Empires Ablaze V1.5 - Ideas sought

[Nemo121]

Well, if you lose MSWs they respawn. As Japan I have so many I keep about 50% of them in port at any one time. But that is obviously influenced by the fact that I escort lightly but put together big hunter-killer groups with all the escorts I save.
 
I think that DEs are far, far more valuable as DEs than as MSWs. With them as DEs and a few floatplanes spotting you can kill those minelaying subs on their way in before they lay mines. Even if you only killed 1 in 10 over time you are going to whittle the Allied minelaying subs down significantly.

[Nemo121]

Damian,
 
Umm, I'm not familiar with that being possible at Osaka. I'm open to being corrected but while I think you can WITHDRAW there I don't think you can disband without another group of that type being present.

[1EyedJacks]

Hi Nemo,

In my version of EA that I'm playing with Carl (1.3), none of the Transports (Topsy, Tabby, Tina, Liz) have the Ki-264-L in their upgrade path...

Also, there are no Ki-264-L in the reinforcement schedule.

[Nemo121]

Umm, I'm sure there are one or two squadrons which can upgrade to the Ki-264L in there somewhere. Once the first does then all of the others will follow. unfortunately I can't tell you which squadron(s) it'd be as I no longer have 1.3 on my computer. I was definitely able to field Ki-264 Ls when I played as Japan in V1.3 though.

[ny59giants]

I have version 1.4 and there are only 2 squadrons that can upgrade to Ki-264-L at game start.

ID 126 - Kogun Gunreibu (Ki-57 Topsy)
ID 122 - 2nd Transport Chutai (Ki-57 Topsy)

[Nemo121]

LOL! It looks like ny59giants knows this mod better than I do .

Thanks, that's v helpful. In V1.6 there are definitely units which arrive with the Ki-264 L as well.

[1EyedJacks]

ORIGINAL: ny59giants

I have version 1.4 and there are only 2 squadrons that can upgrade to Ki-264-L at game start.

ID 126 - Kogun Gunreibu (Ki-57 Topsy)
ID 122 - 2nd Transport Chutai (Ki-57 Topsy)

Yup - TY both. I didn't realize that I needed to hunt thru for specific units to perform the upgrades on.

Is there anything similiar to this regarding other air units that either of you are aware of? If so, please feel free to share them with me <grin>.

[Nemo121]

Umm, as the war goes on I've made sure that most of the "useful" plane types have groups arriving which require them but most of the less than useful plane types may just be upgrade options for existing squadrons. Which ones? I'm honestly not sure but in 1.4 to 1.6 I made an effort to make upgrades more widely available so it should be much less of an issue than in V1.3

[n01487477]

Nemo,
not sure if you have spotted this one.

no.158 R2 Chutai/38 Sentai Behemoth arrives (or is in waiting) 42/06/15 --- it's nice to have a prototype group, but with no planes available I can't use it or I have to wait until Jan'43.

Also it is a duplicate named group with no.149

Thanks Damian

[1EyedJacks]

Hi Nemo,

Something I just noticed when converting (or trying to convert) a pair of AKs to Minelayer Tenders (MLE).







The MLs Yutaka Maru and Yasushima Maru (both ETA 179) should be MLE...

[goodboyladdie]

ORIGINAL: 1EyedJacks

Hi Nemo,

Something I just noticed when converting (or trying to convert) a pair of AKs to Minelayer Tenders (MLE).







The MLs Yutaka Maru and Yasushima Maru (both ETA 179) should be MLE...

Ooh yummy - Intel! [:)] Don't worry though - I haven't got a clue what it all means. [:D]

[goodboyladdie]

I was just in the editor as I start to change ship art out to suit my taste and noticed that in v1.3 KGV and Renown have the same Bitmap. Is this deliberate?

[1EyedJacks]

And here is info from Tracker that confirms the AK ships were converted to ML ships instead of MLE. This looks like I might be in trouble with mine deployment as I only have one MLE on the board and two additional in the game that aren't scheduled to come out for quite some time.






What threw me off for a few was the class discription of Auxillery ML for the Yutaka Maru and the Yasushima Maru. MLE should be listed in the Merchant Lookup but these ships are listed in the Naval Lookup for Tracker.

[Nemo121]

ok, this is a definite bug.
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To help me track this down could someone tell me exactly which ML classes the AKs are getting converted to? If it is just a single class then it is probably due to me moving a ship into a slot which is hard-coded to be the one the AKs upgrade to and which was previously an MLE slot. That should be a pretty easy fix.
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if we're seeing multiple classes being upgraded to then we have something more complex on our hands.
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As re: the Behemoths...
Aye, I've struggled with this... I can't find any way to just magically create a few Behemoths in mid-42 for that group. I think I might just give the player 3 of them at game's start. If he keeps them for that group then it enters normally. If he doesn't then he gets to try three out in 1941, loses them quickly and doesn't get his 3-plane group in 1942.
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It is by no means perfect but it is the best I could do.
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Damian,
Re: AAA.... One of the biggest changes between 1.3 and 1.6 was a line by line re-consideration of IJA and IJN AAA. Right now the IJA and IJN FlAK upgrades to become much more lethal as the war goes on. Does it still suck in 42? Yes. Will it knock down lots of high-level B-17s in 44 and 45 if they hit the "wrong" base ( wrong being defined as a base defended by IJN 4.7inch guns etc ) ? Hell yes.
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Low-level work ( dive-bomber and 3,000 feet type runs ) will also be crucified from 1943 onwards as the IJA realises that its pre-war FlAK was just atrocious.
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[1EyedJacks]

ORIGINAL: Nemo121

ok, this is a definite bug.

To help me track this down could someone tell me exactly which ML classes the AKs are getting converted to? If it is just a single class then it is probably due to me moving a ship into a slot which is hard-coded to be the one the AKs upgrade to and which was previously an MLE slot. That should be a pretty easy fix.

if we're seeing multiple classes being upgraded to then we have something more complex on our hands.



As re: the Behemoths...
Aye, I've struggled with this... I can't find any way to just magically create a few Behemoths in mid-42 for that group. I think I might just give the player 3 of them at game's start. If he keeps them for that group then it enters normally. If he doesn't then he gets to try three out in 1941, loses them quickly and doesn't get his 3-plane group in 1942.

It is by no means perfect but it is the best I could do.

Damian,
Re: AAA.... One of the biggest changes between 1.3 and 1.6 was a line by line re-consideration of IJA and IJN AAA. Right now the IJA and IJN FlAK upgrades to become much more lethal as the war goes on. Does it still suck in 42? Yes. Will it knock down lots of high-level B-17s in 44 and 45 if they hit the "wrong" base ( wrong being defined as a base defended by IJN 4.7inch guns etc ) ? Hell yes.

Low-level work ( dive-bomber and 3,000 feet type runs ) will also be crucified from 1943 onwards as the IJA realises that its pre-war FlAK was just atrocious.

Hi Nemo,

The other two MLE that I'll get in the future are of the Eijo Class (The Mino Maru and the Eijo Maru). I would guess that when I convert AK to MLE they would need to convert to the Eijo class.

[goodboyladdie]

Hi Mike

How much of a hindrance will this be to you? If it will seriously hamper your expansion or ability to defend, with a consequent fallout on your enjoyment of the game, let me know and we'll discuss work arounds etc.

Very best regards

Carl

[goodboyladdie]

I have a question for Nemo. After battleship losses at Pearl Harbor, wouldn't the upgrade of Utah back to a BB be an option? Even if her current armament just repaired it would be something. As she currently is, I resent the fact that I can't scrap her for the steel...

[Nemo121]

That's a very good point... I've changed it so that it upgrades to a Colorado class of 6/42 vintage ( better AAA and radar ) IF it survives till then. After that it follows the Colorado upgrade path.
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Still looking into the MLE thing... It looks like a hard-coded thing...

[n01487477]

Nemo just did a test ... I don't think it is hard coded 108 Aux ML - if you change this to MLE it works ...

After changing 108 to a MLE it worked ... and now I'm messing about ...

Which I guess if you changed this to another class entirely you could make upgrades really cool !!! Just not what they say .... I recommend using AE for a new class of ship upgrades, but I guess unless you can get past the all AK's can be converted thing then it probably is best left as is ...

Damian

[Nemo121]

Aye, I'm sure it upgrades to whatever you put there BUT will whatever you put there also have hard-coded code telling it to behave as an MLE no matter what else it is? That's what I'm looking at. It may, it may not but I think I'll make the changes an assume there must be hard code there so I'll have to fiddle with some ship assignments too so tha tthe MLE can go into that slot.