MWiF Map Review - India & Burma

[Froonp]

Hello,

Here is what India & Burma are looking in MWiF.
It seems to me that it is pretty ok, it is accurate toward the WiF FE map.
Do you see something wrong ?
(This is a 35% size map, so texts are much unreadable, if you want close-ups on some areas, just ask)

Cheers !
Patrice

[composer99]

All I can say is I feel sorry for the CW player who has to defend India against a determined Japanese attack at this map scale. Although, come to think of it, it's also easier to cut Japanese armies that over-extend themselves out of supply, so that makes up for the better maneuverability.

If I recall, almost every clear hex in India on the WiF:FE map has a city in it. Now there's lots of good tank country.

[Shannon V. OKeets]

ORIGINAL: composer99

All I can say is I feel sorry for the CW player who has to defend India against a determined Japanese attack at this map scale. Although, come to think of it, it's also easier to cut Japanese armies that over-extend themselves out of supply, so that makes up for the better maneuverability.

If I recall, almost every clear hex in India on the WiF:FE map has a city in it. Now there's lots of good tank country.

But most of it is laced with rivers.

[Incy]

Is Bombay attackable from only 1 hex? Not so in WiFFE...

It's important, bacause Bombay will often see battle and does have a factory (a PART in Bombay is common)

[Shannon V. OKeets]

ORIGINAL: Incy

Is Bombay attackable from only 1 hex? Not so in WiFFE...

It's important, bacause Bombay will often see battle and does have a factory (a PART in Bombay is common)

Yes. You have good eyesight! I agree this is a problem, but I do not have a ready solution.

At the European scale Bombay is clearly on a peninsula with one attached land hex (to the NE). The WIF FE scale lumped Bombay's peninsula into surrounding terrain and conneected it to 3 other land hexes. Big change. What to do?[&:]

[Froonp]

ORIGINAL: Shannon V. OKeets

ORIGINAL: Incy
Is Bombay attackable from only 1 hex? Not so in WiFFE...
It's important, bacause Bombay will often see battle and does have a factory (a PART in Bombay is common)

Yes. You have good eyesight! I agree this is a problem, but I do not have a ready solution.
At the European scale Bombay is clearly on a peninsula with one attached land hex (to the NE). The WIF FE scale lumped Bombay's peninsula into surrounding terrain and conneected it to 3 other land hexes. Big change. What to do?[&:]

While I do not agree that Bombay often sees battle (I tend to have a TERR here as the CW, so I'm not leaving the door open for a PART, and the Jap rarely comes that far), I agree that the Bombay depiction is not ideal. I would have lived with it, for the previous reason, but if you think that it is a problem, I think it is easy to solve.
The hexes E and SE of Bombay are curently All Sea hexsides.
We only need to make them land hexside, by drawing the peninsula less big (and so the sea arm less deep).
By the way, looking at large scaled maps of Inda, it seems to me that the size of te Peninsula was well exagerated, so reducing it might serve 2 goals, making the map more WiF FE like, and makinf it more real.

Just a last not to say that composer99 commented that India seemed easier to conquer, at least to attack, for Japan. Maybe having Bombay slightly more difficult to conquer would be good for game purposes ?

Also, as a real last note, please note that Calcutta now is attackable from 1 normal hexside, and 4 river hexsides, while it was attackable from 3 river hexsides before. We might consider that it is easier to attack, so maybe making Bombay a little more hard helps ?

So we have the choice :
- Removing both E & SE All sea hexsides to make bombay as in WiF FE, and closer to reality.
- Removing only E hexside to maket it more like in WiF FE, but slightly harder given that there are other areas in India that are easier.

I prefer the last one finally.
And you ? Or a third one ?

[YohanTM2]

I prefer the latter option as well

[Froonp]

So we have the choice :
- Removing both E & SE All sea hexsides to make bombay as in WiF FE, and closer to reality.
- Removing only E hexside to make it more like in WiF FE, but slightly harder given that there are other areas in India that are easier.

I prefer the last one finally.
And you ? Or a third one ?

I will implement the second solution on the Coastlines map.

[Froonp]

ORIGINAL: Froonp

So we have the choice :
- Removing both E & SE All sea hexsides to make bombay as in WiF FE, and closer to reality.
- Removing only E hexside to make it more like in WiF FE, but slightly harder given that there are other areas in India that are easier.

I prefer the last one finally.
And you ? Or a third one ?

I will implement the second solution on the Coastlines map.

Looks like this now. Is this ok ?

[Froonp]

There is this lake that is bugging me.
In maps I found about India, and on Google Earth, this lake hexside seems placed about 2 hexes westwards from where it is now on the MWiF map. What to do ?
This is a pretty remote area, I could also leave it this way...

[Jeff Gilbert]

Ummm ... where's the lake?
Do you mean the SE hexside 3 hexes east of Peshwar?

[composer99]

I like the Bombay revision.

ORIGINAL: Shannon V. OKeets

But most of it is laced with rivers.

That's true. A determined Japanese attack in 41-42 wouldn't find the cities too much of an obstacle, anyway, so the fact that under the same circumstances the rivers probably won't be much obstacle either makes no difference. All that matters, for the CW defence of India, is how much army the CW has in the country.

Edit: Oh, and also what degree of difficulty Japan has in taking Calcutta.

[Froonp]

ORIGINAL: Jeff Gilbert

Ummm ... where's the lake?
Do you mean the SE hexside 3 hexes east of Peshwar?

Yes, this one.
Lakes, before being drawn, are represented by Light blue hexsides on the MWiF map.

[Froonp]

Edit: Oh, and also what degree of difficulty Japan has in taking Calcutta.

See by yourself on this picture

Here also what I wrote in post #6

Also, as a real last note, please note that Calcutta now is attackable from 1 normal hexside, and 4 river hexsides, while it was attackable from 3 river hexsides before. We might consider that it is easier to attack (...)

[trees trees]

Would the various enclaves (Goa, etc.) rate minor ports? I've been fascinated by the Portugese empire lately.

[Neilster]

ORIGINAL: trees trees

Would the various enclaves (Goa, etc.) rate minor ports? I've been fascinated by the Portugese empire lately.

Well who hasn't? [:D]

Cheers, Neilster

[composer99]

ORIGINAL: trees trees

Would the various enclaves (Goa, etc.) rate minor ports? [...]

It wouldn't make much of a difference to the game balance if they did, since there is a Portugese, a French, and (I don't know for certain) a Dutch enclave. Sure, it's a few more ports for the CW to defend in some circumstances, mostly from the European Axis from what I saw on Patrice's first posted map, but if the European Axis has the ability, in terms of logistics, troops, and no Royal Navy, to mount a serious campaign in India (or at least to split the effort with the Japanese), then the Axis have probably already won the game.

[Froonp]

About this lake in northwestern WWII India, I can't find it on the maps and on Google Earth (4 hexes north of Lahore and 3 hexes west of Peshawar) (See Post #10).

I only can find a small lake to the east of it (1-2 hexes east of Peshawar) and another south of it (1-2 hexes east of Rawalpindi. Both are about 20 km long, so they do not deserve 1 lake hexside, so I think I will simply delete it.

Opinions ?

[OgrePA]

Hi all.  Been checking in for awhile and thought I would try and add some opinions as I have time.
 
There seems to be a lake near the indicated position in Pakistan. Not sure of any details regarding the lake.
 
http://www.multimap.com/map/browse.cgi?client=public&X=8000000.7049066&Y=4000000.84694275&width=700&height=400&gride=&gridn=&srec=0&coordsys=mercator&db=&addr1=&addr2=&addr3=&pc=&advanced=&local=&localinfosel=&kw=&inmap=&table=&ovtype=&keepicon=&zm=1&scale=2000000

[OgrePA]

Further research shows the lake to be a result of Tarbela Dam that was built in the 1960's.  Sorry should have done some additional checking before posting.