Airfield Locations

[Guest]

I have serious reservations about the airbase locations on Choiseul, Santa Isabel, and Malatia in the game.  Having flown over Choiseul and Santa Isabel in May of 2002, there is simply no flat area for an airbase, nor is there any significant harbor for airbase construction use.  When we landed near Choiseul, it was on a coral island off of the southern tip, in the middle of a coconut palm plantation.  The landing strip was simply a wide lane made in the coconut palms.  When we arrived at Gizo, the landing strip there is located on a small, flat coral island in the middle of the harbor.  I did visit Vila on Kolumbangara, which was still visible, but partly overgrown, and partly converted into vegetable gardens.  The main problem I could see with that was very limited area for taxiways because of the need to clear jungle and rough terrain.  We did land at Munda, which is still clear, but the jungle has grown up around it.  The strip at Segi Point is still visible, but also overgrown a bit.  Those are about the only locations for airfields that I could see.  Malatia’s problem is that it is still a disease hotspot, and really nowhere to put an airfield in.

I have just purchased the game, and will be playing with the rules a bit to compensate for taking out those strips.  I am thinking about transferring some of the supply benefits too Rabaul, and also allowing the Japanese to launch air attacks from Rabaul.  I will have to do some playtesting to see what works, and will post my conclusions here.

Has anyone else played around with different airfield locations?

[frimmel]

Sorry, just played out of box rules.

You will likely have to alter the victory conditions or at minimum the scoring system if you remove the ability to build some of the airfields. It will certainly change the dynamic of the game.

[Guest]

@frimmel:

Sorry, just played out of box rules.

You will likely have to alter the victory conditions or at minimum the scoring system if you remove the ability to build some of the airfields. It will certainly change the dynamic of the game.

I sort of figured that I would need to work on the scoring system if I tampered with the airfields.  The other factor that I am looking at is that between Iron Bottom Sound, and the ship graveyard around Kolumbangara, the US and the Japanese burned through a LOT of destroyers.  I have enough destroyers, between A&A Pacific, Revised, Guadalcanal, plus some extra unit packs that I managed to get from Hasbro before they clamped down of sales of extra parts, that I could put a lot more destroyers into the mix, while making them cheaper and easier to sink.  No damaged only on a 2.  Will have two-tone Japanese forces until the Anniversary edition comes out.  For US cans, I have the Europe set to use as well.  To simulate the fast destroyer-transports (APDs) for the US, I am thinking about using British destroyers, as I have plenty of those as well.  The APDs ran in both troops and supplies, and evacuated wounded and sick. I could also use British bombers to simulate the C-47 transports that also brought supplies in.

One option for scoring might be successful Tokyo Express runs to bring troops and supplies to Guadalcanal.  Have to look at that as well as the Rabaul option.  Having physically been there makes a bit of difference as to how I view the game.

[frimmel]

@timerover51:

One option for scoring might be successful Tokyo Express runs to bring troops and supplies to Guadalcanal.  Have to look at that as well as the Rabaul option.  Having physically been there makes a bit of difference as to how I view the game.

Well the map is real islands and places to you and just an abstraction to me. I can just set the game up and play and not get worried about the inaccuracies. Sometimes I guess ignorance is bliss. 
:-)

[Builder_Chris]

Granted I’ve only played this game two times so far  :oops: , but the ABILITY to build airstrips on any of the islands feels like it’s a KEY component to the game, regardless of the “actualities” of the real islands.

If it is any consolation, building airstrips on any islands other than Bougainville or Choiseul for the Japanese is proving to be wasted effort anyway, at least my two attempts early in the game proved worthless.    :|

[frimmel]

@Builder_Chris:

If it is any consolation, building airstrips on any islands other than Bougainville or Choiseul for the Japanese is proving to be wasted effort anyway, at least my two attempts early in the game proved worthless.    :|

The fourth airfield doesn’t come until you’ve dealt a crippling blow to your opponent’s fleet. Either side moves to that too fast will just give it away. New Gerogia is the last place either side should build an airfield before the matter is academic.

Basically it comes down to this no matter which side I play. Don’t let the other guy get ahead of me on building airfields or controlling islands on turn 1. Get even if US. Stay even if Japan.

Get another airfield up turn two. Determine how I’m going destroy his fleet while maintaining control of my airfields and islands. In a word -Artillery. In two words –fast deployment.

I’ve had a couple of games where I get funny looks for all the artillery and so few infantry I’m reinforcing with. Well right up to the point where they realize they are 6 to 10 dice behind in the naval combat they just sailed into.

[timerover51]

Hmm, interesting strategy.  The odd thing is that shore batteries played a very limited role in the actual campaign, because so much of the naval movement was at night.  Artillery on Rendova was a major factor in the Munda attack, as it kept the Munda airfield under constant fire.  I find it interesting that the actual strategy followed by both sides does not seem to work at all in the game.

[AA Lover]

I like the locations in the game.I took all but Bouriville(SP?)And all the airfields helped me win with mostly bombers.Of course,4 battleships,3 carriers, and 6 cruisers helped a lot also. :wink:

[Shakespeare]

Timerover

You seem to have so much knowledge about the Guadacanal campaign, having visited there and all that:

Did any carriers go up and down the slot or manuever thru the islands or did they only stand off from afar and send their planes from the periphery/safe positions?

Were any carriers lost in the actual Guadacanal campaign?

How would you house rule that?

Increase the fighters range?

[losttribe04]

Despite any historical short coming this game may have the thing I like most about this version of A&A is that it feels the most “chess like.”

What I mean by that is both sides start fairly even so the issue of being ballanced has never come up.  (Well at least not in my social circles.)

Don’t get me wrong I like the idea classic and revised had presented with one side with more units and the other having a real estate advantage but I like to play the game without players bickering about who has what advantages.

LT

[legion3]

@Shakespeare:

Timerover

You seem to have so much knowledge about the Guadacanal campaign, having visited there and all that:

Did any carriers go up and down the slot or manuever thru the islands or did they only stand off from afar and send their planes from the periphery/safe positions?

Were any carriers lost in the actual Guadacanal campaign?

How would you house rule that?

Increase the fighters range?

Carriers did not operate in the slot, there were two carrier battles in the guadalcanal campaign,

Eastern Solomons and Santa Cruz Islands

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Eastern_Solomons

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:EasternSolomonsChart.jpg

At Eastern Solomons the IJN Carrier Ryūjō was sunk and the USN Enterprise damaged.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Santa_Cruz_Islands

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:SantaCruzChart2.jpg

At Santa Cruz the USN Hornet was sunk and the USN Enterprise was damaged. The IJN Shōkaku was damaged.

Also the USS Wasp was torpedoed and sunk by the IJN Sub I-19

From Wikipedia;

**On Tuesday, 15 September, those two carriers and North Carolina—with 10 other warships—were escorting the transports carrying the 7th Marine Regiment to Guadalcanal as reinforcements. Wasp had drawn the job of ready-duty carrier and was operating some 150 miles (240 km) southeast of San Cristobal Island. Her gasoline system was in use, as planes were being refueled and rearmed for antisubmarine patrol missions; and Wasp had been at general quarters from an hour before sunrise until the time when the morning search returned to the ship at 10:00. Thereafter, the ship was in condition 2, with the air department at flight quarters. There was no contact with the Japanese during the day, with the exception of a Japanese four-engined flying boat downed by a Wasp Wildcat at 12:15.

About 14:20, the carrier turned into the wind to launch eight fighters and 18 SBD-3s and to recover eight F4F-3s and three SBDs that had been airborne since before noon. The ship rapidly completed the recovery of the 11 planes, she then turned easily to starboard, the ship heeling slightly as the course change was made. The air department at flight quarters, as they had done in earlier operations, worked coolly at refueling and respotting the ship’s planes for the afternoon mission. Suddenly, at 2:44, a lookout called out, “three torpedoes … three points forward of the starboard beam!”

A spread of six Type 95 torpedoes were fired at the Wasp at about 14:44 from the tubes of the B1 Type Japanese submarine I-19. Wasp put over her rudder hard-a-starboard, but it was too late. Three torpedoes smashed home in quick succession about 14:45. In an odd occurrence, one torpedo actually broached, left the water, and struck the ship slightly above the waterline. All hit in the vicinity of gasoline tanks and magazines. Two of the spread of torpedoes passed ahead of Wasp and were observed passing astern of Helena before O’Brien was hit by one at 14:51 while maneuvering to avoid the other. The sixth torpedo passed either astern or under Wasp, narrowly missed Lansdowne in Wasp’s screen about 14:48, was seen by Mustin in North Carolina’s screen about 1450, and struck North Carolina about 14:52.[2]**

All the rest of the naval battles in the area were mostly surface ship engagements, some Battleships early on but mostly Cruisers and Destroyers and the Japanese won many of these fights.