You just have to hope that Hitler and Tojo (or whoever is running Japan in TTL) get bored and DoW Uncle Joe.
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I can confirm that the Soviet Union would really like to not be at war with the Germans and the Japanese at the same time. The only way that happens is by waiting for one of them to attack.
I love the little text balloons, the conversation is entirely believable within the given context.
I couldn't help but notice those naval bombers... Why do they need naval bombers when they have Carriers? Oh wait.
For the Soviet Union those manpower numbers aren't that impressive... wait until the war starts, and the SU starts getting those bonuses.
I love the little text balloons, the conversation is entirely believable within the given context.
I couldn't help but notice those naval bombers... Why do they need naval bombers when they have Carriers? Oh wait.
For the Soviet Union those manpower numbers aren't that impressive... wait until the war starts, and the SU starts getting those bonuses.
This particular iteration of the US is clearly loving it.But I bet the Americans would like it!
I am sure Turkey could find it most interesting too
AI Experiments In HoI3
Chapter Two Hundred-Forty-One : Fighter Wings In Europe
P-36s In Great Britain
Chapter Two Hundred-Forty-One : Fighter Wings In Europe
P-36s In Great Britain
We open this chapter with bad news. The Americans were Defeated in Manay. They failed to retake the Province. The Americans lost 21 men while the Japanese lost 54 men. This is going to cause the US all kinds of problems if they don't take it back soon!
At the same time we won the Battle of Bislig. The Americans lost 22 men while the Japanese lost 21 men. At least the pocket hasn't being crushed. Yet.
As @roverS3 pointed out earlier the 1st USAAF Strategic Bombing Group was being wasted on Ground Attacks against Italian Garrisons and Anti-Aircraft units. In fact they lost 13 Bombers and their crews in trying to do so. So I redirected them to carrying out Logistical Bombing against Malta. After all, it is the target of the whole operation. So I might as well try to soften them up. Sadly, the Bombing Group decides to Rest during the whole gaming session. Maybe next time?
Also both the 11th USAAF Fight Group and the 84th USAAF Fighter Group have both reached Gibraltar. They will Rest there till I decide what to do with them or there are liberated air bases for them farther to the east.
The 86th USAAF Fighter Group has arrived in Portsmouth. But it isn't going to be allowed to Rest up. At least not all the time
They have been ordered to carry out Air Interceptions during the Day. Which means they will only REACT if Axis planes enter their airspace and only during the daylight hours. So they will have period of Rest during the nighttime and when the Axis are not attacking.
The American pilots will gain experience and help fight the Battle For Britain at the same time. Hopefully the P-36 can hold up against what the Axis can throw at them!
I peeked at the Battle of Phoenix Island. Not looking good. The American Infantry are under round-the-clock naval bombardment when not being attacked by the enemy Carrier Attack Groups. On TOP of being outnumbered.
I soon received report from our Dive Bombers back on Sardinia. They had launched a Ground Attack on Olbia. But they are not looking too good. The 13th Wing has no Organization left!
Which explains why they failed to do any damage at all.
Good news was announced in the form of a advancement in Interception Tactics (2).
As if to tease me, and dig in the fact that Phoenix Island had no such protection, the Japanese pilots started a Ground Attack on the Americans there. And they did so VERY early in the morning to boot. Nobody will ever get any sleep on that island.
On leaving the Japanese pilots left behind 102 dead American soldiers.
So we close this chapter with the American Fighters reaching Europe and me still waiting for the arrival of the 1st Army Transport.
AI Experiments In HoI3
Chapter Two Hundred-Forty-Two : The Imperial Japanese Navy Finds Halsey
Run, Halsey, Run!
Chapter Two Hundred-Forty-Two : The Imperial Japanese Navy Finds Halsey
Run, Halsey, Run!
We start off the chapter with a couple of Ground Attacks on Phoenix Island by the Japanese.
Which resulted in the combined deaths of 114 American soldiers.
Oh, and I get a wonderful report. Seems some Carrier Attack Groups have found a target! A small Japanese Fleet was trying to sneak into American waters near Ponape Island.
Then I got a report from Mindanao. The Japanese are trying to take to take General Santos with one Marine Division against two Tank Divisions and a NG Division.
The American CAGs ended their Naval Strike. I just wish I knew how much damage they had caused!
But then I received a report that somewhat alarmed me. Halsey's 8th Air Wing (made up of the 11th CAG) was launching an attack on a VERY LARGE JAPANESE FLEET! And that's a LOT of Japanese Capital Ships. A LOT of them.
The 1st Marine Transport Fleet had to flee! It no longer had the firepower to handle the larger Japanese Fleet due to the AI splitting many of them up. Get out of there Halsey! Save the Fleet!
And so we close this chapter with me worried about one of my Fleets. Will it escape? Will it end up engaged with an enemy four times its own size? Or will the Japanese just use their Carrier Attack Groups to turn Halsey's command into a bunch of burning ships? Oh, why pretend, we all know what's going to happen, now, don't we?
This is where your AI brings in an even larger fleet, having used Halsey as bait. They strike the Japanese fleet as their CAGs are off after Halsey. Four Japanese fleet carriers sunk. A New Midway. <wakes up to see Halsey now commanding scrap metal fleet> Oh well, the dream was nice while it lasted.
This is where your AI brings in an even larger fleet, having used Halsey as bait. They strike the Japanese fleet as their CAGs are off after Halsey. Four Japanese fleet carriers sunk. A New Midway. <wakes up to see Halsey now commanding scrap metal fleet> Oh well, the dream was nice while it lasted.
Very funny. Also the Japanese Fleet has four "Fleet" Carriers and two Escort Carriers. So...Halsey is kind of in trouble.
Very funny. Also the Japanese Fleet has four "Fleet" Carriers and two Escort Carriers. So...Halsey is kind of in trouble.
You shouldn't that that surprised - after all, Halsey did lead a fleet into the middle of a typhoon IRL. Not to mention falling for a Japanese bait fleet at Leyte.
AI Experiments In HoI3
Chapter Two Hundred-Forty-Three : Why Halsey? WHY YOU NO RUN!
Tagum's Local Foods! (1)
My horror at what was about to happen in the Pacific was forgotten for a second when the 10th Armored "Tiger" Division was ready for deployment. It was placed in Seattle.Chapter Two Hundred-Forty-Three : Why Halsey? WHY YOU NO RUN!
Tagum's Local Foods! (1)
The 10th Armored Division had two Light Tank Brigades made up of M3 Stuarts, a Self-Propelled Artillery Brigade made up of M3 GMCs with 75mm guns, and a Brigade of Engineers. I decided it would be handed over to the Marines when it was 100 percent ready.
Then the Japanese launched a VERY early morning Ground Attack on the Americans on Phoenix Island. Looks like the Artillery is taking a beating. Not sure if this is from the planes or from the ground combat.
Then I moaned as my worst fear came to life. Halsey was being attacked by a massive group of Japanese CAGs. In other words the Japanese had found Halsey.
And so the Naval Battle of the Far Western Mariana Basin was born. NOOOOO!!!!
As this battle exploded into life I received a report from Phoenix Island. The Americans had lost another 106 soldiers to the last Japanese Ground Attack.
Back at Far Western Mariana Basin Halsey launched his own CAG. Maybe to attack the Japanese ships? Maybe to attack the enemy planes? Either way it was pounced on by the enemy aircraft.
Then there was the very short Battle of Tagum. In which a lone Japanese Marine Division tried to take the Province from a lone American Mountain Division and lost within seconds. (2)
The Americans lost 3 men while the Japanese lost 14 men. Victory! A small one but still a victory.
So we end this chapter with a victory on land while a massive Japanese Fleet beats on Halsey's Fleet at sea.
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Author's Note:1. Once again, I can not stress this fact enough, don't write AARs when hungry.
2. While looking up photos of Tagum, in the Philippines, I found this picture of the Sunflower Garden in Tagum City. I found this photo both cute and somehow terrific.
I like bees but somehow stick-figure bees, staring at me with those happy zombie faces, make me want to hide under my bed.
Well that's not good. This whole thing seems to just be a slow spiral to massive naval defeat.
I don't know if anyone else does this, but there are certain generals and admirals in the HoI series of games I take a positive delight in seeing (in my own games) or reading (in AARs) when they get trounced. Halsey and (especially) King probably top the list. So whilst I have some sympathy for @Eurasia here, I must admit part of me is also quite happy seeing Halsey get caught.
Look on the bright side. Halsey's CAGs don't suffer from the stacking penalty... It won't make them any less shredded, but it will make their shots marginally more efficient against an overwhelming amount of enemy targets. The enemy fleet has the same problem, 40 ships is just massive, so they're taking the full stacking penalty. I do see some bad weather, and that could help Halsey make an escape, especially if the Japs don't have radar on their ships. Of course, that would mean that Halsey would have to attempt to break contact, and not simply steam right into the enemy battle-line in a brave, but suicidal, attempt to sink a couple of Japanese Battleships.
All right, from what I'm seeing, I'm going to bet that the whole fleet won't be lost, that said, USS Augusta is toast, with Fuso already shooting at it, and possibly USS Monterrey too.
With a bit of lighting, that sunflower garder would be the perfect site for a horror movie, imagine bumping into a dimly lit, grimy bee face on a stick...
All right, from what I'm seeing, I'm going to bet that the whole fleet won't be lost, that said, USS Augusta is toast, with Fuso already shooting at it, and possibly USS Monterrey too.
With a bit of lighting, that sunflower garder would be the perfect site for a horror movie, imagine bumping into a dimly lit, grimy bee face on a stick...
Interesting. With the amount of AARs you've read, it must make things just that little bit more fun, to have these recurring characters you can root against in these countless alternate universes. May I enquire why these particular Generals or admirals curry such disfavour with you? Do you have some characters you consistently root for?
Well, with Admiral King it is quite simple: irl I believe the man is responsible for tens of thousands of needless Allied deaths and dozens of merchant ships. This one gets quite extreme - in my last game as the USA in HoI4 I assigned Admiral King in charge of a small Carribean fleet of a half-dozen Clemson class destroyers for the entire war, just because I want the guy (even in electronic form) to be sent to Coventry, as it were, for all eternity.
Halsey I grew to dislike after I read about Typhoon Cobra, and his ridiculous actions in Leyte Gulf, but that is a mild thing compared to King. I am not over-fond of Patton either. In truth the common portrayal of both Patton and Halsey are probably just too American for me, if that makes sense.
There are indeed also generals and admirals I root for. Rokossovsky is probably my favourite Soviet General, Truscott for the Yanks on the ground and Spruance at sea. Ozawa for the Japanese. ABC for the Royal Navy.
Generally though I loathe Admiral King, dislike a scattering of others, and will root for others who I think are under-appreciated or just good eggs. And yes, there is no doubt a pro-British/Commonwealth bent to this
All in all a bit of harmless, mostly private fun, if you know what I mean.
AI Experiments In HoI3
Chapter Two Hundred-Forty-Four : Defeat After Defeat
Pilots On The USS Monterey Between Missions
Chapter Two Hundred-Forty-Four : Defeat After Defeat
Pilots On The USS Monterey Between Missions
This chapter starts with some mundane information. Two Submarine Fleets (or Groups?) are heading north from Port Davao to join the other Submarines to hunt in Japanese waters. On of the only things the game's AI seems to be able to get right.
The Japanese CAGs' attack on the American Fleet finally ended and seemed to have caused some damage. At least I would be able to see the final results once the Fleet escaped the Naval Battle.
An hour later OTHER Japanese CAGs launched a Ground Attack on the American soldiers stationed at Phoenix Island.
Then back at the Philippines the 7th Armored attacked the Japanese Marines in the Province of Butuan.
While that was happening back at the Far Western Mariana Basin the Japanese pilots had launched themselves into the skies to protest their Fleet. So another one sided Air Battle began!
Sadly the Tanks were defeated in the Battle of Butuan but lost no one while the Japanese lost 5 soldiers.
Then two things at once. The Phoenix Island defenders had lost another 70 soldiers from the Japanese Ground Attack.
AND the 1st Marine Transport Fleet was defeated. Luckily while the Transport Flotillas lost six Transports and the Heavy Cruiser Augusta was pretty badly damaged the USS Monterey and the Destroyer Divisions came out of the exchange with very little to no damage. It wasn’t that bad a result to be honest and I was somewhat shocked.
The American pilots were also defeated in their air clash. They returned to the USS Monterey barely able to crawl out of the cockpits of their aircraft. The pilots would likely take weeks to recover from the overuse of coffee and cigarettes during the missions. On top of the need for new machines and replacement pilots.
So we close this chapter with a lot of Defeats but nothing TOO bad. Now if Halsey will only get his Fleet someplace safe where there are a lot of dry docks!