Not Your Conventional AAR. The Boldness and Inexperience of a new Ensign.

[rkr1958]

Having owned “War in the Pacific: Admiral's Edition” for a little of three days now and with no prior experience with this game one must think that I’m crazy, deluded or both attempting an AAR. Well, first off, this isn’t intended as your typical AAR. I hope to use this AAR as a tool that takes me from no experience with this game to a place where I might someday be in position to challenge another person to a game and give a respectable account of myself. I understand I’m a long way from that but that’s ok. I like what I see so far (up to page 141 of the user’s manual). Well actually I’m excited what I see so far and I want to attempt that journey from “new Ensign” to a competent Lieutenant or even Commander. Whether or not I’ll make it, I realize is 100% dependent upon myself and the effort I put in learning this game.

My intention is to work through the Coral Sea and then Guadalcanal scenarios against the Japanese AI multiple times. Only when I can consistently beat the Japanese AI in both will I advance to more advance scenarios and hopefully PBEM play against another human. I will confess right now that if I do advance to PBEM play my desire is to play the allies.

I do hope no one on this forum is put off by me starting and wanting to use this AAR as a learning tool. I apologize if they are and upfront from my ignorance. I promise to ask questions only after I’ve done research and have made a good faith effort to find the answers myself. I also plan to post occasional reports from my training exercises (i.e., Coral Sea and Guadalcanal plays) when I get to a point of having respectable reports to post.

Before proceeding I do have a major confession to make. Though I intend to court “this new lady I just met” (i.e., WitP-AE), I do have and hope to continue my serious relationship with “another lady”, Matrix’s World in Flames (MWiF). In fact, I’ve probably spent 6-hours with her this weekend (i.e., since acquiring WitP-AE). (See https://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=4695660 ). I do hope that there’s room in my life for both of these wonderful gals! I’m looking to WitP-AE to fill my desire for a more accurate simulation/gaming experience of the naval war in the Pacific than I’m getting from MWiF. As always, I will look to MWiF for an accurate simulation/gaming experience of WW II as a whole (i.e., at the strategic/corps level).

[rkr1958]

I have a second confession. Military History is my hobby with my primary focus on WW II. Well, maybe that’s not a confession but anyway in addition to gaming I do enjoy reading and I thought I’d give you a list of the military history books I have on my Nook and have read the last 4 years (or so).

1. The Admirals: Nimitz, Halsey, Leahy and King – The Five-Star Admirals Who Won the War at Sea. Walter R. Borneman
2. American Knights: The Untold Story of the Men of the Legendary 601st Tank Destroyer Battalion. Victor Troy Failmezger
3. Band of Brothers: E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler’s Eagle Nest. Stephen E. Ambrose
4. The Battle of Midway. Craig L. Symonds
5. Behind Japanese Lines: An American Guerrilla in the Philippines. Bernard Norling and Roy C. Hunt
6. Beyond Band of Brothers: The War Memoirs of Major Dick Winters. Cole C. King Seed and Dick Winters
7. Dunkirk: The History Behind the Major Motion Picture. Joshua Levine
8. Easy Company Solider: The Legendary Battle of Sergeant from World War II’s “Band of Brothers”. Bob Welsh and Don Malarky
9. Helmet for My Pillow: From Paris Island to the Pacific. Robert Leckie
10. How They Won the War in the Pacific: Nimitz and His Admirals. Edwin Hunt
11. Inferno: The Epic Life and Death Struggle of the USS Franklin in World War II. Joseph A. Springer
12. Islands of the Damned: A Marine at War in the Pacific. Bill Marvel and R.V. Burgin.
13. The Liberation Trilogy Box Set. Rick Atkinson.
14. The Liberator: One World War II Soldier’s 500-Day Odyssey from the Beaches of Sicily to the Gates of Dachau. Alex Kershaw.
15. Midnight in the Pacific: Guadalcanal – The World War II Battle That Turned the Tide of the War. Joseph Wheelan
16. Miracle at Midway. Donald M Goldstein, Gordon W. Prange and Katherine K. Dillon
17. Never Call Me a Hero: A Legendary American Dive-Bomber Pilot Remembers the Battle of Midway. Laura Orr, N. Jack “Dusty” Kleiss and Timothy Orr
18. Nimitz. E.B. Potter
19. No Surrender: A World War II Memoir. James Sheeran
20. Nomonhan, 1939: The Red Army’s Victory That Shaped World War II. Stuart D. Goldman
21. Order in Chaos: The Memoirs of General of Panzer Troops Hermann Balck. Carlo D’Este, David T. Zabeck, David J. Biedekarken and Herman Balck.
22. Pacific Thunder: The US Navy’s Central Pacific Campaign, August 1943 – October 1944. Thomas McKelvey Cleaver
23. Red Blood, Black Sand: Fighting Along Side John Basilone from Boot Camp to Iwo Jima. Chuck Tatum
24. Red Platoon: A True Story of American Valor. Clinton Romesha (Not WW II, but excellent and inspiring read!)
25. Shatter Sword: The Untold Story of the Battle of Midway. Anthony Tully and Jonathon Parshall
26. Twenty-two on Peleliu: Four Pacific Campaigns with the Corps: The Memoirs of an Old Breed Marine. George Peto and Peter Margaritas.
27. Under a Blood Red Sun: The remarkable Story of PT boats in the Philippines and the rescue of General MacArthur. John J Damagalski
28. We Were Going to Win or Die There: With the Marines at Guadalcanal, Tarawa and Saipan. Fred H. Allison and Roy H. Elrod.
29. With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa. E.B. Sledge
30. You’ll Be Sor-ree!: A Guadalcanal Marine Remembers the Pacific War. Sid Phillips.

Also, I subscribe to WW II History and WW II Quarterly.

Enough about me ... time to start my training. [:)]

[rkr1958]

I must say, that I consider myself pretty good with computers, programming and troubleshooting both, but with that said in no way and no how could I have pulled what I've accomplished so far with the helpful posts and tools that I easily found on this site.

My first accomplishment was to successfully install and "update" WitP-AE to version 1.8.11.26b

[rkr1958]

I found SeaBee invaluable in configuring the switches and creating the bat file I needed to run WitP-AE at the resolution and in windowed mode.

[durnedwolf]

Yes Ronnie, but... I still think you are delusional or crazy. [:D]

I wish you many hours of fun. some of the best AARs have come from newbees attacking the game with all the unencumbered enthusiasm that one garners when the meet a new love interest. May this new interest grow into a great relationship for you.

I think you might-could be in the right forum.

[rkr1958]

Getting the WiTPTracker installed and running correctly was the trickiest part for me. Though, again, impossible with the excellent instructions linked to this site! The long pole in the tent for me was to find, download and install a 32-bit version of Java. But I did thanks to the excellent instructions.

The example is taken from the first turn of the Coral Sea scenario. It's been almost 40-years now but I read a book back then about the battle of the Coral Sea titled, "Blue Skies and Blood" by Edwin Hoyt. In it, I read about the mis-identification by the Japanese of the tanker Neosho as an aircraft carrier and the destroyer Sims as a cruiser. In no game that I've played since has these two ships explicitly been represented until now. I find that appealing and look forward to playing the scenario. Not necessarily to see these ships sunk, but to see the Battle of the Coral Sea play out and simulated in a manner I haven't had the right game to do before.

[rkr1958]

ORIGINAL: durnedwolf

Yes Ronnie, but... I still think you are delusional or crazy. [:D]

I wish you many hours of fun. some of the best AARs have come from newbees attacking the game with all the unencumbered enthusiasm that one garners when the meet a new love interest. May this new interest grow into a great relationship for you.

I think you might-could be in the right forum.

[:D] Thanks!

[rkr1958]

An excellent site that I highly recommend is, "The Battle of Midway Roundtable" It was formed in the late '90's and the site created in early 2000's. It has a history of significant participation of veterans of the battle. Sadly, almost all have past.

Reading the unbelievable wealth of information and veteran accounts hosted by the site gave me the burr in my britches to finally purchase and learn to play WitP-AE.

By the way, the person who runs the site is contributing to the upcoming movie on the Battle of Midway. His interests and those of the members he represents is to ensure the historical accuracy of the movie, to the best of his ability and influence, down to tail numbers, aircraft spotting, etc. For example, dive bombers spotted near the aft end of the carrier had sufficient deck length to take off loaded with 1000 lb bombs. Those spotted more forward could only be loaded with 500 lb bombs and still be able to take off. If you're not already familiar with the site I highly recommend it. Even if your are, I still highly recommend the site.

Back to the game. I love seeing the individual carrier air groups. Also, I'm looking forward to the Cactus Air Force and the 1st marine division when I progress to the Guadalcanal scenario.

[rkr1958]

My two training scenarios will be (or planned to be) Coral Sea and Guadalcanal. I plan to play through them as many times as I need to in order to learn the mechanics of the game.

[rkr1958]

With the Coral Sea Scenario, so far I've just loaded it an browsed around the map and allied units there. As mentioned previously, I've gotten through to page 141 of the users manual. I want to complete an initial read before really diving into this scenario which hopefully will be in a few days (e.g., next weekend).

I do also wish to continue my MWiF AAR, "Scripted Madness" that I started a month ago.

[Spanno]

As a very inexperienced player myself I look forward to following this AAR Good luck learning the game.

[HansBolter]

Welcome aboard and good luck.

Getting started may mean restarting a game many times due to destroying your own, or even the AIs chances.
Writing an AAR may make you feel compelled to carry on when starting over might be better.
Only critical input I will offer.

Your reading list is impressive and well rounded.

I'll suggest a few that were not one it.

Fire in The Sky, The Air War in the South Pacific by Eric M. Bergerud

Neptune's Inferno, by James D. Hornfischer (covers naval action at Guadalcanal)
The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors, also by Hornfischer (covers the action at Samar and surroundings)
The Fleet at Flood Tide, also by Hornfischer (covers fleet actions 1944-45)

[Yaab]

rkr1958, are you Retirement Allowed?

[Chickenboy]

ORIGINAL: rkr1958
Enough about me ... time to start my training. [:)]

Welcome to the insanity club, rkr1958! Good luck on your AAR and your game. Feel free to pose any questions as you go through your machinations-this is a good community for Q&A.

In your bibliography, I noted that you *didn't* have Clay Blair's excellent Silent Victory, which portrays the American submarine war against Japan. Very strongly recommended.

[rkr1958]

ORIGINAL: Spanno

As a very inexperienced player myself I look forward to following this AAR Good luck learning the game.

Thanks!

ORIGINAL: HansBolter

Welcome aboard and good luck.

Getting started may mean restarting a game many times due to destroying your own, or even the AIs chances.
Writing an AAR may make you feel compelled to carry on when starting over might be better.
Only critical input I will offer.

Thanks! I don't intend in this AAR to capture any specific game but key details/questions/observations of the multiple replications of the Midway and Guadalcanal scenarios I expect to play on my path to competence, which I fully expect to take a while.

ORIGINAL: Yaab

rkr1958, are you Retirement Allowed?

Close. But not quite yet. Not until my son, who's a freshman at Auburn graduates. Or just about the time I hit 65 and become eligible for Medicare. [8D]

ORIGINAL: Chickenboy

Welcome to the insanity club, rkr1958! Good luck on your AAR and your game. Feel free to pose any questions as you go through your machinations-this is a good community for Q&A.

Thanks!

ORIGINAL: HansBolter
Neptune's Inferno, by James D. Hornfischer (covers naval action at Guadalcanal)
The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors, also by Hornfischer (covers the action at Samar and surroundings)
The Fleet at Tide, also by Hornfischer (covers fleet actions 1944-45)

ORIGINAL: Chickenboy
In your bibliography, I noted that you *didn't* have Clay Blair's excellent Silent Victory, which portrays the American submarine war against Japan. Very strongly recommended.

@HansBolter, Chickenboy ... Thanks again. I'm always looking for good books on WW2 to read and will definitely get and start on these as soon as I've finished with my current book, "Pacific Thunder: The US Navy’s Central Pacific Campaign, August 1943 – October 1944." by Thomas McKelvey Cleaver.

[rkr1958]

22. Pacific Thunder: The US Navy’s Central Pacific Campaign, August 1943 – October 1944. Thomas McKelvey Cleave

A little tidbit I found interesting and thought I'd pass along from my read of this book.

On September 15, 1942 in "Torpedo Junction", LCDR Shogo Narahara, commander of the type B1 fleet submarine I-19, fired the most effective spread of torpedo's fired by anyone on either side of the entire war. 5 of the 6 torpedo's fired were hits. 3 on the Wasp, 1 on the DD O'Brien and 1 on the BB North Carolina.

The Wasp sunk that day. The O'Brien made it to Espiritu Santo the next day, made what repairs she could and headed to San Francisco. On the way, her hull split in two and she sank with all crew rescued. The North Carolina made temporary repairs at New Caledonia and then dry dock at Pearl. She returned in early January 1943.

[HansBolter]

ORIGINAL: rkr1958

22. Pacific Thunder: The US Navy’s Central Pacific Campaign, August 1943 – October 1944. Thomas McKelvey Cleave

A little tidbit I found interesting and thought I'd pass along from my read of this book.

On September 15, 1942 in "Torpedo Junction", LCDR Shogo Narahara, commander of the type B1 fleet submarine I-19, fired the most effective spread of torpedo's fired by anyone on either side of the entire war. 5 of the 6 torpedo's fired were hits. 3 on the Wasp, 1 on the DD O'Brien and 1 on the BB North Carolina.

The Wasp sunk that day. The O'Brien made it to Espiritu Santo the next day, made what repairs she could and headed to San Francisco. On the way, her hull split in two and she sank with all crew rescued. The North Carolina made temporary repairs at New Caledonia and then dry dock at Pearl. She returned in early January 1943.

Thanks for sharing.

Most regulars here are well versed in this tidbit of history.
You will find a vast wealth of historical knowledge resides in the regulars on this forum.
Don't be surprised if you get responses adding more and more detail.

[rkr1958]

ORIGINAL: HansBolter

ORIGINAL: rkr1958

22. Pacific Thunder: The US Navy’s Central Pacific Campaign, August 1943 – October 1944. Thomas McKelvey Cleave

A little tidbit I found interesting and thought I'd pass along from my read of this book.

On September 15, 1942 in "Torpedo Junction", LCDR Shogo Narahara, commander of the type B1 fleet submarine I-19, fired the most effective spread of torpedo's fired by anyone on either side of the entire war. 5 of the 6 torpedo's fired were hits. 3 on the Wasp, 1 on the DD O'Brien and 1 on the BB North Carolina.

The Wasp sunk that day. The O'Brien made it to Espiritu Santo the next day, made what repairs she could and headed to San Francisco. On the way, her hull split in two and she sank with all crew rescued. The North Carolina made temporary repairs at New Caledonia and then dry dock at Pearl. She returned in early January 1943.

Thanks for sharing.

Most regulars here are well versed in this tidbit of history.
You will find a vast wealth of historical knowledge resides in the regulars on this forum.
Don't be surprised if you get responses adding more and more detail.

I can tell. A serious site for serious people about the history of WW2 in the Pacific.

Changing the subject just a bit ... I've known for years that the US did have problems with their torpedoes early in the war but it wasn't until recently (last couple of years) in my readings that I found out just how bad they were. Lack of testing due to budget before the war and the classification of the magnetic detonator after the war started keeping the flaws hidden. Not to mention that the torpedoes often ran too deep To me it was criminal the way submarine skippers were treated coming back from patrols reporting the problems they were having. As I understand it, the best shots (i.e., at broadside) produced the most (almost all) duds. It was the oblique shots that had a chance of detonating. Anyway, as you elude too, I'm sure all this is pretty much common knowledge with the folks on this site, but not for me until recently.

It was just criminal how the sub skippers were treated not to mention those torpedo bomber pilots. Not only did they have the same problems as the sub skippers had but their torpedoes had to survive the drop which was another issue early in the war. "Dusty" Kleiss', who flew with VS-6 at the Battle of Midway, said in his book that the guys that flew in VT-6 estimated their chance of actually getting a hit was 1 in 1000. Even knowing that they flew their mission knowing that they probably wouldn't come back.

[Kull]

ORIGINAL: rkr1958

My intention is to work through the Coral Sea and then Guadalcanal scenarios against the Japanese AI multiple times.

If you haven't done so already, think about updating the "AI files" for both of those scenarios. 1.8.11.26b is an exe update only, and does not account for database improvements, of which there were many between the default 2010 AI files and the new ones Andy released in 2012. Be aware that updating the AI is the ONLY way to get the database improvements (primarily error fixes in the various unit files), short of manually making the changes yourself.

Since you are planning "multiple" play-throughs of each scenario, keep in mind that there is only one variant for Coral Sea, so the AI will do the same thing every time. For Guadalcanal, there are 4 variants, and I would encourage you to manually choose a different variant for each new game (as opposed to it being random, meaning you could get the same one every time), so that you face all four of the AI tactical sets. Guadalcanal also has some database errors that have to be fixed with a second over-write, which is explained in the linked thread.

Good luck with this!

[HansBolter]

The guys in the ordnance department should have been brought up on charges for the manner in which they buried their heads in the sand and refused to accept that there was a problem.

Hollywood's documentation of this issue can be seen in the, typically over dramatized for Hollywood, classic John Wayne movie Operation Pacific.

I have always seen the exec/skipper relationship in that movie as a classic Hollywood take on the Mush Morton/Dick O'Kane relationship.

Which brings to mind another great book I overlooked mentioning: The Bravest Man: Richard O'Kane and the Amazing Adventures of USS Tang.

Absolutely great biography.

O'Kane's, the top sub skipper of the American Fleet, has his sub sunk by his own circling torpedo landing him in a POW camp.

This problem persisted long after they corrected the detonator problem.