The Gamiest Game in Town - EL (J) vs Rio Bravo (A) (Full Version)

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el lobo -> The Gamiest Game in Town - EL (J) vs Rio Bravo (A) (4/30/2015 1:51:06 PM)

Welcome Everyone,

Rio Bravo and I are starting our PBEM. His AAR is titled “The War College” and can be found here:

http://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=3851786

We have one HR, “Auto-Victory will not count.” (Or something like that, i.e. we will play to the end.) This leaves the game pretty wide-open.

On the Forum there seems to be two general definitions of gamey. One, “anything that is non-historical.” Guilty. Anything that I do historically will be purely by accident.

Two, “anything that is not realistic in RL.” To this I say, many in this forum have praised the Devs, rightly so, in creating a game with such realism, attention to detail, and accuracy. I would add to this praise by congratulating the Devs with creating a game with so many parameters and decision points and, not limiting the game to others' expectations. Anyone who plays this game historically, does so by choice. Anyone who deviates from history but limits themselves to reality, does so by choice. The Devs gave us a game to play as we choose. For me, if the Devs left a door open, I'm going through it.

All of this has been thoroughly discussed with Rio and we are in agreement.

Will this give me an unfair advantage? Probably at first, but it will even-out at the end. As Bullwinkle58 has stated many times (paraphrasing), in the game, nothing happens without consequences. And as many others have said, Pax among them, Japan has just so much and no more.

We are playing this way because we want a game that is wide-open and fun. My play-style is going to be considered gamey by most players here and I just want to be upfront with that, like the title says.

Having said all of that, this is my first game of WITPAE or any other game of this type. The most I have played against the AI is one-hundred turns. Any experienced player here would slaughter me in an instant. IOW, I'll need all the help I can get.

Settings: Stock Game, Scenario 2, FOW = On, Advanced Wx = On, Allied Damage Control = Off, PDU = On, Historical 1st Turn = Off, Dec Surprise = Off, Reliable USN Torps = Nope, Realistic R&D = On, No Unit Withdraw = Off, and Reinforcements Fixed for both.

Rio is invited to drop-by and afterwards I hope some of you stick around to help me out.

So, with no apologies, let the GAME begin.

El Lobo




Mundy -> RE: The Gamiest Game in Town. El Lobo as the Red 1s and 0s (J), vs. Rio Bravo as the Green 1s and 0s (A) (4/30/2015 1:55:41 PM)

Good Luck...have fun.

Ed




witpqs -> RE: The Gamiest Game in Town. El Lobo as the Red 1s and 0s (J), vs. Rio Bravo as the Green 1s and 0s (A) (4/30/2015 1:58:16 PM)

Good luck! [:)]

I think I popped in there just after you signed out.




Mike McCreery -> RE: The Gamiest Game in Town. El Lobo as the Red 1s and 0s (J), vs. Rio Bravo as the Green 1s and 0s (A) (4/30/2015 2:49:13 PM)

I like you already!!

The point is to have fun!

You forgot the third definition of Gamey... Anything effective done to a complaining opponent.




Rio Bravo -> RE: The Gamiest Game in Town. El Lobo as the Red 1s and 0s (J), vs. Rio Bravo as the Green 1s and 0s (A) (4/30/2015 10:55:50 PM)

Hello Everyone-

El Lobo and I have been good friends for fifty-two years. Like most good friends, we have had tons of experiences and fun together. We decided to play this game for two reasons. First and foremost is to have more fun. Secondly, is because this game is vastly intricate and provides countless options for freedom of choice. The last thing either of us wanted was for this game to damage our friendship. Accordingly, we decided to play a non-historical game with the perspective that anything the game mechanically allows is open to us without any fear of our actions being considered “Gamey” by either of us. To that end, I can only say that if El Lobo sinks so much as one of my carriers I am crossing his name off my Christmas card list!

I know that I am up to my hip boots in quicksand battling against El Lobo. He was a helicopter pilot in Vietnam, a Captain of a Fire Department in the Sacramento, California area, an entrepreneur in real estate and in developing, owning, and running two coffee shops. Les has always paid fastidious attention to detail, is analytical, and will take calculated risks; the bigger the risk, the bigger the reward must be. Anything El Lobo does he does well. I have always felt fortunate and proud to have El Lobo as a fun and loyal friend.

It is not only important to us that we have great fun playing this game, but it is also important to us that all of you, each of you, also have fun through interaction with us and everyone else that might choose to follow our After Action Reports.

The best to you my good friend, El Lobo and the best to everyone involved in WITPAE as you have provided both El Lobo and I with countless hours of enjoyable reading, fun, and outstanding entertainment. Also, a big hug and thank you to my fiancé (Deborah) for buying me this game and for not cutting off my balls because I spend so much time with this game.

In conclusion, let the lead fly and may the Rising Sun set to never rise again!

Regards,

-Terry






el lobo -> RE: The Gamiest Game in Town. El Lobo as the Red 1s and 0s (J), vs. Rio Bravo as the Green 1s and 0s (A) (4/30/2015 11:49:59 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: Mundy

Good Luck...have fun.

Ed

Thanks Mundy. Will do.




el lobo -> RE: The Gamiest Game in Town. El Lobo as the Red 1s and 0s (J), vs. Rio Bravo as the Green 1s and 0s (A) (5/1/2015 12:06:24 AM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: witpqs

Good luck! [:)]

I think I popped in there just after you signed out.

Thanks. Yes I noticed you in the AAR section.

Out of habit I clicked on Rio's AAR thread to see your response there and then thought, Crap I can't be in this thread anymore! Quickly exited and lesson learned.

I am presently reading your "Rumble in the Southwest" to get the other side's perspective. Damn, you're good. Glad I am not playing against you.

I have Intel Monkey installed and can't wait to use it.




el lobo -> RE: The Gamiest Game in Town. El Lobo as the Red 1s and 0s (J), vs. Rio Bravo as the Green 1s and 0s (A) (5/1/2015 12:11:14 AM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: Wargmr

I like you already!!

The point is to have fun!

You forgot the third definition of Gamey... Anything effective done to a complaining opponent.

That is definitely a good one that I missed. I hope Rio does a lot of complaining.

Thanks for dropping-by.




el lobo -> RE: The Gamiest Game in Town. El Lobo as the Red 1s and 0s (J), vs. Rio Bravo as the Green 1s and 0s (A) (5/1/2015 3:09:22 AM)

Thank you Rio for your kind words. Just hope I can live-up to them.

I have to admit that it took Terry a while to convince me to get this game. I was reluctant for various reasons but now I am glad he persisted. Like him, I too have had countless hours of enjoyment and looking forward to many more. I have been on many forums in the past and I can sling insults with the best of them but this forum is a breath of fresh air. So many people willing to help, no question too dumb, and lots of intelligent and knowledgeable members (game-wise, war-wise, and world-wise).

It also took a little convincing by him for me to do an AAR. But for the same reasons as above, I am willing to lay-out all of my dumb mistakes for the world to see. I'm just hoping that I can make a war and AAR interesting enough to be worthy of this Forum.

So Rio, until I see you in RL over our next bottle of tequila, let's get it on. Cho di Krup (Good luck).

El Lobo

BTW Terry. Can you send me Deborah's email address? I want to tell her that it is OK to cut your balls off.




Lowpe -> RE: The Gamiest Game in Town. El Lobo as the Red 1s and 0s (J), vs. Rio Bravo as the Green 1s and 0s (A) (5/1/2015 3:18:27 AM)

Have fun!

Kick that western dude out so we can talk plane research! Ship upgrades! How to pocket the thundering herd!

And of course the Vancouver Gambit![:D]




el lobo -> RE: The Gamiest Game in Town. El Lobo as the Red 1s and 0s (J), vs. Rio Bravo as the Green 1s and 0s (A) (5/1/2015 8:03:08 AM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: Lowpe

Have fun!

Kick that western dude out so we can talk plane research! Ship upgrades! How to pocket the thundering herd!

And of course the Vancouver Gambit![:D]

Thanks.

It's funny that you should mention that. When I started getting used to the game I decided that my first attack would be Seattle. I had a pretty good plan going then I came across Bullwinkle's Emergency Reinforcement thread. That killed that idea but Rio and I talked about it and we have decided to do it some day and we will disable the reinforcements via the editor first (if that can be done).

Will you settle for the Mersing Gambit? I just got the first turn back so off to see how it went.

Looking forward to plane research, ship upgrade (ugh) and thundering herd discussions. Need all the help I can get.




BattleMoose -> RE: The Gamiest Game in Town. El Lobo as the Red 1s and 0s (J), vs. Rio Bravo as the Green 1s and 0s (A) (5/1/2015 8:47:56 AM)

Always happy to see another AAR going about.

Just wondering what kind of gamey tactics might be expected. Sending expendable xAK fleets at the KB to deplete it of torpedoes or similar could prove to be effective, particularly with LRCAPs.




el lobo -> RE: The Gamiest Game in Town. El Lobo as the Red 1s and 0s (J), vs. Rio Bravo as the Green 1s and 0s (A) (5/1/2015 9:27:31 AM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: BattleMoose

Always happy to see another AAR going about.

Just wondering what kind of gamey tactics might be expected. Sending expendable xAK fleets at the KB to deplete it of torpedoes or similar could prove to be effective, particularly with LRCAPs.

Well BattleMoose, this is an interesting question and these types of questions bring fourth many different points of view.

To answer it directly, I am not sure if I would do a tactic like this or not. I am going to be gamey but to a point. I am not sure where that point is yet but there is one. I probably would not do it with an xAK but what is the difference between a Kamikaze DD and a Kamikaze Zero?




obvert -> RE: The Gamiest Game in Town. El Lobo as the Red 1s and 0s (J), vs. Rio Bravo as the Green 1s and 0s (A) (5/1/2015 11:36:30 AM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: el lobo


quote:

ORIGINAL: BattleMoose

Always happy to see another AAR going about.

Just wondering what kind of gamey tactics might be expected. Sending expendable xAK fleets at the KB to deplete it of torpedoes or similar could prove to be effective, particularly with LRCAPs.

Well BattleMoose, this is an interesting question and these types of questions bring fourth many different points of view.

To answer it directly, I am not sure if I would do a tactic like this or not. I am going to be gamey but to a point. I am not sure where that point is yet but there is one. I probably would not do it with an xAK but what is the difference between a Kamikaze DD and a Kamikaze Zero?


I think there is another reason for HRs not listed above that fits your objectives (to have fun with an old friend) really well; to make the game playable for both sides as you would expect it to play.

Things like the dive, night bombing (and night CAP losses against night bombing), target selection by naval strikes and naval combat routines make certain tactics very powerful and can reduce the fun of playing.

If one side uses 25 single PT boat TFs around an area those soak up ammo and ops of incoming surface forces and can keep you from having the exciting BB engagement you BOTH want to have, because it's fun. It's no fun to kill your good friend's CVs because he spent his strike missions hitting xAK pickets nearby. That doesn't feel good. It's not so much fun to be swept to oblivion by strato dives from max height, and this favors each side at different times in the war. An HR can help balance this out while still letting the airframes and pilots do what they can do.

There are hundreds of these subtle and not so subtle tactics that can be at least somewhat mitigated by using just a few HRs, and especially if you're playing with a friend, you can keep negotiating as you find those things. I've only slowly come to these conclusions, and it took a lot of negotiation, some difficult, to understand the worthy compromises. It sounds like you guys will be fine no matter what and work through anything that comes up though.




el lobo -> RE: The Gamiest Game in Town. El Lobo as the Red 1s and 0s (J), vs. Rio Bravo as the Green 1s and 0s (A) (5/1/2015 1:05:23 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: obvert

I think there is another reason for HRs not listed above that fits your objectives (to have fun with an old friend) really well; to make the game playable for both sides as you would expect it to play.

Things like the dive, night bombing (and night CAP losses against night bombing), target selection by naval strikes and naval combat routines make certain tactics very powerful and can reduce the fun of playing.

If one side uses 25 single PT boat TFs around an area those soak up ammo and ops of incoming surface forces and can keep you from having the exciting BB engagement you BOTH want to have, because it's fun. It's no fun to kill your good friend's CVs because he spent his strike missions hitting xAK pickets nearby. That doesn't feel good. It's not so much fun to be swept to oblivion by strato dives from max height, and this favors each side at different times in the war. An HR can help balance this out while still letting the airframes and pilots do what they can do.

There are hundreds of these subtle and not so subtle tactics that can be at least somewhat mitigated by using just a few HRs, and especially if you're playing with a friend, you can keep negotiating as you find those things. I've only slowly come to these conclusions, and it took a lot of negotiation, some difficult, to understand the worthy compromises. It sounds like you guys will be fine no matter what and work through anything that comes up though.


You are quite correct obvert and raise some very good points. I am going to copy your remarks and email them to Rio with the suggestion that we keep your thoughts in mind. As you say, we will not have difficulty working through any of these types of items that arise, and arise they will. Neither of us wants to be exploitative.

But, how about a single TF of twenty-five PTs to confuse the heck out of your opponent?[8D]

BTW I want to thank you for your AARs. Particularly "Wild Sheep Chase." It really helped me to decide which air frames I am going to produce. I always seem to find the AARs to late to thank you and others while they are active.




pws1225 -> RE: The Gamiest Game in Town. El Lobo as the Red 1s and 0s (J), vs. Rio Bravo as the Green 1s and 0s (A) (5/1/2015 2:43:21 PM)

This game should be to my liking! My philosophy is that if it was historically plausible it isn't gamey, albeit with obvert's observations that certain tactics serve to exploit weaknesses in the game engine which HRs can prevent.

Have fun!




obvert -> RE: The Gamiest Game in Town. El Lobo as the Red 1s and 0s (J), vs. Rio Bravo as the Green 1s and 0s (A) (5/1/2015 2:52:47 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: el lobo

BTW I want to thank you for your AARs. Particularly "Wild Sheep Chase." It really helped me to decide which air frames I am going to produce. I always seem to find the AARs to late to thank you and others while they are active.


It was a learning experience for me, and I'd gotten so much from others, as the game went and turned into a nearly full campaign, exploring and sharing all of that info and those discussions on choices became almost as fun as the game itself. Glad to hear it helped.

I look forward to your battles! [:)]




el lobo -> RE: The Gamiest Game in Town. El Lobo as the Red 1s and 0s (J), vs. Rio Bravo as the Green 1s and 0s (A) (5/2/2015 10:17:29 AM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: pws1225

This game should be to my liking! My philosophy is that if it was historically plausible it isn't gamey, albeit with obvert's observations that certain tactics serve to exploit weaknesses in the game engine which HRs can prevent.

Have fun!

I hope so.

I agree with your philosophy but as you know, there is a lot of debate as to what was or was not plausible. if the Devs made it possible, then for me it's plausible. I just sent obvert's post to Rio. There is enough crazy stuff we can do with-out being exploitative.




el lobo -> RE: The Gamiest Game in Town. El Lobo as the Red 1s and 0s (J), vs. Rio Bravo as the Green 1s and 0s (A) (5/2/2015 10:33:34 AM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: obvert


quote:

ORIGINAL: el lobo

BTW I want to thank you for your AARs. Particularly "Wild Sheep Chase." It really helped me to decide which air frames I am going to produce. I always seem to find the AARs to late to thank you and others while they are active.


It was a learning experience for me, and I'd gotten so much from others, as the game went and turned into a nearly full campaign, exploring and sharing all of that info and those discussions on choices became almost as fun as the game itself. Glad to hear it helped.

I look forward to your battles! [:)]

Well you write well, informative and entertaining and your opinions are well respected so thanks again and keep-up the good work.

First battle coming-up.




el lobo -> RE: The Gamiest Game in Town. El Lobo as the Red 1s and 0s (J), vs. Rio Bravo as the Green 1s and 0s (A) (5/2/2015 2:58:43 PM)

I'm just not sure how I want to go about this AAR so for now I will just throw some stuff out and see how it goes.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

PREFACE


I know that I am not telling most of you anything that you don't already know so I am going to preface this whole AAR with,

As you know----

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here is the first turn, Dec 7, 1941.

I have sand-boxed this first turn many times and you get used to the AI doing certain things fairly regularly so the turn was not quite what I expected but it was OK.

I am doing the Mersing Gambit partly a la Quixote's “A Road Less Traveled”
( http://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=3380330&mpage=1&key=� ) with a couple of my own twists.

The Magic Moves TFs are there for a historical start and a few Japanese players leave them as they are, others change them and others treat them like live snakes. You can move ships between them, add ships to them, redirect them, add ships and then load more troops, change their missions and make more of the missions types that you want. A brief rundown:

At Etorofu I split the KB and sent TF1 with the four fast CVs just east of Mersing. TF2 with the other two CVs went just east of Manila. I created an extra replenishment TFs, and the MM one went with TF1, and a SC TF went to San Fernando, P.I..

At Pescadoris TF8 ended-up as a twenty-one ship Amphib TF to San Fernando and TF12 ended-up as a thirty-nine ship Amphib TF to the same hex as TF1. (More on this later.)

At Takao, TF14 ended-up as an eighteen ship SC TF that went to Lubang. (TF19 disappeared.) TF 90 lost all of its SC ships added some more ships and troops and went to San Fernando accompanied by TF 96 which also added more ships and troops.

At Samah TF4 ended-up as a seven ship SC TF and went just south of Hong Kong where it did this,

Allied Ships
DD Scout, Shell hits 9, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Thanet, Shell hits 22, and is sunk
DD Thracian, Shell hits 19, and is sunk


TF7 took all of TF125's ships (not a MM TF) and went to the same hex as TF1. TF85 took a coupe of ships from TF108 and went to Kota Bharu as scheduled. TF91 went to Singora as scheduled. TFs 92 and 97 went to the same hex as TF1.

At Babeldaob TF3 dropped its DDs and went to CRB where is will upgrade its a/c and then act as an escort to Muri and area. TF98 at CRB went to Kota Bharu.

So now at hex 55,82, one hex north-east of Terempa Island, sits TF1 with its replenishment TF, and five other amphip TFs. I stopped the amphib TFs there for two reasons. First of all that's too many TFs at a time in one port trying to all unload at once. Second of all, nine times out of ten against the AI, force Z is sitting two hexes east of Mersing and even though the amphib is MM, it plowes through force Z on the way to Mersing, and they end-up at Mersing as if having been in a surface battle. Many damaged and sometimes some don't make it. The amphib TFs don't even phase force Z but the Air Combat TF usually does a number on them.

So I stopped them where I did, I will let TF1 clean-up the area, and will bring TFs 5 and 11 down to bombard and escort. I will split some DMSs out and send them in first and then send the amphip TFs into Mersing one at a time and have them unload troops only. (I'll bring the supplies back in a couple of days.)

This time no force Z. I think Rio's strategy is to bug-out and come back to fight another day. That doesn't always work. For example, at Babeldaob TF13 turned into a twenty ship Amphib TF but still had its original SC ships embedded. On their way to Cagayan they ran into a ship bugging-out and here is what happened.

Day Time Surface Combat, near Siargao at 83,88, Range 20,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
CS Mizuho
CS Chitose, Shell hits 1
CL Nagara, Shell hits 12, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Yukikaze, Shell hits 2
DD Tokitsukaze, Shell hits 1
DD Yamakaze
DD Kawakaze
DD Umikaze
DD Suzukaze
xAK Myoko Maru
xAK Shinanogawa Maru
xAK Shinryu Maru
xAK Kanko Maru
xAK Yasukawa Maru, Shell hits 1, heavy fires
xAK Hasuna Maru
xAK Meigen Maru
xAK Yamafuku Maru
xAKL Kakyu Maru, Shell hits 1, on fire
xAP Haruna Maru, Shell hits 1, on fire

Allied Ships
CL Boise, Shell hits 12, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk


Rio's email to me after I sent him the Combat Report. I no have Boisie no more? *pouts and throws computer out the window*


TF1 did help the war effort with this.

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Lingga at 51,87

Japanese aircraft losses
D3A1 Val: 4 damaged

Allied Ships
xAK Tai Sang, Bomb hits 2, on fire
xAK Zannis Cambanis, Torpedo hits 3, and is sunk
xAKL Tatung, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAP Hong Kheng, Bomb hits 6, and is sunk
xAK Wulin, Bomb hits 3, and is sunk
xAK Neleus, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
xAK Silverbeech, Torpedo hits 4, and is sunk
xAKL Bust, Bomb hits 4, and is sunk
xAK Demodocus, Bomb hits 4, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAKL Lyemun, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAKL Marudu

All empty, no troop-loss.


My other focal point on day one was Manila and it was a miserable effort. This is typical.

Morning Air attack on Manila , at 79,77

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid detected at 97 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 32 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 36
B5N2 Kate x 54
D3A1 Val x 45

Allied aircraft
no flights

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
P-40E Warhawk: 3 destroyed

Allied ground losses:
18 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Port hits 5
Port supply hits 1


I had all of the fighters and bombers out of Takao targeted for Manila with very few flights and TF2 as above. Even on my worst day against the AI I would get a half-o'-dozen ships and subs but today, nada.

To me this means that the Wx was to bad or he bugged everything out. Rio loves his subs. Tomorrow will tell.

I am going to stop here. I can do maps or whatever else anyone wants so let me know. Tomorrow I will post my basic strategy.

Thanks to all who made it this far.




ShockoPopper -> RE: The Gamiest Game in Town. El Lobo as the Red 1s and 0s (J), vs. Rio Bravo as the Green 1s and 0s (A) (5/3/2015 1:21:46 AM)

Hi Lobo -

I'm a fairly new player to WITP AE, and so any insight you can give regarding the 'why' of what you're doing would be very helpful. Also, any odd issues you run into as Japan would be useful, as I've only played Allies up to this point.

Thanks for the thread, and hope you do well.

PS) Why leave Pearl untouched? Seems the US will now be more than just a thorn in your side?




el lobo -> RE: The Gamiest Game in Town. El Lobo as the Red 1s and 0s (J), vs. Rio Bravo as the Green 1s and 0s (A) (5/3/2015 5:36:49 AM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: ShockoPopper

Hi Lobo -

I'm a fairly new player to WITP AE, and so any insight you can give regarding the 'why' of what you're doing would be very helpful. Also, any odd issues you run into as Japan would be useful, as I've only played Allies up to this point.

Thanks for the thread, and hope you do well.

PS) Why leave Pearl untouched? Seems the US will now be more than just a thorn in your side?

Welcome and thank you Shocko.

This would be the classic case of the blind leading the blind. [8D][8D]

Remember that this is my first real game so take everything I say with a grain of salt. I will be glad to answer any questions you have to the best of my ability and hopefully others will also.

There are several very good discussions in this Forum as to the virtues of attacking Pearl or not. If you read the first few pages of Quixote's AAR referenced above you will see one. I am not going to use his middle game style and his ended in Auto-Victory which I am not interested. (Not only that, I could not. Quixote is an excellent player way above my standards.)

Rio and I have not actually discussed what would be considered a win or loss by either side but my goal is to not have the Allies on the H.I. before the game-engine ends the game, what May '46? I believe that the only way Japan can accomplish this is to keep the economy very strong or at least as strong as possible to the bitter end. This is not an original idea BTW. Also, I do not buy into the idea that Japan has to loose the (game) war.

So the personal choice for me was the alternative between hitting Pearl and giving the US what amounts to a slap on the wrist, or, getting into the Southern Resource Area and start pumping the cargo into Japan's economy as soon as possible. I chose the latter and my whole game strategy will be built around that economic hypothesis.

I will be posting my Basic Strategy soon and that will give you a little more insight into my game thoughts.

Now Shocko, allow me to be a little sarcastic here. Do you really think the US will be more than a thorn in my side? [:)]





el lobo -> RE: The Gamiest Game in Town. El Lobo as the Red 1s and 0s (J), vs. Rio Bravo as the Green 1s and 0s (A) (5/3/2015 10:47:38 AM)


Basic Strategy

I feel that Japan made two major mistakes in the war. Involving the Unites States is one mistake that I can not change in the game, nor would I want to. It would not be much of a game otherwise.

The second, too much expansion, I can change. Burma is as far north-east as I will go. I will take all of Sumatra but will only go south as far the Soerabaja area on Java. All of Borneo and Celebes. I am still undecided if I will want the resources and oil at Boela and Babo enough to venture into that area but probably will. Truk will be as far south as I go in the Pacific. I am pulling all of my troops and air out of the Marshalls except the CD units of course but they will have to exist on coconuts, bananas and fish, no more supply for them. I am also canceling all of my small island invasions in that area.

The Marianas will be built heavily as well as Marcus but that is as far west as I will go in the Pacific. The Bonins will be heavily built and later Okinawa. I will take Adak early and hold it as long as I can.

My exception will be China. I'm not calling this a China first policy, but to enable a strong northern defense and to utilize some of China's resources, I plan on taking all of China and deleting every Chinese 1&0 there is. I sound like the CIA don't I?

No Australia or India although I want Rio to think that I am going into Australia in a big way so as to distract him and make him tie-up troops and supply there. In RL Rio worked in Auz for awhile and has a special fondness for the country, especially Brisbane, that I want to exploit.

That is pretty much my outer perimeter as planned subject to this thing called war.

I am playing this way partly because my game will be Resource driven. Resource with a capital 'R' includes resources, fuel, oil and supply which from now on I am going to call Cargo like the Manual does to avoid confusion. I am going to try to not use any cargo that I do not have to in the beginning of the war so I will have them in '44-'45-'46 when I really need them.




el lobo -> RE: The Gamiest Game in Town. El Lobo as the Red 1s and 0s (J), vs. Rio Bravo as the Green 1s and 0s (A) (5/3/2015 11:17:01 AM)


Cargo - resources

I am going to preface this by saying that I need a ton more research in this area but I am going to throw out some thoughts.

There are two sources of “free” cargo, oil and resources. Of course there is no free lunch. The cost of these two are the cost of capturing the bases, possible repair, shipping, expansion, spoilage, preventing spoilage, and protecting the supply source and the shipping. Anything else?

The cost of capturing the bases can be mitigated by capturing them as early a possible and I think this may help in reducing the cost of repairs. I need to do a lot more research in regards to repair cost and return of investment (ROI).

Shipping is one large on-going cost. I am going to reduce this cost by: using Pax's Magic Highway; selecting my cargo routes carefully; and using my shipping craft as efficiently as I can. Selecting my cargo routes carefully includes determining the “proper” destinations. I am still undecided as to my end-base for the MH. In my test Fusion did not build-up as expected but I did not have my sources well established either. I am still going to build-up Fusion but may end-up using Port Arthur as it has a big head start.

I have read that there are sufficient resources on and near the H.I. to satisfy the demand and that some players do not utilize the resources fully in the SRA. Again much more research is needed on my part but resources equal supply and it always seems that supply is always an issue in the end game. Therefore I can see no reason not to utilize every point of resources upon which you can lay your hands. One question I have concerns LI and if there is enough to utilize all of the resources available. If so, no expansion would be necessary but if not then the next question would be where to expand.

Most of what I have read says that some players never expand LI one reason being the long pay-back for the cost. If I were to expand LI, I would do it by the end of the year and the pay-back would break even around October of '44 just when supply would be real handy.

Port and air field expansion would not only prevent spoilage but it would help protect the source and if the bases are strategically located would help justify the cost of capturing them.

Protecting convoys can be a very expensive endeavor but a necessity. I think the biggest impact on reducing this cost is by having as few convoys as possible. See shipping above.




Spidery -> RE: The Gamiest Game in Town. El Lobo as the Red 1s and 0s (J), vs. Rio Bravo as the Green 1s and 0s (A) (5/3/2015 12:09:36 PM)

A few thoughts for you.

I have shipped resources from distant parts only when ships are returning home having sent supply/troops out (and when that happens I will put a small diversion in to go pick up some resources). Using that, in early 1944, I have few resources left in the Philippines. So I think the only resources that need regular shipping are from Fusan, Hokkaido and Sakhalin and the rest can be picked up as ships return home.

A fully developed Fusan seems to have the capacity to ship out all that is needed, although there is a period when stockpiles grow alarmingly to begin with. If you decide another port is needed, then Shanghai is closer than Port Arthur. A problem with Fusan is that the Tonan Whalers are your most efficient boats but they take up a lot of space on the docks. Next most efficient are the Type-1 and Manzyu tankers. Shipping from Port Arthur, instead of Fusan, means you'll be using about 1% more of the fuel shipped home in fuel costs plus be more exposed to subs.

If you go with the rapid expansion followed by minimal fuel use you will accumulate a large fuel reserve. If you avoid early loss of the oil production, you may find it worthwhile to expand some HI at the beginning to make sure you can convert that fuel to supply. This will also generate more HI so some extra expansion of naval yards could be useful. Also, if being efficient, you won't need any more xAK(L) or xAP built and it is probably only worth building the most efficient of tankers.

I think your estimate of payback for LI omits the 100 supply cost for the initial expansion so actual payback is after 1100 days or about the very end of 1944.





obvert -> RE: The Gamiest Game in Town. El Lobo as the Red 1s and 0s (J), vs. Rio Bravo as the Green 1s and 0s (A) (5/3/2015 1:16:12 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: el lobo


Cargo - resources

I am going to preface this by saying that I need a ton more research in this area but I am going to throw out some thoughts.

There are two sources of “free” cargo, oil and resources. Of course there is no free lunch. The cost of these two are the cost of capturing the bases, possible repair, shipping, expansion, spoilage, preventing spoilage, and protecting the supply source and the shipping. Anything else?

The cost of capturing the bases can be mitigated by capturing them as early a possible and I think this may help in reducing the cost of repairs. I need to do a lot more research in regards to repair cost and return of investment (ROI).

Shipping is one large on-going cost. I am going to reduce this cost by: using Pax's Magic Highway; selecting my cargo routes carefully; and using my shipping craft as efficiently as I can. Selecting my cargo routes carefully includes determining the “proper” destinations. I am still undecided as to my end-base for the MH. In my test Fusion did not build-up as expected but I did not have my sources well established either. I am still going to build-up Fusion but may end-up using Port Arthur as it has a big head start.


Don't use Port Arthur. Be patient and use Fusan if you try this. It's hard enough to get going without trying multiple ports and there is no advantage of having one further from the HI. It won't start before Fusan is well built up anyway.

I just send the units I've selected to buy out from Manchuria to Fusan immdiately. It build to Port 8 in a very short time with all of those engineers there.

quote:


I have read that there are sufficient resources on and near the H.I. to satisfy the demand and that some players do not utilize the resources fully in the SRA. Again much more research is needed on my part but resources equal supply and it always seems that supply is always an issue in the end game. Therefore I can see no reason not to utilize every point of resources upon which you can lay your hands. One question I have concerns LI and if there is enough to utilize all of the resources available. If so, no expansion would be necessary but if not then the next question would be where to expand.


There will be a lot of unused resources in your Empire. Don't worry about using them up. Only worry about your needs for HI/LI.

In the SRA it doesn't make sense to build LI. If you do it early enough to make it potentially worth it you're also trying to use that supply for a lot of other things like airframe RnD, production expansions and fighting to win the historical Empire.

The only places it makes sense to build LI really are deep in Japanese held territory where the extra supply becomes really useful late (and easy to ship to the HI) as other sources are lost or destroyed: Manchuria, Northern China, Korea or in the HI itself. There are plenty of resources here, the distance for shipping is as short as it gets from Fusan, and there will most likely be no B-29 strikes here until very late.

quote:


Most of what I have read says that some players never expand LI one reason being the long pay-back for the cost. If I were to expand LI, I would do it by the end of the year and the pay-back would break even around October of '44 just when supply would be real handy.

Port and air field expansion would not only prevent spoilage but it would help protect the source and if the bases are strategically located would help justify the cost of capturing them.

Protecting convoys can be a very expensive endeavor but a necessity. I think the biggest impact on reducing this cost is by having as few convoys as possible. See shipping above.


Port and airfield expansion also costs supply. It's good to do throughout the Empire, but as I found out in my first campaign, it's a lot more expensive to max everywhere than to be sensible and only build what you predict you will really need.

So a size 9 field at Soerabaja is great. Size 8-9 fields, maxed ports and size 6 fort levels for all of Java is not usually a good idea.

In my first long game I built more HI and LI in the SRA. It was all bombed out by 45. ALL of it. By the time it's useful, even if it's still there, you may be cut off from bringing that stuff home. What counts is what can get to and be used in the HI late.




Lowpe -> RE: The Gamiest Game in Town. El Lobo as the Red 1s and 0s (J), vs. Rio Bravo as the Green 1s and 0s (A) (5/3/2015 2:24:55 PM)

For a good AAR detailing a less than historic expansion, search for Captain Cruft's The Hive AAR. It is more than a year old, where does the time go?, but it is great, innovative, and unorthodox read.

You don't mention it, but what about the Andamans?

Once your invasions are done, park your 3 training cruisers (CL - 18 knot speed) in with your tankers as convoy escorts. They can eventually upgrade to super escort leaders, but in the meantime can catch a torpedo meant for that Tonan Whaler and live. They provide great convoy leadership and are important ships despite their speed handicap.

Check your ship captains on your important ships...and switch them out. On Warships, most are good, but there are some stinkers like the one on the Tone. On your tankers, aks, xaps, they are mostly stinkers. Just do it gradually.

Set up Tracker and it will let you know the most fuel efficient merchants you have.

Less than historic expansion AARs are few and far between, will be great reading! Good luck! Got me excited to follow along!









el lobo -> RE: The Gamiest Game in Town. El Lobo as the Red 1s and 0s (J), vs. Rio Bravo as the Green 1s and 0s (A) (5/3/2015 3:05:52 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: Spidery

A few thoughts for you.

I have shipped resources from distant parts only when ships are returning home having sent supply/troops out (and when that happens I will put a small diversion in to go pick up some resources). Using that, in early 1944, I have few resources left in the Philippines. So I think the only resources that need regular shipping are from Fusan, Hokkaido and Sakhalin and the rest can be picked up as ships return home.



Thank you for you response Spidery.

When I mouse-over a base, on some I see the resource center and on some I see the resource center and a “pile” of resources at the bottom of the box.

You say “Using that, in early 1944, I have few resources left in the Philippines.” So here I am confused. Do the resource centers keep producing or do they stop producing when you capture the base? If they are producing, are you just hauling them off faster than they are being produced? If they do not produce, is there a pile of resources there when you capture the base not shown on the mouse-over and that is what you have to haul?




el lobo -> RE: The Gamiest Game in Town. El Lobo as the Red 1s and 0s (J), vs. Rio Bravo as the Green 1s and 0s (A) (5/3/2015 3:20:00 PM)

obvert, Lowpe, and Spidery

Fantastic responses! There is nothing like experience. Thanks for sharing yours.

You guys have given me a lot of information and a lot to think about. I will consider each detail and look at the re: AAR.

Thank you so much.




Lowpe -> RE: The Gamiest Game in Town. El Lobo as the Red 1s and 0s (J), vs. Rio Bravo as the Green 1s and 0s (A) (5/3/2015 3:30:08 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: el lobo


quote:

ORIGINAL: Spidery

A few thoughts for you.

I have shipped resources from distant parts only when ships are returning home having sent supply/troops out (and when that happens I will put a small diversion in to go pick up some resources). Using that, in early 1944, I have few resources left in the Philippines. So I think the only resources that need regular shipping are from Fusan, Hokkaido and Sakhalin and the rest can be picked up as ships return home.



Thank you for you response Spidery.

When I mouse-over a base, on some I see the resource center and on some I see the resource center and a “pile” of resources at the bottom of the box.

You say “Using that, in early 1944, I have few resources left in the Philippines.” So here I am confused. Do the resource centers keep producing or do they stop producing when you capture the base? If they are producing, are you just hauling them off faster than they are being produced? If they do not produce, is there a pile of resources there when you capture the base not shown on the mouse-over and that is what you have to haul?



If you ship in so much troops and supplies, you most likely will have enough empty cargo space for the return trip to strip the PI of resources.






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