DEI almost completely falling on turn 1

[Ekaton]

I'm playing the main 1941 scenario, every setting historical. Surabaya and Bandar Lampung fall on turn one, is that intended? It seems way too soon.

[AlvaroSousa]

WPP isn't a historical wargame. It's a simulation based on history.

The Japanese didn't DOW on NEI. They wanted to wait. The NEI DOWed on them.

WPP gives the flexibility to do what you want. You don't have to go after the NEI if you don't want to but as the Axis played in any board game of this kind the Japanese player ALWAYS takes NEI and Singapore first.

[Numdydar]

But in those games, you cannot go into Java until Borneo and Singapore are secured as Japan did not have land based air cover to support their landings. It is so ahistorical and unrealistic that this game allows Japan to do this on turn one.

You are correct that this is a game, but it is a complete fantasy game based on WWII in the Pacific.

For reference, Java was not invaded until March 1, 1942 due to the reason above and the game allows it to be invaded almost three months earlier? it is beyond absurd.

[AlvaroSousa]

You are forgetting hindsight. What Allied player wouldn't sacrifice everything to ram and jam NEI? I would. No oil for Japan I win. That isn't historical either.

And so say I did put restrictions. Then the NEI would still get invaded in probably 3 turns. Which again isn't historical. I would immediately take all the objectives I need just so I can invade the NEI as soon as possible because it is the most important resource to Japan.

As the Allies I will send lend lease to NEI to beef up their defenses. I will park a battle fleet outside the NEI sacrificing them if need be to stop invasions.

There are so many "what ifs" that you just can't account for them all. It then makes the game kind of....boring. All you are doing is following history. In reality the Japanese couldn't even invade Hawaii. It was too far. But do I want to ruin that for players? Naw. I want them to have fun with the game.

After playing so many games of World in Flames over the last 25 years the largest satisfaction players got were sinking named ships and accomplishing things different from history. Players would literally line up all the enemy named ships they sunk during the game like a trophy case. It was social and fun.

If you want to reduce the game and make it more historical make it 5 days and reduce the movement of fleets. Then infantry on transports will wither very quickly on the way to long invasions in the early years.

[joliverlay]

I'm going to have to respectfully disagree as well. The Allies made a significant effort with limited resouces to hold the NIE and Singapore. Land, air, and naval forces available, including forces en route or in the Phillipines (naval) were sacraficed in at attempt to stop the invasion of the NIE under a combined command. The intent was to stop the Japanese in Java, not withdrawl. The turn one landing are IMO a fantasy. There is no way the Japanese could have landed on Java Dec 7 (or thereabouts) or would have tried based on the forces present. The 20:20 hindsight in this case is with the Japanese not the Allies. This is a fantasy. Not saying it is not a good game, just that is not very realistic with respect to the limitations at the time for the first week of the war.


I also am watching the comments about oil. Oils seems to have been a much bigger problem in real life than it is in the game for the Axis. Even in 1942-3 sorties of Yamato and other oil-hog capitals into the south pacific were limited by fuel constraints, which as best I can tell from comments, don't happen until late game in this simulation.

[sveint]

I haven't gotten far yet but oil is very much a problem for Japan. I constantly think about wether to move units or not, wether to keep land units on the rail lines or not.

[Duck Doc]

The opening Japanese moves in the game seem eminently fair to me and really set the stage. Even after a lot of reading about the War I am sitting awe-struck as I play the game at my impotence as the Allies in the opening moves. Well done!

[EvilSix]

I agree with Alvaro. I’m as much of a history nut as everybody else on this forum but he has to balance fun with history and this is a real tightrope walk. When I saw the Japanese take all that territory on turn 1 I knew it was on and knew I was going to have to work for it. This game so far is striking the right balance between historical and super fun. Just my opinion.

[Numdydar]

ORIGINAL: AlvaroSousa

You are forgetting hindsight. What Allied player wouldn't sacrifice everything to ram and jam NEI? I would. No oil for Japan I win. That isn't historical either.

Allied Players have tried that in WitP against Japanese players and you can slow Japan down. But as soon as their carrier fleet shows up everything the Allied committed is either sunk or has to run away.

The Allies did not fair that well in the real war when they tried to hold Java.

One solution that would prevent the hindsight on both sides would be to keep the DEI neutral until like turn 3-4 in the game. Or even better, if a trigger, like the fall of Singapore, could be used. Then the DEI would declare war on Japan and the Allies and Japan could enter the DEI.

Obviously this would not be historical either. But It would allow the game to be more aligned to what was historically achievable versus what we have now.

That is my major issue with the game. Ahistorical actions that were impossible in the real war. That makes this a fantasy game versus something based in historical fact.

[gwgardner]

A possible house rule: no invasions where there's no air support - could be one way to address the early NEI invasion. Or a mod. Both of those take into account what you guys have mentioned above in the thread.

[stjeand]

Since this is a simulation based on history not a historical simulation, not sure HOW many times Alvaro has said that, house rules would be best for testing.

BUT before you do that you better be sure that the Japanese can even function waiting that long.

I suspect they will be at or near 0 oil then and if the DEI has "beefed" up they will not be able to take it very easily.


If you want the game to be just like history then you need to remove your ability to build what you want and build what they did.
No matter what happens are Pearl the US needs to disband some BBs in case Japan does not hit them all, as it is a completely mix bag if I can hit anywhere near the number of units the Japanese did.
The UK needs to disband the Prince of Wales and the Repulse because they live about 50% of the time...and the Japanese take major air losses attacking them with the Dutch fighter.
But that is not what this is about.

The Japanese player knows they need oil ASAP so they take DEI right away instead of waiting.
I take it turn 1...no question, no debate. Oil is needed BADLY...and still it is not enough to keep the fleet at sea for long.
I suspect if the Japanese had the hindsight they would have done so rather than focusing on other places early.
They thought after Pearl the US would be crippled and not want a fight...and we all know how that went.

Add to that you would need to play the game through a lot to see how this overly affects that game.
You might even up having to double the Japanese oil supply to start to keep them going. Who knows until you get to the late game.


Perhaps some of you have already...against players not the AI.



NOW I am not saying that things will not need to change. That is why we have this forum and we discuss things.
We want the game to be the best it can. But give it a few weeks before making major changes.

Heck try a few games with the Japanese not taking DEI...and see what happens and report back.

Maybe you are right and that is needed, we will see.

[Franciscus]

As a beta tester it was very clear - and intended - Japan MUST take the DEI oil ASAP, otherwise her navy is crippled

[gwgardner]

You're right about the early oil situation. That's why I do always take DEI early. Seems like an alternative Japan could have managed if it had set that as a priority.

Someone trying the house rule could divert carriers south early, beef up Indochina land air early, move land-based air into Malaya as early as possible, delay other operations that would use up oil, shutdown all air operations in China, etc. So many possibilities within the realm of plausability, with this game.

[Numdydar]

Just wondering how many people have actually read detailed books about the Pacific war as I find some of the comments in this thread pretty amazing.

Just to be clear, there is NO WAY Japan could have invaded ANYWHERE South of Singapore on Dec 7. This game by allowing that COMPLETELY ignores that the UK would have declared war the minute they saw ANY Japanese fleet trying to sail South within Singapore's air range. Especially with transports involved. This would have completely ruined the Pearl Harbor surprise if that had occurred.

Japan had saved up a large supply of oil that they needed to support all their fleet and air actions for what they thought would last a year lol (it actually lasted about half that time or less). If the game does not reflect this stockpile, then that is the issue with forcing the DEI to be invaded on turn 1 in the game. Here are some actual historical facts that might help.


By 13 March 1941, the Japanese had managed to stockpile about 42.7 million barrels of oil, primarily from California and Tarakan. This was stored in some 7000 oil storage tanks, also purchased from the United States. Navy petroleum product reserves on 1 December 1941 were 1,435,000 tons of crude oil; 3,634,000 tons of of bunker fuel; 473,000 tons of aviation gasoline; 27,000 tons of isooctane; 6400 tons of aircraft lubricants; 13,600 tons of ordinary lubricants; and 921,000 tons of petroleum derivatives already loaded on ships or distributed to overseas bases. This was thought to be sufficient for the first year of war, but consumption greatly exceeded prewar projections. The Army estimated it would require 5.7 million barrels of oil per year while Navy requirements were estimated at 17.6 million barrels per year and civilian requirements at 12.6 million barrels per year. This proved to be a considerable underestimate in the first two years of the war.


Apparently a lot of people love being able to invade the DEI on turn 1. But if that is something that the game forces you to do every time, that does not provide a lot of 'what if' options at all.

[devoncop]

It seems pretty evident Numdydar that this game is not for you. Many folks are very happy with it.

Both views are equally valid.

What I fail to understand is that given Alvaro himself and beta testers have explained the current set up is a deliberate design decision in the interests of gameplay and that the game is not intended to accurately reconstruct the War in the Pacific from beginning to end why you continue to try and convince others that your approach is correct ?

Just asking ....

[gwgardner]

ORIGINAL: devoncop

It seems pretty evident Numdydar that this game is not for you. Many folks are very happy with it.

I had not taken Numdydar's comments to mean that. There are ways with house rules and/or mods or simple player choices to satisfy his concerns. There's so much to the game that excells.

[JWW]

ORIGINAL: Franciscus

As a beta tester it was very clear - and intended - Japan MUST take the DEI oil ASAP, otherwise her navy is crippled

Exactly. For gameplay purposes they have to secure in particular the Sumatra 30-point oilfield. I think the more rapid Japanese capture of the NEI is necessary for game balance.

Just brainstorming, but if you wanted to make the capture schedule more historically accurate, you would have to change several things. Give Japan more starting oil. Remove the units already at sea poised to invade NEI, and either put them back in Japan or put them as programmed reinforcements in the first couple of turns. That could be done and the Allies still could not really do anythng about it due to lack of transport. But then 4-5 months into the war when the Allies get their first transports Japan would still be in the same place it is using the current setup.

[Meteor2]

First, I just bought the game and so I have no real experience.
But I would ask myself, why a „historical“ starting point, where the DEI invasion is not necessary in turn one, was not chosen.
I can understand Numdydar in this and would prefer such a setting, too.
On the other hand, I think, that Alvaro and the beta testers tried it and they found no other solution atm.
Let’s see, how the game evolves...

[sveint]

Let me try, as I prefer historical accuracy myself:

To play well at this scale and length of turns, DEI must be captured earlier than what was possible/happened historically.

At first this doesn't sit well with me, but having played the first few months as Japan the overall effect on the game is very good.
Japan cannot run off and attack other targets, DEI must be secured, and so overall the major progression of the game feels very right.

[Nikel]

To relax a bit the fascinating discussion. Found this pic funny.