Scenario for Testing: Focus Pacific

[cdnice]

I did a second try and they did not warp, weird but not an issue now.

I have spent the last two nights, probably at least 8-10 hours setting up for turn one and I am still not done! This is huge.......Any further consideration to adding the Russian delay back in? I dread trying to set them up.....

This mod is set perfect for those who like to play in teams, each managing a theatre and combining their efforts.

Great work guys, loving it....but my wife still hates you.... [;)]

[btd64]

ORIGINAL: cdnice

I did a second try and they did not warp, weird but not an issue now.

I have spent the last two nights, probably at least 8-10 hours setting up for turn one and I am still not done! This is huge.......Any further consideration to adding the Russian delay back in? I dread trying to set them up.....

This mod is set perfect for those who like to play in teams, each managing a theatre and combining their efforts.

Great work guys, loving it....but my wife still hates you.... [;)]

Glad to here the warp is no longer a problem. In terms of setting up the first turn, I have found that trying to do it all at once gives me a migrane. So what I do now is;

Turn 1; Issue orders to ALL TF's at sea. Issue orders to LCU's at or near the front lines. Issue orders to any LCU's you may need sooner rather than later. Set up CAP at bases that need it NOW. Set up Nav Search at or near the front. Set up any offensive air missions that you feel you have the capacity to carry out. Try to save your PP's as much as possible. Start planning for future movement of LCU's and Air to foward bases or bases you want to setup as supply depots. Start moving oil and or fuel from the front to other locations that can use it, soonest is best.

Turn 2; Follow up with anything you need to from the previous turn. Now start moving other units, LCU's, Air units, Naval units, as you need to according to your plan. Expand on turn 1 orders, ie; moving units further from the front. I always work on my reinforcements first, then I look thru the ops report for anything that needs attention.

Turn 3; Continue to expand orders and checking on progress of previous orders. Setup forward Nav search bases using AVD's, AVP's and AV's. When you setup these TF's, make sure you set to "do not unload" and "auto disband".

Hope this helps. It does make the first few turns easier to manage....GP

One other very important thing. I can't believe I forgot to tell you this very important thing about the game. It is simple, yet easy to forget. Buy the wife a toy.[;)]
I've been married 23 years. my wife likes me doing my thing so she can do her thing. Of course that can go two ways.[:D]....GP

[HansBolter]

Two other big tasks I tackle on turn 2:

1. Scour every port that isn't a major supply/LCU start hub and get the cargo and personnel transport ships head back to the major supply/LCU start hubs. There are very few of these ship types at the hubs at game start. These can be pretty safely sent on their way without escort if you do it before the enemy subs have a chance to set cordons around the hubs. Yes you will lose a few to raiders but I see it as the cost of getting them where they need to be.

2. Before sending all those ships on their way comb through them to see which can be converted to AGs, AKEs and AEs. Better to get that started right away before you commit those ships to long transport missions. If they aren't in a port that can facilitate the conversion, get them headed to one that can.

[cdnice]

Thanks guys, all good advice, it helps.

[btd64]

Hans, good advice. But I generally don't add AG's. I will do a couple AE's, but since underway replenishment doesn't start until late 44, I don't don't do very many. AKE's, I convert 6 to 8 of the largest capacity xAK's.

Also, start building up fortifications at any base that is or will be under threat within the next 4 to 6 months....GP

[paradigmblue]

Some exciting changes coming down the pike, I should have a new full install as well as an update installer posted tomorrow (crossing fingers). I also hope to post two different versions of the mod - one with, and one without Soviets active on day 1.

Minor Updates:

*Added a Sentai of Zeroes to Toyohara due to feedback that it was undefended. In this scenario, it does make sense for Japan to protect such an important location for aircraft factories so close to its border with the Soviet Union.
*Adjusted Toyohara's Aviation Support via an engineering unit stationed there to support the Sentai of Zeroes.
*General Patton noticed decreasing AA values on some Canadian DD additions. Those issues have been fixed.

Major Updates:

Active Emergency Reinforcements
Added all allied "Emergency Reinforcements" to the game on day 1, as temporarily restricted units. It has always felt wrong to me that the Japanese player can run roughshod over India, New Zealand or Australia, but if they don't cross the "line of death", the allies OOB will remain exactly the same. Conversely, it also feels wrong that the Japanese player feels they have to stop their conquests at an imaginary line in the sand. These units will no longer activate when the Japanese player crosses the LOD, but instead start at Capetown, Salt Lake City, Eastern Canada or Aden as restricted units. To load them on transports, the player must pay the PP cost of the unit. As these are high AV units, some of the PP costs to buy out these units are quite high. Note that this isn't a house rule PP cost, but actual game mechanics will prevent the unit from being loaded unless the cost is paid.

Allied Advantages: The allied player will have access to some high AV LCUs that they normally would not have access to, if they can afford to pay the PP cost. Because once they are bought out they are unrestricted, it gives the allied player greater flexibility with these units than in stock - which restricted the US reinforcements to the West Coast.
Allied Disadvantages: The allied player will not magically receive these units if the LOD is crossed, which means that if they have not saved PP to buy them out, they still won't be able to bring them into play.

Japanese Advantages: Crossing the line of death no longer has the strategic and mental stigma that it once did. The additional units are already in the game, so there is less cost to the Japanese player to cross the LOD.
Japanese Disadvantages: The allied player, if they spend their PP wisely, can over time bring more AV than in stock, which will make things more difficult for the Japanese player. Also, the device pool convoys are still activated by crossing the LOD, which means that the allies will still receive additional devices if Japan invades too deeply.
Hopefully this change will create more dynamic and organic gameplay in the theaters where automatic reinforcements can be triggered.

The Mk14A Torpedo
The allied player will have a chance to change the landscape of the sub war with the addition of the 21in Mk 14A and the XT Mk 14A torpedoes. These new devices are a Mk 14 Torpedo that only has a 25% dud rate, instead of Mk14's 80% dud rate. These are not standard equipment on US subs, and instead the player must convert their subs to take advantage of the improved Mk14.
Here's how it works: All US subs that use the Mk14 Torpedo in 1942 will have and option to convert to a version of the sub that used the Mk14A rather than the Mk14. For example, a Dolphin class sub would have an option to convert to the Dolphin A. This is a lengthy conversion, taking the sub out of commission for 45(!) days. Once converted, the sub will miss out on all further upgrades until mid 1943, when it will have a chance to upgrade to its mid-43 layout. Further upgrades after mid-43 take place normally.
The allied player will have to make some tough decisions - How many subs to take from the front lines to make the conversion? Is the conversion worth losing 3 or 4 upgrades from 1942 to 1943?
Credit for this change goes to Bullwinkle

[btd64]

Good stuff para. Bullwinkle, nice idea....GP

[cdnice]

Very nice changes, excited to try them out.

[paradigmblue]

Beta 1.01 patch is up, and can be found here. This allows players to easily update their version without downloading lots of Scen files.

You must have Focus Pacific installed (via the full installer) to update. I'll have a new full-install version posted later today, so new players don't have to install both the full install and then immediately update to the Beta 1.01 patch. At that time I'll also post a new thread, as I don't want players new to the mod to be confused by the last 9 pages of info, much of which is now out of date.

Included in this version is Scenario 72, which is identical to Focus Pacific scenario 71, but without active Soviets on day 1.

Edit: New Thread Up! Let me know your feedback.

[CaptBeefheart]

Excellent work, Paradigm!

In those sub conversions to the Mk14A torp, would they get radar? That would be a key factor, methinks.

Cheers,
CC

[Lowpe]

ORIGINAL: Commander Cody

Excellent work, Paradigm!

In those sub conversions to the Mk14A torp, would they get radar? That would be a key factor, methinks.

Cheers,
CC

Come on CC, radar early? I don't mind a better approach to torps, but radar might be a bridge too far![:)]

[CaptBeefheart]

ORIGINAL: Lowpe

ORIGINAL: Commander Cody

Excellent work, Paradigm!

In those sub conversions to the Mk14A torp, would they get radar? That would be a key factor, methinks.

Cheers,
CC

Come on CC, radar early? I don't mind a better approach to torps, but radar might be a bridge too far![:)]

Well, let me re-phrase that. I see that USN subs of all classes AFAIK get a radar upgrade in April 42. So, the question would be, if they get the Mk14A torp upgrade, does that mean they'd have to wait until '43 to get the radar upgrade?

Cheers,
CC

[paradigmblue]

ORIGINAL: Commander Cody


Well, let me re-phrase that. I see that USN subs of all classes AFAIK get a radar upgrade in April 42. So, the question would be, if they get the Mk14A torp upgrade, does that mean they'd have to wait until '43 to get the radar upgrade?

Cheers,
CC

As of right now, yes.

However, I'm toying with the idea of including an April 1942 upgrade for the converted subs so that they can have radar installed. If I go that route I will also raise the dud rate back up of the Mk 14A to 50%. I want to increase the effectiveness of allied subs, so that they have a bit more teeth, but I also don't want allied subs running around with full effectiveness in 42 either. Raising the dud rate to 50% would have the added benefit of triggering the 1/43 global torpedo dud rate decrease, as it affects torpedoes with dud rates greater than 50%. This results in a stair-step of effectiveness that is appealing to me.

Here is what that progression would look like for a player that decided to convert their subs to the Mk 14 A version:

12/7/41 - 80% Dud rate
1/42 - Player can upgrade their subs to carry the Mk 14A version, with a 50% dud rate
4/42 - Player can upgrade their subs to a version with the April 42 radar
1/43 - Hard coded drop in dud rate brings dud rate of the Mk 14A to 30%
9/43 - Hard coded drop in dud rate brings dud rate of all Mk 14s - stock or 14A - to 10%

As far as implementation, I'll just have to create new radar equipped versions of all the Mk 14A boats, set the upgrade path of the converted Mk 14A boats to upgrade to the new version, set the upgrade path of the Mk 14A radar equipped boats to rejoin the original class upgrade path in mid-43, and change the Mk 14A device dud rate to 50%. A little tedious, but not bad.

Lowpe, Commander Cody and others, let me know your thoughts, and I'll probably go ahead and include this change in Beta 1.02 unless people are opposed to it.

[cdnice]

Is there a way to limit/stage the number of 14A torpedoes? This would simulate the recognition of the problems with the Mk14, the re-engineering, production and distribution from zero to full production.

I guess my only concern is even with the staged upgrades if a player fully converts all subs and has access to unlimited supply you could see a huge shift in advantage for the Allies (and I am an Allied player) that could really skew the play with no way for the Japanese player to counter it.

[paradigmblue]

ORIGINAL: cdnice

Is there a way to limit/stage the number of 14A torpedoes? This would simulate the recognition of the problems with the Mk14, the re-engineering, production and distribution from zero to full production.

I guess my only concern is even with the staged upgrades if a player fully converts all subs and has access to unlimited supply you could see a huge shift in advantage for the Allies (and I am an Allied player) that could really skew the play with no way for the Japanese player to counter it.

Not really, no. The cost to the allied player is that they have to take their subs out of commission for an extended period of time to perform the conversion.

To limit the amount of subs with the 14 A I could allow some sub classes to have access to the conversion, but not others. The conversion, however, won't turn these subs into killing machines in 42 - with dud rate of 50%, they still will be the worst subs in the game by a wide margin.

[Bullwinkle58]

ORIGINAL: paradigmblue

ORIGINAL: Commander Cody


Well, let me re-phrase that. I see that USN subs of all classes AFAIK get a radar upgrade in April 42. So, the question would be, if they get the Mk14A torp upgrade, does that mean they'd have to wait until '43 to get the radar upgrade?

Cheers,
CC

As of right now, yes.

However, I'm toying with the idea of including an April 1942 upgrade for the converted subs so that they can have radar installed. If I go that route I will also raise the dud rate back up of the Mk 14A to 50%. I want to increase the effectiveness of allied subs, so that they have a bit more teeth, but I also don't want allied subs running around with full effectiveness in 42 either. Raising the dud rate to 50% would have the added benefit of triggering the 1/43 global torpedo dud rate decrease, as it affects torpedoes with dud rates greater than 50%. This results in a stair-step of effectiveness that is appealing to me.

Here is what that progression would look like for a player that decided to convert their subs to the Mk 14 A version:

12/7/41 - 80% Dud rate
1/42 - Player can upgrade their subs to carry the Mk 14A version, with a 50% dud rate
4/42 - Player can upgrade their subs to a version with the April 42 radar
1/43 - Hard coded drop in dud rate brings dud rate of the Mk 14A to 30%
9/43 - Hard coded drop in dud rate brings dud rate of all Mk 14s - stock or 14A - to 10%

As far as implementation, I'll just have to create new radar equipped versions of all the Mk 14A boats, set the upgrade path of the converted Mk 14A boats to upgrade to the new version, set the upgrade path of the Mk 14A radar equipped boats to rejoin the original class upgrade path in mid-43, and change the Mk 14A device dud rate to 50%. A little tedious, but not bad.

Lowpe, Commander Cody and others, let me know your thoughts, and I'll probably go ahead and include this change in Beta 1.02 unless people are opposed to it.

That looks like a pretty solid plan, with enough trade-off in transit time. Lokasenna suggested a 2-week R&R period to convert, while we (elsewhere) discussed 45 days. I think two weeks is more directional when you also include round-trip transit. The "fix" to the Mk14 was essentially disabling the magnetic exploder and swapping out firing pins of harder aluminum, the work of a day on a tender. I'd have to re-read on what the solution was for the poor depth-keeping.

In addition to the time required you can also play in the editor with the port size required to do any upgrade. In the period you're playing with the Allies should have sub bases on the east and west coast of Oz at least, also maybe still Soerbaja (not in my game!) The Oz bases may or may not have ASes, depending on what escaped the first phase carnage in Dutch-land or the Manila hulls. By spring 1942 an Allied player could have brought a couple of WC ASes to CT and onto the map. So you can play. You can make the mods more "expensive" by requiring a real shipyard, although that was not needed in RL. You can also look at likely transit times to the places the upgrades would likely be safe to do, which is most likely Oz in most games, or PH.

My main point is to look at the time combo of upgrade itself, and transit time round-trip.

[cdnice]

ORIGINAL: paradigmblue


Not really, no. The cost to the allied player is that they have to take their subs out of commission for an extended period of time to perform the conversion.

To limit the amount of subs with the 15 A I could allow some sub classes to have access to the conversion, but not others. The conversion, however, won't turn these subs into killing machines in 42 - with dud rate of 50%, they still will be the worst subs in the game by a wide margin.

That is true, I was forgetting about the conversion time required and the requirement to get to a safe port to do so as mentioned after. 50% will still have me cursing at my computer so seems like a fair trade. Great idea.

[Lowpe]

ORIGINAL: cdnice

ORIGINAL: paradigmblue


Not really, no. The cost to the allied player is that they have to take their subs out of commission for an extended period of time to perform the conversion.

To limit the amount of subs with the 15 A I could allow some sub classes to have access to the conversion, but not others. The conversion, however, won't turn these subs into killing machines in 42 - with dud rate of 50%, they still will be the worst subs in the game by a wide margin.

That is true, I was forgetting about the conversion time required and the requirement to get to a safe port to do so as mentioned after. 50% will still have me cursing at my computer so seems like a fair trade. Great idea.

Don't forget that Japan starts with a much stronger ASW fleet from the get go. Devices might not be great, but they don't have to be given the extra number of ships you get.

It seems very well thought out to me giving the AFB something a little neat to play with while they are getting kicked from here to eternity...well to the Canal Zone at least. [:)]