eskuche wrote: ↑Fri Dec 05, 2025 3:53 am
Kota Bharu:
Japanese marines seem like they need a slightly tweaking. Several issues: ground defense of 11 + 2 experience stars seems a bit too much this early, with little options in the player force. The marine transport is classified as infantry. This means that they get to attack forts' close defense without being shot back meaningfully because there is a -8 attack malus for naval guns vs. infantry type. At the very least, I would suggest changing the unit type of the boarded marines to non-infantry. Maybe FLaK, like the spies? At the moment, even battleships cannot damage embarked marines.
There are quite a few planes, similar to what we might expect in campaign 3 or 4 in prior series. I'm not sure many players will be ready for this level of aggression this early.
Plane balance seems in a weird place, with some tac bombers having 1-2 ground attack. The hurricane should probably have a bit more air attack, to account for its 4 x cannons, similar to heavy bomber Bf110 roles. Tactical bombers cannot safely strafe even enemy transports, which is quite strange. I lost 6 str point on a catalina to an enemy transport that it didn't even damage...
It's unclear to me whether we should be trying for max overstrength (no additional cost for additional OS points) or maximizing usage of the healing hexes currently, so I have been very conservative with my prestige.
The marine infantry retains its infantry character even in the landings boats. That is correct. It should be noted here that although the Panzer Corps programme offers a great deal of flexibility, not everything can be customised in any way. It might be possible to choose a different type of ground troop, provided that this does not create new inconsistencies. On the other hand, I deliberately want to keep the marines (both Japanese and US units) strong in order to maintain their flexibility in an amphibious environment, where there is fighting across several islands in a scenario. Surface ships may not inflict devastating damage on landings boats, but they are certainly capable of causing damage. In my tests, I was also generally satisfied with how the AI interacts with these troops, including using rivers to advance inland. Ultimately, however, nothing is set in stone. This is the first campaign. Adjustments may be made later with more experience, and I will take suggestions like yours into account.
In the ‘Kota Bharu’ scenario in particular, there are many Japanese aircraft as well as ground units. Historically, the Japanese had overwhelming dominance over both British and US troops in the early months of the Pacific War. Considering that the player has a free choice of core troops in the missions, a plausible counterbalance is needed. In testing this mission, I used a unit with Churchill tanks and a unit with M3 Lee tanks, plus 3 Wildcats and a Spitfire as fighter planes in my core troops. This clearly does not correspond to the historical model, but it is possible in the game. Alternatively, I could have completely prohibited the use of tanks in the missions in Malaya, which would have been historically accurate, but probably would not have been well received by the players (including myself). Of course, a player can adhere to a strictly historical line when selecting their core forces. This increases the difficulty considerably. The higher number of enemy units is intended to give the player at least a sense of the pressure that British and American staffs had to endure in the first 9 months of the Pacific War.
However, I cannot confirm your observations regarding the balance of the aircraft compared to the transport ships. I have not changed the values of these transport ships, tactical bombers or other aircraft in the basic set. For the new units such as the Catalina, I based my calculations on similar models and their technical specifications. However, the battle result you mentioned (Catalina – transport ship) seems really strange to me. Could it be that you are using the ‘Normal’ game setting, which involves a high degree of randomness? I don't think that would happen to you in ‘Dice Chess’. Perhaps other players can provide more information on this (Bondjamesbond).
Your cautious approach to prestige seems to me to be exactly the right one. Having a certain amount, e.g. 10,000 in reserve, allows you to bridge a short-term crisis.
_Bondjamesbond: Well, there you go. You're getting the hang of it. I hope it doesn't become too easy.