marianas. I try to balance the immediate need of this turn
with the desire to maximize my odds on the following turn as well.
JAPAN: The F-boat sinks Hiyo. Control: Japan
CORAL SEA: 1st Marines invade Guadalcanal. Control: Allies
MARIANAS: It’s Day. Japan ignores the Marines and targets the 4 big carriers, sinking CV-16 and Saratoga and disabling CV-10. USN return fire sinks Kaga and Junyo, hits 23 AirFlot for 3 DP, and misses 25 AirFlot. The I-Boat disables Hornet to leave the two LBA facing two CVLs. In the second round, the LBA are unharmed and Monterrey is sunk. Cabot, 3rd Marines, and the USN surface fleet all withdraw. Control: Japan
END OF
TURN: Kwajalein converts to Allied control by isolation. POC as follows:
Japan 3, Indonesia 3, Marianas 2, South Pacific 2 = 10
Bay of Bengal 1, Indian Ocean 0, Coral 2, USM 2,
Hawaii 3, Marshalls 1, CPO 1, Aleutians 0, NPO 1 = 11
Net Allies+1
TOTAL Japan +27
Allied player comments: I’m in a hole now. I will have to control everything except Japan this turn, and then every single area next turn, in order to win by 1. Joe surprises me by fighting in Marianas and not Indonesia for the win, since I can get more carrier factors to the former. Even so, the battle favors him slightly, but at least Turn 7 is the best time to fight a big stack of LBA since anything he loses is gone for good while any disabled carriers can fight again next turn.
JAPAN: The F-Boat sinks Shoho, leaving Japan with 0
bonus airstrikes left in the game. Control: Japan
INDONESIA: No combat. 2nd Marines
invade the Philippines to give disabled ships in Marianas somewhere to land even
if the 4th Marines there are removed.
Control: Allies
MARIANAS:
The Allies get Night in round 1, destroy Kure, and land 4th Marines
on Saipan. In the next round, Day is agreed to, and the LBA sink CV-12,
Intrepid, CV18, and Belleau Wood, while disabling Wasp. In return the only LBA
that goes down is the 23rd, which already was max-damaged. 26 AirFlot
receives a single DP. In the second round, Bataan is sunk while Bunker Hill and
Langley II are disabled, leaving Cabot as the only remaining carrier in the
area, while 25 AirFlot receives maximum damage. In the anticlimactic final
round, Cabot finishes off 25 AirFlot and goes to the bottom.
Control: Japan
END OF TURN/GAME POC:
Japan 3, Marianas 2 = 5
Bengal 1, Indian 0, Indo 1, Coral 2, USM 2,
Hawaii 3, SPO 1, Marshalls 1, CPO 0, Aleutians 1, NPO 1 = 13
Net Allies +8
TOTAL JAPAN +19 – GAME CONCLUDES WITH JAPANESE
VICTORY as the Allies can only pick up a maximum of 17 POC on the final
turn. Congratulations Joe.