Matrix Games Forums

10-11 August 1942

Solomons
American Marines take Tulagi and Lunga and their carriers begin bombing Tassarafaronga. One of our submarines did lay a field at Lunga though no enemy ships have visited it yet. We delivered 650 supply to Shortlands via a fast transport force. We lost 2 Emily's to attrition on the supply run to Tass - too heavy a price to pay.

Bismarcks
Kavieng is running low on supply - we will send some transports there from Rabaul to pick up some of the troops - there are quite a few there - we will take them back to Truk where there is more supply.
Some B17s flew overhead today and were intercepted by some of our Rufes. One of our R

Papua
Allied aircraft continue to pound our troops in the Owen Stanley.

Plans
We dispatched another 3 submarines from Truk with supplies for Tass. And we formed another convoy with 1 TK, 2 AK and 1 E to carry supplies and fuel to Rabaul. This convoy has a capacity of 8000 fuel and 6000 supply. We will also dispatch another fast transport unit with 650 supplies to Finschhaven from Rabaul. The first convoy at Ponape is half loaded - the second convoy has arrived and formed up. These convoys have between 1500 and 2000 supply points worth of capacity - Ponape start with over 9000 supply points. We will try to bring most of this supply to Shortlands. Two SNLF (96 Assault Value) continue planning for Milne Bay. The Shokaku and Zuikaku are due in 6 days. We will start loading up the two AO we have a Truk, to provide replenishment support.

Here is a pic of our Rufe's at work.
[:D]

10-11 August 1942

Here is a shot of our landbased Val squadron at Truk. We are training them up for ASW operations - as you can see - they are now in the 30s and 40s for ASW - the "green" color means those aircrew advanced this turn.

ORIGINAL: Grotius

I love that the airstrike arrows are now just vectors. A big improvement.

So do you have any hope of getting across the Owen Stanley Range on foot?

Agreed huge improvement! I think no red line vector at all would be even more fun!

the "green" color means those aircrew advanced this turn.

And another big improvement! I had no idea AE was doing this. Right now I rely on WITP Tracker for this info. Bravo for including it in the game!

Interesting that you're training the Vals for ASW and not Naval Bombing (or those other two Naval skills, whatever they are). Is it that you're happy with their bombing ratings, or that you intend only to use them for ASW?

The Val pilots who advanced all seem to have what I would consider high fatigue rates. Is fatigue more of a factor than it was in stock WitP? BTW thanks for feeding a hungry audience the game looks fantastic.

ORIGINAL: thegreatwent

The Val pilots who advanced all seem to have what I would consider high fatigue rates. Is fatigue more of a factor than it was in stock WitP? BTW thanks for feeding a hungry audience the game looks fantastic.

I'd guess that the successful training created the fatigue.

ORIGINAL: jwilkerson

But the player will find shortages of everything: Aircraft, engineers, transport ships. All the things the players wants most, will be in short supply!

Thanks for the AAR Joe!

Just a quick question, will any changes be made to the actual gameplay elements for this scenario? I mean, comparing the GuadMod scenario to stock WitP, there were numerous changes to the core gameplay and mechanics, unit TO&E and so on. Will we see the same relative difference between AE and AE GuadMod?

Or will it be just the usual land OOB, shipping and supply limitations inherit for this theater?

Thanks in advance!

Chad

Some questions. Is GrdB ground bombing? LowN, LowG, Staf, Defn is what? Are they trainable abilities too?

ORIGINAL: Grotius

Interesting that you're training the Vals for ASW and not Naval Bombing (or those other two Naval skills, whatever they are). Is it that you're happy with their bombing ratings, or that you intend only to use them for ASW?

Yes, see post 16 above.

ORIGINAL: thegreatwent
Is fatigue more of a factor than it was in stock WitP?

Fatigue is same factor.

ORIGINAL: Chad Harrison

Just a quick question, will any changes be made to the actual gameplay elements for this scenario? I mean, comparing the GuadMod scenario to stock WitP, there were numerous changes to the core gameplay and mechanics, unit TO&E and so on. Will we see the same relative difference between AE and AE GuadMod?

Or will it be just the usual land OOB, shipping and supply limitations inherit for this theater?

Hum, not completely sure what these words mean. GuadMod for stock did not include any code changes specific to that scenario and will not for AE either. Also no art changes in either. The only thing left is the scenario data and that was changed for both. Every scenario can have its own data and GuadMod has its own data.

ORIGINAL: Dili

Some questions. Is GrdB ground bombing? LowN, LowG, Staf, Defn is what? Are they trainable abilities too?

Yes, GrdB is ground bombing. All the abilities are train-able. Right now I am focusing my training on the ASW ability.

ORIGINAL: jwilkerson

Hum, not completely sure what these words mean. GuadMod for stock did not include any code changes specific to that scenario and will not for AE either. Also no art changes in either. The only thing left is the scenario data and that was changed for both. Every scenario can have its own data and GuadMod has its own data.

Thanks for the answer Joe.

ORIGINAL: Grotius

the "green" color means those aircrew advanced this turn.

And another big improvement! I had no idea AE was doing this. Right now I rely on WITP Tracker for this info. Bravo for including it in the game!

Interesting that you're training the Vals for ASW and not Naval Bombing (or those other two Naval skills, whatever they are). Is it that you're happy with their bombing ratings, or that you intend only to use them for ASW?

Actually the green color means they advanced in the current month...[:-][;)]

12-13 August 1942

Solomons
The Allied carriers headed back to Noumea this turn - so our troops hanging on at Tass got a bit of a break. The I-123 got pounded by 100 or so depth charges as the boat tried to deliver its mines at Luganville - floatation damage is 64 - so we will see whether the boat survives or not. The field is showing as sown - on the map - so we will see if there is any revenge as well.

One of our AMC delivered the 10th construction unit to Shortlands so we will start the construction of an airfield. Since we are starting at 0(0) it is not clear whether we will finish even a level-1 field before the scenario ends! [:D]

Papua
B17s again tangled with our Rufe's over Rabaul - no runs - no hits - no errors - by either side. Allied Beauforts made a number of attacks on one of our small fast transport forces unloading at Finschhaven - but we received no damage and were able to unload another 650 supply. Also there were more allied air strikes on our Army forces in the Owen Stanley.


Planning
Our first resupply convoy will unload at Rabaul this turn delivering 6000 supply and 1500 fuel. A second convoy is departing Truk today. We have begun loading the 2xAO we have at Truk with fuel - these two AO will then be ready to support Shok and Zuik when they arrive in 4 days.
A convoy of 1500 supply points has departed Ponanpe for Shortlands - a second covoy has started to load at Ponape.
We lost no Mavis this turn delivering supply to Tass - I guess the presence of the Allied carriers is the difference.
We extended the range of the Betty/Zero strike force at Rabaul out to 14 hexes during the absence of the American carriers - maybe they will see something and get lucky.
We are moving one SNLF from Kavieng to Rabaul to reduce supply requirements at Kavieng. This SNLF is one of two which are planning for a landing at Milne Bay.
Another Betty unit arrived a Truk - it will rest up from its flight down. Since we have a resupply convoy unloading at Rabaul we will then send this unit down to Rabaul to join the other - thus augmenting the Naval Strike force.
Wewak is low on supply - we dispatched a small resupply convoy from Truk to keep it from running out.
Truk is the only base where we have supply and fuel arrivals - currently Truk has 13,000 supply and 13,000 fuel.
Rabaul has 9,000 supply and 7,000 fuel.
Lae has 2,000 supply
Buna has 3,000 supply
Wewak has 100 supply
Kavieng has 600 supply
Shortlands has 1800 supply
Tass has 300 supply
Ponape has 7000 supply

ORIGINAL: TheElf

ORIGINAL: Grotius

the "green" color means those aircrew advanced this turn.

And another big improvement! I had no idea AE was doing this. Right now I rely on WITP Tracker for this info. Bravo for including it in the game!

Interesting that you're training the Vals for ASW and not Naval Bombing (or those other two Naval skills, whatever they are). Is it that you're happy with their bombing ratings, or that you intend only to use them for ASW?

Actually the green color means they advanced in the current month...[:-][;)]

which implies that it is possible that your aircraft don´t even increase on point when doing training for a whole MONTH???? lol

ORIGINAL: castor troy
which implies that it is possible that your aircraft don´t even increase on point when doing training for a whole MONTH???? lol

Nope, it does not imply that.

We extended the range of the Betty/Zero strike force at Rabaul out to 14 hexes during the absence of the American carriers - maybe they will see something and get lucky.

In stock, it "seemed" to benefit your bombers to set them to 10 to 30% naval search while on Naval Attack to help find their targets. Is this still the case?? If so, do you set them to search a particular sector?? In this case, around G'canal.

Right now I have the Bettys at Rabaul set to 20% search and the sector setting is 90 to 270.

14-15 August 1942

Solomons
Oh boy - we see the American carriers headed back already. Interestingly we see them almost in the "middle" of the Coral Sea - so a bit farther West than we would expect. We wonder what that means.

Could be:

(a) Just dodging around our submarines they presume might be on the more direct path between Noumea and Lunga.
(b) Preparing to do a raid against Shortlands or other spots in the area.
(c) Covering a convoy into Milne Bay.
(d) None of the above [:D]

Our Submarines have delivered some supply to Tass - and the supply total there is now over 400 for the first time.
The construction engineer at Shortlands has begun work on the airfield - the work is now 1% complete.

Papua
The skies over Rabaul were clear of enemy this turn - I guess the B17s are resting.
Ailled strikes against the IJA forces in the Owen Stanley continue as usual. A small supply convoy is enroute to Wewak.

Bismarcks
The first supply convoy to Rabaul has unloaded 1500 fuel and 3000 of 6000 supply. A second supply conoy will arrive at Rabaul this turn. The SNLF from Kavieng has unloaded at Rabaul.

Truk
The 2 AOs are loading fuel and will be done next turn.

Plans
We will reduce the range of the Bettys and their escorts to 11 hexes - we do not want to strike the American carriers unless they come North of the Louisades.
Another small supply conoy will load at Truk and head to Kavieng to keep that base from starving.
The first supply convoy from Ponape will hover North of Shortlands this turn since the American carriers seem to be headed straight for Shortlands. The second supply convoy from Ponape is still loading at Ponape.
We moved the second Betty unit to Rabaul - so now we have 59 Betty and 17 A6M2 on the Naval Strike mission. We also have 15 A6M3 flying CAP over Rabaul. The Rufe's are resting.

The small A6M2 unit that started at Lae has replenished up to 15 pilots and 12 fighters and is training up at Truk focused on the "sweep" mission which builds up the "air" skill.

The land based Val unit is still training on ASW.

Here is a pic of the Zero unit which is training at Truk.

This screen shot is from a DIFFERENT GAME. This is from the campaign game I'm playing with Nik - just to show that a high EXP Japanese unit can hold its own. Most the planes this unit has shot down are unescorted bombers (maybe all) but a record is a record.

16-17 August 1942

Solomons
American carriers pulled back farther South towards North tip of New Caledonia - so I guess they are hovering. Looks like a supply convoy is unloading at Lunga. The airfield at Shortlands is now 2% done.

Bismarcks
Our first supply convoy is done unloading and is heading back to Truk - the second supply convoy is pulling into Rabaul. We now have 15K supply and 8K fuel at Rabaul.

Papua
No change, the Allies keep bombing our troops in the Mountains.

Truk
The first pair of AO have finished loading fuel and will head South. After loading up all the supply convoys, Truk is now out of supply - so we will wait a turn before dispatching any further ships. Shok and Zuik have arrived but their planes need to rest up a bit - so we will wait a couple of days before sending them out. We also want to get the fuel, troops and submarines out in front of them.

iwilkerson.
Thanks for posting this AAR... especially the direct and indirect data about the tightness of supply... all of you devs/testers have been preaching how realistically lean this will be in AE, but this really brings it home.... I just can't wait to get hold of this mother...
Regards,
Helldiver