Skunks

[ivanmoe]

So, I've played a game or two of Guadalcanal and Midway. In the course of having done so, I've skunked the AI several times.

One such experience was in Guadalcanal's "Samar" scenario. This was the battle in which the Adm Kurita's surface fleet surprised a group of six USN CVE and five escorts. I played this one really hard, threw every trick that I knew at the AI, and lost but a single plane in deep-sixing the Japanese fleet. BTW, not only did USS Johnston survive, it sank three Japanese cruisers. Take this as a challenge, naval campaigns fans!

[attachment=0]Samar3.jpg[/attachment

[ivanmoe]

Here's a shutout of the IJN, this one in scenario #08 "The Naval Battle of Guadalcanal (Alt) - 2300."

For clarification's sake, most of the citations for Cruisers are actually transports, eleven of them, I believe.

How does a player go about generating an outcome like this?

Well, the seven American destroyers mounted 68 torpedoes, the three PT Boats 12 more, and they did most of the damage.

Another tactic that I'd endorse is keeping the two USB BB well away from the Japanese destroyers, as the former turn way too slowly to be maneuvering in such a dangerous neighborhood.

Suffice to say, I was also lucky!

[ranknfile]

Whether playing as the U.S. Navy or the IJN (Guadalcanal Naval Battles), my AI opponent does not take evasive action against torpedoes.
So, I do win some scenarios too easily due to this.
Nonetheless, I love the game system. The AI needs to change course when torpedoes are fired at them though. That may be more easily said than done.

[ivanmoe]

Whether playing as the U.S. Navy or the IJN (Guadalcanal Naval Battles), my AI opponent does not take evasive action against torpedoes.
Nonetheless, I love the game system. The AI needs to change course when torpedoes are fired at them though

The AI does appear to maneuver when it’s hunting subs, but I don’t know enough about the games’ internals to say that it’s doing so to evade torpedoes.

One argument against having the AI ships maneuver when “fish are in the water” is that it’s night and they can’t see the torpedoes. However, the AI also shows little interest in dodging torpedoes in daylight!

The AI sometimes has difficulty avoiding or extricating vessels from collisions. That makes some sense for larger ships, but destroyers should be able to avoid collisions with cruisers and battleships.

One element of naval warfare (and torpedoes) that’s portrayed accurately, frequently leading to the demise of formations, is the use of the column-turn, a tactic that drastically limits the evasive ability of the group involved, making its component vessels far more likely to be sunk or damaged.