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All Forums >> [Current Games From Matrix.] >> [World War II] >> War In The Pacific - Struggle Against Japan 1941 - 1945 >> Early war questions

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Early war questions - 12/7/2008 1:54:38 AM

rogue

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Joined: 1/27/2006
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Well I am playing the stock grand war in pacific game, and I am having an interesting time. So far its almost the end of December and I haven't been wiped out yet in Manilia. Naga is putting up a stiff fight, but I think that they are going to fall soon. I have learned a few things:

1. Always entrust an important fight to an Adm. I tried to ambush the Jap CVLs that are running around with the REPULSE and PRINCE OF WALES. While the two fleets were within one hex of each other, they failed to engage. I didn't have an Adm commanding the fleet, so I think that may have been the problem. Then the fleet was following the CVLs and got whacked by the Jap CVs that took part in Pearl Harbor, lost just about every ship. Got mad and turned off the game without saving...I am sure that breaks a cardinal rule.

But as to my Questions:

1. What do I do with the Armies? So far I am watching everyone fight for as long as they can and then surrender. There has to be a way to save some of these guys. So far I have been able to evacuate most of my ships and planes without too much trouble, but I am not sure how to help these poor souls.

2. What does withdraw do? I have choosen to pay the 60 day cost to remove some squadrons from doomed areas, but its one of those things that seems too good to be true. What is the cost for doing this? Do these planes come back after 60 days ready to fight again? Do they have to go back to where they left? I know that there has to be a penatly other than a time out. For me is seems like a gamey way to save squadrons without having to properly figure out how to evacuate them. Am I worng?

3. Can US subs evacuate people? I know there is a 0 cap for them, but can they do it?

4. What is up with the 2 MacArthurs? The way I look at it there is one commanding AAFES, and one down in Austrailia what happens if the one in Manilia surrenders or do I have to evacuate him?

Post #: 1

RE: Early war questions - 12/7/2008 3:15:11 AM

Crimguy

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1) PI: I mass troops at Manilla and Bataan. Withdraw all units to those bases. Others engineer a fallback to Bataan, but hold Clark for as long as possible. Dunno, but I find Manilla supremely defensible. I can hold out until May (longer if I get them resupplied) in Manilla.

In Thailand. I generally try to get as many troops south to defend Singapore. The rest make their way North. I keep trying to hold Rangoon, but it's a lost cause. There's no place to retreat to, so when it falls, you lose everyone. You need to go further North than that.

Lots of your base units in the PI and SRA are lost causes, and not worth risking an AK to save.

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Post #: 2

RE: Early war questions - 12/7/2008 3:31:53 AM

2ndACR

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From: Irving,Tx
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Any US sub can be used for transport/evac purposes. You will have to use PP's to re-assign the troops to an un-restricted HQ. Only use subs that are not the old S class. They have torps that work. Most US subs have a capacity of 46.

Catalinas can also be used to airlift out troops. In some games, I have managed to rescue 3 Div's from the PI and alot of Dutch troops.

(in reply to Crimguy)

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RE: Early war questions - 12/7/2008 3:33:34 AM

bradfordkay

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You can let MacArthur I rot in Manila as his clone is already up and running in Australia...

Oh, and to rescue troops from the Philippines you have to change their HQ to a non-restricted command, such as Southeast Asia or Southwest Pacific...

< Message edited by bradfordkay -- 12/7/2008 3:34:42 AM >

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RE: Early war questions - 12/7/2008 3:58:44 AM

Quixote

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From: Maryland
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The only question I haven't seen answered is the withdrawing planes one, so here goes. Yes, they will come back in 60 days ready to go ( simple answer, anyway ). They will show up on your reinforment track, and will re-enter the game at one of your hubs depending on their HQ - San Fran for most US HQs, Karachi for most of the Brits, Sydney/Melbourne for the Aussies and SW PAC forces, Chunking for China command is about right. Against the AI, do what you want to with regards to withdrawing. In PBEM, I don't usually see it in house rules in most of the AARs, so I believe it gets used by both sides ( Allies at the beginning a lot, Japanese at the end a little ). Keep in mind that in order to withdraw, you do have to have a least one other similar squadron at that base, so it's not like you can make every single plane magically transport back to SF or anything. It's usually a good habit to get into against the AI, and especially in PBEM, to know where your avenues of retreat for air units are, and to use them before it's too late. Sometimes easier said than done, but... Personal experience, I don't find myself using withdrawl all that much - depleted early war allied units being the main exception ( the Dutch come to mind. ) Hope at least some of this helps, and have fun with the game - Alex.

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RE: Early war questions - 12/7/2008 9:31:09 AM

FOW

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Re Withdrawing air Units.

As previously mentioned there must be 2 units with the same type of aircraft and nationality. When you withdraw one the planes are given to the second unit - only the pilots of the unit are sent back to the reinforcement queue.
Ideal when you have two unit understrength in aircraft in the early period of the game and want to rescue one and continue fighting (delaying the onslaught) with the other.

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RE: Early war questions - 12/7/2008 1:28:00 PM

Barb

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1. Change command of the units (spend PPs for that) to some unrestricted command. Then load them and ferry away.
2. Disbanding and withdrawing air units:
Japan
Disbanded unit give all their planes and pilots to another unit of same planes. Disbanded unit will reappear after 90 days, pilots will be of reinforcement experience and planes will be taken from pool.
Withdrawed unit give all their planes to another unit with the same planes. Withdrawed unit will reappear after 60 days, with original pilots and planes will be taken from pool.
Allied
Disbanded unit give all their planes and pilots to another unit of same planes. Disbanded unit will reappear after 90 days, pilots will be of reinforcement experience and planes will be for free. (good to use to get some replacement P-40s)
Withdrawed unit give all their planes to another unit with the same planes. Withdrawed unit will reappear after 60 days, with original pilots and planes will be for free.
3. Everey sub can evacuate. Set their mission to Sub Transport.
4. Forget about MacArthur in Manila.

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RE: Early war questions - 12/7/2008 10:07:38 PM

rogue

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ok, thanks guys. One more question: What is the proper way to load out troops? Generally I try to use the AP ships to move around troops and the AKs to move supplies. When I look at loat cost I think, well 5,000 AP makes way more sence than 15,000 AK for infantry or engineers. The only problem is that sometimes not all the equipment gets loaded. Usually about 2/3s of the group heads off while the rest is stuck back in port. What is the correct combination of AKs and APs to prevent this from happening?

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Post #: 8

RE: Early war questions - 12/7/2008 10:20:33 PM

Grotius

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You're right to use APs for troops and AKs for supplies. I'm no expert, but in general I use far more transports than the interface implies are necessary. If I can, I use twice as many APs or AKs as are theoretically needed. I think the load-troops algorithm is generally too optimistic in predicting how many ships you'll need. AE is supposedly making this work a lot better.

I'm sure others will weigh in with more precise recommendations for you.

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Post #: 9

RE: Early war questions - 12/8/2008 7:12:39 AM

bradfordkay

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In the early stages, you'll probably will not want to waste too many good APs trying to get troops out of the Philippines. I'd go ahead and use the ones that are already there, but wouldn't send any others (APs) to Manila - they've got a better than 50% chance of being sunk by Japanese torpedo bombers. It's better to risk the AKs that you have so many of for this mission...

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RE: Early war questions - 12/8/2008 8:49:04 PM

Barb

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If you want to transport units to safe places, get the AP capacity add a little more and AK. (Example: unit shows 18000 AP. so get 20-24 000 AP total and add one big or two smaller AKs. AK tends to carry units artillery and APs will load squads mainly.)

If you want transport units to invasion beaches, get enough AP + AK capacity to load/unload whole unit in turn. (example: 18000 AP unit. get at least 18 small APs, add 2 small AKs and you should go with it. Dont forget for additional supply-only AKs.)

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RE: Early war questions - 12/9/2008 7:09:37 PM

engineer

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One other point that is a bit gamey but should be noted. When you partially evacuate a land unit the fragment that is pulled out will be a daughter unit (it will have a /1, /2, /n after the unit name). Typically, once you get an overwhelming majority of the unit consolidated somewhere out of harm's way, that will become the main unit and the fragment left in the SRA or the Phi. will be the fragment. If the parent part of the unit surrenders, then the largest daughter becomes the new parent. With enough supply and time it will eventually rebuild to the full unit.

Since Manila is an urban hex it is superb defensive terrain, and, unlike Bataan, it's not malarial. Like several have mentioned, lasting until May is quite feasible and against the AI you can last longer. As Barb mentioned, that gives you a lot of time to pull out a lot of troops, but your tanks, heavy artillery, and the sound detectors on your base units won't fit through the sub hatches so they'll have to be left behind.

(in reply to Barb)

Post #: 12