War in the Pacific Release thread

[Elessar2]

There are anti-allies supply events, for the record (OCB already has been told this in a PM).

[HarrySmith]

Hi Elessar2,
Just finished a game of Pacific War against Panzerrommel, which i feel we both enjoyed. We played version 8.03 so an early one where i know alot of the issues have been adjusted or rectified in later versions so i wont detail them. I did feel ( I played Allies) that the mmps for Japan are not enough as with convoys from the US, India was earning more per turn. Towards the end where my opponent resigned I could tell and discussing with him that the Japanese just didnt have enough income to replace their losses yet alone do anything else. Perhaps this needs to be amended. On a positive note I loved the scale and when released i will happily purchase.
Would love this scale in European theater or Eastern front. I have recently purchased the Europe version and love the extra large map compared to WAW but find perhaps the scale in units needs to be adjusted more to the War in pacific scale than the current WAW.

[Elessar2]

Yes, Japan's income has been given a significant boost, ~75 MPPs, which includes more DEI oil wells once they get up and running (note the US income has also been boosted by roughly the same amount, but Lend Lease cut down a bit and Indian/Chinese/Aussie income dropped some).

I currently have a 20k scale Euro map (divisional unit scale) which has been on the back burner as I try to get this one more or less finished (will likely get cracking on it again after the first of the year). Note a new version of WitP is likely coming in the next week or so, if my latest brainstorm proves workable. [We became concerned because oil/fuel use is not modeled, but I think I found a kludge workaround which should prove satisfactory).

[OldCrowBalthazor]

ORIGINAL: Elessar2

Yes, Japan's income has been given a significant boost, ~75 MPPs, which includes more DEI oil wells once they get up and running (note the US income has also been boosted by roughly the same amount, but Lend Lease cut down a bit and Indian/Chinese/Aussie income dropped some).

I currently have a 20k scale Euro map (divisional unit scale) which has been on the back burner as I try to get this one more or less finished (will likely get cracking on it again after the first of the year). Note a new version of WitP is likely coming in the next week or so, if my latest brainstorm proves workable. [We became concerned because oil/fuel use is not modeled, but I think I found a kludge workaround which should prove satisfactory).

Its a real interesting 'thinking out of the box' idea, Elessar. I will keep mum for the moment on it though.

Btw..the v900 MMPs for Japan seems both realistic and playable. Money is still tight, but with proper planning, operations can be conducted. The Japanese side though will have to prioritize which sector or front they can monetize. Not an easy thing...which was historical.

[SittingDuck]

I do love the sound of that (Crow's last point)

[samspackman]

Just popping into the thread to say excellent work Elessar! I am really impressed with how this has turned out! I'm glad I could make a small contribution to your mod.

[Elessar2]

Thanks.

A new edition should be in the offing this weekend; nothing too outrageous this time, just tidying up a few loose ends. It is likely that a full release version will be out by the spring.

[OldCrowBalthazor]

ORIGINAL: samspackman

Just popping into the thread to say excellent work Elessar! I am really impressed with how this has turned out! I'm glad I could make a small contribution to your mod.

Wow..the map creator got to see the mod come to fruition. Was hoping he would see this epic work someday! [8D]

[Elessar2]

Given my glacial pace on 20K (I am currently and laboriously trying to get all of the rivers in, and that is a TON of hexes believe me-I simply can't do more than an hour without my eyes bugging out), I can definitely appreciate having all of the terrain already in place. [8D]

[Elessar2]

[deleted obsolete link]


Changelog:

Build delay for Dreadnoughts increased from 18 to 20 (as was originally intended).

USSR can build up to 2 Sovietsky Soyuz Dreadnoughts if they decide to spring for at least 2 levels of Ship Production.

Doolittle Raid added as a Decision Event, providing a 4000 National Morale bonus for the US at a cost of 50 MPPs. [After much deliberating decided the USN does NOT need to move 2 fleet carriers near the Japanese home islands.]

Defense bonuses for Rivers and Major Rivers increased from 20% to 35% and 35% to 50% respectively. [But decided increasing movement penalties would be too steep at the map's scale.]

Some tidying up of the various militia scripts to reduce both the hex and unit range spreads.

Subs base move dropped from 20 to 18 (maximum of 23 with L5 Sub Tech however).

All naval units (and Coastal Guns) have a single-unit ZoC (formerly needed 2 ships), including now subs. Naval ZoC penalty increased from 8 to 10. The hope here is that it will reduce the anti-sub swarm tactics from previous versions, where ships which have already attacked are used to scout for the submerged sub so those which still have attacks can then hit them again.

All ground units get +1 Artillery Defense.

Rocket Artillery morale damage per tech level increased from 5 to 10.

Special Forces have a retreat range of 1 (was 2).

Per the latest vanilla patch, the USA joining the Allies will now increase China's National Morale by 3,000 points.

Russian belligerence script added which will begin triggering after the end of the European War until they declare war on Japan (timed to go off more or less near the historical date).

[PharaohVirgoCompy]

I been getting the error "(set_information_map) No such file or directory"
I don't really have much experience with files so I might done something wrong.

[Elessar2]

Yeah, there are two different file locations, and the main one is only for default campaigns. You want the one in your User/Documents/My Games folder. Just drop the main scenario file and the corresponding folder into the Campaigns folder. Note there has been no AI scripted for this scenario. HTH.

[Kuebelwagen]

the download links seems to be down?! can someone reupload the mod?

[Elessar2]

Did Mediafire not like me not going back there for a spell and delete a bunch of my files?

Nope, file is still there, but I'll relink it:

https://www.mediafire.com/file/jmg1ysb8 ... 2.zip/file

[eriador08]

Hey there, thanks for this great mod. I enjoyed playing with a friend. He took allies i took japan. I had a great start in our game as i took out nearly the whole allied navy. Then i focused more on land and took out china, but could not occupy it, because of the many partisans and US pushing back greatly.

Now it is early summer 45, i have got a few pockets of resistance in pacific and china and the home islands left. So i started a surprise attack with my strongest units against the Soviets to get a last victory.

And here is my QUESTION:
Is there a reason, why i cant enter Vladivostok? The city is empty for two rounds, only the naval gun is left. I had troops with 5-6 AP arround the city, but they could not move closer or enter it.

[Elessar2]

Glad to hear that your match came out reasonably balanced-any additional details you can provide, up to and including a full AAR (or even an abbreviated one) would be mucho appreciated.

Not sure if you have a bug or what w/ Vladivostok. There are 3 ports coming off the thing, which if you were trying to assault it directly from the sea would be a no-go, but you indicated a land assault. You may have to ask the devs then.

I do have some questions,, if you don't mind, if you don't want to do an AAR (please read mine here: OCB's are on Youtube):

1. When did the naval tide turn? Was it one massive free-for-all, making the historical Midway clash look like a brief skirmish? Or a constant battle of attrition? Old Crow Balthazor & I mused that the IJN would have issues trying to repair & rebuild their fleet after such a major clash.

2. On that note, did the economies seem balanced? How many ships did both sides purchase? Were there too many ships making things too unwieldly?

3. And how much did National Morale affect the naval clashes? We found that the US NM hits degraded their combat ability to a great extent. Ending figures for both sides? We also found that carriers on full Fighter mode proved pretty tough, while those on Bomber mode were easy pickings.

4. Any luck raiding convoy lines with subs? We found that the USN had no prayer of raiding the Japanese lines, tho the IJN might have more luck with the Allied ones, esp. the Lend-Lease lines. Was the high [50%] sub surprise bonus too high (when an enemy unit runs across one & is surprised). Too many destroyers?

5. How did tech progress? Did any techs prove unbalancing?

6. The Chinese partisans were a very conscious decision: the IJA had no prayer of being able to hold most much less all of China; did you basically resign yourself to ceding unimportant areas to the partisans?

7. Did land-based air play a big part in fleet actions? Were auto scouting ranges too big?

8. My 3 techs which were necessary to increase your force pools, did they work out ok? How many levels did you invest in?

9. Did the RN/Australian Navy play a big role in the fleet actions?

10. Did land combat seem balanced? I overhauled pretty much the entire thing. Any units which proved unbalancing or too wimpy?

11. I also buffed up shore bombardment for cruisers on up-not too unbalancing either way?

12. Ship types all balanced? Did anyone build the Yamatos or Montanas?

Any input or feedback GREATLY appreciated. A new version likely out by Sept. at the latest.

[eriador08]

Not sure if you have a bug or what w/ Vladivostok. There are 3 ports coming off the thing, which if you were trying to assault it directly from the sea would be a no-go, but you indicated a land assault. You may have to ask the devs then.

Yes, it was a assault on land and i surrounded the city but could not enter for two turns. Now that i moved away some hexes last turn, i could suddenly enter, as the units stood further away. Must really have been some strange bug I do not understand.

I can try to answer some questions, but an AAR would be too much, as the match took place over some months and was simply some fun game to try things out a bit. It was also the first game with this mod, so i have no comparison.

Here is the situation in June 45:

Screenshot (28).png (2.68 MiB) Viewed 2034 times

Screenshot (29).png (3.56 MiB) Viewed 2034 times

Screenshot (30).png (3.32 MiB) Viewed 2034 times

1. When did the naval tide turn? Was it one massive free-for-all, making the historical Midway clash look like a brief skirmish? Or a constant battle of attrition? Old Crow Balthazor & I mused that the IJN would have issues trying to repair & rebuild their fleet after such a major clash.

First it was a massive clash all arround with everything we got at the start, where i got away with a very nice 5:1 ratio at losses and nearly the whole allied navy got sunk. Also the RN and Australias Navy got a beating and played no role after this. Then there were some major and some smaller clashes, where i still got nice results but eventually i could not hold up with repairs and rebuilding was impossible.
Arround 44 the US simply overrun me in a last clash arround the Philippines. They must have build at least a Carrier per round for a while.

2. On that note, did the economies seem balanced? How many ships did both sides purchase? Were there too many ships making things too unwieldly?

Japan purchased nearly nothing. There were really many ships and the start was unfamiliar, but we got used to this scale and it was fun. US must have purchased many ships. But i do not know, how many they get per event or how many are already in production queue.
As Japan you realy have to direct your focus, as you never have enough MPPs. NEVER! But this is the fun part, I guess.

3. And how much did National Morale affect the naval clashes? We found that the US NM hits degraded their combat ability to a great extent. Ending figures for both sides? We also found that carriers on full Fighter mode proved pretty tough, while those on Bomber mode were easy pickings.

NM definitely benefitet me, as the US took some beating. I guess it also helped after that with China, as i stood for a long time over 110%. US now in June 45 stands at 26%. Japan is still at 79%. But they simply beat us with mass.
Fighter mode Carriers are definitely tougher.

4. Any luck raiding convoy lines with subs? We found that the USN had no prayer of raiding the Japanese lines, tho the IJN might have more luck with the Allied ones, esp. the Lend-Lease lines. Was the high [50%] sub surprise bonus too high (when an enemy unit runs across one & is surprised). Too many destroyers?

Raiding was tough for both sides, but the US had it harder. Their subs got detected and then destroyed or chased off pretty fast. I established air defence with bombers everywhere and destroyers proved usefull later with some tech. At the beginning they more or less felt useless in hunting subs on their own.
I could make some smaller raids pretty save in the beginning with Japan, but as the US pumped out Carriers and Maritime Bombers, i started to use them to cover my fleet.

5. How did tech progress? Did any techs prove unbalancing?

I did not see any thech i tried as total unbalanced. The US invested in similar techs, what evens things out, i guess. I was most of the time one step ahead, as i invested heavy at the start and US had to build up again first. Here is my tech tree:

Screenshot (33).png (2.07 MiB) Viewed 2034 times

I have no time left now, but i will try to come back tomorrow, to answer some more questions.

[eriador08]

Here is the rest of the overall view:

Screenshot (31).png (4.26 MiB) Viewed 2033 times

Screenshot (32).png (3.27 MiB) Viewed 2033 times

[CaesarAug]

Haven’t yet played a full game of your War in the Pacific mod, Elessar2, but I am ALWAYS awed at the map! It is positively GORGEOUS. Looks indeed very much like Gary Grisby’s War in the Pacific Admiral’s Edition.

So porting a huge Pacific Theatre map for Strategic Command is just amazing. Thanks so much!

[Elessar2]

It's actually samspackman's map, welp 95% of it. But appreciate it.

eriador08, that is MUCHO appreciated. What scenario version # is it?

Aarrgghh, I know why you couldn't get into Vladivostok. The Coastal Gun has a ZoC penalty of 10 iirc. Idea was to make them have teeth and slow down movement-in vanilla you'll never allow your ships to be shot by one unless you're not paying attention or you swamp the thing during a big invasion. The editor however doesn't differentiate between naval and land units, alas. Just soften it down to 4 and you can move past it.

It appears that China no longer has an army, but damn, all those partisans...

Unless Congress raises a huge stink and/or FDR resigns, I think the results of this match demonstrate pretty conclusively, it is safe to say, that the IJN ideal of the Decisive Battle [Mahan style] was a pipe dream even if they won big. Note quite a few damaged ships of theirs never got repaired before the war ended. Both sides lost 4 of their prewar fleet flattops: even if Japan wins the early clashes 6:0 they will be in deep trouble by mid-44 t the latest.

Oh, meant to ask about any script bugs or such.

The build queue basically has either everything which was either in commission or already laid down by Dec 7th. The last Essex in the queue on T1 comes in on May 1943.

I see you bought 2 levels of Army Mobilization, but as you said you had no chance for any new ship (or presumably air) builds, which again is more or less historical, tho they pumped out the Taiho and 3 Unryus + the Shinano conversion. [Go Quiet China
and you could probably spring for them]

Were carriers king, or could the big boys get in their licks?

Tooting my own horn looks like I got the balance pretty close to spot on. I may decrease ship repair costs (they are eating me up in my vanilla derived test scenario). Again, thanks a ton.