Rookie AAR

[Leandros]

January 26th, 1942.

1. Two terrible days! Yesterday, the British and Commonwealth Forces in Singapore surrendered wholesale. All vessels in port
were scuttled, inclusive BC Repulse.

2. The support vessels trying to escape south from PI had little luck. The Japanese net between PI and Palau is very tight.

3. Something big is brewing in the Celebes Sea again. Tarakan is under siege and a large CV force is north of Sorong – moving
west. Sorong has been bombed, the DD’s Thracian and Pillsbury, just evaded from Zamboanga, were sunk there. Tarakan is bombed
regularly by planes, mostly Bettys flying from Jolo Island.

4. There has been some carrier planes over Ambon, too. The harbor is full of fat targets unloading frenetically. At the moment
there are only 10 operational fighters with a dozen grounded on close-by Namlea due to lack of fuel. A transport is planned to go
there shortly but the loading takes time due to the congested port facilities in Ambon. If we get two days with relative quiet Ambon
ought to be secure.

5. Rangoon fell today with a similar carnage of scuttled ships in the harbor as Singapore.

6. As a follow-up to the fall of Singapore, Palembang on Sumatra has been bombed with many sunk transports as a result.

7. There has been a naval battle in Bangka Sound outside Palembang. CL Danae and DD’s Tenedos and Electra were sunk as were two
Japanese DD’s.

8. I plan to use all available air assets to keep the enemy CV’s north of Ambon occupied. I hope to get some assistance from
the Dutch in Makassar where they have based many of their 139-bombers. We also have 37 SBD’s in Kendari. I shall transfer some to
Ambon to get them in better range. The next two days are crucial.

9. Supplying Sibate is going according to schedule. The three C-47’s left shall not fly there tomorrow with the enemy CV force
somewhere in the vicinity.

Fred

[BBfanboy]

You mention the aircraft on Namlea grounded for lack of fuel. If you mean the base had no fuel, that has no bearing on aircraft operations. The heavy fuel hauled by tankers in this game is used by ships and industry only. The fuel that aircraft use comes out of supply (think fuel in drums to help visualize).

If Namlea has supply and the aircraft are unserviceable, check if there are air support squads there to repair them. If there are, look at the air unit screen and at the bottom click on aircraft data - that will bring up a lot of data about the aircraft including the service rating. That is the number of days it usually takes to get an unserviceable aircraft back on-line.

If the aircraft are serviceable but won't take off to attack or perform LRCAP/Sweep missions, check whether the airfield is big enough and has enough supply.
And if all that checks out, look at the leaders' aggression ratings. Even with respectable aggression, bombers will not launch an attack on a very tough target like KB unless they have a substantial fighter escort with them.

One final thing could prevent launch from Namlea - day after day of bad weather like "Severe Storms", "Heavy Rain" and "Extreme Overcast".

[wdolson]

ORIGINAL: Leandros


Hi, Bill - you're right. I mixed uo the various designations used here, AAR, Combat Report, Operations Report, etc. What I wanted
was to awitch off the animations and the detailed texts of the various actions during the turn execution. Which removed other
things as well. Suppose I have to live with the details then as otherwise I lose the report totally.

Anyway, now that is cleared up I would like to apologize for all the huff-huff I created.

Fred

They are separate controls. I always have combat reports on, but leave animations off. It works fine.

Bill

[jmalter]

ORIGINAL: Wargmr
Yes, it can take up to 6 months for a ship to be confirmed sunk

And a sinking report can prove erroneous, too - game said I'd sunk CV Akagi on 25 Dec 41, but she showed up about 100 turns later. The initial sinking was pretty clearly a spurious smog-of-war report, only 1 torp hit, & no 'Magazine Explosion' in the combat report.

[bobsteele]

I think CapMandrake "sank" Akagi 3 times in whichever version of WW2(x) preceded the current two, per the combat reports. You have to read those, _and_ learn how to interpret them. FOW and all that. This is, I gather from extensive reading of the forums, a very complicated game in terms of uncertainties, as well as every thing else.

Also, I feel compelled, though probably unnecessarily, to add that this is a game, and though I suppose can be used as a simulator or a foundation for various "what if" scenarios, I personally don't think that a test of the effacy of a forward defense of the PI against the AI will be very conclusive, DOCUP, I think, is trying to develop a Mod that simulates an earlier, pre-war, buildup of American forces in the PI. I don't know how to post links here, but I think I saw that thread in the Mods section of the forum. You might want to check it out, if only to get a taste of the potentialities of the game, but also the complexities involved.

I also think that, after you acquire a working knowledge of the game, you should try to find a human player to test your theories on. The AI in this game is supposed to be quite good, but nonetheless still follows a script. A human player might (or might not) handle your approach much more adroitly.

I enjoy your AAR for two reasons: you are attempting something in your game (forward defense) that most allied players don't, and the help and advice you are getting from the community helps me understand the game better. Keep it up.

Lastly, I apologize for the hijack. Carry on!

[Leandros]

Thank you, everyone!

bobsteele wrote: Lastly, I apologize for the hijack. Carry on!

Also, I feel compelled, though probably unnecessarily, to add that this is a game….

Not at all, I appreciate all inputs. You’re of course correct in everything you write. The way I plan it is to play both sides to get the full benefit of it. Use
it as a sort of filing cabinet and data/information bank. In this respect it is even better than I expected, but a lot of work it shall be. I’m most impressed by
the effort that must have gone into creating all this.
I’m not sure how much I can do with the editor before I start a scenario. My project is exactly where we are in the game now and while there has been a few hick-ups
due to my rookie status, and some less than smart decisions by me, in principle it’s really going where I want it to. That is learning how to use it for my purpose…

However, it must be said that the AI is much more aggressive than the RL. But, so am I…

Your reference to DOCUP is interesting. What I would have liked, too, is a scenario starting in April with all the US reinforcements that were on their way had
come to their use. In addition to all those stopped dead by the outbreak of the war, many already on their way, in the beginning of December there were approx. a
hundred more transports planned for December and January. I think it’s interesting because this is how long time Marshall and MacArthur believed, or hoped, they
had at their disposal.

wdolson wrote: They are separate controls. I always have combat reports on, but leave animations off. It works fine.

Bill

Thank you, everything is much better now.

BBF wrote: You mention the aircraft on Namlea grounded for lack of fuel. If you mean the base had no fuel, that has no bearing on aircraft operations. The
heavy fuel hauled by tankers in this game is used by ships and industry only. The fuel that aircraft use comes out of supply (think fuel in drums to help
visualize).

Well, that is good to know….Thank you! By “heavy fuel” do you really mean “oil”? The base had “0 fuel” - but some supplies.

BBF wrote: If Namlea has supply and the aircraft are unserviceable, check if there are air support squads there to repair them. If there are, look at the
air unit screen and at the bottom click on aircraft data - that will bring up a lot of data about the aircraft including the service rating. That is the number of
days it usually takes to get an unserviceable aircraft back on-line.

I’d like to go through this but now they’re all gone…the d***** Japs….Just a little surprising that everything went totally dead and it coincided with 0 fuel on
the base. They flew quite well from there for many days. Another lesson learned.

BBF wrote: If the aircraft are serviceable but won't take off to attack or perform LRCAP/Sweep missions, check whether the airfield is big enough and has
enough supply.
And if all that checks out, look at the leaders' aggression ratings. Even with respectable aggression, bombers will not launch an attack on a very tough target
like KB unless they have a substantial fighter escort with them.

Actually, they stopped flying a couple of days before the KB showed up and this concerned fighters as well. It wasn’t that they wouldn’t fly, they just weren’t
operational.

BBF wrote: One final thing could prevent launch from Namlea - day after day of bad weather like "Severe Storms", "Heavy Rain" and "Extreme Overcast".

Shouldn’t Ambon have been influenced by that, too – after all it’s just across the sound?

jmalter wrote: And a sinking report can prove erroneous, too - game said I'd sunk CV Akagi on 25 Dec 41, but she showed up about 100 turns later. The initial
sinking was pretty clearly a spurious smog-of-war report, only 1 torp hit, & no 'Magazine Explosion' in the combat report.

Seems it can go both ways – cool feature!

Fred

[wdolson]

ORIGINAL: Leandros
However, it must be said that the AI is much more aggressive than the RL. But, so am I…

This was done in part to overcome the 20/20 hindsight effect. Any human player who knows any of the history knows a lot more than that side knew at any point during the war. An AI that is as cautious as the Japanese actually were can be more easily foiled by an Allied player who knows what to expect next.

wdolson wrote: They are separate controls. I always have combat reports on, but leave animations off. It works fine.

Bill

Thank you, everything is much better now.

BBF wrote: You mention the aircraft on Namlea grounded for lack of fuel. If you mean the base had no fuel, that has no bearing on aircraft operations. The
heavy fuel hauled by tankers in this game is used by ships and industry only. The fuel that aircraft use comes out of supply (think fuel in drums to help
visualize).

Well, that is good to know….Thank you! By “heavy fuel” do you really mean “oil”? The base had “0 fuel” - but some supplies.

Oil is only usable by refineries. I think he meant that "fuel" in game terms means bunker sea. Aviation fuel and land vehicle fuel is represented by supply points. The only things that consume the resource called fuel in game are ships and heavy industry.

If planes didn't fly it could be due to many things such as poor morale, poor leadership, poor search coverage, no warning (such as given by radar), damage to the airbase, and probably some reasons I'm not thinking of.

BBF wrote: One final thing could prevent launch from Namlea - day after day of bad weather like "Severe Storms", "Heavy Rain" and "Extreme Overcast".

Shouldn’t Ambon have been influenced by that, too – after all it’s just across the sound?

Weather can be over many hexes, but weather is a hex by hex phenomenon. Thunder storms over one hex aren't going to affect the next hex over.

Bill

[Leandros]

Thank you, Bill.

wdolson wrote: This was done in part to overcome the 20/20 hindsight effect. Any human player who knows any of the history knows a lot more than that side
knew at any point during the war. An AI that is as cautious as the Japanese actually were can be more easily foiled by an Allied player who knows what to expect
next.

Fair enough. Better learning…My problem would be to balance the Japanese reaction to the more aggressive US behavior. How fast and with how much. And in what way
would this have influenced on the other areas?

wdolson wrote: If planes didn't fly it could be due to many things such as poor morale, poor leadership, poor search coverage, no warning (such as given by
radar), damage to the airbase, and probably some reasons I'm not thinking of.

It couldn’t be any of those as they suddenly went inoperative of sort. Not available for operations - maintenance or damage, I don’t remember exactly. Except maybe
damage to the airbase. I’m not sure if I have registered any air assaults on Namlea. Thinking about it I might have. But the planes there weren’t operational
before that, either.

That said, there were 0 fuel and, if I remember correctly, about 800 supply points. Would that be enough for air operations?

Fred

[Leandros]

January 27th, 1942.

1. They didn’t give us two days! The cocky B******* just slid down in-between Ambon and Namlea with a small force of not more than a thousand men and landed
on Namlea. Problem is there was no garrison there other than the aviation people. Serious mistake! The enemy CV TF is now just NW of Namlea.

2. I’m organizing a CA/DD TF to bombard Namlea by vessels in Ambon, and I have released several more from escort duties to hurry north to Ambon. How shall I
use my air assets? Go for the CV TF, it’s not far off, or bomb the Namlea invasion force to rubble?

3. The fighter situation has improved somewhat, a reinforcement of 17 P-36’s has arrived in Ambon, 12 are already operational. 4 P-40’s and 12 Navy Buffalos
are also in assembly. That Buffalo squadron has some very good pilots. That could make a difference.

4. About 40 planes were lost on Namlea airfield, 4 P-36’s flying from Ambon lost in air-air. The enemy lost 10 Kates during the day.

5. Little has changed on Mindanao and Sidate. The enemy is keeping the pressure up but nothing serious. The Japanese have started an artillery offensive on
Bataan. Quite a few US casualties because of this.

6. A heavy bombing attack went in on Ambon in the afternoon – 57 Kates and 37 Vals escorted by 26 Zeros. 5 P-36 and 5 Buffalos were up to meet them.
Considering the enemy effort the results weren’t too impressive – AK Coast Trader sunk and AK Cynthia Olsen on fire. Both had unloaded most of their cargo.

7. Langley with consorts is on her way north again from Brisbane, loaded with P-40 fighters. Lexington has arrived in Brisbane after her fuel misere and is
taking on a P-40 squadron before proceeding north again. She has some technical problems but has to finish this mission before getting a rest.

8. A lot of transports are on their way from the East Coast. Some have already arrived in SD and are being loaded up with more reinforcements for the Pacific.

9. Kavieng is still intact. The Japanese are steadily reinforcing Lae on New Guinea. What are their intentions? Port Moresby….?

Fred

[Mike McCreery]

ORIGINAL: Leandros

Thank you, Bill.

wdolson wrote: This was done in part to overcome the 20/20 hindsight effect. Any human player who knows any of the history knows a lot more than that side
knew at any point during the war. An AI that is as cautious as the Japanese actually were can be more easily foiled by an Allied player who knows what to expect
next.

Fair enough. Better learning…My problem would be to balance the Japanese reaction to the more aggressive US behavior. How fast and with how much. And in what way
would this have influenced on the other areas?

wdolson wrote: If planes didn't fly it could be due to many things such as poor morale, poor leadership, poor search coverage, no warning (such as given by
radar), damage to the airbase, and probably some reasons I'm not thinking of.

It couldn’t be any of those as they suddenly went inoperative of sort. Not available for operations - maintenance or damage, I don’t remember exactly. Except maybe
damage to the airbase. I’m not sure if I have registered any air assaults on Namlea. Thinking about it I might have. But the planes there weren’t operational
before that, either.

That said, there were 0 fuel and, if I remember correctly, about 800 supply points. Would that be enough for air operations?

Fred

The planes will burn the supply to 0 before they stop flying so it was not that.

What is the airfield level? Planes flying any type of assault mission need lvl 2 or better. LVL 1 only works for search/CAP.

[BBfanboy]

ORIGINAL: Wargmr

ORIGINAL: Leandros

Thank you, Bill.

wdolson wrote: This was done in part to overcome the 20/20 hindsight effect. Any human player who knows any of the history knows a lot more than that side
knew at any point during the war. An AI that is as cautious as the Japanese actually were can be more easily foiled by an Allied player who knows what to expect
next.

Fair enough. Better learning…My problem would be to balance the Japanese reaction to the more aggressive US behavior. How fast and with how much. And in what way
would this have influenced on the other areas?

wdolson wrote: If planes didn't fly it could be due to many things such as poor morale, poor leadership, poor search coverage, no warning (such as given by
radar), damage to the airbase, and probably some reasons I'm not thinking of.

It couldn’t be any of those as they suddenly went inoperative of sort. Not available for operations - maintenance or damage, I don’t remember exactly. Except maybe
damage to the airbase. I’m not sure if I have registered any air assaults on Namlea. Thinking about it I might have. But the planes there weren’t operational
before that, either.

That said, there were 0 fuel and, if I remember correctly, about 800 supply points. Would that be enough for air operations?

Fred

The planes will burn the supply to 0 before they stop flying so it was not that.

What is the airfield level? Planes flying any type of assault mission need lvl 2 or better. LVL 1 only works for search/CAP.

Leandros, your comment that the aircraft went inoperative is a clue. This can happen when the aircraft themselves become "fatigued" from constant and long-ranged operations. Click on the "Planes" text at the bottom of the air unit screen to see the current fatigue level of a unit's aircraft. Anything over 30 means it might be taken off-line for immediate maintenance. Aircraft like B-17s that fly long range missions need a lot of maintenance.

Maintenance turnaround also depends on having enough Air Support squads to handle the number of aircraft and their state of fatigue/morale. Operating with too few AS squads in a small, malaria infested base without rest will make them ineffective in just a few turns.

Another possibility is that the aircraft were damaged on landing. This can happen if there are a lot of craters in the runway from bombing or bombardment, and because you did not get combat reports you would not have been aware this happened unless you checked the base repair status each turn. Along with damage, very poor weather can damage a lot of aircraft. When this happens the Operations Report will have a line about the aircraft being "damaged on landing".

It will take a while to develop your eye for detail to check each turn. It's all part of the learning curve! Even the most experienced players frequently miss something each turn because they need to keep track of huge amounts of detail to maximize their chances.

[Leandros]

ORIGINAL: Wargmr

The planes will burn the supply to 0 before they stop flying so it was not that.

What is the airfield level? Planes flying any type of assault mission need lvl 2 or better. LVL 1 only works for search/CAP.

It's not that, either. They were simply not available for missioning - 0! Every type. No transfers.

We don't use more time on this. I shall check around more thoroughly if I experience something similar. Thank you!

Fred

[Leandros]

ORIGINAL: BBfanboy

It will take a while to develop your eye for detail to check each turn. It's all part of the learning curve! Even the most experienced players frequently miss
something each turn because they need to keep track of huge amounts of detail to maximize their chances.

Hi, BBF - thank you! I'm not too concerned about the problems so far, learning something new every day.....The Japanese are worse. Real pain in the a** the last
couple of days....[:D]....More on that.

Fred

[Leandros]

February 1st, 1942.

1. The last four days have seen some confused fighting in the DEI and PI. The enemy has not pushed further south towards the oil-rich areas of DEI but for now seems content to hold on to the Western coast of Borneo. Only the last two days has he started the invasion of Tarakan after the usual feelers of air reconnaissance and occasional bombing attacks. Even some days after the fall of Singapore there are no signs of him crossing over to the Sumatra side of the Strait. He has started bombings and some naval intrusions in Sumatra and Java ports, though. The Java bombers are mainly flying from Kuching, Borneo.

There is an impression of frustration in the enemy with the many resistance pockets in his back – Bataan and still four in different parts of Mindanao and the many independent garrisons in the Visayas. The withdrawn Menado garrison is still holding up in Sibate on the Southern side of the Menado Peninsula where it has been supplied by PBY’s and submarines.

His first invading attempt on Ambon was thwarted even if he, quite cleverly, was able to achieve a foothold on Namlea. This was unfortunate as a good air base was under development there. This force has, however, been more or less cut off by our naval forces and a Marine company is being inserted in its back. A lengthy affair with the few PBY’s and transport aircraft available.

There has, at times, been four or five enemy TF’s running about north and west of Ambon and Namlea. The last development seems to be a concentration against Kendari. His initial landings there was also rejected, he is stuck on an island on the outside with a small force only. A 2-CA TF of ours is now guarding the approach to Kendari and other US units are coming up in the enemy rear area.

The enemy has lost 3 DD’s, several PB’s and many Marus in their recent invasion attempts. This has been possible because his CV force has left the area completely, it has withdrawn towards NE. It has been claimed that CV Akagi is sunk by DD torpedo and Shokaku damaged by gunfire. This allegedly happened in a nightly surprise attack by DD’s Smith and Preston, near Ambon a couple of nights ago. The two DD’s were able to approach the enemy as close a 2.000 yards before they were detected. CV Akagi has been advertised as sunk.

SBD’s (ex-Enterprise and Lexington) and 139’s flying out of Kendari have also claimed many hits on Marus approaching Kendari. However, the statistics are still very much in the enemy’s favor.

2. Saumlaki has been much reinforced with Base Forces and an under-manned Marines Para Battalion. More support units are poured in to have an operational air base there as soon as possible.

3. Koepang is being reinforced by a US infantry regiment and a coast artillery unit.

4. CV Lexington is just south of Torres Strait and Saratoga is two days behind her. Langley+ is soon in Ambon with a considerable number of new P-40’s. A squadron from the same shipment has been flown up to Darwin.

5. Our 6 C-47’s are now down to 3.

6. As more and more troops are coming into the frontline more work is obviously needed to keep track of supplies and replenishment. Luckily, there is still a lot in Australia and as much as possible oil and fuel is taken out of the DEI.

7. Little more reinforcements are available from the US at the moment. The “political” situation seems to block it.

8. The Australians are keeping up their Wirraway-attacks on Lae. Tulagi has been captured and a large transport TF has been reported in the The Solomons Sea, heading west.

9. There is enemy submarine activity on the Australian east coast, south of the Torres Strait. A couple of freighters have been sunk. The Dutch submarines are also quite active, with some good results. S-39 has been scuttled in port of Butuan. It was too damaged to get away when the Japanese took the city.

10. Ambon airfield seems to have been infested by the same disease as Namlea in that only a few planes are operational at the same time. I hope to get more air support units in there shortly. If only the enemy could switch to the Malayan Barrier and leave us alone to build up our forces in peace and quiet.……

11. An enemy CV-TF is reported on a westerly course south of Bandjermasin. No planes onboard, except 5 auxiliaries….?

12. Our naval forces have been instilled the importance of this coming night, no withdrawals, to totally destroy the next Kendari invasion attempt as they nearly did with the first. A job well done by the CA’s Salt Lake City and San Diego, assisted by 2 DD’s.

Fred

[Leandros]

duplicate!

Fred

[Mike McCreery]

FYI,

Most ships that get torpedoed are reported sunk. That does not mean that they are.

[Leandros]

ORIGINAL: Wargmr

FYI,

Most ships that get torpedoed are reported sunk. That does not mean that they are.

Thank you - I've understood that...[;)]...that's why I often use the words "alleged", "reported" and "claimed"...

Fred

[Leandros]

Starting anew!

I have now reached February 10th 1942 and feel it’s time to break off this first AAR series to install the updated WITP AE that has been waiting impatiently in my drawer for a couple of weeks and start a new one based on my Rookie experiences and, not the least, all the valuable inputs given by the helpful members here.

The basic pre-requisites for this next AAR are the same as those stated in my first postings:

tm.asp?m=3840708&mpage=1&key=

Before I start a new one I’d like to share some of my experiences in my first venture into the world of WITP. The opponent (the AI) is much more aggressive, and acts considerably faster to changed conditions, than in the RL. This complicates my “test” where the main issue is to exploit the shortest supply route between Australia and the PI, the Moluccans. To get this right would, I suppose, necessitate an opponent that played like the RL up to the point where my intentions were firmly established and, after that, with a reaction time that mirrored the main Japanese aims and RL. A good example is the delayed reinforcing of the Bataan siege force and occupation of the rest of the PI.

I suppose the only way to resolve this would be with an opponent playing along those rules or playing both sides myself. Also, a considerable number of sea transports would have to be changed - all those US-PI ships which were called back, delayed or diverted at the outbreak of war. If this can be done in the Editor I do not know. That shall come later.

An example of this is the Pensacola convoy. It arrived in Brisbane on December 22nd but could possibly have been there a week earlier due to being kept in limbo in the pacific for a period, awaiting confirmation to proceed directly to Australia. This convoy I found so crucial in investigating “my” scenario that without it I don’t think I would have considered it at all.

I’ll explain: Onboard were three complete artillery regiments with guns for four, plus super-numary personnel that was organized into an infantry “defense” battalion, 52 crated A-24 dive bombers of the 27th BG, the personnel already on site in the PI, and 18 P-40 fighters together with heaps of all sorts of vehicles and equipment. Artillery, or trained artillery units, was what was most lacking in the Philippine army organization, particularly in those divisions based in the Visayas and on Mindanao. When MacArthur decided he had to withdraw into Bataan he initiated a general reinforcement of Mindanao with units from the Visayan islands. This proved successful in that the Japanese Davao (Miura) Detachment was checked for three months, actually before the mentioned reinforcements arrived in any numbers. After that, Mindanao was declared an independent command by MacArthur, led by Brig.-General Sharp. His intention was surely to assure a continued resistance in the PI even if Bataan fell. Remember, Washington’s promises of major assistance was kept up for a long time.

Provided the supply line through the Moluccans was kept open a reinforced Mindanao defense would have been much tougher to beat.

Now to the game: Apart from the many hick-ups, delays and downright wrong decisions by me, the situation developed partly as hoped for. The Pensacola artillery units never got there, they got stuck up in Suva, but the Aussies contributed with several units to the defense of Menado, the crucial point in the Moluccan supply link. This defense rejected the first Japanese invasion attempts. Instead they changed their efforts to Ternate, east of Menado and as potentially troublesome as a Menado in Japanese hands but with less basing potential. This cost them dearly. In all 26 transports and naval vessels were sunk by marauding allied warships in the following two weeks, till Menado was taken in a renewed assault. In the meantime the Japanese had been chased out of Davao.

This repeated itself a little later when they went for Ambon (at exact the same date as RL). Beaten back they instead went for Namlea, west of Ambon. An easy capture with no garrison but a good airfield (in actuality, Namlea had two airfields – as had Ambon). The history repeated itself, the reinforcement of Namlea became quite costly for them, US warships constantly venturing out on bombardment missions from Ambon.

Just now the fighter situation has improved drastically, Koepang and Saumlaki have beeen reinforced together with Ambon and much more troops are arriving shortly. CV Saratoga has arrived, too, but Lexington needs to be withdrawn to a base for some minor repairs. Her fighter complement (Buffalos) is also tied down for maintenance on Ambon. The enemy seems more or less to have given up improving on the situation in the center. Instead they have landed two places on Java and are building up on Southern Papua - Lae and Buna. Would there have been a Coral Sea battle? Hardly, I do not have any naval forces there…..Has he lost his nerve regarding landing operations with his heavy losses in transports….? Shall he instead chose to advance along the Kokoda trail to Port Moresby…? We shall never know….

Well, on to the new installation and all that follows with that…..Thank you all, for your attention.

Fred

[wdolson]

It will take some further learning, but you can edit scenarios and even AI scripts. You could set up an AI script that has the Japanese follow history fairly closely.

Bill

[BBfanboy]

You CAN play both sides initially to get the historic Japanese responses in the Philippines, and then switch the Japanese side back to the AI, but ... you need to play the entire Japanese side including some of the management of their industry - a huge undertaking. To thoroughly test your ideas under the historic conditions you want, you would really have to set up a new scenario in the editor - copy the existing Grand Campaign Scenario 1 to a different game slot and start editing force locations and targets. I do not know how to modify AI scripts so I can't say if everything would follow historic lines from the edited changes.

Re: Lae to Buna on Papua/New Guinea - I think the Japanese held these and were already trying to advance on the Kokoda track before they launched the invasion of Port Moresby, which triggered the battle of the Coral Sea. Yamamoto was not in favour of that invasion as he wanted all six of his big carriers for the Midway operation, but the high command forced him to provide Shokaku and Zuikaku to support the army.