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Operation Watchtower Guadalcanal Boot Camp - Dante(A) vs AI

 
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Operation Watchtower Guadalcanal Boot Camp - Dante(A) v... - 7/29/2020 8:10:04 PM   
Dante Fierro


Posts: 330
Joined: 2/23/2012
From: Idaho Falls
Status: offline 		This is my first attempt writing an AAR playing the Guadalcanal scenario v1, using the beta (Sep 17,2016) release of WiTP (without Babes Modifications) myself as Allied player vs. AI, using the Justus2 Guadalcanal AI 044 Mod scenario IJ. Historical difficulty. One Day Turns.

Additional Scenario Settings
Fog of War: On
Advanced Weather Effects: On
Allied Damage Control: On
Player Def Upgrades: Off
Reliable USN Torpedoes: Off
No Unit Withdrawals: Off

Read this AAR at your own risk (of possible boredom). Comments & suggestions are welcome. Obviously this AAR will not be for everyone, as it is simply a novice player starting out with AE:WiTP. And yes agreed: Player versus Player is a far more interesting challenge, but of which I feel a preliminary game against the AI is required as a kind of 'Boot Camp' for my 'novice' status, hence the subtitle in the AAR, before graduating to a PvP game. I tend to be more verbose than I should be at times, so one of the initial goals of this AAR is to be more succinct in my summaries and thoughts.

Preliminary Pre-1st Turn Activities

As most of you know, undertaking AE:WiTP for the first time is a daunting task, even for experienced gamers. Usually it is sufficient to just read the rules of a game and just get going within hours. And with modern computer games these days, people don't even read rules, they just get started (maybe with a few light tutorials). AE is a different beast. The rules manual is 329 pages in length (yes, a small novel) and you really have to read a good portion of the AE manual to get even a rudimentary idea of what is going on in WiTP. But even this I have found, is not quite enough to begin issuing orders from your Grand Admiral command seat (i.e. worn out computer chair) even after several cups of coffee.

So let's get started. Pre-1st turn activities:

1) Print out of the rules manual. Tabbing of key chapters (Naval Units, Ground Units, Bases, Spotting, Victory Conditions, etc) Written notes on margins that include changes made in new versions of the original application (quite a few) and underlining of key rules etc.

2) A slow and lengthy review of the Matrix Games Forum posts that provide much needed insight into how to use the game mechanics, that the rules manual does not provide in of itself. This includes the many AARs that players have generously posted (and thank you AAR'rs for that) serving I suppose as inspiration for my own AAR attempt here. As I have reviewed the WiTP forum posts and AARs I have taken notes and divided my notes into several categories and files that I can later come back to for review. Also I have reviewed and saved a number of player written guides one can find on these forums. Also invaluable when first starting out.

The categories of my note files & guides are as follows. I will post a screenshot of the directory I have saved the files in, and will resume the AAR in a second follow up post.





Attachment (1)

< Message edited by Dante Fierro -- 8/19/2020 5:00:07 PM >
Post #: 1
Pre-Start Guadalcanal OOBs - 7/29/2020 9:10:19 PM   
Dante Fierro


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

As in any wargame (or real life conflict) it's a good idea to (at least) get a general idea of your starting forces (and resources) ... your own and your opposition, and reinforcements scheduled for the game. I was somewhat conflicted on just how much of the 'OOB' I should be aware of before starting the Guadalcanal scenario - and after posting a question on the forums in this regard, received the reply that many Veteran AE players know (by memory and in detail) starting disposition of forces for both sides, and also reinforcement schedules, assuming you play standard historical non-random reinforcement schedule which I will be doing for my play-thru of GC.

Since the scenario description does not provide much detail of OOBs (for either side) it required me to log on as both the IJ player to get a general breakdown of IJ forces. I have decided to limit my knowledge of the IJ OOB to a certain amount (in order to enjoy some unpredictability of the war) so I took a simple count of naval ship types for each side, to get a rough idea of starting naval 'assets'. Air assets I did not count, other than knowing the general types of planes the IJ can fly out (such as Betty's and Kates) and their bombing/escort reach from the key IJ bases.

Naval Asset breakdown were as follow ... format is Type:(Allied count / IJ count)

CV: 3/-, BB: 1/-, CA: 11/5, CL: 2/3, CLAA: 2/-, DD: 45,2 SS: 9/5, DM: 4/- DMS: 4/2 AM: 21/AMc 2, AO: 4/2

APD: 4/7, AP: 22/-, AK: 7/2 xAP: 8/-, xAK: 15/30, xAKL: 4/9, SC: -/11, TK: -/4, PG: 5/PB 12

I did not count the singleton ships, so will leave that up to Naval search missions. Again, a balance of fog-of-war versus knowing OOB in absolute detail was my general goal. I wanted a rough idea, but not everything in detail. Note: the counts may not be completely accurate here but I'm fine with that as well. The main ship types were the crucial counts. Most notably, the Allies start the GC scenario with 3 carriers and the IJ with none!

I will write more about the starting force dispositions later. But clearly, a quick review of the starting Naval forces show the scenario reflects the historical situation that the Japanese will be caught by surprise by superior Allied Naval forces in the general area. And the Allied player enjoys this superiority until IJ reinforcements begin arriving. And the IJ reinforcement schedule is actually important when developing my initial Allied strategy (and tactical considerations) for Guadalcanal.

A general ship type count of IJ reinforcements:

Day 1: 10 SS, 1 xAKL, 3 DD, 1 CS
Day 3: CL
Day 5: DD
Day 6: AV
Day 9: MGB
Day 10: SS
Day 12: 2 CVs, 1 CVL, 1 CVE, 3 BBs, AV, 9 CAs, 3CLs, 36DDs, 2 PCs, 3 AMc, 2 AKL, 5 SSs, 3 AOs, 2 SCs, 4 PBs,
9 AK
Day 22: Yamato, CL


IJ Naval reinforcements arrive at Truk. Thus giving the Allied player a few days before they arrive on scene.

But the key reinforcement day is obviously 12 days into the scenario. In essence, as the Allies I have a 12 day window of surprise on the IJ naval forces before force parity takes place (at least for Naval assets). Land air is still an obvious threat along with the 5 subs the IJs start off with (+10 SS on the first day!)

Alright will leave off here, and write more later. I will discuss the Victory Conditions and how I am working out my first orders for the first turn of the game for August 4th, 1942

< Message edited by Dante Fierro -- 8/18/2020 5:45:07 AM >

(in reply to Dante Fierro)
Post #: 2
RE: Pre-Start Guadalcanal OOBs - 7/29/2020 11:14:53 PM   
RangerJoe


Posts: 13450
Joined: 11/16/2015
From: My Mother, although my Father had some small part.
Status: offline 		Strike fast, strike hard, run supplies in when you can. The Allies lost a lot of good ships in the area - including the Hornet and the Wasp.

_____________________________

Seek peace but keep your gun handy.

I'm not a complete idiot, some parts are missing!

“Illegitemus non carborundum est (“Don’t let the bastards grind you down”).”
― Julia Child


(in reply to Dante Fierro)
Post #: 3
RE: Pre-Start Guadalcanal OOBs - 7/29/2020 11:21:36 PM   
Dante Fierro


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

ORIGINAL: RangerJoe

Strike fast, strike hard, run supplies in when you can. The Allies lost a lot of good ships in the area - including the Hornet and the Wasp.


Thank you Senor. Good advice!

(in reply to RangerJoe)
Post #: 4
RE: Pre-Start Guadalcanal OOBs - 7/30/2020 2:06:49 AM   
RangerJoe


Posts: 13450
Joined: 11/16/2015
From: My Mother, although my Father had some small part.
Status: offline 		Against DDs, your torpedo bombers are best armed with bombs. Fly them at 1000 feet for accuracy. Expect losses - on both sides!

Night naval search. Direct some up the Slot as well as to the north to detect the carriers.

If you can lay minefields, do so but judiciously.

S-boats are fine in shallow water and have good torpedoes but smaller warheads. Use any fleet boats as a picket line. Check the DL on them and try to figure out where the search is coming from. Also note the type of aircraft - float, land, and/or carrier which could also be on land.

_____________________________

Seek peace but keep your gun handy.

I'm not a complete idiot, some parts are missing!

“Illegitemus non carborundum est (“Don’t let the bastards grind you down”).”
― Julia Child


(in reply to Dante Fierro)
Post #: 5
RE: Pre-Start Guadalcanal OOBs - 7/30/2020 3:06:54 AM   
Dante Fierro


Posts: 330
Joined: 2/23/2012
From: Idaho Falls
Status: offline 		Thanks again RangerJoe for the tips. I am copying and pasting your advice into my appropriate folders. heh. All taken under 'advisement'.

(in reply to RangerJoe)
Post #: 6
RE: Pre-Start Guadalcanal OOBs - 7/30/2020 4:02:54 AM   
RangerJoe


Posts: 13450
Joined: 11/16/2015
From: My Mother, although my Father had some small part.
Status: offline 		To see how deep a submarine can safely go to avoid depth charges, multiply the durability by 10 and that is the depth in feet. Officially that is . . .

_____________________________

Seek peace but keep your gun handy.

I'm not a complete idiot, some parts are missing!

“Illegitemus non carborundum est (“Don’t let the bastards grind you down”).”
― Julia Child


(in reply to Dante Fierro)
Post #: 7
RE: Pre-Start Guadalcanal OOBs - 7/30/2020 12:40:57 PM   
DanielAClark

 

Posts: 131
Joined: 1/7/2020
Status: offline 		Fun stuff!

I started my campaign with a bit more fog of war on the IJN side...I limited myself to the wikipedia articles on the campaign...

Consequently, Ive got most of my carriers heavily damaged and in repair yards...

(in reply to RangerJoe)
Post #: 8
RE: Pre-Start Guadalcanal OOBs - 7/30/2020 1:30:04 PM   
RangerJoe


Posts: 13450
Joined: 11/16/2015
From: My Mother, although my Father had some small part.
Status: offline 		At least they did not submerge . . .

_____________________________

Seek peace but keep your gun handy.

I'm not a complete idiot, some parts are missing!

“Illegitemus non carborundum est (“Don’t let the bastards grind you down”).”
― Julia Child


(in reply to DanielAClark)
Post #: 9
RE: Pre-Start Guadalcanal OOBs - 7/30/2020 3:16:36 PM   
Dante Fierro


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

ORIGINAL: DanielAClark

Fun stuff!

I started my campaign with a bit more fog of war on the IJN side...I limited myself to the wikipedia articles on the campaign...

Consequently, Ive got most of my carriers heavily damaged and in repair yards...


I read the Wikipedia article about a year ago but promptly forgot all the details. Probably will reread again shortly since I recall it being pretty thorough. Although these days, I'm not to sure Wikipedia is a good source of information for anything. I may get a book on the battle but I tend to buy a book and then let it sit on my shelves for 10 to 20 years before I actually read the book. So there's that problem too.

Sorry to hear about your carriers Dan! A cautionary tale 0.0



< Message edited by Dante Fierro -- 7/30/2020 3:17:11 PM >

(in reply to DanielAClark)
Post #: 10
RE: Pre-Start Guadalcanal OOBs - 7/30/2020 4:43:50 PM   
DanielAClark

 

Posts: 131
Joined: 1/7/2020
Status: offline 		Dont worry...Im still winning.

Just be sure to do the night naval search...and try to keep three carriers together rather than just two.

(in reply to Dante Fierro)
Post #: 11
RE: Pre-Start Guadalcanal OOBs - 7/30/2020 5:49:14 PM   
RangerJoe


Posts: 13450
Joined: 11/16/2015
From: My Mother, although my Father had some small part.
Status: offline 		Night naval search from land based float planes may help keep your SCTFs from being surprised.

_____________________________

Seek peace but keep your gun handy.

I'm not a complete idiot, some parts are missing!

“Illegitemus non carborundum est (“Don’t let the bastards grind you down”).”
― Julia Child


(in reply to DanielAClark)
Post #: 12
AAR Post #3: Prep Victory Conditions and AI - 7/31/2020 5:13:34 AM   
Dante Fierro


Posts: 330
Joined: 2/23/2012
From: Idaho Falls
Status: offline 		Pre-Turn 1 Preparations

Victory Conditions

The Guadalcanal scenario starts on August 6, 1942 and ends on Feb 7, 1943 (although the in game description for the scenario says it starts on Aug 4th, go figure). It is not a short scenario (like the Coral Sea Scenario) – playing 1 day per turn the scenario will last for 185 days (or turns).

There are no sudden victory conditions (like there are in the Grand Campaign) and no actual land "capture the castle objectives". The scenario is basically whoever ends up with the most points at the end of 185 days is 'winner, winner'. Obviously, if one side pulls far far ahead, one can stop the scenario at any point (playing solo against AI that is easy to do) ... PvP would just be agreed upon (or you rudely 'ghost' your opponent, not advised).

Victory Points (VPs) are awarded the same as they are in the Campaign game: by inflicting loss, damage or capturing your opponent's ingame assets, including Ships, Planes, Bases, Military Units, and even Industry. Although thankfully, for the Guadalcanal scenario, Production/Industry is Off. (One less item to worry about.) Points awarded can vary depending on Base sizes, Durability of ships, type of aircraft, whether a ship was sunk or damaged, or scuttled, and so on.

I won't go into any further detail into the Victory Point scheme here, as anyone new to the game can refer to the manual to get the complete breakdown.

For the Guadalcanal scenario, given the 185 day time frame, if the game does not swing to wildly toward one side or another in regards to the destruction of military assets, the scenario really comes down to who owns a few key bases by scenario end date: Feb 7, 1943.

The scenario begins with the Allies controlling 27 bases, and the IJ controlling 23 bases. The majority of both side's bases will likely never change hands and will (probably) not be relevant toward the Victory conditions. The Allies begin the game with 4,647 VPs, the IJ with 6,213 VPs. A 1,566 starting VP advantage for the IJ player. The majority of the bases on both sides award VP values less than 20 points. But the few important bases in the game are worth thousands of VPs.

For the key bases, here is the breakdown (Underline is current owner of base):

Port Moresby: IJ/8000, Allies/2000 .... VP Swing: 10,000
Lunga: IJ/4800, Allies/1200 .... VP Swing: 6,000
Milne Bay: IJ/1600, Allies/400 .... VP Swing: 2,000
Tulagi: IJ/1200, Allies/300 .... VP Swing: 1,500
Noumea: IJ/105, Allies/2100.... VP Swing: 2,205
Luganville: IJ/225, Allies/9 .... VP Swing: 234
Rabaul: IJ/45, Allies/15 .... VP Swing: 60

Interestingly enough, Rabaul is not worth much at all in the Scenario, though it is the general base of operations for the IJ throughout the game, along with Truk. Losing either base would likely spell doom for the Japanese efforts, but neither offers many VPs. I do not list the Australian continental bases though a few are worth some chunk of change to the IJ player (especially Brisbane 850) but also very unlikely to be captured and if it is, the game will likely be pretty much be over for the Allies at that point.

Taking a closer look at the point values of each of the key bases, and the VP Swing, which one needs to remember, when a base is captured, not only the side who captured the base gets awarded VP points, but the side that loses the base gets subtracted VP points – so the 'Swing' as I call it gives you the shift of the difference of VP points if one plotted VP points linearly.

As one can see, Port Moresby and Lunga stand head and shoulders above the rest of the key bases. Even if one combines Milne Bay with Tulagi, the point differential is still almost half of what Lunga is worth.

Essentially, the Guadalcanal scenario pretty much hinges on who controls either Lunga or Port Moresby by the end of the game. If either of the bases flip control to your opponent, the VP Swing will be enough to offset any other 'key' base captures in the game – assuming again, there is not an abnormal amount of destruction of key military assets by one side or the other, or one side simply overruns the other side tactically, invading several rear bases at will.

So, although it may sound a bit boring: the Guadalcanal scenario pretty much is 185 turns of both sides fighting over just two bases for VP points. Other bases may be relevant for strategic or tactical purposes, but to win the VP game – you got to take one or the other bases. So the scenario is going to be a game of attrition over Lunga & Port Moresby. And therein, lies a tale to be told.


A.I.
I have decided to play the Japanese AI at Historical Difficulty (AI plays normally, no unique advantages). I plan to try to win the scenario (of course), but my main goal here is to continue my tutelage of WiTP and its steep learning curve, and familiarize myself with the game mechanics as much as possible – so I can then graduate to a campaign game against a biological AI opponent.

I will not be trying any kind of off-the-wall strategies, nor exploitive gambits like heading directly for Truk at the start of the scenario. I expect the AI will probably play along a fairly formulaic algorithm but at the time I write this, I am unfamiliar with what that algorithm may be (please don't spoil it for me if you do know). The goal here is to explore mostly the tactical nuances of the GC scenario that is primarily an attritional fight over two bases, and most likely just only over one: Lunga, at Guadalcanal.

Ok that's it for this AAR post #3. Note, this post is more for the newbie player who has no idea what the GC scenario is even about (like I was), or was asking themselves just what is required to actually be victorious in the scenario.

I will be posting a few more 'Pre-Turn 1' AARs before I proceed to processing Day 1. That is because there is quite a bit of "Set-Up' that must be done as the Allied player before I can actually get rolling.

My next AAR post will discuss what Allied military assets I begin with in the scenario, including supply and fuel resources, what I will be getting as reinforcements and how the default Task Forces and setup needs will need to be altered in order to start off on the right foot. Other Pre-Turn 1, 'Preparation' AARs will discuss my settings and plans with a wide range of elements in the game, from how I will task my Carrier Tfs, my Amphibious Tfs, how I will initially setup my ASW assets , and how I will handle my land based air, and very importantly, Naval Search areas. In addition, there is Mining and Mine sweeping, PP considerations and Leadership. I will need to consider whether I want to spend supply on upgrading bases (or not). Logistics. Cargo convoys ... and more that it's too late in the evening for me to think about right now.

There is a lot to do even before the game commences. I'll try to keep you posted.

< Message edited by Dante Fierro -- 8/9/2020 5:00:47 AM >

(in reply to RangerJoe)
Post #: 13
RE: AAR Post #3: Prep Victory Conditions and AI - 7/31/2020 12:04:57 PM   
RangerJoe


Posts: 13450
Joined: 11/16/2015
From: My Mother, although my Father had some small part.
Status: offline 		What is a "biological AI opponent?" Is that someone with naturally blonde hair who dyes their hair dark?

_____________________________

Seek peace but keep your gun handy.

I'm not a complete idiot, some parts are missing!

“Illegitemus non carborundum est (“Don’t let the bastards grind you down”).”
― Julia Child


(in reply to Dante Fierro)
Post #: 14
RE: AAR Post #3: Prep Victory Conditions and AI - 7/31/2020 4:44:20 PM   
Dante Fierro


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

What is a "biological AI opponent?" Is that someone with naturally blonde hair who dyes their hair dark?


Can be!

(in reply to RangerJoe)
Post #: 15
RE: AAR Post #3: Prep Victory Conditions and AI - 7/31/2020 11:04:48 PM   
Dante Fierro


Posts: 330
Joined: 2/23/2012
From: Idaho Falls
Status: offline 		Blocked a number of users today, as apparently, they are allowed to use Memes to ridicule someone, but if that someone uses Memes in response - well that's not allowed in their rulebook. Yeah, I know what it's like to live as a dependent of an alcoholic, and won't put up with it for a minute.

Will continue this AAR in a few days.

< Message edited by Dante Fierro -- 7/31/2020 11:14:52 PM >

(in reply to Dante Fierro)
Post #: 16
RE: AAR Post #3: Prep Victory Conditions and AI - 8/3/2020 10:38:17 PM   
Bif1961


Posts: 2014
Joined: 6/26/2008
From: Phenix City, Alabama
Status: offline 		Good luck and enjoy being the one on a shoestring.

(in reply to Dante Fierro)
Post #: 17
RE: AAR Post #3: Prep Victory Conditions and AI - 8/3/2020 11:28:40 PM   
mind_messing

 

Posts: 3393
Joined: 10/28/2013
Status: offline 		After playing a little of the Guadalcanal scenario in a PBEM setting, I'm convinced that the optimum IJ strategy is to completely ignore Guadalcanal and instead aggressively focus on Port Moresby.

A coup-de-main on Port Moresby as soon as possible is likely to generate positive results against the very weak defences and leaves Milne Bay (with its more substantial defence) to be digested later in the scenario.

(in reply to Bif1961)
Post #: 18
RE: AAR Post #3: Prep Victory Conditions and AI - 8/4/2020 12:16:59 AM   
Dante Fierro


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

ORIGINAL: Bif1961

Good luck and enjoy being the one on a shoestring.


Thanks! I hope it will be instructive. It's something that even this small scenario has a lot to it.

(in reply to Bif1961)
Post #: 19
RE: AAR Post #3: Prep Victory Conditions and AI - 8/4/2020 12:22:11 AM   
Dante Fierro


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

ORIGINAL: mind_messing

After playing a little of the Guadalcanal scenario in a PBEM setting, I'm convinced that the optimum IJ strategy is to completely ignore Guadalcanal and instead aggressively focus on Port Moresby.

A coup-de-main on Port Moresby as soon as possible is likely to generate positive results against the very weak defences and leaves Milne Bay (with its more substantial defence) to be digested later in the scenario.


That sounds like a good strategy for the IJ. I am mostly playing the scenario for instructive purposes, plan on taking my time and reviewing the different mechanics of the game and recording those mechanics in the AAR. This could help other new players who decide to start with Guadalcanal as an instruction scenario as well.

Decided to play as the Allies since this seems like the most logical step for novices to WiTP. As playing the IJ in the campaign game seems pretty daunting given the 'Industry/Production' mechanics that you must manage ...

Been really busy last few days, but hope to get back to the game soon. Thanks for your comment Messing.

(in reply to mind_messing)
Post #: 20
AAR Post #4: Allied Starting Ground Units - 8/9/2020 3:16:03 AM   
Dante Fierro


Posts: 330
Joined: 2/23/2012
From: Idaho Falls
Status: offline 		AAR Post #4: Allied Starting Ground Units

I've already posted a general overall breakdown of Allied starting Naval forces vs. The IJ naval assets for this scenario. I will discuss in further AAR posts the disposition of these Naval assets i.e. The Task Forces you begin the scenario with, and the general naval plans one is (pretty much) already committed to when starting the scenario, such as the Amphibious Invasion force that is pre-formed for you at Luganville, with loaded US Marines and supplies on various transport ships, and the three Allied Aircraft Carrier TFs already sailing toward Guadalcanal, to provide air cover for the amphibious invasion at Lunga and Tulagi.

One of the fascinating highlights of AE is the depth of detail, but it is also one of the banes. As not only do you get every naval ship involved in a given scenario or the campaign, but you also get and have to manage all ground assets at Regimental or Battalion level of detail, along with a wide variety of Base and Engineering units, Artillery units, Infantry, Armor ... and so on. The detail is impressive but also daunting. And then you have the Air Assets as well, with also a depth of detail I don't think any other game based on the war in the Pacific offers. At least i"m not aware of one that matches the same level of detail. There may be some military computer simulations that remain secret to non-military 'citizens' like myself – but AE is more than enough for any die hard Pacific War buff.


HEADQUARTERS
Starting with Headquarters units, the Guadalcanal scenario begins with 6 Allied HQs. And no further HQs until 45 and 53 days into the scenario. More importantly, 2 of these 6 HQ units are in Restricted mode, which means units assigned to a Restricted HQ, cannot move by air or sea until either the HQ itself becomes unrestricted, or a unit is transferred to a different HQ command.

However, one cannot just transfer units at will to mobilize them, or unrestrict a HQ. One must pay PP (Political Points) in order to free up units for use. And some units and HQs are more expensive than others.

The Guadalcanal scenario the Allied player begins with 20 PPs, and I believe receives 20 more per day (I need to double check this). This is a paltry amount, and means that many units that are present on the map at the beginning of the scenario you cannot use other than for defense, and what you decide to 'free up' becomes a critical decision. So - I will cross that bridge when I get to it. For now, I will first stockpile some Political Points so I have more options as the scenario progresses.

Another somewhat confusing aspect of HQs in AE, that is not very well explained in the manual, is unlike in a real life military, there is not a strict hierarchy of HQ command where all ground units in the game follow a strict command flowchart that leads up the chain to a Central Command HQ. This is actually a good thing, as it frees up what could easily become a micro-management nightmare.

Instead units can be attached to different Command HQ but the other various types of HQs in the game (Air, Army, Corps, Amphibious, Naval) do not require units assigned to them, but provide in-game 'bonuses' depending on their location and proximity to other units (or bases) in the game. That is, I can have a US Infantry Regiment attached to South Pacific Command, and if there is a Corps or Army HQ in the same hex or nearby, that Regiment will receive some benefit, even if it is not assigned to the other HQ nearby (subordination is not required also of the HQ to South Pacific Command).

At the time of this writing, I am still not sure if I can assign units to all the different HQs or just some of them. Will need to investigate more. There is also one or two exceptions to the rule that attachment is not necessary. One important exception is that the administrative stacking penalty is reduced at a base if both the Base and Air HQ is attached to the same command.

I have also read that there are some tricks in reducing your Political Point cost of unit transfers by reassigning Restricted Command units to unrestricted 'smaller' HQs ... But I will look into that a bit later in the scenario.

All that being said the two Restricted HQs the Allies start the scenario with are:
SoPac Rear Area
Australia Command

The four Unrestricted HQs:
South Pacific
Southwest Pacific
1st Australian Corp
1st Australian Army


SOUTH PACIFIC (Unrestricted)
Under the command of Rear Admiral Ghormly, units attached to this command are the main invasion forces headed for Guadalcanal. All the ground units are already pre-loaded in transport ships at Luganville port. These units are:

- 1st USMC Infantry (2x Regiments)
- 2nd USMC Infantry (1x Regiment, and 2 Regiments arriving in 83 days)
- 3rd USMC Artillery Battalion

The 1st USMC also has an additional three Battalions, one Tank Battalion & two Parachute Battalions also loaded in transports for the initial amphibious invasion.


SOUTHWEST PACIFIC (Unrestricted)
Under the command of Gen MacArthur (yes, the General MacArthur) the ground units under MacArthur are primary brigade level units located at Port Moresby or nearby.

-14th Inf Brigade (Port Moresby, AV 64)
-7th Inf Brigade (Milne Bay, AV 130)
-30th Inf Brigade (Kokado Track between PM and Bruna, AV 138, +2 Forts)

In addition, at Port Moresby there is an Anti-Aircraft Regiment, 2x Base units, and a Construction Engineer. Milne Bay has one RAAF Base unit.


SoPAC REAR (Restricted)
Under the command of Lieutenant General DeWitt a large number of ground units (primarily base support engineer units) are deployed between Efate, Luganville and Noumea. Since all these units are attached to a restricted HQ, I cannot move them by sea or air until I spend PP points to re-assign them.

A general breakdown by unit types:
-5x Infantry Regiments (4x Noumea, 1x Luganviille)
-5x Naval Construction Battalions (3x Seabeas Noumea, 2x Seabeas Luganville)
-4x USN Base Forces
-2x US Air Base Forces
-2x US EABs (Aviation)
-1x Marine EAB (Aviation)
-131st USA Aviation ENG Regiment (Large aviation support unit, Noumea)

In addition at Noumea there is 1 Calvary Rgt, 1 Tank Btn, 1 Field Arty Btn, and 1 USMC Arty Btn.


AUSTRALIAN COMMAND (Restricted)
Finally, spread out along the coastline of the continent of Australia, the largest amount of ground units under one command, all restricted. A general type summary:

-6x Artillery Regiments
-2x Coastal Defense (Static, Brisbane & Townsville)
-18x Engineer Units (Various Base Support, Aviation and Naval Support units)
-6x Infantry Regiments (US 32nd & 41st Inf Divisions)
-12x Infantry Brigades (Australian 1st, 3rd, 6th, 7th Divisions)


Alright, to wrap up there are two additional HQs (1st Australian Corp & 1st Australian Army) . Interesting enough 1st Australian Army is attached to Australian Command – so I don't believe I will be able to move that HQ off continent. However, 1st Australian Corp is attached to MacArthur's Southwest Pacific Command – and it appears as if I should be able to transport that HQ to Port Moresby or elsewhere.

One might ask why would I go to the trouble of writing out the general Allied Ground Forces available in the scenario in an AAR. After all, I only need to click a few buttons in game and quickly have a 'database' table of forces and where they are located.

This is true. But when I first started this scenario. I really had no idea where everything was or even what I started out with. I also had no idea what the HQ structure was, and had to investigate how HQs work in AE. And I still need to read further up on how to use them well. Writing out the general outlay of Allied forces in an AAR – is showing what my own processes are in getting a handle on playing the Guadalcanal scenario. By getting a general bird's eye view of Ground forces and HQs, written out here, I am slowly focusing more on how I will operate and give orders to all the military assets, and know what is available and what is not (restricted).

Next up will be an overview of my Air assets. Including the types of Bombers I will have available, and Fighters, Naval search air units, and Carrier vs. Land air assets.

Over and Out.




< Message edited by Dante Fierro -- 8/9/2020 5:35:38 AM >

(in reply to Dante Fierro)
Post #: 21
RE: AAR Post #4: Allied Starting Ground Units - 8/9/2020 3:42:46 AM   
RangerJoe


Posts: 13450
Joined: 11/16/2015
From: My Mother, although my Father had some small part.
Status: offline 		Just think of all the advice that I could give but this player blocked me after he insulted me. At leasthe stated that I was the first one to be blocked. Oh well, I wonder about his t. . . .

_____________________________

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I'm not a complete idiot, some parts are missing!

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― Julia Child


(in reply to Dante Fierro)
Post #: 22
RE: AAR Post #4: Allied Starting Ground Units - 8/9/2020 3:46:43 AM   
Dante Fierro


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

Just think of all the advice that I could give but this player blocked me after he insulted me. At leasthe stated that I was the first one to be blocked. Oh well, I wonder about his t. . . .


Hi Ranger Joe,

You first insulted and blocked me. So I responded in kind.

I have received advice from other players on this forum, so even though your advice might have been valuable, I will not be asking for it. I would however, ask that you refrain from making comments on this AAR thread if you have nothing positive to say. Thanks.




< Message edited by Dante Fierro -- 8/9/2020 3:53:39 AM >

(in reply to RangerJoe)
Post #: 23
RE: AAR Post #4: Allied Starting Ground Units - 8/9/2020 9:48:40 AM   
Uncivil Engineer

 

Posts: 1014
Joined: 2/22/2012
From: Florida, USA
Status: offline 		One thing you may not have noticed during your review of the Japanese OOB is that the Japanese side has no naval repair facilities in the scenario. There is a repair ship at Truk, but any Japanese ship that is seriously damaged is basically out for the rest of the game. I found this especially troublesome for Japanese subs (while playing Japan in a PBEM). The AI may not hesitate to send out damaged subs (as I did), but the Allies should have no problem putting ASW damage (both air and sea) on Japanese subs.

The Allies will take Lunga and Tulagi before the Japanese carriers arrive. The Japanese may be able to reinforce Tassaforonga, but there is NO WAY they can retake Lunga. Therefore, once these 2 objectives are secure, concentrate on Milne Bay and Port Moresby.

You will be limited by 3 things during the game - supply, fuel, and PP. Don't waste political points; you will need every one to free up Aussie units to reinforce PM and Milne. Don't waste fuel sending ships all over the South Pacific; go heavy and go hard when you go, but get in and get out as quickly as you can.

That's my 2 cents.

(in reply to Dante Fierro)
Post #: 24
RE: AAR Post #4: Allied Starting Ground Units - 8/9/2020 3:48:46 PM   
Dante Fierro


Posts: 330
Joined: 2/23/2012
From: Idaho Falls
Status: offline 		Good strategic advice Uncivil. Thx. I was not aware the IJ had no repair facilities, but given the shortness of the scenario, was not expecting 'repair' to play the most decisive factor in what appears to be mostly a battle of attrition over two - four bases.

I've been thinking of diverting the USMC Regiment heading to Tulagi and using it to reinforce Lunga instead i.e. putting more boots on Lunga in the initial invasion. Is this a viable strategy? Having the marines split between two bases, one of which is not very critical to the scenario, seems like a bad idea, other than that it simply follows the historical operation.

Have not thought about PP points yet, but yes, very much aware of the limit here (along with supply and fuel) - which provides the tension needed for the scenario to be a challenge.




< Message edited by Dante Fierro -- 8/9/2020 3:51:45 PM >

(in reply to Uncivil Engineer)
Post #: 25
RE: AAR Post #4: Allied Starting Ground Units - 8/9/2020 6:50:43 PM   
Cheeks

 

Posts: 157
Joined: 8/31/2002
From: Ohio Valley
Status: offline 		I’ve evaluated my own GC game along the same path that your doing now. Looking forward to your every post.

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(in reply to Dante Fierro)
Post #: 26
RE: AAR Post #4: Allied Starting Ground Units - 8/9/2020 6:56:27 PM   
Dante Fierro


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

I’ve evaluated my own GC game along the same path that your doing now. Looking forward to your every post.


Thanks Cheeks. Any 'parallel' GC insight you can provide will be appreciated. Love the fine detail of this game, but it is the most daunting game/simulation I've attempted, ever.




< Message edited by Dante Fierro -- 8/9/2020 6:59:18 PM >

(in reply to Cheeks)
Post #: 27
AAR Post #5: Allied Land Air, Bombers - 8/13/2020 9:30:27 PM   
Dante Fierro


Posts: 330
Joined: 2/23/2012
From: Idaho Falls
Status: offline 		AAR Post #5: Allied Land Air, Bombers

Now moving on to Allied Air assets. I shall begin with Land Air, and for this AAR post, review the Allied Land Bombers available for Guadalcanal at start. Included in this will be the omnipresent P-39D, Fighter-Bomber - a hybrid bomber, but very useful as a Low Ground bomber and Ground Strafer. In this list of bombers there are 6 types, that break down into 4 types of Medium Level Bombers, 1 Heavy Level Bomber, and 1 Fighter-Bomber. Note: I will include the 'Wirraway' Fighter-Bomber in a separate Fighters AAR overview. The 4 Medium LBs are: 3 squadrons of A20A Havoc, 4 squadrons of B-26 Marauder, 1 squadron of Beaufort Vs, and 2 squadrons of Hudson III(LR). The Heavy Level Bombers are of course the 8 squadrons of B17-E 'Flying' Fortresses. Rounding out the list are the 6 squadrons of P39D Airacobra Fighter-Bombers.

The majority of Allied Land bomber pilots start the scenario with training in GrdB (Level bombing & Dive bombing ground targets) and Defn Air to Air Defense. The skills of the Allied pilots in these 2 categories generally average between 50-60. Some squadrons do have markedly higher GrdB ratings such as the one Beaufort V squadron averages a strong GrdB (70) - useful to remember. The B-26 Marauder squadrons also have somewhat better avg pilot skills in the 60s(rather than 50s).

The B-17E Heavy bombers start at an average of (50) skills in GrdB & Defn. Nothing to write home about. And all other skill categories (not counting EXP) the Allied Land bombers are not trained much at all, in general the 30s to 20s skill levels. So training in Recon, Naval Search, ASW, Low level ground or naval bombing are all at mediocre levels for Allied Medium and Heavy Land bombers. I will need to investigate further to see if it will be useful to train level bomber pilots in other categories, or simply improve the level bombers GrdB & Defn only. Any suggestions here are welcome. The impact of pilot training of course, for a scenario that only lasts 150 days will likely be limited, so I'm not going to fret over this aspect of the game mechanics too much.

The P-39D Airacobra however proves the exception to all the above standard bomber training values. Here, one will find the P-39D pilots trained not only Defn, but also LowG bombing of ground targets under 6000', Air Escort, Sweep, CAP, LR CAP, and Staf, Strafing with Offensive missions below 100' altitude. This makes the P-39D Airacobra particularly useful in the GC scenario because of the additional pilot training available.

With the general overview above, I will now give a quick info snapshot of each Allied Bomber Type along with a photograph I was able to find online, that brought the bomber more to life for me visually for the Guadalcanal campaign. Note Range is given in hexes of the Radius. That is, how many hexes will the bomber fly out before it turns around and comes back. Extended Range is pushing the limits of the bombers fuel capacity, above the normal Combat radius.


A20A HAVOC - MEDIUM LEVEL BOMBER 3 Squadrons (36 planes), 23 Ready, 13 Not-Ready
Located: Charters Towers

Range: 6, Extended: 8
Max Alt: 28,175, Speed: 295/347, Climb: 1960, Maneuver: 14, Durability: 35, Guns Value: 14 (7x .30 Browning MG)
Max Payload: 4x GP 500 Lb Bombs
Avg Pilot: GrdB(48), Defn(51)

The Havoc has the least range of all the medium level bombers available to the Allies at start (in the Guadalcanal Scenario). However it is the most maneuverable, the fastest bomber the Allies have in their inventory, has the highest Max Altitude rating, and has decent Durability & good Gun values. So the trade-off for this bomber clearly is Range over Robustness. A good bomber to place nearest to the Allied front lines (or so it seems). Fast & Maneuverable with lots of guns.



Note: apparently I can only upload one image per post. So will continue with separate posts for each bomber type.



Attachment (1)

< Message edited by Dante Fierro -- 8/14/2020 3:53:26 PM >

(in reply to Dante Fierro)
Post #: 28
RE: AAR Post #5 Part b: B-26 Marauders - 8/13/2020 9:54:30 PM   
Dante Fierro


Posts: 330
Joined: 2/23/2012
From: Idaho Falls
Status: offline 		B-26 MARAUDERS - MEDIUM LEVEL BOMBER 4 Squadrons (36 planes), 29 Ready, 7 Not Ready
Located: Townsville

Range: 9, Extended: 11
Max Alt: 21,700, Speed: 243/313, Climb: 1200, Maneuver: 6, Durability: 42
Guns Value: 13 (2x .30 Browning MG, 3x .50 Browning MG)
Max Payload: 6x GP 500 Lb Bombs
Avg Pilot: GrdB(60), Defn(60)

The B-26 Marauders are the least maneuverable of the Medium Level bombers (for the scenario), but can carry the largest payload, and has a longer range than the A20A Havocs (by 3 additional hexes). It's Gun values are slightly less than the Havocs, but includes larger caliber Browning MGs (not sure how much a difference this might make or not). The B-26 pilots have higher average training starting values in the scenario than the other Allied bombers excluding the one Beaufort V squadron.





Attachment (1)

< Message edited by Dante Fierro -- 8/14/2020 4:52:28 PM >

(in reply to Dante Fierro)
Post #: 29
RE: AAR Post #5 Part b: B-26 Marauders - 8/13/2020 10:03:42 PM   
Jorge_Stanbury


Posts: 4320
Joined: 2/29/2012
From: Toronto and Lima
Status: offline 		You might want to train your B-17s a bit on naval search; they are not that useful bombing on this scenario, because you start with few developed airfields and not enough time to build
I think I would put some on NE Australia, to support Moresby operations, some others on naval search

they are good for low naval attack, but people frown on it, because it is a gamey exploit (4Es were low level naval bombers IRL)








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Post #: 30
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