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general vs AI questions - 7/4/2011 11:18:46 PM   
ScooterV

 

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I'll stop repeating myself soon that I am still just going through an initial test run, learning what I can and can't do, etc. and just ask my questions after this one :)

First, for now this is just vs the Japanese AI. I know it can vary, and once playing a human all bets go right out the window. But...

In general,

1. Assuming I can keep them supplied, what assault value can typically hold Port Moresby?

2. Has anyone tried, and is there even time before an invasion is attempted, to get Milne Bay and a few of the atolls Southeast of PM up to level 2 airfields and turn them into little unsinkable carriers? Basing Marine fighters and dive bombers, complemented with some P-40's and the Aussie Banshees?

3. UGH!!! Logistics is my hardest thing to grasp initially. I now have the mechanics down, but no guess on how much should go where. The manual says Australia typically needs only fuel, yet I am burning through supplies. I also followed some other AAR's for my initial setup I wish I hadn't, as the ships I want in certain places to set up more as CS: aren't where I want them. I'm working on that. BUT, how much fuel and supply is (again, just typically) sent to AU from Cooktown? Well, a better way to ask that would make sense to me, is what is the total number of TK and AK used exclusively in the early game?

4. And is it just me, or does the forum search function not work? I like to search first, but I get no results no matter what I search for. So, I'm stuck just reading past posts in general and showing my newb-ness otherwise :)


Post #: 1
RE: general vs AI questions - 7/5/2011 12:30:25 AM   
Disco Duck


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Just a warning. I have had the Japanese AI run a carrier group between PH and the West Coast. The Heavy ASW escort didn't do me much good.

(in reply to ScooterV)
Post #: 2
RE: general vs AI questions - 7/5/2011 12:54:14 AM   
Wally Wilson


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1. PM.... I've never really considered it like that before. I try to get as much into PM as possible and go on the offensive.

2. Milne... You will need air cover from PM first. I used that exact strategy is the old WitP many times, but if I recall correctly Milne started as an actual base, not just a dot. If you do manage to build it up you can control a wide area of the ocean and interdict the hell out of the IJN.

3. Yeah, logistics is a bear (Its what I do in the RL lol). Set up a hub-and-spoke system and protect all of your convoys with ASW. Its a good idea to place AA assets in the convoy too in case something happens like Disco Duck mentioned or for use against Betty's. Be sure to run your convoys as far away from IJ held islands as possible. I'm playing the Ironman scenario and the IJ forces are giving me a brain cramp - I'm probably going to restart the game due to the pwnage.

(in reply to Disco Duck)
Post #: 3
RE: general vs AI questions - 7/5/2011 3:55:32 AM   
Panjack

 

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quote:

ORIGINAL: ScooterV
4. And is it just me, or does the forum search function not work? I like to search first, but I get no results no matter what I search for. So, I'm stuck just reading past posts in general and showing my newb-ness otherwise :)

Bookmark the following:
http://www.google.com/search?q=site%3Amatrixgames.com+%2B%22War+in+the+Pacific%3A+Admiral%27s+Edition%22+mines
After you click on the bookmark on the page that appears just change "mines" at the top to whatever you want to search for.

(in reply to ScooterV)
Post #: 4
RE: general vs AI questions - 7/5/2011 4:44:19 AM   
Blackhorse


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quote:

4. And is it just me, or does the forum search function not work? I like to search first, but I get no results no matter what I search for. So, I'm stuck just reading past posts in general and showing my newb-ness otherwise :)


No, it's not just you. Some folks are able to use the forum search engine, and some of us can not. Browser? settings? IP addresses? who can tell? --

"It's all part of life's great mystery, you know." -- Inspector Jacques Clouseau

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(in reply to ScooterV)
Post #: 5
RE: general vs AI questions - 7/5/2011 4:02:56 PM   
Panjack

 

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quote:

ORIGINAL: ScooterV
3. UGH!!! Logistics is my hardest thing to grasp initially. I now have the mechanics down, but no guess on how much should go where. The manual says Australia typically needs only fuel, yet I am burning through supplies. I also followed some other AAR's for my initial setup I wish I hadn't, as the ships I want in certain places to set up more as CS: aren't where I want them. I'm working on that. BUT, how much fuel and supply is (again, just typically) sent to AU from Cooktown? Well, a better way to ask that would make sense to me, is what is the total number of TK and AK used exclusively in the early game?

I'm not exactly sure what you're asking above and I only have a little bit of experience, but no one else has answered and so...

(1) I figure out how many transports I'll need for Cape Town, Aden, and Abadan and send them there. CT needs a bunch of xAKs for the regular large supply convoys that appear there, Aden needs a handful of xAPs for the troops/air groups that appear, but Abadan seems to get enough TKs and xAKs appearing in that port to take care of fuel/supplies that appear there. If you seem to have too many transports in these ports just send the excess to the west coast of the US.

(2) I keep a bunch of short distance xAK, xAPs, and xAKL in Australia and elsewhere for whatever is needed. They are needed, for instance, for visits to PM and other interesting tourist destinations and to get resources from a couple of places (I'm not sure how important resources are for Australia but I gather them if only to deny them to Japan if she takes certain places).

(3) A few transports need to go up to Prince Rupert.

(3) Most of the rest I send to SF and they arrive by ones, twos, threes and more in that port over the next month or more. When they appear I load them up (xAKs with supply and TKs with fuel) and send to Pearl and Sydney. I keep them busy as possible and only keep them in port if they need repairs. An idle transport is fighting for Japan! Initially they visit the islands I deem important between Pearl and Australia. But after that they are sent, with little thought at all, to Sydney and Pearl. Most of the TKs are sent to Sydney with occasional stops at other important refueling points. And, of course, APs and xAPs (along with some xAKs) are used to send troops out of SF where needed. (Be aware that some APs and xAPs are too large for smaller ports).

Initially you have transports all over the place and they are hard to keep track of. But relatively soon things settle down as ships become part of large convoys and they are typically visiting only a few places.

Remember to expand the ports on the west coast of the US and go looking for units with navel support, many of which seem to be offloading fish (and offloading them very efficiently!) in Alaska and related ports, and send them to smaller ports of importance.

The biggest problem I face is not getting supplies/fuel to Sydney and elsewhere they are needed but getting the escorts needed in the right time/place. Over time you learn where you can risk not using escorts but Japanese subs turn up in unlikely places sometimes (and often don't turn up where you'd think they would). If I had my druthers...that's an Americanism, right?..., I'd scrap a BB and transform them into a dozen DDs.

< Message edited by Panjack -- 7/5/2011 4:06:30 PM >

(in reply to ScooterV)
Post #: 6
RE: general vs AI questions - 7/5/2011 4:09:18 PM   
Wally Wilson


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For off map ports, be sure to leave enough fuel and supplies so that it can feed any reinforcements and tank up new ships.

(in reply to Panjack)
Post #: 7
RE: general vs AI questions - 7/5/2011 6:40:04 PM   
rockmedic109

 

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It's a little micromanaging at first, but I actually pull all the USN xAKs in the Indian Ocean back to the U.S. I send them all to Cape Town first and form them up into a large task force. I Load them up with supplies when Cape Town has enough, then send them, using waypoints to make a safe route, to Sydney. WHen unloaded, I send them, again by a safe route, to San Francisco.

Keeping Port Moresby against the AI is usually not difficult. Use the patrol planes in the are to pull all the outlying little LCU back to Port Moresby. Us the two xAP from Darwin to send the two bird battalions to PM. And maybe a brigade from Australia.

Logistics is the key. And it is the hardest to learn {for me anyway}. One rule of thumb is to ALWAYS move supplies and fuel forward. A carrier task force with deplete fuel reserves faster than a fire will. Send too much and let the supply sergeants make a little extra money selling the excess. This keeps those poor SOBs that never win a medal happy and boosts the local economy.

(in reply to Wally Wilson)
Post #: 8
RE: general vs AI questions - 7/5/2011 7:37:48 PM   
Alpha77

 

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quote:


Logistics is the key. And it is the hardest to learn {for me anyway}. One rule of thumb is to ALWAYS move supplies and fuel forward. A carrier task force with deplete fuel reserves faster than a fire will. Send too much and let the supply sergeants make a little extra money selling the excess. This keeps those poor SOBs that never win a medal happy and boosts the local economy.


This is the right spirit. What does SOB mean btw. ?

(in reply to rockmedic109)
Post #: 9
RE: general vs AI questions - 7/5/2011 8:06:29 PM   
Rainer

 

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quote:

What does SOB mean btw. ?


Son of a <forbidden word> (basically a female dog).
Don't use it. Bad style and foul language.

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Post #: 10
RE: general vs AI questions - 7/5/2011 10:36:10 PM   
ScooterV

 

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LOL, very entertaining!!

Also, if that's all it often takes to hold PM I already went overboard.  Oh well :)

And I am slowly getting convoys set up from supply and fuel sources, so I guess my problem being this early in the game is knowing how much to send.  I agree with sending too much is better, but the ships aren't always there and I'm not sure how many to send back for regular runs. 

(in reply to Rainer)
Post #: 11
RE: general vs AI questions - 7/6/2011 2:27:20 AM   
Mynok


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Go by the base's needs and triple it if you have the supply. That'll keep it happy for a while. Otherwise, just keep enough there to keep supply > needed supply.



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(in reply to ScooterV)
Post #: 12
RE: general vs AI questions - 7/6/2011 11:42:10 AM   
Houtje

 

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Scooter, I am also playing my first GC vs. Japanese AI, and have encountered same issues. Check Sardaukar's noob AAR for info on these and other matters: http://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=2564541

I am expanding the port at Suva (north of NewZealand) in order to use it as an intermediate fuel-hub: unload large TK from the WC there, send them back, and load the fuel on smaller TK to the AU mainland, Noumea etc. I sent all of
my duthc TK's to IO and/or Abadan, and AK's mostly to CT. Learning as I go..

(in reply to Mynok)
Post #: 13
RE: general vs AI questions - 7/7/2011 1:47:58 AM   
Disco Duck


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Don't forget auto convoy. I didn't use to like it until some posters cleared up a few points for me.
1) Do not set Victoria for auto convoy. It tends to suck up all the supply and leaves other bases starving.
2) Don't use it for fuel.
3) Use ASW escorts or plan to loose a lot of ships to submarine surface fire. You will lose quite a few anyway but at least the Japanese sub captains will have to expend a torpedo or two.

It takes the hassle out of keeping the smaller Alaskan and Canadian bases supplied.

(in reply to Houtje)
Post #: 14
RE: general vs AI questions - 7/7/2011 5:25:12 PM   
oldman45


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quote:

ORIGINAL: Houtje

I am expanding the port at Suva (north of NewZealand) in order to use it as an intermediate fuel-hub: unload large TK from the WC there, send them back, and load the fuel on smaller TK to the AU mainland, Noumea etc. I sent all of my dutch TK's to IO and/or Abadan, and AK's mostly to CT. Learning as I go..


I want to expand on this a little bit. I build up Christmas Island and Palmyra and use that as the first stop for the trip to the SW pacific. I send huge tanker fleets to PH because they unload faster there. Then I make up smaller TF's and send the to Palmyra and Christmas Island to build up fuel. From there I load LR tankers and merge them into a large TF with LR escorts and send them to Suva or Noumea. There I load up the small short range tankers and send them to various locations escorted by the short range escorts. It requires more micro management but I found its pretty safe against the AI. I can station a small SAG at various locations backed up with sea plane searches looking for the random raiders that Andy likes to give the AI.

I play using the Big Babes mod and have the luxury of the special engineering units they have in the game giving me options to open small forward bases to support long convoys. That mod also offers more ships that are great in moving fuel and supplies between the fwd locations.

Coming out of Capetown I send the supply ships to Perth. The supplies and fuel will move down the pipeline to Sydney, you just need to make sure that a majority of your shipping is sitting in Sydney so a majority of the fuel goes there.

In summary there are 4 convoys used to get fuel to SW pacific. WC to PH. PH to Palmyra. Palmyra to Suva. Suva to points west and south.

At each of the hubs I have a AG or AD to do any repairs that the escorts might need.


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RE: general vs AI questions - 7/7/2011 5:42:52 PM   
HansBolter


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You might want to consider that the waters around Suva are very restricted and the routes in and out can become choke points for submarines.

I find that using Pago Pago as my main hub works better. the route to PP from the west coast and Pearl is pretty wide open. From there fuel can be distributed to Suva, Noumea, Sydney and Auckland.

Since I play Iron Man, which has a plethora of additional surface raiders, I find that moving fuel, supply and troops to Pago Pago and then to Auckland and only then to Noumea and/or Sydney is a far safer route than going directly to Suva, Noumea or Sydney.

In addition one way trips from the west coast to Auckland are certainly viable. This is a good refueling point for tankers eventually headed to Sydney.

< Message edited by HansBolter -- 7/7/2011 5:44:18 PM >


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RE: general vs AI questions - 7/27/2011 9:29:20 PM   
sth1119

 

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quote:

(2) I keep a bunch of short distance xAK, xAPs, and xAKL in Australia


HI al,l just got the game. i managed to patch and set it up to run on my monitor last night. In both cases this forum has been instrumental.

Is there a place i can find all the acronyms (xAK, etc)?
i am at work so i don't have access to the pdf. is there a glossary in the pdf document?

thanks

(in reply to Panjack)
Post #: 17
RE: general vs AI questions - 7/27/2011 9:46:09 PM   
ckk

 

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quote:

ORIGINAL: sth0009

quote:

(2) I keep a bunch of short distance xAK, xAPs, and xAKL in Australia


HI al,l just got the game. i managed to patch and set it up to run on my monitor last night. In both cases this forum has been instrumental.

Is there a place i can find all the acronyms (xAK, etc)?
i am at work so i don't have access to the pdf. is there a glossary in the pdf document?

thanks

Yes Starting on page 273

(in reply to sth1119)
Post #: 18
RE: general vs AI questions - 7/27/2011 9:52:34 PM   
Chickenboy


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quote:

ORIGINAL: ScooterV
1. Assuming I can keep them supplied, what assault value can typically hold Port Moresby?

I would imagine that, against the AI, a full division with engineer support, plenty of aviation support and johnny-on-the-spot aircover against the expected amphibious IJN assault(s) would hold. He'd need at least two and a half to dig you out-that would be hard for it to organize into one assault.

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Post #: 19
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