War in the Pacific Part One
Introduction
Having recently purchased the excellent Conquests add-on pack, I have decided to write up what will be my first experience of one of the scenarios that are bundled with the game. To this end I loaded up the Pacific war scenario and set myself as the Americans. The difficulty level was set to Monarch and I promptly proceeded to the game
Upon scenario load up I was presented with information detailing this particular scenario. I was informed that to simulate the surprise pearl harbour attack the Japanese launched on the American fleet based there that on the first turn the allies would not be able to move there units! I half expected this, but it still came as a shock to learn that I would be a sitting duck for Japanese zero fighters. I was heartened slightly when I learned that for the Japanese player time is very much not on your side.
Before beginning the first turn I assessed the situation and formulated a strategy. The American fleet at the end of 1941 was sizable, if somewhat dispersed. I decided that the best way to defeat the Japanese navy would be to concentrate my fleet and defeat her ships in detail. Of course, this assumed that I could recover from the impending pearl harbour attack. After defeating the Japanese navy, I would need to deny the Japanese access to VPs and therefore conduct landings against islands that the Japanese currently possessed.
Dec 1941
With some trepidation I awaited a massive aerial assault against Honolulu and my fleet based there, but the first Japanese action was to land a paratroop force adjacent to Puerto Princess. Three para units now occupied the northern tip of this small island which was located in the western half of the map.
Next some diplomatic activity occurred, with the Chinese and Commonwealth wanting to trade. (China silks for my spices and ten gold per turn, the Commonwealth territory maps). Despite blatant rudeness from the Chinese ambassador I agreed to both these trades. No point in denying allies assistance.
I was more than surprised to find no Japanese attack on pearl harbour was forthcoming. Perhaps the Japanese were more devious than I first thought, or perhaps not. Whatever the motivation for not launching their surprise attack, they had lost the initiative.
At the end of this turn I was asked what I wanted to research next. I was slightly alarmed that amphibious warfare had not been researched yet. As launching marines from transports directly at enemy cities was going to be my favoured strategy, I directed my science advisor to begin the research forthwith.
Jan 1942
I had decided that the Japanese fleet was still probably lying in wait off of Honolulu, so I decided to recon the area with a wildcat. From this recon mission I learnt that the Japanese carrier Soryu and heavy cruiser Chikuma were sitting N-W of the island. To counter this threat I despatched the battleships Tennessee, Pennsylvania and Nevada along with the destroyer Shaw to engage and destroy. I moved Tennessee into artillery range of these two ships and discovered the bulk of the pearl harbour attack force. I therefore had the chance to deal a heavy blow indeed against the Japanese navy, and decided to use all ships available at Honolulu to counter this threat.
The naval exchange that followed resulted in the Arizona being sunk and two submarines being lost to the cost of one Japanese carrier, one destroyer and one battleship. This whole episode seemed to give the Japanese cold feet about attacking Honolulu, and many Japanese ships just sailed away to the west.
Elsewhere, I set the carrier enterprise and her escorts to move in range of the remaining enemy ships off of Honolulu ready to attack next turn. Other than my submarines, which I planned on patrolling the ocean with, my fleet stayed at port.
Further east in the Philippines and it was all action. First the submarine SS Slipjack sunk a Japanese carrier just off Manila. A heavy cruiser then retaliated and promptly sunk my submarine. I rightly sensed that the Japanese were just about to launch an attack in this region. Sure enough, Appari was attacked (having just been reinforced by 192nd tank battalion), and enemy marines launched a successful amphibious assault, capturing the city.
This turn was pretty disastrous in fact, with Puerto Princess and Guam also falling to Japanese assaults. I would need to review my strategy for any chance of success.
Introduction
Having recently purchased the excellent Conquests add-on pack, I have decided to write up what will be my first experience of one of the scenarios that are bundled with the game. To this end I loaded up the Pacific war scenario and set myself as the Americans. The difficulty level was set to Monarch and I promptly proceeded to the game
Upon scenario load up I was presented with information detailing this particular scenario. I was informed that to simulate the surprise pearl harbour attack the Japanese launched on the American fleet based there that on the first turn the allies would not be able to move there units! I half expected this, but it still came as a shock to learn that I would be a sitting duck for Japanese zero fighters. I was heartened slightly when I learned that for the Japanese player time is very much not on your side.
Before beginning the first turn I assessed the situation and formulated a strategy. The American fleet at the end of 1941 was sizable, if somewhat dispersed. I decided that the best way to defeat the Japanese navy would be to concentrate my fleet and defeat her ships in detail. Of course, this assumed that I could recover from the impending pearl harbour attack. After defeating the Japanese navy, I would need to deny the Japanese access to VPs and therefore conduct landings against islands that the Japanese currently possessed.
Dec 1941
With some trepidation I awaited a massive aerial assault against Honolulu and my fleet based there, but the first Japanese action was to land a paratroop force adjacent to Puerto Princess. Three para units now occupied the northern tip of this small island which was located in the western half of the map.
Next some diplomatic activity occurred, with the Chinese and Commonwealth wanting to trade. (China silks for my spices and ten gold per turn, the Commonwealth territory maps). Despite blatant rudeness from the Chinese ambassador I agreed to both these trades. No point in denying allies assistance.
I was more than surprised to find no Japanese attack on pearl harbour was forthcoming. Perhaps the Japanese were more devious than I first thought, or perhaps not. Whatever the motivation for not launching their surprise attack, they had lost the initiative.
At the end of this turn I was asked what I wanted to research next. I was slightly alarmed that amphibious warfare had not been researched yet. As launching marines from transports directly at enemy cities was going to be my favoured strategy, I directed my science advisor to begin the research forthwith.
Jan 1942
I had decided that the Japanese fleet was still probably lying in wait off of Honolulu, so I decided to recon the area with a wildcat. From this recon mission I learnt that the Japanese carrier Soryu and heavy cruiser Chikuma were sitting N-W of the island. To counter this threat I despatched the battleships Tennessee, Pennsylvania and Nevada along with the destroyer Shaw to engage and destroy. I moved Tennessee into artillery range of these two ships and discovered the bulk of the pearl harbour attack force. I therefore had the chance to deal a heavy blow indeed against the Japanese navy, and decided to use all ships available at Honolulu to counter this threat.
The naval exchange that followed resulted in the Arizona being sunk and two submarines being lost to the cost of one Japanese carrier, one destroyer and one battleship. This whole episode seemed to give the Japanese cold feet about attacking Honolulu, and many Japanese ships just sailed away to the west.
Elsewhere, I set the carrier enterprise and her escorts to move in range of the remaining enemy ships off of Honolulu ready to attack next turn. Other than my submarines, which I planned on patrolling the ocean with, my fleet stayed at port.
Further east in the Philippines and it was all action. First the submarine SS Slipjack sunk a Japanese carrier just off Manila. A heavy cruiser then retaliated and promptly sunk my submarine. I rightly sensed that the Japanese were just about to launch an attack in this region. Sure enough, Appari was attacked (having just been reinforced by 192nd tank battalion), and enemy marines launched a successful amphibious assault, capturing the city.
This turn was pretty disastrous in fact, with Puerto Princess and Guam also falling to Japanese assaults. I would need to review my strategy for any chance of success.
I really liked playing the pacific war scenario, in fact I played it several times.
