AI Opponent - Geography

[Shannon V. OKeets]

1st post of two in a series.

These 2 posts finish up the China/Japan Theater of Operations.

This screen shot is of the Manchuria AO, which contains:
Northern Manchuria: Hulun & Tsitsihar LRs.
Central Manchuria: Changchun & Harbin LRs.
Southern Manchuria: Mukden & Korea LRs.

- Peter and I are still in disagreement about 4 of the 6 Manchurian hexes assigned to the Hopeh (Peking) LR. What is shown here is Peter's opinion. I want to only give Hopeh 2 hexes, instead of 6: just the resource hex and the hex east of it.

- Central Manchuria has a lot of clear hexes and rail lines which make for fast movement and combat. However, the western portion is worthless and should be a Do Not Enter LR. I thought a lot about which LR should get Kirin and decided it was more important for the attack on Vladivostok. Also, by giving it to Harbin LR, the border between the 2 LRs is straighter (i.e., fewer hexes to defend).

- I think the Hulun LR is only important if Japan & the USSR are at war and one of them in invading the other along the Trans-Manchurian Railway. The LR borders in northern Manchuria are such that the Japanese can defend in supply from Tsitsihar without the need for an HQ.

- Tsitsihar has a lot of hexes but only worries abut two avenues of attack: from the Hulum LR and from Blagovyeshchensk. Those avenues of attack can be used by either side.

[Shannon V. OKeets]

2nd and last in a series of 2.

Here is Japan. Note that Formosa and the Bonin Islands each have their own AO. Japan itself is split into 3 LRs. The northern one extends several more hexes NE from what is shown.

[Shannon V. OKeets]

1st of 3 posts in a series on the West Africa Theater of Operations.

This screenshot shows 3 Areas of Operations:
Spanish Sahara: Canary Islands & Spanish Sahara LRs (Land Regions).
Niger River Valley: French Sudan, Upper Volta, & Niger Colony LRs.
Cape Verde Coast: Cape Verde Islands, Senegal/Gambia/Portuguese Guinea, French Guinea/Sierra Leone/Liberia/Ivory Coast LRs.

The 1st and 3rd AOs are primarily useful for protecting/attacking the Allied convoy pipeline running along the western coast of Africa.

The Niger River Valley has nothing of importance, but some territorial units may arrive therein.

The Cape Verde Coast contains the only 1 resource point in the area shown here.

[Shannon V. OKeets]

2nd in a series of 3.

Here is the central portion of the West Africa TO.

It contains 2 AOs:

Gulf of Guinea Coast - NE: Gold Coast/Togo/Dahomey, Nigeria, Cameroons/Rio Muni/Gabon LRs
Ubangi-Shari: Ubangi-Shari LR.

No resources here. France sometimes chooses Gabon as it new home country if Vichy France is created.

[Shannon V. OKeets]

3rd and last in the series.

This shows 3 AOs:

Gulf of Guinea Coast - East: Middle Congo & Angola LRs
South West Africa: South West Africa LR.
Gulf of Guinea - Remote Islands: Ascension/St. Helena LR.

These AOs are also primarily important for shipping resources up the coast of western Africa. The coastal AOs do contain rail lines that are useful for railing inland resources to the ports.

[Shannon V. OKeets]

1st in a series of 3 posts.

Peter decided that the western portion of Saudi Arabia should be part of the East Africa Theater of operations, and I agreed. This area borders the Red Sea and so control of the Red Sea is the primary defense of the invasion along this coast. Yemen and the eastern coast of Egypt are also in this TO. Land attacks and paradrops are unlikely in all these areas. It is control of the Red Sea that determines who controls the land.

[Shannon V. OKeets]

2nd in a series of 3.

Here is the heart of the Middle East TO. Just as is true today, oil resources have the most value. There are 3 objective cities, which are crucial at the end of the game. But the 6 oil points are what catches the attention of the players throughout the war.

In Iraq, all the good stuff is in the north, and since the rail line through Turkey can be used to ship the oil to Europe, Basra isn't crucial. Hence I voted for 1 Land Region in Iraq, instead of splitting it into two LRs: north & south. By contrasi, Iran does have two LRs, one for the objective city and the other for the oil resources. Note that the Lut Desert is a "do not enter" area for the AI Opponent.

Both southern and northwestern Saudi Arabia are DNEs too.

[Shannon V. OKeets]

3rd and last in the series.

Afghanistan could be added to a couple of TOs. We put it in the Middle East simply because the Middle East is a small TO and South Asia (i.e., India) is a very large TO.

[Froonp]

ORIGINAL: Shannon V. OKeets

2nd in a series of 3.

Here is the heart of the Middle East TO. Just as is true today, oil resources have the most value. There are 3 objective cities, which are crucial at the end of the game. But the 6 oil points are what catches the attention of the players throughout the war.

In Iraq, all the good stuff is in the north, and since the rail line through Turkey can be used to ship the oil to Europe, Basra isn't crucial. Hence I voted for 1 Land Region in Iraq, instead of splitting it into two LRs: north & south. By contrasi, Iran does have two LRs, one for the objective city and the other for the oil resources. Note that the Lut Desert is a "do not enter" area for the AI Opponent.

Both southern and northwestern Saudi Arabia are DNEs too.

The limit of the Lut Desert DNE should be pushed 1-2 hexes eastwards on the north of the map, and 2-3 hexes eastwards toward the south.
For example, the 2-3 hexes adjacent to the minor port on the Persian Gulf should not be in the DNE, they should be in the port's LR.

Also the desert mountains east southeast of Isfahan are perfect defensive terrain for an attack from the south or from the east, so the AI should not have DNE orders in them.

Same for the mountains south of Meshed.

[Shannon V. OKeets]

1st in a series of 4 posts.

This Theater of Operations is called South Asia.

Burma could be placed in this TO or in the Southeast Asia TO. For now it is in the South Asia TO. Note the twp Land Regions: south where the capital and port reside, and north, with the oil resource.

[Shannon V. OKeets]

2nd in the series of 4.

This is the southern tip of India and the West Indian Ocean.

Ceylon and the islands form one Area of Operation. That AO contains all the ports on the West Indian Ocean.

Above that is the South India AO, split into 3 Land Regions. Bangalore is the focal point for the southern LR, and has 3 of the minor ports to defend. The Eastern Ghats AO has two resources to protect and the very important minor port of Cocanada. The Western Ghats AO is responsible for holding Bombay.

[Shannon V. OKeets]

3rd in a series of 4.

There are 3 LRs in the Eastern India AO:
Chin Hills, the barrier between India and Burma.
Bay of Bengal Coast, with Calcutta (vital for many reasons).
Northern Bengal, holding one resource and the Ganges River Valley (which leads to Delhi).

[Shannon V. OKeets]

Last in the series of 4.

Northwestern India has a lot of hexes, but most of the good defensive terrain is in the Punjab, which is of little importance in game terms.

Both the Hyderabad and Ahmadabad LRs serve only as gateways to Delhi (the capital and an objective city).
The Cawnpore LR has a resource to defend, but its real task is to prevent the Japanese from reaching the Delhi LR from Calcutta. The Delhi LR is defenseless against attacks from the west. But the arc of 4 cities (Jaipur, Agra, Cawnpore, and Lucknow) combined with the rivers can form a pretty good defensive line if attacked from the south and east.

[Shannon V. OKeets]

1st in a series of 2 posts.

Here is the Southeast Asia Theater of Operations. Each of the 4 Areas of Operations is centered on a Sea Area. That's because land and air units are only in supply if their side controls the sea area.

[Shannon V. OKeets]

2nd and last in a series of 2 posts.

Here is the eastern portion of the Southeast Asia TO.

[Shannon V. OKeets]

1st in a series of 3 posts of the Oceania Theater of Operations for the AI Opponent.

This is the NW portion.

[Shannon V. OKeets]

2nd in a series of 3.

Here is Oceania's SW portion.

[Shannon V. OKeets]

3rd and last in the series.

Here is the eastern portion of the Oceania TO.

[Orm]

It looks to me that most of central Australia is "out of bounds" ,or whatever you call it, for the AI. That seems smart to me and I doubt any players can find any good way to exploit this even if they know about it.

These pictures looks very nice and increase my expectations of a decent AI. [:)]

Keep up the good work.

[Shannon V. OKeets]

1st in a series of 2 posts on the Pacific Ocean Theater of Operations.

This is the northern portion.