Sanderz(A) vs EvilSanderz(J)–Hotseat vs myself! Need your help!

[sanderz]

Hi all

This is part AAR (from Sanderz as Allies point of view) and part a request for help in deciding on the strategy for the allies. As this is a hotseat game against myself i'm hoping that if I present info here from just the allied side that forum members will input into the allied strategy which I will try and follow - for better or worse. EvilSanderz is also rather forgetful so I am hoping that these factors combined will make for an interesting game.

Not sure what I am going to do if I get conflicting suggestions, will probably go with majority, not sure but i'll figure it out as I go. Am not looking for any wild or gamey advice (e.g. no fortress Palambang) but definitely want something that challenges EvilSanderz more than the AI.

EvilSanderz has done turn one and formulated his evil plans, sorry i mean initial objectives, for the first few months. He aims to stick to these unless visible on map info suggests a change. He may even start his own thread to get some strategic direction and tactical advice.

So, to help people who are interested in contributing to this AAR details of the game settings and players experience are as follows:

PLAYERS
These comments (not suprisingly) apply to both players
Largely inexperienced with only 1 game as Allies and one as Japan, both versus the AI in scenario 1 that only lasted until mid 1942. These games have been over the last few years with the most recent game about a year ago so as a result consider both to be noobs. Play style is usually very cautious.

You can expect EvilSanderz to have mostly (but not entirely) historic opening moves as the Japanese and will probably turtle when, or more likely “if” he takes historical resource areas. He's neither a good strategist or tactician so things could get tough for him very quickly as he's not getting any advice from the forums (well at least not yet). Lets face it, he's going to mess up big time, but hopefully it will make for a fun and interesting game

Expect slow progress and lengthy breaks as both are easily distracted by other games (EU4/Beyond Earth/Dwarf Fortress/XCOM Long War mod) however they always end up coming back to this game which is arguably the best game ever made and certainly has the best community.


GAME SETTINGS
DBB-C scenario 28 with extended map
PDU - On
Realistic Research – Off
US damage control – On
US reliable torpedoes – Off
House rules – none to start with as I don't know enough about the game mechanics to exploit anything, though I suppose I may do something inadvertantly so please feel free to suggest any that you think the game would benefit from.


….. continued in next post

[sanderz]

FIRST TURN ADVICE NEEDED FOR THE ALLIES

Am only going to be making minimal moves on the first turn (in case EvilSanderz has messed up something crucial in his opening move).

So, am looking for an intial defensive strategy for each strategic area like Malaya/Burma/China etc which will likely drive what to do specifically with the following key units:

1) Bombay Reinforcements I (48th Gurkha) @ Karachi – planned move is to Rangoon

2) Bombay Reinforcements II (46th Indian) @ Karachi – planned move is to Rangoon

3) USN Transports (BF + Art) at Canton Island – planned move to Suva

4) Singapore Fast Reinforcements (44/45 Indian) @ Goa – planned move to Singapore

5) Force Z – planned move to Singora

6) CV Lexington @ 10 hexes NW of Johnston Island

7) CV Enterprise @ 6 hexes NE of Johnston Island

8) CV Saratoga @ San Diego

9) Anything else key that I have missed? (Setting up convoys, LCU and Air Unit moves etc will be start on
turn 2)


All advice very welcome from one liners like “BURMA - Abandon Rangoon and retreat towards India” or “BURMA - Defend Rangoon to the last man” up to detailed analysis. Whatever you have the time for will be much appreciated.

After the first turn or two i'll post some screenshots of how things are going and be looking for more advice

Many thanks

[BBfanboy]

Good to see a noob experiment with how to use the game!
The hard part will be forgetting that the Allies do not always know what the Japanese are going to do.
You can say that you will only react to intel that gives you clues (search info, SIGINT, sub reports of enemy TFs), but part of war is the wasted effort of preparing for attacks in places where the enemy never comes.
So, if you decide not to move everything back to Karachi/Bombay because you think the enemy will fight in Burma, chances are the enemy WILL fight in Burma.
Unless you use die rolls to decide some of the unknowable things, you will inevitably make decisions that favour the Allies (especially British forces [:)]).

You don't say whether the map is with or without stacking limits. That has significant effects on the land combat and supply logistics ( e.g. overstacking of atolls requiring much more supply be delivered).

If you have only played two Scenario 1 games against the AI, you have not explored all the possibilities. There are something like 13 strategies the AI opponent can follow in stock. I don't know if DBB has a similar range or can tap into the stock strategies.
There is also the AI difficulty setting - if you found the AI to be a pushover, did you try the Very Hard setting? This may tie into the aggressiveness of AI strategies.

DBB gives the Japanese some advantages, and a few disadvantages. Trying to play both sides will also be very time consuming.
Bottom line - I don't know what strategies to suggest because knowing your opponents play style is part of deciding a strategy. If you are very cautious on both Allied and Japanese sides, they will dig in with their easy conquests and not challenge until they have overwhelming strength.
The tension and fun comes from not being able to attack nor defend everywhere and having to take some risks because the clock is ticking. For this you need a tough AI opponent or a PBEM opponent who is also just starting out in the game.
Whichever way you go, have fun with it and try things that are adventurous but as you say, not gamey.
Remember that in 1944 the Allies rushed their advance to the Philippines by several months based solely on weaker than expected air opposition to their raids on Formosa. This set up the Battle of Leyte Gulf, and advent of the kamikazes.

Ciao!

[sanderz]

thanks for comments BBfanboy

you raise some good points about the issues of playing yourself which maybe i didn't think through - my problem is i don't want to play the AI but don't have the long term commitment to play PBEM (don't want to let anyone down)

so the plan was for others to provide some general direction to try and mitigate (if only slightly) knowledge of both sides deployment

regarding DBB-C - i thought it was just disadvantages to the Japanese - what are the plus points?

so for the time being at least i am going to press on, though as you say progress will be slow - if it doesn't work out i can always go back to playing the ai (maybe try the RHS mod)

so still hoping that from time to time i'll get some input to the allies defense plans, even very high level stuff will be helpful, but if not then i can see the d6 coming out

cheers

[Yaab]

Gamey trick for the Allies in China.

1.Stockpile all Chinese devices plus global support squads, so that only engineer squads are accepted by the Chinese LCUs.
2.Turn on replacements for Chinese LCUs that lack engineers, especially the units in key hexes. This way you get more engineers in shorter time, and you can build forts faster.

[BBfanboy]

ORIGINAL: Yaab

Gamey trick for the Allies in China.

1.Stockpile all Chinese devices plus global support squads, so that only engineer squads are accepted by the Chinese LCUs.
2.Turn on replacements for Chinese LCUs that lack engineers, especially the units in key hexes. This way you get more engineers in shorter time, and you can build forts faster.

Not sure I would call it gamey since it is a plausible move by the Chinese high command if they prioritized building bases and defences that much.

[BBfanboy]

ORIGINAL: sanderz

thanks for comments BBfanboy

you raise some good points about the issues of playing yourself which maybe i didn't think through - my problem is i don't want to play the AI but don't have the long term commitment to play PBEM (don't want to let anyone down)

so the plan was for others to provide some general direction to try and mitigate (if only slightly) knowledge of both sides deployment

regarding DBB-C - i thought it was just disadvantages to the Japanese - what are the plus points?

so for the time being at least i am going to press on, though as you say progress will be slow - if it doesn't work out i can always go back to playing the ai (maybe try the RHS mod)

so still hoping that from time to time i'll get some input to the allies defense plans, even very high level stuff will be helpful, but if not then i can see the d6 coming out

cheers

My apologies - I may have been thinking of Reluctant Admiral or Ironman mods that tinker with ship/aircraft types and availability.
You can check out all the mods at :

tm.asp?m=3088504