byron13
Posts: 1589
Joined: 7/27/2001 Status: offline
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I'm halfway surprised that the game was able to select a path from Aden to Karachi on your screen shot! Since it can do that, I'm all for the mod. As everyone says, purely a PBEM or AI as Japanese game. For PBEM, house rules should prevent problems with gaming the "chute" between Aden and Karachi. The only problem I see is that this will make for a strange game if the Japanese try and overrun India as PzB is doing. That's a large chunk of the Indian Ocean you've taken off the map, and house rules won't be able to cover what happens when the Japanese are legitimately invading the west coast of India. But that's probably rare anyway. So go for it. So, is the plan for most supplies and all British units to have to come from Aden? Switching to the Canal, I can't be sure if the plan is to take the map only to the Canal in a short chute, or whether it is to go all the way through the Canal and to the east coast with a long chute. It wouldn't matter for reinforcements, since their arrival date would just be adjusted accordingly. What would be interesting to know is the extent to which supplies of various kinds and especially fuel and oil was shipped to California or Oz via the Canal. I'm betting (knowing less than nothing) that most refineries had access only to the Gulf or Atlantic coasts, so that a considerable amount may have been shipped via the Canal. Of course, there may have been some pipelines to the West coast or substantial use of tanker cars on trains. The point is that having units appear in Panama at the Canal is kind of a max nix issue; they can sit in Panama waiting for a ride just as easily as they can sit in California (though there may be a longer transiting distance). Supply is max nix since most will probably be produced or delivered to the West Coast, so the addition of the Canal places no more stress on the logistics system. Fuel and oil is the only thing that I can see would make a difference, i.e., long transit times for TKs trying to hump fuel and oil to the Pacific. Otherwise, what real difference does putting the Canal in have? quote:
A "capture" of Panama or Aden is something that should be a possibility,(as it might have been in real life.Obviously it was on the allies mind in early '42 since they expected an invasion of California!).This would force the allies to consider guarding these points as the Japanese player is forced to keep troops on the Soviet border. I don't think this should be an issue. Guarding would have been assigned to units not present in the game. House rules to me dictate that the Japanese cannot attack or capture either Aden or the Canal - they're there for logistical reasons and not for tactical reasons. Aden is present in part to give the Brits a place to regroup and act as a springboard if kicked out of India. If Aden can be captured, then you need an Alexandria, then a Gibraltar, then a London. Pretty soon you've got the Japanese trying to capture England. Leave Aden alone.
< Message edited by byron13 -- 3/4/2005 12:35:02 AM >
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