Following from our post earlier this morning:

This is the current cloud cover.

Each Blue cloud and the surrounding 6 hexes is in High altitude cloud cover.

This will impact your ability to spot the IJN. The IJN forces will arrive:

Anywhere along the red lines….We cant make it too easy for you now can we?!!!;) Your enemy is moving at 2 hexes a turn. On a pre plotted route. Which will only change upon Contact with the US Forces.

Placing your Task Forces and Ships:

The US have a solid Naval presence.

2 CV’s : Enterprise and Hornet which could form one Task Force. With 53 aircraft between them. Lets call them TF1.

They may setup anywhere on Map Sector  IV or VIII

The Yorktown has a smaller force of aircraft just 8 Wildcats and 12 Dauntless’s and 4 Devastor’s. This Force may set up in IV or VIII also. Lets call them TF 2

The Midway Island has 7 Buffalo, 2 Wildcats,  6 Dauntless, 5 Vindicator  some Avengers and Marauders and 3 Fortresses. But most importantly 8 Long range Catalinas.

So let us choose where the forces go and how many Catalinas you want to launch on Turn 1.

Task Force # 1 Choose where the Enterprise and Hornet start together Based on the above diagram and boxes. [Click thru for larger image]

[polldaddy poll=7059611]

Later you may wish to split these CV’s into separate TF’s or split off all the Destroyers or do something else equally crazy,

There is always an Other box. Please post your vote for your idea there and follow up with a comment on the blog here please. Any alternate idea that receives 20% of the votes will be added to the poll, those with less are ignored.

[polldaddy poll=7059606]

Those Catalinas – how many ?

[polldaddy poll=7059608]

Polls Close Saturday. I will post opening positions.

The people who have volunteered to command a Task force will then need to post comments to provide orders for their task force. I will be connecting with you shortly. If anyone else wants to command a CV or a TF let me know.

For the beginning we will assume that all aircraft are ready to launch and that Suitable AIR CAP (Air Defense) is up.