Notes from a Small Island

[jwolf]

So all you need is 19 more nukes and you're all set, right? [:D]

[Canoerebel]

8/15/45

KB: Whither this enemy carrier TF? It matters.

[Canoerebel]

8/15/45

Mainland Asia: With DS and the Herd approaching, things will begin to accelerate. The Russians are moving south in good order. The Western Allies are about to move north to meet them.

[Canoerebel]

ORIGINAL: jwolf

So all you need is 19 more nukes and you're all set, right? [:D]

You must be kidding. All I need are 10 more nukes and 9 more Manilas. Piece of cake! [8D]

[BBfanboy]

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

8/15/45

Tokyo A-Bomb: The a-bomb mission was successful. In terms of the kinds of industry targets and the level of destruction, Erik won't even notice. The only material effect is to points - the strike grossed the Allies almost 4,000 points, which is 5% of the total needed to achieve victory.

I haven't used an A-bomb, but I think someone said that mission only lets you target Manpower? Hans, can you confirm?

[BBfanboy]

I wonder if he is just trying to keep KB from being cornered and sunk to deny you the VPs?
I have no idea if he has enough shipping to gather up troops and mount a counterattack somewhere.

[Canoerebel]

He has tons of shipping, though just now he's beginning to run out of places to keep them off my radar. I don't think a major amphibious landing is likely, but I keep in in mind (it's the reason I have garrisons at high-value places like Luganville, Noumea, and the West Coast). The chief deterrent would be Allied air power.

He is definitely playing a points-driven game, which is how he should be playing unless he was in it for the adrenaline rush of orchestrating a banzai attack despite the consequences. Everything he does is with points in mind (me too), so we're well-matched as gamers as opposed to simulators. In the real war, imagine if the Allies had taken cities on Hokkaido while DS and The Herd were steaming around Formosa, Shanghai, Manila, etc. Banzai attacks everywhere. But this is a game and the way to prolong it is to deny the Allies easy points. Hence, no banzai attacks.

[Canoerebel]

When I ordered the a-bomb mission, the menu was the usual "City Target" menu, meaning it looked like I had the capability of choosing Manpower or any other strategic target. But perhaps had I selected another option it wouldn't have accepted my click or perhaps the aircraft would've declined to fly.

[Miller]

That was a terrible result in terms of points for your A-bomb attack. The two that Kane dropped against me netted him 12000 and 9500 points respectively....

With regards to the Russians, it will take time to get everything where you want it to be but once they get rolling they're impossible to stop. They will probably take all of Manchuria and Korea before the end of 45 in my game.

[BBfanboy]

ORIGINAL: Miller

That was a terrible result in terms of points for your A-bomb attack. The two that Kane dropped against me netted him 12000 and 9500 points respectively....

With regards to the Russians, it will take time to get everything where you want it to be but once they get rolling they're impossible to stop. They will probably take all of Manchuria and Korea before the end of 45 in my game.

Hmmm - I wonder if pilot skill played a role in how accurate the bomb was or if it is all random die rolls. I think it was 1275 psi's game where he had (in his narrative) the A-bomb drop on the Emporer's safe house outside the city limits because the attack missed most of the industry. I forget whether fighters or weather were a factor in the miss.

[Miller]

ORIGINAL: BBfanboy

ORIGINAL: Miller

That was a terrible result in terms of points for your A-bomb attack. The two that Kane dropped against me netted him 12000 and 9500 points respectively....

With regards to the Russians, it will take time to get everything where you want it to be but once they get rolling they're impossible to stop. They will probably take all of Manchuria and Korea before the end of 45 in my game.

Hmmm - I wonder if pilot skill played a role in how accurate the bomb was or if it is all random die rolls. I think it was 1275 psi's game where he had (in his narrative) the A-bomb drop on the Emporer's safe house outside the city limits because the attack missed most of the industry. I forget whether fighters or weather were a factor in the miss.

To be honest I think its simply down to a dice roll and Dan got a bad one.

[HansBolter]

In response to BB's earlier question I didn't recall what the target choices were, but CR has confirmed they are the same for any strategic bombing mission.

I chose Manpower, like CR, because I wanted the maximum distribution of damage across all targets.

Obviously, in my 'throwback to the good ole days' rant above I overlooked the Victory Points gained by dropping the bomb, regardless of the dismal damage to facilities.

CRs damage result was a whopping 160 points of damage across four target types. Most B24 raids will do far more than that on an average basis.

Since, unlike me, CR has a real need for Victory Points, it will obviously be worth it to him to drop the two allowed without incurring a victory level penalty.

We can all hope that the second drop garners victory points more in line with what Mr. Kane received against Miller, rather than like CR and I experienced on our first drops.

[mind_messing]

Let's keep in mind here that you get one free A-bomb. It gives you a random damage roll (and thus random VP roll) but cannot be intercepted by the Japanese.

I'd also suggest keeping keen recon eyes on Tokyo over the next few turns to build an accurate picture of the damage caused.

[HansBolter]

What do you mean by "one free"?

Victory level penalties are not imposed until the third bomb is dropped, not the second.

Are you implying that the second drop doesn't get a free pass on interception?

[Capt. Harlock]

ORIGINAL: HansBolter

I also had dismal results with my A-Bomb mission.

After complaining about it here I was informed as to how nerfed the A-Bomb truly is in the game.

Its a waste of time to use.

There shouldn't be any penalties for use beyond 2.

According to other experienced players it was explained to me that the A-Bomb doesn't automatically destroiy anything and is just a a normal bomb that does anywhere for 0-32k damage.

You got the 0 result. I got a 1.5k damage result.

In both cases it wasn't worth the effort!!!!

Did I mention that the obviously Japanese side loving developers decided to nerf the a-Bomb?

I can accept all of the a-historical beefing up of the Japanese side to make it a viable side to play in a game, but nerfing the a-bomb was a step too far in that direction.

That's why I'm conquering Honshu.

And making a dud count as one of your two allowed drops before incurring penalties is rubbing salt in the wound.

Rant compeleted:

Look the target over to see if any actual damage was done. If you had not previously damaged the target all new damage will be due to the a-bomb. That's how I was able to assess that mine did a paltry 1.5k damage to various targets within the city.

One other point about the nerfing of the A-bomb: shouldn't there be substantial fires after the drop?

[Canoerebel]

There were no reported fires at all.

[Canoerebel]

8/17/45

The Pacific War: The long-developing Allied plan is fully mature and now gathering momentum. The Empire is being carved up. Big Allied armies are moving south in Russia, north in China. Singers is under siege. And the Allies are prepared to move on Java soon and Formosa in a few weeks.

Erik retains powerful forces but hasn't employed them in any meaningful way in many months. I think he'll have to do so soon or see what little opportunities for success remain evaporate. There's a small chance that he looks at the score and thinks, "Why bother? We're in August and the Allies are 70k points from achieving a victory condition." But I don't think he'll go without a whimper. It's hard to imagine just sitting there absorbing punishment for about a year without trying anything. He's too game for that, I think.

[Canoerebel]

8/19/45

Asia: Allied armies on the move without opposition, two via rail preparatory to moving inland from the Nanking area, the other seaborne to land at Chefoo. Shortly, DS will make a journey to Manila to retrieve an army. En route it will drop off a couple of divisions at Karenko. From then on, until the war ends, DS will likely handle air ops vs. the Home Islands and any further HI or Korea invasions that seem advisable. (A Mini DS will handle ops in the DEI.) It's also possible that I'll try to pocket remaining enemy shipping (the Empire is getting awful narrow, and I have eyes on most ports now) for destruction.

Erik is quietly shepherding his forces. He's been remarkably quiet the past month, and really the past six months. He'll have his Ardennes offensive at some point, I suppose.

As best I can tell, I cannot change ownership of the bases in Manchuria that the Russians have taken. Perhaps I'm overlooking something. I'll keep tinkering to see.

[HansBolter]

To switch control you need a unit from the command you want to switch to in the hex. Only commands of units present are highlighted for selection.

Air lift some one to the base you want to flip.

[Canoerebel]

Thanks, Hans.

I thought that might be the case, but I also thought I tested it and found that it didn't work. The circumstances are really odd, though, so perhaps it doesn't apply: Months ago, I airlifted some Brit/Commonwealth units from Rawalpindi into the westernmost China base (the only one still in Chinese hands - Erik had long since forgotten about it). Those units slowly advanced, drawing no attention until the Russians activated and also began advancing. And then Madras Police Battalion took vacant Hami! (That has to be a first.) For whatever reason, the computer automatically assigned the base to China. I tried to pay PP to change it to a Western Nation, but the computer doesn't give me the option.

But who cares, for when Madras Police Battalion leads an offensive in China, all is right with the world.