brisd
Posts: 614
Joined: 5/20/2000
From: San Diego, CA
Status: offline
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A bit of background - longtime wargamer (since I was 13, nearly 30 years :) ), amatuer military historian and Gary Grigsby devotee.
Played tutorial and first Coral Sea scenarios without reading manual much. Played Coral Sea as IJN, default settings (historical).
First game, managed to get PM invasion force beat up by US CV's. Then both sides exchanged carrier airstrikes, minor damage suffered by CVL and CV's, Yorktown suffered critical hit via a Kate torpedo that exploded her fuel storage tanks. Next day found Yorktown crippled and detached, she was overwelmed by my Kates and sunk that day. Also managed to get at least one torp and bomb into Lexington and she retired after losing most of her planes on strikes against my heavily CAP'd CV's. Proceded to invade PM and also took Buna unopposed.
US submarines caused me more fright than their carriers, getting several shots at my CV's but no hits even though one was reported. Got cocky and sailed Shoho too close to PM, got a 1000 lb welcome and a fast trip back to port.
My CV's sat in northern Coral Sea and slaughtered an Allied transport TF, sinking majority of force (lots of Aussies into the drink). Also sank at least one CA in the Surface Combat TF and crippled several others.
I neglected to have Rabual attack PM airfield and did not mess with subs either. Lost 2 IJN ships, a DD and AP, about 6 heavily damaged and another 6 light damage. Allies lost about 12 ships, mostly AP's and the Yorktown
Game ended before I could even finish unloading at PM, a decisive victory for Japan.
I read the manual the next day and that evening played Coral Sea again as IJN historical settings, using all my assets this time. Did even better, sank the Lexington and heavily damaged Yorktown. Their strikes were uncoordinated and I suffered minor hits. Even the Shoho got some revenge, 3 of her Kates got thru and put a torp into Lady Lex. Game was dominated by RAIN and THUNDERSTORMS, land based air esp. was grounded at least 30% of the game. Managed to get PM invasion TF to PM intact with no losses, thanks partly to rain, Rabual's pounding of airfield and a small bombardment TF. :)
Did not sink as many Allied ships this time around but again only two IJN ship losses, both minor. Very little damage suffered by my TF's and captured Gili Gili as well. Margin of victory was decisive again, more than first time around. Today I start a long campaign game (17) as IJN vs AI.
First impressions: the best operational Naval wargame I have played. No crashes or bugs so far, manual is very good. Like the ability to set up computer controlled supply routes, that will ease the staff burden. Submarines will require some more reading and experiment. Have seen NO combat results I would classify as unrealistic so far. I would post a blow by blow AAR but I'd rather play the game guys, good hunting in your games! :cool:
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