Feinder
Posts: 6589
Joined: 9/4/2002
From: Land o' Lakes, FL
Status: offline
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Part of the issue involved :
1. The AI is coded to reflect a relatively accurate HISTORICAL outcome, using relatively historical tactics. To test the AI, the coders simply let the game play itself. The AI of both nationalities are using comperable routines that produce relatively historical results. Remember here, the AI is trying to produce historical results.
2. Players know they need to concentrate their forces. Remember that historically, the use of airpower vs. fleet units was still in it's infancy. The only US experience with aggressive of airpower vs. naval units was Billy Mitchell bombing a pair of BBs (which actually p1ssed off the Navy, he was USAAC). CVs were seen generally as the SCOUTS of the fleet, not as their major offensive asset. The British had used CVs in the Atlantic and Med vs. Bismark and the Italians with some success. But even so, none of these engagements saw the scale, impact, or even necessity that was to be proven in the Pacific. The greatest threat to naval vessals in the Med and North/Norwegian Sea, was actually from Land Based aircraft, not from CVs. Coral Sea was the 1st time that large numbers of aircraft attacked a fleet. Had the BBs at Pearl been available, naval strategy in the Pacific would likely have begun very differently (using the BBs as the core, instead of CVs; I believe it would still have ended with CVs tho). The in the official debrief of Coral Sea, it was decided that strikes needed to be larger, coordinated better, and that ships needed more AAA. Tactics in 1942 had no problem attacking with 6 plane flight. By 1943 however, you did see the concentration (and greater coordination) of air attacks. Players already know this, and will tend to put together a massive fleet in order to accomplish it; which furthers compounds the next point...
3. Players know exactly what resources they're going to get (or not get) and when. They know the limited area in which their units can/will be deployed. They also have a fairly good idea of the enemy's disposition and arrival of the enemy forces. Players have played UV many times, they know generally what will be facing them regardless of the specific intel. They also have their OB arrival chart, that tells them exactly when other fleet units will arrive, and they will plan accordingly. Historically, our counterparts had much less to work with. The only got one chance "to play the game". Their intel was actual, and not based upon prior knowledge from "playing the game" previous times and discovering "the game arc" that ultimately unfolds.
So I guess that's the the long way of saying, 4 - 8 plane flights were -not- ahistorical. The AI is trying to play a historical game. Players will ulitimately sabotage a historical strategy, because of thier knowledge of dispostion and tactics.
-F-
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