Hey all, I posted last week about having trouble downloading this scenario - problem was solved Friday evening and I played throughout the weekend. I started playing as Japan because it was the Conquest scenario "WWII in the Pacific" and my disatisfaction with the game limits that sent me searching for something bigger and badder (I was an Avalon Hill "Third Reich" geek in high school and college - and still am truth-be-told - as well as many of their other strategy games).
Anyway, some comments so far - my computer is a bit slow for a scenario of this size (I only have 256) but it does work. Japan starts in such a difficult situation both operationally and strategically - I mean, I don't know where anyone else's (especially the American) fleet is or exactly what it constitutes in terms of capital ships and carriers - I have only 4 of the big six carriers I need to really wreak havoc - I don't have enough air power to bear down in all the locations I need - my smaller ships routinely get caught by enemy ships and sunk while traveling between islands - I start with no, that is zero, artillery (and apparently can't make marines or bombers until I get access to rubber so I have to hoard the units I have). All I can say is that it's a good thing the Chinese units are so weak and that they lack air and artillery (it was all I could do to beat them back for the first 10 or so turns). Basically - I LOVE THIS GAME.
I started by gathering the vast majority of my fleet, including the four big carriers, and the 2 smaller ones, loaded all the stray ground-pounders in Japan into transports and headed for the chinese coast to start seizing cities down the coast line and for the Phillipines to open the route to the Dutch East Indies. I meanwhile scattered a bunch of submarines and destroyers (there are so many of them) out across the Pacific just to keep an eye on things (it took me 7 or 8 turns to get my fleet organized just off the southern tip of Japan from where it started). I then headed toward China (while my Chinese deployed forces fought off the Chinese invasions). No sooner did I start out than some of my smaller units ran into a pair of British light cruisers crossing from Canada - so I trundled out the surface battlefleet I had kept in Japan (2 BBs, the Ise and the Heii, a pair of heavy cruisers, 30 or so destroyers and half a dozen light cruisers) but the Brits spotted me and ran - I noted that they were fast enough to avoid me where I was placed except for my lights and DDs and they were too powerful for those but at about that time a couple of American BBs ran across my picket line to the South of me and started sinking my destroyers. That was the first hint I had that the US fleet was deployed and coming (I also noted that the 2 BBs were the New York and the Arkansas - which meant their deployed capital ships were more than I expected). So, I split my southern fleet, sending 4 BBs, 6 heavies, 8 lights, and another 30 destroyers with all six carriers back toward the central Pacific, leaving the rest of the fleet, without carriers, to continue down the Chinese coast-line. What followed was an enormous exchange of ships over about 8 turns throught the central Pacific. Needing intel, I was continually throwing several destroyers out to locate their ships - eventually I counted 10 BBs scattered around, four heavies and four lights, and scads of destroyers (though the BBs were out ahead and unescorted by DDs or cruisers at first). In the battles, I lost over 30 DDs and 2 lights, but only one BB, the Ise. I sank 6 of the US BBs, injuring 3 others (though they escaped), and lost track of the 10th (the New York, it eventually appeared on my coast and I pounded it with ground air until it headed for Guam and I got it with bombers from Saipan finishing it as well). I also sank over 50 DDs, 4 lights and 4 heavies. The wounded BBs escaped because while I was fighting here, they started bombing Kwajalein - so I had located their carriers - or some of them at least, and peeled off my carrier task force to go get them - that battle took several turns, but without losing anything I sank 2 more BBs and four carriers (Enterprise, Lexington, Yorktown and Saratoga).
Meanwhile, my invasion fleet took several coastal cities, uniting my controlled territory in China (including Hong Kong), then moved on to take Hanoi and Saigon - I'm now prepping for the Phillipines. This campaign also allowed me to gather my air power in China together and increase my goundpounders in China so that I've now begun a major offensive into China, so far taking three inland cities - and one additional from the PRC.
So far, I've not built any units except 1 artillery, 2 tanks, one Val and 1 Shokaku (I have 3 more Shokaku's, a Yamato-C, and a Kate on the way). I have used my construction to build workers and city improvements to increase my rate of productivity so that eventually I can begin an enormous building program to rapidly increase my force size (the cities that have built units -excepting workers- don't have any more improvements to make at this time). I expect that my production will take off like crazy in about April of 1940. I have to replace 3 Kates and 3 Nates lost in the fighting. In addition to total loss of 53 DDs, 5 lights and the Ise, I also lost 16 submarines. In return, I have so far sunk (combining the US, British, Dutch and French navies) 9 BBs, 4 carriers, 16 lights, 8 heavies, 114 DDs and 31 submarines.
I haven't kept track of groundpounder losses, though they have been minimal - nor the damage I've done on the ground, though it's been a lot of destroyed Chinese units as well as a couple British and French units.
By the way, I'm in Week 2 of 1940.
In any event, I absolutely love this game and the operational and strategic - as well as the logistical problems it sets me (and I've only begun the first game with Japan - oh the many variations available playing the others, etc., genius).
Some queries (for anyone that can or is interested in helping):
1. Fortress Troops (or whatever they're called): can they move at all? It appears from my game that they can't.
2. Why does the AI fight like an idgit with its navy? They scatter ships without cover that are just sitting ducks, they stand still and bomb Kwajalein for no apparent purpose, without moving, while I cross the Pacific to take them out because I KNOW where they are. I have set it on most aggressive - is there anything else I can do to make it "smarter" with its fleet?
3. Why does a submarine not get to target a carrier in a fleet stack? very irritating and it cost me several good subs.
4. Why are some of my cities not allowed to build certain things (e.g. some cities can build a Shokaku, others can't) while others are, though I am linked by roads, harbors and airports everywhere? As a corollary, my northen island and little island in the south can't build RRs - why? ports link everyone and I can build them in China and on the main island.
5. Does Tokyo automatically produce stuff? I've had a militia division, a marine unit and a Sally bomber just appear there.
6. What do the various city-named wonders do?
7. And that thing about clearing forests amd making RRs take much longer - that's a problem I haven't yet addressed because I'm busy just building normal roads, irrigation and mines everywhere - but I imagine that creates a whole new set of logistical problems when it takes so long to create the strategic mobility of interior lines that RRs provide. Any thoughts?
Hope this wasn't too long - I've got the zeal of the convert - this game has moved into my number one spot - within minutes of staring it.
Regards,
Kelly Whiting
