The Let There Be Calm Upon the Waters AAR

[balto]

GW, the critical hit on the Lexington. That is not in the manual.

Is the Air Stike results window saying that a 2 strength Tac took out the 7 strength CV Lexington? Wow! You sure that is working correctly?

Lastly, when you say you SPOTTED, do you mean you saw the Lexington on the map, so you hit with the TAC. Or do you mean you ordered your Tac to hit that sea zone blindly, and they SPOTTED the Lexington and sunk her?

The reason I ask is because I am confused by section 9.6 of manual, it is talking about the chance of an air unit SPOTTING "The chance of spotting an enemy fleet depends on the attacker’s air technology, air unit strength and the defender’s naval technology levels." Does that mean on a recon mission? How does that come into play in your situation with the Lexington.., did you see it on the map, or did you fly blindly into the sea zone and spotted it and sunk her?

PS - As I play with this and have trouble with seeing things on the map, I am starting to see the clarity of the map you use.., we need Agent S to get involved here.

[gwgardner]

ORIGINAL: balto

GW, the critical hit on the Lexington. That is not in the manual.

Is the Air Stike results window saying that a 2 strength Tac took out the 7 strength CV Lexington? Wow! You sure that is working correctly?

Lastly, when you say you SPOTTED, do you mean you saw the Lexington on the map, so you hit with the TAC. Or do you mean you ordered your Tac to hit that sea zone blindly, and they SPOTTED the Lexington and sunk her?

The reason I ask is because I am confused by section 9.6 of manual, it is talking about the chance of an air unit SPOTTING "The chance of spotting an enemy fleet depends on the attacker’s air technology, air unit strength and the defender’s naval technology levels." Does that mean on a recon mission? How does that come into play in your situation with the Lexington.., did you see it on the map, or did you fly blindly into the sea zone and spotted it and sunk her?

Generally an air strike against ships will do lesser damage, but there is the random chance for more, and even the chance for what I call a critical hit. It's historically accurate as far as the possibility of achieving such a hit, if not the percentage possibility in the game - which of course can be modded to whatever is desired.

As Severian noted above, just after the war in the Pacific started, the Royal Navy ships Repulse and Prince of Wales met just such a demise. If I recall correctly, they suffered 'critical' hits from level bombers! I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but I recall that one of those ships took a bomb right down the smokestack.

I spotted the Lexington by doing a recon flight into the sea zone. Sometimes you have to do such a recon flight manually to find the enemy, at other times there is a random chance that passing ships will be spotted by your ships, etc.

[pat.casey]

ORIGINAL: balto

As Severian noted above, just after the war in the Pacific started, the Royal Navy ships Repulse and Prince of Wales met just such a demise. If I recall correctly, they suffered 'critical' hits from level bombers! I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but I recall that one of those ships took a bomb right down the smokestack.

They were attacked by a mix of level and torpedo bombers. The level bombers did scrore some hits but they did little actual damage. Major damage to both POW and Repulse was from air launched torpedoes. Repulse too 4-5, POW took 4 torps and one bomb.

[jomni]

I think it's Betty bombers (level bombers) armed with torpedos.

[gwgardner]

Here's another way to keep track of where enemy ships are: take a look at this raider report for Jan 16 turn. After reading the report, I checked Line Islands Sea Zone and Lo! The Enterprise is still there being shadowed by my sub.

Now I have to see if I can send a carrier force over to the Line Islands. Those are out of my 'sphere,' so it's more risky. And will the Enterprise still be there when I arrive? Is the AI sending out another weak carrier group for raiding? Or is this a bigger, more dangerous TF?

[gwgardner]

In China, the partisans continue to cause havoc. So much so that I determined that I don't have enough forces in China to simultaneously carry out offensives and control the populace.

The real deciding factor was when the city of Peking rose up in revolt, thereby taking 8 PPs a turn out of my force pool. Three turns of that, and I've already lost enough PPs to build a corps. Dislodging those rebels from a city like Peking is going to require some effort.

Therefore I had to divert an entire infantry corps from their intended task in the South.

[Darn. I now see that I have positioned the corps across a river from the city! I repeat, don't do this at home, people!]

[gwgardner]

mid-Feb '42

I am taking losses every turn to Allied raiders, hitting my convoys. Last turn 10 STPs sank, supplying my far-flung islands.

What's your opinion if I just delete the convoys to the most vulnerable sea lanes - to such islands as Eniweetok? My garrison there can go on reduced rations for a while. Would this be considered a gamey tactic?

[gwgardner]

In Burma, combined Siamese and Japanese forces have had some success. Rangoon will come under siege by mid-March. Air units from the Malaya campaign have been moved north into Siam.

So far no sign of the British fleet, although if they want to take us on, the Kaga and Akagi are awaiting south of Rangoon.

[gwgardner]

The Imperial Army has failed disastrously in the China campaign. Every attempt to establish an offensive against the RoC has been disrupted by their partisan efforts. The rebel group in Peking has been destroyed, but at this point, without some serious reinforcements, the Army will be lucky to maintain the status quo in China. Not good. Three corps are currently being brought up to full strength after being deployed in Korea. They will soon be railroaded west to reinforce the front line.

As for the IJN, it continues to support the taking of the Dutch East Indies. That is going well, if only slowly. A hair-brained landing near Darwin has been woefully unsupported. As have garrison forces in the Caroline islands and other Pacific outposts.

Either things must be shaped up quickly, or there will be a shakeup in the high commands of both arms.

[gwgardner]

Kuala Lamur has finally fallen, leaving only one lone straggler division of British territorial forces left to mop up in Malaya. The Malayan force will be transported over to Sumatra, or north for the drive on India.

[gwgardner]

Java is completely occupied, now that the Batavian defense has been crushed. Borneo is soon to be completely occupied. The Celebes is secure. With the exception of Sumatra, this leaves only Mar, on the northwestern tip of New Guinea, and Dili as the last refuge of the Dutch government. Once those two are taken, I expect the Dutch to come to accomodate to the new order of things.

[gwgardner]

plan for forcing the Dutch out of the war [based upon VP cities]

[gwgardner]

Mid-March Status

[gwgardner]

It seems that 1.02 significantly alters the behavior of the Allied AI. Unfortunately, since I started this AAR with 1.01, many of the enhanced triggers and AI options are voided. Therefore I'm left with a choice between playing on against a less-capable AI, or starting over, to fight against the best the AI has to offer.

What I may do is start over with 1.02, and play up to the general date of Mid March, and then resume the AAR from there - unless that seems totally screwy.

[doomtrader]

Or you might also want to wait for next patch.

[gwgardner]

coming soon? And with more enhancements for the AI?

[Chocolino]

Great AAR. Thank you.

Just when I was looking forward to you taking PM...

From your experience, can Japan stay on the offensive in the South Pacific beyond the first 6 month or will the tides turn with the expiry of its initial bonus?

[gwgardner]

It's the Allies that are really struggling.

against human in PBEM: I think the Allied advantage in PPs will turn the tide in '42-'43
against AI: I haven't played far enough to tell, but my impression is that the Japanese can overwhelm the AI. Wastelands is working on the AI constantly, so this should improve from the Allied standpoint.