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The large role played by Japanese shipping losses in the eventual outcome of the war cannot be argued. To have any chance at all. a player should be forced to try to get freights back to Japan. There may be a way that events and the right units could duplicate the historic perils of the voyage home.
For this to work, most of the following conditions would need to be satisfied:
1. Freights cannot be built. They are created by events in SE Asian cities and are highly lucrative if delivered to Japan. This would be exactly what Captain Nemo does in Red Front 1.4 .
2. The only cities that freights can be delivered to are ones in Japan. If necessary, make this a house rule.
3. There cannot be a land route from Malaysia to northern China and then a short sea voyage to Japan. If a land route cannot be avoided, eliminate RR's and make freights Mv = 1 so that it takes forever to move them by land.
4. Japanese aircraft cannot be stacked with ships. Also, no chaining of freighters, but give them enough range so that they can get to Japan in 2 or 3 turns (months).
However, I am not at all certain if AI controlled US subs by themselves are adequate to seriously damage a convoy system set up by a good player because there are ways to use aircraft to protect a convoy without stacking with aircraft. Also, AI controlled subs themselves tend to stack and/or cluster, thus reducing their area coverage.
I would suggest trying the following:
1. Introduce two Mv=1 naval units, Torpedo 1 and Torpedo 2, and make them both without a visible icon (i.e. almost impossible to detect, even with the CHEAT mode). This idea is based on what Captain Nemo did in his Normandy scen where he had 2 units with the following specs.
Floating Mines, nil, 2, 0.,0,10a,80d, 9h,9f, 8,0, 2, no, 000000000000000 (Visible)
Beach mines, nil, 2, 1.,0, 8a,6d, 1h,2f, 1,0, 2, no, 001100000000000 (Invisible)
I would make them both invisible and change the Floating Mine Mv=0 to Mv=1. I'm hoping that with Mv=1, these units will not wander too far away from where they are spawned.
2. The one is strong enough to sink any any Japanese ship. Make the other strong enough to only damage a
vessel some of the time. Players would have some interesting choices in how to cope with these units. They could perhaps try to use low cost aircraft or ships to explode any mines/torpedoes in the path of a convoy. Also, they would have the problem of dealing with damaged ships that slow down the convoy.
3. Give freighters A>0 so that there is not the usual warning popup about an A=0 unit attacking another unit. Consequently, Japanese freighters could be sunk both during the AI's and players' turns. Surprise!
I don't suppose there is any way to get a popup "Submarine Torpedo Attack!!" whenever one of the US torpedo units either attacks or is attacked.
4. Spawn the units every turn, using TOT's ability to spawn multiple units at random locations, especially choke points such as the Formose Strait. As long as more are spawned than destroyed, there should be a gradual increase in the difficulty of getting convoys to Japan and in moving the freighters back south.
5. Give some consideration to making ocean terrain stackable so that a whole convoy is not sunk by a single torpedo attack.
Together with an appropriate number and distribution of US subs and other naval and air units, the above should make an interesting gauntlet for players
For this to work, most of the following conditions would need to be satisfied:
1. Freights cannot be built. They are created by events in SE Asian cities and are highly lucrative if delivered to Japan. This would be exactly what Captain Nemo does in Red Front 1.4 .
2. The only cities that freights can be delivered to are ones in Japan. If necessary, make this a house rule.
3. There cannot be a land route from Malaysia to northern China and then a short sea voyage to Japan. If a land route cannot be avoided, eliminate RR's and make freights Mv = 1 so that it takes forever to move them by land.
4. Japanese aircraft cannot be stacked with ships. Also, no chaining of freighters, but give them enough range so that they can get to Japan in 2 or 3 turns (months).
However, I am not at all certain if AI controlled US subs by themselves are adequate to seriously damage a convoy system set up by a good player because there are ways to use aircraft to protect a convoy without stacking with aircraft. Also, AI controlled subs themselves tend to stack and/or cluster, thus reducing their area coverage.
I would suggest trying the following:
1. Introduce two Mv=1 naval units, Torpedo 1 and Torpedo 2, and make them both without a visible icon (i.e. almost impossible to detect, even with the CHEAT mode). This idea is based on what Captain Nemo did in his Normandy scen where he had 2 units with the following specs.
Floating Mines, nil, 2, 0.,0,10a,80d, 9h,9f, 8,0, 2, no, 000000000000000 (Visible)
Beach mines, nil, 2, 1.,0, 8a,6d, 1h,2f, 1,0, 2, no, 001100000000000 (Invisible)
I would make them both invisible and change the Floating Mine Mv=0 to Mv=1. I'm hoping that with Mv=1, these units will not wander too far away from where they are spawned.
2. The one is strong enough to sink any any Japanese ship. Make the other strong enough to only damage a
vessel some of the time. Players would have some interesting choices in how to cope with these units. They could perhaps try to use low cost aircraft or ships to explode any mines/torpedoes in the path of a convoy. Also, they would have the problem of dealing with damaged ships that slow down the convoy.
3. Give freighters A>0 so that there is not the usual warning popup about an A=0 unit attacking another unit. Consequently, Japanese freighters could be sunk both during the AI's and players' turns. Surprise!
I don't suppose there is any way to get a popup "Submarine Torpedo Attack!!" whenever one of the US torpedo units either attacks or is attacked.
4. Spawn the units every turn, using TOT's ability to spawn multiple units at random locations, especially choke points such as the Formose Strait. As long as more are spawned than destroyed, there should be a gradual increase in the difficulty of getting convoys to Japan and in moving the freighters back south.
5. Give some consideration to making ocean terrain stackable so that a whole convoy is not sunk by a single torpedo attack.
Together with an appropriate number and distribution of US subs and other naval and air units, the above should make an interesting gauntlet for players
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