Empires Ablaze Mod

[Nemo121]

Ok well now that RHS seems to be finalising Levels 5 and 6 I think it is almost time for me to have a run at putting my own spin on things. I am writing cause I'm interested in feedback on what others might want to see.

Basically I'm using RHS EOS as my starting point. This postulates a Japan in which the IJA and IJN work well together and in which the Japanese pay more attention to some of what was going on in Germany ( in terms of th Me-264 and 109 plus, possibly, a more speedy conversion of their Ju-88 prototypes into Q1W1s).

I am also going to rip out all of the supply sinks in-game and get rid of almost all of the "free supply" ( excepting that generated at the map edges ( Aden, CONUSA and one or two places in China and the Soviet Union), replacing it with on-map resource centres.

To compensate the Allies somewhat for these Japanese advantages I'm going to get rid of most Japanese auto-upgrades which occur. The exceptions will be that I've decided to allow auto-upgrading within a given aircraft model... so Ki-43 Is will upgrade to Ki-43 IIs but Ki-43 IIs won't auto-upgrade to anything else. I will also severely reduce the number of R&D points available at game start. These two changes should cost the Japanese about 3.5 million tons of supplies over the course of the game and will really hurt any Japanese player who tries to have hundreds of late-war fighters in production at any time.

The Japanese will also benefit from a few of the planes and technical innovations which I had a hand in adding to EOS, namely, a couple of twin-engined fighter-bombers and the early arrival of the Q1W1 (derived from Ju88s Japan had been given by Germany) as well as the HS-293 and SD 1400 ( aka Fritz X).

In return I am strengthening the Allied forces in-game by giving them an additional 4 Essex class CVs and 8 BBs ( this includes the Alaska class BCs) as well as a few DDs to act as escorts.


Starting PPs will also be boosted significantly for both sides although per diem PPs will fall below EOS norms. This is to reflect the Japanese ability to move units freely in preparation for war and the Allies prepping their own units in response.


Options under consideration:
1. Freeing up of Japanese LCU slots by combining all the Yobieki Tank Companies into a Provisional Regiment... This should free about 10 slots for other purposes. Any ideas what should go into those slots? My first thought is that one could be used to accomodate a proper parachute division following on from lessons learned by the Japanese observers of German operations in Europe.


2. I am thinking of making a single Me-264 squadron biowarfare capable so that players have the option of engaging in limited Biowarfare ( the idea would be to give these Me-264s the ability to drop uji bombs via panniers). I don't like biowarfare but I do like the idea of there being a balance of terror wherein players could bargain to ban firebombing of cities and atomic bomb attacks on cities in return for Japan not using this capability. Players who bargain biowarfare out of their games can simply upgrade or downgrade the squadron when it appears and the biowarfare capability will disappear forever.


3. Addition of any highly specialised, limited production variants which operated with known squadrons. If I know the squadron and know the time it arrived I can add the variant. I want the Allies to have some fun stuff to play around with too. The game should be fun for both sides.


4. BAT bomb for the US in the late war period. Payback's only fair. If Japan gets effective PGMs ( the HS 293 and Fritz X achieve about a 6% hit rate against manoeuvring warships and about 20% vs docked ships) then the Allies should get them also.


5. Addition of the Q1W1 using Mitsubishis in the ASW role. The reason for this addition is technical as:
a) it should be a useful plane and
b) it will allow me to create an ASW platform which uses Mitsubishis ( which by 1944 are not being used for much) and thus makes the best use of Japan's limited resources.


6. Changing of IJA plane loadouts to focus more on carying larger numbers of light bombs than a small number of 250 Kg bombs. This is to reflect the mod's thesis that the IJA drew a clear distinction between ground support and strategic planes and kept the Me-264 for strategic missions ( mounting 250 Kg bombs) while using most other planes for ground support missions ( where a larger number of smaller bombs is usually the more effective option). This will greatly reduce the lethality of these light IJA bombers ( Ki-48, 21, 49 etc) vs enemy shipping BUT given the assumptions in Empires Ablaze the IJA will be able to upgrade a few sentai to Bettys to make up the difference.


7. To represent America's greater industrial power and manpower pools any quantitative benefit I give the Japanese is going to be matched by a greater quantitative benefit to the Allies. So, if I'm considering giving Japan a Parachute division sometime in late 42 or early 43 I would also intend to give the US access to the 82nd and 101st + a few other ground divisions under the assumption that with Japan performing more formidably than historically the Americans would have diverted more resources to containing it, including raising more USMC divisions and diverting a couple of parachute divisions from North Africa.


8. I'm also going to give the Allies 2 nukes per month from mid-45 and extend the game into 1946 just so that IF players want to use nukes and allow bioweapons etc that they can take it to its logical conclusion... I think this conclusion is going to be a lot of wrecked Allied units incapable of mounting an invasion and a glow-in-the-dark Japan by the end of 1945.... perhaps necessitating a ceasefire? Might actually be interesting to play this way.


So, I'm inviting Allied players to chip in with changes they'd like. I intend to take on the increased British pilot training numbers and am particularly interested in the following areas:
i) Allied pilot experience... I must admit I'm in favour of an across the board hike in pilot experiences such that the Japanese don't fall as far as fast and so that the Allies have useful pilots ( 60 exp or higher) in 42 and 43.

ii) I have ship slots. I've weighted the slots more in favour of BBs to help out Allied bombardments and AAA but perhaps Allied players would prefer something with even more carriers - although I think the 4 added Essex class are probably sufficient.

iii) comments about additional ground units welcome. There are a few slots available for the Allies and Japanese.

iv) special variants.... I'll add pretty much anything anyone wants and can provide reasonable data for, including - absolutely essentially - which squadron they served with... If you can tell me the slot number for the squadron then it has an even higher chance of getting in. Nothing achieves success as well as making it easy for me to make the changes.

[Andy Mac]

Personally Im n RN Fanboy so I would prefer earlier arrival of some of the late war RN Carriers in preference to 2 of the Essex class so Implacable and Indefat plus some of the CVL's and a flotillla of Tribals arrive earlier.
 
Possibly 50th Northumbrian or 51st Highland or some of the battlehardened Indina Divs 4th Indian or 8th Indian arriving in preference to more Marine Divs in late 43
 
8 Extra BB's feel like a lot and unless they are fast will not help escort issue so perhaps make it 4 extra BB's and 4 more Baltimore 4 x Fiji class Cruisers so 4 BB's , 4 CA's and 4 CL's instead of 8 BB's
 
Rather than giving the US 2 more Para Divs I would make it 1 para and accelerate one of the US armoured Div's - Armour is going to be in high demand in this game for retaking atolls if the Japanese expand as I predict they will. 
 
Brit pilot pool needs significantly more pilots

[Andy Mac]

If HQ slots are available the Aussies could really use another Corps HQ
 
Also if NZ is threatedned wound 2nd NZ Div return form the med (2 Inf Bdes and an Armoured Bde) not standard TOE

[Andy Mac]

I would expect this mod to push back equality by 6 months at least so allied offensives mid to late 43 and from a lot further back than stock things that would help the USN advance

1. I would stick with 2 extra Essex class
2. Rather than 8 BB's I would only give 4 BB's and 4 CA's to help with escorts
3. Extra Dd's are not really required
4. Bring forward by 1 year - 1.5 years one of the US Armoured Divs
5. 82nd Airborne fine
6. 7th USMC Div fine (although I would prefer to have 3 Independent Marine Regts as this allows more flexibility - you could split the Div but actually 3 new Regts would be better I think with same TOE as 4th USMC Regt)
7. I think changing a couple of the CVR Sqns to carry F4U1's so that USN Corsairs can replenish at sea would be good.

Empire Enhancements

1. Implacable and Indefateigable 12 - 18 months earlier
2. Glory and Colossos 12 - 18 months earlier
3. Vanguard in late 44 ?
4. Late 43 India reinforced by 4th Indian Div and 50th Northumbrian Div (Both Motorised Desert TOE so 72 Art tubes and Divisional Recon Sqn)
5. Late 42 Mechanised (including 1 Armoured Bde) 2nd NZ Div (basically an Armoured Div in all but name 2 Inf and 1 Armoured Bde)
6. 2nd Aus Corps HQ Mid 42
7. 12 Tribal class DD's and 4 Fiji class CL's in late 43 to screen carriers

I would hold fire on aircraft changes until I see the mod but off the top of my head I would like Mosquitoes 6 months earlier (because I like these planes !!!) a limited production Beaufighter model with torpedoes and perhaps a P51D's 6 months earlier to reflect the allies trying Merlins earlier.

Andy

[Nemo121]

Andy,

ALL of the additional BBs ( apart from a couple of British ones which arrive in early '42 and are useful in terms of strengthening the RN in the crucial early months) are modern, fast BBs well capable of escorting CVs.

Do the British really need more divisions? I am just asking because it seems to me that they are stuffed full of divisions. Also with the US concentrating more on the Pacific Britain will have to concentrate more on Europe, hence I think additinal British divisions wouldn't really "fit".

As to the Americans... Well, no reason why they can't have an additional 2 para divisions AND a tank division + a couple of USMC divisions. They had so much untapped manpower and material that this is eminently possible.

British pilot pool would be boosted to 80 pilots per month as per latest EOS... That's a tripling of British pilot quantity.

As far as the British Cvs etc. Getting them earlier seems quite reasonable as mid-45 is quite late for them to arrive. Also I can add an additional CVL... Got an idea of a name?
Also the CVE slots 3115 to 3125 are empty... Are they required for respawning or can I add a few more CVEs there for the Allies... If I can I'll make 3 of them CVEs with Corsair CVR squadrons on them.

As far as the Fijis and Tribals go... It looks like there are about 6 or 7 CL slots. I'm open to giving the British 4 Fijis and a dozen Tribals as escort for the carriers which now arrive earlier.

So, the British land component doesn't change as it has to carry more of the burden of fighting in Europe BUT the British naval component becomes a formidable force in late 43 well capable of carrying out opposed landings and with enough escorts ( BBs, CLs and DDs) to swallow some losses and keep coming.  I need names for these ships though. First person to provide them gets them.

P-51... Ok how about switching the arrival date of the P-51 B from September 1st 43 to 1st March 43? That is 6 months earlier. I'll also accelerate the P-51D about 3 months as I'm sure it would have been accelerated a bit given experience with the P-51B.

I also think the Japanese were damned fools not to accelerate the A6MN2 and they definitely had the capability so I think I will accelerate that also. It won't have anywhere near the impact of the P-51B but it gives the Japanese floatplanes something to do other than being shot down in droves during the early war period.


The USN shouldn't have any problems in this game with pilots as it gets 200 per month.

[Andy Mac]

OK the British probably do not need more Divisions although I am expecting to have to retake all India whn the Indian Army is destroyed hence my asking - I think 2nd NZ should be allowed arriving in NZ though.

How about replace the 3 Chindit Bdes with the full TOE 70th UK Div I wouldrather have another heavy Div than 3 Bdes that I cannot use properly anyway

DD Names
Iroquois
Zulu
Somali
Huron
Mouri
Mashona
Matabele
Tartar
Cossack
Hun ?
Goth ?
Sioux
Cheyenne
Mogul
Highlander (hey they are a tribe to !!!)

Extra CVL - resurrect the name Ark Royal [:D][:D]

CL's

Trinidad
Fiji
Newfoundland
Bermuda

P51 looks good

I think a limited number of Beaufighter Sqns equipped with torpedoes to give the allies a late war torpedo bomber/fighter bomber would be good. Perhaps have a strike wing of 4 Sqns arrive late 43 from coastal command using standard Beaus but these 4 Sqns have them with Torps. If the allies upgrade them they lose the capability

(Alterantively do the same but give the allies 4 Sqns of Mosquitos with Torps but the range might make them unbalancing so I would go with Beaus)

I think having an RN fleet that is a threat if kept whole in late 43 will make an interesting counterpoint

Andy

[Mike Scholl]

P-51... Ok how about switching the arrival date of the P-51 B from September 1st 43 to 1st March 43? That is 6 months earlier. I'll also accelerate the P-51D about 3 months as I'm sure it would have been accelerated a bit given experience with the P-51B.


Why stop there? A P-51B is simply a P-51A with a couple of minor modifications to install a Merlin engine. The Merlin and the P-51A were both in production in mid-1941, so the P-51B was a simple modification away from that point on. Let the Allies start recieving them in the spring of 1942 to balance out all the Japanese "goodies". And how about increasing F4U production and making it carrier-capable from the start? While some Navy brass didn't consider it suitable for carrier use, we all know from later experiance that it was---so how about ditching some "brass" instead of sidetracking the Corsair?

And if the Japanese do get (and use) biologicals, then the Allies would certainly have retalliated with using the thousands of tons of "poison gas" ordnance they built to match it's expected use by the Axis.
Japan was not well equipped to deal with massive use of Phosgene and Mustard gas, and it would have been quite usefull in dealing with many of their island garrisons. The threat of such retaliation was something that kept all the Axis powers from using Chemical/Biological Warfare---so the "threat" should be there if the Japanese are given such an option.

[Nemo121]

Torpedo-equipped Beaufighters: Ok, sounds good. This should be moddable relatively easily.
 
 
Highlander. LOL! How about the "McCloud" if we're going to be ueber-cheesy?
 
 
2nd NZ would arrive at Aden if it arrives anywhere. It would be up to the Allies to have it sail to NZ.

[Nemo121]

Mike,
 

And if the Japanese do get (and use) biologicals, then the Allies would certainly have retalliated with using the thousands of tons of "poison gas" ordnance they built to match it's expected use by the Axis.

Precisely the point I made to Sid when he told me about adding it... Let's just say that this was shot down by him.  BW... Well I'm opposed to its use in-game but Sid seems to have modded it in... Probably I can just rip it out.
 
 
Corsairs and carrier-capability...  What is production now and what should it be? My understanding is the CHS used actual numbers on the PTO to determine availability so I'd be loathe to change them unless the numbers themselves were in error. Also I think the lack of auto-upgrade is going to prevent the PDU-ON phenomenon of hordes of the latest fighters being produced by Japan every month.
 
How is the corsair made carrier-capable? Do I just have to add it to the upgrade path of USN squadrons?
 
 
As to the P-51B... Well, if I bring it forward much more we're going to have ever fan of every late-war variant screaming that their favourite variant could have been designed sooner. We have to stop somewhere. I think 6 months is reasonable.
 
 
Andy,
as for replacing the Chindit Brigades with another Division. Ok, sounds reasonable to me. Consider it done.

[Mike Scholl]

As to the P-51B... Well, if I bring it forward much more we're going to have ever fan of every late-war variant screaming that their favourite variant could have been designed sooner. We have to stop somewhere. I think 6 months is reasonable.


I mention this because it is unique. EVERYTHING necessary to build a P-51B was coming off the production lines in the Summer of 1941..., except the IDEA to do so. And it is a massive capability upgrade over the P-51A. Virtually a different A/C in terms of performance. The P-51D is just a "cleaned up" P-51B (primary improvement is in pilot visability). Leaving the D for the Spring of 1944 wouldn't be a problem if the game's designers have got the "B" right..., there really wasn't much difference in performance between the "B" and "D" models.

As to "reasonable", the P-51B and the carrier-capable F4U were both only seperated from early implementation by the lack of a simple idea. I woud say that having an "idea" is a whole lot more reasonable a "what if" than many of the Japanese "advances" you're postulating. Not talking massive numbers of P-51B's..., most would still be going to Europe. But enough to keep 3 squadrons of "long-ranged escorts" available in the Pacific would do a lot for Allied morale and play.

Totally agree with you that Sid's dragging in "biologicals" is a mistake. Hope you can just leave it out rather than giving players the option of a whole new level of horrors.

[timtom]

ORIGINAL: Nemo121

How is the corsair made carrier-capable? Do I just have to add it to the upgrade path of USN squadrons?

Just move it into an appropriate slot (77-101) and Robert's your uncle. Some of the slots in the 200-range were also made carrier-capable in one of the patches... I forget which.

In a AFB wer-dream scenario, the F4U could become available over the summer of '42. Historically the first production models came of the line at the end of June '42. The carrier pilots had certainly been screaming bloody murder for a replacement for the F4F, especially after the introduction of the much maligned F4F-4. With a bit more "can-do" spirit at the Navy Department, it's not entirely an counterfactual fiction to imagine that the F4U might have been introduced earlier.

[Nemo121]

Mike,

Fair enough, consider me convinced. My conception of Empires Ablaze is to gather as many "You know, I've always wanted to have x, y and z" in one place whilst keeping the RHS A2A model ( which really is excellent) and other interesting data. Certainly the Japanese get a lot of cool stuff to play with so the Allies do too. Mostly though I've focussed on giving the Allies more QUANTITY as opposed to quality so as to keep the theme of Japanese quality fighting Allied quantity alive. A few P-51Bs at an early date shouldn't do too much harm though.
 
It'll cost the Allies a plane slot though as the best way to model what you are suggesting is creating a P-51B1 which is available 10 months into the game ( I am assuming the scare in the air in December 41 sparks some brainstorming which leads to the the P51 Bs development as a counter to the A6M2) with a small production run ( say, 30 planes per month or so + 3 full squadrons as reinforcements - and thus additional to the 30 planes of replacements per month)  to be followed by the P51B2 which would come in in full force in March 43. So the Allies get a small number of P51Bs a full two years early which is a pretty nice treat for them.
 
That way I can give the Allies a small number to start with and a large number once the P51B2 comes into service. It also means the P-51B1 comes into the game at the same time as the Ki-44 II which sets up a nice aerial match between fairly evenly matched opponents. P51 B1 is probably a bit superior but the Ki-44II will have an advantage in terms of numbers.
 
This would also surely spur the development of the Ki-44 III though so that would move up a few months in response.
 
 
 
As to Corsairs... What do I need to change to make them carrier-capable? If I swap out a single carrier's fighters to Corsairs will this do the trick or do I need some more chicanery?

[ny59giants]

How much has the pilot replacement pool been changed from stock to RHS for the Americans??
By reading Andy's AAR against PzB, he seems to suffer from lack of naval pilots. The amount of American pilots should be almost limitless as they would have increased training as needed.

[Mike Scholl]

Yea..., the big problem was that some folks who weren't flying in combat thought the placement of the cockpit so far to the rear would make it difficult to land the F4U on CV's. What they totally "spaced" was that people flying for their lives will "improvise, adjust, and overcome" just about any difficulty if it means they are more likely to survive.

[Mike Scholl]

" The amount of American pilots should be almost limitless as they would have increased training as needed. "


TRUE. Try to find any other participant in the war that CUT pilot training after 1943 because they already had enough to meet any forseeable need.

[Nemo121]

Ok as far as Corsairs go... There is a small run of carrier-modified Corsairs but ONLY from February 43. I will use the slot for the F2A3... I figure that splittin the F4U1's production roughly 33% navy, 66% other services should be fine. So the Allies get 56 Corsairs per month from February 43 - to represent that the Corsairs for carrier use will require a bit more structural strengthening and testing etc. I'll strip the bombs and a tiny bit of top speed off of these planes to represent the slight reduction in performance required for the toughened CV models.
 
Also by keeping the numbers low the Allies will have a VERY potent fighter but won't have sufficient numbers that they will be able to mount offensive after offensive without answer. Also, be warned that once the Japanese see this plane they would definitely plough even more resources into accelerating the Ki-44 III so that will move up a bit more. Again, I think this is fair given that we're assuming the P51 and Corsair accelerations are due to "Zero Shock".

[Nemo121]

Ny59,

USN pilot training is more than tripled in RHS EOS... Experience was gutted. I am keeping the tripling and increasing the experience across the board. By late in the war the USN will be fielding 200 highly-experience ( 75+ straight from school) pilots per month. This should completely avoid the problem Andy is having.


Forgot to mention one thing.... As I'm removing the F2A3s there will be no pilot pool for them. To keep things simple I will just replace on-map F2A3s with F4F3s and replace the 127 F2s in the pool with F4F3s... giving the Allies a useful early-war fighter capability boost.

[Mike Scholl]

"Ok as far as Corsairs go... There is a small run of carrier-modified Corsairs but ONLY from February 43. I will use the slot for the F2A3... I figure that splittin the F4U1's production roughly 33% navy, 66% other services should be fine. So the Allies get 56 Corsairs per month from February 43 - to represent that the Corsairs for carrier use will require a bit more structural strengthening and testing etc. I'll strip the bombs and a tiny bit of top speed off of these planes to represent the slight reduction in performance required for the toughened CV models."



WHY? The F4U was designed and built to meet Navy requirements for a carrier-based fighter..., so it already had all the modifications you mention. Limiting the numbers is understandable, but not reducing it's capabilities.

[Nemo121]

Mike,
Ok, wasn't aware of that. I'm not an expert on Allied carrier-based fighters . I figured that since it wasn't used on carriers it couldn't have been designed for them. Guess I was wrong.

[mogami]

Hi, Japan had a real parchute div. The "Dash Forward" it begins the stock scenario in depleted status because it had been nearly wiped out in China in Sept 41 (It dropped into Changsha was surrounded and nearly destroyed) The starting 1st and 2nd Regts in stock 15 are the Japanese rebuilding the unit.