Dainichi Sekai Taisen version 3

[kobayashi]

I was just taking a quick look at the scenario as a whole. I did not take notes on troop dispositions You can tell the cities with no garrison anyway as there is no flag!

One question. Is there supposed to be a Japanese unit in India and California?

Those are AI units, to give the Allies something to do or they'll sneak attack you, so just leave them be. There is another AI Japan civ. That civ is your only means of making big ticket items. Also, did you also noice you can't build any land units?

[kobayashi]

Any comments on how well (or badly) my loaded transport generator works.

[McMonkey]

I have finally got round to sitting down to a proper game of Dainichi. I will give you a blow by blow assessment once I have finished. My initial reaction is that after the initial familiarization period and re-organization of the Navy it zips along at a really fun pace. The Chinese are no pushover inland and have dealt me a few blows. Along the coast they are easily defeated by my Battleships guns. I have to go out now but I am really looking forward to continuing this evening.

[kobayashi]

I have finally got round to sitting down to a proper game of Dainichi. I will give you a blow by blow assessment once I have finished. My initial reaction is that after the initial familiarization period and re-organization of the Navy it zips along at a really fun pace. The Chinese are no pushover inland and have dealt me a few blows. Along the coast they are easily defeated by my Battleships guns. I have to go out now but I am really looking forward to continuing this evening.

Oh goodie...I'm awaiting in anguishing anticipation.... although I fully expect anyone except Agricola to be completely decimated as history dictates (on the first few tries anyway.)

on an unrelated note, last night on the History Channel, I learned that Force Z originally had a fleet carrier (HMS Indominitable?) assigned to it as a third capital ship but it ran aground (WTF?) on the way to rendesvous with Prince of Wales. Maybe the captain of this carrier was the key behind Britain's capitulation in the Far East.

[McMonkey]

Oh goodie...I'm awaiting in anguishing anticipation.... although I fully expect anyone except Agricola to be completely decimated as history dictates (on the first few tries anyway.)

Well I'm into 1938 now and the war in China is going well. Nanking fell in February. I have mopped up all the barbarian islands once they grew to size 2.
I have the day off and the weather is not great so I will have another go this morning. My focus now is on formulating a plan for taking on the UK/USA and the Dutch East Indies, getting troops experience in China and then into position and building the weapons needed for such a war. I will aim to begin in 1941.

So far I have only got one Resources. Is this normal by this stage in the game? I guess more start appearing once the Dutch East Indies are captured. Shipping them back to Japan will be interesting in the face of the US Navy! Great concept kobayashi

[McMonkey]

I have had a lot of fun playing today but I have hit a bit of a snag with the AI. I decided to restart the game after I had got a better idea of what needed to be done, unit capabilities and also how not to chuck away loads of units for no real purpose. Unfortunately the AI seems to have altered its behavior. In my original game the Chinese sneak attacked me with no intentional provocation and the US stayed out of things. In the new game the Chinese refuse to sneak attack me despite my long standing and very aggressive territory violation. I'm literally camped outside four of their cities, including Shanghai. They warn me to withdraw but do nothing. Meanwhile the US is sneak attacking me without any provocation on my part.

From what I have read this is not what you had in mind. Is there any way to prevent the US attack and make Chiang a bit more aggressive?

Here is my own unit graphics mod. Some of the ships and aircraft might not be spot on but they match and look fine in game:

[kobayashi]

So far I have only got one Resources. Is this normal by this stage in the game? I guess more start appearing once the Dutch East Indies are captured. Shipping them back to Japan will be interesting in the face of the US Navy! Great concept kobayashi

.
You are right. The resources spawn randomly at fixed locations, most of which are not controlled by you (yet). The more territory you conquer, the more resources will spawn, but maintaining a transport system to bring them back to Japan will not be easy.

[kobayashi]

Unfortunately the AI seems to have altered its behavior. In my original game the Chinese sneak attacked me with no intentional provocation and the US stayed out of things. In the new game the Chinese refuse to sneak attack me despite my long standing and very aggressive territory violation. I'm literally camped outside four of their cities, including Shanghai. They warn me to withdraw but do nothing. Meanwhile the US is sneak attacking me without any provocation on my part.

From what I have read this is not what you had in mind. Is there any way to prevent the US attack and make Chiang a bit more aggressive?

.
This is one of the reasons I did not release version 3 a long time ago. I've done my best to maximize the odds that the AI behaves according to History but its far from 100%. In the end I figured, this is not such a bad thing. It makes every game different and there is no fixed formula to win.

If you think of your AI opponents as women, then everything will all make sense to you - especially if you have been married for a long time.

Very nice graphics, you would make the Anti-Anti-Nemo-Graphics-Association members proud.

[McMonkey]

Some of the units are not 100% accurate but I think the overall look is consistent. Finding Japanese aircraft is a bit tricky, especially Torpedo and Dive Bombers but I think all but the most die hard purist can work with them. I tried to edit the carriers a little so they all had differences similar to the original but were still in the Fairline style.

Luckily I saved the game after my initial first round setup (production / happiness / move to orders etc...) so I will start again and see if I can get the Chinese to sneak attack by being aggressive from the start. I guess I just need to plan for the possibility of a much earlier war as I cannot see how I could be any less provocative to the US.

[McMonkey]

Had a good 8 hour session of Dainichi today at work (with some interruptions of course. I do do some work ). This is definitely becoming one of my favorites! I started from scratch and tried to provoke the Chinese early on but had no response. Decided to sneak attack them and to hell with the Americans. As it turned out the US has stayed neutral up until the end of 1939, which is where I am up to now.

Most of China is in Japanese hands now but they are still catching me off guard from time to time. I am preparing for the invasion of French Indochina as well as the later attack on the British, Americans and Dutch. Getting everything planned out and moving in the right direction is a fun challenge. I have always enjoyed the planning and logistical aspect of Civ2 wargames. I just hope I can hold onto any gains.

Will report back tomorrow on my progress.

[McMonkey]

Thankfully today was quiet again at work so I had another 8 hour session of Dainichi Sekai Taisen. I must congratulate you on your work, I am having a great game!

It is now September 1941 and my fleets are about to set sail for the attack on Pearl Harbour and Midway in December. It has taken all my organizational skill to get all the units produced and in the right place but somehow I am ready. My invasion forces should be big enough to take my targets but whether they can then hold onto them is a different matter. I get the feeling the AI will fight back quite fiercely and I will be spread pretty thin.

I have found no major bugs. The AI is now behaving in a historically accurate manner. One thing that does strike me as a little odd it the new anchorage islands that grow rather rapidly. One island I have never even heard of now has a population similar to Manila! Still I would not say that this is a major problem.

Tomorrow the war begins in earnest

[kobayashi]

Glad to see you are enjoying it. Remember, you don't HAVE to do pearl harbour if you don't want to. Pearl Harbour makes it easier at first but harder in the long term. This means you navigated Indochina successfully? Kudos to you.

This scenario (and LOTOR) represents the sum total of my civ2 knowledge gained over the years so it should not disappoint too much. Sigh...if only I could go back and redo my earlier scenarios knowing what I know now. Imagine Borg Cube generators filled with drones spawned in space for Battle for Alpha Quadrant..... fully loaded Gu'aold Pel'tak transports by-passing blocked stargates....

[McMonkey]

I plan to execute the Pearl Harbor attack bang on time and I am hoping for a fierce Allied backlash to really test my skills (such as they are). Indochina was not too difficult really. Fortunately I moved a Civil Engineering unit into Indochina to develop its infrastructure, but now I realize how important it will be to drive supply roads through the jungle to support my logistics in Burma!

[kobayashi]

Allied response will be muted....its pretty much a land grab for about 18 months after pearl harbour. Go for it and good luck!

[McMonkey]

Pretty tough land grab. I appear to have stalled outside Singapore and I have not even begun on Java or Burma. The problem is the British ships off the west coast of Malaysia that keep on taking out my troops in Kuala Lumpur. I have redirected the majority of my forces to this theatre to finish off the job quickly before the attrition on my Infantry and Marines really puts my defensive strategy in jeopardy.

At sea too the Allies are wearing down my Naval forces in the Western theatre. I have very few Subs or Cruisers left and I am desperately trying to produce replacements in Japan. I would consider myself an average-experienced player and this level of difficulty is just about right for me! I even watched Tora Tora Tora last night whilst playing until 2am. I'm definitely hooked