Hi Pax,
Lots of bugs, and lots of change in the game rules too... The little experience I had with version n, as the allies, was a bit disconcerting: units would surrender very easily (even after a bug in the previous version was corrected), US subs seemed very strong, even at the beginning of the game, I suppose there are others.
I will discuss an upgrade with my opponent, see how we like it, and then proceed. By the way, what is, in your opinion, the best moment in a turn to upgrade : before I replay the turn, and then my opponent must upgrade before he reads the replay, or after?
Francois
Perfection, of a kind, spence (A) vs fcharton (J), no spence, please
Moderators: wdolson, MOD_War-in-the-Pacific-Admirals-Edition
RE: Perfection, of a kind, spence (A) vs fcharton (J)
You both download and instal the new patch. You then run the turn as the Japanese player on the old version. Once the replay is finished you save and quit. Then load the new version and open the game, finish your moves, and save in the new version.
I believe the Allied player also watches the replay under the old version, then saves and opens the new version and makes their moves there. All done.
The best changes from official are the routing (coastal) and the coordination bug Jocke and I spent so much time with. Also the Allied ability to 'see' your planes in a base before making their moves is gone, which is huge if you ever want to surprise anyone.
A bunch of extras added make usability much more friendly as well. I certainly wouldn't want to go back now after using this one. I think after a short adjustment period you'll love it.
I believe the Allied player also watches the replay under the old version, then saves and opens the new version and makes their moves there. All done.
The best changes from official are the routing (coastal) and the coordination bug Jocke and I spent so much time with. Also the Allied ability to 'see' your planes in a base before making their moves is gone, which is huge if you ever want to surprise anyone.
A bunch of extras added make usability much more friendly as well. I certainly wouldn't want to go back now after using this one. I think after a short adjustment period you'll love it.
"Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm." - Winston Churchill
RE: Perfection, of a kind, spence (A) vs fcharton (J)
I have suggested to my opponent that we upgrade our game. I am a bit suspicious about the value of this, as an upgrade will include both bug fixes and changes that might have adverse effects, and in such a long game, playtesting changes is almost impossible, and will follow his advice.
January 15th 1943
Supply woes
It seems that China is drawing a little more supplies than before. Over the last few days, the total amount of supplies stocked in China went from 250 to 290k tons. Meanwhile Korea went from 1150 to 1180k tons, and Manchukuo from 1700 to 1650k. Kunming doesn’t seem to draw supplies, but Canton does, and has 77k tons now, which mostly came from Nanking.
Looking at the way supplies move into China, I noticed a number of things.
First, there seems to be a real problem drawing supplies from Korea and Manchukuo into northern China. Fuel, oil and resources do move the other way around, which suggests the road is not blocked, but supplies doesn’t. I suspect Port Arthur and Fusan have now become too large to let their supplies go. I am planning to try and draw from Tientsin, see if I can create a stock in northern China, which can then be used to draw down to Nanking, and the Canton.
Second, there seem to be a strange area between Nanking and Hangchow. Basically, 100 000 tons of supplies (or about 40% of what is stocked in China) commutes between those two cities twice a week. I suspect a Robin Hood syndrome, here: both bases have about the same claim to supplies, but one is rich and the other one is poor, so our good AE engine robs the rich to feed the poor… until the poor gets rich, and our good old sir Robin robs the new rich, to feel the new poor… Ironically, this probably costs me supplies, and might even block some or all of the supply flow in China.
Third, coastal bases seem to have a large effect on the way supplies move. I need to test this more, but I suspect demand is affected by port and airfield size, which means an inland base with no port is always at a disadvantage. This, again, is a problem in China, where the correct route to draw supplies goes through Changsha (I will try to stockpile there)
I am still experimenting, and believe I will end up getting the supplies to move south. The next amusing experiment will be to try and get the fuel to move north from Singapore.
Who needs supplies?
In Kalemyo, we attacked another day. As expected, we were unsupplied, and our AV got badly reduced, but the enemy got the worst of it. Here are the results for yesterday
Ground combat at Kalemyo (59,42)
Japanese Deliberate attack
Attacking force 93779 troops, 837 guns, 222 vehicles, Assault Value = 3069
Defending force 18955 troops, 300 guns, 625 vehicles, Assault Value = 485
Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 1
Japanese adjusted assault: 1660
Allied adjusted defense: 859
Japanese assault odds: 1 to 1 (fort level 1)
Japanese ground losses:
1850 casualties reported
Squads: 7 destroyed, 252 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 19 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 17 disabled
Guns lost 20 (1 destroyed, 19 disabled)
Allied ground losses:
1009 casualties reported
Squads: 6 destroyed, 104 disabled
Non Combat: 15 destroyed, 20 disabled
Engineers: 5 destroyed, 19 disabled
Guns lost 23 (1 destroyed, 22 disabled)
Vehicles lost 37 (14 destroyed, 23 disabled)
And today
Ground combat at Kalemyo (59,42)
Japanese Deliberate attack
Attacking force 92014 troops, 836 guns, 222 vehicles, Assault Value = 2889
Defending force 18447 troops, 303 guns, 623 vehicles, Assault Value = 402
Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 0
Japanese adjusted assault: 445
Allied adjusted defense: 796
Japanese assault odds: 1 to 2 (fort level 0)
Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), preparation(-), experience(-)
Attacker: supply(-)
Japanese ground losses:
1743 casualties reported
Squads: 4 destroyed, 132 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 13 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 22 disabled
Guns lost 12 (1 destroyed, 11 disabled)
Allied ground losses:
882 casualties reported
Squads: 74 destroyed, 42 disabled
Non Combat: 7 destroyed, 25 disabled
Engineers: 10 destroyed, 14 disabled
Guns lost 23 (10 destroyed, 13 disabled)
Vehicles lost 41 (5 destroyed, 36 disabled)
That’s over 150 squads and devices destroyed over two days, for 15 ours.
In Dobo, our air bridge seems to be achieving results. The SNLF unit that used to defend the base, is now at full strength, and the mixed brigade retreated from Taberfane is slowly recovering. My opponent apparently only has two Australian brigades there, which means few engineers. With a little luck, we can fight back in a few weeks.
The rest of the war is nice and slow going. We are getting more reported hits from the air ASW units based in the Indies. I am now getting quite a few pilots with ASW ratings around 70, and this seems to be making a difference. In Burma, I am marching on Chittagong. I want to see what those 30 units are like. Enemy fighters have disappeared, my opponent mostly bombs at night, and goes unescorted. Why risk planes when the engine let you do it.
In New Guinea, Lae gets bombed daily. I am not sure it makes a lot of sense, but it is not very damaging either, so… If he gets careless and sends the bombers unescorted, I will try an ambush.
Longer term thinking
I am trying to get an idea of where my war is going (provided the supply flow problem gets solved, or the answer becomes very clear). I believe the advance into India will not happen, even though I intend to try, the supply situation makes it almost impossible, and gives the Allies a long time to reorganize and reinforce. But this doesn’t mean Burma is a bad theater. I believe this can be turned into a very bloody operation for the Allies, as the losses around Kalemyo prove.
There is still no sign of activity in the central pacific. I suspect my opponent will not try this route: so far, many of his landings have been quite bloody. If I can bit him in Dobo, it will only confirm this idea.
The Solomons are being evacuated. Guadalcanal will soon be left with a token force, but again, I don’t think my opponent is investing much there. To me, the main path of advance is the typical two pronged move along both coasts of New Guinea, from Taberfane to Ambon, and from Milne Bay to Lae and Wewak. However, the northern move seems to be more difficult than the southern one. As a result, I believe I should work on building defenses in the Macassar-Kendari-Manado area, and then build up bases in the rear.
The more I think of it, the more Cruft’s Hive idea sounds interesting. I think I should build my defenses from Japan outwards, and let the final perimeter fall where his advance and my defense meet.
January 15th 1943
Supply woes
It seems that China is drawing a little more supplies than before. Over the last few days, the total amount of supplies stocked in China went from 250 to 290k tons. Meanwhile Korea went from 1150 to 1180k tons, and Manchukuo from 1700 to 1650k. Kunming doesn’t seem to draw supplies, but Canton does, and has 77k tons now, which mostly came from Nanking.
Looking at the way supplies move into China, I noticed a number of things.
First, there seems to be a real problem drawing supplies from Korea and Manchukuo into northern China. Fuel, oil and resources do move the other way around, which suggests the road is not blocked, but supplies doesn’t. I suspect Port Arthur and Fusan have now become too large to let their supplies go. I am planning to try and draw from Tientsin, see if I can create a stock in northern China, which can then be used to draw down to Nanking, and the Canton.
Second, there seem to be a strange area between Nanking and Hangchow. Basically, 100 000 tons of supplies (or about 40% of what is stocked in China) commutes between those two cities twice a week. I suspect a Robin Hood syndrome, here: both bases have about the same claim to supplies, but one is rich and the other one is poor, so our good AE engine robs the rich to feed the poor… until the poor gets rich, and our good old sir Robin robs the new rich, to feel the new poor… Ironically, this probably costs me supplies, and might even block some or all of the supply flow in China.
Third, coastal bases seem to have a large effect on the way supplies move. I need to test this more, but I suspect demand is affected by port and airfield size, which means an inland base with no port is always at a disadvantage. This, again, is a problem in China, where the correct route to draw supplies goes through Changsha (I will try to stockpile there)
I am still experimenting, and believe I will end up getting the supplies to move south. The next amusing experiment will be to try and get the fuel to move north from Singapore.
Who needs supplies?
In Kalemyo, we attacked another day. As expected, we were unsupplied, and our AV got badly reduced, but the enemy got the worst of it. Here are the results for yesterday
Ground combat at Kalemyo (59,42)
Japanese Deliberate attack
Attacking force 93779 troops, 837 guns, 222 vehicles, Assault Value = 3069
Defending force 18955 troops, 300 guns, 625 vehicles, Assault Value = 485
Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 1
Japanese adjusted assault: 1660
Allied adjusted defense: 859
Japanese assault odds: 1 to 1 (fort level 1)
Japanese ground losses:
1850 casualties reported
Squads: 7 destroyed, 252 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 19 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 17 disabled
Guns lost 20 (1 destroyed, 19 disabled)
Allied ground losses:
1009 casualties reported
Squads: 6 destroyed, 104 disabled
Non Combat: 15 destroyed, 20 disabled
Engineers: 5 destroyed, 19 disabled
Guns lost 23 (1 destroyed, 22 disabled)
Vehicles lost 37 (14 destroyed, 23 disabled)
And today
Ground combat at Kalemyo (59,42)
Japanese Deliberate attack
Attacking force 92014 troops, 836 guns, 222 vehicles, Assault Value = 2889
Defending force 18447 troops, 303 guns, 623 vehicles, Assault Value = 402
Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 0
Japanese adjusted assault: 445
Allied adjusted defense: 796
Japanese assault odds: 1 to 2 (fort level 0)
Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), preparation(-), experience(-)
Attacker: supply(-)
Japanese ground losses:
1743 casualties reported
Squads: 4 destroyed, 132 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 13 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 22 disabled
Guns lost 12 (1 destroyed, 11 disabled)
Allied ground losses:
882 casualties reported
Squads: 74 destroyed, 42 disabled
Non Combat: 7 destroyed, 25 disabled
Engineers: 10 destroyed, 14 disabled
Guns lost 23 (10 destroyed, 13 disabled)
Vehicles lost 41 (5 destroyed, 36 disabled)
That’s over 150 squads and devices destroyed over two days, for 15 ours.
In Dobo, our air bridge seems to be achieving results. The SNLF unit that used to defend the base, is now at full strength, and the mixed brigade retreated from Taberfane is slowly recovering. My opponent apparently only has two Australian brigades there, which means few engineers. With a little luck, we can fight back in a few weeks.
The rest of the war is nice and slow going. We are getting more reported hits from the air ASW units based in the Indies. I am now getting quite a few pilots with ASW ratings around 70, and this seems to be making a difference. In Burma, I am marching on Chittagong. I want to see what those 30 units are like. Enemy fighters have disappeared, my opponent mostly bombs at night, and goes unescorted. Why risk planes when the engine let you do it.
In New Guinea, Lae gets bombed daily. I am not sure it makes a lot of sense, but it is not very damaging either, so… If he gets careless and sends the bombers unescorted, I will try an ambush.
Longer term thinking
I am trying to get an idea of where my war is going (provided the supply flow problem gets solved, or the answer becomes very clear). I believe the advance into India will not happen, even though I intend to try, the supply situation makes it almost impossible, and gives the Allies a long time to reorganize and reinforce. But this doesn’t mean Burma is a bad theater. I believe this can be turned into a very bloody operation for the Allies, as the losses around Kalemyo prove.
There is still no sign of activity in the central pacific. I suspect my opponent will not try this route: so far, many of his landings have been quite bloody. If I can bit him in Dobo, it will only confirm this idea.
The Solomons are being evacuated. Guadalcanal will soon be left with a token force, but again, I don’t think my opponent is investing much there. To me, the main path of advance is the typical two pronged move along both coasts of New Guinea, from Taberfane to Ambon, and from Milne Bay to Lae and Wewak. However, the northern move seems to be more difficult than the southern one. As a result, I believe I should work on building defenses in the Macassar-Kendari-Manado area, and then build up bases in the rear.
The more I think of it, the more Cruft’s Hive idea sounds interesting. I think I should build my defenses from Japan outwards, and let the final perimeter fall where his advance and my defense meet.
RE: Perfection, of a kind, spence (A) vs fcharton (J)
Francois,
There is a new thread in the Tech Support forum that you should read discussing this now. I read it and then I realized (again) that I am really an atypical player. I keep forgetting that for most players this is a war game! [:D] For me, this is a logisitics exercise set in a war time scenario. [8D]
So, let me elaborate on my earlier suggestions. You are doing the right things. To get supply and other resources to flow, you have to have a "highway". An uninteruppted series of bases that have been built up to at least AF=7 (bull58 suggests AF=8) from Singers to Fusan. Port size abaolutely enters this calculation even more strongly than AF, but you need to be careful building large ports or resources will not flow well all the way to Fusan. Anyway, these large bases can in addition then act as feeders to smaller bases off of your main 'highway'. How far depends upon the terrain and the underlying infrastructure as detailed in the pwhex file. In China/Burma the answer is almost always "not far".
So from Singers I can get my resources flowing to Fusan via Saigon, but not Kunming. Not enough bases, too spread out, and the underlying terrain is terrible. So tracing the route from Singers to Fusan via Saigon, I need to have each base along the route built up to allow the flow to prevent the 'ping-pong' effect that you describe above from happening. If I want supply to flow up into Burma from Singers, the same thing is needed: a chain of bases via Bankok that the AF's are all built up. This is really true in those couple of place where there is no direct road ... you need large bases on either side of those bridge to span the gap.
I never think to mention this because I do this as a normal course of my expansion. I am alway building up each base to AF8/9 to support my flight op's as I move and to be sure I have a large pool of supply at the front. Anyway, so look along your transit paths now and see if you have any bases that are only 4 or 5. If you do, you want to build those up. I suspect that your resource/supply movements will rapidly improve.
There is a new thread in the Tech Support forum that you should read discussing this now. I read it and then I realized (again) that I am really an atypical player. I keep forgetting that for most players this is a war game! [:D] For me, this is a logisitics exercise set in a war time scenario. [8D]
So, let me elaborate on my earlier suggestions. You are doing the right things. To get supply and other resources to flow, you have to have a "highway". An uninteruppted series of bases that have been built up to at least AF=7 (bull58 suggests AF=8) from Singers to Fusan. Port size abaolutely enters this calculation even more strongly than AF, but you need to be careful building large ports or resources will not flow well all the way to Fusan. Anyway, these large bases can in addition then act as feeders to smaller bases off of your main 'highway'. How far depends upon the terrain and the underlying infrastructure as detailed in the pwhex file. In China/Burma the answer is almost always "not far".
So from Singers I can get my resources flowing to Fusan via Saigon, but not Kunming. Not enough bases, too spread out, and the underlying terrain is terrible. So tracing the route from Singers to Fusan via Saigon, I need to have each base along the route built up to allow the flow to prevent the 'ping-pong' effect that you describe above from happening. If I want supply to flow up into Burma from Singers, the same thing is needed: a chain of bases via Bankok that the AF's are all built up. This is really true in those couple of place where there is no direct road ... you need large bases on either side of those bridge to span the gap.
I never think to mention this because I do this as a normal course of my expansion. I am alway building up each base to AF8/9 to support my flight op's as I move and to be sure I have a large pool of supply at the front. Anyway, so look along your transit paths now and see if you have any bases that are only 4 or 5. If you do, you want to build those up. I suspect that your resource/supply movements will rapidly improve.
Pax
RE: Perfection, of a kind, spence (A) vs fcharton (J)
Hi Pax,
I have read the supply black hole thread. So far, I agree with what it said, but have little to contributed, except "me too".
As for the building up, I have been doing this since the beginning of the war. In China, Shanghai, Hankow and Chungking are level nine (Chengtu is on its way too). Canton, HongKong, Tientsin, Chengtu, Nanchang, Changteh and Lanchow are level 8, Nanking, CHangsha, Wuchang, Sian, Peiping, Tsingtao, Singyang, Kweiteh, Amoy, Nanyang, Chengting, Kaifeng, Chengchow and Loyang are level seven.
In fact, I think I have a highway at least to Wuchang, and Changsha, and another one to Nanking. Maybe the problem lies south, but then, I should have decent flow into northern China... But again, I am perplexed the resources and oil seem to flow. Or perhaps, the flow only works because resources come from northern China.
According to you, what would the best highway be? Coastal through Wenchow and Amoy? or central, through Chengchow, Hankow, Changsha, Kweilin and Nanning? I think the latter would be best (even though it strikes me as a bit weird for anyone who knows a bit about the geography of China)
As for the bridges over paths without a road, I have to say Akyab strikes me as a weird situation. It is a level 6 AF and 4 port, and does a very good job drawing fuel, but supplies never get there. This is one aspect of the game I really don't get: fuel and supplies should more or less follow the same paths.
In other news, my opponent agreed to upgrade, so the next turn will be in the last version (r isn't it?), anything I should know about it?
Francois
I have read the supply black hole thread. So far, I agree with what it said, but have little to contributed, except "me too".
As for the building up, I have been doing this since the beginning of the war. In China, Shanghai, Hankow and Chungking are level nine (Chengtu is on its way too). Canton, HongKong, Tientsin, Chengtu, Nanchang, Changteh and Lanchow are level 8, Nanking, CHangsha, Wuchang, Sian, Peiping, Tsingtao, Singyang, Kweiteh, Amoy, Nanyang, Chengting, Kaifeng, Chengchow and Loyang are level seven.
In fact, I think I have a highway at least to Wuchang, and Changsha, and another one to Nanking. Maybe the problem lies south, but then, I should have decent flow into northern China... But again, I am perplexed the resources and oil seem to flow. Or perhaps, the flow only works because resources come from northern China.
According to you, what would the best highway be? Coastal through Wenchow and Amoy? or central, through Chengchow, Hankow, Changsha, Kweilin and Nanning? I think the latter would be best (even though it strikes me as a bit weird for anyone who knows a bit about the geography of China)
As for the bridges over paths without a road, I have to say Akyab strikes me as a weird situation. It is a level 6 AF and 4 port, and does a very good job drawing fuel, but supplies never get there. This is one aspect of the game I really don't get: fuel and supplies should more or less follow the same paths.
In other news, my opponent agreed to upgrade, so the next turn will be in the last version (r isn't it?), anything I should know about it?
Francois
RE: Perfection, of a kind, spence (A) vs fcharton (J)
Francois,
It's possible to move supply from Marchuria/Korea into China without massive infrastructure building, but it requires direct use of the supply draw system.
Turn 1. Set the supply draw at Peiping (I find this base works better than Tientsin) to max. You should draw to 75K supplies in one turn, pulled mostly from Port Arthur where they tend to pool.
Turn 2. Set the supply draw at Chengchow to max draw, and turn off the draw at Peiping. The 75K will move to Chengchow the next turn.
Turn 3. Set max draw at Hankow, Sian, etc., and turn off Chengchow. Supplies will move again.
Repeat as necessary, though when moving this number of supplies it doesn't have to be done too often. Note, I have never used this method to pull supply any further south than the Changsha area, so I don't know how well or poorly this method works from Changsha onwards, but you could always give it a try if you needed to.
It's possible to move supply from Marchuria/Korea into China without massive infrastructure building, but it requires direct use of the supply draw system.
Turn 1. Set the supply draw at Peiping (I find this base works better than Tientsin) to max. You should draw to 75K supplies in one turn, pulled mostly from Port Arthur where they tend to pool.
Turn 2. Set the supply draw at Chengchow to max draw, and turn off the draw at Peiping. The 75K will move to Chengchow the next turn.
Turn 3. Set max draw at Hankow, Sian, etc., and turn off Chengchow. Supplies will move again.
Repeat as necessary, though when moving this number of supplies it doesn't have to be done too often. Note, I have never used this method to pull supply any further south than the Changsha area, so I don't know how well or poorly this method works from Changsha onwards, but you could always give it a try if you needed to.
RE: Perfection, of a kind, spence (A) vs fcharton (J)
Supply 'pumping'. Yes, it also works. Needs constant management though ..
Pax
RE: Perfection, of a kind, spence (A) vs fcharton (J)
Use the latest patch. There was a patch where the surrender algorithm was broken, and that was fixed a patch or two later when it was recognized. I get lots and lots of messages about Chinese units being out of supply and surrounded and such, but they don't surrender except in the normal circumstances for surrender.ORIGINAL: fcharton
Hi Pax,
Lots of bugs, and lots of change in the game rules too... The little experience I had with version n, as the allies, was a bit disconcerting: units would surrender very easily (even after a bug in the previous version was corrected), US subs seemed very strong, even at the beginning of the game, I suppose there are others.
I will discuss an upgrade with my opponent, see how we like it, and then proceed. By the way, what is, in your opinion, the best moment in a turn to upgrade : before I replay the turn, and then my opponent must upgrade before he reads the replay, or after?
Francois
Intel Monkey: https://sites.google.com/view/staffmonkeys/home
RE: Perfection, of a kind, spence (A) vs fcharton (J)
For supply I've never worried much about things pooling in Manchuria and not going to China. Things have always worked when I added more supply and have always gone to where I ask for them by raising the allocation in one base or another. I've never used the 'yes/no' pool supply toggles. Simply the allocation settings. Also, units in the field tend to get them long before the bases, so this has always worked fine for me as long as I keep adding supply from the HI. Or even shipping it out from Fusan to someplace like Shanghai or Hong Kong.
"Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm." - Winston Churchill
RE: Perfection, of a kind, spence (A) vs fcharton (J)
January 16th 1943
We’re patched! Everything went fine, and it looks like supplies are beginning to flow south. The new beta probably helped, setting a couple of bases in central China to maximum draw played a part too. Anyway, Manchukuo supplies went down by 200 000 tons, and China went up by a corresponding amount. Most of those supplies are now in Nanking and Hengyang. I am trying to draw them south tomorrow, towards, Nanning, Canton, and Kunming.
This still needs to be confirmed, but if we can get those supplies to flow south, life will be much easier in Burma. The next step will be getting fuel in Singapore (3 million tons as of today) to flow north…
For the rest, B-17E attacked Hansa Bay, and we shot three of them down, that’s about 15 4E bombers during the first half of the month, so far so good. We had a bad day near Rabaul, on the other hand, as a squadron of Betties decided to attack PT boats near Kiriwina Island, and A6M2 rushed to escort them, into the waiting CAP. We didn’t lost any Betty, but 10 zeroes were shot down, for two F4F-4.
In Burma, my opponent reinforced Imphal, where I have two crack division behind level two field forts (which he can’t reduce, this is one strange aspect of the game…). They tried a shock attack today, and it didn’t work as they hoped.
Ground combat at Imphal (60,40)
Allied Shock attack
Attacking force 5073 troops, 72 guns, 510 vehicles, Assault Value = 1035
Defending force 21850 troops, 166 guns, 41 vehicles, Assault Value = 799
Allied adjusted assault: 227
Japanese adjusted defense: 2488
Allied assault odds: 1 to 10
Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), preparation(-)
Attacker: shock(+)
Japanese ground losses:
710 casualties reported
Squads: 5 destroyed, 57 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 6 disabled
Guns lost 14 (1 destroyed, 13 disabled)
Allied ground losses:
780 casualties reported
Squads: 27 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 5 destroyed, 162 disabled
Engineers: 6 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 15 (10 destroyed, 5 disabled)
Vehicles lost 201 (15 destroyed, 186 disabled)
My troops have very little fatigue or disruption, they are low on supplies, but their morale is high. I am welcoming such an attrition battle in the jungle.
We’re patched! Everything went fine, and it looks like supplies are beginning to flow south. The new beta probably helped, setting a couple of bases in central China to maximum draw played a part too. Anyway, Manchukuo supplies went down by 200 000 tons, and China went up by a corresponding amount. Most of those supplies are now in Nanking and Hengyang. I am trying to draw them south tomorrow, towards, Nanning, Canton, and Kunming.
This still needs to be confirmed, but if we can get those supplies to flow south, life will be much easier in Burma. The next step will be getting fuel in Singapore (3 million tons as of today) to flow north…
For the rest, B-17E attacked Hansa Bay, and we shot three of them down, that’s about 15 4E bombers during the first half of the month, so far so good. We had a bad day near Rabaul, on the other hand, as a squadron of Betties decided to attack PT boats near Kiriwina Island, and A6M2 rushed to escort them, into the waiting CAP. We didn’t lost any Betty, but 10 zeroes were shot down, for two F4F-4.
In Burma, my opponent reinforced Imphal, where I have two crack division behind level two field forts (which he can’t reduce, this is one strange aspect of the game…). They tried a shock attack today, and it didn’t work as they hoped.
Ground combat at Imphal (60,40)
Allied Shock attack
Attacking force 5073 troops, 72 guns, 510 vehicles, Assault Value = 1035
Defending force 21850 troops, 166 guns, 41 vehicles, Assault Value = 799
Allied adjusted assault: 227
Japanese adjusted defense: 2488
Allied assault odds: 1 to 10
Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), preparation(-)
Attacker: shock(+)
Japanese ground losses:
710 casualties reported
Squads: 5 destroyed, 57 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 6 disabled
Guns lost 14 (1 destroyed, 13 disabled)
Allied ground losses:
780 casualties reported
Squads: 27 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 5 destroyed, 162 disabled
Engineers: 6 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 15 (10 destroyed, 5 disabled)
Vehicles lost 201 (15 destroyed, 186 disabled)
My troops have very little fatigue or disruption, they are low on supplies, but their morale is high. I am welcoming such an attrition battle in the jungle.
RE: Perfection, of a kind, spence (A) vs fcharton (J)
Yeah, until he gets about 3:1 raw AV against those troops he won't get a positive result. Nice that your supply is working again.
"Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm." - Winston Churchill
RE: Perfection, of a kind, spence (A) vs fcharton (J)
January 17th 1943
Supply flow
Nothing really happened today. The supplies that were in Hengyang yesterday flowed back to Hankow, stuff moved between Nanking and Hangchow, but that was all. Nothing moved north, and nothing moved south.
I am trying to draw supplies south tomorrow, Kunming, Nanning, and Hanoi are my targets, but we’re not there yet.
In the air
P38-G swept Dobo, and met my Tonies. We shot down 10 P38 and lost four planes. Overall, 45 P38-G are reported lost (in Tracker, the in game statistics are much higher) so far, and the Allies should have produced 70 by mid January.
B24-D visited Ambon, and managed to destroy a couple of Sallies on the ground. I am using those planes on ASW duty, and am getting a good number of hit reports every day. One B24 was lost, which is always nice.
Over Dobo, my opponent finally noticed I am supplying my troops from the air. A couple of Betties were shot down by the CAP. 4E transports seem to fare better, I will continue using them, and will try sweeping the base at some point.
More Imphal
Another deliberate attack today. After yesterday’s results I would have expected the allies to be too disrupted to act, but they seem to have fared better than yesterday, and my supplies were low.
I still doubt they can keep up with this for very long, and once Kalemyo falls, Imphal will be reinforced, heavily…
Allied Deliberate attack
Attacking force 23732 troops, 305 guns, 894 vehicles, Assault Value = 954
Defending force 21328 troops, 165 guns, 41 vehicles, Assault Value = 748
Allied assault odds: 1 to 2
Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), preparation(-), supply(-)
Attacker:
Japanese ground losses:
795 casualties reported
Squads: 5 destroyed, 91 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 6 disabled
Guns lost 12 (1 destroyed, 11 disabled)
Allied ground losses:
739 casualties reported
Squads: 7 destroyed, 70 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 35 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 16 disabled
Guns lost 10 (3 destroyed, 7 disabled)
Vehicles lost 37 (4 destroyed, 33 disabled)
Supply flow
Nothing really happened today. The supplies that were in Hengyang yesterday flowed back to Hankow, stuff moved between Nanking and Hangchow, but that was all. Nothing moved north, and nothing moved south.
I am trying to draw supplies south tomorrow, Kunming, Nanning, and Hanoi are my targets, but we’re not there yet.
In the air
P38-G swept Dobo, and met my Tonies. We shot down 10 P38 and lost four planes. Overall, 45 P38-G are reported lost (in Tracker, the in game statistics are much higher) so far, and the Allies should have produced 70 by mid January.
B24-D visited Ambon, and managed to destroy a couple of Sallies on the ground. I am using those planes on ASW duty, and am getting a good number of hit reports every day. One B24 was lost, which is always nice.
Over Dobo, my opponent finally noticed I am supplying my troops from the air. A couple of Betties were shot down by the CAP. 4E transports seem to fare better, I will continue using them, and will try sweeping the base at some point.
More Imphal
Another deliberate attack today. After yesterday’s results I would have expected the allies to be too disrupted to act, but they seem to have fared better than yesterday, and my supplies were low.
I still doubt they can keep up with this for very long, and once Kalemyo falls, Imphal will be reinforced, heavily…
Allied Deliberate attack
Attacking force 23732 troops, 305 guns, 894 vehicles, Assault Value = 954
Defending force 21328 troops, 165 guns, 41 vehicles, Assault Value = 748
Allied assault odds: 1 to 2
Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), preparation(-), supply(-)
Attacker:
Japanese ground losses:
795 casualties reported
Squads: 5 destroyed, 91 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 6 disabled
Guns lost 12 (1 destroyed, 11 disabled)
Allied ground losses:
739 casualties reported
Squads: 7 destroyed, 70 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 35 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 16 disabled
Guns lost 10 (3 destroyed, 7 disabled)
Vehicles lost 37 (4 destroyed, 33 disabled)
RE: Perfection, of a kind, spence (A) vs fcharton (J)
January 18th 1943
Supply movement
Something strange happened today. Fusan went, in a day, down one million tons of supplies, from 1037k to 143k. Most of those went to Port Arthur, but China took about 100 000, and Indochina (Hanoi) went up by 20 000.
Kunming and Nanning drew supplies too. Tomorrow, I am trying to send those to Lashio (the railhead for Burma), Hanoi and Saigon. It seems I can pump supplies south, let’s see now if the game does it automatically once the pump is primed.
Aerial mining
Today was the first time the Allies dropped mines from the air. B24-D dropped mines on Boela and Kendari, and lost one B24-D. I am moving coastal sweepers towards the front, but I am not too worried: apparently, I can see those mines when they are dropped.
In Imphal, the Allies bombarded my troops, for little effect.
Supply movement
Something strange happened today. Fusan went, in a day, down one million tons of supplies, from 1037k to 143k. Most of those went to Port Arthur, but China took about 100 000, and Indochina (Hanoi) went up by 20 000.
Kunming and Nanning drew supplies too. Tomorrow, I am trying to send those to Lashio (the railhead for Burma), Hanoi and Saigon. It seems I can pump supplies south, let’s see now if the game does it automatically once the pump is primed.
Aerial mining
Today was the first time the Allies dropped mines from the air. B24-D dropped mines on Boela and Kendari, and lost one B24-D. I am moving coastal sweepers towards the front, but I am not too worried: apparently, I can see those mines when they are dropped.
In Imphal, the Allies bombarded my troops, for little effect.
RE: Perfection, of a kind, spence (A) vs fcharton (J)
January 19th 1943
A bad day in Chittagong
A tank division had advanced into Chittagong yesterday, and was joined today by two infantry divisions. I thought this would be enough, but I was wrong, the enemy attacked and my troops were trashed in one of those incredibly one sided results this game is famous for.
Ground combat at Chittagong (55,41)
Allied Deliberate attack
Attacking force 51780 troops, 902 guns, 1085 vehicles, Assault Value = 1698
Defending force 31431 troops, 380 guns, 580 vehicles, Assault Value = 1236
Allied adjusted assault: 986
Japanese adjusted defense: 482
Allied assault odds: 2 to 1
Combat modifiers
Defender: op mode(-), disruption(-), preparation(-), supply(-)
Attacker:
Japanese ground losses:
13007 casualties reported
Squads: 265 destroyed, 222 disabled
Non Combat: 256 destroyed, 121 disabled
Engineers: 43 destroyed, 95 disabled
Guns lost 116 (27 destroyed, 89 disabled)
Vehicles lost 168 (57 destroyed, 111 disabled)
Units retreated 3
Allied ground losses:
1328 casualties reported
Squads: 6 destroyed, 235 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 14 disabled
Engineers: 3 destroyed, 50 disabled
Guns lost 37 (1 destroyed, 36 disabled)
Units pursuing 1
I was a bit puzzled by the “unit pursuing”. The replay said it was the hundred and something wing, which is an engineer unit, and it didn’t advance into the hex. I thought only tanks would do that? Would engineers mounted on bulldozers do it too? Or aviation support troops in jeeps?
Anyway, I am back into the jungle, where I have a lot of infantry, and field forts. The losses are not as bad as it seems. One guard division is trashed, the rest is ok, and I think I still can defend the road to Cox.
But this heavily suggests that there is nothing I can to in India. The lack of supplies is probably the main reason for my defeat today, and supplies hardly flow into Burma, and NOTHING ever flows on the road north of Akyab. Akyab has been at zero supplies, and Cox at twenty (why twenty?) for weeks, except when I land some by sea. Elsewhere in Burma, I will eventually take Kalemyo, after months of siege, because I can only attack two or three times a month, supplies again.
I’m afraid this shows that there is no hope Japan can mount any kind of land offensive in 1943, save in China (but I’m done with China). I will most probably retreat south of Akyab pretty soon. There is no point risking troops so far West, with so little supplies ever flowing.
In the air
We had a relatively good day. Sweeps over Chittagong and Dobo cost me about 30 Oscars and Tojo but shot down an equal number of enemy fighters. 1:1 seems to be the best result I can achieve these days.
I tried to use Oscars to skip bomb troops in Kalemyo, having had some success against Chinese divisions near Imphal yesterday. It was a bad idea, the british apparently have good enough flak, and I lost a dozen Oscars for nothing.
The minelaying campaign is continuing, Akyab and Kendari were targeted today. In Boela, Allied mines didn’t manage to prevent a tanker from loading. I suspect the mines come in relatively small numbers.
We shot down a Liberator II (our eighth, those are very difficult to kill, fortunately, they are produced in very small numbers), and a B24D (our 59th)
Three years, maybe more, and this AAR
I have to say I am increasingly bored with the game. The strategic situation is dull, my options are very limited. I can of course achieve limited tactical victories, or punish my opponent if he moves too fast, but I’m bound to play the “plastron” (those pretend enemies we get in exercises) for the rest of the war, and it is not very interesting.
Worse still, there are lots of details that need attention, and really shouldn’t. I noticed yesterday that, despite the Home Islands having 1.3 million tons of supplies, only two bases (Tokyo and Yokohama) have more than 10 000. This means my factories are not repairing, unless I play with the draw parameters. For some reason, I’ve also noticed most reinforcements for my front line squadrons arrive in Takao,, and would fly back to their units … if they had pilots. I am supposed to fill them. Note also that if you want convoys to work correctly, you are supposed to check, every turn, that they have docked, no they don’t do it by themselves, this is something the high command has to do. And don’t get me started on pilots…
I have to say I am more than a little bit disappointed with the game, because the more it goes, the less I find it a thought provoking activity. Every turn just looks like a long laundry list of meaningless things that have to be done, or can be skipped but will make you pay for it eventually, but then even if you do them, the situation will make you pay anyway, so… The strategic situation is pretty obvious, a lot of the outcomes are hardcoded (meaning, the OOB and reinforcement schedules make most of the future inevitable), and there are at least three more years to go (we’re playing five turns a week, I can’t do more than this, which means we will need 3 years of real time to reach 1945, at which time I hope to mercifully surrender).
I do understand why some like those long campaigns. AE is one of those activities you end up learning by doing, and there is a lot of details, options, bolts and nuts, for those who like military hardware. And of course, there is some merit in going through such a long endeavor and not giving up, and staying on the top the myriad things. I just suspect it is just not for me. These days, while playing my turns, I was thinking of the things I could do on my AE time (play more piano, translate one of those big Chinese novels I wanted to work on for years, learn some decent maths at last, … ), and, more importantly, I was realizing that a five year investment (such as a campaign of AE) should bring one more than the satisfaction of “having lived through the frustration”.
I’m still playing, though. Right now, my opinion is that this AAR is what makes the experience interesting for me: having to think about what happens, write about it, and try to make sense out of it.
A bad day in Chittagong
A tank division had advanced into Chittagong yesterday, and was joined today by two infantry divisions. I thought this would be enough, but I was wrong, the enemy attacked and my troops were trashed in one of those incredibly one sided results this game is famous for.
Ground combat at Chittagong (55,41)
Allied Deliberate attack
Attacking force 51780 troops, 902 guns, 1085 vehicles, Assault Value = 1698
Defending force 31431 troops, 380 guns, 580 vehicles, Assault Value = 1236
Allied adjusted assault: 986
Japanese adjusted defense: 482
Allied assault odds: 2 to 1
Combat modifiers
Defender: op mode(-), disruption(-), preparation(-), supply(-)
Attacker:
Japanese ground losses:
13007 casualties reported
Squads: 265 destroyed, 222 disabled
Non Combat: 256 destroyed, 121 disabled
Engineers: 43 destroyed, 95 disabled
Guns lost 116 (27 destroyed, 89 disabled)
Vehicles lost 168 (57 destroyed, 111 disabled)
Units retreated 3
Allied ground losses:
1328 casualties reported
Squads: 6 destroyed, 235 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 14 disabled
Engineers: 3 destroyed, 50 disabled
Guns lost 37 (1 destroyed, 36 disabled)
Units pursuing 1
I was a bit puzzled by the “unit pursuing”. The replay said it was the hundred and something wing, which is an engineer unit, and it didn’t advance into the hex. I thought only tanks would do that? Would engineers mounted on bulldozers do it too? Or aviation support troops in jeeps?
Anyway, I am back into the jungle, where I have a lot of infantry, and field forts. The losses are not as bad as it seems. One guard division is trashed, the rest is ok, and I think I still can defend the road to Cox.
But this heavily suggests that there is nothing I can to in India. The lack of supplies is probably the main reason for my defeat today, and supplies hardly flow into Burma, and NOTHING ever flows on the road north of Akyab. Akyab has been at zero supplies, and Cox at twenty (why twenty?) for weeks, except when I land some by sea. Elsewhere in Burma, I will eventually take Kalemyo, after months of siege, because I can only attack two or three times a month, supplies again.
I’m afraid this shows that there is no hope Japan can mount any kind of land offensive in 1943, save in China (but I’m done with China). I will most probably retreat south of Akyab pretty soon. There is no point risking troops so far West, with so little supplies ever flowing.
In the air
We had a relatively good day. Sweeps over Chittagong and Dobo cost me about 30 Oscars and Tojo but shot down an equal number of enemy fighters. 1:1 seems to be the best result I can achieve these days.
I tried to use Oscars to skip bomb troops in Kalemyo, having had some success against Chinese divisions near Imphal yesterday. It was a bad idea, the british apparently have good enough flak, and I lost a dozen Oscars for nothing.
The minelaying campaign is continuing, Akyab and Kendari were targeted today. In Boela, Allied mines didn’t manage to prevent a tanker from loading. I suspect the mines come in relatively small numbers.
We shot down a Liberator II (our eighth, those are very difficult to kill, fortunately, they are produced in very small numbers), and a B24D (our 59th)
Three years, maybe more, and this AAR
I have to say I am increasingly bored with the game. The strategic situation is dull, my options are very limited. I can of course achieve limited tactical victories, or punish my opponent if he moves too fast, but I’m bound to play the “plastron” (those pretend enemies we get in exercises) for the rest of the war, and it is not very interesting.
Worse still, there are lots of details that need attention, and really shouldn’t. I noticed yesterday that, despite the Home Islands having 1.3 million tons of supplies, only two bases (Tokyo and Yokohama) have more than 10 000. This means my factories are not repairing, unless I play with the draw parameters. For some reason, I’ve also noticed most reinforcements for my front line squadrons arrive in Takao,, and would fly back to their units … if they had pilots. I am supposed to fill them. Note also that if you want convoys to work correctly, you are supposed to check, every turn, that they have docked, no they don’t do it by themselves, this is something the high command has to do. And don’t get me started on pilots…
I have to say I am more than a little bit disappointed with the game, because the more it goes, the less I find it a thought provoking activity. Every turn just looks like a long laundry list of meaningless things that have to be done, or can be skipped but will make you pay for it eventually, but then even if you do them, the situation will make you pay anyway, so… The strategic situation is pretty obvious, a lot of the outcomes are hardcoded (meaning, the OOB and reinforcement schedules make most of the future inevitable), and there are at least three more years to go (we’re playing five turns a week, I can’t do more than this, which means we will need 3 years of real time to reach 1945, at which time I hope to mercifully surrender).
I do understand why some like those long campaigns. AE is one of those activities you end up learning by doing, and there is a lot of details, options, bolts and nuts, for those who like military hardware. And of course, there is some merit in going through such a long endeavor and not giving up, and staying on the top the myriad things. I just suspect it is just not for me. These days, while playing my turns, I was thinking of the things I could do on my AE time (play more piano, translate one of those big Chinese novels I wanted to work on for years, learn some decent maths at last, … ), and, more importantly, I was realizing that a five year investment (such as a campaign of AE) should bring one more than the satisfaction of “having lived through the frustration”.
I’m still playing, though. Right now, my opinion is that this AAR is what makes the experience interesting for me: having to think about what happens, write about it, and try to make sense out of it.
RE: Perfection, of a kind, spence (A) vs fcharton (J)
Re the pursuit: When no enemy is in hex the option is 'Rest'. When enemy is in hex the option is (IIRC) 'Reserve (Pursuit)'. AFAIK it means that on defense the unit is in reserve and most of the time shielded from combat. When attacking it means the unit will pursue the enemy if the enemy is forced to retreat.
It's unfortunate that the Reserve (Pursuit) options are combined instead of being separate options. If it really is some support unit in pursuit of your defeated troops then I presume he did not intend that. Rather, that he put the support unit in 'Reserve' to protect it from combat, and when his force attacked he did not realize that 'Reserve' became 'Pursuit'!
It's unfortunate that the Reserve (Pursuit) options are combined instead of being separate options. If it really is some support unit in pursuit of your defeated troops then I presume he did not intend that. Rather, that he put the support unit in 'Reserve' to protect it from combat, and when his force attacked he did not realize that 'Reserve' became 'Pursuit'!
Intel Monkey: https://sites.google.com/view/staffmonkeys/home
RE: Perfection, of a kind, spence (A) vs fcharton (J)
Francois,
Really sorry to hear this is no fun for you.
Supply: Alfred has done a couple of really good posts on this. Search for them, they will help you. I've been able to draw supply from Burma into India until I own Chittagong and then it is more efficient to bring it in via transport. You have to really understand the supply model, but once you do it can/does work. I'm not the real guru on supply; Damian and Alfred are far better.
However, you are probably correct. It is almost time to start pulling in your perimeter. You've got about 4 months or so breathing room and then you will really be on the defensive. I hate Burma. Erik's AAR is just one of many examples why. It is SO easy to get trapped there and lose a lot of forces; some of your best forces at that. So, over the next 3 - 4 months of game time you need to get your MLR's setup with appropriate trigger points.
Me? I only fight in Burma until Jan 44 latest and then I run. Basically, I set my next MLR on a line LangSon to Kunming. And then the PI and Formosa. The rest, I don't waste any troops of value. Once the allies are back in Darwin and Rangoon and they have B-29's there just isn't any reason to stay in the DEI and for that matter SE Asia. The oil production is dead in a few days. I draw my lines at where the B24 can hit the HI. I do not want them that close for as long as I can prevent it. And if I don't lose all my good troops in Burma, I can make Luzon really hard to take. There are enough RR connected bases that can have AF8/9 for me to keep my fighters alive and to send my kami's out. Sure I will lose eventually, but I can delay for a long time and make the butchers bill pretty high.
So, yes, in some ways you are at a pretty boring point of the game. OTOH, this idle time is when you need to be setting your defenses and prepping your traps. I beleive the game is won or lost for the IJ in '43. If you prep well, you should be able to hold until '46. While you do, the allied player will get very frustrated, and that's when you can make him pay. Look at GJ's game with Qball who is a good player. Still GJ has been able to frustrate him a couple of time and cause him to get a little too reckless and BOOM.
Really sorry to hear this is no fun for you.
Supply: Alfred has done a couple of really good posts on this. Search for them, they will help you. I've been able to draw supply from Burma into India until I own Chittagong and then it is more efficient to bring it in via transport. You have to really understand the supply model, but once you do it can/does work. I'm not the real guru on supply; Damian and Alfred are far better.
However, you are probably correct. It is almost time to start pulling in your perimeter. You've got about 4 months or so breathing room and then you will really be on the defensive. I hate Burma. Erik's AAR is just one of many examples why. It is SO easy to get trapped there and lose a lot of forces; some of your best forces at that. So, over the next 3 - 4 months of game time you need to get your MLR's setup with appropriate trigger points.
Me? I only fight in Burma until Jan 44 latest and then I run. Basically, I set my next MLR on a line LangSon to Kunming. And then the PI and Formosa. The rest, I don't waste any troops of value. Once the allies are back in Darwin and Rangoon and they have B-29's there just isn't any reason to stay in the DEI and for that matter SE Asia. The oil production is dead in a few days. I draw my lines at where the B24 can hit the HI. I do not want them that close for as long as I can prevent it. And if I don't lose all my good troops in Burma, I can make Luzon really hard to take. There are enough RR connected bases that can have AF8/9 for me to keep my fighters alive and to send my kami's out. Sure I will lose eventually, but I can delay for a long time and make the butchers bill pretty high.
So, yes, in some ways you are at a pretty boring point of the game. OTOH, this idle time is when you need to be setting your defenses and prepping your traps. I beleive the game is won or lost for the IJ in '43. If you prep well, you should be able to hold until '46. While you do, the allied player will get very frustrated, and that's when you can make him pay. Look at GJ's game with Qball who is a good player. Still GJ has been able to frustrate him a couple of time and cause him to get a little too reckless and BOOM.
Pax
RE: Perfection, of a kind, spence (A) vs fcharton (J)
ORIGINAL: witpqs
Re the pursuit: When no enemy is in hex the option is 'Rest'. When enemy is in hex the option is (IIRC) 'Reserve (Pursuit)'. AFAIK it means that on defense the unit is in reserve and most of the time shielded from combat. When attacking it means the unit will pursue the enemy if the enemy is forced to retreat.
It's unfortunate that the Reserve (Pursuit) options are combined instead of being separate options. If it really is some support unit in pursuit of your defeated troops then I presume he did not intend that. Rather, that he put the support unit in 'Reserve' to protect it from combat, and when his force attacked he did not realize that 'Reserve' became 'Pursuit'!
The "Pursuit" text is in yellow. Click it and it should change to "No Pursuit". You can alternate between "Pursuit" and "No Pursuit" for units in "Reserve" mode.
RE: Perfection, of a kind, spence (A) vs fcharton (J)
ORIGINAL: witpqs
Re the pursuit: When no enemy is in hex the option is 'Rest'. When enemy is in hex the option is (IIRC) 'Reserve (Pursuit)'. AFAIK it means that on defense the unit is in reserve and most of the time shielded from combat. When attacking it means the unit will pursue the enemy if the enemy is forced to retreat.
I agree this must be the reason why it could pursue. Also, the fact that it was a support unit (besides being indicated in the replay) was confirmed by the fact the pursuing unit didn't show up in the hex I retreated to.
What worries me is that I have noticed, on several occasions, that pursuit, especially in open terrain, causes additional losses, and I believe it was the case here. This is historical, and a legitimate use of armor as reserves (but then you don't get them to participate in the main action), but if support units can pursue, this becomes a problem, no?
Francois
RE: Perfection, of a kind, spence (A) vs fcharton (J)
I think part of the problem is that "Reserve (Pursuit)" is the default option in WITP:AE. When there is a battle in a hex I put i.e Base Force units (no assault value or little assault value) in Reserve to shield them from combat. By default the game sets the BF to "Pursuit". I have to manually click it to change to "No Pursuit".
I guess many players move their support units to "Reserve" and end up with a group of BFs pursuing the enemy after the victorious battle.
I think the default setting should be changed to "No Pursuit".
I guess many players move their support units to "Reserve" and end up with a group of BFs pursuing the enemy after the victorious battle.
I think the default setting should be changed to "No Pursuit".
RE: Perfection, of a kind, spence (A) vs fcharton (J)
ORIGINAL: Yaab
ORIGINAL: witpqs
Re the pursuit: When no enemy is in hex the option is 'Rest'. When enemy is in hex the option is (IIRC) 'Reserve (Pursuit)'. AFAIK it means that on defense the unit is in reserve and most of the time shielded from combat. When attacking it means the unit will pursue the enemy if the enemy is forced to retreat.
It's unfortunate that the Reserve (Pursuit) options are combined instead of being separate options. If it really is some support unit in pursuit of your defeated troops then I presume he did not intend that. Rather, that he put the support unit in 'Reserve' to protect it from combat, and when his force attacked he did not realize that 'Reserve' became 'Pursuit'!
The "Pursuit" text is in yellow. Click it and it should change to "No Pursuit". You can alternate between "Pursuit" and "No Pursuit" for units in "Reserve" mode.
I had no idea at all that was changeable. Thank you! [:)]
Intel Monkey: https://sites.google.com/view/staffmonkeys/home