'Tis light as a feather... No Panzerjaeger Hortlund

[Mike Solli]

ORIGINAL: Nemo121
So, essentially 1 ton of OIL becomes 1 ton of supply when refined and 9 tons of fuel which later get transformed into 9 tons of supplies by HI.

I believe you meant to say 10 tons of oil......

Question: Why are you giving the Japanese pilot replacements an experience level of 70?

[Nemo121]

Mike,
Umm, no I meant 1 ton of oil but I'm guessing that's wrong now. *scratches head at Japanese production and heads over to Solli's thread to worship at the altar of the master* [8D]


Well, I'm giving Japanese pilots an experience of 70 and halving their number while giving Allied pilots an experience of 80 and reducing their numbers by half to 1/3rd. Overall this cuts down on the need for training a little and still maintains the 10 Exp point disparity, It just means that the USN CV fleet won'[t have to be defending itself with fighter pilots with 45 Exp.

Overall my view is that this change is pretty balanced. It benefits Japan a bit but benefits the Allied CVs more. It benefits the US Army a little less. But overall it is balanced.


Same thing with Atomic Bombs... PH is looking for about 12 more Atomic Bombs which may be historical but it is also sufficient to mean he can play the game without skill and still win - something which is anathema to EA design precepts. I've given him 12 CVBs at no cost though so I've told him he can trade 2 CVBs for a single Atom Bomb and get back to me with how many he wants to trade.

He has also asked for more fighters... but I get 4,000 and he gets 14,000 fighters so, really, does he really need to outnumber me by more than 3.5 : 1 in fighters?

He did ask for An Armoured Corps and I've agreed to that. I've also agreed to give him two additional Airborne Divisions - 101st and 82nd.

He asked for the British to be fully modelled but I think Andy removed the Brits and Japanese in Indochina to focus the war on the Phillipines and Japan and I think if I added them in it would just result in stalemate in Indochina and actually hurt the Allies so I've turned down that request.

He also asks for the Soviets to be activated. Again though this would result in a scenario where no skill is required as absolutely everything in Japan would be under the Allied thumb from day 1.


If the Allies have enough of everything then there is no need to make meaningful strategic choices and the whole point in an EA scenario is that it is chock-full of interesting strategic choices in which there are lots of good options but not enough forces to pursue them all at the same time. The skill lies in picking the right options to pursue.


That he is asking for such overwhelming forces which would require no skill in utilisation is a little worrying. I wonder did PH really grasp what an EA-mod is about?

Seriously, 40 CVs vs 5, 30 CVLs vs 3 and 80+ CVEs vs none, 30 BBs vs 1, 500+ DDs vs about 80 and 300 or so subs, 3 times the fighter planes on-map, double the number of trained pilots, airborne and tank divisions en masse, a scenario which has been extended from 12 to 15 months to allow for a longer allied offensive and an offer to double the number of Atomic bombs the Allies get from 6 to 12 and he still thinks he doesn't have enough? [8|][8|][8|]

And before anyone thinks to ask... Yeah I'd be happy to play the Allied side. I'd be in Japan proper within 4 weeks and the game'd be over as a contest in 4 to 5 months ( depending on opponent skill ). I've played Allied and Japanese EA games and taken over hopeless situations and turned them around so I don't think either side is unbalanced.... subtle and tricky? Yes. Requiring a different approach than just "counting the divisions"? Yes. But can either side "win" ( for whatever value of winning you have) ? Yes.

[Andy Mac]

14th Army and the RN Fleet was already in the scen did you remove them ?

[Andy Mac]

ps dont forget this scenario is based on an already ahistoric scenario as I disabled the Soviets assumign they stop at the top of Korea and having seized Sakhalin Islands.
 
So Nemo can pretty much do as he wills. Atomic bombs were deliberately delayed
 
 

[Nemo121]

Andy,

No, I didn't touch them. The ONLY things I did to the Allies were to strengthen them with:
1. 12 additional CVBs with over 1200 more planes assigned.

2. Give them smaller numbers of replacements but boost the experience of those replacements to 80 ( I reduced the number of Japanese replacements more and gave them less experience - so this change helps the Allies more than Japan overall IMO although I don't think it is pretty balanced - just a little more in favour of the Allies )

3. I left the RN and 14th Army in. I didn't even remove the IJA Guards Division from its crazy guard post at Palembang [8D]

4. Once I realised about the Atomic bombs I offered to double their number and have them begin arriving on 1st January 1946.

5. I also boosted his bomber replacement numbers 25% and fighter replacement numbers by 10%

He asked for and I granted an Armoured Corps, 2 Airborne Divisions etc but I draw the line at allowing in the Soviets or giving him more than 3.5 times the number of fighters I have or even more atomic bombs. 12 should be enough for anyone. Any more would be just incredibly unbalancing --- so he can trade them for CVBs if he wants.

I want to make a strategically interesting scenario and that requires an element of balance - although that balance may ( and usually is, in my mods ) asymmetric. I don't apologise for that as my mods aren't about utter historical recreation, they are about logistics and interesting choices. If he gets everything he wants he'll never have to use skill to win and that's simply not my goal. I want skillfull play to be rewarded but unskillfull play to be ruthlessly punished. My design reflects this.

Anyways, onto the first day's combat:


1st September 1945:
Some aeroplane factories upgraded to planes I didn't want to produce after I hadn't realised that the upgrade paths were still functional. OOPS!!!

The Allies are making a major show of sweeping Formosa and bombing it with several hundred four engined bombers. All in all about 400 fighters and 300 bombers were committed to these missions. I had committed 16 fighters to the defence of Formosa. I only committed them because they were transitting back to China from around Hainan etc and Formosa made a handy refuelling point.

Anyways the N1K5Js met up with a P-38 sweep and 5 of their number tangled with over 50 P-38s. A combination of altitude and superior manoeuvrability allowed this group to hold its own and it appears to have downed 5 P-38s in return for two of their own number. Only one of my pilots was KIA. Unfortunately for me that N1K5J group is one of my best groups with a pilot with >80 A2A skill and many with >70A2A skill. That makes it one of my best 5 airgroups, which is why it is flying one of the best fighters I have.

In other news I've begun evacuating Air and Naval HQs from Hainan Island which has an unbelievable number of support troops but almost no combat troops. I've also begun the long march back from IndoChina which features 2 HQ units and a Base Force and pretty much nothing else. I have basically no combat power west of Canton and so am pulling back into the Chinese hinterland. I'll hold Hong Kong as long as I can but basically my main goal is to keep a bit of Hokkaido and northern Korea out of P-51 range ( 20 hexes ) of American bases and build a bit of an industrial powerhouse there. I don't want to build too much though as obviously it'll just get nuked if I concentrate too much production into a single base. Already I can tell you the first half-dozen targets for US nukes based on HI - which is my biggest weak point...

The US landed on and captured a series of islands near Okinawa which Japan had helpfully left ungarrisoned [8|][8|]. In the meantime my scramble to actually get even a small number of troops onto each ungarrisoned island continues.

Over time I want to draw back all of my forces west of Hong Kong, remove most of my troops from Formosa and the Pescadores as well as a majority of my combat power from China. I'll leave enough to hold the Allies in place though, using terrain and river crossings to my advantage. I will use the troops thus freed up to garrison the Home Islands while the troops currently in the Home Islands move out to garrison the islands in the Kuriles and within 12 hexes of the coast... Why twelve hexes? Simple, that's Oscar IIIa range and anything within that range will, in about's a month time, eat a steady diet of crash-diving Oscar IIIa kamikazes. I'm making 140 a month and have enough spare engines ( about 2,000 ) to allow for production of another 130 per month. 270 Oscar IIIa kamis a month is a pretty awesome number.


Assessment:
The Allied assault on Formosa was impressive but eminently predictable. The grabbing of the islands around Okinawa was also predictable. I'm happy to let this continue for now... I'll have to resist a little to make it seem like I am making a serious fight here but, really, I want him to have a nice cluster of bases here with ground troops, airfields and ships within easy reach of my forces.

Why? Simple, it'll allow me to attrition him, test my tactics in an unobtrusive manner and learn about PH's psychology through the thrust, parry and counter-thrust of a small battle. It will also allow me to seem that I'm getting embroiled in a conflict to prevent further advance from the direction of Okinawa. He isn't going to advance from that direction though.

He'll come at me either from Iwo Jima or from the Kuriles. I want him to come at Hokkaido from the Kuriles and am planning a pretty devastating reception for him when he does. I'll also cover the Iwo Jima route as a matter of course but most of my unobtrusive buildup ( carried out by floatplane transports ) will be into the Kuriles. I'll have to run a small number of merchant ships to bring in the heavy guns and supplies necessary but so long as I fly everything else in I should be able to disguise the buildup until he is pretty much committed.

I'm going to help him along the way by invading the Aleutians to draw forces north and into the theatre of operations I wish to draw him into.

Now the question is whether or not I can decoy him into the Aleutians and away from Iwo. A show of strength along the Iwo is axis is required.

Why am I so certain he won't approach via Indochina etc? Well he asked for the British to be vastly reinforced to make a contest out of the Indochina theatre. He has more than enough force to push through what I already have there and I KNOW he looked at the starting dispositions so he knows this. So asking for extra British divisions is unnecessary for his stated goal - he can achieve what he wants with what he already has.... So, his request was a diversion couched in an email which stated that he wanted this considered for the future of the mod but not this game --- a paper-thin excuse which isn't going to fool me.


So, he'll take bases around Okinawa ( which suits me just fine ) and demonstrate towards Formosa with a heavy USAAF and bomber committment as well as some naval manoeuvrings to threaten landings all the while seeming to project power from the Phillipines along the island chain leading to Japan but this will be a diversion. He'll come either via Iwo Jima directly into the Tokyo plains (unlikely ) or the small bit of the middle of Japan which is pretty isolated from the rest and only has one entry point ( I forget the name but rate this as very likely ) OR via the Kuriles and into Hokkaido with a thrust aimed directly into the islands near Hokkaido and from there pretty rapidly into Hokkaido itself. Speed will be his armour so he can't recon it endlessly or he'll run the risk of me reinforcing Hokkaido hugely. This is also why he'll land close to Hokkaido to maximise his rapidly available LBA before the landing as opposed to slowly island-hopping closer over a month.

This suits me perfectly as it is the perfect situation for the layered defence I am planning which will comprise:

1. short-range float-capable Ki-115s basing out of 0 airfield island bases which look unthreatening but can still hold 100 kamis per day coming in at 100 feet.

2. Up to 200 fighters on CAP covering raids into the hex of the invasion TF. Supported by many CD guns and mines to prevent bombardments neutralising them.

3. Ki-43 IIIs operating out of nodal bases out to maximum non-extended range with drop tanks coming in as high-altitude kamis into the invasion hex.

4. Ohka bombers coming in during the daytime at high altitude accompanied by torpedo-carrying Ki-67(T)s and G9 Marlins at low altitude.

5. B6N2as and other lesser torpedo bombers ( P1Y1s etc) with radar carrying out night-time radar-guided torpedo attacks.

6. Ki-74s coming in at high altitude out to maximum range ( 29 hexes ) in order to hit the stand-off carriers and cripples seeking to escape.


By layering the responders like this I make maximum use of the invasion hex ( 200 fighters on CAP ), nearby undeveloped bases ( floatplane kamis ), developed bases within 12 hexes ( ki-43 kamis and sweeping fighters ), slightly more distant bases ( twin-engine torpedo bombers and Ohkas ) as well as long-range bases ( Ki-74s, G9Ms and Ki-264s ). Maintained over the course of several days with rotation of kami squadrons, fighter and bomber squadrons and the combination of both daytime and night-time attacks ( with an emphasis on night-time attacks by vulnerable single and twin-engined torpedo attackers until the enemy LRCAP is broken ) I think quite good results could be obtained.

[Andy Mac]

Well 14th Army and I Aus COrps were more or less put in by me as a SOP to cope with loss of Soviets.
 
This isnt a scenario about army the allies have more than enough to get the job done.
 
This is a game about air combat and getting points which the bulk of Japanese points are int eh key cities to win it you need to take a key city or 2 or torch the whole country destroy the AF and hope the Japanese make a mistake

[Andy Mac]

IV Corps gets 3 Indian Divs and an Ard Bde
XV Corps gets another 3 Divs and an Ard Bde
14th Army gets another 2 Divs in reserve (1 Ard and 1 para)
 
I Aus Corps gets 2 Aus 1 NZ and an Ard Bde
 
and lastly
 
X Corps has another 4 Inf Divs plus a Para Div and 2 Armoured Bdes.
 
So he loses the Soviets but hets a fair amount of additional force to reinforce the numerous other Corps on the map.
 
He is not lacking in Ground Forces

[Andy Mac]

Indochina has no points why go there ?

The ball game is getting onto the Home Islands anything else is a diversion he is facing a MASSIVe points deficit he needs to destroy Japanese industry and gather points fast.

He needs to have less than a 2:1 ratio by 1st Jan 46 or he auto loses so he needs to gain about 20,000 VP's in next 3 months to avoid losign the scenario.

To win he needs to have 2:1 in his favour with no more than 2 nukes by Sept 46 or hold 4 of Tokyo/Osaka/Nagoya/Kobe/Yokohama/Hiroshima or Nagasaki and have 1.5:1

(Although you changed times lines to that may change)

Anything else is a draw

[Nemo121]

Well, I'm not playing it for points and neither is he. His goal is, I think, to wipe me out and/or force a good lodgement in the Home Islands with the collapse of the Japanese ability to resist. This is actually far easier than getting 2:1 odds in his favour


I won't be declaring a victory if he has less than 2:! in 1st Jan 1946. No, ideally this continues until such time as he invades the Home Islands or decides that it is impossible and Japan should be left holding China, Korea +/- Formosa.



As to the ground forces... Well he's asking for so much of everything ( troops, nukes, fighters etc ) that he won't need skill to win, he can just steamroller and while I'm sure some on the forum would enjoy seeing such a game that isn't the type of mod I create so I won't be giving him all he asks for ---- to howls of "Nemo's cheating, he's loading the die in his favour" etc [8|][8|][8|].


Still, if he can't get the job done with a minimum of 15 times the navy, 3.25 times the fighters, double the number of overall planes and more ground forces then, well, that's his tough. I'm not in the business of giving players 20 times the navy, 5 times the fighters, triple the number of planes etc etc so that they can make good any strategic naivety. I'm in the business of designing the scenario to punish them for mistakes and I make no apologies for that.

[n01487477]

ORIGINAL: Mike Solli

ORIGINAL: Nemo121
4. Oil becomes supplies at a rate of 1:1 while it gets transformed into FUEL at a rate of 1:9. This fuel then gets used by HI to make yet more supplies at a rate of 1 fuel : 1 supplies + 1 HI

So, essentially 1 ton of OIL becomes 1 ton of supply when refined and 9 tons of fuel which later get transformed into 9 tons of supplies by HI.

So, HI runs off resources and fuel... So I need to save my fuel bigtime.... Well, having no navy to speak of should manage to acheive that pretty easily

So, I have 300,000 tons of OIL at Kanko. If I can get all of that into the Home Islands that 300,000 tons of OIL will be refined to produce 30,000 tons of supplies and 270,000 tons of fuel. This fuel will then yield some 270,000 HI points ( which will be generated over some 54 days or so ) and some 270,000 tons of supplies.

I believe you meant to say 10 tons of oil......

While on one hand Mike is correct in the semantics (when referring to just the Oil Refinery) you are correct in your calculations (Overall process) esp. about the 300,000 tons of Oil. So I think your understanding is correct.

Essentially you start with 10 Tons of Oil(which are needed to fire up the Refinery), then 1 Ton of this oil does become 1 Ton of supply, but the other 9 Tons of Oil become 9 Tons of Fuel.

So I think it should be expressed as (at the Oil Ref)
1:0.1 (10:1) for Oil to supply
1:0.9 (10:9) for Oil to fuel

** But for total production (and I was never strong at Math)
Oil -> total supply output 1:1
Oil -> Fuel 1:0.9

So total supply produced from 300K of Oil (with Res) = 300K of supplies
And total fuel from 300K of Oil = 270K of fuel

[Nemo121]

Aye, so 300 Oil Centres make 3,000 Oil Points which combine with 300 Refineries to make 300 tons of Supply + 2,700 tons of fuel.

The 2,700 tons of fuel can then combine with 1,350 HI Centres and 27,000 Resource Points ( from 1,350 resource centres ) to produce 2,700 HI points and 2,700 tons of supply.

At this point we've made 3,000 tons of supply, 2,700 tons of fuel and consumed that fuel to make 2,700 HI.


Interestingly while Light Industry is useful 15 tons of Resources ( Resource Points ) combined with 1 Light Industry Centre to produce 1 ton of supply.
Compared to Heavy Industry Centres where 20 tons of Resources combine with 1 Heavy Industry Centre to produce 2 tons of supply.


So, when Japan goes to the wall it should continue HI under any and all circumstances. Light Industry is more negotiable as it isn't as efficient. On the other hand, once you are cut off from OIL supplies the Light Industry will still allow you to continue producing consumables ( ammunition etc ) in order to continue the fight.


I used the picture you posted to the Semi-Newbie Question thread to help get it straight in my head. Very clear picture indeed. It helped a lot.

[n01487477]

ORIGINAL: Nemo121

Aye, so 300 Oil Centres make 3,000 Oil Points which combine with 300 Refineries to make 300 tons of Supply + 2,700 tons of fuel.

The 2,700 tons of fuel can then combine with 1,350 HI Centres and 27,000 Resource Points ( from 1,350 resource centres ) to produce 2,700 HI points and 2,700 tons of supply.

At this point we've made 3,000 tons of supply, 2,700 tons of fuel and consumed that fuel to make 2,700 HI.

Interestingly while Light Industry is useful 15 tons of Resources ( Resource Points ) combined with 1 Light Industry Centre to produce 1 ton of supply.
Compared to Heavy Industry Centres where 20 tons of Resources combine with 1 Heavy Industry Centre to produce 2 tons of supply.

So, when Japan goes to the wall it should continue HI under any and all circumstances. Light Industry is more negotiable as it isn't as efficient. 1. On the other hand, once you are cut off from OIL supplies the Light Industry will still allow you to continue producing consumables ( ammunition etc ) in order to continue the fight.

2. I used the picture you posted to the Semi-Newbie Question thread to help get it straight in my head. Very clear picture indeed. It helped a lot.

1. Oil isn't used by Light Industry, but you are correct that IF Resources are a problem then Light Industry is an inefficient way to make supplies. Much better to save it for Heavy Industry conversion to HI Points and supply. I believe many players turn some off in late game / when Resources are scarce in the Home Islands. Ahh ... I see once Oil is cut off, then Light Industry can still make supplies, but will not be available as points for Secondary Production.
2. Yeah it's a pity my chart in Tracker isn't as good (I can't claim credit for the chart I posted) ... but then I was never good at Art either.

Otherwise everything else is on the money, the unknown is fuel consumption for naval assets and I'm working on some Tracker stuff for this too (eventually).

[edit] I misread what you said in (1) and you are correct. Sorry.

[Nemo121]

Interesting Tracker Report: Experience is Average experience.

Fighter: Exp 55
FIghter Bomber Exp 56
DB: Exp 48
Level Bomber Exp 40
Torpedo Bomber Exp 50

Average IJA Exp is 56, Average IJN Exp is 45.


Now you see why I bemoan the lack of high quality fighter groups. I've just checked and my average A6M8 fighter experience is 45 while the Ki-61 II gets the worst experience of the lot with just 25 Exp in its group on average [8D]

[Nemo121]

No sweat, I'm finally getting a handle on tracker... VERY handy to sort out engine and aeroplane production.

I've got pools of some old engines ( 300 Early Hitachis, 245 Mitsbuishi Ha31s etc ) and Tracker is helping ID which engine pools would be worth expending some supplies on in order to create enough production of their obsolete aircraft ( ki-32s, Alfs etc ) in order to use up the engines efficiently over 15 months. I can always use some more throwaway kamikaze airplanes.

[Mike Solli]

ORIGINAL: Nemo121
I can always use some more throwaway kamikaze airplanes.

Aren't all Kamikazes throwaway? [:D]

[Nemo121]

SHHH!!!!! My secret weapon is the re-usable kamikaze. For every 3 kamikazes I expend my "Frankenstein Support Units" get to create 1 additional kamikaze from the remains... Of course this is modified for bad weather and tidal currents with the Northern Area of operations reducing this to 1 new kamikaze for every 5 expended but, hey, it is better than nothing [8D].

Yeah you're right but some are more expendable than others. I'd be peeved if my Ki-94s and Ki-93Ibs didn't hit anything ( they are fast and fly high and carry 500Kg bombs. On the other hand the horde of Ki-27s I plan to unleash aren't really expected to achieve much of anything except to occupy the fighter escorts in being shot down... I'll send them in at 100 feet in order to give them a chance and also to allow them to use their superior manoeuvrability to evade at least some of the attacks they get subjected to.


Now onto Tracker....

SHHH!!!!! My secret weapon is the re-usable kamikaze. For every 3 kamikazes I expend my "Frankenstein Support Units" get to create 1 additional kamikaze from the remains... Of course this is modified for bad weather and tidal currents with the Northern Area of operations reducing this to 1 new kamikaze for every 5 expended but, hey, it is better than nothing [8D].

Yeah you're right but some are more expendable than others. I'd be peeved if my Ki-94s and Ki-93Ibs didn't hit anything ( they are fast and fly high and carry 500Kg bombs. On the other hand the horde of Ki-27s I plan to unleash aren't really expected to achieve much of anything except to occupy the fighter escorts in being shot down... I'll send them in at 100 feet in order to give them a chance and also to allow them to use their superior manoeuvrability to evade at least some of the attacks they get subjected to.


Now onto Tracker....

I'm having difficulty understanding my manpower, armaments etc requirements...

In the picture below the 120th Division has 100% of its TO&E but 75% of this TO&E is disabled with 25% of its constituent squads etc being intact. That's fine and I can understand that from the screen. My problem is the Man Reinforcement Points... I'm assuming this means Manpower Reinforcement Points... But since the unit is at 100% TO&E strength ( albeit 75% disabled ) shouldn't it just require time and supply to repair? I thought disabled squads didn't require any manpower to repair. Am I wrong in this?

[Nemo121]

And now for Armaments Points.

The delayed units do require 5,687 Armament Points. They tally nicely.

The problem is with the on-map units and their requirement for armament reinforcement points. According to Tracker this is 723,935. When I check the actual Arm Reinforcement POints column though it tabulates as about 6,000.

The vehicle reinforcement points required tabulate to about 13,000 ( I didn't check them precisely ).

So, I wonder has tracker just shifted the columns so that in the reinforcement needed column at the top the manpower should be 724,000, the armament should be about 6900 and the vehicles should be about 13,800?



Also, for the 23rd Division surely the strength of 91% doesn't tabulate with the actual TO&E ( I've checked and the TO&E is correct in-game... that unit is about 80% destroyed with some 99 support squads and 92 IJA infantry squads ( obviously some got repaired overnight )....

Anyways, my question is whether or not I'm failing to understand something in Tracker, whether this is a general bug OR whether my install got corrupted somehow?

That looks to tabulate better with what my eyes are showing me should be required... I still can't figure out the disablements though. Is it a bug in tracker or does AE really require manpower to repair disabled squads? It is a nice touch if it does. Realistic too, I just remember WiTP working differently and hadn't realised this might have changed.

[n01487477]

ORIGINAL: Nemo121
Now onto Tracker....

I'm having difficulty understanding my manpower, armaments etc requirements...

In the picture below the 120th Division has 100% of its TO&E but 75% of this TO&E is disabled with 25% of its constituent squads etc being intact. That's fine and I can understand that from the screen. My problem is the Man Reinforcement Points... I'm assuming this means Manpower Reinforcement Points... But since the unit is at 100% TO&E strength ( albeit 75% disabled ) shouldn't it just require time and supply to repair? I thought disabled squads didn't require any manpower to repair. Am I wrong in this?

I'll double check this for you, but I think that I'm right. BTW - LCU Production (esp. replenishment of on-map lcu's) is an inexact science because of pools & other variables I still can't understand completely. But I know if I have Points in pool I usually get the reinforcement unit at 100% TOE or what it has been defined in the editor.

ORIGINAL: Nemo121

And now for Armaments Points.

The delayed units do require 5,687 Armament Points. They tally nicely.

The problem is with the on-map units and their requirement for armament reinforcement points. According to Tracker this is 723,935. When I check the actual Arm Reinforcement POints column though it tabulates as about 6,000.

The vehicle reinforcement points required tabulate to about 13,000 ( I didn't check them precisely ).

So, I wonder has tracker just shifted the columns so that in the reinforcement needed column at the top the manpower should be 724,000, the armament should be about 6900 and the vehicles should be about 13,800?

This is a Tracker bug, I changed the screen from 1.5 to 1.6.1 and I never rechecked it properly. I've fixed it below (pic) and you can see you're right. It's a shift in column.

Also, for the 23rd Division surely the strength of 91% doesn't tabulate with the actual TO&E ( I've checked and the TO&E is correct in-game... that unit is about 80% destroyed with some 99 support squads and 92 IJA infantry squads ( obviously some got repaired overnight )....

Anyways, my question is whether or not I'm failing to understand something in Tracker, whether this is a general bug OR whether my install got corrupted somehow?

Another general bug here; unfortunately I show destroyed in the bottom screen but never went to the extent of changing the calculation. My bad. It is just calculating against disrupted. However the LCU screen has the correct values. And I'll fix this for next release. See picture

That looks to tabulate better with what my eyes are showing me should be required... I still can't figure out the disablements though. Is it a bug in tracker or does AE really require manpower to repair disabled squads? It is a nice touch if it does. Realistic too, I just remember WiTP working differently and hadn't realised this might have changed.

Yep, I'm on it and will let you know shortly.

[edit] Firstly you are correct, disabled sqd's don't require manpower to become active again. Somehow this has fallen through the cracks and this screen is one big ball of festering bugs when it comes to manpower. Vehicle and Armament look right though as they are dealt with differently. Back to the drawing board and some testing [sigh].


On a side note, WOW you start this scenario with very few Manpower points. It' never usually manpower that is the problem.

[Nemo121]

I've been doing a little research into Allied reinforcements etc because PH was looking for more units and was saying he wasn't getting armoured or Paraborne divisions. I thought this was strange as I thought I'd seen some in there....

So, here's my results...
On-map:
27 Infantry Divisions, 18 Infantry Regiments, 1 Airborne Division and 2 Airborne Regiments ( as well as a few airborne Bns ), 16 Assault Engineer Regiments ( AV of 252 each and 400 engineers - so VERY combat-capable units ) plus about 20 more major Engineer units with 50+ AV. Also there are 36 Tank Bdes/Regts and Bns with a total armoured AV of 2,700+

In total the Allies mass something like 17,500 AV in infantry units, some 400 AV in parachute units, some 5,000 AV in Assault Engineer units and 2,700 AV in Armour Units.


In terms of reinforcements the Allies get the following units by June 1946 ( the game lasts till December 31st so plenty of time to get all the units into action )....
23 additional Infantry Divisions, 5 additional Airborne Divisions and 6 Divisions of Armour. I figured that that was enough Airborne units so left them the same but added an additional two divisions of armour with Pershings for him to play with.


So, in total he gets 50 Infantry Divisions, 7 AIrborne Division equivalents, some 6,500 AV of armour - roughly equivalent to 16 divisions of tanks. The total Allied ground AV available is, roughly, 47,500 AV.

IJA AV is, by comparison, about 42,000 or so although, to be fair, if I can rebuild my shattered units that should increase to over 60,000. I can't estimate it more precisely than that since so many units are at 50% and calculating AV increases for each of them would take my lifetime twice over [8D]

Overall though it is clear that the Allies can concentrate overwhelming force wherever they wish. I need to tie as many Allied units down in rear echelon garrison duties as possible but even that won't help hugely. Only sinking their CVs or their transports will force the postponement or failure of the invasion of Japan. Ground losses are, essentially, meaningless to the Allies. They can accept innumerable ground losses and still launch an offensive with 20,000 AV at any point whilst keeping a 2nd landing force of an additional 20,000 AV in reserve.

The other thing that this limitless Allied ground force tells me is that trying to hold Formosa is pointless. I was planning on drawing down there but leaving a garrison of some strength just to dissuade the Allies. With his ability to land 15,000 AV there in a month's time there's no chance of me holding on. I'm going to accelerate the draw-down... and take my chances with its capture... Hopefully I can draw him sufficiently into the Aleutians and Kuriles to have him relatively ignore Formosa.


I doubt he'll get a turn before Saturday but that's cause I'm swamped with research tonight... Over the course of the next week I'll work on the upgrade now that I can use tracker to spot upgrade issues I missed last time and, hopefully, we'll be able to upgrade once in a major way then and that'll be that.

[DTurtle]

I don't think anyone is seriously thinking that you are strengthening the Japanese too much (or weakening the Allies).

The reason that I posted the "real" numbers of nukes available was not to fault you for giving him less - it was mostly because someone (in the other thread) had questioned the realism of having more nukes earlier and I found the answer quite shocking, so I thought it might interest you. Sorry if that wasn't clear.

Otherwise I will say that this seems like it will be a very fun, fast, and intense AAR - and it will be interesting to see how (and if) you deal with the overwhelming force heading your way.

Oh, one other question: What are the simulated effects of nukes in this game?

And another one: You posted in the opening post that the experience of the Japanese Army units is at most 60, with most garrisons far beneath that. What do the experience levels of the Allied Army units look like in comparison?