Yeah, since players either know beforehand (or will quickly get a hard schooling) that US ship and air defenses against small maneuvering targets in this period were not that great, having the ability to strike the source before those little buggers can hit you in force makes all the difference in the world.Mgellis wrote: Mon Oct 23, 2023 2:28 am I've made the changes to the gun settings.
I've also changed Triumph from 900 points to 1,500 points. You get points for staying on station until the scenario ends. The goal of the scenario is to survive the first day of air attacks and THEN the submarines show up at night and THEN the bombers show up the NEXT day (they were not ready on the first day but now the Chinese intend to make at least one last attack against the Americans). It's supposed to be a three-step gauntlet for the Midway and her escorts.
I will also change the Chinese air bases so they can be attacked, etc. and put in a message letting the player know when attacks are allowed. I like that idea...does the player take the risk of striking the air bases, which might cause more losses, or simply wait to see if more attacks show up?
I will post Version 3 shortly.
I don't know if the PRC had SA-2 sites in 1962, so the main defense against the Skywarriors would be AAA, which can be avoided by conducting bombing runs at altitude, with the major accuracy penalty of course.
As for the politics of striking the PRC airbases, I think the US could get away with it due to:
A) Red China did not yet possess nuclear weapons
B) The ongoing Sino-Soviet Split fracturing relations to the point of limiting Krushchev's response. (The USSR would actually benefit from Mao taking a beating from the Americans)
C) The US not diplomatically recognizing the PRC yet.
D) The PRC would have just been winding down the disastrous Great Leap Forward.
E) Finally, such an overt attack on US vessels in international waters could not go unresponded. It would be politically unthinkable to not do what was needed to protect US ships in those circumstances. President Kennedy would get a big boost at home. Smashing the PLAAF bases that launched the attacks would probably be enough for Mao to back down, given everything else.
(and perhaps Khrushchev would decide against sending those missiles to Cuba, and that would have all sorts of positive and negative changes to the timeline)
