ORIGINAL: witpqs
99% of it in the game. If a player does not play with that benefit of hindsight - does not do those things - then the game does a decent job vis a vis history.ORIGINAL: Bullwinkle58
ORIGINAL: witpqs
99% of it is hindsight available to a Japan player and their (wise in-game) decision to use many assets for ASW which were never used that way.
Certain unhistorical performance issues were fixed in Babes - notably the way the Japanese E class performed due to the way the game algorithms function - and those fixes might have been propagated back into stock. Not certain about that last point.
I disagree that 99% of it is that. Japan had no chance of vastly increasing their ASW effort. They had neither the domestic electronics capability nor the shipbuilding capacity to build the fleet of 25kt ASW ships they needed to fight 20kt night surface end-around tactics with radar guidance.
If there is one, single game aspect that nerfs the Allied sub war it is the use of surface-model DL on subs that can submerge. I constantly get 10/10 DLs on subs 250-300 miles out at sea, and the detection is good for the whole turn, not the mere minutes it took a detected sub to clear datum. Subs in air ASW zones patrolled in the day at PD. Not on the surface. And they had air search radar that gave them dive time that allowed them to disappear if detected (rare.)
The shallow water penalty is also too severe. And attacking subs shoot at small escorts far too often. But it's the DL that makes the subs essentially worthless.
I tend to agree with both witpqs and Bullwinkle;
yes, if the Japanese player shall employ (or better, disemploy) the real faulty Japanese ASW tactics and resources etc, he's bound to disastrous results close to those obtained IRL.
Try it to have confirmation.
For example, in my games, I try to stick with a self rule not to employ Army air groups in permanent maritime roles;
add to this limitation to the convoy system usage, and ENJOY (not really for Japan) the results;
On the other side, I feel the remark of Bullwinkle regarding detection of subs.
As a future correction, for the perspective WITPAE 2, I'd think at a command option for subs to keep submerged during the day - with all the resulting consequences, both in much lower detection, but also much slower speed and movement during day phase and lower target detection and/or capabilty to catch on with it.