I love Allied SigInt

[Macquarrie1999]

I love Allied SigInt. My PBEM opponent was punished pretty bad.

[quote]Day Time Surface Combat, near Miri at 64,87, Range 17,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
APD Aoi, Shell hits 9, and is sunk
TB Kasasagi, Shell hits 6, and is sunk
AMc Wa 19, Shell hits 5, and is sunk
xAK Hokko Maru, Shell hits 18, and is sunk
xAK Zinzan Maru, Shell hits 23, and is sunk
xAK Kinkasan Maru, Shell hits 27, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
xAK Giyu Maru, Shell hits 16, and is sunk
xAKL Kembu Maru, Shell hits 10, and is sunk
xAKL Kiko Maru, Shell hits 5, and is sunk
xAKL Anbo Maru, Shell hits 14, and is sunk

Allied Ships
CL Mauritius, Shell hits 1
DD Jupiter

[Fisherkat]

Braggart. Gloating over my misery.

[Macquarrie1999]

Revenge for the devastation you did to my ships at Manila on December 7th.

[the1henson]

Nicely done!

Ya gotta keep the Japanese honest in the expansion phase. Making them feel like they have to escort everything slows them down. The slower they are the less they expand.

I just tried to do the same thing at Kuching with a fully-intact Force Z and all I got for my troubles (despite the intel) was a torpedo in one of my light cruisers, and a total of three hits on the opposing force of transports and destroyers.

[BBfanboy]

Not trying to rain on your parade, but some perspective is needed here. As exciting or depressing as the sinking of those ships was, that is not a big deal in the big war.

Now if the ships were loaded with troops and the IJA lost a Division, that would be something to celebrate/mourn - and it should have been included in the initial post.

Also, knowing the game date helps the reader assess the significance of the combat report. Please include it when you post.

Oh, and prepare for more misery on both sides - what comes around goes around in this game!

[Nomad]

Never gloat in public, it will turn around and bite you on the butt. [:D]

[Macquarrie1999]

It is December 10th, 1941. It wasn't much of a victory, the Japanese managed to land before my ships got there, but I needed the morale boost. Without giving too much away, my submarines have not had a good time. Playing against a player is certainly been a much bigger bloodbath for me than playing against the AI.

[Tanaka]

ORIGINAL: Macquarrie1999

I love Allied SigInt. My PBEM opponent was punished pretty bad.

Day Time Surface Combat, near Miri at 64,87, Range 17,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
APD Aoi, Shell hits 9, and is sunk
TB Kasasagi, Shell hits 6, and is sunk
AMc Wa 19, Shell hits 5, and is sunk
xAK Hokko Maru, Shell hits 18, and is sunk
xAK Zinzan Maru, Shell hits 23, and is sunk
xAK Kinkasan Maru, Shell hits 27, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
xAK Giyu Maru, Shell hits 16, and is sunk
xAKL Kembu Maru, Shell hits 10, and is sunk
xAKL Kiko Maru, Shell hits 5, and is sunk
xAKL Anbo Maru, Shell hits 14, and is sunk

Allied Ships
CL Mauritius, Shell hits 1
DD Jupiter

So what did the SigInt say? I've seen a lot of Japanese players avoid SigInt but sending their fleets to final destinations they never actually go to...I should probably start doing this...

[Macquarrie1999]

On the 8th it said that a Japanese battalion was moving to Miri, on the 9th is said a Japanese battalion was preparing to attack Miri. Also Miri has the oil, so it seemed like a credible report.

[btd64]

Yup, good intell....GP

[Hano]

I must be missing something here....

I completely admit I didnt find it that useful or actionable so largely ignored it.

Do people find it useful, is there really useful and actionable intel in it?

[Q-Ball]

Alot of Japanese players foil that "x unit is loaded on Something Maru headed to Miri" intel by routing the convoy to an adjacent hex, nearby hex, or another base entirely and set the Waypoint to Miri....

You can't foil the "52nd Nav Gd preparing for attack on Singapore" intel

Also, you're going to get a ton of "Yokohama Fortress is located in Yokohama" intel reports to come, so don't congratulate all the boys in intel just yet

[Platoonist]

ORIGINAL: Hano

I must be missing something here....



Do people find it useful, is there really useful and actionable intel in it?

Two game turns prior it told me an AK bearing a recon regiment was headed for Tassaforonga. I positioned two carriers south of Guadalcanal and pummeled it two days later with 1,000 pound bombs.

Seemed useful.

[Q-Ball]

ORIGINAL: Hano

I must be missing something here....

I completely admit I didnt find it that useful or actionable so largely ignored it.

Do people find it useful, is there really useful and actionable intel in it?

Allied Intel is useful; there are alot of reports that are not very useful or useless (Like "Yokohama Fortress is in Yokohama", or the location of a unit within Manchuria), but you'll find one or two useful tidbits and some REALLY useful. DONT ignore it.

For the Japanese it's almost useless. If you get alot of "Radio Reports" in the same place they may stack, giving you enough DL to give you something useful, so it's worth glancing at, but most of the time it's meaningless. You CAN ignore Japanese intel most of the time.

[Hano]

Thanks guys... I shall pay attention to it in future

[Mike Solli]

I always check the Japanese intel that say "Heavy radio traffic in hex xx,xx". If it's in the middle of the ocean, it tells you that something is there.

[Moltrey]

Heya Hano, welcome.

Part of the overall learning curve in AE is developing your personal "Staff Officer" mantra (for lack of a better term).

What I mean is, you are on your own certainly, but take time to develop a checklist of To-Dos each turn in order to keep yourself as Commander of the Pacific informed of developments as much as possible without bogging your brain down too much.
I know, I know... it's a lot to ask. But you will improve as you play and get stomped. I personally think that our WITP:AE overlord status is balanced by our lack of an Admiral's Staff to take strategic directives and execute them down to the last detail. The hard part is trying to remember to do all these things while simultaneously keeping a weather eye out for trouble- oh, and yeah that AVP you sent to some far off atoll to extend your PBY search areas... how is he coming along?

I find it a perverse part of the challenge you face, even learning against the AI. The game's fog-of-war and inaccurate reports (just like in RL btw) immerse me in the Nimitz role and it is a huge part of why I love the game.
Don't despair, you will get better and find it a bit easier as time goes by- AE is a very rewarding game if you can stick with it.
Have fun!

[jdsrae]

I started out not bothering to check IJ SigInt, but for the last few weeks Seattle has been getting between one and three pings a day.
Detection there got up to 5/5 which let me see a bunch of interesting ships.
The mid ocean pings are also worth investigating when you have a sub nearby.
As it only takes a second I check it every turn now.

[BBfanboy]

As Allies, I try to look for correlation between the SigInt report and detection info in the Ops report. If SigInt says a radio transmission is located at X,Y and the Ops report shows a sighting in the same or nearby hexes, I consider them likely the same contact (unless in a busy enemy area like near Truk.

The other thing that I tend to believe (like aircraft sightings in the Ops Report or ship reports in the Coastwatcher info) is that the more detailed the sighting/SigInt the more credible it is. When the ID gets down to Ship/Aircraft model type it is pretty good!

[WEXF]

The reports by coast watchers are some of the most frustrating. I have not found them very accurate at all even when they mention the names of specific ships. I wonder if they get better over time?
WEXF