Nicely done mod to the Oakland

Wow, excellent stuff guys, thanks for posting!  Those Axis and Allies minis can really do the job, at least for me, and yeah, I have a couple BBs per side, though I'm actually not too keen on using them, at least not yet.  We'll see how I feel when we get to the Solomons, where I'll be playing some real fights, but also working in some fictional ones.

Regarding the Island Hopping campaign, I've been busy.  I created three fictional fighter squadrons, one US Marine Corps, one US Army Air Corps, and one US Navy, which I'll be following throughout the war.  Each is beginning in the Dutch East Indies, then will split up, converging at various points throughout the war.  The Marines and Navy are starting in Wildcats, while the Army is starting in P-40s.  After DEI, the Army will head to Darwin, the Navy will be heading to the Yorktown for some Central Pacific raids, Coral Sea, and then Midway.  The Marines will show up in Midway, and then Guadalcanal.  The Navy will then show up at the Battle of the Eastern Solomons and the Battle of Santa Cruz, on the Enterprise, and each time the Enterprise is damaged they'll go spend a bit of time on the 'Canal.  The Army is going to show up at Guadalcanal too, for a bit (albeit in P-40s, not P-39s!), before transitioning to P-38s and heading to New Guinea.  The Marines will transition to Corsairs and move up the Solomons, the Navy will move to a new carrier (or carriers), and the Army will fight up through the Southwest Pacific.  The Marines and Army will probably converge again in the Philippines, maybe the Navy will show up there, too, on a carrier, and then as we get to Iwo Jima/Okinawa, the Marines and Navy will both be on carriers, maybe have the Army transition to P-47s and stay in the Philippines, or move to the Marianas and work over Japan?  We'll see how it all shakes out, but that's my plan.

And to that end, I've already played the first four dogfights with these three new squadrons (three Marine, one Army), with the goal of playing three fights per squadron for DEI.  My US Marine rifle platoon is currently in Palembang, so when we reach 13/14 Feb 1942 they'll have to fight some Japanese paratroopers, then withdraw to Java and make their way to Australia (the US Marine fighter squadron is up at P2 in Palembang; the Army squadron is currently at Makassar on Celebes, and the Navy squadron is at Koepang, Dutch Timor.  They'll all fight until they're overrun, then escape to Australia.  And I'll be mixing in the naval fights, Java Sea (in two parts) and Sunda Strait; I don't think they'll be escaping to Australia...

So that's the plan for DEI, then there will be some aerial fights in the interim, but no more naval or ground until 7 Aug 1942, when the Marines hit the beach at Guadalcanal, Tulagi, and Gavutu.  I don't plan on any surface naval engagements until the Solomons, and I'm not going to play out carrier-only battles.

The only thing upsetting these plans (aside from all the other projects I have going on) is the fact I've been doing some reading up on the New Guinea campaign, and the more I read, the more intrigued I get, and the more intrigued I get, the more I want to create US Army and Australian rifle platoons to follow as well.  I don't have time for all this!

V/R,
Jack

Good plans Jack

Kokoda

That's a lot of gaming Jack.

Looking forward to following the campaigns of your 3 fighter squadrons...always remember to check your 6!

We're off to the Solomons this weekend ourselves in our GQ campaign.....a night action around Savo Island.

 

Quote from: paulr on 07 September 2017, 08:10:54 AM

"Full Speed and d*mn the torpedeos" - Rear Admiral Farragut at the battle of Mobile Bay 1864

Actually the "torpedoes" were moored contact mines.

What else? Electric rays?

Yes there are manta rays in Mobile Bay....

 

Good luck, Pierre and Paul (both, I can't choose sides!)!!!

V/R,
Jack

Pierre will be perfectly safe, he is kindly umpiring our Solomons campaign after commanding the Allies back in 2013

Think he still needs luck!

I could have used some

Oh dear.... well come on then; out with it!

Cheers,
Rob