Quote:
Originally Posted by Threadfin
That's very bold, if it isn't deception. If that construction battalion builds an airfield there Pearl is in peril. How can the Japanese supply it? Seems easy to cut that move off, but I haven't played WitP so not sure how that works. In WitE such a lunge would be punished, unsustainable.
I'm curious if you had any opportunity to redeploy forces prior to hostilities? For example did you have the option to disperse the B-17 fleet in the Philippines before bombs rained down?
Looking forward to more.
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Great question! The way "December 7th Surprise" mode is set up, the Japanese have several task forces that get a huge movement boost on the first day, effectively allowing them to show up just about anywhere. This lets the Japanese player experiment with different openings. As for the Allies though, the AI throttles CAP and airstrikes on 12/7 way down. We're otherwise free to issue normal orders to our forces, so we could in theory move squadrons around.
But there are two other considerations. First, many units are "restricted", meaning they aren't allowed to-rebase outside of certain commands. The Philippine Islands B-17s are partially restricted, meaning I'm allowed to "buy" them with Political Points and then rebase them at will. This system allows commanders some flexibility to move units to ahistorical areas but limits how much you can do it. The other consideration is my own play style. In the spirit of the December 7 surprise, I voluntarily chose not to issue orders to Allied units on the first turn, with the exception of China (they were already at war), the Lexington and Enterprise (it would suck if the KB blew them away in the first week-they need to get far away from Pearl) and ordering rear-area squadrons to start training pilots.
I'm fairly sure Johnston is a feint. The only way it makes any sense is if he bases torpedo bombers there, that takes an AirHQ. Japan starts with too few AirHQs to cover the space they want, losing one here just means he has to pick some other critical area where the Betties are only carrying bombs and can't do their jobs properly.