No Pearl Harbour?

[High_King]

I may be very, very stupidly wrong about this so by all means, I'm typing this so I can be corrected if that is the case. But in a few playthroughs as the United States lately (I find the Pacific War one of the most dynamic and fun aspects of the game) I've never actually had Pearl Harbour come under attack. I was always expecting like a newspaper report to fire, the way some cities are coded to have a newspaper report specialised for whatever nation occupies it (Cairo, Rome, Berlin, Paris etc. to name a few).

Instead Pearl Harbour is completely safe - I move a fleet there to meet the requirements for the "Pearl Harbour Gambit," activate the focus and then Japan just declares war. That's it. No attack. My fleet of 9 battleships races out into the Pacific with the entire United States Navy and Marine Corps hot on its heels and by the time contact is made with the Japanese, we're way to the west of Midway Island.

Am I doing something wrong, or does Pearl Harbour not fire unless the Japanese initiate their respective Pearl Harbour-oriented focus, or are they sensing that my Navy patrolling around Hawaii is too strong to risk a pre-emptive strike or...what is going on?

I'm insanely disappointed that Pearl Harbour doesn't seem to be a big deal beyond just, "Oh, this is our diplomatic acknowledgement that our two nations are hereby at war. Good luck!"

 

[Tacticus101]

Practically, actually launching an air attack on Pearl Harbour is beyond the means of the Japanese, they cant really get enough planes there very easily, even with carriers. Since the game avoids automatic attacks or damage, the AI would have to launch its own bombing attack within the mechanics, which it will never do.

Launching a naval invasion would require them to have Naval superiority. I have seen AI Japan take Hawaii against AI USA a few times, but I imagine your ships meant they couldn't in your game.

 

[Superfluke]

I feel the same disappointment in the Pacific Theater and specifically the naval/island war between Japan and US. That entire aspect of the game is broken, there is no moment in late 41 into early 42 where the aggression of Japan causes the balance of powers to hang precariously. Even with Expert AI you hardly ever need to do more than send a few divisions to New Guinea, and that is as far as it gets.

If the AI in single player would just do a few things better, they could at least put up stiff resistance while still campaigning in SE Asia. Garrisoning key island bases, putting even a single fort down, and more importantly, using land based air to cover their fleet battles, would go a long way.

No Pearl Harbor, no Midway, no Manila. Sometimes you get a push on Singapore. Early war Japanese aggression needs a big help, perhaps with a later campaign start date in early 42 with their early, impressive accomplishments already a fact.

 

[macegee]

Yeah, unfortunately, my favorite Pacific theater of operations still sucks. I did see Japs naval invade Dutch Indies and other colonial areas. I even helped repel the invasion of Oz once. The problem is the Jap AI. It can't do production properly, especially naval production. So by 1942, it gets wrecked by the British Navy. And what type of divisions did Japs send to invade Oz in my game? Understrength, garrison-like infantry fellas with lack of equipment and support. What a pitiful sight.

 

[BurdenedWarrior]

@High_King I'll play Japan and you the U.S. We can give the papers something to write about . Pacific war is some of my favourite gameplay. Unfortunately in multiplayer the Europe war usually ends before the pacific is decided and therefore the game is finished :/. Always up for some pvp naval action .

 

[High_King]

@High_King I'll play Japan and you the U.S. We can give the papers something to write about . Pacific war is some of my favourite gameplay. Unfortunately in multiplayer the Europe war usually ends before the pacific is decided and therefore the game is finished :/. Always up for some pvp naval action .

When my college workload clears up by week's end I would be very interested to take you up on your offer if you're being genuine

 

[BurdenedWarrior]

yup forsure, i am also super busy with school. final on the 7th for me so I'm free after that. look me up on steam. same tag

 

[melkor88]

Yeah I've never seen Pearl Harbour attacked either. A lot of the issue is that the USA is able to join the war without being attacked, so that happens most the time. Or the Japanese gets stuck in China and then doesn't DOW the USA

 

[davej]

They should make the attack as one of the Japanese focus tree events. I don't know why they don't do that.