Bullwinkle58
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Joined: 2/24/2009
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Colonel Mustard
Hey guys,
I have some questions about WITPAE. I'm a fairly new player (bought the game in September). I've done a few things to figure out how the game works:
1) Read the manual cover-to-cover (Sorry Capt. Mandrake, I had to do it);
2) Started a game, Grand Campaign playing as Allies vs. AI;
3) Read the War Room forum cover-to-cover (Whew!)
I'm currently at February 26, 1942. Some things I still need guidance on:
1) I'm not able to make the AE ships reload my Battleships. I have two AEs stationed in Suva (Level 3 port), Pyro (3600 capacity) and Lasser (5400 capacity). Also in port is the USS Mississippi, a New Mexico class BB mounting 14in/45 Mk 7 guns. My understanding is that Lasser alone should be able to rearm the Mississippi. However, they have been together in port for two turns now and it has not rearmed. Currently, all 3 ships are disbanded in port. I have also tried putting one, and both, AEs into a replenishment TF and having the BB be in port or in a surface combat TF. No combination seems to work. The AEs are both fully loaded. What am I missing?
As a side question, if one AE is not large enough to rearm, can stacking two AEs together in one base add up to enough points?
2) Bombardment - When I set a Bombardment TF, on the TF screen there is a setting for bombardment distance, including a "Minimum Distance." What is the function of this setting, and what are the ramifications of using a distance less than minimum?
3) Engineers - I have engineer units of various types in my bases. As many of them are damaged, I would like to rest them so they can recover. If I set the units to Rest Mode, will they still do engineer stuff, like repairing, building forts/ports/airfields, etc.?
4) Shipyards - Do the Allies have the ability to expand shipyard facilities? If so, how is it done? My understanding is that the Japanese side is able to do this....
5) Burma Road - According to the manual, if the appropriate hexes are controlled, 500 supply points/day will flow to China. Is this supply dependent on supply levels in Rangoon or bases along the road, or do the 500 points "magically" appear? What is the best way to distribute those points throughout China? Right now, I have (few) transports and SB-III bombers flying them to one of the rail-connected bases.
6) It's February 26, 1942. I have had a lot of success with surface raids in the Sumatra/Malaysia/Celebes region. Do date, I have killed about:
DD 22
PB/SC/E 70
AP 18
AK/AKL 160
Are these numbers enough to have any substantial effect on the Japs' activities? I did some internet research, and one site said the Japs had about 135 destroyers covering the entire war. If so, I've already killed 15% of them, and they are probably not all built yet. Does the 135 number sound right? If so, will a destroyer shortage limit their ability to form combat task forces? They are already sending 40-ship troop convoys with one AG as an escort. (They paid dearly for that, although they got a brigade of troops off first.) They are also operating carriers with one DD as escort (Akagi + Hiryu + 1 DD).
I suspect their AK numbers are upwards of 1000, but really I have no idea what the Japanese order of battle looks like, or the timing of when they are available. As I still hold all of Sumatra and have lost only one base on Java, they will lose more before their invasion bonus runs out.
7) During my surface raids, I made one intercept where I sank a single xAP, resulting in Japanese ground losses of just under 14,000 troops. Yes, that's 3 zeros! I was not aware of any ships that could carry that many people. Does that number sound plausible, or is it likely just Fog of War? I've had three separate instances where I've killed 20,000+ troops, but all were sizable convoys.
8) Can I conduct naval evacuations using submarines? The manual indicates that evacuations can be done by Fast Transport or Amphibious TFs. Subs can carry troops, and I thought I read a post where someone was evacuating by sub.
9) What is AE Tracker? Where do I find it, and how does it work? Is it built into the game, or some separate application?
Again, sorry its so long, but any answers or guidance would be great help.
A few answers. Others will join in I'm sure. Many/all of your questions are answered here and there, but as you've done a lot of research I'll see if I can take a swing:
1. AEs/AKEs. Search for Alfred's "Logistics 101" thread and read that. Generally, AE/AKEs need to have supply loaded on themselves, and be disbanded in a port. The loading vessels need to be in a TF, not disbanded. You need to press the load from port button. Ops point limits will apply, so depending on sizes, numbers of AEs, and what you're trying to load it might take more than one turn. Experiment.
2. Bombardment distance is in thousands of yards and is the stand-off range from the beach. If you go in close you will get more rounds on the target, but you may deplete your AA ammo you might need on the way home. At 1000 yds, for example, everything will fire, even the small AA guns. So it's a trade-off.
3. Engineers generally don't work when in Rest mode. There may be an exception, but I don't know of one. Also, many combat LCUs, especially later in the war, have organic engineer devices, so even if LCUs like Seabees are in Rest you may still get some engineer services.
4. Allies can't expand shipyards. But check your scenario and make sure none started out damaged. They can be repaired up to their set limits if damaged.
5. If the Burma Road is open the 500 just appears so far as I recall. Inside China supply flows the same as it does anywhere, influenced by terrain, etc. There just isn't usually very much, and the distances are large. There are a few Chinese cities which produce some LI/HI supply. Use the Industry tab to look this over. Fuel is hard to come by in China though, so LI is what you have mostly. A few Chinese cities also produce "free" supply in small quantities.
6. You're doing very well on DDs. If you want to play as the RL Allies just play. They didn't know how many ships they'd be faicing. If you just have to know, either load Tracker or load a new scenario as the Japanese and take a tour. But you'll only have one first game. I think it's more fun to be in the dark as much as possible.
7. No troop ship carries 14,000 men so far as I recall. The Queen Elizabeth comes close, but nothing the Japanese have is in that class.
8. Can't use subs. Only SST converted subs can carry troops, and they can only carry ones with the paratrooper flag set. I beleive this was adjusted in the recent betas so there is a paratrooper icon, but the underlying code hasn't changed so far as I know. Raider units, which could ride on subs in RL, can't in the game. Essentially Allied subs are not transports to any meaningful extent.
9. Tracker is a stand-alone, fan-created utility which runs on a Java platform. There is a permanent sticky on it in the forum. The home URL to get it and install it is
https://sites.google.com/site/witptracker/
Installing it, especially in a 64-bit Win7 enviro, can be a little tricky. Damien, one of the developers, is around here all the time and to my knowledge has never failed to get it up and running with a user who was motivated. I use it every turn. It is invaluable for some functions.
I fully expect to be corrected by my peers on perhpas many things I said above. Such is the nature of the game. But these answers should get you started.
Welcome to the madhouse.
< Message edited by Bullwinkle58 -- 12/3/2012 3:06:42 AM >
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