Didz

How important is it when invading China to leave garisons in Chinese cities? I know that every turn you get random partisan attacks from either the Chinese or Communist partisans which inflict MPP losses on various cities and I realise there is nothing to be done about these. But in an earlier campaign I made the mistake of leaving a key Chinese city without a garison (As I recall it was either Changsha or Canton) and an actual strength 12 Chinese partisan counter suddenly appeared in it, which caused total chaos to my supply network for several turns. Since then I've become pretty neurotic about leaving any Chinese cities empty, just in case one of these counters pops up. However, I'm rapidly running out of options in terms of air units, engineers and AA units to leave behind my lines and as I advance further and further into China the number of cities I need to worry about is increasing. So, I wondered if there is any limit or listing of Chinese cities that need to be garisoned, or whether it literally is random and completely down to chance whether it happens. The same question will probably arise in other area's like India, but I haven't actually seen a physical counter appear in any of those area's yet.

I doubt I shall ever play this game against a human opponent. I've tried it in the past with other games and always been disappointed in the experience. I actually started making a few notes on the strategic and tactical issues that arise when defending or attacking China yesterday, as I seem to do quite well in that operational area. I managed to drive the Japanese back into the sea when playing the Allies and only last night finally captured Chungking when playing as the Japanese. If I'm happy with the final result I may post it to get some debate and feedback going.

It would be useful to see some tactical walk-throughs. I may even produce some myself if I ever get the hang of this game.

Cheers! I'll try that. Incidently, I actually went back and started a new Allied campaign with the 'Fog of War' off, just so I could see how many extra units the Imperial Japanese Army gets when played by the AI, and I was quite surprised because it was only a difference of five units. At Beginner difficulty the AI starts with 69, the player starts with 64. It felt like a lot more with the 'Fog of War' on, but I guess thats the point of it. Anyway, thanks for the advice. I actually took delivery of Global War yesterday, so I'm trying to work out how to cope with that now. I'm amazed by some of the events, the first time I played I had to keep stopping to look up stuff on Google, such as 'The Greenslade-Roberts Agreement'. Which actually took quite a while to find, and understand, before I could make a decision on whether to accept it. Anyway, got to get on I have a German raider somewhere in the South Altantic to hunt down and sink.

I know there is a brief strategy guide in .pdf format on the disk, which is quite useful. However, has anyone produced a more detailed tactical guide with examples etc? I particularly having trouble with basic tactical situations, specifically opposed amphibious landings, where inevitably I end up with troops on the beach with zero supply having to be rescued by massed naval and air bombardment, and with tactical breakthroughs against massed Chinese divisions in the mountains around Chungking. Something like a 'How to' guide from more experienced players would be most useful.

If its true that the AI gets a standard unit bonus what settings should I select at the start of a campaign to ensure that this is minimised. So, for example having played Allies in Operation Z at Beginner with 0 Bonus. What settings should I set when playing Japan to given me the same starting units as the AI had when playing them?

On my first attempt I went for Malaya on turn 1 and left Thailand alone. However, I quickly realised that this tied up too many of my valuable units for too little gain. The main difficulty being the delay after landing whilst waiting for supply to build up again so you can rembark them for the next assault. So, I had a rethink and started again this time splitting my force and taking Thialand and landing in Malaya simultaneously in Turn 1. This seems to have an unexpected bonus in that by the time I was ready to expliot my capture of Bangkok the Allies had got over-confident and moved their forces into northern Thailand, making them easier to defeat. So, I was able to bounce them out of their positions and capture Rangoon and the oil field near Mandalay quite quickly. There only seems to be a weak Chinese Army defending Mandalay so I should have that in my hands as soon as I have consolidated Rangoon. The challenge I have in this second attempt is the Phillipines which are still in US hands and look likely to remain so for some time. My main fleet hung around near Pearl Harbour and picked off a few more US ships, ~(not the Aircraft carriers unfortunately) but eventually ran short of aircraft and are now heading home. So, I never had a decent air umbrella over the Phillipines in the opening of the game and most of my army units were needed to fight the Chinese and capture FooChow and Hong Kong. So, the USA are still on the islands although they are isolated. H

Thanks Bill, So, it was a supply problem then. I thought it must be, but was thrown by the recollection of having units continue to move elsewhere with zero supply.

Victory!....well according to me anyway. I finally finished my first ever complete run through Operation Z at about 2am this morning. (I know I'm knackered now) The Chinese front held stubbornly and eventually the Japanese front completely collapsed and a were chased all the way back to the coast and pretty much destroyed. I captured all the coastal ports and even launched a seaborne assault to liberate Taiwan. In Burma the British and Indian army, supported by Stillwells' Chinese and troops from Nepal blocked Japanese expansion beyond Mandalay, and eventually bombarded them into submission at Rangoon cutting them off and destroying them as they tried to retreat, chasing them all the way to Bangkok and Singapore to liberate Thailand and Malaya. At sea the US led forces overcame the Japanese fleet in a massive battle west of Hawaii, and then performed a sweeping left hook to liberate the Solomon Islands, New Guinea, the Bismark Archipelago, Portugese Timor, Java, Sumatra, Sarawak, Borneo, and Manila. In the final months of the campaign the combined US and Allied fleets were moored off the coast of Japan having sunk the rest of the Imperial Navy and were bombarding Japanese cities and destroying their hastily raised home defense units. Nagasaki and Hiroshima were in US hands having been taken by US Marines. There were Russian Marines on the slopes west of Kyoto (who for some reason were not able to climb up them despite the city being unguarded). But the game reckons this was a STALEMATE!!!:confused: (I don't think so. Do you?) The Victory conditions for even a Minor Victory require both Tokyo and Kyoto to be in allied hands, which is more than I recall happening in the actual war. At least not without two atomic bombs, and the Japanese surrendering first. Me thinks this is a bit too demanding, so I am declaring myself the Victor anyway. AI Cheating This is just a question really. Having 'beaten' the Japanese (see above). I decided to replay the campaign from the other side and try and beat the Allies. (Have you seen the Victory conditions for Japan :eek:) Anyway! I'm a few turns into my Japanese Campaign and I'm already getting suspicious about the set-up. I certainly don't seem to have as many units at my disposal as I recall Japan having when I was fighting against it. In fact, I hardly have any and very little hope at this stage of obtaining more. Plus, I am getting intellgence messages almost every turn telling me of events occuring to bolster the Allies which as I recall didn't happen till much later in my Allied Campaign. The Chinese Communists joined the Allies on turn 1 for example, Stillwell is already in Burma and I haven't even attacked Thailand yet, and the US have already sent bombers to India. Is this just me being neurotic, or is the AI deliberately programmed to cheat? I assumed I was on a level playing field based on historical events, but something doesn't seem right.

Well hex (131,28) isn't adjacent to the port obviously, but the town hex (128,28) is but he refused to move there. So, it became a bit of a catch-22 and I'm not sure why he suddenly agreed to move, because evenutally I found I was able to move him to the town and get him off the island. The only possible thing I can think of is some sort of random weather condition, but the weather is not that unstable over Midway Island. In fact, I had an even worse situation arise later in the campaign when MacArthur led a US Army landing to retake Bouganville and Guadalcanal. The landing was made at Bouganville and the Army then trekked overland from there to Kukum in the east of the Island. However, whilst the US Army units completed the trek and eventually re-embarked for their next objective. MacArthur and the supporting Artillery unit became stuck. MacArthur would not leave the area defined as Choiseul by hexes (103,52) and (104,52) and the artillery would not leave the area defined as Santa Isabel by hexes (106,54) and (107,53). Their supply situation seemed to vary from 0-5 but they never seemed to gain enough movement capability to reach either end of the island to get to a port and spent the rest of the campaign camped where they were. Although of course they had the movement to get there in the first place having both been landed at Buin on the western end of the island chain.

I am about half-way through the Operation Z Scenario and recently launched a successful amphious operation to retake Midway with the 1st Marine Corps. Battle over I withdrew most of the landing units from Midway to Hawaii for R&R and some have since retaken Wake Island. However, the US General Eichelberger who led the assault force simply refuses to get back on a boat to leave the island. He was landed on the beach in the east (Hex 131,28)of the island and now will not display transport or amphious mode, and will not move to the Town (Hex 128,28) or accept a transport command where he is. Any ideas?

15th June 1942 (cont'd) US mobilisation increases. US industrial capacity has increased still further this quarter, reaching 210% of normal output. This compares with a current level of 20% Allied, 75% China and 100% USSR. [Note: The Allied IC level seems strangely low, I collected 195 MPP's for them this quarter which seems a lot higher than this 20% figure would indicate. As far as I can tell there are 140 MPP's worth of cities in India, so 195 would seem more like 140%, but I may be confused as to how the system works.] Its research commitment is also approaching full capacity with only one 100 MPP investment outstanding that it can make. Deployment of US Assets The 1st USMC have been ordered to Samoa, with the intention of using this island as a door stop on any further eastward expansion of the the Japanese Island hopping campaign in the South Pacific. The 2nd USMC will hold Hawaii. The US Fleet continues to steam towards the Coral Sea and is currently approaching Samoa, the carrier USS Hornet is taking a more direct route via French Polynesia and will join them there, whilst the battleships Idaho and Colorado are currently east of Hawaii and following in their wake. The overall US aim is to blunt the Japanese expansion eastwards across the Pacific and protect the north coast of Australia. However, the number of assets available is still low and the US is wary of risking what little it has in risky adventures, preferring to bide its time, conserve its forces and let its production capacity counter the imbalances. The first of the new heavy bombers was a welcome addition to the US arsenal and have already been deployed in India to support the British defence of Burma.

Didn't Bush announce it was over shortly after it started. I don't remember him declaring it had started again.:confused:

15th June 1942 Tarakan Oil Fields Bombarded by Japanese Fleet The Tarakan Oil Fields on Borneo were bombarded by elements of the Japanese Navy causing minor damage and loss of production. However, so far no Japanese troops have been landed on Boneo. Though intelligence continues to report a large number of Japanese naval assets in the area. The Japanese are also reported to have mobilised their garrison on the Kurities and reinforced their garrison on Saipan.

@jon_j_rambo Thanks, for the advice. 1) USA bomber is sitting out in the open, get him in a city. Hmm! I actually thought about putting them in a city, but figured it would be best to avoid occupying the hex incase I wanted to put something a bit more appropriate in there in a hurry. Is there any real advantage in putting an air unit in a city? 2) USA bomber is only strength-5, beef those boys upto 10. Already, done this turn, although I tend to upgrade before I reinforce. Only because I noticed that you can't upgrade when in contact with an enemy unit whereas you can reinforce. It been upgraded to Heavy Bomber +2 Long-Range +1 3) Considering view you provided, you are VERY weak on the land. The Japs have 4 power ground units (3-SF, 1-Tank). Your cities aren't even protected, and there's a paratroop in the area. You gotta shore-up those ports. Tell me about it, I just don't have enough units to block the Japanese advance and garrison all the cities. I have three British (India) units so if I use them to occupy the cities I can't stop the Japanese advancing and picking them off those cities one at a time. That Paratroops unit is/was my biggest concern but so far I am managing to neutralise the threat with naval bombardment. They just don't have the supplies to prepare a drop, but nevertheless it is a potential threat if they manage to move inland and recover their supply status. 4) Where is the Jap Navy? If Toyko Joe brings the kitchen sink (the entire Navy) you'll lose all of yours. Best intel at the minute is that they are in the Celebres Sea area, and a few are in the Java Sea. I have scouted the Malacca Strait as far east as Kaula Lumpur and there are no IJN assets in there other than the destroyer I sank last turn. That doesn't mean they might not surge through there next turn but if they do there's not much I can do to stop them. The only thing I am doing is trying to get the USN into the Coral Sea to give them something else to think about. 5) Does the Japs have fighter cover? If so, you don't appear to have fighter cover support except by the carrier. Who has Advanced Aircraft tech advantage? The Flying Tigers are currently doing a reasonable job of suppressing the Japanese air umbrella. I am using them to attack the Japanese bomber base every turn which forces the enemy fighters to interdict, and so far they seem to be getting the worse of the deal. HMS Indomitable can provide a degree of fighter cover over the Chindwin line but its not ideal to have a carrier tied down in that fashion especially if the IJN do come through the Malacca strait. The Flying Tigers are Advanced Aircraft +2, the Japanese Fighters and Bombers are still on base tech. If and when I get some spare MPP's I will buy some additional fighter cover, but my first priority has been to purchase a new HQ unit to replace Hutton. I have the delayed production option ticked though so I have to wait three months for anything to arrive. Back to original question: You've only got one bomber strength-5 there. I'd target a supply source. (aka one of those cities) If and only if you won't take mega damage. Cheers! I'll give that a try. Mandalay looks like the obvious target as presumably the two Japanese HQ's are using that as a supply source. If you were playing a human opponent, you're in a position where you could get your ass kicked. I can well believe it.