Impressions after Playing Jutland Scenario

[FDRLincoln]

Well, KofK and myself have finished our Jutland scenario. It came out as a draw, with the Japanese having about 1000 more points than the Brits.

Impressions:

1) The game is a lot of fun. The flavor is different than WitP and in some ways I enjoy WPO more.
2) The operational tempo of the Pacific Jutland scenario is very, very fast, but this is because it is a two-month game rather than a full campaign. In a larger campaign, both sides would care more about force protection and preservation. In the scenario, by the end we were "punch drunk boxers" in the words of my opponent, both of us using capital ships with 40-50 SYS damage in major battles since everything else was sunk.
3) Submarines are, in my opinion, a little too powerful. The weak ASW is realistic, but I'd like to see the dud rate of torpedoes tweaked upward a hair to slightly reduce submarine effectiveness.


Overall, I think that WPO is a real winner. After Christmas KofK and I will likely start one of the longer campaigns.

[String]

Interesting. Imo the british are a tad bit too powerful in this scenario for the japanese to take on. The japs just don't have the power to invade british posessions. And the british don't have any real shipping to take to an offensive.

Same goes for the clash of titans. I can't understand how the japs could ever even dream of taking Manila when there are more than 5k AP worth of american troops on Luzon and the americans are enjoying 2:1 advantage in dreadnoughts.

and yes, I agree on subs. Dud's should happen more often.

[FDRLincoln]

As the Japanese, I scored a quick victory by sending my entire fleet to Hong Kong immediately, defeating his squadrons there in detail. But in the end, my attempts at land invasions just didn't work. . .I landed troops at Hong Kong, Brunei, and Jesselton, but only took Jessleton by the end of the game. The other invasions bogged down.

I agree the Japanese don't have much of a chance for outright victory, but given that I sank most of the British fleet, ended up 1000 points ahead, and got a technical draw, I regard the game as a moral victory against superior odds.

[Tankerace]

Well Clash of Titans isn't about just invading Manila. The point is also for a punch, counter punch, as the US tries to invade Japanese possession, and vice versa. These scenarios are not meant for any single strategy or mode of play, but to try different things.

For instance, as the Japanese, lure the US to invade Formosa, then as you sink his ships and bottle him up, invade the Philippines, or something along thos lines.

If we just had a scenario about invading the PI... well, play the first month of a big campaign and there you go.

ORIGINAL: String

Interesting. Imo the british are a tad bit too powerful in this scenario for the japanese to take on. The japs just don't have the power to invade british posessions. And the british don't have any real shipping to take to an offensive.

Same goes for the clash of titans. I can't understand how the japs could ever even dream of taking Manila when there are more than 5k AP worth of american troops on Luzon and the americans are enjoying 2:1 advantage in dreadnoughts.

and yes, I agree on subs. Dud's should happen more often.

[String]

ORIGINAL: Tankerace

Well Clash of Titans isn't about just invading Manila. The point is also for a punch, counter punch, as the US tries to invade Japanese possession, and vice versa. These scenarios are not meant for any single strategy or mode of play, but to try different things.

For instance, as the Japanese, lure the US to invade Formosa, then as you sink his ships and bottle him up, invade the Philippines, or something along thos lines.

If we just had a scenario about invading the PI... well, play the first month of a big campaign and there you go.

ORIGINAL: String

Interesting. Imo the british are a tad bit too powerful in this scenario for the japanese to take on. The japs just don't have the power to invade british posessions. And the british don't have any real shipping to take to an offensive.

Same goes for the clash of titans. I can't understand how the japs could ever even dream of taking Manila when there are more than 5k AP worth of american troops on Luzon and the americans are enjoying 2:1 advantage in dreadnoughts.

and yes, I agree on subs. Dud's should happen more often.

Well the thing is, the US can invade Formosa, defend Luzon and capture Kyushyu too if they are lucky. Atleast that's my opinion. I haven't taken a look at the japanese ground units on Formosa, but I doubt theyhave 6k AP there??

[Tankerace]

Not on Formosa alone, but throughout the map they do. Clash of Titans is mainly about a US attack, not a Japanese one. Though, putting Japanese troops into Luzon will help keep the US occupied, and reduce potential invasion forces.

[String]

ORIGINAL: Tankerace

Not on Formosa alone, but throughout the map they do. Clash of Titans is mainly about a US attack, not a Japanese one. Though, putting Japanese troops into Luzon will help keep the US occupied, and reduce potential invasion forces.

Hm. it would be counteractive imho. Being on defence is a force multiplier, so japanese troops in Formosa are much more useful than japanese troops in Luzon. Allow me to explain
Let's say japs have 6 divisions and US has 9
The japs send 3 divisions to Luzon to tie down US forces there. The US defends with 2 divisions, and benefits from base forts, terrain etc, and holds the base. Then they send 7 divisions to Formosa and face only 3 japanese divisions. Instead of 9 vs 6. See my logic?

Ofcourse I can be wrong..

[Tankerace]

This is true, and this is why the scenario is so open. There are numerous Japanese DIvisions in the map, not as many as the US, but not that much less. This scenario was designed as an open ended scenario, for many strategies. Obviously, the US has the advantage, but that doesn't mean the Japanese cannot win.

The reason for the Japanese AI invading Luzon is just for that, the AI, so it can be used as a training scenario. However, in PBEM, it can simulate a variety of things, either an assault on Formosa, or anywhere for that matter, or a Japanese assault.