warspite1
Posts: 41353
Joined: 2/2/2008 From: England Status: offline
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quote:
ORIGINAL: AllenK quote:
ORIGINAL: warspite1 Jun/Jul 1943 Impulse: Reinforcement Germany: MIL ENG DIV HQ INF 2 x FTR NAV 2 x LND Italy: FTR INF MECH Japan: NAV Shinano (ahistorical) Write-up: World In Flames (WIF) allows the Japanese player to build all five planned Yamato-class battleships and one of the two planned "Super" Yamato-class, although in reality, only two Yamatos were completed as such; Yamato and Musashi, and neither "Super" Yamato was as much as laid down. A third ship, Shinano, was completed as an aircraft carrier, and WIF allows the Japanese player to build both Shinano and "the fourth Yamato", Karyu, as an aircraft carrier. Unusually, two carrier options are available. Firstly, Shinano and Karyu may be completed with combat factors that reflect Shinano`s historic actual specification. Counter nos. 5107 and 5108 are respectively available for this purpose. However, WIF also allows the Japanese player the option of completing Shinano and Karyu to a "What If" specification. The rationale for this is presumably based on the fact that Shinano was the largest aircraft carrier to be built outside of the United States, and her size was such that she would have been capable, in theory at least, of being completed to a much grander scale. In exploring "What If" scenarios it is tempting to see what would happen if the Japanese had had the resources available to build these ships to a standard that would put them somewhere between the United States Navy`s Essex and Midway-classes. Of course, just as big a problem for the Japanese in completing the ships themselves, would have been finding the aircraft and the pilots to man the large air groups they could have operated, but....... In addition to the ahistorical Shinano and Karyu, WIF also allows the Japanese player to build two other carriers of similar specification; Meiji and Showa. The rationale could be that the hulls of "the fifth Yamato" and the "first Super Yamato" could have been used as the basis for these carriers. No technical specifications are available for these hypothetical carriers, but given the combat factors the WIF designers have allocated them, they would have been somewhere between the United States Navy`s Essex and Midway-class in size... have fun! I think it's these great "What If" units that help give such depth and replayability to WIF. What if they had been built? How could they have been used? What would the consequences have been in spending limited resources this way as oppose to more land units, air etc. All of which can only be resolved by giving it a go and seeing how it pans out. Brilliant stuff. On a side note, seeing the earlier comments about German momentum and the establishing of a solid line, I would say "Yes". I haven't quite caught up to the relevant period in my AAR so all I'll say is it can be rather hairy if you don't. Stay tuned. warspite1 ...and just like as would have been the case in real life, I've got to try and find some aircraft from somewhere to stick on it!
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England expects that every man will do his duty. Horatio Nelson October 1805
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