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CAP LEVEL: Is it wrong or is it me?

 
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CAP LEVEL: Is it wrong or is it me? - 5/26/2002 11:36:33 PM   
iancollins

 

Posts: 28
Joined: 12/26/2001
From: Southern England
Status: offline 		I've seen this oddity mentioned by others but I haven't seen a reasonable explanation. Here's my example:

It's June 13, 1942 in my #17 game against the AI. I have 5 fighter squadrons at Port Moresby....... a total of 86 operational fighters.

The AI on the previous day raided Port Moresby with a combined attack from Kavieng and Rabaul, coming in with 8 Betty escorted by 65 Zero and, because of this, I raised my CAP LEVEL to 80 with the primary mission as Escort. All 5 fighter squadrons were given these orders.

Now as I read the manual, a CAP LEVEL of 80 means that 80% (about 68 aircraft) will be kept for CAP and remaining 20% (about 17 aircraft) will be available for escort duty...... Right.......? Not so.........

My Port Moresby bombers raid Lea and 51 (59%) of my fighters escort them there. And when the combined Japanese airaid on Port Moresby occurs only 29 (34%) of my fighters are up as CAP.

So..... what's going on...... is there something in the manual I've missed.....?

Ian

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Ian Collins
Post #: 1
- 5/27/2002 1:33:21 AM   
Dirtweasle

 

Posts: 22
Joined: 5/19/2002
From: Colorado
Status: offline 		I've seen the same thing, and wonder as well. Guessing that if the airstrip is damaged, supply and support is not 100% then less planes get of the ground.

(in reply to iancollins)
Post #: 2
- 5/27/2002 1:43:18 AM   
iancollins

 

Posts: 28
Joined: 12/26/2001
From: Southern England
Status: offline 		Thanks for the reply Dirtweasel.

There is no damage to the airbase and supply is more than adequate. One of the fighter squadrons has a morale under 50, which would explain a reduction in CAP from the maximum possible......... but what puzzles me most is the 59% that escorted the bombing mission. Doesn't seem right.........

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Ian Collins

(in reply to iancollins)
Post #: 3
- 5/27/2002 1:52:56 AM   
legio

 

Posts: 19
Joined: 5/19/2002
Status: offline 		Not had a problem with this.

I managed CAP of 60+ fighters and some on escourt.

check:


airfield damage
air support - is there enough
supply
moral

(in reply to iancollins)
Post #: 4
- 5/27/2002 2:03:06 AM   
FAdmiral


Posts: 378
Joined: 12/20/2002
From: Atlanta,GA, USA
Status: offline 		I think the "Escort" setting and 80% means that 80% of the
aircraft are saved for escort missions. If you set to "Long Range
Cap" and 80%, it gives 80% to the cap & 20% for escort duty. Of
course there are other factors entering into the equation too,
like weather, sighting distance, radar. avail planes, avail pilots
etc. I could be wrong on this, anybody know for sure !!!!

JIM BERG, SR.

(in reply to iancollins)
Post #: 5
- 5/27/2002 2:24:33 AM   
iancollins

 

Posts: 28
Joined: 12/26/2001
From: Southern England
Status: offline 		Jim,

The manual's quite specific about Cap Level. It says (quote)

CAP and Naval Search Levels dictate the percentage of the aircraft that will either fly CAP or Naval Search while the rest of the unit attempts to carry out its selected mission(s).

When you choose Long-Range CAP the level is automatically set at 100.

_____________________________

Ian Collins

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Post #: 6
- 5/27/2002 4:42:10 AM   
Paul Vebber


Posts: 11430
Joined: 3/29/2000
From: Portsmouth RI
Status: offline 		Ian are you sure there were not other planes from another base contributing into the Escort mission?

Also remember that the game cycles your CAP out and back, so you won't ever see (number of aircraft)*(80%) as the number in a combat. The game is cycling them out and back to keep a constant presence. Depending on when in the "cycle" you get hit, you could well only have 1/3 of the fighters working the CAP mission actually in the air able to intercept, at that the particular momnet.

(in reply to iancollins)
Post #: 7
- 5/27/2002 4:50:41 AM   
iancollins

 

Posts: 28
Joined: 12/26/2001
From: Southern England
Status: offline 		Paul.......thanks for that.

I'm certain that fighters from other bases aren't involved.

With morale checks, etc I can readily accept that I can be unlucky and get a low turnout of fighters even with Cap Level set to 80. But what puzzles me most is how did I get the 59% turnout for the bombing escort mission......?

All I can think of is that my fighter squadrons looked at the 80 Cap Level order........ remembered that 65 zeros had hit them the day before....... and said "stuff this for a game of soldiers.....I'm off to help the Marauders bomb Lea".......where the previous day's CAP was 4 Zeros.......... :)

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Ian Collins

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Post #: 8
- 5/27/2002 5:00:06 AM   
rough44

 

Posts: 29
Joined: 2/2/2002
From: Toronto
Status: offline 		?

(in reply to iancollins)
Post #: 9
- 5/27/2002 6:34:00 AM   
Paul Vebber


Posts: 11430
Joined: 3/29/2000
From: Portsmouth RI
Status: offline 		I'm not sure where teh Escort numbers came from either, could be they happened to be landed and ready to go from CAP duty and were pressed into service? As Joel as stated the depth of the considerations and (complexity) of the game are simply incredible!

It can be a no win situation. If you communicate every detail that goes on, then the player is overwhelmed. If you don't then the player is left wondering if something that doesn;t happen exactly as ordered is a "bug" or his subordinates "doing the right thing" in their eyes at the time.

Unfortunately you can't get on the horn and call over and get a report from the squadron or wing commander. OR call a Court's Martial ;)

(in reply to iancollins)
Post #: 10
- 5/27/2002 3:57:46 PM   
iancollins

 

Posts: 28
Joined: 12/26/2001
From: Southern England
Status: offline 		Thanks Paul,

The unusually large number of fighter escorts that accompanied the Lea raid has turned out to be a one-off. In the following days, as the Japanese continued to send a large escort of Zeros to Port Morseby, my CAP and escort numbers have seemed reasonable......

So I can accept that, maybe, I just had a day when my orders didn't filter down the line, or got misinterpreted, or whatever. Just as happened historically. In war........nothing's certain. I like that.

_____________________________

Ian Collins

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Post #: 11
- 5/28/2002 1:08:38 AM   
FAdmiral


Posts: 378
Joined: 12/20/2002
From: Atlanta,GA, USA
Status: offline 		As it stands now, I have the cap set fairly high & the escort duty
fairly low because I'm only bombing the troops & supply ships at
Gili-Gili and Buna. When I get a carrier sighting nearby, I reset the %. This seems to work quite well.....

JIM BERG, SR.

(in reply to iancollins)
Post #: 12
- 5/28/2002 12:21:02 PM   
Mike Wood


Posts: 2095
Joined: 3/29/2000
From: Oakland, California
Status: offline 		Hello...

Paul explained the CAP percentage situation, and well. As far as the increased number of planes sent as cover for your bombers, that was one of your squadron leaders fault.

He made a couple really agressive die rolls and figured the Japanese would be standing down for the day and reallocated a few of the planes to the more aggressive cover mission, thinking the attack mission would increase morale for the squadron.

He was wrong.

Hope this helps...

Michael Wood

(in reply to iancollins)
Post #: 13
Ooooooooh..... - 5/28/2002 3:57:48 PM   
Ron Saueracker


Posts: 12121
Joined: 1/28/2002
From: Ottawa, Canada OR Zakynthos Island, Greece
Status: offline 		I like the variability and the leadership aspect. Where's my **** copy...I've been using my experiences with older games in my posts and I feel as though I'm trapped in a bubble or something.:p

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Yammas from The Apo-Tiki Lounge. Future site of WITP AE benders! And then the s--t hit the fan

(in reply to iancollins)
Post #: 14
- 5/28/2002 9:38:46 PM   
IChristie

 

Posts: 673
Joined: 3/26/2002
From: Ottawa, Canada
Status: offline 		Yes, I think I said back in the long ago that UV will drive control freaks nuts (it already is judging by some of the threads on this forum).

Part of the addiction is that you just CANNOT guarantee the results you will get from any given tactic or strategy. You just HAVE to run the combat results to see what's going to happen!

At first this drove me nuts. I would construct an artful and insightful strategy, plan in advance, line up all the elements and then poof! the CV's would launch strikes at TF's half a board away or the enemy would sail around my blocking TF's and end up in the harbour with all my tpt's (remember THAT one!).

The bottom line is that the game will challenge your assumption that you could have done better or differently than your historical counterparts - even with godlike omniscience you can't always make it go the way you want to. This is one of the best things about the game in my view. It makes you deal with aspects of command that few other games make you think about - supply, leaders, training, morale, resting your troops.

These aren't the most exciting aspects of running a war, but they make the game great as far as I'm concerned. The really tricky thing is that if you don't master them, you won't even know why your getting beat :rolleyes:

_____________________________

Iain Christie
-----------------
"If patience is a virtue then persistence is it's part.
It's better to light a candle than stand and curse the dark"

- James Keelaghan

(in reply to iancollins)
Post #: 15
- 5/29/2002 1:42:47 AM   
FAdmiral


Posts: 378
Joined: 12/20/2002
From: Atlanta,GA, USA
Status: offline 		If it was my Squadron Leaders fault, then how do I replace him???

JIM BERG, SR.

(in reply to iancollins)
Post #: 16
- 5/29/2002 2:39:55 AM   
dgaad

 

Posts: 864
Joined: 7/25/2001
From: Hockeytown
Status: offline 		In a word : You.

;)

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Last time I checked, the forums were messed up. ;)

(in reply to iancollins)
Post #: 17
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