Blackhorse
Posts: 1983
Joined: 8/20/2000
From: Eastern US
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Ambassador
However, while browsing the editor I have noticed a small detail that must be interesting in the case of the WC reinforcements : with the exception of the Canadian 2nd Army Tank Brigade, all the new LCUs are permanently restricted (not surprisingly...), but more importantly : they are static.
Thus, as SLC has only meager supply sources (120 light industry and 20 heavy industry), and can be isolated from the East Coast... I guess they're a paper tiger. They won't move, they're vulnerable to a siege, and they don't block the rail to the East Coast (however I don't know if the IJA could use that railline).
In the words of Inigo Montoya "I do not think that word means what you think it does."
The West Coast reinforcements are "static attached" (a HQ-command status) not "static." They can still move after they arrive.
A little background on the philosophy behind the West Coast reinforcements in AE:
1. Yes, if the Japanese invade the West Coast, its the end of the "Europe First" strategy -- at least until after the invasion is repelled. It is one thing to to put MacArthur on a shoestring in New Guinea because reinforcements are going to North Africa and Siciliy. But no U.S. government (that intends to remain the government) would let San Francisco, Seattle or Los Angeles fall while troops continue to flow to the Mediterranean.
2. The reinforcements, coupled with the permanently restricted units on-map, are intended to demonstrate just how impossibly difficult a Japanese invasion would be -- even against the inept AI.
3. Most of the forces necessary to resist/defeat an invasion are already on the map. Until early 1943, the US will usually have a full division (permanently restricted, or waiting for enough PPs to deploy) available in each of Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles plus a lot of supporting artillery, engineers, cavalry and tank destroyers.
4. In addition, AE includes the divisions that trained on the West Coast before they were deployed to the ETO. At any one time there will be 1-3 permanently restricted infantry divisions training in Oregon, and 1 or 2 Armor Divisions at San Luis Obispo. (And in the event of an invasion, the II Armored Corps HQ arrives in San Luis Obispo).
5. On top of that, armor brigades and divisions from across the country regularly rotated through California for desert training in the Mojave Desert. Ergo, the "Provisional Tank Brigade" that pops up in the event of an invasion.
6. If the Japanese actually invade, the only other US LCU reinforcements is the 4-Division II Corps that starts in Salt Lake City -- representing the time it would take to mobilize these forces and get them from the South and East to the West Coast. I don't think that anyone would suggest that temporarily diverting four divisions to stop an invasion of the US mainland would be an overreaction.
7. The "convoy" (one of AndyMac's most ingenious additions to AE, IMHO) disbands a few days after it arrives, and the devices go into the Allied pools. This represents the flow of men and weapons that had been designated for Europe, but would now go to flesh out or upgrade the West Coast units that had to drive the Japanese back into the sea. It will be near-impossible for the IJA to out-attrition US and Canadian forces on the West Coast.
8. It was intended that Fredenhall command the II Corps in Salt Lake City, and Patton the II Armored Corps in San Luis Obispo, but with the current code we couldn't get them to arrive only in the event of an invasion. They are in the leader database. I believe random leaders will command these units when they arrive.
9. If the Japanese invade after 6/43 the invasion reinforement divisions will have different names, as the original four divisions would already be in the MTO.
10. Yes, this is probably way too much attention to detail for an invasion that should never happen in a game -- but one of the reasons it should never happen is because the US and Canadian forces are modelled (reasonably) historically. In stock WitP it was way too easy for the Japanese to contemplate attacking the West Coast, because there were not enough slots to include all the forces that were garrisoning the West Coast.
11. FWIW, if the Japanese have been incredibly successful, and are contemplating an attack against the West Coast, they should consider a raid on the south -- if left underdefended Los Angeles and San Diego might briefly fall, and that would take a chuck out of US aircraft production. That's about the only positive results I can imagine from a direct Japanese attack on the West Coast that might come remotely close to justifying the risk/losses.
12. IIRC, the invasion trigger is the mainland West Coast from Vancouver south. I don't think any of the islands trigger the reaction.
< Message edited by Blackhorse -- 12/29/2010 3:38:56 AM >
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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!
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RE: Emergency Reinforcements--WC - 
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