RE: The Hive - Cruft PBEM

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All Forums >> [New Releases from Matrix Games] >> War in the Pacific: Admiral's Edition >> After Action Reports >> RE: The Hive - Cruft PBEM

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RE: The Hive - Cruft PBEM - 8/24/2013 5:07:31 PM

obvert

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From: PDX (and now) London, UK
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quote:

ORIGINAL: Captain Cruft

24 Feb 1944

A Tonan whaler goes down on its way back from Ulithi to Hong Kong. SS Grampus delivers 3 fish and escapes with moderate damage.

It's a good job I am not going to be moving fuel around for much longer. This is the fourth or fifth TK or AO I have lost this month to subs.

Otherwise quiet. He has landed a huge amount of stuff on Java, which is nice ;-)

I wouldn't use those big very valuable tankers in open deep ocean. Only near ASW air and search.

quote:

26 Feb 1944

Not a good day for the Fubuki Squadron. Five DDs lost for a single American one. I suspect an overly aggressive commander was to blame, plus a few Dauntless dive bombers at Manado who tagged the only ship which escaped the surface battles.

Nevertheless we are going in again tomorrow.

Seems like this routine daily mission is not advantageous to you. When the opponent has more, is stronger, it seems more valuable to hit them sporadically, differently each time, using different methods and placements and forces.

I know after your early successes you have an excess of DDs, but they can be really effective if you save them for missions where there is a confusion of targets and where he is possibly not expecting you to strike.

_____________________________

"Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm." - Winston Churchill

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Post #: 841

RE: The Hive - Cruft PBEM - 8/24/2013 5:28:17 PM

Captain Cruft

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Joined: 3/17/2004
From: England
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I'm getting very near the point where I won't need any tankers any more. So while I would prefer not to lose big ones, it doesn't actually matter.

As to the DDs, yes you are right tactically speaking. They don't quite go in every day though, more like every other day on average. The main thing is to annoy him and delay his advance towards Manila. It seems to be working, alongside the kami threat.

Bear in mind that it is only Fubuki and Mutsuki class DDs which are committed to this operation. All the "fleet" DDs (i.e. range > 5,000 miles) remain allocated to the Decisive Battle.

< Message edited by Captain Cruft -- 8/24/2013 5:29:42 PM >

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Post #: 842

RE: The Hive - Cruft PBEM - 8/24/2013 5:35:17 PM

Captain Cruft

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From: England
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The actions also hopefully reinforce some points in his brain.

1) Fletcher class destroyers are not invincible.
2) Brooklyn class cruisers are not invincible.
3) Japan is (apparently) indifferent to losses.

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Post #: 843

RE: The Hive - Cruft PBEM - 8/24/2013 8:11:03 PM

obvert

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Captain Cruft

The actions also hopefully reinforce some points in his brain.

1) Fletcher class destroyers are not invincible.
2) Brooklyn class cruisers are not invincible.
3) Japan is (apparently) indifferent to losses.

_____________________________

"Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm." - Winston Churchill

(in reply to Captain Cruft)

Post #: 844

RE: The Hive - Cruft PBEM - 8/25/2013 2:06:42 AM

Cribtop

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+1

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Post #: 845

RE: The Hive - Cruft PBEM - 8/25/2013 8:46:40 PM

Captain Cruft

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From: England
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Side Note

My opponent is away for the weekend, the game should resume on Tuesday.

In other news, I have finally managed to save up for WitE. Looking at it now ... Don't worry though this game will not be affected. My interest in the Eastern Front monstrosity is educational not recreational, and I won't be playing it in anger.

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Post #: 846

RE: The Hive - Cruft PBEM - 8/30/2013 12:21:54 AM

Captain Cruft

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The Great Resize

It's 1 Mar 1944, and a boatload of airgroups have resized to 49 planes (IJA) or 36 planes (IJN). I have drawn in planes where I can but the whole pilot malarkey can wait until the weekend ...

Japan now has 6,257 aircraft on the map.

In the actual game nothing is happening. Well he is advancing on land in Malaya and Java but no actual action.

< Message edited by Captain Cruft -- 8/30/2013 12:22:26 AM >

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Post #: 847

RE: The Hive - Cruft PBEM - 8/30/2013 10:01:58 PM

Captain Cruft

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From: England
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01 Mar 1944

He has arrived at Soerabaja. Just seemingly a single Aussie division with some tanks and arty support.

If that really all he is bringing I might hold on for a while. Forts are at 6. He has not started the usual ground bombing yet either.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Soerabaja (56,104)

Allied Bombardment attack

Attacking force 590 troops, 65 guns, 14 vehicles, Assault Value = 530

Defending force 14618 troops, 141 guns, 15 vehicles, Assault Value = 542

Japanese ground losses:
17 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled

Assaulting units:
1st USMC Tank Battalion
102nd Combat Engineer Regiment
632nd Tank Destroyer Battalion
5th Australian Division
134th Field Artillery Battalion
II Australian
82nd Mortar Battalion

Defending units:
4th Division
11th Militia Regiment
11th RF Gun Battalion

(in reply to Captain Cruft)

Post #: 848

RE: The Hive - Cruft PBEM - 8/31/2013 11:44:19 PM

Captain Cruft

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From: England
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03 Mar 1944

Another Aussie division has arrived at Soerbaja.

We have installed the latest beta version 1.7.11.23q.

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Post #: 849

RE: The Hive - Cruft PBEM - 9/1/2013 2:48:47 PM

Captain Cruft

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From: England
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04 Mar 1944

The first Deliberate Attack at Soerabaja. Good casualties caused, forts reduced to 5.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Soerabaja (56,104)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 24748 troops, 351 guns, 460 vehicles, Assault Value = 1008

Defending force 14592 troops, 141 guns, 15 vehicles, Assault Value = 539

Allied engineers reduce fortifications to 5

Allied adjusted assault: 319

Japanese adjusted defense: 1564

Allied assault odds: 1 to 4 (fort level 5)

Combat modifiers
Defender: forts(+), leaders(+), experience(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
1635 casualties reported
Squads: 8 destroyed, 118 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 15 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 10 disabled
Guns lost 29 (2 destroyed, 27 disabled)
Vehicles lost 3 (1 destroyed, 2 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
2655 casualties reported
Squads: 22 destroyed, 211 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 34 disabled
Engineers: 5 destroyed, 63 disabled
Guns lost 36 (3 destroyed, 33 disabled)

Assaulting units:
8th Australian Division
1st USMC Tank Battalion
102nd Combat Engineer Regiment
5th Australian Division
134th Field Artillery Battalion
II Australian
82nd Mortar Battalion

Defending units:
4th Division
11th Militia Regiment
11th RF Gun Battalion

(in reply to Captain Cruft)

Post #: 850

RE: The Hive - Cruft PBEM - 9/1/2013 4:48:51 PM

Richard III

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The Ground Combat system always surprises me. I would have though, even with their Tanks & Eng., that would be a tough nut to crack with Lv 5 Forts and your guys with 0 fatigue/disruption at attacker 2:1 troop odds, and a terrain bonus ( I think ? )

How is your LCU supply levels ?

quote:

ORIGINAL: Captain Cruft

04 Mar 1944

The first Deliberate Attack at Soerabaja. Good casualties caused, forts reduced to 5.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Soerabaja (56,104)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 24748 troops, 351 guns, 460 vehicles, Assault Value = 1008

Defending force 14592 troops, 141 guns, 15 vehicles, Assault Value = 539

Allied engineers reduce fortifications to 5

Allied adjusted assault: 319

Japanese adjusted defense: 1564

Allied assault odds: 1 to 4 (fort level 5)

Combat modifiers
Defender: forts(+), leaders(+), experience(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
1635 casualties reported
Squads: 8 destroyed, 118 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 15 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 10 disabled
Guns lost 29 (2 destroyed, 27 disabled)
Vehicles lost 3 (1 destroyed, 2 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
2655 casualties reported
Squads: 22 destroyed, 211 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 34 disabled
Engineers: 5 destroyed, 63 disabled
Guns lost 36 (3 destroyed, 33 disabled)

Assaulting units:
8th Australian Division
1st USMC Tank Battalion
102nd Combat Engineer Regiment
5th Australian Division
134th Field Artillery Battalion
II Australian
82nd Mortar Battalion

Defending units:
4th Division
11th Militia Regiment
11th RF Gun Battalion

_____________________________

�History would be a wonderful thing � if it were only true.�

� Leo Tolstoy

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Post #: 851

RE: The Hive - Cruft PBEM - 9/1/2013 5:05:20 PM

Captain Cruft

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Supply is fine. It's a clear hex remember.

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Post #: 852

RE: The Hive - Cruft PBEM - 9/7/2013 9:43:33 PM

Captain Cruft

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From: England
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Update

WitE is certainly a stunningly addictive game. I haven't stopped playing it since I bought it. However, I am also churning out the daily turns in this one. There's not much happening to comment on though. Three Aussie divisions now besiege Soerabaja and they will surely take it soon.

The game date is now 09 Mar 1944.

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Post #: 853

RE: The Hive - Cruft PBEM - 9/7/2013 10:10:46 PM

Cribtop

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The lack of major events is a win for you, IMHO.

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Post #: 854

RE: The Hive - Cruft PBEM - 9/8/2013 12:01:31 AM

Captain Cruft

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From: England
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I think he will take Java, Palembang, Singapore and Brunei before building up for the big push towards the Hive.

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Post #: 855

RE: The Hive - Cruft PBEM - 9/8/2013 12:41:28 AM

Cribtop

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No doubt. And then it will be very late. He may be rushed and used to your minimal outer defenses. Sets up very well for him to make a hasty move on the Hive and hit one hell of a wall.

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Post #: 856

RE: The Hive - Cruft PBEM - 9/9/2013 1:21:50 AM

Captain Cruft

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From: England
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11 Mar 1944

Soerabaja falls. The 4th Division managed to retreat out of the hex and still has some useful AV, though no supplies. It will try and make it's way to Batavia.

The Fubukis return to Manado and sink a US DD with a Long Lance for no loss.

A massed Oscar Sweep over Vinh (which now has two Indian Divisions plus P-47s) did not go well. About 7 to 1 down. Best let them come to us I think.

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Post #: 857

RE: The Hive - Cruft PBEM - 9/21/2013 11:32:01 PM

Captain Cruft

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21 Mar 1944

Wake falls. The CD guns were completely neutralised by aerial and naval bombardment. When the unit re-incarnates it will go to the "dumping ground" at Ulleungdo.

Not much happening elsewhere. He will arrive at Batavia and Singapore soon though, these bases should prove quite tough to take due to the terrain and forts.

Attachment (1)

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Post #: 858

RE: The Hive - Cruft PBEM - 9/23/2013 12:46:24 AM

Captain Cruft

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22 Mar 1944

The Taiho has arrived. Somewhat surprisingly it has a bunch of golden boys flying its planes. These will be whisked off to TRACOM and replaced with more normal but still trained pilots.

I now have the Naval Shipyard capacity to accelerate the Shinano. The entire fleet will be on the map by the end of July.

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Post #: 859

RE: The Hive - Cruft PBEM - 9/23/2013 6:37:41 AM

obvert

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Those golden boys are pretty necessary on the KB if you plan to use it. All of the late CVs are pretty well stocked up, and they can handle even going up against better airframes the Allies are flying if kept together.

_____________________________

"Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm." - Winston Churchill

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Post #: 860

RE: The Hive - Cruft PBEM - 9/23/2013 6:45:16 AM

koniu

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quote:

ORIGINAL: obvert

Those golden boys are pretty necessary on the KB if you plan to use it. All of the late CVs are pretty well stocked up, and they can handle even going up against better airframes the Allies are flying if kept together.

+1

A6M5 against F6F can fight equal fight when pilots are 80+ XP ones.
F4U is different story but still A6M5 with elite pilots can buy You enough time to get trough CAP with bombers. Also having good pilots in CAP abowe own fleet will have huge impact in CAP efficiency.

< Message edited by koniu -- 9/23/2013 6:46:45 AM >

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"Only the Dead Have Seen the End of War"

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RE: The Hive - Cruft PBEM - 9/23/2013 7:47:55 PM

Captain Cruft

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I have no intention of flying the CV planes into any significant CAP.

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RE: The Hive - Cruft PBEM - 9/24/2013 12:21:21 AM

Captain Cruft

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23 Mar 1944

Balikpapan and Bandjermasin fall. He has troops at Johore Baru and on the coast adjacent to Batavia.

The last few tankers are loading up at Palembang. It's amazing that he has not launched any sort of attack on this shipping.

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RE: The Hive - Cruft PBEM - 9/27/2013 10:03:33 PM

Captain Cruft

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28 Mar 1944

The Aussies have arrived at Batavia and launched an attack. Quite pleasing results.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Batavia (49,98)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 32464 troops, 566 guns, 807 vehicles, Assault Value = 1662

Defending force 19486 troops, 175 guns, 181 vehicles, Assault Value = 530

Allied adjusted assault: 865

Japanese adjusted defense: 3263

Allied assault odds: 1 to 3 (fort level 7)

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), forts(+), leaders(+), experience(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
543 casualties reported
Squads: 5 destroyed, 62 disabled
Non Combat: 3 destroyed, 35 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 12 disabled
Guns lost 35 (5 destroyed, 30 disabled)
Vehicles lost 8 (1 destroyed, 7 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
579 casualties reported
Squads: 8 destroyed, 79 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 28 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 9 disabled
Guns lost 15 (3 destroyed, 12 disabled)
Vehicles lost 52 (1 destroyed, 51 disabled)

Assaulting units:
762nd Tank Battalion
5th Australian Division
34th Combat Engineer Regiment
93rd Infantry Division
763rd Tank Battalion
27th Infantry Division
II Aus Corps Engineer Battalion
193rd Tank Battalion
4th Armoured Brigade
II Australian
223rd Field Artillery Battalion
98th Field Artillery Battalion
205th Field Artillery Battalion

Defending units:
56th Division
16th Army
10th RF Gun Battalion
12th Base Force

Attachment (1)

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Post #: 864

RE: The Hive - Cruft PBEM - 9/28/2013 1:33:52 PM

Captain Cruft

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From: England
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29 Mar 1944

There are now 4 divisions at Batavia, two Aussie and two US Army. He just did an ineffectual bombardment attack this turn.

I now have 6,600 aircraft on the map, and the Fleet should be completely built out by the end of July.

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Post #: 865

RE: The Hive - Cruft PBEM - 10/3/2013 11:51:18 PM

Captain Cruft

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From: England
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01 Apr 1944

Four divisions have crossed the river and arrived at Singapore. This is the sort of casualty rate I need to be inflicting.

Allied DDs have started raiding at Palembang. I have sent some fast Es to try and prevent too much tanker sinkage, and will see if I might liberate a few more tons of fuel before it becomes completely impossible. He has also started bombing the Oil at Miri with 4Es, which is fine.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Singapore (50,84)

Allied Shock attack

Attacking force 56867 troops, 1084 guns, 1513 vehicles, Assault Value = 1986

Defending force 21696 troops, 391 guns, 203 vehicles, Assault Value = 548

Allied adjusted assault: 2035

Japanese adjusted defense: 6903

Allied assault odds: 1 to 3 (fort level 8)

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), forts(+), leaders(+), experience(-)
Attacker: shock(+), disruption(-)

Japanese ground losses:
685 casualties reported
Squads: 17 destroyed, 15 disabled
Non Combat: 8 destroyed, 72 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 3 disabled
Guns lost 44 (8 destroyed, 36 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
4514 casualties reported
Squads: 184 destroyed, 311 disabled
Non Combat: 53 destroyed, 203 disabled
Engineers: 31 destroyed, 38 disabled
Guns lost 101 (49 destroyed, 52 disabled)
Vehicles lost 219 (66 destroyed, 153 disabled)

Assaulting units:
268th Motorised Brigade
7th Australian Division
11th (East African) Division
255th Indian Tank Brigade
25th Indian Division
2nd British Division
Southeast Asia
14th Army
8th Medium Regiment

Defending units:
8th Malay Militia Regiment
18th Division
9th Malay Militia Regiment
18th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
14th Ind.Art.Mortar Battalion
3rd Mortar Battalion
34th Field AA Battalion
21th JNAF AF Unit
3rd Medium Field Artillery Regiment
20th AA Regiment
50th JNAF AF Unit
25th Army
23rd AA Regiment
1st RF Gun Battalion
3rd Ind. Mountain Gun Regiment
92nd JAAF AF Bn /1
94th JAAF AF Bn /1

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Post #: 866

RE: The Hive - Cruft PBEM - 10/4/2013 12:25:16 AM

Captain Cruft

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From: England
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O/T - Modding the WitE/WitW engine for the War in Asia

As readers may have guessed, I have been spending a lot of time playing WitE recently, hence the relatively sparse AAR updates. The actual game has been progressing just fine though.

This latest Grigsby engine really is the best yet IMO. As an operational/strategic land war engine it is already very good and could be sans pareil. From a software viewpoint it is much better structured than previous efforts and for the first time features an in-game editor rather than the usual external one. Importantly it looks like 2by3 and Matrix are going to invest in the platorm long-term rather than doing the usual "abandoning it to volunteers" thing which they are fond of. The plan is eventually to produce a "War in Europe" uber-monster game covering the entire European theatre on a truly vast map (at 10 miles per hex) and doing land, air and naval properly.

That is a long way off, and definitely a non-trivial undertaking, however if and when it arrives it seems to me that this engine would be eminently suitable for making a WitP 2 game.

Therefore to jump the gun a a bit what I am thinking of doing is investigating if there is any scope for doing Pacific/Asia scenarios using the existing WitE engine. This would just be for the land war at this point since the air game is sub-optimal and the naval game basically non-existent. Ideas would be Manchuria 45 or perhaps Luzon 41 or even at a push Olympic/Coronet. AE gives a basis for the OOB and deployments and the definition of ground units in both games is very similar.

The critical path is to see if I can work out the structure of the map data file (PWHEX equivalent). If I can then it's game on.

To put it simply, this is a chance to do "WitP at 10 miles per hex". As such it cannot be ignored.

(in reply to Captain Cruft)

Post #: 867

RE: The Hive - Cruft PBEM - 10/5/2013 3:33:40 PM

Captain Cruft

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From: England
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03 Apr 1944

Batavia falls. He brought 5 divisions ...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Batavia (49,98)

Allied Shock attack

Attacking force 61744 troops, 1092 guns, 1848 vehicles, Assault Value = 2593

Defending force 14670 troops, 151 guns, 156 vehicles, Assault Value = 134

Allied engineers reduce fortifications to 3

Allied adjusted assault: 3399

Japanese adjusted defense: 129

Allied assault odds: 26 to 1 (fort level 3)

Allied forces CAPTURE Batavia !!!

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), forts(+), leaders(+), experience(-)
Attacker: shock(+)

Japanese ground losses:
5477 casualties reported
Squads: 104 destroyed, 7 disabled
Non Combat: 115 destroyed, 148 disabled
Engineers: 52 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 62 (59 destroyed, 3 disabled)
Vehicles lost 98 (97 destroyed, 1 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
504 casualties reported
Squads: 5 destroyed, 47 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 22 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 6 disabled
Guns lost 15 (1 destroyed, 14 disabled)
Vehicles lost 11 (1 destroyed, 10 disabled)

Assaulting units:
5th Australian Division
II Aus Corps Engineer Battalion
1st USMC Amphb Tank Battalion
4th Armoured Brigade
6th Australian Division
762nd Tank Battalion
763rd Tank Battalion
193rd Tank Battalion
93rd Infantry Division
34th Combat Engineer Regiment
27th Infantry Division
766th Tank Battalion
9th Australian Division
98th Field Artillery Battalion
223rd Field Artillery Battalion
II Australian
205th Field Artillery Battalion

Defending units:
56th Division
16th Army
12th Base Force

(in reply to Captain Cruft)

Post #: 868

RE: The Hive - Cruft PBEM - 10/5/2013 7:25:19 PM

Captain Cruft

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From: England
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Time for some data ...

Score