Are aircraft factories really destroyed upon base capture?

[bradk]

THe original manual says when a base that has factories is captured, the factories are destroyed. Being curious, I tested it. Well, not really, although there is an effect.

1) The factory continues to produce the aircraft assinged to it and production goes into the pool where it can be used by the player.

2) The game gives the factory a base location of "0" meaning neither player "owns" the factory, and its production apparently does not count in either players production score.

3) Since the factory location is 0, the player who captured the base cannot access it and change it to produce his own type of aircraft.

4) Since the factory location is 0, if the original player recaptures the base, he cannot access it and change to later change the production to a newer type of aircraft.

I suppose this makes sense in a way, because if the factories were really permanently and complete destroyed, then a player could win the game with what would essentially be a raid, say, capturing bases that produce aircraft like the A6M2 or SBD, even if he held the base for only one turn.

I prefer incentives for players to do the right thing over restrictions. Which leads me to Australia.

SSI locks ANZAC LCUs in Australia, realasing them on specific dates. Matrix makes them all available for offensive action. So I generally ask for a rule that ANZAC LCUs have to stay in Australia as long as there's a possiblity, even if remote, of an IJ invasion. Obviously, it would have been political death for the British and Australian governments had any significant numbers of IJ troops been in Australia.

But if there were three aircraft factories in Australia, say in Melbourne, Sydney, and Brisbane, would that (knowing how the factories work) be sufficient motivation for Allies to adequately defend Austalia without a rule requiring it?

[Capt. Harlock]

1) The factory continues to produce the aircraft assinged to it and production goes into the pool where it can be used by the player.

My thanks for a useful bit of research. I think this is why the "England" base was created and the aircraft factories moved out of Calcutta: the Allied player cannot prevent a determined and competent Japanese player from taking Calcutta.

In the latest versions, few Allied players would think of using Australian LCU's for offensive action before late 1942, by which time there are usually sufficient other LCU's. The Aussie units take some time to come up to strength and experience. (An LCU with experience level below 30 is essentially worthless, and Commonwealth LCU's generally decrease in experience for the first few months as raw recruits fill the ranks.) Perhaps a simple rule dictating that no armored units can be lifted from Australia, and at least one infantry division must remain?

[bradk]

I believe people playing against IJ AI are fairly likely to use Aus LCUs for offensive action early. From what I can tell, IJ will only invade bases in Aus that have no LCUs at all present. But if this habit is carried into a PBEM game, do they have an advantage or have they created a larger problem for themselves with a lightly or undefended Australia?