Signals Intelligence - PBEM

[vonTirpitz]

I am calling out to all the Japanese players in AE to see if they have seen anything other than the "Radio Traffic at x" and "Heavy Radio Traffic at.." messages. I understand that Japanese signals intelligence was 'iffy' at the best of times and they never did keep up with advances like the Allies. But is this set of messages the limit of what they get?

I get 2-4 of the generic radio traffic messages each turn after four months of play. I can live with this but I get the impression that four messages per turn is an arbitrarily low "limit" (if in fact it is limited by the code).

Also, what are other PBEM players thinking about their SIGNET quality?

Ideally, I would expect both sides to have relatively equal capabilities and similar messages early in the war and then see Allied messages quickly increase in accuracy and detail as the war progresses.

Perhaps some of the Allied players can chime in to indicate if inaccurate reports due to FOW is reduced as the months and years pass or if accuracy is consistent throughout the war.

Thanks in advance for the input.

[LoBaron]

Yes.

Its related to some player influencable dice rolls I think. [;)]

Or I´m just too paranoid.... [:'(]

[vonTirpitz]

Thanks LoBaron. I can support a healthy dose of paranoia myself [:D] but you actually bring up another point I was curious about. Can a player influence their SIGNET through the use of reconnaissance or other activities?

I think this might actually be a tough thread to get good answers because everyone has ongoing PBEM games and nobody wants to give away how good or bad their Intelligence is. [8D] I can appreciate this fact as well and I am just hoping to get a better perspective of how AE handles SIGNET and how the players are dealing with this abstract element of the game.

[tbridges]

I usually play the Allies and have become so accustomed to FOW and otherwise useless and inactionable messages that I have come to ignore it completely. Don't even check it anymore.

[ChickenOfTheSea]

ORIGINAL: vonTirpitz

Thanks LoBaron. I can support a healthy dose of paranoia myself [:D] but you actually bring up another point I was curious about. Can a player influence their SIGNET through the use of reconnaissance or other activities?

I think this might actually be a tough thread to get good answers because everyone has ongoing PBEM games and nobody wants to give away how good or bad their Intelligence is. [8D] I can appreciate this fact as well and I am just hoping to get a better perspective of how AE handles SIGNET and how the players are dealing with this abstract element of the game.

Air recon. air naval search. scouting subs and surface ships, and LCU's looking in adjacent hexes are all sources of intelligence in additon to SIGINT and all are subject to FOW, but the more sources of intelligence you have, the better your intelligence is likely to be.

[Chickenboy]

In terms of SigInt, as an IJ PBEMer, it's Charlie Romeo Alpha Papa, was the same and will be. I have no illusions nor expectations of anything comparable to the Allied SigInt. Every now and then I get a radio fix on a convoy or SCTF, but no more than once a month.

It's a major disadvantage, but that's the way it should be. IJ SigInt was very poor by comparison to Allied SigInt, with the gulf widening as the war progressed.

[Q-Ball]

The Radio messages you get indicated that you will be able to "see" something extra if you put the cursor over that base. In most cases, it's just an anchor or airfield symbol; not useful. Occasionally it's a list of ship types in the harbor. In very rare occassions, that is useful, when it includes CV. 99% of the time though it's garbage.

Allied Intel is worth checking. I ran some tests on my own to see how valid it is; unit location intel is almost always accurate, as well as "prep for" intel. These are important. Counts of MEN staioned at a base, though, are not very reliable.

tbridges, if you are playing Allies don't blow off the Intel.

[crsutton]

ORIGINAL: Q-Ball

The Radio messages you get indicated that you will be able to "see" something extra if you put the cursor over that base. In most cases, it's just an anchor or airfield symbol; not useful. Occasionally it's a list of ship types in the harbor. In very rare occassions, that is useful, when it includes CV. 99% of the time though it's garbage.

Allied Intel is worth checking. I ran some tests on my own to see how valid it is; unit location intel is almost always accurate, as well as "prep for" intel. These are important. Counts of MEN staioned at a base, though, are not very reliable.

tbridges, if you are playing Allies don't blow off the Intel.

And the most critical and almost allways accurate. "Unit X is loaded on AP X and X for a certain location". This is very useful and can tip you off to a lot of Japanese shenanigans. Allied signet is very good but takes some practice to get to know what is important. I should pay more attention to it.

[Mynok]

I ignore my sigint as a Jap player. Totally.

[terje439]

ORIGINAL: Q-Ball

Counts of MEN staioned at a base, though, are not very reliable.

Hey! Are you saying that there COULD be more than the 9 men located at Noumea even though that was stated? [X(] [:D]

Terje

[Puhis]

ORIGINAL: Q-Ball

The Radio messages you get indicated that you will be able to "see" something extra if you put the cursor over that base. In most cases, it's just an anchor or airfield symbol; not useful. Occasionally it's a list of ship types in the harbor. In very rare occassions, that is useful, when it includes CV.

That only happens if you get two signal intelligence reports from the same base. So as a japanese player, I check SIGNET screen every turn if there two reports from same location. Otherwise there's nothing that interest me.

[Miller]

Very rarely as the Japs you will get a "Heavy volume of radio traffic at XX,XX" message, which usually indicates the presence of carriers and/or an invasion fleet in that hex.

[topeverest]

good comments above

Pay attention to what you get, as there are real gems in there. Look carefully at it each turn. you will get an opportunity for a reverse Midway if you are persistant.

[vonTirpitz]

Thanks for all of the replies. Nothing unexpected or surprising by the responses.

Anybody able to confirm whether or not Allied SIGINT gets better by 1945?

[Barb]

I am playing as japan and didnt get any other message other than "Radio traffic" or "Heavy volume" - absolutely useless [8|]

[Wittmann30]

ORIGINAL: Miller

Very rarely as the Japs you will get a "Heavy volume of radio traffic at XX,XX" message, which usually indicates the presence of carriers and/or an invasion fleet in that hex.

Miller, is that proven? Does this also count for the allies when they get the "Heavy volume" in the intel report?