Intellectus Ex Nihilo (Wal-Mart on Ice)

[BBfanboy]

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

Thanks for the tip. I knew R hotkey showed oil flow pipelines. I didn't realize that also indicates roads.

I am not aware of any oil flow pipelines. The other thing the R key shows is railroad tracks (major and minor). The RR tracks alone can be shown with the Y key, so there is some redundancy here.

Caveat - I have been using beta 1126a for only a couple of months after using 1124 (official patch) for years, so it is possible that oil pipeline routes were added but I have never seen anyone post about that.

[Canoerebel]

Well, this is interesting. Unless I've lost my mine, the R key shows major and minor oil/supply routes. That would mostly mimic good roads too, but I didn't think R kay specifically pertained to roads.

But you know me. I'm the guy who, game after game, tries to withdraw subs at Pearl and thinks cold zone goes into effect on December 1.

[BillBrown]

The R key has always since day 1 showed the road network. The Y key shows the railroad network. These are shown in the manual that came with the game.
I have never seen any hot key that shows oil pipelines. As far as I know there is no way to show both road and railroad networks at the same time.

[BBfanboy]

Well here it is: Bright Red - minor (dirt) roads, Dark Red- major (hard surface) roads and Pink - rail network (obscured by roads in most places). Use the Y key to confirm the pink in this view corresponds to the rail network in the Y key view.

[HansBolter]

Pink is Trail, which is what a railroad is in road terms for units in move or combat modes.

[Canoerebel]

Thank you. I've learned something I didn't know. It's a useful tool.

Somewhere back in the Forum or rules archives, I'm sure there is a blurb to the effect that the road system also indicates the most efficient flow of fuel and supply (duh). I don't think I made that up whole-cloth. But I might have.

[BBfanboy]

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

Thank you. I've learned something I didn't know. It's a useful tool.

Somewhere back in the Forum or rules archives, I'm sure there is a blurb to the effect that the road system also indicates the most efficient flow of fuel and supply (duh). I don't think I made that up whole-cloth. But I might have.

I think you are right about that - much of the discussion when the game came out was about the hot keys and what they showed. Supply/oil/fuel/resource movement was one of the topics not well understood at the time and indicating where it would travel well was something we would want to know.

[HansBolter]

Supply and presumably fuel, but am not sure on fuel, movement costs are listed on the Movement Cost chart in the manual:

[HansBolter]

and the last portion of the table:





Armor and artillery move very slowly down trails.

[Canoerebel]

8/2/44 and 8/3/44

DEI: No sign of significant enemy interference as DS approaches Batavia, army begins moving from Semarang towards Batavia, and Allied paratroops take islands near Palembang. Most significantly, recon reports Oosthaven is vacant. That would be a signal blunder, if true. Paratroops to take a shot at it tomorrow, and troops are ready to move in, if successful.

From my perspective it appears that sustained battles starting from the Pacific and New Guinea and proceeding every NWerly, without any real pauses, have finally worn through Dave's hard shell. He's fought so hard for so long that it appears the Allies have burned through and into his "backyard." This won't last forever, but it's a serious issue for him while it does. I think the Allies will prevail in the Batavia/Java campaign over the next few weeks. And there's a chance the door to Sumatra is open.

Dave will turn and fight sooner or later, either from creative opportunity or creative desperation. He still hasn't used Musashi and Yamamato, and some of his carrier damaged in the central DEI fighting should be well on the road to healing.

[Canoerebel]

8/4/44

Sumatra: I had no troops prepping for Sumatra, as everything was devoted to Java and a few points far forward. But paratroops take Oosthaven today. If the Allies hold that port, an army fresh up from Darwin, plus some of the Ceylon army, can land and handle Palembang in the short- to medium term.

If Dave's going to fight in Java or rescue his fighters, and if he's going to fight for Palembang, KB has to come forward again. That's what I'm preparing for, but there's a chance he will conclude this campaign is lost. IF so, he might focus on rebuilding his fleet (damaged ships under repair) and creating a new MLR with strongpoints in Indochina, northern Borneo, and Mindanao.

His forces in Burma are under threat now, as the supply run from Singers won't be safe much longer. There've been movement dots at Rangoon for weeks now, as he's been drawing off mixed brigades and the like to commit to Java, etc.

[obvert]

Looks like a lot of good progress. Oosthaven is important, but I think those bases on Bangka Island are even more important if built into airbases, stocked with PTs and as staging for surface bombardments. Palembang has no importance other than as an oil/fuel producer, so simply shutting it down is all you need to do, as well as damaging facilities through air strikes.

If your troops are prepping for the PI or Borneo or Indochina I'd keep them on that track and cut off the entire Malay Peninsula, threatening to trap anything further South, and cutting all transport of fuel/oil/resources from the entire area.

I guarantee if you cut into the centre of the Sulu Sea and onto Northern Borneo you'll find less resistance, as these are tough areas to defend and there are too many small bases you could take in exactly the same way, with paras followed by flying in support, controlling the air, and then bringing in the transports.

[BBfanboy]

Garrison units are not well equipped and start out with low experience. If he is sending one to Tarakan it is just a speed bump to slow you down, but you don't even have to take Tarakan either.

[Canoerebel]

Given the specific set up and alignment of forces in this game, the route chosen makes it desirable to take Balikpapan, Palembang, Miri and, eventually, Singapore. But Morotai, Sorong, Manado, western Sumatra, most of Malaya and Burma aren't targets for this main wave. OF them all, Rangoon will be picked up by follow-on troops, eventually.

[Canoerebel]

8/5/44 and 8/6/44

DEI: Allied army is ashore at Oosthaven, without opposition. Allied paratroops took Merak, next to Batavia, and a US Army division will land there tomorrow. DS pummeled scores of enemy ships at Palembang.

A week ago, the situation in Java was so tight and tense, with everything hanging in the balance, that there was a decent chance the Allies would be bogged down for a month or more. I expressed a hope - too optimistic, I wondered at the time - that I might have Singapore isolated within "two months."

It's pretty clear that the long, sustained, advance has temporarily outstripped the enemy's ability to offer resistance. Java is a mess for Dave, and it looks like the siege of Palembang might begin in a few weeks.

Allied armies prepped for Sorong, Pagan, and Port Blair have switched to other targets. Places that once seemed in the probably path of advance are now behind me or off on a tangent not worth taking.

[Canoerebel]

8/7/44 to 8/11/44

Battle of Java: Dave did his best to reinforce in time and fight a delaying campaign, but the loss of that key hex ten days back proved decisive. The enemy units are isolated in three pockets. The biggest - Soerabaja - is showing serious signs of collapse.

Battle of Sumatra: The Allies are ashore in enough strength to not feel threatened by any possible counterattack. But Palembang has a big enough garrison (and 3x terrain) to discourage a move there, until troops from Java become available.

Death Star: It's been loitering in the same area long time. Ordinarily, I'd have retired a week ago. But so many important TFs are coming forward from all over the place that I've deemed it necessary to keep DS on station. That will be the case for several more days. So, as you might imagine, I'm scouring the area around Borneo - and all vectors, for that matter - for any signs of trouble.

[Capt. Harlock]

DEI: Allied army is ashore at Oosthaven, without opposition. Allied paratroops took Merak, next to Batavia, and a US Army division will land there tomorrow. DS pummeled scores of enemy ships at Palembang.

Kudos on excellent work! Unlike in "Notes From a Small island", I think we will see a collapse of the Japanese economy before 1944 is over.

[JohnDillworth]

Dan, I feel for your opponent. He has played his navy well and gave you a few bloody noses. His play style has a fatal flaw in that he left many bases without garrisons. An opponent that flips 4 turns a day without complaint is a thing to be treasured. One hopes for a rematch one day
Great few weeks of reading here. Thanks

[Canoerebel]

Dave is about the most easy-to-get-along with person you can imagine. He's the perfect opponent - fast, courteous, low-key, reliable, polite, even-keeled. He's been super.

The pace of the game may indeed have an impact on his play. Also, it might be just part of the way he likes to play - fast, without uber-micro-management. If so, that would be a disadvantage against an experienced opponent who enjoys the micromanagement.

The vacant bases can partly be explained by the sustained push by the Allies since late '43. His MLR (Milne, PM, Rabaul, LUnga) was stout. HIs secondary MLR (Koepang, Ambon, Kendari, Sorong) was decent. The third line (Soerabaja, Malang, Balikpapan) was decent. But once the Allies pushed beyond, he was out of bases and had suffered a series of tough air and sea losses.

He might've had a better network of bases, but I think his biggest issue is lack of patrols and recon. He doesn't do much. Patrols are spotty and recon basically non-existent. I don't know if that's to minimize ops losses (if so, what a catastrophic miscalculation) or because he's simply too busy or disinterested in that aspect of the game. The consequence is that I can do all kinds of things without detection 80% of the time I want to. He only has the most meager of information about where my assets are and what their focus might be. He can make logical deductions to cove a portion of the gap, but he's missing probably 70% of the info he could easily gather by rudimentary nav search and recon. Gaping hole that helps me tremendously.

As for my own gaping holes, I'm unaware of them mostly. If I was aware of them, I'd try to address them (eventually). [:)]

[Canoerebel]

As for his economy, I haven't a clue. He's been conservative in utilizing his assets. He doesn't go charging hither and yon. On the flip side, Magwe was destroyed basically from the start and he never go the China oil. So, with him beginning to lose the DEI producers, perhaps he will suffer. I'll do what I can to limit his sources. Whether it's early enough in '44 to have an impact in '45 remains to be seen.