Matrix Games Forums

ORIGINAL: jcrohio

Downloaded the game Saturday and have been reading and experimenting. First game - Wake Island as the Americans - had just worked through the tutorials and really did not have a clue what I was doing - descive victory scoring positive points - sunk both Japanese carriers and numerous surface ships - pretty pleased with my self. Spent two days reading the manual and experimenting with save games. Felt like I understood the game now. Played four more games and basically lost most of the American fleet every time. I guess I just stumbled into a good situation on the first game. NOw I am not so pleased with myself! Am encouraged by others getting beat by the ai though.

My biggest question:Everytime I approach Wake Island I either get my strikes of late and his strikes hit me first in which case I loose all my carriers OR I get my strikes of first and they do nothing and then he strikes me and I loose all my carriers. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Some other questions on game play:
1. What exactly does the "spot number" do? I know what the rule book says but what does the number mean? Does it mean that if your spot number drops to say 15 and your trying to launch 30 planes it will take twice as long? If your spot number is 28 and you are launching a strike of 35 planes, does this take twice as long as just launching 28 planes? Should you try to keep your strikes <= your spot number?

2. What do you do with submarines? Do you try to move them? Place them where you think enemy ships are?

3. How much Cap do you put up? As much as possible? Do you save some for escort duty?

4. Should I be doing any manipulation of the search screen - changing vectors - anything?

5. How are you organizing your strikes - using all planes available? - using cohesive strikes? - using the torpedo bombers (I read in some posting that the American Torpedo Bombers are a liability) - are you using escort fighters or leaving fighters on CAP?

I am enjoying this game even with all my questions - never played the original CAW and have no experience with naval or air games (own a lot of land games - Battlefront, Battles in Normany, GG World at War along with many others). I like the quick games that CAW offers. Thanks in advance for any help

Jack

ORIGINAL: Gregor_SSG

The US Devastators are a liability, in that it would a very risky decision to delay a strike against an enemy carrier group merely to get within their feeble range, since they probably won't do much damage and the Japanese strike that may well be headed your way almost certainly will, especially if you still have armed and fueled planes on deck waiting to take off. Again, circumstances must guide your decision.

Gregor

ORIGINAL: Rick Bradley
As stated many of the CAP Zeroes were drawn down on the deck and it was like shooting fist in a barrel. This allowed the SBD's attacking from altitude to hit three of the Japanese carriers many times.

ORIGINAL: Prince of Eckmühl

ORIGINAL: Rick Bradley
As stated many of the CAP Zeroes were drawn down on the deck and it was like shooting fist in a barrel. This allowed the SBD's attacking from altitude to hit three of the Japanese carriers many times.

Honestly, I don't think that it was that simple. The Kido Butai's CAP had no fighter direction. The interceptors leaped off the deck and went looking for targets. At the height of the battle, just as it all fell apart for the seemingly invincible task force, a bunch of them were swarming over Jimmy Thach's two-plane formation of zero-killers, reduced to plinking away at the Wildcats with 7.7mm pop-guns, infuriated at their inability to eliminate the pair of impertinent intruders.

For hours prior to those decisive moments, the zeros had gone dashing around knocking down the piecemeal attacks by U.S. strike a/c. As they did so, the normal rhythm of the individual carriers was disrupted. The constant demands of recovering, rearming and launching fresh CAP had rendered them incapable of arming, spotting, warming-up and launching the strike that was needed to eliminate the USN carriers.

In what was as profound an act of hubris as can be noted in the annals of warfare, the KB's commanders simply dismissed the possibility that their CAP could fail them. While the U.S. had totally botched the tactical portion of the battle to that point, the truth remained that the KB was incapable of repelling a saturation strike from the enemy's strike assets, foremost among them it's cadre of highly skilled dive-bomber aircrew.

In point of fact, the Japanese defeat could have been much, much worse, were the war to have progressed to the point where the U.S. could have mastered the same sort of "cohesive" (aka coordinated) attack that the Kido Butai had made its hallmark. The Japanese got off lucky. This was not a force that could go on station in the face of land and sea-based air assets and operate for days on end. This was not the fleet that came to stay. It was an inherently, flawed and brittle weapon, and it was broken at Midway.

PoE (aka ivanmoe)

ORIGINAL: Def Zep

Hi PoE,

Very interesting discussion in your post #7 above.

I would like to read more about the KB and its tactical flight operations, but find sources limited and difficult to obtain. From which books or articles did you obtain your information? (Or could you recommend any from your library?) Appreciations.