on the subject of hidden fleets

[gravyhair]

Yo fellas - in the interests of realism, I think its important for WPP to go easy on the hidden fleets thing. Due to the demands of fueling, maintenance, port calls, radio communication, merchant traffic, fishing trawlers, and a million other things, fleets were rarely "hidden" in the strategic sense. Tactically? Yes. But the USN knew there were IJN BB's and CA's and CV's at Truk, e.g., and the IJN knew there were USN CV's in theater at Coral Sea, Eastern Solomons, etc. IMHO, the game should not permit sudden and total surprise strategically. The IJN knew the USN was coming to fight at Midway - they just assumed two CV's instead of 3. You get the idea.

[ncc1701e]

Yes but as you said, tactically, fleets were difficult to find.

[smallie1]

Just got done with Midway in Fading Victory (Ugaki's diary). Did the IJN know there were two carriers coming to fight?

[AlvaroSousa]

You have detection levels and COMINT to find the enemy. WarPlan is a game of incomplete information that allows for deception. Hidden fleets will mostly come in the form of not knowing what strategic location fleets will be committed to. Using COMINT might reveal that. You will see an incoming fleet 9 hexes away

[canuckgamer]

I have read a number of books on Midway such as Shattered Sword and most recently Ian Toll's trilogy on the Pacific War and the Japanese didn't have a clue that there were American carriers to the north east of Midway waiting in ambush.

Sounds like a significant change as to how it works in War Plan.

[CV60]

I disagree with the contention that fleets were rarely "hidden" in the strategic sense. The Doolittle Raid is an excellent example of the Japanese having no idea where 2 US carriers were until it was too late. Similarly, the Pearl Harbor raid demonstrated how, even when you can read some of the other side's codes, you can still lose entire fleets, especially in WWII. A "Fog of War" consisting of contradictory information, bad assumptions and (in some cases) personality conflicts veils the snippets of accurate information you may have. This was especially true in WWII.