Vichy French Mod – Super Japan

[bstarr]

I've been tossing this idea around for some time, and I've decided to give it a go. This mod is not intended to be in any way in competition with CHS or RHS (in fact, it uses CHS as it's base, with several items borrowed from RHS). It is an entirely different mod, intended only for Allied player vs. Jap AI. This mod focuses on a hypothetical situation and several other advantages to strengthen the Japanese side.

The highlight of this game is the addition of roughly 60% of the French Navy and several German ships to the Japanese OOB. The following is a list of ships added to the Japanese fleet. The nonfrontline ships (DE, SC, etc) are based on either actual Free French or Pre-Vichy French Ships. In the alternative history there’s a reason these ships are available, but I won’t go into that right now.

2 Joffre CV (semi-fictional)
1 Bearn CV
1 Richelieu BB
2 Dunkerque BB
1 Algerie CA
3 Suffren CA
6 Galissonniere CL
2 Mogador DL (DD)
4 Le Fantastique DL (DD)
4 Vauquelin DL (DD)
4 Chapal DL (DD)
6 Le Hardi DD
10 L’Adroit DD
8 Bourrasque DD
6 Clemson APD converts (fiction, but uses names from Cannon class)
1 Hunt DE
6 River DE
13 Flower SC
13 Elan MSW (DMS)
7 Bougainville PG
3 Somme PG
3 Generic AMC
5 Generic AO
2 Med AP
2 Sm AP
9 Lg AK
3 Sm AK

Additional German Fleet:
(note: the presence of a German BB and BC are a bit of a stretch, even for an alternative history. I may replace them with 2 French Bretagne BBs, or at least replace Schanhorst; Admiral Scheer was rather long legged and could conceivably have made the trip with only one refueling. Still a stretch, though.)
1 BB Scharnhorst
1 BC Admiral Scheer
4 AMCs (Kormoran and 3 generic)
4 Type VII Uboat
7 Type IX Uboat
1 Type XXI Uboat

Believe it or not, I used the already filled to the rim CHS mod as the basis for this mod. To free up slots I changed all of the MSWs to DMS. They no longer respawn, but it enabled me to use the respawn slots for ships. I deleted several of the weaker ships (including even more minesweepers). I then deleted ships the AI isn’t very adept at using, mostly transport subs and a few minelayers. I’ve also noticed that the AI tends to overcrowd Townsville with subs, which results in a sub massacre in that area. To help ease this problem, I deleted all of the at-start RO-# subs from the start of the game. Purists may not like this move, but from what I’ve seen the Jap AI sinks just as many ships without them.

Would you believe I still have a couple more slots left?

[bstarr]

Jan Masterson introduced me to a new site that not only gave me the info I needed, but also helped me add the Arras Class PG to the list, and now I'm either out of slots or damn near it.

I may have also suckered Jan into helping me [:D]

[Terminus]

What site was this?

[bstarr]

ORIGINAL: Terminus

What site was this?

uboat.net, I believe. May be old to others, but it was new to me.

[Terminus]

Nice mod idea, bstarr... Son, I say Son, Forge ahead, Son!

[Don Bowen]

ORIGINAL: bstarr

....
7 Bougainville PG
3 Somme PG
.....
4 AMCs (Kormoran and 3 generic)

Now these are three icons I would love to have....

[ClaudeJ]

Here are the some of the sources i referred to Bstarr:

uboat.net - The U-boat War 1939-1945

Fantasy Fleet of the Russian Federation and the Republic of France

NavWeaps - Naval Weapons, Naval Technology and Naval Reunions - Navy Weapons

[Tankerace]

Graphic wise, I may be able to help you with some of the French ships soon. A good many in your list are being added to WPO. Of course, if you prefer Cobra's style he'll probably have them to you within the work week [:D]

[akdreemer]

I like.. keep us informed... do you have a beta yet?

[rockmedic109]

Interesting. 
 
Would love to hear the alternate history that would happen for this to take place.

[Terminus]

ORIGINAL: Tankerace

Graphic wise, I may be able to help you with some of the French ships soon. A good many in your list are being added to WPO. Of course, if you prefer Cobra's style he'll probably have them to you within the work week [:D]

Try at the end of the working day...[;)]

[bstarr]

[font="times new roman"]the first part of the following is the rough outline of the alternative history; the second part is a few of the expertiments that have been held over from my previous SuperJapan mod attempts and will probably be used in this mod –[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]When France falls, it completely collapses, especially in the colonies.  Instead of the colonies adhering to the Vichy government, most become semi-independent – still under the rule of the French elite class rather than the native population, but no longer answering to any European government, not Paris, Vichy, nor Berlin. [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]The French Navy becomes a navy without a country.  Torn between honoring the surrender of their country and seeing their fleet turned over to the hated Germans, the French admiralty (who at this time are mostly pro allies since Mer-el-Kebir didn’t take place) strike a deal with Winston Churchill.  The majority of the fleet sets sail for the Pacific where they will remain as a neutral deterrent to the Japanese fleet, thereby freeing allied vessels to continue the war against Germany and Italy.[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]The problem is that the current Admiral commanding the French Far Eastern Fleet is secretly being courted by Nazi spies.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Realizing that Japan has nothing to gain by attacking Russia, Hitler concentrates on a Japanese attack on England and America.  He showers the French Admiral with promises of power in post war Nazi controlled France.  The Admiral continues to play the role of allied protector while secretly placing men with beliefs similar to his own in positions of power.[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Soon the fact that U-boats are using Madagascar as a refueling station comes to light.  Some suspect the Admiral, but he is too powerful to usurp at this point.  The Admiral sends a small fleet to Madagascar, supposedly to stop the U-boats.  Needless to say, the fleet does nothing.  In fact, when the Allies are finally forced to invade Madagascar, the French fleet engages the invasion force under the pretence that they are defending the French colony’s neutrality – the French fleet is defeated.  This engagement gives the Admiral the chance he’s been waiting for.  He portrays the battle as a stab in the back and allows Japanese soldiers to occupy IndoChina to “protect” the colony from the allies.[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Churchill’s great diplomatic feat becomes a great blunder.  He has unintentionally given the Japanese Navy roughly 2/3s of the French Fleet.  Including the two Joffre class carriers the Richelieu which were completed in the United States for the French navy.[/font]

[font="times new roman"] [/font][/align][font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Experiments:[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Problem: The Jap AI sucks at sub warfare.  They send just about every sub they have to Townsville, where their crowded conditions result in a sub massacre.[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Solution: Trim down the Jap sub fleet.  Delete several RO subs and all transport subs.  The result is roughly the same amount of allied ships sunk by subs, but without the sub massacre.  Purists may not like this, but I think it will work much better for the AI.   I’m also going to add a few U-boats to the Japs, mostly for flavor but also to give them a handful of very durable subs.[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Problem: the Jap AI sucks at surface warfare during the first three to four months or so.[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Solution: Set up several fleets at the start of the game so that a group of surface engagements such as the battle of Java Sea and the battle of Sunda Strait, and perhaps one or two fictitious battles using the new French forces.  Also, position Task Force Z so that they will be torpedoed on the first turn.  This is really no different than the way the game already uses the free move to invade the Philippines on the first turn.  This will give the allies several cripples to evacuate and a few sunk ships, rather than letting them simply sit tight and make several unhistorically successful surface to surface attacks (usually a surface fleet vs a handful of AKs and APs).[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Problem: the Jap AI doesn’t invade the Aleutians. And even if set to invade from the start, they fail to sufficiently garrison and supply them[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Solution: I give the japs Attu and Kiska from the beginning.  In fact, I even go a little unhistoric by adding a base force to each and a couple of diatais to Attu and a couple of chotais to Kiska.[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Minor stuff:[/font]
[font="times new roman"]*added a lot of supply and fuel[/font]
[font="times new roman"]*Added a base force to Nagasaki.[/font]
[font="times new roman"]*Added a fort to Rabaul.  It shows up about 6 months into the game.  It seems to me that the AI doesn’t garrison Rabaul well enough.[/font]
[font="times new roman"]*Weakened the Dutch, Philippine, Malay, and Rangoon forces tremendously[/i].[/font]
[font="times new roman"]*Deleted Dutch subs (compensation for deletion of RO subs and frees up two much needed device slots)[/font]
[font="times new roman"]*returned several Chinese towns to Jap control.[/font]
[font="times new roman"]*changed Chinese towns that are under Jap control to “IJA” nationality to avoid garrison rules.[/font]
[font="times new roman"]* Moved several air reinforcements so that they appear closer to where they were actually used.  (several units that were meant for Rabaul or Truk were staying in Japan)[/font]
[font="times new roman"]*ships that were historically sunk and written off at pearl are set at system and floatation damage 99%.[/font]
[font="times new roman"]*added air groups to CVEs[/font]
[font="times new roman"]*all Jap planes use the same engines[/font]
[font="times new roman"]*I have also retained two fictional carriers and the CVEs will upgrade to CVLs in early to'43.  This means that the allies will continue to have to worry about the Jap CVs much later in the war.  In other words, more carrier battles. [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]A few pro allied shifts:[/font]
[font="times new roman"]After playtesting my last game I came to the conclusion that I had gone to far.  The japs were so powerful that the only way to win was with ahistoric tricks.  Instead of deleting half of the ships I had worked so hard to create, I added ships to the allied pool.  This makes sense in the “Vichy” scenario since such a large increase in the Jap fleet would cause the allies to transfer more ships to the Pacific.  The trick is keeping the balance so that the Jap AI still benefits from the tradeoff, but not too much.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]This is what I tried in my last attempt:[/font]
[font="times new roman"]*CV Ranger appears at the same time as CV Wasp.[/font]
[font="times new roman"]*BB Texas is at San Fran (it’s a state pride thing)[/font]
[font="times new roman"]*the Alaska class cruisers appear 6 to 12 months ahead of schedule.[/font]
[font="times new roman"]*CVE Santee arrives in 11/42[/font]
[font="times new roman"]*increased the skill of US naval pilots by 5[/font]
[font="times new roman"]*increased Tomahawk and Mohawk build from 1 to 5.[/font]
[font="times new roman"]*Added a few more Buffaloes and Dutch fighters to the pool.[/font]

[bstarr]

ORIGINAL: Tankerace

Graphic wise, I may be able to help you with some of the French ships soon. A good many in your list are being added to WPO. Of course, if you prefer Cobra's style he'll probably have them to you within the work week [:D]

dear God, yes! I could certainly use some help on the art. I've done a few myself, but they're rather ugly.

[bstarr]

ORIGINAL: AlaskanWarrior

I like.. keep us informed... do you have a beta yet?

Maybe a week or two away. I had to take my previous mod and work my way backward to what I have now - that took more time than I thought it would, and I've still got a few phantom task forces around the board. I emailed Jan a copy of the SCEN as is. It's not playable, but you can still upload it and see some of the new stuff like Jap controlled Attu and Kiska. and you can also look in the Class database and see the preliminary stats for the ships I've worked on thus far. I've got CAs, CLs, and DDs done (just the class, not the ships) and I've started on the CVs and BBs. If you like, I can email you what I have, but you might just want to wait until I clean it up a little more.

[rockmedic109]

Making all japanese engines the same seems to be an interesting idea. 

[el cid again]

The "solution" to Japanese submarine warfare under AI control adopted in RHSBBO - and even more so in RHSEOS - was to INCREASE the number of attack subs - in particular the RO boats - they were really the most efficient - and also the Kaidai boat - which were successful. You can trade in big subs and transport subs - and also a number of small vessels which should not be present (tiny trawlers acting as sub chasers and minesweepers - but without gear to make them effective - they cannot be in WITP because they are treated the SAME as real MS and SC).

I don't like the AI - and design mainly for human control - but EOS is optimized for human vs AI as Japan - just as you are doing. So I have had to test for this application. You can start subs in various task forces, with various home ports, and pay attention to the command to which those ports is assigned. For example, subs attached to Northern Command won't be going to Melbourne. And they will raid the long trans Pacific supply line. If you have lots of small subs (particularly under construction) you don't pay too much, don't lose too much when they die, and you get good solid attack values. For Super Japan you might consider fitting guns: Japan has a twin 5.5 inch - and bigger boats can fit this fore and aft. Many vessels can substitute a 5.5 inch for a midget sub or for a airplane. You can lift such designs from EOS if you wish - as always. [EOS is a product of this forum and is regarded as public domain - no permission is ever required. Beware, however, that EOS uses radically different devices - make sure you have the devices you really want.]

[bstarr]

ORIGINAL: el cid again

The "solution" to Japanese submarine warfare under AI control adopted in RHSBBO - and even more so in RHSEOS - was to INCREASE the number of attack subs - in particular the RO boats - they were really the most efficient - and also the Kaidai boat - which were successful. You can trade in big subs and transport subs - and also a number of small vessels which should not be present (tiny trawlers acting as sub chasers and minesweepers - but without gear to make them effective - they cannot be in WITP because they are treated the SAME as real MS and SC).

I don't like the AI - and design mainly for human control - but EOS is optimized for human vs AI as Japan - just as you are doing. So I have had to test for this application. You can start subs in various task forces, with various home ports, and pay attention to the command to which those ports is assigned. For example, subs attached to Northern Command won't be going to Melbourne. And they will raid the long trans Pacific supply line. If you have lots of small subs (particularly under construction) you don't pay too much, don't lose too much when they die, and you get good solid attack values. For Super Japan you might consider fitting guns: Japan has a twin 5.5 inch - and bigger boats can fit this fore and aft. Many vessels can substitute a 5.5 inch for a midget sub or for a airplane. You can lift such designs from EOS if you wish - as always. [EOS is a product of this forum and is regarded as public domain - no permission is ever required. Beware, however, that EOS uses radically different devices - make sure you have the devices you really want.]

I may come back and tweak Japan a little more later on, but right now I have my hands full chasing down the French vessels.

[bstarr]

I have completed the first version of the French and German Fleets. In addition to the above I now have:
6 Chasseur 1 class SC - Historical Chasseurs 1-4 and 41-42
12 Chasseur 5 class SC - Historical Chasseurs 5-16
4 French AMCs (each with its own class, based on an actual French AMC)

For you German fans:
AMC Penguin as a PG
AMC Kormoran as a PG
AMC Thor as a heavily armed AP
AMC Michel as a heavily armed AP
type IXB, IXC, IXC/40, and XXI U-boats have been added.

If anyone's interested I can email a sample of the scenario. It's not playable, but you can load it and see the fleet (stats, that is; no graphics. I have some graphics done, but they suck. My Commandant Test looks like a garbage truck with ears). Right now all of the vessels and their upgrades are complete (but are apt to change, needless to say). I have the French and German fleets temporarily based at Foochow so they can be viewed alone. Right now there are:

2 CV
2 CVE (I'll explain this oddity in a separate post)
3 BB (I deleted Scharnhorst)
1 BC
4 CA
6 CL
38 DD
20 DE
6 APD
8 SS (5 more U-boats arrive as reinforcements)
1 ML
13 DMS
9 AP
3 PC
9 PG
15 AK
18 SC
5 TK

ps I would appreciate anyone having a looksee and I also appreciate any criticism I can get. I'd like to get this right with the first version.

[bstarr]

French planes added to Japan:
Dewoitine D.520
Dewoitine D.530 (semi-fict)
Martlet
DB-7B-3
Martin 167F
Farman F.223.3 BNG
Vought V-156F

adding:
Latecoere 298A (nonfolding wings version, "seaplane" for cruisers, etc)
Latecoere 298B (folding wing version, "torpedo bomber" for Bearn)

[el cid again]

I do not understand your rationale for putting these shps in PTO -

but


Shinyo (Scharnhorst) has a sister in Germany (Gneisnau) and it was
planned to turn it into a CVL at one point. If you send it to Japan it
can serve as an AP or convert to a CVL.