War in the Pacific Day by Day - Imperial Edition

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Video Games > Let's Play! > War in the Pacific Day by Day - Imperial Edition

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Cythereal: Nov 8, 2009; I love the potoo,
and the potoo loves you.

vyelkin posted:

Switching sides when they saw which way the wind was blowing.

I think Churchill said it best: The Allies had the Italians last time [WW1] so it's only fair Germany is saddled with them this time.

# ? Aug 28, 2016 18:12

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# ? May 17, 2024 16:21

Night10194: Feb 13, 2012; We'll start,
like many good things,
with a bear.

vyelkin posted:

Switching sides when they saw which way the wind was blowing.

Surrendering in 1943 was legitimately a good idea.

# ? Aug 28, 2016 18:15

Grey Hunter: Oct 17, 2007; Hero of the soviet union.
Accidental destroyer of planets

Clunk!

Right boys, its up to you to bring us back to a positive k/d ratio!

There is another pointless attack at Chittagong.

I'm still worried these guys are going to get lucky!

We hit Guadalcanal again.

Ships are steaming out from a dozen ports at the operation to cut off Australia moves into gear.
Of course, I'm not showing you that, it would be boring.

Another nice kill for us.

# ? Aug 28, 2016 18:24

McNally: Sep 13, 2007; Ask me about Proposition 305

Do you like muskets?

Jobbo_Fett posted:

SM.79, the Beretta pistols had a good reputation afaik, manned torpedos, the Piaggio P.108, wearing a feather in their cap

Also the Carcano carbine. There are some that say that its performance was magic. Others say it was mindblowing.

# ? Aug 28, 2016 18:52

Jobbo_Fett: Mar 7, 2014; Slava Ukrayini; Clapping Larry

McNally posted:

Also the Carcano carbine. There are some that say that its performance was magic. Others say it was mindblowing.

Eh, I hate the clip/magazine it has, and the 6.5mm cartridge is underpowered compared to other rounds. Could just be me though :shrug:

Also,

Congratulations Saint-Celestine! Another one joins Davey Jones' Locker.

# ? Aug 28, 2016 18:57

James Garfield: May 5, 2012; Am I a manipulative abuser in real life, or do I just roleplay one on the Internet for fun? You decide!

tunapirate posted:

Since we're discussing the merits of WW2 reputations, did the Italians do anything right? Besides having the prettiest planes

They killed Mussolini, I think that counts for something.

# ? Aug 28, 2016 19:14

McNally: Sep 13, 2007; Ask me about Proposition 305

Do you like muskets?

Jobbo_Fett posted:

Eh, I hate the clip/magazine it has, and the 6.5mm cartridge is underpowered compared to other rounds. Could just be me though

I admit that the clip system had is a bit of a Dealey-breaker, but I'm sure guys on the receiving end of the 6.5mm round didn't find its performance particularly underpowered. Every man Jack of them. Something about it would just make them snap back.

And to the left.

Edit: I mean, it sure as gently caress wasn't just a bundle of curtain rods.

McNally fucked around with this message at 19:23 on Aug 28, 2016

# ? Aug 28, 2016 19:16

goatface: Dec 5, 2007; I had a video of that when I was about 6.

I remember it being shit.; Grimey Drawer

Empress' Asia is a good kill, not the fastest of liners but still ~17,000 t of troop-shuttling power. The first(?) corvette of the war is a nice accompaniment.

# ? Aug 28, 2016 19:27

MrMojok: Jan 28, 2011

Grumio posted:

It really is

I'm somewhat of an aficionado of WWII aircraft, and I don't think I've seen this cool graphic. Where did you find this?

# ? Aug 28, 2016 19:27

Jobbo_Fett: Mar 7, 2014; Slava Ukrayini; Clapping Larry

McNally posted:

I admit that the clip system had is a bit of a Dealey-breaker, but I'm sure guys on the receiving end of the 6.5mm round didn't find its performance particularly underpowered. Every man Jack of them. Something about it would just make them snap back.

And to the left.

Edit: I mean, it sure as gently caress wasn't just a bundle of curtain rods.

Fair enough.

Oh, I completely forgot the BREDA-SAFAT machine gun. Just about the only Italian MG of the war that was worth anything.

# ? Aug 28, 2016 19:27

Jobbo_Fett: Mar 7, 2014; Slava Ukrayini; Clapping Larry

goatface posted:

Empress' Asia is a good kill, not the fastest of liners but still ~17,000 t of troop-shuttling power. The first(?) corvette of the war is a nice accompaniment.

Fourth, actually.

The KV Thyme was the first Corvette seen and sunk. The KV New Westminster was spotted and is a probable sunk on 42/04/23. Next came Freesia, spotted and sunk 42/05/22.

# ? Aug 28, 2016 19:29

goatface: Dec 5, 2007; I had a video of that when I was about 6.

I remember it being shit.; Grimey Drawer

Wow, I didn't think we'd seen so many.

# ? Aug 28, 2016 19:31

vyelkin: Jan 2, 2011

Night10194 posted:

Surrendering in 1943 was legitimately a good idea.

Exactly. The Italians were bad at war but good at knowing when to give up.

Grey is a bit behind schedule sinking the Empress of Asia, historically she was sunk by Japanese planes on 5 February 1942 just off Singapore while taking soldiers and supplies there to reinforce the defence. Despite the fact that almost all the people on board were evacuated by other ships in her convoy, all of the materiel and supplies on board were lost. Since Singapore fell just ten days later, it's hard to say Empress of Asia would have made a big difference in the end.

She didn't look quite so pretty after being set on fire by Japanese bombs:

# ? Aug 28, 2016 19:35

McNally: Sep 13, 2007; Ask me about Proposition 305

Do you like muskets?

Jobbo_Fett posted:

Fair enough.

# ? Aug 28, 2016 19:42

Pershing: Feb 21, 2010; John "Black Jack" Pershing
Hard Fucking Core

McNally posted:

Also the Carcano carbine. There are some that say that its performance was magic. Others say it was mindblowing.

While we're making Kennedy references, at this point in his career is he anywhere near Grey's forces?

# ? Aug 28, 2016 19:50

James Garfield: May 5, 2012; Am I a manipulative abuser in real life, or do I just roleplay one on the Internet for fun? You decide!

Pershing posted:

While we're making Kennedy references, at this point in his career is he anywhere near Grey's forces?

He isn't on the map right now, he's in officer school at Northwestern University. After some time in training squadrons he'll take command of PT-109 in April.

# ? Aug 28, 2016 20:36

Saint Celestine: Dec 17, 2008; Lay a fire within your soul and another between your hands, and let both be your weapons.
For one is faith and the other is victory and neither may ever be put out.
- Saint Sabbat, Lessons; Grimey Drawer

Why the gently caress was the Chiliwack at Guadalcanal? Shes supposed to sit off of Vancouver all war!

Edit: Nobody has taken the Richelieu yet, so I guess ill take that. Itll be hard to sink her since she doesn't even show up until 44'

Saint Celestine fucked around with this message at 22:05 on Aug 28, 2016

# ? Aug 28, 2016 21:58

Cythereal: Nov 8, 2009; I love the potoo,
and the potoo loves you.

Saint Celestine posted:

Why the gently caress was the Chiliwack at Guadalcanal? Shes supposed to sit off of Vancouver all war!

It's how the AI works in this game. It picks one of several strategies when you start a game, and will then follow that strategy and its objectives blindly, throwing whatever it has at its current objective until the objective is taken. The AI here chose the Guadalcanal strategy so yeah expect it to funnel ships towards the island until physically stopped from doing so.

# ? Aug 28, 2016 22:02

Grumio: Sep 20, 2001; in culina est

MrMojok posted:

I'm somewhat of an aficionado of WWII aircraft, and I don't think I've seen this cool graphic. Where did you find this?

To be honest I really can't recall. I believe was a repost from another forum, so I don't know which book it originally came from

# ? Aug 28, 2016 22:45

Drone: Aug 22, 2003; Incredible machine

Cythereal posted:

It's how the AI works in this game. It picks one of several strategies when you start a game, and will then follow that strategy and its objectives blindly, throwing whatever it has at its current objective until the objective is taken. The AI here chose the Guadalcanal strategy so yeah expect it to funnel ships towards the island until physically stopped from doing so.

Is there a list of any of these scripted strategies for both sides?

# ? Aug 29, 2016 05:59

Grey Hunter: Oct 17, 2007; Hero of the soviet union.
Accidental destroyer of planets

Dammit.

Its a dull day in the air.

The allied troops march quicker than ours � I need to get our planes out of here!

The India offensive is going poorly, there are a good number of Indian troops, and they are moving better than my own forces. I can save most of the pilots and airframes at Akyab though.

We come out on top here! Although we learn the Salt Lake City is still in service.
Boo.

# ? Aug 29, 2016 17:41

OpenlyEvilJello: Dec 28, 2009

steinrokkan posted:

To answer the question "why did the Japanese do so well in the initial stages despite their primitive... everything", I'll outline a couple of bullet points, more on this can be read in the Handbook on Japanese Military Forces from 1944, available online.
- The jungles and mountains of the Pacific theatre were perfectly suited for the Japanese land doctrine and tactics, among other things because...
- Each component of their army was drilled to operate as autonomously as possible, going from an infantryman all the way up to regimental command. Each soldier was expected to take care of all his business, without any support personnel to speak of. Officers were trained to always take initiative based on simple rules of thumb without bothering to check with their superiors. (Infantry was not issued radios, for the most part. The most sophisticated form of communication for the typical officer was a messenger) They were always instructed to choose offense over defense. Divisional commanders only sporadically intervened in the matters of their junior officers, and would typically only issue broad guidelines for the improvising troops. This was crucial in the opening stages of the war when the Japanese weren't bogged down by poor communications, unwieldy equipment, bureaucracy etc., and were able to keep moving forwards as fast as their feet carried them, regardless of the harsh environment in which they found themselves.
-The IJA had developed possibly the most sophisticated infiltration tactics of the early war. Their preference was for close quarters combat, and they were trained to seeks openings for infiltration of the enemy under all circumstances, without any exceptions. Troops were instructed in determining areas of combat where the enemy was seeking withdrawal, and attack through those zones into his rear, seeking an envelopment without a need for authorization. Even when in a marching formation and reformed into columns, a Japanese division would always be preceded by a fighting vanguard seeking to start combat even before the main body could be brought into action. The idea of not always attacking and trying to keep physical contact with enemy lines was only adopted by the staff after years of war experience, and never really proliferated down to the common front line officer.
- Their artillery, while not too numerous and not too technologically advanced, was deployed in ways designed to support the infantryman's infiltration efforts. Artillery crews were expected to deploy as close to the enemy as possible, right behind the infantry, and focus almost exclusively on direct fire interdiction of enemy movement, to the detriment of other mission types, while constantly leapfrogging to keep pace with the advance. As a result in the early stages of war they were able to achieve better results in infantry - artillery synergy than their enemies.
- As technology and material situation of the Allies improved, all these factors that initially helped Japan turned into disadvantages.

Thank you for this excellent post. One might also add the old aphorism about loving up less than the other guy.

# ? Aug 30, 2016 05:08

Grey Hunter: Oct 17, 2007; Hero of the soviet union.
Accidental destroyer of planets

We try and protect Akyab with planes from Rangoon.

The longer range means this is much harder.

drat you bombers!

Their carrier is still in the area � we need to refuel before we can hunt it though!

Well, at least we know where their carrier is! Time to see if we have the fuel to get it!

# ? Aug 30, 2016 17:39

wedgekree: Feb 20, 2013

Good luck on getting the carrier. Is it normal for the AI to send the Allied carriers on long range individual raids? I know that the US did so a few times in 1942 before Coral Sea in places like the Marshalls, but does the AI do a lot of this with the USN?

# ? Aug 31, 2016 07:20

Grey Hunter: Oct 17, 2007; Hero of the soviet union.
Accidental destroyer of planets

Grey Hunter posted:

You know what this thread is missing? a 6mm Battle report!

And for a first! its a great war battle

This is my first use of the Great war Spearhead rules!

Cross posting from the historical wargames thread.

# ? Aug 31, 2016 17:01

Grey Hunter: Oct 17, 2007; Hero of the soviet union.
Accidental destroyer of planets

I NEVER hit this much with my level bombers.

The American carrier continues to hit Koepang.

The fighting over Akyab continues.

The British continue to waste Indians at Chittagong.

I need to get reinforcements to Akyab! Its finding the ships in the area!

Its been a terrible month for my shipping.

# ? Aug 31, 2016 17:33

alex314: Nov 22, 2007

I remember during your Allies run japanese long range naval bombers were deadly. Why we don't see your Betties decimate enemy shipping?

# ? Aug 31, 2016 19:05

Bold Robot: Jan 6, 2009; Be brave.

alex314 posted:

I remember during your Allies run japanese long range naval bombers were deadly. Why we don't see your Betties decimate enemy shipping?

The world wonders.

# ? Aug 31, 2016 19:28

RA Rx: Mar 24, 2016

Eh, I find it difficult to give Grey a hard time at the moment. He's 1-0 on carriers so far. Maybe if this goes on for another month and another half a carrier's points worth of logistics goes down.

RA Rx fucked around with this message at 20:27 on Aug 31, 2016

# ? Aug 31, 2016 20:21

TildeATH: Oct 21, 2010; by Lowtax

Let's all take a moment and honor the Croctopus as the best simulation of Japanese High Command.

# ? Aug 31, 2016 20:49

TheDemon: Dec 11, 2006; _{...on the plus side I'm feeling much more angry now than I expected so this totally helps me get in character.}

It takes a lot of management to make land-based naval bombers effective. You have to plan airbases in range of enemy shipping, take them, ship in supplies and engineers and rapidly build them, ship in an air HQ so you have torpedoes, ship in squadrons and fighters too, set up effective Naval Search arcs, and do it all over again when the likely sea lanes move.

As it stands there aren't very many nearby sea lanes because most of the low-hanging fruit have been fully taken. With the upcoming offensive against Fiji an early bomber base would be very effective, but all these elements have to be ready to go. Same for the Solomons, actually, but again, all these elements need to be prepared in advance.

Miss any one thing, like excellent Naval Search, and your missions probably won't happen like you want.

# ? Aug 31, 2016 20:54

Leperflesh: May 17, 2007

You also have to set your bombers to bomb from the right height, probably figure out CAP/escorts to protect them, and uh... Japan only has two engine bombers which just cannot drop the volume of a 4-engine, so you just aren't ever going to be as effective.

e. Oh yeah and weather has an effect, so I bet if you are trying your Japanese level bombing campaign during the wrong part of the year, they'll just be less effective due to thunderstorms etc.

# ? Aug 31, 2016 20:56

gohuskies: Oct 23, 2010; I spend a lot of time making posts to justify why I'm not a self centered shithead that just wants to act like COVID isn't a thing.

Leperflesh posted:

You also have to set your bombers to bomb from the right height, probably figure out CAP/escorts to protect them, and uh... Japan only has two engine bombers which just cannot drop the volume of a 4-engine, so you just aren't ever going to be as effective.

e. Oh yeah and weather has an effect, so I bet if you are trying your Japanese level bombing campaign during the wrong part of the year, they'll just be less effective due to thunderstorms etc.

I don't think people are asking about level bombing, I think they're asking why aren't we seeing Betties slamming torpedoes into the sides of Allied ships. Betty squadrons are super deadly but we haven't seen a lot of them this game.

# ? Aug 31, 2016 23:04

RA Rx: Mar 24, 2016

Grey's just spending his time administering the more important stuff.

Sure the points can help delay Allied autovictory (since a Japanese autovictory isn't going to happen), but the strategic effect is underwhelming.

RA Rx fucked around with this message at 23:32 on Aug 31, 2016

# ? Aug 31, 2016 23:29

Grey Hunter: Oct 17, 2007; Hero of the soviet union.
Accidental destroyer of planets

Its odd you say this, I was wondering myself, then I just ran a turn when all my bombers started attacking at once.

I think this game has some weird bugs in it....

# ? Sep 1, 2016 05:14

steinrokkan: Apr 2, 2011; Soiled Meat

gohuskies posted:

I don't think people are asking about level bombing, I think they're asking why aren't we seeing Betties slamming torpedoes into the sides of Allied ships. Betty squadrons are super deadly but we haven't seen a lot of them this game.

The same reasons, but naval missions are even harder to get going because you need effective naval patrol missions in addition to bombing missions, and the effectiveness of patrolling aircraft drops exponentially with the range and frequency of their missions... So you need to set up a really precise system of patrols that controls for range, direction, altitude, number of air frames simultaneously on duty. And make sure that even with all the restraining conditions there aren't gaps between your individual patrol zones.

It's a pain in the rear end.

# ? Sep 1, 2016 07:16

Grey Hunter: Oct 17, 2007; Hero of the soviet union.
Accidental destroyer of planets

I'm 100% sure the AI "cheats" when it comes to recon - you miss stuff all the time, but the AI always seems to be able to make runs at anything you put in the sea.

# ? Sep 1, 2016 07:43

Dralun: May 22, 2012

To ask, are air HQ's in range and have you bought torpedoes for them? I frequently forget this part.

# ? Sep 1, 2016 08:00

Grey Hunter: Oct 17, 2007; Hero of the soviet union.
Accidental destroyer of planets

Dralun posted:

To ask, are air HQ's in range and have you bought torpedoes for them? I frequently forget this part.

Nope! I've had problems getting these guys to do air missions for so long, I've been a little lax on the support - I will be sorting it over the course of this month!

It still boggles the mind that you have to order torpedoes, while bombs are automatically generated. Stupid UI and all that.

# ? Sep 1, 2016 08:15

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# ? May 17, 2024 16:21

Drone: Aug 22, 2003; Incredible machine

Grey, how long does your average turn last? In terms of setting orders and whatnot.

I keep wondering why we aren't seeing more naval action besides what the various carrier fleetlets are doing (specifically, what the hell our all our BB's up to?) and I get the sneaking suspicion most of them are just chilling out in port. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing since it's saving us a bunch of fuel that we currently can't really replenish easily.

# ? Sep 1, 2016 08:23

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Video Games > Let's Play! > War in the Pacific Day by Day - Imperial Edition

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