U.S. mobilization

[Tanaka]

You have to have two ships to blockade ports unless that has changed? Turn after turn I blockaded the port and bombarded the town at Guam with BB and CA. Landed a Marine and attacked the AA turn after turn doing 1 damage each turn. Even with the port at 0 the player would just reinforce the AA over and over. My Marine unit eventually ran out of supply and was trapped. I would have used carriers but they are too precious to waste against AA damage and they were too busy defending against the enemy. I eventually had to run from enemy ships when the player combined all allied ships into the Pacific. Cannot take Guam, Wake, Midway, Philippines, or DEI when they are defended like this and the Allied Death Star fleet is roaming. It just takes too long and you are a sitting duck. Japan just cannot face a mass fleet like this. Good tip about the Yamato being able to bombard better...

I think you mixed up some mechanics here:
You need 2 units to reduce a port, which is absolutely not necessary. Place one unit next to a port and it will no longer give any supply (works for land units too, btw). Then the only supply source left is the town, which BBs can reduce to 0 (that's important!) for free. CAs are of no direct use, as they have 0 atk vs resource. However they gain XP from attacking them, so why not. The unit in town will never have more than 1 supply (after the town regenerates at the start of the turn), so very limited reinforcements and nearly zero combat power. I usually get 0:4 or 0:5 odds for Marine vs AA and 0:1 or 0:2 for carriers after the Marine's attack. If you really want you can support the attack on Guam with a medium bomber, but it really shouldn't be necessary.

Wake is a different matter however: it's a one hex island and amphib attacks suck vs AA, so even after reducing the supply you will have to brute force it with either lot's of amphibs or costly carrier atttacks since you're missing out on the landed Marine vs AA attack. Not sure if the island is even worth it at this point.

About the Allied fleet:
That's why it's so important to take outlying targets like Midway and Hawaii first. Guam is then so far in your territory that given proper use of naval bombers with high vision range, Allied ships can not approach without a certain first strike including land based air support for you.

Btw: the thing with the Yamato only works vs the unit next to the town and only after it's at 0 supply.

How many turns bombarding does the above scenario take you?

Yes I thought you had to reduce a port to 0 to reduce supply? If not then what does reducing it to 0 accomplish? Just reduction of MPP? Just one ship is all it takes? Wow good to know thanks.

If using an over strength BB to bombard is better is using an under strength BB worse or does it not matter? So bombarding with CA and lesser is useless besides experience good to know. I have noticed that CA will reduce readiness and morale but CL and DD do not. I was using only one under strength BB and CA's so maybe that was the problem? Does it take multiple full strength BB's?

[petedalby]

The bigger / stronger / more experienced BB the better. Hence Bavre's reference to Yamamoto & Musashi.

[Bavre]

The supply interdicting effect of an enemy unit next to a port is gone once the unit leaves. A port that was reduced has to regenerate like normal. Also depending on the strength it was reduced to, the ususal effects apply at their respective thresholds.

And shore bombardement also has 2 different mechanics:
If the target hex contains a structure (town, mine, etc), the ship attacks the structure with ship resource attack vs structure naval defense. If a unit is on that hex, the ship has a small chance to inflict collateral damage on it (just like a strat bomber).
If the target hex does not contain a structure, the ship attacks the unit directly with ship attack for appropriate unit type (always 0) vs unit naval defense (also always 0). However since this is direct unit vs unit attack, the ships demoralization is applied to the land unit, that's why CL and smaller does nothing here as Tanaka observed.

The Yamato is better than a low XP BB at attacking towns, as XP just counts as bonus atk+def in every category. The truly unique thing about high xp ships is that the can damage very weak units in the shore bombardement vs unit scenario, as their XP gives them >0 atk.

Guam:
Guam has secondary supply, meaning it starts at str 5. So on turn one you have to do 5 damage to the town and put a ship next to the harbor. One understrength BB will do 0-1 damage, so that was definitely the problem!
On turn 2 the unit in the town is at supply 1 (as the town heals), the one next to it is at 0. Now bombard the town back down from 1 to 0, use all remaining demoralizing shore bombardement on the unit next to the town. Then attack with the amphib for damage and deentrenchment and finish the unit off with carrier/air atk. Land the Marine on the now empty hex and attack the unit in town.
On turn 3 the unit in town should again be at 1 supply, severely damaged and at very low readiness. Attack with the Marine first for deentrenchment and finish it off with carrier/air attacks.
Total duration: 3 turns
Total usual losses: 0-3 points of carrier planes(*) and 0-2 points for the Marine + possible damage at disembarking.

(*) I usually have str 13 carriers at this point, so it will be more for low XP ones.

A little hotseat testing is very good to get the knack of it.
Also if you want to see the exact amount of XP actions like shore bombardement etc give, go to the advanced options and switch the XP display to numbers. Not as pretty but it really helps to understand the XP gain mechanics.

[Tanaka]

The supply interdicting effect of an enemy unit next to a port is gone once the unit leaves. A port that was reduced has to regenerate like normal. Also depending on the strength it was reduced to, the ususal effects apply at their respective thresholds.

And shore bombardement also has 2 different mechanics:
If the target hex contains a structure (town, mine, etc), the ship attacks the structure with ship resource attack vs structure naval defense. If a unit is on that hex, the ship has a small chance to inflict collateral damage on it (just like a strat bomber).
If the target hex does not contain a structure, the ship attacks the unit directly with ship attack for appropriate unit type (always 0) vs unit naval defense (also always 0). However since this is direct unit vs unit attack, the ships demoralization is applied to the land unit, that's why CL and smaller does nothing here as Tanaka observed.

The Yamato is better than a low XP BB at attacking towns, as XP just counts as bonus atk+def in every category. The truly unique thing about high xp ships is that the can damage very weak units in the shore bombardement vs unit scenario, as their XP gives them >0 atk.

Guam:
Guam has secondary supply, meaning it starts at str 5. So on turn one you have to do 5 damage to the town and put a ship next to the harbor. One understrength BB will do 0-1 damage, so that was definitely the problem!
On turn 2 the unit in the town is at supply 1 (as the town heals), the one next to it is at 0. Now bombard the town back down from 1 to 0, use all remaining demoralizing shore bombardement on the unit next to the town. Then attack with the amphib for damage and deentrenchment and finish the unit off with carrier/air atk. Land the Marine on the now empty hex and attack the unit in town.
On turn 3 the unit in town should again be at 1 supply, severely damaged and at very low readiness. Attack with the Marine first for deentrenchment and finish it off with carrier/air attacks.
Total duration: 3 turns
Total usual losses: 0-3 points of carrier planes(*) and 0-2 points for the Marine + possible damage at disembarking.

(*) I usually have str 13 carriers at this point, so it will be more for low XP ones.

A little hotseat testing is very good to get the knack of it.
Also if you want to see the exact amount of XP actions like shore bombardement etc give, go to the advanced options and switch the XP display to numbers. Not as pretty but it really helps to understand the XP gain mechanics.

Thanks. Yamato aside can you do this with just one regular strength BB in 3 turns? 5 damage in 1 turn sounds like a lot? I would say under varying circumstances with possible enemy intervention this could take 4-5 turns which again leaves you a sitting duck waiting to be attacked. Thus I still think USA being able to garrison all of these islands with AA without consequence before war declaration needs to be improved.

[Bavre]

Thanks. Yamato aside can you do this with just one regular strength BB in 3 turns? 5 damage in 1 turn sounds like a lot? I would say under varying circumstances with possible enemy intervention this could take 4-5 turns which again leaves you a sitting duck waiting to be attacked. Thus I still think USA being able to garrison all of these islands with AA without consequence before war declaration needs to be improved.

Absolutely not, because the town will counterheal each turn. Use all your BBs for one round and be done with it quickly. At that point you should blob your fleet anyway. And for the sitting duck thing: well I can only repeat what I said earlier, attack the risky islands first while the US fleet needs to asssemble, leave the save one like Guam for last.

[Bo Rearguard]

And for the sitting duck thing: well I can only repeat what I said earlier, attack the risky islands first while the US fleet needs to asssemble, leave the save one like Guam for last.

Which seems very ahistorical since Guam was pretty much the least risky of Japan's early conquests, falling after only a few hours of fighting.

[petedalby]

A quick look at the history books suggests that Guam was the only US island relatively undefended IRL. Both Wake & Midway were garrisoned. So no conflict with the game as it stands.

[Tanaka]

Thanks. Yamato aside can you do this with just one regular strength BB in 3 turns? 5 damage in 1 turn sounds like a lot? I would say under varying circumstances with possible enemy intervention this could take 4-5 turns which again leaves you a sitting duck waiting to be attacked. Thus I still think USA being able to garrison all of these islands with AA without consequence before war declaration needs to be improved.

Absolutely not, because the town will counterheal each turn. Use all your BBs for one round and be done with it quickly. At that point you should blob your fleet anyway. And for the sitting duck thing: well I can only repeat what I said earlier, attack the risky islands first while the US fleet needs to asssemble, leave the save one like Guam for last.

Ah ALL of the BB's. This is difficult. I only had one to spare as my entire fleet was facing the brunt of the entire allied fleet. I still think the proposed change the Dev suggested would be helpful. But you have definitely given me a lot of tips to think about much thanks!

[BillRunacre]

I am thinking of making Wake harder for the US to defend in the initial stage of the Japanese advances.

[IIo4Tu]

I am thinking of making Wake harder for the US to defend in the initial stage of the Japanese advances.

another question:
is it a normal situation when, before entering the war, US ships can freely sail around the world and, for example, be placed on hex (224-116, 225-115, 225-114) with impunity, blocking the possibility of placing axis ships to break the port of delivery from Australia?

[Platoonist]

another question:
is it a normal situation when, before entering the war, US ships can freely sail around the world and, for example, be placed on hex (224-116, 225-115, 225-114) with impunity, blocking the possibility of placing axis ships to break the port of delivery from Australia?

In March 1941, the US heavy cruisers Chicago and Portland and four destroyers did pay a visit to Sydney and several other Australian ports at the request of the Australian government. A good will visit mostly. With the Royal Navy overcommited in the Med and Atlantic, the Aussies wanted to foster a closer working relationship with the USN. The cruisers USS Northampton and Salt Lake City also visited Brisbane in July 1941.

It wouldn't have been too unusual for USN ships to be in Australian waters prewar. To get to the US possession of the Philippines, without unwanted observation, you had to pass.north of Australia and south of New Guinea to avoid sailing by the Japanese bastions of Truk and Palau.

[OldCrowBalthazor]

I am thinking of making Wake harder for the US to defend in the initial stage of the Japanese advances.

About Wake and Guam we house-ruled that in my on going match. Previously I could make those two islands nearly impossible to take by the Japanese by slipping US units in by a few turns before the anticipated attacks..mobilization be damned.
Seemed unfair and unhistorical so we implemented thus>

[Platoonist]

About Wake and Gaum we house-ruled that in my on going match. Previously I could make those two islands nearly impossible to take by the Japanese by slipping US units in by a few turns before the anticipated attacks..mobilization be damned.
Seemed unfair and unhistorical so we implemented thus>

Those are some excellent house rules.

[Tanaka]

About Wake and Gaum we house-ruled that in my on going match. Previously I could make those two islands nearly impossible to take by the Japanese by slipping US units in by a few turns before the anticipated attacks..mobilization be damned.
Seemed unfair and unhistorical so we implemented thus>

Those are some excellent house rules.

Very excellent. Will be using these myself as well.

[Zeckke]

The USA mobilizacion can beguin invading YOGOESLAVIA by germans at 1940, so be aware. it happens..including Greece enter in war at allied. Vichy can activated USA as YOGOESLAVIA but most of the players will never wacht this, The AI is impredectable once learn from best players, .....

[Chernobyl]

Much of any issue here derives from the strange fact that AA units take less damage from amphibious transports than do other units.

[Platoonist]

Some of these islands, like Midway, Wake, and Tarawa, (but not Guam) were just tiny atolls that really couldn't have sustained a ground formation larger than a garrison unit without overwhelming the island's infrastructure. If you post 24,000 men on a speck of land roughly the size of several football pitches just above sea level, they'd probably eventually end up killing each other for space and better sanitary conditions. But if you insistuted such a stacking rule, then you probably couldn't invade it with anything larger than a garrison either. It's a conundrum.

[Tanaka]

Much of any issue here derives from the strange fact that AA units take less damage from amphibious transports than do other units.

I've wondered this to and I wonder why when it should be the opposite?

[ThunderLizard11]

Much of any issue here derives from the strange fact that AA units take less damage from amphibious transports than do other units.

Is this a thing? I often put AAs on Pacific Islands but didn't know they took less damage than infantry. Any stats?

[BillRunacre]

I'll fix that, thanks for pointing it out!