MEK OP Game Night: Rainy Season

Last night's turn was fairly uneventful due to the weather. On all but two impulse sets, the weather in the north monsoon was stormy, and so a lot of carriers ferried their planes out into the center of the ocean and then sailed home again.

The US did successfully push forward another sea zone, grabbing Kwajalein and then using it to hit the Marianas on route to Guam. Historically, the Japanese were pushed out of Saipan in the summer of 1944, a week after the D-day Normandy invasion in Europe. I'll happily take a two-year improvement on schedule, even though I'm not exactly in a position to push forward toward either the Philippines or Iwo Jima.

I only wish I had some land-based air to hit Truk with...

The Japanese exacted a price, as the invasion fleet was forced to fight past a submarine blockade. The submarines caught the carrier fleet by surprise, and sank the Enterprise -- which was carrying a brand new flight of SDB Dauntless bombers of the sort that should have been off winning the Battle of Midway, instead. I checked to see if the pilots should survive, but apparently they don't, despite the proximity of dozens of escorts. I guess those Long-Lances hit an ammo pile.

With the US threatening a strike against Truk, the IJN retaliated with a force of... seaplanes? So, yes, a huge number of H8K2's (a typically Japanese example of overengineering) arrived in the area to drive away the American carriers. These planes, the Japanese answer to a Flying Fortress, were originally intended as unescorted long-range bombers to take out Honolulu, a role for which they were used exactly once before they were sent back to ordinary search duty. A doughty Wildcat group from the USS Hornet managed to get the drop on them (I rolled a 19!), avenging the Enterprise.

But that was pretty much all the naval excitement. The British were driving out of the South China sea after a raid, losing another cruiser squadron. American subs couldn't reproduce their feat of clearing the sea box of convoys, and the Japanese suffered no further merchant marine losses.

The other small Allied victory was a British toe across the Burma border to snag a dangling resource.

That stack is a territorial(!) and an artillery piece(!!). Loincloths and 28 pounders!

In terms of losses, Allied casualties were worth 14 build points, and Japanese casualties were worth 9. That's probably a strategic edge to the Allies, who can trade losses in the long run. Adding this to the losses in the previous turn produces overall losses of 21 for Japan, and 33 for the Allies. Still, this is vastly better than the historical situation in this turn, where the Japanese lost virtually their entire carrier fleet in one crazy afternoon of crapshoots and miracles.

In the official tally, the Japanese scored 4 points for sinking the Enterprise. The US added another 5 by grabbing Kwajalein, and the British scored 1 with their land actions. Total score: Allies 11, Japan 4.

This map looks so empty compared to the European front.