Japan Set-up Spreadsheet for AE

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Japan Set-up Spreadsheet for AE - 1/18/2013 11:01:47 PM

Kull

Posts: 2625
Joined: 7/3/2007
From: El Paso, TX
Status: offline

UPDATE 12/21/2015: The revised AE-Japan Setup Spreadsheet (Rev B) has been uploaded. It contains several new tabs containing many new features and lots of advice, while the main section has 701 changes (from a total line count of 3734). For those who have used (or are using) the previous version, just go to column "AI" (on the "Japan Set-up" tab) and filter on "1". This will show ONLY the elements which have changed, making it much easier to edit your starting setup. For a more detailed list of the changes and improvements, see the "changelog" in Post #6 below. (The link in this post has been updated so it contains the new spreadsheet)
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Since October 2012, I've been working on the Japanese equivalent to the AE-Allies Setup Spreadsheet. The focus, again, is to give the player a prescriptive list of actions to take on "Day 2", following the December 7th series of historical moves. Even more so than with the Allies, the range of choices facing the Japanese player are complex and daunting. There are 3734 individual Bases (277), LCUs (988), Ships (1673), Air Groups (282), and Industry elements (514), all of which can potentially be adjusted in the course of the Day 2 turn. And don't be fooled - although the Allies have more individual items (4589), the Japanese decision process is exponentially more difficult as the player has to account for all economic and production activity, specifically:

- The need to review current aircraft and engine models & pools and make immediate adjustments to industry to accommodate expected near term needs.
- The simultaneous requirement to make long term decisions on which airframes & engines to research, and to make plans and industry changes accordingly.
- Make similar adjustments to the Armaments & Vehicle plants, as well as the three forms of shipyards.
- Review the list of Civilian and Military naval vessels and decide which to accelerate or halt.
- Develop plans for importing the resources and fuel which are essential to the long term growth and functioning of the Japanese economy.
- Do all of the above without "Crashing the Economy" (a very real and very dangerous effect experienced by all too many inexperienced Japanese players).

Further complicating the decision process are the many "game play" options available, in particular whether one is playing PBEM or versus the AI, with "Player Defined Upgrades" on or off, and "Realistic R&D" on or off. Recommendations made without taking those three variables into account are effectively worthless. For example, an excellent research plan developed for a "PDU on" game would be insanity if followed with "PDU off". Personally I prefer games that impose a more historical set of constraints upon the player, plus my games are played against the AI, and thus I tend to shun settings which provide additional advantages against an already crippled opponent. So that means this spreadsheet is primarily intended for those who:

1) Play with PDU "off"
2) Play with Realistic R&D "on"
3) Play against the AI (although if the above settings are in place and you have a PBEM opponent, many of the spreadsheet recommendations are still pertinent).
4) Also worth noting that this spreadsheet is designed for Scenario 1. I've also used this setup in Scenario 17 (Allied Ironman), although you have to be quite a bit more cautious in that one.

Strategically, all unit movements and industry adjustments were made to support a moderately aggressive and historical Japanese approach. The primary objectives (at the 50,000 foot level) are as follows:

1) Pursue the traditional conquest pattern involving immediate moves to take Malaya, the Philippines, northern Borneo, northern New Guinea, and various island outposts in the Central Pacific.
2) Relatively near term moves aimed at the Moluccas, Rabaul, eastern Borneo, Burma, and Palembang.
3) A complex series of unit moves in China designed to release Division sized units for decidedly non-historical offensive actions in Northeast and Central China.
4) Post-Pearl Harbor positioning of KB to support the Wake Island invasion and a subsequent provisioning move to Truk (thus leaving it centrally positioned to move in any direction the player desires)
5) Development of two fully functional Baby KBs within a week's time (each comprising Zero & Kate equipped CVL/CVE combos) for immediate deployment to the Philippines and/or SRA.
6) Full implementation of the Resource Convoy system outlined by Damien in his Japanese Economy guide.
7) Implementation of most of Damien's recommendations regarding Armament, Vehicle, and Shipyard expansion.
8) Many of the ship conversions and upgrades recommended by Damien or picked up from Mike Solli's AAR.
9) Identification and expansion of designated Air Training units with extensive reallocation of pilots.
10) Detailed network of Search & ASW planes at key locations (interlocking verified and tweaked).
11) All submarines deployed on patrol (with patrol zones detailed).
12) A similar deployment of Naval ASW ship patrols in key areas.

If you've always wanted to play the Japanese, but never knew quite where to begin, here's the plan to get you started:

(Note: The attachment below will always be updated to contain the most recent spreadsheet revision)

Attachment (1)

< Message edited by Kull -- 12/21/2015 4:26:02 PM >

_____________________________

AE-Japan Setup

AE-Allied Setup

Japan Air-Engine Plan

Post #: 1

RE: Japan Set-up Spreadsheet for AE - 1/18/2013 11:02:50 PM

Kull

Posts: 2625
Joined: 7/3/2007
From: El Paso, TX
Status: offline

A picture is worth a thousand words, so here's what the AE-Japan Setup Spreadsheet looks like. Each column has a story:

Col A: Counter - This is the "row count". When using a filter button - lets say you wanted to work on all the "Manchukuo" region bases, units, and industry elements first - the counter in Cell A6 tells you how many rows of data you are working on (Manchukuo = 305).
Col B: Region - Every location on the map falls into one of 23 regions. It's one way to work on your Turn 2 selections in "bite size chunks". The Base data came from the WitP AE Tracker dataset (of which some was edited), and was manually extended to units.
Col C: Location - The hex location of every base, unit, or industry element. Modified WitP AE Tracker data.
Col D: Location Name - If the hex has a name (i.e. it's a Base of some sort), here it is. Modified WitP AE Tracker data.
Col E: Type - There are five row "types": Bases, Air Groups, LCUs, Ships, and Industry. New field, not from Tracker. Some of these cells are color coded:
- Green: Garrison Requirement is met
- Red: Garrison Requirement is NOT met
- Light Blue: Identifies all rows in which follow-on actions are required. You can filter this column by color in the "Day 3 and beyond" turns to identify tasks that still need to be performed (for example, LCUs that travel to one location by rail and then move somewhere else by road)
Col F: Unit Name - The name of each unit. Straight from the WitP AE Tracker datasets.
Col G: Unit Model/Type - Applies primarily to the units, although it also includes designators for "Airframe" & "Engine" to help filter on those elements when when working on Industry data. Airframe Model Names in Light Grey cells do not get upgrades. This is primarily unmodified data from WitP AE Tracker.
Col H: HQ - Applies only to Bases, Air Groups, and LCUs. Unmodified data from WitP AE Tracker.
Col I: Nation - Applies only to Bases, Air Groups, and LCUs. Heavily modified data from WitP AE Tracker.
Col J: ID - Unit ID. Of limited use, but insofar as it was provided by WitP AE Tracker, it's loaded here.
Col K: Code - Indicates the restriction status of units, and is also used to determine whether a base has a Garrison requirement (Conditional formatting automatically changes the cell color):
1: Unrestricted units. Can be moved to any base.
2: Restricted units. Can spend PP to switch to an unrestricted HQ (thus allowing moves to any base)
3: Restricted units. Cannot spend PP to change the HQ. Some "static" units allow HQ changes but they are marked as "3" because they can't move anyway.
G: Base has a Garrison Requirement (see Comments in Column L for specifics). Certain types of damage can occur when this requirement is not met (see Manual for details)
Col L: Comments - The meat of the spreadsheet. You can either follow my recommendations or tweak them to apply to your own strategy. Rather obviously, this is a new field, not from Tracker. Here's the meaning of the colored fonts used in the Comments field:
- Black: Take action as indicated
- Red: Either have to make a decision or ensure that indicated action takes place at a later date
- Green: Useful Information ("why" or "what", not "go do")
- Blue: Search coordinates
- Purple: Change made to a pre-existing TF or it's contents (i.e. on-map on Turn 1)

Attachment (1)

< Message edited by Kull -- 12/21/2015 4:36:30 PM >

_____________________________

AE-Japan Setup

AE-Allied Setup

Japan Air-Engine Plan

(in reply to Kull)

Post #: 2

RE: Japan Set-up Spreadsheet for AE - 1/18/2013 11:03:21 PM

Kull

Posts: 2625
Joined: 7/3/2007
From: El Paso, TX
Status: offline

Here's a screenshot of the second half of the spreadsheet. You may have been wondering about those descriptions in rows 1-5 of column D. They exist because I did something in this spreadsheet which is normally a bad idea - the data in columns M thru AG varies depending upon the "Type" (column E). I did this for a few reasons:
- First of all, most of this data is interesting but most people won't use it when making their Turn 2 choices.
- Secondly, it allowed me to shrink the width of the spreadsheet by a factor of three, which greatly enhances "usability".
- Thirdly, all of this data was taken directly from the WitP AE Tracker datasets, and is entirely unmodified.

So how do you interpret this? It's actually pretty easy:

- If you are viewing a row in which the "type" is "Industry", then use the column headings in row 1 (applies to columns M-O)
- If you are viewing a row in which the "type" is "Bases", then use the column headings in row 2 (applies to columns M-Z)
- If you are viewing a row in which the "type" is "LCU", then use the column headings in row 3 (applies to columns M-AE)
- If you are viewing a row in which the "type" is "Ship", then use the column headings in row 4 (applies to columns M-AG)
- If you are viewing a row in which the "type" is "Air Group", then use the column headings in row 5 (applies to columns M-AF)

Note: WitP AE Tracker has added a LOT more data since the AE-Allied Set-up spreadsheet was last updated in 2011, so this section of the spreadsheet is quite different when comparing the Japan & Allied version.

Attachment (1)

< Message edited by Kull -- 1/18/2013 11:14:29 PM >

_____________________________

AE-Japan Setup

AE-Allied Setup

Japan Air-Engine Plan

(in reply to Kull)

Post #: 3

RE: Japan Set-up Spreadsheet for AE - 1/18/2013 11:03:55 PM

Kull

Posts: 2625
Joined: 7/3/2007
From: El Paso, TX
Status: offline

There are twelve tabs in this workbook (used to be five), all serving a different purpose:

1) Getting Started (New): Primarily focused on teaching you to how to use and interpret the "Japan Set-up" worksheet, but also provides a synopsis of the other tabs.
2) Japan Set-up (Revised): Discussed extensively above.
3) Strategy & Reference (Revised): Used to be called "Background Info", but has now been expanded to include a detailed description of the overall strategy plus it adds a number of very useful references. These include charts for Leaders, Pilot training, the Production system, and links to a number of useful threads in the Matrix Games War in the Pacific Admiral's Edition Discussion Forum
4) CVL-CVE-CS Unit Resize Plan (Revised): Provides step-by-step instructions on how to completely fill your two "Baby KB" TFs with a full complement of Zeros and Kates manned by top notch pilots, AND set up a number of Air Training units. For certain units, the "Japan Set-up" worksheet will direct you to this tab for detailed instructions. Has been expanded to include a number of additional floatplane resizing activities. (Screen shot below)
5) Unit Arrival Dates (New): This is something I had planned to do for a long time, but it took a while to achieve - a single document listing the arrival dates and locations for ALL units - Land, Air and Sea. Much of this was pulled from Tracker, but it's nice to have all of it in one location. For the most part, use of this worksheet is self-explanatory, but please take note that it follows the same approach as the "Japan Set-up" worksheet, with different column headings in rows 2-4 (applies to data in columns O thru AC). It can help to filter by unit "Type" (column C) in order to see the various units aggregated. The headings for all other columns (A thru N) apply equally to all units, regardless of type.
6) Jap Airgroup Upgrades (New): This is an important new research and tracking tool, which will be explored in detail in a follow-on post.
7) Transports for Key LCUs (Revised): Details (by name) the ships needed to transport four key land units to their destinations. To some extent this is redundant with information in the "Comments" column in the "Japan Set-up" worksheet, but it can be helpful to see it centralized in one place.
8) Devices (New): Information pulled from Tracker, listing all the devices. Can be very helpful when trying to determine the importance of any given device upgrade, especially for LCUs. Redundant with reports available in game, but the sorting here is a bit easier, especially if you have this workbook open during your game.
9) Bases (New): Information pulled from Tracker, listing all the Japanese Bases and their "Turn 1" status. Probably of limited utility.
10) Industry (New): Information pulled from Tracker, listing the "Turn 1" status of all Japanese Industry and Resource-type elements. Useful if you want to aggregate them by type and plan out some global changes (Addition of the "Industry button" in AE makes this less useful than it once was).
11) Region-Base list (New): Information pulled from Tracker, listing all Bases (including the Allies) and their associated regions.
12) KB (2nd Day at PH): Let's just say that I don't recommend hanging around Pearl Harbor for a second day of air strikes, but if you do, here are the TF and Airgroup changes you'll need to make. Basically its a 38 row duplication of the main spreadsheet, but focused purely on KB's constituent elements.

Attachment (1)

< Message edited by Kull -- 12/24/2015 3:58:00 PM >

_____________________________

AE-Japan Setup

AE-Allied Setup

Japan Air-Engine Plan

(in reply to Kull)

Post #: 4

RE: Japan Set-up Spreadsheet for AE - 1/18/2013 11:04:48 PM

Kull

Posts: 2625
Joined: 7/3/2007
From: El Paso, TX
Status: offline

Here are two things which should add to your enjoyment:

1) Japanese ships Art Mod: In April 2020 I completed a mod which provides historically accurate shapes, colors, and camouflage for 135 classes of Japanese ships, primarily Auxiliaries, Transports and Cargo ships. If you are interested in the historical background behind each and every one of these vessels, there's an interesting thread which takes you through the development process. For the mod itself, this link has the download and full installation instructions.

2) The Japan Airframe & Engine Planner spreadsheet is a tool I developed to determine which changes to airframe and engine production and R&D would be needed, not just in the initial days of the campaign, but over the first year and beyond. The attached file (in this post) is not the generic planner linked to above, but rather the specific plan contained in the AE-Japan Set-up spreadsheet.

It should prove useful for those who follow that model.

Attachment (1)

< Message edited by Kull -- 6/12/2020 5:11:31 PM >

_____________________________

AE-Japan Setup

AE-Allied Setup

Japan Air-Engine Plan

(in reply to Kull)

Post #: 5

RE: Japan Set-up Spreadsheet for AE - 1/18/2013 11:05:36 PM

Kull

Posts: 2625
Joined: 7/3/2007
From: El Paso, TX
Status: offline

Rev B (12/21/2015):

The major reason for this revision is that LCU forces were originally spread too widely, and could not achieve quick, decisive wins in either of the two invasion theatres designated for Division-sized units (Malaya/Singapore & Luzon/Bataan). One of the two MUST be won quickly in order to free up forces for use elsewhere. Force disposition recommendations also kept too many of the divisions divided into their sub component groupings (primarily 2, 18, and 48 Div, to a lesser extent 16, 55, & 56 Div), and they simply fight more effectively when combined. Personally I love the granularity of the regiments and battalions, but c'est la vie. In this revised version, every effort is made to quickly deliver preponderant levels of force to Singapore (strategically the most important theatre) and achieve victory so those units can be released for the conquest of (1) Java, (2) Luzon, & (3) Burma.

Also important is to have overwhelming power available to quickly grab control of the Solomons/New Guinea region before the Allies have time to build up their defenses. That requires two full divisions for immediate employment at Rabaul and then Port Moresby - to include an HQ unit (The earliest available reinforcement HQ arrives in May '42, but you can't wait that long). Not everyone agrees that PM is important, but to me it is necessary to solidify full control of the Solomons and as a precursor to the possession of Horn Island and ensuring the viability of the Darwin Invasion option.

Primarily for this reason - but also to clean up mistakes and improve recommendations in other areas - 701 of the "Comments" have been altered (out of 3734 total - almost 20%). So this really is a very different looking game from the original.

Lastly, the entire workbook has been significantly modified. Although the format of the "set-up" has not changed, there are 7 new tabs, to include "Getting Started" and "Strategy & References" worksheets loaded with helpful tips and insights.

*****************************************************************************************

Rev A (2/8/2013):

Added Column AM which features two new filtering options:
* - The single asterisk designates all units that are part of a "magic move" Task Force
** - The double asterisk designates all units contained in non-submarine TFs at game start

< Message edited by Kull -- 12/24/2015 3:52:53 PM >

_____________________________

AE-Japan Setup

AE-Allied Setup

Japan Air-Engine Plan

(in reply to Kull)

Post #: 6

RE: Japan Set-up Spreadsheet for AE - 1/19/2013 12:11:54 AM

Kull

Posts: 2625
Joined: 7/3/2007
From: El Paso, TX
Status: offline

One of the really cool things that happens when you complete your "Day 2" dispositions and hit the End Turn button, is the amazing Red Cloud of ships that appear all around the Home Islands:

_____________________________

AE-Japan Setup

AE-Allied Setup

Japan Air-Engine Plan

(in reply to Kull)

Post #: 7

RE: Japan Set-up Spreadsheet for AE - 1/19/2013 12:16:11 AM

nashvillen

Posts: 3836
Joined: 7/3/2006
From: Christiana, TN
Status: offline

Bravo! Kull!

_____________________________

(in reply to Kull)

Post #: 8

RE: Japan Set-up Spreadsheet for AE - 1/19/2013 1:42:35 AM

scout1

Posts: 2899
Joined: 8/24/2004
From: South Bend, In
Status: offline

My haven't you been a busy beaver Paul ....... My compliments ......

(in reply to Kull)

Post #: 9

RE: Japan Set-up Spreadsheet for AE - 1/19/2013 5:23:03 AM

Kull

Posts: 2625
Joined: 7/3/2007
From: El Paso, TX
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: scout1

My haven't you been a busy beaver Paul ....... My compliments ......

Playing as Japan is really fun, but my god, is it complicated. To the extent I can give some folks an easier head start, well, it's worth the effort! One thing I heard again and again from folks who used the Allied Spreadsheet is that it "got them going". Hopefully this does the same thing on the Japanese side.

_____________________________

AE-Japan Setup

AE-Allied Setup

Japan Air-Engine Plan

(in reply to scout1)

Post #: 10

RE: Japan Set-up Spreadsheet for AE - 1/19/2013 9:05:21 PM

Razz1

Posts: 2560
Joined: 10/21/2007
From: CaLiForNia
Status: offline

Excellent!

(in reply to Kull)

Post #: 11

RE: Japan Set-up Spreadsheet for AE - 1/22/2013 7:19:53 PM

Ossian

Posts: 100
Joined: 7/7/2005
Status: offline

Superb. I'm currently doing my first ever turn as Japan and have been stumped by the sheer volume of stuff, things and whatnots. I think your sheets will be getting a lot of reading. Thanks for all the work.

_____________________________

(in reply to Razz1)

Post #: 12

RE: Japan Set-up Spreadsheet for AE - 1/22/2013 10:11:18 PM

Blackhorse

Posts: 1983
Joined: 8/20/2000
From: Eastern US
Status: offline

Once again, outstanding work!

_____________________________

WitP-AE -- US LCU & AI Stuff

Oddball: Why don't you knock it off with them negative waves? Why don't you dig how beautiful it is out here? Why don't you say something righteous and hopeful for a change?
Moriarty: Crap!

(in reply to Ossian)

Post #: 13

RE: Japan Set-up Spreadsheet for AE - 2/5/2013 4:21:20 AM

Dante Fierro

Posts: 330
Joined: 2/23/2012
From: Idaho Falls
Status: offline

Just came across your spreadsheets today. Wow!!

This will be so helpful for noobies like myself. Kudos thanks.

_____________________________

(in reply to Blackhorse)

Post #: 14

RE: Japan Set-up Spreadsheet for AE - 2/8/2013 2:20:04 AM

scout1

Posts: 2899
Joined: 8/24/2004
From: South Bend, In
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: Kull

quote:

ORIGINAL: scout1

My haven't you been a busy beaver Paul ....... My compliments ......

Playing as Japan is really fun, but my god, is it complicated. To the extent I can give some folks an easier head start, well, it's worth the effort! One thing I heard again and again from folks who used the Allied Spreadsheet is that it "got them going". Hopefully this does the same thing on the Japanese side.

Paul,

Your spreadsheet for turn 0 is pretty cool ...... Though is based on a PH raid, etc ...... Alternate targets on turn 1 (such as Manilla) will alter some spreadsheet choices obviously, but the logistics part of it isn't likely to change (cargo setups to haul raw materials). Is there a convienent method the isolate this aspect to implement. I filtered on the Region as Japan and then filtered on ships. This kinda works, but was curious of you might be able to suggest an alternate approach ....... ??????

(in reply to Kull)

Post #: 15

RE: Japan Set-up Spreadsheet for AE - 2/8/2013 5:18:55 PM

Kull

Posts: 2625
Joined: 7/3/2007
From: El Paso, TX
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: scout1

Paul,

Your spreadsheet for turn 0 is pretty cool ...... Though is based on a PH raid, etc ...... Alternate targets on turn 1 (such as Manilla) will alter some spreadsheet choices obviously, but the logistics part of it isn't likely to change (cargo setups to haul raw materials). Is there a convienent method the isolate this aspect to implement. I filtered on the Region as Japan and then filtered on ships. This kinda works, but was curious of you might be able to suggest an alternate approach ....... ??????

I use the "Historical Start" for a number of reasons, in particular because it "fixes" the starting point for Japan, and thus buckets my advice into the category of "you just bombed Pearl Harbor AND all your task forces are following the historical model, now what?" By contrast, if I chose "non-historical start", the game begins with the real Turn 0 and the player is faced with a near-infinite number of possible strategies. Deploy KB against Manila? Possibly fragment it (the "Kaga-in-SRA/Malaya" option)? Alter many or most of the Amphibious landing destinations (Mersing Gambit? SRA Oil Ports? Palembang?). At that point the spreadsheet would be narrowly focused on MY non-historical recommendations, thus making it less useful to most new players (who have enough to worry about in managing the choices following from the historical start).

That said, there IS a way for a "non-historical start" player to get real benefit from the spreadsheet. Most of the units (and choices) in China, Japan, and Manchukuo are not affected by a change in TF destinations on Turn 0. And neither are most of the units deployed elsewhere on the map. Conversely, most of the TFs present at game start (especially the asterisked "Magic Move" TFs) probably will change. Accordingly I've updated the spreadsheet and added column AM, which allows the player to filter those out initially, thus allowing you to proceed with the changes that are less likely to be altered in a "non historical" start. The idea is to use the filter button and ensure that only "Blanks" is checked. That will leave 2965 of a possible 3734 rows.

At this point you should follow a process that I recommend in all cases - make your changes region by region and as each row's action is completed, change the fill color of the cell in Column B to a color (such as green or yellow or whatever you like). This allows you to easily filter by "no fill" and thus easily highlight only those rows where action has NOT been taken. Let's face it, making your initial Japanese dispositions is a multi-day process anyway, so it's helpful to keep track of what's been done versus what hasn't. Eventually you will find that leaves a relatively small number of TFs and related units that will need to be altered in accordance with the non-historical strategy of your choice.

This probably sounds a lot more complicated than it actually is!

EDIT: Revised comments to reflect the new filtering capability in the Rev A spreadsheet

< Message edited by Kull -- 2/8/2013 7:22:52 PM >

_____________________________

AE-Japan Setup

AE-Allied Setup

Japan Air-Engine Plan

(in reply to scout1)

Post #: 16

RE: Japan Set-up Spreadsheet for AE - 2/8/2013 9:55:18 PM

scout1

Posts: 2899
Joined: 8/24/2004
From: South Bend, In
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: Kull

quote:

ORIGINAL: scout1

Paul,

Your spreadsheet for turn 0 is pretty cool ...... Though is based on a PH raid, etc ...... Alternate targets on turn 1 (such as Manilla) will alter some spreadsheet choices obviously, but the logistics part of it isn't likely to change (cargo setups to haul raw materials). Is there a convienent method the isolate this aspect to implement. I filtered on the Region as Japan and then filtered on ships. This kinda works, but was curious of you might be able to suggest an alternate approach ....... ??????

I use the "Historical Start" for a number of reasons, in particular because it "fixes" the starting point for Japan, and thus buckets my advice into the category of "you just bombed Pearl Harbor AND all your task forces are following the historical model, now what?" By contrast, if I chose "non-historical start", the game begins with the real Turn 0 and the player is faced with a near-infinite number of possible strategies. Deploy KB against Manila? Possibly fragment it (the "Kaga-in-SRA/Malaya" option)? Alter many or most of the Amphibious landing destinations (Mersing Gambit? SRA Oil Ports? Palembang?). At that point the spreadsheet would be narrowly focused on MY non-historical recommendations, thus making it less useful to most new players (who have enough to worry about in managing the choices following from the historical start).

That said, there IS a way for a "non-historical start" player to get real benefit from the spreadsheet. Most of the units (and choices) in China, Japan, and Manchukuo are not affected by a change in TF destinations on Turn 0. And neither are most of the units deployed elsewhere on the map. Conversely, most of the TFs present at game start (especially the asterisked "Magic Move" TFs) probably will change. Accordingly I've updated the spreadsheet and added column AM, which allows the player to filter those out initially, thus allowing you to proceed with the changes that are less likely to be altered in a "non historical" start. The idea is to use the filter button and ensure that only "Blanks" is checked. That will leave 2965 of a possible 3734 rows.

At this point you should follow a process that I recommend in all cases - make your changes region by region and as each row's action is completed, change the fill color of the cell in Column B to a color (such as green or yellow or whatever you like). This allows you to easily filter by "no fill" and thus easily highlight only those rows where action has NOT been taken. Let's face it, making your initial Japanese dispositions is a multi-day process anyway, so it's helpful to keep track of what's been done versus what hasn't. Eventually you will find that leaves a relatively small number of TFs and related units that will need to be altered in accordance with the non-historical strategy of your choice.

This probably sounds a lot more complicated than it actually is!

EDIT: Revised comments to reflect the new filtering capability in the Rev A spreadsheet

That will work .... Thanks Paul ........

(in reply to Kull)

Post #: 17

RE: Japan Set-up Spreadsheet for AE - 2/8/2013 10:53:37 PM

Speedysteve

Posts: 15998
Joined: 9/11/2001
From: Reading, England
Status: offline

This is great. I'm planning on starting a game as Japanese vs my Dad in the next 3-4 months. Although I'm a veteran if WitP I haven't played the Japenese side in AE ever! This will be a big help. Thanks

_____________________________

WitE 2 Tester
WitE Tester
BTR/BoB Tester

(in reply to scout1)

Post #: 18

RE: Japan Set-up Spreadsheet for AE - 2/9/2013 4:35:35 PM

Kull

Posts: 2625
Joined: 7/3/2007
From: El Paso, TX
Status: offline

A few comments on using the spreadsheet. If you aren't committed to the general strategy and only want to use portions of the advice, keep in mind that most of my recommendations are reversible. For example, changing the move mode of a land unit, assigning missions to aircraft, or putting ships into one task force or another. The actions which are NOT immediately reversible (at least in the same turn) are as follows:

- Moving an aircraft from one location to another
- Loading a land or air unit into an amphibious or transport TF
- Moving pilots in and out of air units
- Resizing air units and Industry elements
- Changing Industry production from one air unit or engine type to another
- Changing an LCUs "Plan For" target from one base to another (you can change it back, but most or all of the previous points will be lost)
- Disbanding Air units (although I can't think of any cases where I advise you to do this)
- Spending PPs to change HQs

Obviously that's not a short list, and the spreadsheet has plenty of recommendations for those exact activities. It would be a very disjointed exercise were you to delay all those actions until the very end, so I don't recommend it. However, if you have certain areas of the game where you definitely plan a different approach (for example a holding action in Malaya while moving immediately to Burma or Sumatra), or any of a hundred other strategy-specific tweaks, well just make those changes first, and then follow the spreadsheet goals elsewhere. The key point is to be aware that you can't easily roll back certain choices.

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Post #: 19

RE: Japan Set-up Spreadsheet for AE - 2/9/2013 11:33:11 PM

Speedysteve

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Thanks. I've played the game long enough to know the strategic options, processes and planning etc. for me it's more about the industry side and not expanding too much too quickly, getting the right resource levels, aircraft choices, engines, production levels etc etc

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Post #: 20

RE: Japan Set-up Spreadsheet for AE - 12/14/2013 11:39:30 AM

el lobo

Posts: 825
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Kull,

First of all, thank you for all of you work on your spreadsheets. Even though I am preparing for scenario 2, as Japan, they have been very informative and helpful in guiding me in the right directions.

In the thread, �Patch 07 � Unofficial Public Beta,� you wrote,

'Excellent! Was getting ready to start my first "spreadsheet driven" Japan game, and was REALLY hoping this would be fixed before the week-end!'

The words �spreadsheet driven� jumped-out at me. How are you gong to do this? Are going to do your moves in a ss and import them?

About the same time I read your post, I read the below, from the witpload_readme.txt and wondered if the two are related or if possible.

WITPloadAE version 9.0

This program will export the scenario database files for a scenario number to several CSV files.

As part of the export, a reference table CSV is generated showing the values for certain exported/editor fields.

In addition, it also provides the ability to import changes to these CSV files back into the scenario database files.

Etc.

Sounds intriguing.

TIA for your answer.

el lobo

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Post #: 21

RE: Japan Set-up Spreadsheet for AE - 12/15/2013 10:06:03 PM

Kull

Posts: 2625
Joined: 7/3/2007
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The short answer is, "no", I never developed (or tried to develop) a system for generating .csv files and uploading them into the game, thus bypassing the process of manually making all these changes. Whether that could be done, I don't know.

However, that would eliminate one of the main purposes of the spreadsheet. The process of loading up a game and then opening all the various menus and screens is where much of the real learning occurs. And because you have to do it again and again and again

, that basically burns it into the new player's memory, so on Turn 3 there's a strong sense of "been there done that", which helps the turns move faster and faster over time.

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Post #: 22

RE: Japan Set-up Spreadsheet for AE - 12/16/2013 11:23:48 AM

el lobo

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Thanks. Looking forward to turn 3.

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Post #: 23

RE: Japan Set-up Spreadsheet for AE - 12/16/2013 2:30:28 PM

jeffk3510

Posts: 4132
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Kull-

Does Japan find herself short of escorts Dec 7 like the Allies?

My priority for escorts after combat ships are:

(AFB here..)

Troops
Fuel
Supplies

I'll run supplies convoys without escorts a lot. I never run troops without them, and rarely run fuel without them, but do in uncontested areas if I don't have a choice.

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Post #: 24

RE: Japan Set-up Spreadsheet for AE - 12/17/2013 10:43:31 PM

Kull

Posts: 2625
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quote:

ORIGINAL: jeffk3510

Kull-

Does Japan find herself short of escorts Dec 7 like the Allies?

My priority for escorts after combat ships are:

(AFB here..)

Troops
Fuel
Supplies

I'll run supplies convoys without escorts a lot. I never run troops without them, and rarely run fuel without them, but do in uncontested areas if I don't have a choice.

Not really. The Japanese can convert a LOT of cargo ships over to Patrol/Escort craft at the beginning of the war. That allows you to dedicate those to the lower value cargo ships carrying fuel and supplies. Troops almost always get DDs and sometimes light CLs, as do Tankers, but those don't comprise the majority of your convoys

Japanese naval ASW is very poor at the beginning of the game (especially on the new conversions), but the primary goal is to keep subs from surfacing and using deck guns. Especially with US fleet class subs sporting defective torps for the 1st part of the war.

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Post #: 25

RE: Japan Set-up Spreadsheet for AE - 12/21/2015 4:24:17 PM

Kull

Posts: 2625
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From: El Paso, TX
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(As noted in Post #4, this new spreadsheet requires a detailed review)

6) Jap Airgroup Upgrades (New): In short, this worksheet will allow you to quickly see ALL Air Unit upgrades, resizes, withdrawals, returns and even the number of times a unit is renamed. For the Japanese player - especially in a "Realistic R&D" and "PDU off" game, it is critical that you determine well in advance whether a particular Air Frame is worth researching. That used to be very hard to do, but now this worksheet puts all the information right at your fingertips. I spent weeks putting this together, based primarily on data pulled from Tracker, but augmented extensively by "one record at a time" reviews of every air unit in the Scenario Database. This is an important addition to the workbook, so first we'll have a brief overview of the most important columns, and then I'll give you a short tutorial on how to use it. As an aside, during the spreadsheet development I spotted a number of apparent database errors (most known others perhaps not). In all cases, I highlighted the appropriate cell and added an Excel comment explaining the issue (you can see one of these in the first screen shot appended below).

Col C & D: Unit IDs - All units have a "Unit ID" (Col C) but when a unit withdraws and returns, it gets a new Unit ID (Col D). To make it easier to visually spot them, Col D also shows the previous Unit ID for those that return. For example, Yamada Det S-1 (143) returns as Kanoya Ku S-1 (40), and you'll see both numbers referenced (rows 116 and 33, respectively)

Col F: Name Changes - Shows the number of different times the unit's name changes. I thought about adding additional columns for each new name, but it would have taken a lot more work (maybe someday). It's helpful to know which units will have name changes, but since the primary purpose of the worksheet is to assist in research planning at game start, it's not as important as other features.

Col I: Split - Tells you if a unit can divide into subcomponents (it's either 3 or 0)

Col J, L, & M: Dates - Col J has the arrival date for any unit not already present on 12/7/41, Col L has the withdrawal date (if the number is "0", the unit does not withdraw), while Col M has the return date (if the number is "0", the unit does not return. Date format is YYMMDD.

Col O: Restriction Level - Indicates the restriction status of units, according to the usual Blue/Gray/Red numeric codes. Interestingly, this status is not directly called out in the Unit Data files, so for arriving units I had to guess based on the Restriction levels of their HQ. Anecdotally, I have never seen a Restricted HQ air unit arrive on map without the ability to "buy it out" with PPs, so all those are listed as "Grey".

Cols P-X: Upgrade Model Names - Col P has the first upgrade model name (if applicable), and the next columns contain the sequential list of per-unit additional upgrades (Yokosuka Ku S-1 has NINE possible upgrades!)

Cols Y-AQ: (Various) - Information pulled from Tracker (not edited). The most useful data is in Col AC (Max Planes). If it makes viewing easier, you could probably hide all the other columns in this group (no screenshot for these).

Cols AR-AZ: Resize number and date - Of the 865 air units, 158 can resize at least once, and these columns capture that information, sequentially showing both the Resize level and date. (Sasebo Ku T-1 can resize FOUR times!) If there is no resize, the Resize Number columns contain "N". For simplicity's sake, the Date uses only YYMM format, since the resizing always takes effect on the first day of the month.

Attachment (1)

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Post #: 26

RE: Japan Set-up Spreadsheet for AE - 12/21/2015 4:25:03 PM

Kull

Posts: 2625
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From: El Paso, TX
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Using the "Jap Airgroup Upgrades" worksheet: For design reasons, I wanted to keep all the information for each Air Unit on a single row. While that does give you a full set of information for each individual unit, the downside is that you'll have to play around with the filter buttons in order to find information like, "How many units can upgrade to "model X"? Even so, a few simple clicks will get you there very quickly. For this exercise, let's say we want to know how many units will be able to field the "George" fighter model (and it's various iterations)
First thing is to see how many George air units are due to arrive. Using the filter in Col G, we see there are 4. Some key points:
- All four arrive pretty late - one in 11/43 and the others in '44.
- Two of them withdraw, so they aren't permanent. 8 months for one, 14 for the other.
- All are restricted, so you'll have to "buy them out" in order to use them elsewhere
- Unit sizes are good. Two at 36 and two at 27 (both of which can resize to 36)

Attachment (1)

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Post #: 27

RE: Japan Set-up Spreadsheet for AE - 2/5/2017 2:46:43 PM

btd64

Posts: 9973
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BUMP....GP

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Post #: 28

RE: Japan Set-up Spreadsheet for AE - 1/30/2018 4:59:37 PM

nashvillen

Posts: 3836
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From: Christiana, TN
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Had to look too hard for this, bump!

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Post #: 29

RE: Japan Set-up Spreadsheet for AE - 5/18/2018 8:05:19 PM

Gormadoc

Posts: 31
Joined: 3/18/2008
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This is a Goldmine.

One question about the "CVL-CVE-CS unit Rezise plan."

4) Once again create the Air Combat TF containing only CVL Zuiho (undocked) and transfer the now-Size 12 Kate unit to Hiroshima, add 18 Veteran Pilots, set unit to Train: 100-Naval Attack, Alt: 8K, Range: 0
8) Divide the Claude Unit, upgrade "A" and "C" to Zero (will place 10 Zeros in each subunit), +5 Claudes to "B" (getting it up to full size), +5 Veteran Pilots each for "A" and "C"

Where do you get all Veteran pilots from?
I have 0 Veteran pilots unassigned when i start scenario 1

Cheers

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Post #: 30