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newbie questions - 1/29/2009 4:54:00 PM   
joe6778

 

Posts: 75
Joined: 12/28/2008
Status: offline 		What does the airplane slashed icon mean during order execution?

I'm playing the Eastern Solomons scenario and Lunga is being bombarded by IJN ships with no reaction from my ships or planes. Why aren't my search planes spotting these ships and why don't my air combat and naval attack missions attack them? All are nearby.

I notice that when I'm loading cargo or troops on my transports at Noumea, they will sit idle and stop loading (or begin unloading) on the next turn while they're still docked there. They still have lots of cargo space. Why is this happening?
Post #: 1
RE: newbie questions - 1/29/2009 5:41:31 PM   
a1981stingray

 

Posts: 164
Joined: 8/28/2008
From: Kansas, USA
Status: offline 		The plane slashed icon... no flight operations due to weather conditions.
If your base is being bombed, your planes may not fly to retaliate due to airfield damage. In addition, your planes may not attack a target, if the enemy task force has a larger Combat Air Patrol. Also your planes may not fly if the pilot's morale and fatigue are too high.
It is important that your fighter escort be 2x the enemies combat air patrol fighters for your bombers to actually make it thru to drop their bombs.
Your search planes notify you with Sightings reports and place the enemy Task Force location on the map. The fog of war and experience of the pilots will also affect the accuracy of the sightings reports.
There are too many factors that go into determining if your airfield or carrier will launch aircraft.
The loading and unloading of Transports are very picky about the process. First. In the Transport task force make sure that the TF is docked at port. Second. Select the TF destination. Next. Select the Do Not Retire Task Force. Next. Select one of the actions: Load Supplies / Fuel / Load Troops (then select the unit). Also the amount of Operational points, if it is at 1000 you have to wait until next turn before starting the loading process.
What is probably happened is that the troops are loaded in the turn and then unloaded because there was no destination or the destination was selected after the troops were loaded. Also if you have Retire Task Force set. I always set my task forces to Patrol and Do Not Retire. I want them to sit there waiting in the middle of the ocean for me to designate their movements.

(in reply to joe6778)
Post #: 2
RE: newbie questions - 1/29/2009 7:17:52 PM   
joe6778

 

Posts: 75
Joined: 12/28/2008
Status: offline 		Thanks for clearing that up.

I still don't understand why my carriers won't launch planes to attack these bombarding IJN ships since I have all my carrier fighters set to escort. I feel frustrated just watching my base get bombarded and no planes (land-or seabased) doing anything to defend. 

(in reply to a1981stingray)
Post #: 3
RE: newbie questions - 1/29/2009 8:01:04 PM   
a1981stingray

 

Posts: 164
Joined: 8/28/2008
From: Kansas, USA
Status: offline 		For the Carrier based fighter aircraft: Check to make sure your fighters are assigned to a CAP of 0%, and set to escort. Another possible reason the carrier planes do not attack is the enemy Bombardment Task Force is moving in and out during the night phase. aka The Tokyo Express down the slot. Your carrier would need to be in a position north and east of Santa Isabel to intercept the enemy SC TF on its way out of the slot. Unfortunately having a 0% CAP will be hazardous to your carrier...

(in reply to joe6778)
Post #: 4
RE: newbie questions - 1/29/2009 8:39:18 PM   
joe6778

 

Posts: 75
Joined: 12/28/2008
Status: offline 		Great. Thanks for the information.

(in reply to a1981stingray)
Post #: 5
RE: newbie questions - 1/29/2009 8:45:44 PM   
a1981stingray

 

Posts: 164
Joined: 8/28/2008
From: Kansas, USA
Status: offline 		In situations with the base under constant bombardment, is for the Allied Player to place as many base force engineer units and coastal defense gun units at Lunga. The base also must be over-supplied so it can repair damages and supply the defensive units.
Transfer to Lunga Base at least 2 units of long range PBY Catalina search planes and set to 100% search. This will help locate those enemy SC TF moving towards the Solomon Islands at least 1 or 2 turns before they enter The Slot near Shortland Island and exit The Slot near Choiseul Island.
Then position your carrier about 2 hexes southwest from Lunga base hex. This will be 7 hexes from Choiseul Island where the SC TF usually finishes it bombardment run. Your carrier dive bombers would be at maximum range and hopefully be able to score a couple of hits.
In order to achieve some good dive bombing results on ships, have your carrier torpedo bombers on 40% search and your carrier dive bombers on 0% search. To increase the chance of scoring a hit, set the dive bombers flight altitude above 15000 so that 4 groups of 9 planes attack at a time for each squadron.

(in reply to joe6778)
Post #: 6
RE: newbie questions - 1/29/2009 10:12:42 PM   
joe6778

 

Posts: 75
Joined: 12/28/2008
Status: offline 		Very good, but my transports seem to get hit pretty hard when I send them to Lunga. And when my carriers get near Lunga, they get hit hard as well.

Do I set my carriers to retirement allowed/react to enemy or patrol/react to enemy or should they not react at all?

Plus how do those settings achieve good dive bombing results? I'm still not sure about some of the mechanics of the game system. So how does setting them for 15000 get them to attack in 4 groups of 9? And why would I only send 60% of the TBs instead of 100% of them?

Sorry for all the questions, but although comprehensive, the manual is lacking in some respects.

(in reply to a1981stingray)
Post #: 7
RE: newbie questions - 1/30/2009 12:39:38 PM   
xj900uk

 

Posts: 1340
Joined: 3/22/2007
Status: offline 		A similar thing happened to me - I watched over 300 planes get destroyed at Port Morseby even though my engineers regularly repiared the damage on the runway to below 50% so that some would fly, but they never did and attack the bombardment engagement force... In the end I just gave up and lost Port Morseby & all the planes there as they simply refused to fly...

(in reply to joe6778)
Post #: 8
RE: newbie questions - 1/30/2009 1:35:42 PM   
bigbaba


Posts: 1238
Joined: 11/3/2006
From: Koblenz, Germany
Status: offline 		speaking as a japanese plaer:

setting 40% of your TB on naval search is a bad idea. the kates are your real warship killers. vals are good against soft targets but have no chance to sink BB/CA. thats the job of the kates with their experienced crew.

as the japanese, you have this wonderfull CS. fast enough to be inside a CV-TF and each of them has room for around 24 float planes. put some long range FP into them (you also can put your float fighters there to have some extra CAP) and let them do the search job instead of your bombers.

but thats only for the japanese players...it seems that we speak about the allied strategy and as the allied you can throw away your crappy devestators in the naval search role.


< Message edited by bigbaba -- 1/30/2009 1:36:45 PM >

(in reply to xj900uk)
Post #: 9
RE: newbie questions - 1/30/2009 6:26:43 PM   
a1981stingray

 

Posts: 164
Joined: 8/28/2008
From: Kansas, USA
Status: offline 		Joe, to answer your questions regarding Allied Task Forces getting hit really hard by the enemy bombers, there are a few things to consider first.
Transport Task Forces:
If you form a single Transport Task Force with large capacity, slow moving, AP/AK ships, it will take many turns to unload all those ships at Lunga with a port size of 1. In addition, it will attract the Jap CV TFs and every bomber from Rabaul and Shortland to attack those troop transports.
Air Combat Task Forces:
If you form a 15 ship CV TF with 2 or more carriers, you will likely lose all the carriers in your first battle. I would form a 15 ship CV TF with only 1 carrier and the rest as destroyer escorts and CLAA escorts.
When moving your CV TFs on the map, keep them about 4 or 5 hexes apart, so the enemy will have to divide up their attacks. Also, keep the CV TFs within 7 hexes of any friendly airfield, or 5 hexes of a CV TF, in case your planes need to transfer from severely damaged carriers.
Surface Combat Task Forces:
Use your CA, CL, PG & SubChaser ships in several SC TFs and position them 1 hex in front of your CV TFs. This will hopefully attract the enemy planes to bomb them first, instead of your fragile carriers, while your bombers are bombing the enemy carriers.
Additional Note:
Try to keep your Allied Bases between your CV TFs and the enemy CV TFs. Hopefully the enemy will decide to attack the airfield instead of your carrier.

(in reply to bigbaba)
Post #: 10
RE: newbie questions - 1/30/2009 6:30:04 PM   
a1981stingray

 

Posts: 164
Joined: 8/28/2008
From: Kansas, USA
Status: offline 		Now to answer specific questions:
Task Forces Patrol / Retreat / Reaction Status:
I set my CV TFs to Patrol and Do Not React to Enemy. If you set them to Patrol, the CV TF will stay on station in its last movement hex. If you set them to Do Not React to Enemy, your CV TF will try to remain in its last movement hex, unless it is within 3 hexes of an enemy CV TF.
If you set them to React to Enemy, the CV TF will be out of your control and could finish its movement turn within a few hexes of an enemy airfield or a enemy CV TF. Very Aggressive Admirals will ignore your commands and do stupid things, like getting their carrier sunk... bad idea - yes?
I set my CV TFs to Do Not Retire. If you set them to Do Not Retire, your TF will remain on station in its last movement hex. If you set them to Retirement Allowed, the CV TFs will move and then turn around full speed back to their home port.
Aircraft Impact of Altitude Selections:
Altitude settings for your Dive Bombers. You should try 1 turn with your Dive Bombers set to the default of 6000 feet and see the combat animations of how many planes arrive and number of groups that attack. I believe an SBD squadron consist of 36 aircraft. They will attack in smaller groups of 4 planes each until all squadrons have finished their attack runs. Your slow Avenger TBDs are really no good except for drawing the enemy CAP down from higher altitudes. Remember Midway? When you get Devastator TBDs, they will be ship killers...
Reload your previous turn and set your SBDs altitude at 15000 feet. You should notice that there are now 9 aircraft per attack group until all squadrons have finished their attack runs. It is my understanding that the higher altitude settings allow the aircraft to stay in formation and follow their leader down to the target and bomb release altitude of 1000 feet. The lower altitudes do not provide enough time for the squadron to form up and dive onto their targets, thus reducing the possibility for a successful hit.
Search Planes:
I use the CV TFs Avenger Torpedo Bombers as search planes instead of Dauntless Dive Bombers because:
1) Avenger TBDs have a normal range to carry a (dud) torpedo of 3 or 4 hexes.
2) Dauntless SBDs have a normal range to carry 1000 lbs bombs of 7 or 8 hexes.
3) the Avenger TBDs on search missions will carry a small bomb payload and may drop it on a spotted  enemy sub/transports.
4) the Avenger TBDs have the same flight distances just like the Dauntless SBDs when flying search patrols.
5) If Dauntless SBDs are on search patrols, there are fewer bombers on missions...
6) The Flight Decks of Jap Carriers are made of wood and 1000 lbs bomb penetrate flight decks better than a (dud) torpedo.
7) Search planes from the same carrier, as the bomber squadrons, are more effective at coordinating the Naval Strike, than search planes from other ships or airfields.

(in reply to a1981stingray)
Post #: 11
RE: newbie questions - 1/30/2009 6:55:02 PM   
a1981stingray

 

Posts: 164
Joined: 8/28/2008
From: Kansas, USA
Status: offline 		Additional Allied Strategy:
The Eastern Solomons Campaign, if I recall correctly, has a shorter time frame to work with than Scenario 17 or 19. I assume from previous posts that you are playing against the AI?
It is possible, from the start, to establish an Allied Base on Irau. I would transport every available Base Force Engineer Unit to Irau. I would set the Airfield & Port Construction to 100%, but the Fortifications to 0%. The AI will not invade Irau, but a human Jap Player would definitely take advantage of this strategic position to establish a forward base. When you get a level 2 Airfield established, you can transfer lots of fighters and dive bombers here. It must be level 2 in order to have Naval Strike Combat Operations. A Level 1 Airfield is only good for Fighters providing CAP over their Airfield. I would have 2 units of Fighters set to LRCAP any transports moving in and out of this combat zone. I would then also have 2 units of Fighters set to escort all dive bombers on naval attack. This base must have tons of supplies in order to launch bombers. Naval Strike Operations must pass 3 test before it will launch: Experience Test, Leadership Test, and Pilot's Morale test to fly all available planes.
Transport Task Force compositions.
The AI will probably not attack small convoys of 2 or 3 AP/AK. I would look at the load cost of the Base Force Engineer Unit. If it is around 2400 points you can form a Transport TF with 2 APs with a capacity of 1500 points each for a total of 3000 load capacity. This will provide a little free space to load supplies. I would actually Load Only Troops and not combine troops and supplies into a TF. I like to form Troops Only TFs and Supply Only TFs. In addition, this small TF will unload in about 1.5 turns in a size 1 port, if you use transports of 1 kind (AP or AK) and small (1000 or 1500) load capacities. If you form a transport with mixed AP and AK with mixed load capacities (1500, 2000, 3000) those large 3K ships will take many turns to unload.
Do NOT move all Transport Task Forces into the destination port at once. You must use caution and only send 1 TF into the port to unload. When it is finished and moving out, send in the next TF. What I do, is have my TFs waiting about 10 hexes from their destination. Then send the first Troop Transport TF in. When it is docked and unloading, check its capacity and operational points status. You should time the arrival of the Supply Transport Task Force when the empty Troop Transport Task Force is leaving port.
Position your CV TFs approximately 4 or 5 hexes from the port. Place your 1 unit of Fighters on CAP over your carrier and the other unit on LRCAP over the port.
You will have to micromanage your Fighters on CAP and LRCAP so they will not become fatigued.

(in reply to a1981stingray)
Post #: 12
RE: newbie questions - 1/31/2009 4:16:53 PM   
borner


Posts: 1485
Joined: 3/20/2005
From: Houston TX
Status: offline 		cs units are also great to put into TF's for anit-sub partol once you get floatplanes with good experience levels. I will usually put one with my large tanker convoy and every game it gets several hits on US subs.

(in reply to a1981stingray)
Post #: 13
RE: Good answers - 1/31/2009 7:46:16 PM   
bigred


Posts: 3599
Joined: 12/27/2007
Status: offline 		Stingray is dead on with his comments.  We all look forward to your future participation in our UV league.

(in reply to borner)
Post #: 14
RE: Good answers - 2/2/2009 7:41:22 PM   
joe6778

 

Posts: 75
Joined: 12/28/2008
Status: offline 		Thanks for the info. All of this helps me learn to play the game better.

I've played the third scenario twice and a couple of things that I noticed and don't completely understand yet:

1)The US CAP stinks: In one situation I had a bunch of fighters intercept some IJN bombers that were unescorted and I didn't even destroy one bomber! The IJN escorts handle my CAP quite easily and all the IJN bombers usually get through.

2)My transports and minesweepers can't get anywhere near Port Moresby or Gili Gili without being wiped out even with CAP over them.

3)The only way I can transport troops from Australia to New Guinea is by air- a very slow process.

4) I have a ton of planes and troops in Australia, but I can't use them because the planes are out of range, my New Guinea bases can't handle them (i.e. level bombers), and I can't transport the troops by sea because the IJN bombers destroy them.

5) Why is it that when I try to air transport ground units, they sometimes just transport supplies instead?


(in reply to bigred)
Post #: 15
RE: Scenario 3 - 2/3/2009 6:37:51 PM   
a1981stingray

 

Posts: 164
Joined: 8/28/2008
From: Kansas, USA
Status: offline 		Joe,
To answer your questions, I looked at Scenario 3 from both sides.
1)  I noticed that all of the Allied Aircraft at every Base airfield have experience in the 50s and every squadron has half their planes in "being repaired" status. The Jap Aircraft have experience in the 80s and every squadron fully operational. I also noted the number of Aces or Kills for each squadron.
Experience Levels of Pilots and total number of operational aircraft will greatly affect the outcome of any air to air battle, especially if they have a few Ace Pilots. The Allies are at an extreme disadvantage at the start of Scenario 3, with a lack of experience and plenty of damaged aircraft.
At Gili-Gili there are only 2 squadrons of Fighter-Bombers. Have 1 unit stand down for a turn with zero training, while the other unit is flying 50% CAP at 10000 feet. On the next turn reverse the assignments. This will help to repair some planes and also prevent pilot fatigue. If your pilots are always flying CAP, including in bad weather, their fatigue will shoot up to 60 or higher, and they will get shot down. Fatigue should not exceed 20 to 30 at maximum.
At Port Moresby you have 5 Fighter-bomber units available. You can set each unit to 30% CAP and also set their altitudes for each unit from 6000, 7000, 8000, 9000, 10000 feet. Most Jap Bombers arrive at 6000 feet and fighters at 8000 to 10K. Check the combat reports to verify their altitudes. Hopefully by spreading your CAP to different altitudes you can intercept a few fighters and bombers. Double check your pilots fatigue levels and also the number of aircraft available. If the ready aircraft fall below 6 then you need to completely stand down that unit until it can replenish enough planes to be effective. If their fatigue goes above 30, stand down to lower that number.
NOTE:
Do not transfer a unit of aircraft if there are damaged planes. Do not transfer a unit of aircraft if their fatigue is above 20. I would wait until all planes of that unit are completely repaired and pilots rested before transferring them out to another airfield. High damage and fatigue will result in additional non-combat aircraft losses.
2)  Your Transport Task Forces moving into Port Moresby and Gili-Gili will attract every Jap Bomber if you place Minesweepers or any kind of Surface Combat Ship in the Task Force.
You can create a large task force at Brisbane to load the unit(s) that will be transported to Port Moresby. You should have that Task Force position itself about 10 hexes southwest from Port Moresby, then form several new task forces of 1 ship each. Move each single ship task force into Port Moresby over the next several turns.
There should NOT be more than 1 single ship task force docked in Port Moresby. When it is finished move the next single ship task force into Port. Timing is important so look at the operational point status and remaining troops / supplies left on the ship.
Most AP and AK ships of 1000 to 1500 load capacity will unload in about 1 or 2 turns. It will take about 3 turns for transport task forces, waiting on station, to move those 10 hexes, so you will need to spread them all out. You should also control the task force movement as it is leaving Port Moresby so it doesn't attract the bombers from Rabaul. Move them towards Townsville then let them move automatically back to Brisbane.
For those transports with 2000 or 3000 load capacity, keep them as a single ship task force. Use them to move the largest of land combat units like divisional units. If you have a divisional strength LCU that needs 4431 load capacity, form a task force of 3 AKs with 2000 capacity each for a total of 6000 load capacity. Get the whole unit to load and position the task force like all the other ones, then break it into single ship task forces. The large transport ships take several days to unload.
Use your CA, CL, and DD ships to form (3) Fast Transport Task Forces to move supplies and Base Force Engineers into Gili-Gili. Do NOT sacrifice your transports task forces at Gili-Gili, they are very slow and will get hit several times from Rabaul. The Fast Transports will move in and out during the night phase of the turn and they are very fast. From Brisabane to Gili-Gili to Brisbane in about 5 days.
3) Do not use your transport aircraft to move units that have heavy equipment.
Check your land combat units for the specific equipment that they have. If there are any mortars, anti-tank guns, or heavy AA guns your planes will not transport them, only the infantry, and all equipment will be fragmented units. Unit cohesiveness is important in defending Port Moresby and Gili-Gili.
I used every transport plane to airlift supplies from Cooktown to Port Moresby.
4) Your B-17s at Rockhampton can be used from Cooktown to bomb Buna, Lae, and Rabaul, but without fighter escort, they will be shot down. What I do is leave your bombers where they started. Set them to Stand down at zero training. This will keep them operational and accidental losses to the minimum. When the airfield at Cooktown is around 7 or 9 and your Bomber units are completely repaired and have available pilots for planes, transfer them to Cooktown.
When the airfield at Gili-Gili and Port Moresby is around 6+ you can transfer in a unit of bombers and a unit of fighters. Now plan your specific bombing missions from the front line bases. Remember that the fighters already located at Gili-Gili and Port Moresby are for CAP only, NOT escort missions.
When your bombers become fatigued, rotate the unit back to Cooktown and transfer another bomber unit to the front lines. Remember, do not transfer the unit if fatigue is above 20 and there are damaged planes. Stand down the unit for a couple of turns.
5) The Allied Player has 4 units of transport aircraft. I know that it only takes 3 units to move an HQ from Cooktown to Port Moresby, so sometimes the aircraft will transport supplies if the land combat unit has already been air lifted and the aircraft can still fly missions into Port Moresby.
 
MORE NOTES:
Those Bombers that are stationed in Australia can be used effectively at Search Patrols. More importantly for Anti-Sub Warfare Search Patrols. You do not need surface combat ships to escort your transports if you have lots of aircraft performing that role. You can transfer the short range bombers to Cairns and Townsville, and that will cover the majority of Coral Sea for keeping enemy subs spotted.
Check your Base Force Engineer at Charter Towers. Once the Aircraft have been transferred to Cooktown, Cairns, and Townsville, you can move the Base Force Engineer to Townsville. Now use 2 APs with 1500 load capacity each, for 3000 total, to lift this Base Force unit to Port Moresby or Gili-Gili. Depends on your strategy to use heavy bomber from either base location. You will needs its aviation support to effectively plan bombing missions.
Another Unit is the Construction Battalion at Cooktown. It has 20 Engineering Vehicles. That means it can expand airfields and repair them really fast. Get this unit transferred to Port Moresby quickly. When your first transports from Brisbane unload at Port Moresby, have 2 or 3 transports return to Cooktown. Load the Construction Battalion Engineer unit and transport it to Port Moresby. Then have the transports return to Townsville and load the Base Force from Charter Towers to Port Moresby.
If you have any active aircraft remember to check the fatigue levels. IF it exceeds 30, stand down the squadron for a turn or two.

(in reply to joe6778)
Post #: 16
RE: Scenario 3 - 2/3/2009 7:43:12 PM   
joe6778

 

Posts: 75
Joined: 12/28/2008
Status: offline 		Thanks for the very comprehensive information.

I already do what you suggest about resting and transferring planes. The other stuff about using my transport ships is good advice. Thanks for the other tips, too. I'll use them all.

Can you explain the benefits of withdrawing/disbanding air groups? When should they be withdrawn/disbanded?

I've noticed that CAP is ineffective even for IJN carriers. One battle is enough to wipe out most of the carriers on both sides. Most of the damage to attacking planes come from flak, not from CAP. Is this accurate historically? I don't see the point of having 50 planes flying CAP and only destroying/damaging a small handful of enemy planes.


(in reply to a1981stingray)
Post #: 17
RE: Scenario 3 - 2/3/2009 8:12:57 PM   
a1981stingray

 

Posts: 164
Joined: 8/28/2008
From: Kansas, USA
Status: offline 		Withdrawing removes pilots from the war zone. When pilots and planes are ready, they will become available again.
Disbanding means that the planes and pilots are distributed to another group at the same location.

For example you have a fighter-bomber unit with only 3 planes and many pilots. There is another FB unit with 10 planes and 5 pilots. Disband the unit so the 3 planes will be merged into the unit that has 10 planes.

It takes 60 days before the computer will try to build a unit from available pilots and planes from the replacement pool.

When you play the AI, the settings you have chosen in the Realism Options prior to selecting the Scenario will determine the enemy's ability to hurt you. I play on Very Hard with 200% ship commitment.

I get hammered by the enemy's CAP and their bombers. But I have learned a few things about positioning my Carriers and using lots of search planes to plan an attack. I also try to keep my carriers near an airfield so I can LRCAP from the base over my CV TF, while my planes are away. You really need several good units of Fighters from an airfield over your CV TF before your carrier planes take off for a naval strike. Never strike a huge fleet if you can help it. The AI always has several SC TFs with several CV TFs in the same hex. It would best to pick on transports that were on the other side of the map.

(in reply to joe6778)
Post #: 18
RE: Scenario 3 - 2/3/2009 8:30:02 PM   
joe6778

 

Posts: 75
Joined: 12/28/2008
Status: offline 		I always use the "historical" setting when I play.

I'm still not sure under what conditions you would want to withdraw air groups instead of disband them.

What good is meticulously planning an attack if you're getting hammered?

I still don't understand why CAP is so ineffective. I understand that US equipment and pilots in the beginning of the Pacific War were not as good as the IJN, but if I'm sending up 50 planes and they only take out a couple of bombers- that's pretty frustrating. There might even be a situation where I get a "bouncing bombers" message and then: nothing. I thought "bouncing" meant catching them by surprise.

(in reply to a1981stingray)
Post #: 19
RE: Scenario 3 - 2/3/2009 8:54:18 PM   
a1981stingray

 

Posts: 164
Joined: 8/28/2008
From: Kansas, USA
Status: offline 		The condition of withdraw vs disband...Port Moresby needs its fighter planes and pilots, you may have a unit with more pilots than planes = withdraw. If I have a unit with very few planes and pilots I will disband them into another unit to max out its size keeping them at the airfield fighting...

Your Allied CAP will become very effective when you play a late game in 1943 when the Corsairs arrive with P-38 Lightnings...


(in reply to joe6778)
Post #: 20
RE: Scenario 3 - 2/3/2009 8:57:49 PM   
joe6778

 

Posts: 75
Joined: 12/28/2008
Status: offline 		Very good. Thanks.

(in reply to a1981stingray)
Post #: 21
RE: Scenario 3 - 2/4/2009 4:28:31 PM   
joe6778

 

Posts: 75
Joined: 12/28/2008
Status: offline 		I'm getting a better handle on some of the game mechanics thanks to all of your help.

I had better success transporting my ground units by sea when I send the ships in smaller groups.

In scenario 3, it's very slow going moving my ground units overland on New Guinea to attack Japanese bases/units, and I can't move heavier units by air.

(in reply to joe6778)
Post #: 22
RE: Newbie questions - 2/9/2009 11:10:07 PM   
marioa

 

Posts: 38
Joined: 1/7/2007
Status: offline 		Please i have a question: Can transport aircraft with troop's paradrop mission's been escorted by fighter?
Thanks in advance.
marioa

(in reply to joe6778)
Post #: 23
RE: Newbie questions - 2/10/2009 1:08:11 AM   
Kingfisher

 

Posts: 234
Joined: 6/16/2008
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: marioa

Please i have a question: Can transport aircraft with troop's paradrop mission's been escorted by fighter?
Thanks in advance.
marioa



I'm not 100% certain, but based on my own experience as well as reading the numerous AARs, it would appear that transport missions do not trigger an escort. To be sure your transports are protected I would suggest assigning one or more fighter squadrons to LRCAP on the target hex.

_____________________________

"splendid was their tactic of diving upon our force from the direction of the sun, taking advantage of intermittent clouds"

-Captain Takahisa Amagai, KAGA, June 4th 1942

(in reply to marioa)
Post #: 24
RE: Scenario 3 - 2/12/2009 6:50:31 PM   
bigred


Posts: 3599
Joined: 12/27/2007
Status: offline 		The australian divisions are all air moblie. The us divisions can not air trans the 105mm cannons.
quote:

ORIGINAL: joe6778

I'm getting a better handle on some of the game mechanics thanks to all of your help.

I had better success transporting my ground units by sea when I send the ships in smaller groups.

In scenario 3, it's very slow going moving my ground units overland on New Guinea to attack Japanese bases/units, and I can't move heavier units by air.


(in reply to joe6778)
Post #: 25
re:scenario 3 - 2/16/2009 1:55:42 AM   
joe6778

 

Posts: 75
Joined: 12/28/2008
Status: offline 		Can someone explain the aircraft replacement schedule? What do "rate" and "pool" represent?

I'm still perplexed with how UV handles CAP: I had an equal amount of planes intercepting as escorting, and only one Japanese escort was destroyed to one US interceptor damaged and one destroyed. Swarms of enemy escorts and bombers keep attacking Lunga with minimal resistance. What's the point of even flying CAP with these kinds of results? Its very frustrating.

(in reply to bigred)
Post #: 26
RE: re:scenario 3 - 2/16/2009 9:22:28 AM   
xj900uk

 

Posts: 1340
Joined: 3/22/2007
Status: offline 		'Rate' is the number of replacements built by your off-map factories per month. eg if your replacement schedule shows that your (say) F4F's have a replacement rate of '60', that means 60 new planes are being buit per month by your off-map factories, and filtering through (which is about 2 per turn).

'Pool' is the amount of new planes that have arrived in the theatre but not been assigned to units on the map, for one reason or another. Usually it is automatic, but sometimes factors prevent this (ie all your squadrons of that type already up to strength) or some part-squadrons do not seem to get replacements (ie the remnents of a carrier squadron that made it to dry land).
Sometimes planes are in the pool but can not be assigned to under-strength squadrons because of lack of replacement pilots (there are no numbers for these) coming through - try checking back in a few turns to see if this changes

Re CAP, that's a real frustrating quandry, because you can have dozens of planes on CAP but fail to intercept and shoot down many of the opposition at all. However, this represents RL carrier battles particularly in '42, where for the US in particular their CAP usually wasn't that successful, either through being in the wrong place, at the wrong altitude, or perhaps most common of all poor FDO-communications usually through teh intercom being completely blocked with chit-chat. Thus they tended to miss the vast bulk of the incoming Jap raids.

By 1944, thanks to experience, training, and better FDO-communications discipline (and finally using pre-set frequencies), the USN CAP got a lot better at detecting, intercepting and destroying incoming raids

< Message edited by xj900uk -- 2/16/2009 9:27:01 AM >

(in reply to joe6778)
Post #: 27
RE: re:scenario 3 - 2/16/2009 10:34:49 PM   
joe6778

 

Posts: 75
Joined: 12/28/2008
Status: offline 		Thanks for the clarification.

It seems that air-to-air combat in the game is lacking. How can you defend your assets when, even when dedicating lots of planes to CAP, and even if large numbers of CAP planes actually take part in air-to-air combat, few enemy planes are shot down or damaged?

With a week to go in scenario 3, I'm trying to protect Lunga and I have forced the Japanese troops from Lunga, but they're sending waves of bombers with upwards of 70 Zeros escorting. I have already lost the Hornet and I'm losing the scenario by 500 points. It's very frustrating when they can destroy planes on the ground, ships, and the airfield with little or no resistance.

(in reply to xj900uk)
Post #: 28
RE: re:scenario 3 - 2/17/2009 4:23:13 AM   
borner


Posts: 1485
Joined: 3/20/2005
From: Houston TX
Status: offline 		There is a lot about the game system that takes some getting used to. My personal "favorite" is TF going off on their own to lord knows where. However, the attempt was to try and make combat more realistic, and not just automatic numbers crunching. For the most part I think the attempt was a success. Also keep in mind that until the F4U and F6F arrive, allied fighters are not going to be as effective as you would expect. Also, even when there is a great number of fighters on CAP, some bombers can get through, as often the escorts could keep the defenders busy. In your example, what are the ratios of attacking to escorting fighters?

(in reply to joe6778)
Post #: 29
RE: re:scenario 3 - 2/17/2009 9:51:45 AM   
xj900uk

 

Posts: 1340
Joined: 3/22/2007
Status: offline 		Yes, CAP on both sides was actually quite ineffectual at times, the US didn't get their act together until 1944 with proper training of the FDO's, better communication and above all some RT discpline.
The Japs, although equipped with the excellent Zero fighter at the start of the war, had no radar until later on (and never in enough numbers or reliability) to inform them of incoming strikes and were forced to rely on eagle-eyed spotters, and also a large number of the Zeros' carried no radios (to keep their weight down and improve air-to-air combat ability) so there was no way of directing them anyway save by flags and light signals

(in reply to borner)
Post #: 30
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