What makes a good opponent?

[GetAssista]

ORIGINAL: BBfanboy
Yeah, but the discussion had got into when a player in PBEM can call it quits and your previous comment seemed to say you would want an opponent to stick with it until Tokyo was taken. I was just saying I can see why that would be interesting to play out. I understand your AI hasn't quit yet and it's still a tough grind. I do want to see your progress and battle post-mortem for that interesting situation. [:)]

AI bonuses - higher production, unlimited supply and no need for PPs to revive or transport units - make final stages of siege against AI Japan more challenging compared to human. Challenging in a sense of brute force that is. Human would fold soon in a 1945 ground war w/o supply and inflow of resurrected units. AI has not problems with troops, and accumulates a lot of revived strength in Tokyo and other big cities together with heaps of supply. It is hard to storm those places

[HansBolter]

ORIGINAL: BBfanboy

ORIGINAL: HansBolter

The thread starter never said anything about PBEM.

I'm obviously referring to the AI here folks.

The AI can be counted on to never quit.

Best opponent ever.

I'm sieging Tokyo now in March of 1946.

Yeah, but the discussion had got into when a player in PBEM can call it quits and your previous comment seemed to say you would want an opponent to stick with it until Tokyo was taken. I was just saying I can see why that would be interesting to play out. I understand your AI hasn't quit yet and it's still a tough grind. I do want to see your progress and battle post-mortem for that interesting situation. [:)]

I had to stand down across the board for a week now as I ran the Home Islands almost completely dry on supply. In addition to a plethora of smaller TFs I have 22 Supply Divisions (40 liberty or victory ships with escort capable of carrying 250k supply and 20k fuel) plying back and forth between the HI and SanFran, but somehow managed to run the island dry. A big wave of the SupDivs just finished dumping and another large wave is about a week out.

Standing down everything has allowed the Japanese air force to come alive again to start sending out small Kamikaze attacks.
There are only a handful of bases left in enemy hands on Honshu and all but Tokyo have been reduced to level 4 forts or less.

The week of rest has allowed all of my 4E squadrons to repair and almost all are near full strength for the resumption of the effort. The invasion of Hokkaido is well underway with two Russian armies pressing on Sapporo.

Prior to the stand down daily LCU bombardments at Tokyo were killing close to a division's worth of troops a day. Air bombing was killing at least a brigade's worth a day. Haven't started ship bombardment runs yet as Yokohama is still in Japanese hands, but is at level 4 forts and expect it to fall shortly after resumption of effort. I started pushing massive numbers of divisions into Tokyo in preparation for the first Deliberate Attack when supply ran dry. I now have close to 20k AV stacked in Tokyo with close to 70% of all artillery units on the board.

With basically nothing left for my DS to do, I rested and refitted it in Nagasaki and have sortied it toward Truk, which has been untouched for the entire game and still has a considerable and fresh air force for me to destroy.

Game is at March 23rd now with an end date of May 21st.

I will post an update once I make the first Deliberate Attack at Tokyo.


Oh, and 'dry' is a relative term here when referring to supply. Nagasaki has over 400k and Hiroshima over 270k, but both show as orange. Most of my occupied bases are in a similar state so supply is not flowing to LCUs in contested bases. Nagasaki and Hiroshima are my main 4E bases. All but a few B29s are at Nagasaki and all but a few B17s and B24s are at Hiroshima so the supply needs at those two bases are over the top. In addition to the big runs from SanFran I have started taking supply from former, but now almost abandoned, bases in the Mariana's. Tinian, where the B29s were formerly based, is sitting on 500k supply with almost no need. Several supply TFs have dumped at Utsonimiya in the last few days so supply is starting to flow to the LCUs in Tokyo again.

The Allies have an almost unlimited amount of supply, but getting it to where the fighting is taking place is always a challenge.

[BillBrown]

It is amazing how much supply is needed in 1945/1946 to completely supply the Allied Armada.

[dasboot1960]

For a minute Hans, I thought you must be playing the Japanese. IMHO, ANY allied player, after suffering the (severe?) psychological impacts of having a bad day for 6 months at the beginning
(if they are careful) Would certainly understand what they were doing with the power at their disposal. It then dawned on me that you are playing the AI. I think I understand from my reading of your posts that a certain amount of creative restraint on the Allies is required early on. No knock here I had forgotten that you are vs AI. I am from over that way, but am east coast now. CHEERS!

[dasboot1960]

You too, FanBoy. Science matters. Try to imagine the human that would take it. I think it would boil down to a basic choice. Concede or lose your mind

[dasboot1960]

And for you, Mr Bill, I agree. I am just starting my second job for the emperor. 2 Previous for the JCS none past 5/42. Probably 25 hours in and Trying to complete IJ turn 1 with decent long term consideration in place. To your point. It IS amazing to realize the seaborne support provided by the USA in the Pacific. I am not aware of what the actual tonnage shipped east vs was, or if it would be would be decipherable. I certainly agree with what you say. A picture of an underway replenishment is amazing. trying to imagine that x12+. Underway. Amazing.




So, whoever's reading, I am now going to try and do an AAR. I've never been over there, but here I go. It may well be the sloppiest, optionally timed, most incoherent thing they have aver seen,

[dasboot1960]

I have too much would

[BBfanboy]

ORIGINAL: dasboot1960

I have too much would

There's a way to fix that! Oh, BTW, you misspelled "wood". [;)]

[gmtello]

The most important is to find an opponent who dedícates the Same time than u to the game. A daily turn game made of more than 1300 turns requires the Same level of implication and a similar level of play to get fun . Also complaining players are boring.

[gmtello]

Players who search histórical results are boring too. This is just a game

[gmtello]

When some one sink your japanese carriers with level bombers doing naval attacks is pretty annoying

[BillBrown]

Finding one? [:)]

[btd64]

ORIGINAL: BillBrown

Finding one? [:)]

Who will stick around....GP

[rustysi]

ORIGINAL: btd64

ORIGINAL: BillBrown

Finding one? [:)]

Who will stick around....GP

And likes to play the same type of game as oneself.[:)]

[CaptDave]

I'll second Dr. Hal and a couple others: the most important thing in an opponent is an understanding that, jokes in the forum notwithstanding, there is life outside the game! Accepting that a daily turn isn't always possible goes a long way (especially during tax season, for those of us in the accounting business).

[39battalion]

As somebody who always likes the challenge of playing the Japanese side ( yes I know : a masochist), I have been lucky that that my various opponents have all had the following qualities :

1. A sense of humour. Without this the sometimes horrific outcomes of hours of careful planning would be too much to bear.

2. Patience. I stand in awe of those who can produce one or more turns a day. I certainly can't do this. Not just because of the demands on my time, but also because I have found that I actually enjoy checking the detail of the game each turn( yes a nitpicker). And this takes time. And I often travel away from home for extensive periods. This year I was away for seven weeks. I did inform my poor opponent in advance but I did feel guilty about it.

3. Tolerance. I have made numerous mistakes in my games, some of them quite ridiculous. In my current game I managed to inadvertently invade Russia ! My advice to new players is do not try to sneak along the Russian coast with an amphibious task force set to unload. Thankfully my opponent is a very tolerant person and we managed to find a way to continue the game.

4. A gentlemanly acceptance of playing the game not to win at all costs but to enjoy the journey. No cheating,no gamey moves,no whining.


My current Canadian opponent has all of these qualities. Unfortunately he is also too damn good for me ! The Japanese are having their butts kicked and then some. I am learning from him but it is a hard way to learn.

[pontiouspilot]

Now this makes me think Billy must have another game going too!!

I promise to take my foot off your throat (Rabaul) if you let go of my balls (Amdon).

[dr.hal]

ORIGINAL: CaptDave

I'll second Dr. Hal and a couple others: the most important thing in an opponent is an understanding that, jokes in the forum notwithstanding, there is life outside the game! Accepting that a daily turn isn't always possible goes a long way (especially during tax season, for those of us in the accounting business).

Thanks Dave.... I would add "sportsmanship" to the list. Yes this is an electronic game, but still a game that requires decorum and constructive exchanges. Sadly we see the demise of sportsmanship in many aspects of our lives today, including on TV and in our schools or other "playing fields". I've run afoul of players in this game that have "cheated" and this was a sad situation for me. Sure I like to win, but if I loose honorably then I don't feel so bad, as I did my best. I can't understand folks playing a game that appear to need to win at all costs. As many have stated here, it's the process that is the most fun, not the end result. I think most of us realize that Japan can't really "win" in the end.... So one needs to enjoy the ride, not the end results...there is a lot more fun "rides" in this game in relation to the outcome.

[39battalion]

Haha pontiouspilot !!

My response to your offer is : no way mate