Matrix Games Forums

I've been wanting to do an AAR of the south pacific war for a long time. I mean in the public, so I can gather some
good advice and guidance from the readers. I'll get busy and see what I can do for you guys.

The usual first move for the Japs is to land in the Phillippines and of course the Pearl Harbor strike.
So I thought maybe a map study might be in order to scope out the best places to invade the island. The
usual landings tend to happen around important ports and that brings up another subject I wanted to run
past you guys. Mines. WITP-AE has Manila and Bataan heavily mined and the Allies need DMS ships to clear
out all the mines before they can operate in that hex. I'm thinking a house rule might need to be
applied. How about no ship traffic in Manila, Bataan, Singapore, and one other place I can't remember right
now. How's that?

I have played WITP-AE, recently, and it's interesting seeing the differences between TOAW and WITP-AE
and one of the differences is the map. The Phillippines has more cities / bases than the map we have and there's
fewer places to invade because of it. Here's what I think I need to do, invade in the north and walk to Manila. Clearing
the territory as I go. Making landings at Legaspi in the south will help in the takedown by adding Jap troops to
another direction when the final assault on Manila happens. The islands didn't fall until April of '42 as I recall.

Here's what the Japs can see of Pearl right now. The Americans have stacked all their important ships into a single
hex to combine their AA strength I guess. That's going to make the strike harder to perform well.

I need to come up with a strategy first of all I guess. That's the next subject.

In WITP-AE there's a logistical train that the Japs must try to disrupt and that's all the ship traffic
between Pearl and Sydney Australia. There's no such need in TOAW but it's realistic and necessary in the real
thing so I thought I'd go with it here in this game and try to capture the bases that straddle that llogistical
path. New Caledonia might be a problem but I think I can get the smaller islands ok. I also want to capture Wake
and Midway so I can base some Emily's there and spy on the Americans.

I've been told that the Release version had an obsolete scenario in it and that's the 3.4 version of
Pacific at War. What you want to play is the 3.63 version of it.

Next I thought I might take a look at Hong Kong and decide whether or not to try to take the city down right now or wait
one day so that the recon value will be higher and the losses will be less. I'm guessing that a higher recon value
probably won't change the AR value of the attack very much and that it's perfectly okay to go ahead with the attack and
take charge of the city.

ORIGINAL: larryfulkerson

I've been told that the Release version had an obsolete scenario in it and that's the 3.4 version of
Pacific at War. What you want to play is the 3.63 version of it.

To be precise, there is accidentally both version of the scenario in the game: 3.63 is also in there.

Before I start moving units I like to have the supporting units deployed and ready. Like the aircraft. I'm going to
have to go through the list and determine where it's best to base that unit, give it a mission, and a loss tolerance
which will depend on their location and the local enemy aircraft presence or absence. I'd like to put all the Nates
and other low-performance planes in the quieter areas so they don't get killed. Like maybe NE China or something.
None of the planes has a mission at game start so this will probably take a while. I'll keep you posted.

The first unit I come to has a skeleton staff and needs a lot of planes to fill the ranks and is a mixed types group
so I need to determine the range for the unit as a whole and I've determined it shall be zero for just right now
because there's no way it can protect itself. I'm hoping a range of zero won't let it take off.

Um.....I've run into some ancient biplanes and they are being used as strategic targets and there's 10 strategic
targets and they each have 50 of these ancient biplanes and if the unit is destroyed by bombing then the Japs
lose, I think, 1% in it's replacement rate. Something like that. Good idea I think. The Japs aren't making
any of these ancient biplanes so what we have is all we're ever going to have.

I've run into the first of my training squadrons. They are flying Nates and those are no good in combat except up
agains Gladiators and those are biplanes. This squadron and those like it will have to be the garrison kinds of
planes to fly CAP and not much else. I can't see me attacking with them. They are good as trainers and for building
the experience level in WITP-AE but in TOAW I'm tempted to leave them on rest.

Here's what I mean about the Nate. It's not much of a fighter. Not even as good as a P-40, I'm thinking.

Here's a late model P-40. This is what the Allies are flying at Manila.

Subscribed. I hope you don't mind lots of dumbarse questions?

OMG if WITPAE has 1 hex for Bataan, and 1 hex for Manila, and 1 hex for Clark... what's the hex scale of this?

Looks like it might be "more" of a clickfest than WITPAE

I expected you to provide the first(or at least one of the first AAR's for us.

Thanks for all you do.

ORIGINAL: Narses

I expected you to provide the first(or at least one of the first AAR's for us.

Thanks for all you do.

+1. awesome Larry.

ORIGINAL: warspite1
Subscribed. I hope you don't mind lots of dumbarse questions?

Not at all. The worst question is the one you didn't ask.

ORIGINAL: AcePylut
OMG if WITPAE has 1 hex for Bataan, and 1 hex for Manila, and 1 hex for Clark... what's the hex scale of this?

Looks like it might be "more" of a clickfest than WITPAE

It's 25km per hex and full week turns. I would rather play it a day at
a time like WITP-AE but that would make the game last years. But
I'm retired and don't have anything better to do.

ORIGINAL: Narses
I expected you to provide the first(or at least one of the first AAR's for us.
Thanks for all you do.

I had the audacity to post something on the development board daring anybody
to post one first. Or at least that's the way it was received. Made some
people mad I think. But I had to do it. There's my reputation to think
about.

ORIGINAL: DesertedFox

ORIGINAL: Narses
I expected you to provide the first(or at least one of the first AAR's for us.
Thanks for all you do.

+1. awesome Larry.

Thank you for your kind words. Now a request: I have never served in a
serious military force, I was in the air force, and so I don't know a lot
of tactics and strategy I just have fun playing. trying things out. One
of you guys has militry experience and can lead the way when I do something
strange.

This may seem an obvious questions, but are you playing against an AI?