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#Post#: 5--------------------------------------------------
E02 The Last Samurai
By: pilotofficerprune Date: September 12, 2018, 4:12 am
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Date: 03 Feb
Playtester: Elias Nordling
Played The Last Samurai, and it was as much of a forlorn hope as
it looked like from the setup.
The Japanese actually did OK. Two of the Squadrons were tallied
by the sweep so they entered Lufbery and were able to give
almost as much as they got. The Third got close to the bombers
but were intercepted by an escort and got into a dogfight.
Both the combat rolls and the cohesion rolls were very high,
which meant very high casualties that probably aren't
representative for the scenario. 11 Georges were lost to 8
Thunderbolts.
The three untouched bomber squadrons generated 18 points and
there were three more for the loss differential, which was
actually a draw on points. I didn't check the point levels
beforehand, so I would probably have chased the broken Japanese
a bit had I realized it wasn't a clear US win.
There is definitely an interesting and a unusual scenario in
here, but it needs more work. I like the general idea that the
Japanese has to struggle to even get to the bombers and will be
rewarded for achieving it, but I just don't see them getting
there. There are too many US fighters with too many advantages
in the way.
The second problem is of course that the Japanese can just run
away, as the points for exiting bombers isn't enough for an US
victory.
The second problem is probably fairly easy to solve. 18 points
should be an US win. We might also want to give the Japanese one
point for each combat involving the bombers they manage to pull
off. Say the US manages a +5 kill advantage on the Japanese
fighters on average (just guessing here). If the Japanese manage
to down a B29 in one pass, they get 7 points, so 16 can be a
draw, and if they also disrupt a bomber they are down to 13
which could be a win.
As for the first point, I have no obvious answers, as I don't
know what the history allows for. Quality won't really affect
the Japanese chances of catching the bombers, adjusting the
number of fighters on either side would but I'm guessing there
is no historical preceedent for it. I think the best solution
would be if there was a chance for the sweep to miss the
fighters, but that would both require some tinkering with their
setup AND prohibit them from returning to base. And if both
sweeps miss the Japanese might have a too easy time.
[LBW: Final VPs = +21]
#Post#: 6--------------------------------------------------
Re: E02 The Last Samurai
By: pilotofficerprune Date: September 12, 2018, 4:15 am
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Date: 14 Feb
Playtester: Dave Demko
Yes, The Last Samurai is tricky. My first runthrough that was
not a throw-away used v0.3 from the 2/11/2018 Eagles booklet.
(solo play only so far)
Narrative: The interceptors tried to keep the wing together and
slip under the sweep, but the US fighters tallied them right
away and kept the Japanese away from the bombers for the whole
game, starting two dogfights. The Japanese shot well. Squadrons
on both sides (and two US flights) broke easily. The Japanese
had no shots on the B-29s.
Results: US VPs = 6 for kills, 18 for exited bombers; Japanese
VPs = 5 for kills; net: 19 = Draw
No recommendations yet. I'm still trying to manage a good
head-on attack against the bombers, which I think would give the
interceptors their best results. Another Japanese approach might
be to seek out a big fight with the sweepers in the hope of
getting the third squadron through to the bombers.
#Post#: 7--------------------------------------------------
Re: E02 The Last Samurai
By: pilotofficerprune Date: September 12, 2018, 4:19 am
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Date: 17 Feb
Playtester: Dave Demko
I've been experimenting with the stay-low approach to get the
interceptors past the sweep squadrons and onto the bombers. The
Japanese formation is easy to tally. Then the P-47 wing splits
at least one squadron, descends on the Georges, and ties them
all up. I did just that in a solo game with these results:
US VPs: 18 for bombers exited, 4 for kills = 22
Japanese VPs: 2 for kills, zero for attacks on bombers = 2
net 20, US win, but competitive
#Post#: 8--------------------------------------------------
Re: E02 The Last Samurai
By: pilotofficerprune Date: September 12, 2018, 4:19 am
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Date: 17 Feb
Playtester: Dave Demko
For another playthrough, the Japanese tried setting up further
left, but that only keeps the P-47s from seeing them for one
turn. When the sweep wings tallied and the Japanese tallied
back, the veteran Japanese squadron split. Two big furballs
developed, but that one flight, with an Experte, slipped through
untallied. Going for dogfights kept most of the Georges occupied
but slowed down the P-47s in chasing the free flight. I accepted
that tradeoff since the other US fighters were poised for escort
reaction, the best chance for keeping the interceptors away from
the B-29.
The flight of Georges didn't have the geometry for a head-on
attack, so they climbed into the lead bomber squadron's square.
Here's where luck kicked in. Both escorts blew their reaction
rolls, and the Japanese had a turn alone with the big bombers,
risking getting cut up in a turning fight for that first attack.
They managed a B-29 kill and that was probably the game. The
next turn 2 squadrons of P-47s were in the fight and it should
have been over quickly. But the Japanese had epic good luck with
their attack, damage, and cohesion rolls. The bombers rolled
crap for cohesion. The result was three turns of combat against
the bombers, which lost 4 aircraft and broke. All that work by
the only Japanese unit left on the board. It was a Kurosawa
samurai epic.
US VPs: 13 for bombers exited, 10 for kills = 26
Japanese VPs: 5 for fighter kills, 24 for bomber kills, 3 for
attacks on bombers = 35
net -9, Banzai!
Whew: I considered quitting on turn 3, thinking the Japanese
were getting stuffed once again. Elias is right about the US
advantage in forcing dogfights. The Japanese have to be
persistent and ready to exploit small opportunities.
Conclusion: While that run of luck was bizarre, it's not
unreasonable for the Japanese to start racking up points if they
can get to the bombers. For the Japanese the scenario is tough
but winnable. The Japanese need only a bit of luck, like a bad
roll or two on tallies, dogfights, or escort reaction, to make
some hay. The points for attacks on bombers is a good incentive.
This might turn out to be a puzzle-scenario, but it's a good
puzzle. Good for solitaire, but with enough decisions for the
Americans to work as a two-player scenario.
#Post#: 9--------------------------------------------------
Re: E02 The Last Samurai
By: pilotofficerprune Date: September 12, 2018, 4:21 am
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Date: 3 Feb
Playtester: Elias Nordling
OK, so I was able to get the Japanese fighters through, and I
even disrupted a bomber squadron. All it took was three US
fighter squadrons all rolling snake eyes on cohesion.
Even so they were unable to down a bomber, and they had to put
themselves in a terrible disadvantage to get there. 10 Japanese
fighters were lost, for only one US fighter. This put the final
score at 25, which was worse than last game, and of course much
worse than if they hadn't put up a fight.
The Japanese managed 4 attacks on bombers, so if they would get
1 point for each, the score would be 21, same as last game.
The US player has a fairly easy time getting the Japanese locked
up in dogfights, as they have speed advantage to begin with and
the Japanese are climbing while the US are diving.
I'll try something different with both sides next...
#Post#: 10--------------------------------------------------
Re: E02 The Last Samurai
By: pilotofficerprune Date: September 12, 2018, 4:23 am
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Date: 3 Feb
Playtester: Elias Nordling
This time I felt like I hit the optimal strategy for both sides,
got fairly average results, and also something that looked a lot
like the historical result.
The Japanese set up more to the left with a vector at altitude
17. This allowed them to reach the same altitude as the Sweep
when they caught up.
I had one veteran with the sweep. With that the sweep will
likely neutralize two squadrons no matter what fancy ideas you
come up with with regards to splitting. With two veterans in the
sweep, the Japanese will probably be unable to get through. This
fight will be at +-2 at first, then +-1 if the US successfully
dogfight which is very likely. Since the Japanese will take more
losses, the US is more likely to have unbroken fighter coming
out of this fight.
The last Japanese squadron was able to get a head-on attack on
the bomber formation before the escorts intervened. A failed
dogfight gave the Japanese a second pass at poor odds. No bomber
losses, but one bomber squadron disrupted.
Final score: 15 points for exiting bombers, 10 Japanese fighters
shot down. 3 US Fighters shot down. 22 points. With points for
attacks on bombers, it would have been 20.
Suggestion: I now think the only thing needed to give the
Japanese a historical long shot at the bombers is to limit the
US veterans. Either to 1 veteran, or if you feel the US quality
should be higher than the Japanese on average, 2 veterans but
one has to be assigned to the escorts.
Scoring: 18+ should be an US victory to prevent the Japanese
from just running away. I think the Japanese should get one
point for each pass on the bombers. Let's call the above with a
downed bomber but without the disruption, 17 points, a draw, and
with both (or a better loss ratio) a Japanese win at, say, 15
points.
With that, I think the scenario will work fine. It will probably
fall into stereotyped playing once you perfect a plan, but it is
quick playing and you have fun trying to figure how to get the
Japanese through.
#Post#: 20--------------------------------------------------
Re: E02 The Last Samurai
By: pilotofficerprune Date: September 12, 2018, 4:42 am
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The current VP outputs for plays are:
Elias 1st = 21
Elias 2nd = 25
Elias 3rd = 22
Dave 1st = 19
Dave 2nd = 20
Dave 3rd = 19
Average = 21
Essentially the outputs are fairly 'flat' so far.
#Post#: 113--------------------------------------------------
Re: E02 The Last Samurai
By: pilotofficerprune Date: September 15, 2018, 3:04 am
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I think a fix for this scenario might be simple: moving a broken
cloud layer to altitude 14, so as to permit a stronger 'low'
option--providing a visual barrier between a low force and the
sweep.
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