Japan Set-up Spreadsheet for AE

[el lobo]

Kull,

First of all, thank you for all of you work on your spreadsheets. Even though I am preparing for scenario 2, as Japan, they have been very informative and helpful in guiding me in the right directions.

In the thread, “Patch 07 – Unofficial Public Beta,” you wrote,

'Excellent! Was getting ready to start my first "spreadsheet driven" Japan game, and was REALLY hoping this would be fixed before the week-end!'

The words “spreadsheet driven” jumped-out at me. How are you gong to do this? Are going to do your moves in a ss and import them?

About the same time I read your post, I read the below, from the witpload_readme.txt and wondered if the two are related or if possible.

WITPloadAE version 9.0

This program will export the scenario database files for a scenario number to several CSV files.

As part of the export, a reference table CSV is generated showing the values for certain exported/editor fields.

In addition, it also provides the ability to import changes to these CSV files back into the scenario database files.

Etc.

Sounds intriguing.

TIA for your answer.

el lobo
[font="Arial"][/font]

[Kull]

The short answer is, "no", I never developed (or tried to develop) a system for generating .csv files and uploading them into the game, thus bypassing the process of manually making all these changes. Whether that could be done, I don't know.

However, that would eliminate one of the main purposes of the spreadsheet. The process of loading up a game and then opening all the various menus and screens is where much of the real learning occurs. And because you have to do it again and again and again [:)], that basically burns it into the new player's memory, so on Turn 3 there's a strong sense of "been there done that", which helps the turns move faster and faster over time.

[el lobo]

Thanks. Looking forward to turn 3.[:)]

[jeffk3510]

Kull-

Does Japan find herself short of escorts Dec 7 like the Allies?

My priority for escorts after combat ships are:

(AFB here..)

Troops
Fuel
Supplies

I'll run supplies convoys without escorts a lot. I never run troops without them, and rarely run fuel without them, but do in uncontested areas if I don't have a choice.

[Kull]

ORIGINAL: jeffk3510

Kull-

Does Japan find herself short of escorts Dec 7 like the Allies?

My priority for escorts after combat ships are:

(AFB here..)

Troops
Fuel
Supplies

I'll run supplies convoys without escorts a lot. I never run troops without them, and rarely run fuel without them, but do in uncontested areas if I don't have a choice.

Not really. The Japanese can convert a LOT of cargo ships over to Patrol/Escort craft at the beginning of the war. That allows you to dedicate those to the lower value cargo ships carrying fuel and supplies. Troops almost always get DDs and sometimes light CLs, as do Tankers, but those don't comprise the majority of your convoys

Japanese naval ASW is very poor at the beginning of the game (especially on the new conversions), but the primary goal is to keep subs from surfacing and using deck guns. Especially with US fleet class subs sporting defective torps for the 1st part of the war.

[Kull]

(As noted in Post #4, this new spreadsheet requires a detailed review)

6) Jap Airgroup Upgrades (New): In short, this worksheet will allow you to quickly see ALL Air Unit upgrades, resizes, withdrawals, returns and even the number of times a unit is renamed. For the Japanese player - especially in a "Realistic R&D" and "PDU off" game, it is critical that you determine well in advance whether a particular Air Frame is worth researching. That used to be very hard to do, but now this worksheet puts all the information right at your fingertips. I spent weeks putting this together, based primarily on data pulled from Tracker, but augmented extensively by "one record at a time" reviews of every air unit in the Scenario Database. This is an important addition to the workbook, so first we'll have a brief overview of the most important columns, and then I'll give you a short tutorial on how to use it. As an aside, during the spreadsheet development I spotted a number of apparent database errors (most known others perhaps not). In all cases, I highlighted the appropriate cell and added an Excel comment explaining the issue (you can see one of these in the first screen shot appended below).

Col C & D: Unit IDs - All units have a "Unit ID" (Col C) but when a unit withdraws and returns, it gets a new Unit ID (Col D). To make it easier to visually spot them, Col D also shows the previous Unit ID for those that return. For example, Yamada Det S-1 (143) returns as Kanoya Ku S-1 (40), and you'll see both numbers referenced (rows 116 and 33, respectively)

Col F: Name Changes - Shows the number of different times the unit's name changes. I thought about adding additional columns for each new name, but it would have taken a lot more work (maybe someday). It's helpful to know which units will have name changes, but since the primary purpose of the worksheet is to assist in research planning at game start, it's not as important as other features.

Col I: Split - Tells you if a unit can divide into subcomponents (it's either 3 or 0)

Col J, L, & M: Dates - Col J has the arrival date for any unit not already present on 12/7/41, Col L has the withdrawal date (if the number is "0", the unit does not withdraw), while Col M has the return date (if the number is "0", the unit does not return. Date format is YYMMDD.

Col O: Restriction Level - Indicates the restriction status of units, according to the usual Blue/Gray/Red numeric codes. Interestingly, this status is not directly called out in the Unit Data files, so for arriving units I had to guess based on the Restriction levels of their HQ. Anecdotally, I have never seen a Restricted HQ air unit arrive on map without the ability to "buy it out" with PPs, so all those are listed as "Grey".

Cols P-X: Upgrade Model Names - Col P has the first upgrade model name (if applicable), and the next columns contain the sequential list of per-unit additional upgrades (Yokosuka Ku S-1 has NINE possible upgrades!)

Cols Y-AQ: (Various) - Information pulled from Tracker (not edited). The most useful data is in Col AC (Max Planes). If it makes viewing easier, you could probably hide all the other columns in this group (no screenshot for these).

Cols AR-AZ: Resize number and date - Of the 865 air units, 158 can resize at least once, and these columns capture that information, sequentially showing both the Resize level and date. (Sasebo Ku T-1 can resize FOUR times!) If there is no resize, the Resize Number columns contain "N". For simplicity's sake, the Date uses only YYMM format, since the resizing always takes effect on the first day of the month.

[Kull]

Using the "Jap Airgroup Upgrades" worksheet: For design reasons, I wanted to keep all the information for each Air Unit on a single row. While that does give you a full set of information for each individual unit, the downside is that you'll have to play around with the filter buttons in order to find information like, "How many units can upgrade to "model X"? Even so, a few simple clicks will get you there very quickly. For this exercise, let's say we want to know how many units will be able to field the "George" fighter model (and it's various iterations)
First thing is to see how many George air units are due to arrive. Using the filter in Col G, we see there are 4. Some key points:
- All four arrive pretty late - one in 11/43 and the others in '44.
- Two of them withdraw, so they aren't permanent. 8 months for one, 14 for the other.
- All are restricted, so you'll have to "buy them out" in order to use them elsewhere
- Unit sizes are good. Two at 36 and two at 27 (both of which can resize to 36)

[btd64]

BUMP....GP

[nashvillen]

Had to look too hard for this, bump!

[Gormadoc]

This is a Goldmine.

One question about the "CVL-CVE-CS unit Rezise plan."

4) Once again create the Air Combat TF containing only CVL Zuiho (undocked) and transfer the now-Size 12 Kate unit to Hiroshima, add 18 Veteran Pilots, set unit to Train: 100-Naval Attack, Alt: 8K, Range: 0
8) Divide the Claude Unit, upgrade "A" and "C" to Zero (will place 10 Zeros in each subunit), +5 Claudes to "B" (getting it up to full size), +5 Veteran Pilots each for "A" and "C"

Where do you get all Veteran pilots from?
I have 0 Veteran pilots unassigned when i start scenario 1

Cheers

[Falken]

Skip that part for now... When you complete the rest of the Setup for turn 1, you can return to the unit resize tab before you end your turn, and you will have plenty of pilots in the pool.

I do the same thing you do.. I start with the resize, then I go through all the other stuff in the Setup tab, and then I go back and fill all the pilot items from the resize tab.

[Kull]

ORIGINAL: Gormadoc

This is a Goldmine.

One question about the "CVL-CVE-CS unit Rezise plan."

4) Once again create the Air Combat TF containing only CVL Zuiho (undocked) and transfer the now-Size 12 Kate unit to Hiroshima, add 18 Veteran Pilots, set unit to Train: 100-Naval Attack, Alt: 8K, Range: 0
8) Divide the Claude Unit, upgrade "A" and "C" to Zero (will place 10 Zeros in each subunit), +5 Claudes to "B" (getting it up to full size), +5 Veteran Pilots each for "A" and "C"

Where do you get all Veteran pilots from?
I have 0 Veteran pilots unassigned when i start scenario 1

Cheers

Good point, I didn't address that as a specific issue (i.e. "where to get them") because it's a result of what happens when you follow all the other steps in the spreadsheet. One way to find them is to use the Column L filter button on the "Japan Set-up" tab, pick "Text Filter", and then "Contains..." and then type in "pilots". That will downselect to 67 data rows. The biggest contributors are:

1) Most fighter pilots come from Yokosuka Ku S-1 (row 2699) which gives you 23 Veterans. You still need 4 more (see below)

2) Most torpedo bomber pilots come from Yokosuka Ku K-2 (row 2703) which gives you 36 Veterans. You only need 29 for this task, so there will be extras.

In the comments section of those 67 rows, look for units that have green text stating that the "Long Term Plan" is for this to be a "training unit". That means ALL veterans in those units can be released, which is where you'll get the rest of those needed.

Just be careful NOT to release IJN torpedo and medium bomber pilots into the pool at the same time. You won't be able to tell the difference between a former Betty pilot and a Kate pilot, and if you pick the wrong one to pilot the torpedo bomber (or vice versa), they'll take an experience hit.

[Gormadoc]

aha, thanks.

Never got that far down on the Japan set-up page, before my greedy eyes spotted the CVL/CVE unit Resize plan.

This game has been sitting more or less unused for 4 years on my PC.
Never got around to finish a setup plan on my own.

So thank you very much for posting this one.

[rustysi]

Once again create the Air Combat TF containing only CVL Zuiho (undocked) and transfer the now-Size 12 Kate unit to Hiroshima, add 18 Veteran Pilots, set unit to Train: 100-Naval Attack, Alt: 8K, Range: 0

Repeat after me... Never, ever put pilots that require training on an active carrier.

Divide the Claude Unit, upgrade "A" and "C" to Zero (will place 10 Zeros in each subunit), +5 Claudes to "B" (getting it up to full size), +5 Veteran Pilots each for "A" and "C"

Again... Never, ever puts Claude's on an active carrier. Except to go into a port so you may upgrade to Zero's.

Where do you get all Veteran pilots from?

If necessary pull them from your LBA units. This is your 'JV', your carriers are for Varsity pilots only.

[rustysi]

Just be careful NOT to release IJN torpedo and medium bomber pilots into the pool at the same time. You won't be able to tell the difference between a former Betty pilot and a Kate pilot, and if you pick the wrong one to pilot the torpedo bomber (or vice versa), they'll take an experience hit.

So as to avoid confusion, you could just release the pilots to 'group' and then from 'vetereans... group' you could transfer them from their current group straight to the carrier group.

[RangerJoe]

Thank you for this. I am trying Japan seriously for the first time. The other time it was overwhelming . . .

[simast]

Thank you for this spreadsheet... I actually went through it all and the map alone after the initial setup was worth it imho.

One thing I do not understand is why you are recommending to turn to bombs even when torpedoes are available. I guess there are some game mechanics I do not understand? I thought torpedoes are always better?

Banzai

[BBfanboy]

ORIGINAL: Gormadoc

aha, thanks.

Never got that far down on the Japan set-up page, before my greedy eyes spotted the CVL/CVE unit Resize plan.

This game has been sitting more or less unused for 4 years on my PC.
Never got around to finish a setup plan on my own.

So thank you very much for posting this one.

I don't know about the veteran pilots list, but other lists like the reinforcement queues are not populated until the first turn is run. That could happen with pilot lists too because a lot of pilot assignments are set as "random" in the database so that they can be distributed by the game engine during the first turn. Leader assignments are similar - some pre-set in the database and some set to random for first turn distribution.
Re-assignments of personnel at the beginning of turn 2 will likely follow all the rules about time delay for transfer, etc.

[Alfred]

ORIGINAL: simast

Thank you for this spreadsheet... I actually went through it all and the map alone after the initial setup was worth it imho.

One thing I do not understand is why you are recommending to turn to bombs even when torpedoes are available. I guess there are some game mechanics I do not understand? I thought torpedoes are always better?

Banzai

1. Torpedoes (a) consume more supply than bombs and (b) are not as abstracted as bombs. IOW torpedoes may not be available even if there is supply.

2. Aircraft dropping torpedoes approach their target firstly at their assigned altitude and then always drop to 200 feet on their final approach run whereas aircraft ((excluding dive bombers) dropping bombs do so at their assigned altitude. This makes aircraft dropping torpedoes more vulnerable to defenders anti-aircraft fire as all flak is within range.

Alfred

[Kull]

ORIGINAL: simast

Thank you for this spreadsheet... I actually went through it all and the map alone after the initial setup was worth it imho.

One thing I do not understand is why you are recommending to turn to bombs even when torpedoes are available. I guess there are some game mechanics I do not understand? I thought torpedoes are always better?

Banzai

Congrats! Getting everything set-up for T2 is a real chore, but you'll be well positioned in the turns to follow.

Alfred hit on several reasons why bombs can be preferable to torpedoes, but what exactly are you referring to when you say "turn to bombs"? If you can give a specific example from the spreadsheet, I can give you a better answer.