vM v. Drakken - WitP PBEM

[grumbler]

Can't form new fleets?  That's odd.  Why no port attacks by LBA?  I'm confused by these house rules.

If you can form new fleets, you can dodge the initial Japanese port attacks and essentially get a free turn of fleeing before the war starts.

I don't see the historical sense behind the "no port attacks by LBA," though.  The Japanese did launch fairly minor LBA attacks against ports on Guam and Hong Kong.  I guess the bonuses for port attacks may be too good to pass up, and lead to ahistorical allied shipping loses if allowed wholesale.

I think I see the point of leaving Pearl instead of loitering though.  Been a while since I played, but iirc you could basically make the port unusable for months.  December 10th, 1941: a day that will live in infamy because America surrendered to Japan.

I always found that the losses to AA were not worth the damage inflicted on the port (and ships).  Yeah, KB can made PH unusable for several turns, but at the cost of KB becoming unusable for a year.  One re-strike is doable; more than that is probably helping the US more than Japan.

I never even played the 41 scenario--are there sufficient BB/CA assets/can you even order a bombardment on Dec 7?

If you mean against Oahu, yes, you could try a bombardment.  You would also quickly find out why ships should never engage coastal defenses:  PH is defended by 26 guns of 3-7" bore, another 88 8" guns, and 38 guns and mortars larger than that.

[Drakken]

I can send you a package for RA 5.5 and the Babes map that you can use with JSGME.

Sure, fire away. 

[Baron von Schtinkenbutt]

Here

[Drakken]

Both sides have exchanged their Turn 1 for December 7th; vM expected to climb mount Niitaka soon.

[Baron von Schtinkenbutt]

So, I can't load the save.  I can't load the intermediate save I made before I clicked "End turn", either.

[Baron von Schtinkenbutt]

Nevermind, I started the wrong version of the game.

[Drakken]

Same error I did the first time I tried to load the save. 

[grumbler]

BTW, Moldy, did you ever get WITP Tracker to work in a 64-bit system?  AFAICT it was never updated to jre 7 and so won't  run on modern systems.  Have you found differently?

[Baron von Schtinkenbutt]

The Tracker runs fine on any system with 32-bit Java 6.  They claim they are using a third-party library that does not not support Java 7 or the 64-bit JVM yet, but I have not investigated this library yet.  I'm honestly not sure what they are doing, though, since they have not released an updated version of anything in over 13 months.

[Baron von Schtinkenbutt]

BTW, you want to talk about crazy house rules, this got posted on the Matrix forums today:

Here is a set of old house rules someone posted for PBEM Games:
Hope the original authors don`t mind my re-posting. Some are interesting and it should be noted they are for a DBB Game.

A couple of PBEM games I started sputtered to a stop after a couple of turns and I was leery of committing time and effort into an AAR until I was sure this one was a keeper, from the looks of things it looks like it is. My opponent is CT Grognard (CTG), a fairly active member of the forums, I'm looking forward to the fight as it's DBB, version C to boot and to cap it all CTG started off with some fairly aggressive moves.

House Rules as follows, shamelessly lifted from Fletcher's AAR /tip of the hat to Fletcher
Inactive HRs in red. will update HRs as game time passes or events happen to make certain HRs irrelevant.

GENERAL
- IJAAF units must operate with IJAAF aviation support and IJNAF must operate with IJNAF aviation support
- The only IJAAF plane that may be used in an ASW role is the Ki-51 (to reflect historical use)
- Kido Butai will make a single port attack on Pearl Harbor, and will return directly to Japan; if the first assault on Wake by Japan fails, the Japanese player may divert KB to support a second assault
- Americans cannot react to the landings at Tarawa, Wake and Makin; once the first landings take place the Americans are relieved from this rule (if no landings occur, by 14 December 1941)
- Manila and Singapore may have fighters up and on CAP on the 1st turn, but the Allied player cannot transfer any squadrons on the first turn
- The Allied player may give alternate orders to Force Z on the 1st turn. All other Allied TFs may not have their destinations/mission amended; no new Allied TFs may be created on the 1st turn
- Japanese submarines can only be equipped with the E14Y1 Glen
- No partial parachute deployments (i.e. one unit, one target)
- No submarine invasions (with one exception, Marine Raiders on SST submarines)
- All PT boats in a hex must be in the same TF
- 4E bombers cannot operate on Naval Attack below 10,000 ft
- 4E bombers (excluding B-29s) can operate on Ground Attack in hexes that do not have Allied units in them (i.e. cannot be used as close air support). B-29s cannot be used on Ground Attack at all.
- No strategic bombing by either side (oil, resources, HI, LI, manpower) until July 1943
- No night bombing allowed if moonlight is less than 50% (except for B-29s (ground-mapping radar))
- The minimum altitude for night bombing is 3000 feet
- Fighters may only fly sweeps or CAP in either their best or second best maneuver altitude bands
- Japanese surface ships cannot transit the Malacca Strait until Singapore has fallen
- The atomic bomb may not be used on Tokyo
- Commonwealth land and air units may only operate to liberate Commonwealth possessions as well as the Dutch East Indies – i.e. British, Indian, Dutch, Australian and New Zealand units are limited to Australia, New Zealand, India, Burma, Malaya, New Guinea, New Britain, the Solomons, New Hebrides, Fiji, Tonga, Samao etc and the whole of the Dutch East Indies)

MONSOON RULE
- From 15 May to 15 October each year (Monsoon Season) offensive operations in the jungle and mountain hexes on the Burmese front (everything above "Thailand" label within Burma and Thailand borders plus the few jungle hexes going 3 or 4 hexes into "India" – Kohima, Ledo, Imphal area) is highly restricted:
- No shock or deliberate attacks in jungle hexes within the area;
- Deliberate attacks allowed in non-jungle hexes;
- Bombardment attacks allowed everywhere;
- Movement into friendly/empty hexes allowed
- The percentage of aircraft allowed to fly from an airfield in this region during this time is a factor of its size*10% (so an air unit flying from a level 2 airfield can only fly 20% of its aircraft, and must set Rest to 80%)
- No carrier aircraft strikes on Burma from the Gulf of Bengal during this time (however, carrier aircraft can still strike Bengal, Northern India or Malaya from carriers in the Gulf of Bengal)

CHINESE THEATRE:
- No industry bombing in Chinese bases by either side (reflecting dispersed artisanal light industry), but bombing "manpower" is allowed.
- A maximum of 4 squadrons of US four-engine bombers may operate from Chinese bases, but only from level 6 airfields or higher, and the aviation support must be provided by an American unit.
- Chinese forces (and air units) cannot go outside its borders except those assigned to the Chinese Expeditionary Force in Burma/Northern Combat Area Command
- The NCAC shall be limited to four Chinese Corps (12 Chinese Divisions) and one Chinese squadron (to reflect historical deployment of 17th Pursuit Squadron (I-153s)) and may only enter Burma once Rangoon has fallen to the Japanese
- The AVG may operate in Burma and China only

KWANTUNG ARMY
- Units must pay PPs to cross the Kwantung border
- The Japanese player may buy out artillery units to a maximum of 1 artillery regiment for every 3 infantry regiments who have already paid the PPs to exit (i.e. no stripping of artillery units only)
- No Kwantung HQs may be bought out until 1944 or the invasion of the Marianas, the liberation of Rangoon or the occupation of a base in the DEI with a level 4 airfield or higher
- No air units may be moved out of Kwantung until June 1942; from then one daitai may be moved per month but subject always to a minimum of 4 fighter daitai and 8 bomber daitai. This does not prevent air operations from Kwangtung to China.
- If the Japanese player decides to invade the Soviet Union, he must invade Soviet territory in an unoccupied hex to activate and may then only begin offensive operations a week later (to reflect the excellent intelligence assets the Soviets had in the Japanese government which would preclude strategic surprise).
- Once the Soviets are activated, no Japanese unit in Kwantung may get an HQ reassignment, except isolated units can be evacuated by sea.

DUTCH EAST INDIES
- Dutch air units cannot be disbanded nor can they be withdrawn.
- Dutch surface vessels may operate in Indian Ocean waters or between Australia and New Guinea, but not the Pacific.
- Dutch submarines can only operate between the South China Sea and northern Australia (i.e. off Malaya, Sumatra, Java, Borneo, Celebes and Timor)
- Garrison requirements must be observed by the Allied player
- No strategic bombing in the DEI until 1944
- IJA units need a minimum of 25 planning points to amphibiously land at/parachute into an enemy-held DEI base (not needed for IJN units)

PHILIPPINES
- All US units in the Philippines must have replacements OFF
- Allied air units in the Philippines may not receive replacement aircraft other than by disbanding other Philippine-based air units into those units
- Philippine-based air units may not be disbanded or withdrawn in a manner that would result in the transfer of aircraft or the pilots back into the aircraft or pilot pools; if the unit is withdrawn, the Allied pilot must answer "NO" to the reform unit in x days question
- Manila is an open city; as such the Allied player may not build additional fortifications and must retreat from the city once the Japanese reaches the city; the Japanese player can only take Manila as part of a general advance (of at least two divisions strength) from the north, south or east of Luzon. Once Japan has conquered all of Luzon, Manila is no longer an open city
- There is no restriction on the Allied player using surface or air transport at any time to move supplies or troops in or out of the Philippines
- Submarine transport missions by the Allied player may only be used to resupply and evacuate cut-off or isolated Allied units, or Bataan (once the Allied players have retreated there)

AUSTRALIA
- The Japanese player may only invade Australia once Timor, Ambon, Kendari, Mindanao, Batavia and Soerabaja are in Japanese hands and once he has saved a reserve of 3000 political points. These political points should be kept in reserve until (1) the capture of all ports in northern Australia (Port Hedland; Broome; Derby; Wyndham; Darwin) or (2) the capture of Perth, or Sydney, or Brisbane
- IJA units invading Australia need a minimum of 80 preparation points (not needed for IJN units)
- If Australia is invaded, the Allied player may not spend PPs on anything except sending forces to Australia by any means or medium, whether land or air force (with the exception of reassigning leaders)
- Australian CMF units may only operate in Australia and Papua New Guinea

INDIA AND CEYLON
- No Restricted Allied unit in India may change its command area until 1 January 1943. PPs need to be paid in order for units to leave India (this is to reflect the large number of British troops required in India to suppress the "Quit India" movement as well as the Indian National Army guerrilla activities).
- If Japanese forces cross the border into India, British and Commonwealth units may only spend political points to send reinforcement units to India
- The Japanese player will need a reserve of 4000 political points in order to invade India; this must be maintained until the capture of Calcutta, Bombay, Colombo or Trincomalee
- Any IJA units invading India or Ceylon must have at least 80 preparation points

THAILAND
- Thai ground forces may invade Burma but are limited to east of the Salween river (i.e. the only bases it includes are Mergui, Victoria Point and Moulmein)
- US ground forces may not enter Thailand, but US air forces are able to bomb Thailand (the USA never declared war on Thailand)

ROYAL NAVY
- Until September 1942 no RN capital ships (CV, CVL, BB or BC) may operate in the Pacific (except for repairs, transit to ports in the US and return from them)
- From 1 January 1943 a single capital ship may operate in the Pacific (as was the case with HMS Victorious in the Solomon's campaign)
- From 1 January 1945 the Royal Navy may operate freely in the Pacific (once assigned to the Pacific Fleet under US command)

[Drakken]

The Kwantung Army paying PP to pull troops from Manchuria makes sense, as the Imperial Army was very reluctant, if not outright hostile to the Navy when asked to send more Army divisions outside of Manchuria to support Navy ventures.

The rest is straightjacking nonsense.

[grumbler]

The Tracker runs fine on any system with 32-bit Java 6. 

Yeah, but jre 6 isn't available any more. 

[Baron von Schtinkenbutt]

The Tracker runs fine on any system with 32-bit Java 6. 

Yeah, but jre 6 isn't available any more. 

It is, it just lives in a different place.

[grumbler]

The Tracker runs fine on any system with 32-bit Java 6. 

Yeah, but jre 6 isn't available any more. 

It is, it just lives in a different place.

Only available to people with an account, and they aren't creating new accounts.

It irritates me no end that Oracle basically wouldn't update my jre 7 unless I uninstalled my "unsecure" jre 6, and then made it impossible to re-install jre 6 because it deleted the jre 6 download as well as the installation. 

If I could get by without Java, or if I could just strangle to death everyone involved in the Java update process, I would do it in a heartbeat! 

[ulmont]

Only available to people with an account, and they aren't creating new accounts.

Maybe I just didn't try to go far enough, but the signup process seemed to be working?