UW2 - United States Armed Forces at Word War 2

[bondjamesbond]

You can already go ahead and play the 1941 campaign of this mod, which has already been released. Sonja showed a scenario from the 1942 campaign, which, I assume, is still a work in progress.

I have already completed the 1941 campaign. This appears to be an announcement for the upcoming 42 campaign.
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-new ... e-10583710

[Sonja89_1]

The 42 campaign is currently scheduled for completion in the autumn.

As correctly assumed, the presentation of the “Coral Sea” scenario is one of the missions it contains, giving you a little insight into what to expect. I will be providing further examples sporadically over the coming months.

[Sonja89_1]

Having completed the US path for the first half of 1942, I now move on to the ABDA path (ABDA – American-British-Dutch-Australian) for the first half of 1942. It begins with the fighting around Celebes, now known as Sulawesi in Indonesia. This is a very large map comprising approximately 10,000 hexes. Accordingly, this mission is designed to be lengthy, spanning 42 rounds. The player receives an MV if the Makassar region can be held. For a DV, the player’s own oil facilities must be destroyed and 10 of the 15 primary objectives must be held. This is no easy task given the fierce Japanese onslaught.

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The first image shows the situation at the start of the mission near Balikpapan, where most of the oil facilities need to be destroyed before the Japanese can take control of the area. In principle, this is a fairly straightforward task. However, you shouldn’t take too long over it. The Japanese may appear off this coast sooner than expected.

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By the third round, the Japanese have already reached Manado, which is undoubtedly the most exposed location. In fact, the town is virtually impossible to hold. Airborne assaults are taking place, capable of overrunning the weak local defences.

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After the fall of Manado, the Japanese continue their advance southwards, eventually threatening Ceram and Ambon as well. Enemy paratroopers first land on the undefended island of Ceram, then on Ambon itself. Australian infantry put up a determined fight and manage to wear down an enemy unit. However, the massive support provided by Japanese ships ultimately wears down their own defences. Japanese marines are already approaching at the top edge. The end is near.

[Sonja89_1]

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Off the coast of Makassar, however, things remain fairly quiet. Although the enemy launches air raids from time to time, my anti-aircraft defences, working in conjunction with my fighter planes, are more than a match for them.

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The important base of Kendari is located in the south-east of Celebes. The Japanese fleet is advancing on this city from the captured island of Ambon. The ground defences here are not very extensive either. At least I have managed to sink all but one of the Japanese destroyers. This allows me to guide two US submarines into the enemy fleet with relatively little risk. Little by little, I manage to wear down the enemy’s heavy ships. The enemy advance is finally broken.

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The region between Borneo and the Moluccas, between Mindanao and the Flores Sea, with Celebes at its centre, is a vast archipelago that provides an excellent setting for air, sea and land battles. In the end, I managed to recapture Ambon. However, in this scenario, the player also has other options for holding the required 10 primary objectives.

[bondjamesbond]

Oh, this is bound to be an epic battle—at sea, in the air, and on the islands too!

[Sonja89_1]

Oh, this is bound to be an epic battle—at sea, in the air, and on the islands too!

Spot-on words and spot-on images – excellent.

[bondjamesbond]

Oh, this is bound to be an epic battle—at sea, in the air, and on the islands too!

Spot-on words and spot-on images – excellent.

Your work makes it even better – it serves as an extra visual aid, as not many people can really picture what life was like back then! But this video and the real photographs help us with that.

[Sonja89_1]

This time, I’m presenting a scenario for the upcoming 1942 campaign, which has a slightly different structure. This isn’t about conquering or defending territory, but about destroying the enemy’s equipment. Nowadays, one would probably just launch missiles or drones. Back then, however, soldiers still had to be sent in to carry out the destruction. It concerns the Japanese Indian Ocean Raid in April 1942, mainly against British installations and ships in Ceylon and the Bay of Bengal. It took me a few attempts and several quick tests before I found the right balance. At first it was too easy, but after I incorporated a few extra ‘nasties’, it works.

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The first image shows southern Ceylon (Sri Lanka) with Colombo. In the third round, the first Japanese carrier-based aircraft from Nagumo’s fleet appear. They are Zero fighters, Nakajima B5N torpedo bombers and Aichi D3A dive bombers.

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One turn later, the port of Trincomalee in the north-east comes under attack. Two British warships are caught up in the attack and suffer casualties. However, for the mission to succeed, the player must ensure that at least 5 of the 7 marked structures (hangars, oil depot, radar stations), as well as 12 of the 19 civilian cargo ships, are not destroyed.

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Another turn later, the Japanese fleet has arrived off Ceylon. Nagumo had five of his six carriers available for this operation; only the ‘Kaga’ was undergoing repairs and could not take part. The number of enemy aircraft is correspondingly high. At least there were no Japanese level bombers on this raid. Not yet shown here are the 2 cruisers and 4 battleships that are still to follow.

[Sonja89_1]

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In Round 10, Ozawa’s Northern Group has moved into an attacking position in the Bay of Bengal off the Indian coast. They begin by firing on the anti-aircraft defences. The air units are holding back for the time being. Ozawa had one light carrier and a number of heavy cruisers at his disposal. This group poses the greatest threat to the merchant ships.

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I moved my small fleet of cargo ships south of Madras, where they remained undisturbed for some time. In turn 14, however, they were spotted by chance and then, contrary to historical accounts, attacked by the air forces of the Japanese Southern Group. They simply won’t stick to the script. I subsequently managed, however, to keep the losses to a minimum.

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The strategic map provides an overview of the entire operation. Historically speaking, the raid was certainly a success for the Japanese. They inflicted heavy losses on the British forces. Strategically, however, it had no significant impact on the subsequent course of the war. Thanks to the enormous US production capacity, the Allies were able to quickly make up for their material losses.

[bondjamesbond]

The attack on and explosion of the cruiser ‘Columbia’
https://de.topwar.ru/190021-kak-japonsk ... nie-z.html
That's brilliant – I can't wait for your mod!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_A ... ck_weapons

[Thunderhog]

Wait you play as the Japanese in this scenario? What happens to your core US or British units?

[Sonja89_1]

Wait you play as the Japanese in this scenario? What happens to your core US or British units?

The images are taken from a replay in which a Japanese overview is usually visible for clarity. However, the player is controlling the defensive British side here, even though only two of your own core units (anti-aircraft) are visible. Furthermore, this was a quick test in which I exercised restraint with my own fighter aircraft.

[bondjamesbond]

Wait you play as the Japanese in this scenario? What happens to your core US or British units?

The images are taken from a replay in which a Japanese overview is usually visible for clarity. However, the player is controlling the defensive British side here, even though only two of your own core units (anti-aircraft) are visible. Furthermore, this was a quick test in which I exercised restraint with my own fighter aircraft.

It’s a shame we’ll be the ones on the receiving end ) I’d rather be the one doing the bombing, but it looks like we’ll just have to fight back! I hope you’ll get round to making a game about Japan one day too )


A Japanese gas launcher from the Second World War.
https://lautlesen.livejournal.com/124534.html

[Sonja89_1]

It’s a shame we’ll be the ones on the receiving end ) I’d rather be the one doing the bombing, but it looks like we’ll just have to fight back! I hope you’ll get round to making a game about Japan one day too )

At the start of the Pacific War, the Japanese had around nine strong, offensive months. This was followed first by a moderately successful defence, which then grew increasingly weaker. If one wishes to recreate this with any degree of historical accuracy, it is only moderately suitable for Panzer Corps.

Unless, that is, one branches off into purely fictional scenarios such as the conquest of the USA from the Pacific coast, which would have been completely unrealistic. That said, I’m by no means dismissing such a variant. My DAW mod consists largely of fictional scenarios. It simply wouldn’t work for this particular modification (UW2).

One option would be a campaign covering 1941–43, ending there, but that would satisfy very few people. I think there are more worthwhile objectives.

[rubyjuno]

You clearly have excellent knowledge of the scenarios you create, and the work you put in to bring us these incredible campaigns is very much appreciated.

[Sonja89_1]

You clearly have excellent knowledge of the scenarios you create, and the work you put in to bring us these incredible campaigns is very much appreciated.

...and I really appreciate that kind of insight from him. As far as knowledge is concerned, the basics are certainly there, but naturally I have to keep re-reading the material myself to grasp such a level of detail. In this regard, LLMs have become an excellent aid, significantly simplifying and speeding up my research. However, as they (like humans, incidentally) are prone to taking a wrong turn now and then, it’s advisable to have a second, reliable source to hand.

I hope that the highly authentic background of the scenarios will make the situations of that time more tangible and understandable. Often, even people today who are interested in history get the impression that, for example, the Allied forces at the start of the Pacific War consisted solely of incompetent weaklings who simply allowed themselves to be overrun by a few moderately equipped but highly motivated Japanese troops. However, this is merely a distorted picture. I am trying to give the player at least as accurate a picture as possible of the situation at the time, so that they can get a sense of the hopelessness of the situation for themselves.

Of course, a computer game can only ever achieve this to a very limited extent, even if it is as good as Panzer Corps.

[Sonja89_1]

Another scenario for the upcoming 1942 campaign. This time, we’re making the leap from the Far East straight to Europe – or, to be more precise, right up to the far north. The mission described here takes place beyond the North Cape in July 1942. As some of you may have guessed, it concerns a specific convoy battle that gained a sad notoriety because so much went wrong on the Allied side during this operation, leading to significant losses of cargo ships. This is the convoy designated ‘PQ 17’. Here, the player has the opportunity to do a much better job than the Allied command staff did in the summer of 1942. A DV is achieved by placing 18 cargo ships on marked spaces near Murmansk and Arkhangelsk. Half that number is sufficient for an MV.

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In turn 6, my convoy reached Hopen Island and is now sailing around the small island located south-east of Spitsbergen. My escort forces are providing wide-ranging cover for the cargo ships to the south. I also have several core units in action, which are absolutely crucial in this scenario. In the historical course of events, the Allies had no aircraft carriers available in the Barents Sea area, which significantly favoured the German bombers. In this scenario, therefore, the course of events is different.

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Murmansk, too, is repeatedly attacked by German air units. However, this is of no further significance at this stage, which is why I do not deploy any Soviet air forces to counter them.

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In Runde 13 sind die deutschen Seestreitkräfte am Nordkap in Stellung gegangen. Von nun an können sie nach verschiedenen Seiten offensiv werden. Eine konzentrierte Attacke dieser Gruppierung kann durchaus gefährlich werden.

[Sonja89_1]

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My convoy has almost completed the detour and is now heading south. The cargo ships are approaching the southern ice barrier, which they must navigate around to the west. Two German submarines are advancing on my convoy from the west. However, the enemy submarines are launching sporadic attacks in order to achieve a decisive impact.

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In the 31st round, I reached the cargo ships’ destination area off Murmansk. Although enemy air attacks are still to come, they no longer pose a serious threat. Now the contingent must be transferred to Arkhangelsk.

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The strategic map allows you to follow the entire course of the voyage. The convoy sets off between Spitsbergen and the small Bear Island. I choose a wide northern route eastwards along the ice edge, then head south again west of Novaya Zemlya to reach Murmansk and Arkhangelsk as safely as possible. At the same time, the German air and naval forces are attempting to sink my ships in the Barents Sea. The very extensive map, with over 10,000 squares, offers the player various options for reaching the two target areas. Even a direct, straight route can be successful.

[eskuche]

Keep up the great work!

[Sonja89_1]

Another example scenario for the upcoming 1942 campaign. Here we see a battle that took place in September 1942 in the Solomon Islands, specifically on Guadalcanal. There, fighting raged for months over the airfields, particularly Henderson Field. In the 1942 campaign, these individual battles therefore feature on several occasions. Edson’s Ridge was the second fierce Japanese counter-attack, which was also historically repelled. For players on the Allied side, it is purely a defensive battle against a relentlessly advancing enemy.

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In the first image, we see the main theatre of operations around Edson’s Ridge. The Japanese have bypassed the eastern US positions and are advancing from the south towards the heavily fortified US strongholds. The Japanese attacks mostly took place during the night, which is simulated here as a series of rainy days. The US side had the advantage of having its own air forces directly behind it, whilst the Japanese had to undertake a long approach from Buka (near Bougainville) or even from Rabaul. In addition to the main forces, your side also has armoured units in action, which was (almost) never the case historically. To compensate for this, I have increased the number of infantry deployed on the Japanese side, which has only a few light anti-aircraft guns and artillery units in action.

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A little further north-west, you can see the Japanese attack coming from the west, which, although weaker, should not be underestimated. Even the Lunga River, which is relatively wide here, does not offer 100 per cent security, as you can see from my USMC Sherman, which, thanks to its amphibious capabilities, can cross the river without the need for bridge-laying engineers – just like the formidable Japanese naval infantry.

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The next image in Round 10 shows the situation on the eastern side of the defensive perimeter around the two airfields. Here, too, Japanese pressure has now begun to put a strain on our own positions. Heavier losses are being sustained, raising fears of a breakthrough. I will now redeploy armoured units to this area to intercept any breakthroughs, preventing them from reaching the fighter strip. The airfield must be held.