Carrier Battles 4 Guadalcanal - Pacific War Naval Warfare news & patch notes

Pilots (DLC)

This option reflects the growing inexperience of Japanese pilots.

Japan had expected a short conflict with Occidental powers. It had skillfull elite pilots but very few training programs.

As the war protracted, the overall pilot quality quickly started to worsen, especially after the attritional battles of Midway and Guadalcanal.

Scenario.: Philippine Sea Summer-1944

This scenario covers 3 major US operations of Summer 44: Securing Saipan, Guam, and Palau islands.

June 44, with both major naval bases neutralized, Rabaul and Truk, the road to the Mariana islands is now wide open. Capturing them would allow B-29 strategic bombers to reach Japan.

The Japanese were aware of the threat and strove to send more land forces to the Mariana islands. However most of reinforcement were intercepted and sunk by US submarines.

The Philippine Sea would be the largest and last carrier battle of World War II. The Imperial Japanese Navy lost a great part of its air asset and could not oppose any credible resistance to further US foray into the Japanese defense perimeter. The invasion of Palau was of a doubtful interest and prove to be a bloodbath.

New 1944-Scenario Operation Hailstone (DLC) Multiplayer After giving the hand to the opponent, the program periodically checks if it is your turn to play. * A Next button invites to play your turn on another ongoing game. * You jump to next game or refresh current game state after your opponent’s turn without going back to the main menu. * Email notifications are only sent after 1/2h if you haven’t played your turn. Technical migration. Rules update - CAP Vectoring. - US Anti submarine Warfare in 44. - US Anti Aircraft Fire in 43+. - US torpedoes dud-issue solved in 44.

Almost 4 years since its first launch, the game continues to be passionately followed and improved, with already 4 content-rich DLCs added to one of the most detailed simulation of the carrier battles in the Pacific.

New Scenario: Indian Ocean Raid (DLC) - The Imperial Japanese Navy makes a foray into the Indian Ocean in an attempt to deter or destroy the British Eastern Fleet. - Enjoy British units Night duration depends on the map and the season.

Attached, a few screenshots of the Indian Ocean raid scenario to come. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/37506759/de750a897f6e7a7c1cb96e04bf24606bf60332d4.png {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/37506759/5523cb34c0a0b4d84501e3cb1af03b7096655797.png {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/37506759/2a07b2d78e7381496042c62ff2d6a23f283625ac.png {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/37506759/708d83e48a64f3d3d1fcc6faec82cca2b3cd8310.png The foreseen rules for the armoured flight decks would be like this: - The chance to get an inoperative flight deck following a bomb hit drops from 75% to 25% per hit - A bomb or shell has more chance to hit the deck area rather than the hangar area Damage control is increase by 2 against a bomb hit, by 1 against a shell hit In parallel, there is a second game under development: War And Peace covering the Napoleonic wars between 1796 and 1815. See a screenshot and an ongoing Kickstarter campaign https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/787937257/war-and-peace-the-digital-version {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/37506759/2be6efc1c88fad2aa1a33d848263bc2f67a60bba.png More screenshots There is even the possibility of a boardgames reprint ! Cheers !

My second computer wargame in preparation, based on the superb work achieved by Mark McLaughin : War and Peace, Game of the Napoleonic wars. A Kickstarter Campaign is going to start soon ːsteamhappyː Link to the Kickstarter prelaunch page

MP * The play-by-email has been removed as the online asynchronous mode is replacing it * Delete online account * The saved game size has been cut by half for faster downloading * During the opponent’s turn, you may write a message, surrender or send a gentle reminder Air Search * The distance used to compute the chance to find is increased by 1 every 3 hexes * A major fire increases the chance of being discovered * Partial info transmitted by scout: the error may be up to 1/4 of the distance (was 1/5) Airstrike * Radio -20% instead of -15% per hex for the Japanese. Halved for a pure-fighter airstrike * The chance to find its target has been reduced for fighters and lone air units * Added a 1-hex margin for a safer return of long-range CAP Air Op * Variable fuel cost: the fuel amount has been doubled and fighters consume much less than bombers, see Air op rules * Ability to push aircraft overboard with via right-click / long-press * Automatic creation of seaplane bases * Display of a small plane symbol on carriers when there are at least 2 air units on deck: observed on own CV or during a battle Scenarios * Midway: additional penalties for Japanese scouts while the strategic surprise is running * Essex: updated victory conditions for the US TF * Added heavy AA values on the TF reorganization screen * Black triangles will indicate if there are CAP and/or ASW protection on the TF counter Sub * The chance for air unit to detect a submarine in a clear hex is only divided by 2 instead of 4 * The encounter chance is halved against a TF not matching the target type * Submarines do not attack ships in an airbase hex during daylight Logs * Larger and always visible scroll bar * Zoom on mobile Map * Touch/click on the map button to iterate though map pieces * A simple arrow is emphasizing the autopilot destination hex Technical improvement * The game sides and sequence have been generalized which is opening room for other games

https://store.steampowered.com/news/group/36173274/view/5983600760817194145

New content (in-app / DLC):

- Submarines - New scenario Torpedo Alley, September 1942

Submarines

- Assign patrol area, mission and target for your subs during the set-up of most of the scenarios - The computer will handle movement and encounter with enemy ships - TF will never be safe anywhere on map, so a decent DD escort is handful - Flip ships to see historical sunk date, torpedoes and depth charges - Manage your ASW forces

Air Operation UX

- Larger Hangar - New ASW bow when playing with submarines

What’s next ?

- The next version focus on technical enhancement before extending the game - It is the occasion to add small improvement on autopilot, counters, screen UX, etc…. Please revert with your best & realistic wishes

You like the game, You have enjoyed the frequent updates, You feel the support reactive, You would love to keep this game evolving Then, do not hesitate and nominate Carrier Battles 4 Guadalcanal in the "Labor of Love" category Steam opens the vote between Nov 24 - Dec 11 A great thanks !

Multi-player

- Play against anyone over internet on PC/Mac/iOS/Android - Turn-by-turn asynchronous 2-player game. You don't need to both connected at the same time - Take your time to play against a challenging human opponent - The game state is automatically saved in the cloud - Login and notifications by email - Less cheat opportunity - The multi-player is free for the time being. If run-time costs of the online architecture become expensive, then a small fee may be asked to players {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/37506759/c15895ba095df15a8d96769fbc031ab17917a799.png

1.8

Log - Display the day of event - Select a hex number in a log event to center the map on it Map - The map is now entirely displayed in 2D - The zoom has less inertia Fog of War - Non-disclosure in the log or damage window of accurate info on damage enemy ships - Sunk ships should not be automatically as sunk at the end of battle. Another round of air observation might be needed - Sunk ships during battle could still be possible mistaken - Airstrikes may be detected across several phases, possibly increasing intelligence on them Miscellaneous - Support request, chosen options & modules available on each saved game tile - TF Merge: some rules were not always enforced when all ships were stacked on left or right panel

1.7

Scenarios

- New what-if scenario: Operation FS July 1942. included with Advanced Fog of War - Watchtower: US carriers embed more fighters - Essex: reduced Japanese set-up area {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/37506759/a8b1ae9004fa3a110dd36e434ccf5acf3d5b3154.png

Air Operations

- Preparation time estimates are more stable - CTRL-Z to undo the last action - Easier TF selection as airstrike target when within a stack - Possibility to rebase damaged air units when unable to land on their carrier - Search leg indication with a small arrow on the scout counter

Miscellaneous

- Ability to rename and/or duplicate a saved game - Do not reveal the loss of ship seaplane capability to the enemy - Advanced fog of war: do not display airstrike on map if your side believes that all enemy planes have been destroyed - When changing the return base of an airstrike, if some units may not land on the new base, they will split and keep their original destination

Carrier Battles 4 Guadalcanal is now available on Android platform.
It is quite similar to the desktop version, set aside screen size, some graphical tips and shortcuts. There is also a LITE version with a single scenario (Coral Sea) which allows you to see how it renders on your device. Enhancement which will come later - DLC Seaplanes and Advanced fog of war - Cross-platform multi-player Once this is in place, the iOS version can be upgraded with the modern look and feel

Airstrike Intelligence

- Airstrikes can also be detected by airstrikes, CAP or scouts - You won’t see the detailed composition of an airstrike on map until it enters battle. Several level of intelligence are displayed in between

TF Intelligence

- After an air-to-sea battle, the enemy TF is displayed at the highest intelligence level - The 3rd level of intelligence shows the number of ships +/- 2 - TF location errors on false scouting reports have been slightly reworked, see Advanced Search rules

New optional feature module

Advanced Fog of War (DLC)

Faster game loading time

1.5

New Scenario : Essex, September 1943

- features the carrier raid on the Gilbert islands and a plausible Japanese interception - it is included with the Seaplanes extra feature {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/37506759/37338ee473bde933ca9cdf17d464c525f361318a.png

TF

- Autopilot: the estimated time of arrival also mentions the arrival day

Units

- B24 has a greater air-to-air rating - Old Japanese BB, CV Hiyo, Junyo are faster

UI:

- Progress bar from scenario loading and faster IA phase processing - Conflicts between scrolling, zooming, double-click, long-click, right-click have been fixed

Survey

- you have been about one thousand to asnwer the questionnaire - thank you very much for this valuable feedback - results and roadmap will be gradually unveiled, stay tuned !"

A big survey to improve the game

The backlog of Carrier Battles 4 Guadalcanal is full of good ideas, thanks to all of you. Time has come to make some choices in order to build a decent roadmap. To do so, we need your expectations. Check out this survey! survey Non-owners of the game may answer the questionnaire. Feel free to share the link. The survey will remain open until mid-March approximatively. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/37506759/b35f81c38b23027fa720625e7b15e63e4a6ea702.png

1.4

TF

- At least one surface escort ship is required per carrier - A CV TF without escort is forced to withdraw - Enhanced ships silhouettes - Allowed naval move hexes get highlighted before drawing the TF

Damage

- Torpedo damage is more likely to cripple a ship; check the rules for specifics (Damage & Repair) - TRS loaded with cargo are more likely to burn

Left menu, map button

- On the last phase of the turn, the number of unmoved TF on autopilot is shown in a yellow badge - On the last phase of the turn, the number of unmoved TF not on autopilot is shown in a red badge - Otherwise, a blue badge indicates the number of TF you may move this phase

Scenarios

- New what-if for Guadalcanal - Tutorial improvement - US Set-up option for the Lexington for the Revenge Raids scenario

Miscellaneous

- Air Search -20% in clear weather before July 1942. This simulates the poor search capabilities demonstrated by both sides at this stage of the war - The hex grid was refitted to improve the graphic performance

Seaplanes

New option to manage your seaplanes - See and access seaplane bases - Click on any ship carrying seaplanes to enter Air Op with a zoom on current TF - Launch Search and CAP missions - Create seaplane base with tenders TF located in a seaplane spot hex - You are also allowed to observe and attack enemy seaplane bases by air and by sea {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/37506759/b4b07cd55d356e45af351d88735d606a1e02d8d4.png

Version 1.3

Search • Counters colors have been aligned with their search pattern • No choice of speed in the search pattern anymore. Seaplanes will always be slow and others fast • When seaplanes are manageable by the computer, surface TF will send reco seaplanes more often • Intercepted scouts have less chance to transmit TF position • Overcast and rain have more effects on detection Scenarios update • Extra seaplane tenders • Less fuel on airfields for 2P games • Wake starts with less fuel to prevent abused rebasing to the island from US CV • Coral Sea New set-up and victory condition • Eastern Solomon : new option for F4F AirStrikes • Slight improvement of Air-to-air combat table • Observing an enemy airstrike won’t reveal the exact payload of the bombers until they reach their target. Will these G4M go for your TRS or for Henderson Field ? • When a TF and a friendly base share the same hex, sum their heavy AA Naval bombardment • Bombardment effects have been increased to match reality, check the rules • Aircraft destroyed by naval bombardment are concealed to the enemy General The game takes less memory. A prerequisite for the adaptation for mobile devices Support of touch screen for the zoom

Dear players of Carrier Battles 4 Guadalcanal, A new major version is now available. You may now play the game against a human opponent by using the PBEM system. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/37506759/4ab78535ff43faf4d124870a37d9b1cb9212c341.jpg Content

• Play-by-Email mode
• Possibility to launch a new game with a random side
• Possibility to select options at random without knowing which options are active or not
• The scenario info screen list the selected options for the current game
• Wake, Revenge Raid scenarios : new option

Fixes

• The map should only controllable by keyboard and joystick. This will be prevent any joystick-like hardware to mess up with map scrolling
• Miscellaneous fixes
• Technical upgrade of Unity components

Note

• Because of the necessary changes in the game data model, on former games, you may notice the absence of old events
• The PDF has been updated

What’s next There is a huge roadmap ahead of us. The 1.3 should see the addition of one major feature among submarines, seaplanes, advanced fog fo war, wind, radio silence, search & destroy Come to check them on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/CB4G Patrons will be able to vote for their preferred improvement

Hi all, Summer vacation are approaching for us and we wanted to leave a little gift for you ːsteamhappyː The Play by email feature is going to open for beta-testing Moreover, the following features comes with the 1.2 - Possibility to launch a new game with a random side - Possibility to select options at random without knowing which options are active or not - The scenario info screen list the selected options for the current game If you are interested by beta-testing this version, please write to the support (email link in the feedback section of the game) Cheers ! {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/37506759/c12e31a504fc26d487d76fdd473cf6a23f5db01b.png {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/37506759/07c75d103fdd75c950be23fc401f001be2d6c5b5.png

List of additions, modifications and changes - V 1.1

Interface

• Improved behaviour of screened edge scrolling
• Possibility to hide the hex grid
• Hexes are thinner
• Hex numbers are displayed by a right-click
• Wind direction and rain/storm sounds on right-click
• Possibly to display the distance from the last selected TF on the map
• Use the TAB key to iterate through your TF and airstrikes
• Use the SPACE key to advance by one phase
• Short reminder of the sequence of a day on the briefing and as a tooltip over the clock
• Show the hangar capacity above the hangar in the AirOperation screen

Air combat

• New result for the air-to-air combat table : bomber confused. Pressed by enemy fighter, it will attack a random ship with a penalty. This increase a bit CAP effectiveness while keeping the same loss level among bombers
• SBD add only +1 to air combat against unescorted bomber

Miscellaneous

• Better management of seaplanes when merging or detaching TF
• No more VP for inoperative runways
• display bug fixes

Dear players, we must say that these last 12 days were quite stressful, in particular for our lone developer: Carrier Battles go-live, family life, school, some expected turmoil in the company employing the dev (CB is not the dev's primary job... so please help him to switch to game development) , etc…. Hopefully, major bugs have been fixed and the current version appears stable, with updates made almost daily. Now It is time for doing the fun part of creation, so let’s take into account some of your suggestion :-)

What could be foreseen in a 1.1 version update

• Keys to advance turn and to navigate to next TF
• Toggle on/off the hex grid
• Emphasise of the autopilot destination
• A range indicator (if possible)
• Enhanced CAP combat (if necessary)
• Other miscellaneous good stuff and minor fixes

If all goes as planned, you may expect a release in about 3 weeks, but the scope may vary depending on the difficulty and the timing.

What will be studied for a 1.2

• Play by email
• Chinese language. We have already 95% of the text. But we need to adapt the font to the Chinese characters, and that graphical part takes longer than one may think (due to the number of 'words')

Of course, we did not forget or dropped the various other suggestions, but we just tried to make a balance with what can be realistically achieved in a rather small time span. ... and Avalon is also pushing the dev to take some vacation... an exhausted man makes mistakes, which in turn means more work and bugs to fix. Anyway, in the meantime, have a nice week-end, have fun and take care !!! Avalon & Carrier Battles

The game has entered last changes and fixes, release is as scheduled, full steam ahead...