The K Man

Nice post Timskorn. I really enjoyed reading it! (By the way, good to see the Sox winning again.)

I have to agree with U8led. I can't remember the exact time I attacked Arado in Russia, but believe it was early summer of 44. As he mentioned, I killed quite a few units in that first turn. But on his next turn, he said to me he just about replaced all the units I had killed on that previous turn. Maybe some were in the bought que, but sounded like alot of free units. Needless to say my advance pretty much stalled out.

I was moving good into india but the lack of any tech hits, while the allies are increasing theirs was my ultimate dimise in India. My planes started taking too much damage so I felt my troops would end up being sitting ducks with no cover, so I decided to pull back. Maybe I should have attacked Russia, but again the feeling was "not advanced enough in areas of need." The better tech would have helped me stand longer against Russia, and the India campaign would have gone deeper. Ultimately agree that there isn't alot of hope for Japan. As far as the double A-bombing of Japan, does Japan really need a bigger beating?

I was going with what the Campaign said as far as victory conditions. He did end up with a Major victory, because he got all the cities listed under the conditions. I don't remember seeing anything about the historical dates (I may have missed it.) Oh, maybe thats in 1.01? We were still under 1.00. I'm guessing thats it. I'll have to keep that in mind for the next game if true. All I'll say is Japan didn't have much to fight with by Dec 45. He got a deserved win IMO.

Best I could have done was a tie. He had all the other cities in the game. But it was fun trying to hold on. We will start another game, switching sides. We wonder if the next patch 1.02 is close, and we should wait, or just start another game (upgrading to the 1.01 patch and hot fix.) Any suggestions on that Bill?

Unfortunately Arado got me on the last turn (well played by him.) My only hope in Nov and Dec 45, was for rain. I did get some help there, especially in Dec, but he was able to move in on Kyoto and capture it on that last turn. He cut it kind of close, but just made it. This game was a learning experience for both of us (what we should do and not do.) One big problem in this game for the Japanese was a lack of tech hits. My worse game ever. Even though I was maxed out for majority of the game, I only had 5 hits well into 44. I had one chit in IW the whole game and never got a hit. (4% chance each turn, but no luck.) Its not like I could put more in, since I wasn't getting any hits in any other area. You can't really waste alot of money as Japan, taking them out of another needed area to go to another area of need. I think I got 5 or 6 hits in 44-45, but kinda too late by then. Arado was very good at taking advantage of my weakness and played it well. Thanks for the response on the A-bomb. Guess I was just frustrated, trying to hold on till 46, I couldn't believe I was getting whacked twice as hard.

If Arado does not have the turn I may. But I was wondering if it was actually dropped on the port of Toyko. That was still in Japan's hands, and it did go down to 1. It did say Toyko, but just a thought. Don't know if they drop on ports as well as cities. Also, here is another A-bomb question. This kind of irked me in the game. With Japan's back against the wall, and the A-bombs start dropping, I noticed the bombs would drop on both allied and axis turn. Why does the allied player get to drop them on my turn as well? Found that highly unfair to the Japanese people. All those innocent lifes...(of course I felt really bad for myself as I'm fighting for my life to defend the homeland, and the allied player can use "my turn" to drop more bombs.

So does Strategic Command have any "secrets" hidden in its games? Don't know if the following story is really true, but found it interesting and wanted to share it: WWII Monopoly Starting in 1941, an increasing number of British airmen found themselves as the involuntary guests of the Third Reich, and the Crown was casting about for ways and means to facilitate their escape. Now obviously, one of the most helpful aids to that end is a useful and accurate map, one showing not only where stuff was, but also showing the locations of 'safe houses' where a POW on-the-lam could go for food and shelter. Paper maps had some real drawbacks -- they make a lot of noise when you open and fold them, they wear out rapidly, and if they get wet, they turn into mush. Someone in MI-5 (similar to America 's OSS) got the idea of printing escape maps on silk. It 's durable, can be scrunched-up into tiny wads, and unfolded as many times as needed, and makes no noise whatsoever. At that time, there was only one manufacturer in Great Britain that had perfected the technology of printing on silk, and that was John Waddington, Ltd. When approached by the government, the firm was only too happy to do its bit for the war effort. By pure coincidence, Waddington was also the U.K. Licensee for the popular American board game, Monopoly. As it happened, 'games and pastimes' was a category of item qualified for insertion into 'CARE packages', dispatched by the International Red Cross to prisoners of war. Under the strictest of secrecy, in a securely guarded and inaccessible old workshop on the grounds of Waddington's, a group of sworn-to-secrecy employees began mass-producing escape maps, keyed to each region of Germany or Italy where Allied POW camps were regional system). When processed, these maps could be folded into such tiny dots that they would actually fit inside a Monopoly playing piece. As long as they were at it, the clever workmen at Waddington's had also managed to add: 1. A playing token, containing a small magnetic compass 2. A two-part metal file that could easily be screwed together 3. Useful amounts of genuine high-denomination German, Italian, and French currency, hidden within the piles of Monopoly money! British and American air crews were advised, before taking off on their first mission, how to identify a 'rigged' Monopoly set -- by means of a tiny red dot, one cleverly rigged to look like an ordinary printing glitch, located in the corner of the Free Parking square. Of the estimated 35,000 Allied POWS who successfully escaped, an estimated one-third were aided in their flight by the rigged Monopoly sets. Everyone who did so was sworn to secrecy indefinitely, since the British Government might want to use this highly successful ruse in still another, future war. The story wasn't de-classified until 2007, when the surviving craftsmen from Waddington's, as well as the firm itself, were finally honored in a public ceremony. ~~~ It's always nice when you can play that 'Get Out of Jail' Free' card!

How come Mexico doesn't even get an army? (to defend with.) Didn't they have some forces during WWII?

I for one are glad the carriers were changed to just the one ball. Just much easier to follow. (Or remember what mode your in before you move.)

Beats me? I give up. 70 years since WWII started. Thats all I got.

Oh, and one other note on Cavalry. I think of them just as the AT, AA, and Art. (see previous reply.) To have one unit of only Calvary, seems alittle unrealistic for this scale. I would just assume that a corp or army has them contained within itself.

I wouldn't like the idea of Tac bombers having 2 strikes. I already thought they were way too powerful in PDE & WAW. I like the fact that in Pacific, they are max of 2 on the AT, so they are not the powerhouse of PDE/WAW. I wouldn't mind the idea of going back to the single air as Seamonkey mentioned. But using that idea, couldn't you set up the land air units like the carriers. The carriers are currently set up as: Carrier 10, planes 10. Could u do the land based as Fighter 10, Tac bomber 10? And depending on what mode (like the carriers) you use, would initiate what planes fly. Tactical, all the 10 strength tac's would fly. Mix, 5 of each. CAP, only the 10 fighters. Agree on the AT, as far as eliminating it. I would also add the AA and Artillery. But only if those three units could be combined somehow with your others. I had mentioned this before, but I would like to see the AT, Art & AA added to your corps/armies etc., again similar to how the carriers work. The AT & AA would be a separate upgrade to your normal unit. For example a 10 strength army, could have a 10 strength AT & 10 strength AA attached to it. I'm sure if the cost was similar to now or more, you would have to pick and choose which units in strategic areas you would want to spend the money on upgrading. But I think that would be more realistic than now where you have one AT and one Artillery taking up on 50 square mile space. I think those units are fine for a small scale, but for these big scales, just not realistic. I know that was the complaint of some of the diehards from the original to WAW/PDE as far as the extra units/scale.

I will use the term Japs (while playing.) Not meant at an offense to todays culture (I know the war is over.) But when I use the term, I mean the Japs of the 40's. Boston and Yankee fans can be quite brutal (to each other.) But that can make it interesting. Haven't had the pleasure, of a Yankee/Redsox game either, but the parking can be up to $100 if u drive in. You don't get any better hatred between those two groups. (And yes, I'm also a sox fan.) And if you want to see the "terms" fly, go see Gran Torino. Its just the way some of the old school people who fought in any of the wars are programmed.

Most games are played with it on. But don't have a problem playing with it off. Agree that with it off, the price will get steep if you try to build a ton of Tac bombers. But it is nice to have the option of getting that "extra" unit you would like. Extra AA always helps Germany and Russia in PDE & WAW.

I believe it is 10 days for each turn. So player 2 or AI would be Dec 17 and then your next turn should be Dec 27th. Looks like 20, but its really 10 per turn.

Seamonkey, Sorry to hear about the loss of your Dad.

I do have a pic file saved in word now, since it continues to occur. Shows what I'm talking about. Can send along if needed.

Agree with Arado on game. Didn't know how much I would like it either, since I am more familiar with European theater. So far it is great. Even after playing it awhile, I would still forget to check the carrier mode before moving. I certainly know when the carrier is in "mixed" mode (two yellow lights.) But when in cap or tac, the red/green or green/red just makes me pull up the properties to see what mode I'm in (when I remember.) Like to see those colors change. I understand the concept behind it, but not crazy about it. I do like the idea on how they work. I would love to see that idea move onto the land units. Carriers have a separate fighter attached to it. I would like to see armys and/or corps have AT and AA attached to it. (where like the fighters on the carriers, you could reinforce the AA or AT separately for each unit.)

I heard MS has a new operating system coming out again (I think it was called Seven or something like that.) Had gotten a email to try out the demo. I was just happy, they are coming out with something else (hopefully better.) I haven't had the pleasure of Vista, and don't care to, from what I've read. I don't see why they wouldn't support your 3 year contract. They will usually support the old operating system for so many years. Yes, good thing Hubert and Co. are not like MS. I don't think I'd be playing any of these games.

If this has come up before, and I missed it, sorry for repeating. I have seen an issue playing AI and HvsH, where sometimes you can move a unit into the mountains with one AP instead of 3. I just recently encountered this in my HvsH game. (I can send the turn.) I had a tank at 5 supply, southwest of one city. I would have liked to move him south of the city and attack, but since he had only 2 ap, and it cost 3 ap to move there, can't do it. (That part works fine.) But here is the part that is a problem. I attack from the southwest, leaving me with 1 ap, and I then could move to that south of the city mountain or for that matter the mountains south of me. Funny how I couldn't move there (to the mountains) before the attack, but can after the attack. None of these mountains have any roads on them (to which I want to move.) Oh, and I did not destroy the unit I attacked (not that that should make a difference.) I've seen this before against the AI. Only happens at certain times with certain units. I had made a print screen of the issue, but lost it when I copy and pasted something else. Forgot about it, opps.

I haven't downloaded any patches for Pacific either. Haven't edited any of the campaign either. We both loaded the game via the mail CD. With the state of the Japanese, in 1941, the Jap spy is not a bad idea. They can certainly use all the help they can get.

Is there a patch out? I'm still on 1.0, and assume Arado is as well. Don't use the editor, so haven't changed any of the files.

Received the turn, and played with no warnings or errors. The only thing I noticed was that the file that went out and came in was only around 940kb. I thought there was something wrong from the get go, since the other games (PDE, WAW), the file size was about 3 mb on turn one, and then about 2 mb for all others. Game appears to be functioning okay on my computer. I can only assume that the files have been compressed more when sending the email turns. (Not complaining, it certainly is much faster.) Great game so far.

Wow, thats stinks! Well I hope Santa brings you a new one for Christmas. Let me know if I need to resend the turn when your fixed. Last one sent was #172 on Dec 24. Thanks Yes good thing I came on. Haven't been on the blog as much lately...