I SANK THE AMERICAN FLEET AT MIDWAY...
And all I got was this lousy T-Shirt...
In the last few weeks I have been painting up ships for the Pacific Theater in WW2. I already had a fairly substantial collection of ships in 1/2400, but a friend has been itching to get into 1/6000 scale and try the new General Quarters III rules along with their "Solomon Islands Campaign" rules, and even generously offered to let me do the Japanese.
That isn't sarcasm. Actually I like IJN ships quite a lot, and I enjoy modeling them, playing with them, attempting to change history now and again. (That isn't an endorsement of Japanese policies during the war, so please... don't go there).
Anyway, I jumped at the chance. The campaign rules are simple and require no referee, and I always jump at the chance to play in a campaign, particularly one that seems likely to finish, let alone begin.
Initially, I'd collected a list based upon some historical information, but the GQIII campaign booklet varies somewhat from the historical presence there, and I suspect it's based upon ships available in theater rather than ships that actually took part in the actions, so as a result I was short several vessels for potential use. No skin off my back. They aren't terribly expensive.
Of course, painting the destroyers has proven to be a real "joy".
Destroyers are part of any Japanese fleet during the period. They had lots of them. With lots of torpedoes. They can be a very potent threat. Of course, they are only a potent threat with hindsight - the Japanese badly misused their destroyers and often ignored their own established doctrine for that use - but they are still a threat, just the same, particularly if you use them correctly.
In the Solomons campaign, however, there are a -lot- of them available. [At least double those of my opponent. And since GQIII now models all destroyers 1:1... that's a lot of painting of very annoying little 1/6000 slivers of metal. Not a huge deal, but... it's sort of frustrating to look at your collection of battleships, carriers, and cruisers, only to realize that you are only halfway done!
I have also been playing (very late to the game in this place) the recently re-released "Carriers at War". The classic game was essentially re-written for Windows XP, with updated graphics and a simplified interface. Unfortunately, it also dropped several of the scenarios (there have been rumors of expansions, as with the original, but it's been two years, and no sign of them), so that in total, with the most recent patch, there are seven (count 'em) scenarios. Pearl Harbor, Wake Island, Coral Sea, Midway, the Philippine Sea, and (with the most recent patch) Tulagi. Curiously, no scenario for Leyte. Another thing that's been rumored, asked for, etc., but hasn't shown up yet. Most of the scenarios have "mystery variants" that add various ships, complexities, etc.
Nevertheless, it's a fun game, and the scenarios are challenging enough to be entertaining. After a brief learning curve, I dug my heels in and tried to work my way through more or less chronologically, as the Japanese (I'm a glutton for punishment, yes.) The toughest engagements so far have been Coral Sea and Midway. Unfortunately, there is no "campaign mode", and this is, I think the game's undoing.
During the Coral Sea, I sunk both Yorktown and Lexington, and lost a destroyer or two in return with minor damage to the Shoho. Not a bad exchange, and better than historically. I even invaded Port Morseby. Unfortunately, there is no "carry over" to the next scenario. First of all, one questions the need for Midway if the Japanese had won at Port Morseby, but more to the point, one would think my odds would be all the better if Midway had gone ahead anyway. No dice, though. Yorktown's there again.
I tried one of the mystery variants, just to see what would happen. It did beef up my force, but it also added the Saratoga to the US Fleet, along with swarms of US Submarines, which really start to hurt you, particularly after you've dealt with the surface elements. And deal I did. Bombarded Midway. Sank Yorktown, Hornet, Wasp, and Enterprise. Lost the Akagi and scuttled the Hosho after heavy submarine damage. Invaded Midway. Took the island. Yay.
Except that I'm now looking at the next scenario and wondering why they don't have some sort of variant to assume my success. Because the American fleet still contains the ships that I sank at Midway!
No wonder being a Japanese officer was so frustrating. These damned American Necromancers.
Ahh well. At least I got this spiffy t-shirt.
Let's hope that Mike doesn't use the "Zombie Carrier" rules in our Solomons Campaign...
In the last few weeks I have been painting up ships for the Pacific Theater in WW2. I already had a fairly substantial collection of ships in 1/2400, but a friend has been itching to get into 1/6000 scale and try the new General Quarters III rules along with their "Solomon Islands Campaign" rules, and even generously offered to let me do the Japanese.
That isn't sarcasm. Actually I like IJN ships quite a lot, and I enjoy modeling them, playing with them, attempting to change history now and again. (That isn't an endorsement of Japanese policies during the war, so please... don't go there).
Anyway, I jumped at the chance. The campaign rules are simple and require no referee, and I always jump at the chance to play in a campaign, particularly one that seems likely to finish, let alone begin.
Initially, I'd collected a list based upon some historical information, but the GQIII campaign booklet varies somewhat from the historical presence there, and I suspect it's based upon ships available in theater rather than ships that actually took part in the actions, so as a result I was short several vessels for potential use. No skin off my back. They aren't terribly expensive.
Of course, painting the destroyers has proven to be a real "joy".
Destroyers are part of any Japanese fleet during the period. They had lots of them. With lots of torpedoes. They can be a very potent threat. Of course, they are only a potent threat with hindsight - the Japanese badly misused their destroyers and often ignored their own established doctrine for that use - but they are still a threat, just the same, particularly if you use them correctly.
In the Solomons campaign, however, there are a -lot- of them available. [At least double those of my opponent. And since GQIII now models all destroyers 1:1... that's a lot of painting of very annoying little 1/6000 slivers of metal. Not a huge deal, but... it's sort of frustrating to look at your collection of battleships, carriers, and cruisers, only to realize that you are only halfway done!
I have also been playing (very late to the game in this place) the recently re-released "Carriers at War". The classic game was essentially re-written for Windows XP, with updated graphics and a simplified interface. Unfortunately, it also dropped several of the scenarios (there have been rumors of expansions, as with the original, but it's been two years, and no sign of them), so that in total, with the most recent patch, there are seven (count 'em) scenarios. Pearl Harbor, Wake Island, Coral Sea, Midway, the Philippine Sea, and (with the most recent patch) Tulagi. Curiously, no scenario for Leyte. Another thing that's been rumored, asked for, etc., but hasn't shown up yet. Most of the scenarios have "mystery variants" that add various ships, complexities, etc.
Nevertheless, it's a fun game, and the scenarios are challenging enough to be entertaining. After a brief learning curve, I dug my heels in and tried to work my way through more or less chronologically, as the Japanese (I'm a glutton for punishment, yes.) The toughest engagements so far have been Coral Sea and Midway. Unfortunately, there is no "campaign mode", and this is, I think the game's undoing.
During the Coral Sea, I sunk both Yorktown and Lexington, and lost a destroyer or two in return with minor damage to the Shoho. Not a bad exchange, and better than historically. I even invaded Port Morseby. Unfortunately, there is no "carry over" to the next scenario. First of all, one questions the need for Midway if the Japanese had won at Port Morseby, but more to the point, one would think my odds would be all the better if Midway had gone ahead anyway. No dice, though. Yorktown's there again.
I tried one of the mystery variants, just to see what would happen. It did beef up my force, but it also added the Saratoga to the US Fleet, along with swarms of US Submarines, which really start to hurt you, particularly after you've dealt with the surface elements. And deal I did. Bombarded Midway. Sank Yorktown, Hornet, Wasp, and Enterprise. Lost the Akagi and scuttled the Hosho after heavy submarine damage. Invaded Midway. Took the island. Yay.
Except that I'm now looking at the next scenario and wondering why they don't have some sort of variant to assume my success. Because the American fleet still contains the ships that I sank at Midway!
No wonder being a Japanese officer was so frustrating. These damned American Necromancers.
Ahh well. At least I got this spiffy t-shirt.
Let's hope that Mike doesn't use the "Zombie Carrier" rules in our Solomons Campaign...
posted by Aurelian at 2:45 PM
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