Japan is burning...how do I read the damage I'm doing?

[blueatoll]

So I've got fighters sweeping the skies of Japan which is allowing me to fly unmolested B-24s and B-29s over Japan on Manpower raids. I'm seeing fires well over 100k in several Japanese cities (no need to A-Bomb Hiroshima) but have no idea how to read the damage reports/information for the cities when I hover over them (all cities have 9+ recon points on them).

There are 2 numbers for each item in the city (manpower, light/heavy industry, oil, factory A-D) but I can't figure out what they mean. As many of the numbers are [for example for a factory - 45/(0)] I'm assuming that the first number is current capacity/value and the parenthesis number is the original value? Or do I have this reversed?

I'd be stunned if I have so many factories in Japan at 0.

Can someone help me buy a clue here? Thanks.

[Lokasenna]

The numbers in parentheses are the damaged numbers. If you are looking at your own base, add those two together to get the total amount (operational + damaged). If you are looking at an enemy base, add those two together and then subtract 1 to get the total amount present. For example, if a base has 200 Heavy Industry but 100 are damaged, then it will show "100 (100)" if it is your base or "101 (100)" if it is an enemy base.

Fires can also destroy industry, so you might see that total 200 begin to drop. For a real measure, look at your Strategic Victory Points each turn in the "I"/Intelligence screen. You get 2 points for each damaged point of industry (factory, resources, oil, refinery, etc.) and 20 points for each destroyed.

These strategic VPs can be gained only by bombing Japan if you are the Allies, or only by bombing Australia or CONUS if you are Japan.

[Omnius]

blueatoll,
You might want to set your game to head to head and just sneak a peek at the Japanese cities so you know what the damage is from strategic attacks that cause firestorms. I'm sure the AI won't complain about you sneaking a peek. That way you'll better understand how causing firestorms works.
Omnius

[Lokasenna]

ORIGINAL: Omnius

blueatoll,
You might want to set your game to head to head and just sneak a peek at the Japanese cities so you know what the damage is from strategic attacks that cause firestorms. I'm sure the AI won't complain about you sneaking a peek. That way you'll better understand how causing firestorms works.
Omnius

You can actually just load up as Japan, with Allied Computer... just be advised that the common "trick" to replay an Allied turn by loading the pre-combat save (I think it's file .002) will not work for you as Japan: that file will begin on the combat replay and therefore not allow you to change any orders... so if you are wanting to look at the AI's side of things, you can load up your regular save file with Allied Computer as the setting.

Once in game, it may be easiest for you to look in the Industry Management screen rather than looking around at the map - especially if you don't want to spoil too much for yourself of the AI's force allocations. Press 'J' to get there. I believe the list starts in an alphabetical sort by location.

[Cavalry Corp]

So as Japan its worth bombing Australia for the chance to get these points - is that true?

[Lokasenna]

It can be, if your Allied opponent is not prepared to fight you in the air. Without nearby bases, you need to use CVs to do it. That has consequences.

You can bomb some limited industries from bases in northern Australia that are not traps for your forces, but otherwise it's going to require CVs or a major investment in invading Australia proper.

[Cavalry Corp]

OK noted and thanks - if no allied CV in play and early game could be done I guess.

[Bullwinkle58]

ORIGINAL: cavalry

OK noted and thanks - if no allied CV in play and early game could be done I guess.

Read JocMeister vs. Mr. Kane AAR. It was devastating to Jocke. Instrumental in ending the game early.

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