Slitherine

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I lost Arizona and Oklahoma but the other BBs look as though they can be readied to return to the west coast shipyards. What level of flotation should I aim for to ensure they can get back to Seattle et al without sinking?

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ORIGINAL: LGKMAS

Thanks Kull. That's the sort of commonsense answer I need at turn 2.
I ran the first turn yesterday and I am still digesting the results. Looks generally positive, well as positive as you can expect on 8 Dec. Good exchange rate in aircraft. Shooting down about 3 times what I am losing and most of my losses are on the ground. Ships fleeing have been spotted and some attacked. Bad weather seems to be the go in the Pacific at the moment as none of my cruisers can launch patrol planes, which is a nuisance.

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It appears I overlooked some things, such as conversions. I didn't realise you had to actually hit the button to ensure the conversion go ahead.

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I lost Arizona and Oklahoma but the other BBs look as though they can be readied to return to the west coast shipyards. What level of flotation should I aim for to ensure they can get back to Seattle et al without sinking?

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A bit confused on some of the notices. I am getting all the movements hex by hex, including the rail movements. Is this normal or can I toggle this off? Or should I leave it on?

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I noticed one of the bases has a white exclamation mark beside it. I cannot find in the manual what this means.

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Your initial spreadsheet has certainly helped me get started and I am feeling a bit more confident now. I think some areas I am assuming what happened in UV also happens here. I need to watch that and confirm I do understand the new game Anyway, thank you for your help.

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ORIGINAL: Blackhorse

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I lost Arizona and Oklahoma but the other BBs look as though they can be readied to return to the west coast shipyards. What level of flotation should I aim for to ensure they can get back to Seattle et al without sinking?

Get SYS down to zero; flotation damage below 50 on any BB before you send it the West Coast for repairs. This often takes months. Have ASW-capable ships in an 'Escort' TF to take her home, and have the TF follow an ASW TF to avoid eating a Japanese torpedo halfway between Pearl and SF.

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ORIGINAL: fcooke

I hate automatics. It is getting harder and harder in the US to buy a manual/stick, though the wife scored a six speed Mini Cooper earlier this year after I trashed my SAAB 900 convertible on a tree. And don't get me started on people who do not know how to change a tire.....or jump a battery.

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ORIGINAL: Alfred

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ORIGINAL: fcooke

I hate automatics. It is getting harder and harder in the US to buy a manual/stick, though the wife scored a six speed Mini Cooper earlier this year after I trashed my SAAB 900 convertible on a tree. And don't get me started on people who do not know how to change a tire.....or jump a battery.

I understand why someone who only drives in large city traffic, with constant stops and starts at traffic lights, might find it convenient to just drive an automatic transmission car with the lever just left in the "D" position, but even that slight benefit is not sufficient to make me like automatic transmission cars. These automatic owners are not being kind to their vehicle.

1. Driving in such conditions does not generate the high engine temperatures needed to keep an engine in tune. Spark plugs (for ye oldies who remember double declutching on a Model T Ford), fuel injectors, even the engine cylinders, all need that heat generated from 1-2 hours of constant travel at 75mph on country roads.

2. City driving rarely requires (and nowadays with revenue conscious governments keen to reduce speed limits) going above third gear, nor going above 3k revs (which most auto transmissions change gear well before that level). Not only does one miss out on generating the heat to clean the engine but that sweet sound of an Italian engine at 4-5k revs is never heard by the driver. Somewhat akin to an individual who has only ever heard Mariah Carey singing Xmas songs and missed out on hearing Mozart/Beethoven/Bach.

3. It is too easy to lose concentration when all that is required of the driver is to steer. I don't want my left leg to go to sleep by not having anything to do. Being aware of road conditions, of when it may be necessary to downshift to overtake or tackle an incline, or get the torque up to more safely negotiate a windy road (through hill country), these and many other factors involved in driving a manual help to maintain driver alertness.

Learn to drive a manual and one can always step into an automatic. But I haven't seen too many who have learnt to drive an automatic who then subsequently bother to learn how to handle a manual.

Alfred

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I have never met an individual who learnt to drive and pass their manual drivers licence test who was incapable of driving an auto transmission car.  Whereas I have met many who only learnt on an auto transmission car and possess only an auto transmission drivers licence who have no idea how to drive a manual transmission car.  Some of these auto drivers can't even do a kangaroo hop at the traffic lights.

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ORIGINAL: Alfred

For new players who are trying to learn the game mechanics, these third party programs do not make the game mechanics any easier to understand.  How does the new player reconcile the screenshot found in the manual with what appears on his monitor after installing a mod.  A recent thread on the main AE forum has dealt with navigable rivers.  Page 37 of the manual has a screenshot of all the terrain types (also found on map, top right hand corner), including how a navigable river is depicted.  Are all the map mods using the same visual identifier, and then how easy is it for a new player to associate the page 37 depiction with whatever is present in that particular map mod.

All new players should just get on top of the standard game mechanics first before even contemplating any additional complexity.  Learn the various relationships first manually before using any third party software which by being automated, tends to obscure the relationships.

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ORIGINAL: Blackhorse



Alfred

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I have never met an individual who learnt to drive and pass their manual drivers licence test who was incapable of driving an auto transmission car.  Whereas I have met many who only learnt on an auto transmission car and possess only an auto transmission drivers licence who have no idea how to drive a manual transmission car.  Some of these auto drivers can't even do a kangaroo hop at the traffic lights.

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Alfred,
Your automatic-manual analogy is spot-on. I've been driving a 'stick' for 30+ years. But for the benefit of those of us who learned our driving slang stateside, what on earth is a "kangaroo hop"?

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Tracker reads the complete saved files to provide the same information as does AE in its various information screens. The only real difference is that because it obtains its data directly from the saved files, there is no Fog of War ("FOW") present in Tracker and therefore it's information is 100% accurate. If a player sets up AE to play with FOW turned off, then he too would receive 100% accurate information. It is remarkable how almost every player chooses to play AE with FOW turned on but then sees no inconsistency with using a third party program which completely negates the point of selecting FOW on in the first place.

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ORIGINAL: RangerJoe

Once I seriously decided to try Japan, I set up Intel Monkey to see how the research was going. As Allies, I never used it.

I learned on an automatic, then I learned to use a manual transmission. Due to health reasons, I will stay with the automatic. I would drive at 70+ mph every few months or so. My father taught me that you had to rev the engine to help keep it clean my burning out the carbon.

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ORIGINAL: witpqs

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ORIGINAL: RangerJoe

Once I seriously decided to try Japan, I set up Intel Monkey to see how the research was going. As Allies, I never used it.

I learned on an automatic, then I learned to use a manual transmission. Due to health reasons, I will stay with the automatic. I would drive at 70+ mph every few months or so. My father taught me that you had to rev the engine to help keep it clean my burning out the carbon.

I believe that was to blow out part of the carburetor. Not sure if more modern carburetors need it, but fuel injected engines like many are now don't need it.

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ORIGINAL: BBfanboy

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ORIGINAL: witpqs

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ORIGINAL: RangerJoe

Once I seriously decided to try Japan, I set up Intel Monkey to see how the research was going. As Allies, I never used it.

I learned on an automatic, then I learned to use a manual transmission. Due to health reasons, I will stay with the automatic. I would drive at 70+ mph every few months or so. My father taught me that you had to rev the engine to help keep it clean my burning out the carbon.

I believe that was to blow out part of the carburetor. Not sure if more modern carburetors need it, but fuel injected engines like many are now don't need it.

I understood it to be actual carbon from oil and poorly burnt gasoline. In the old days the combustion chamber was sealed from the oil splashing around by the piston rings and molybdenum metal walls of the cylinder. Over time the rings and cylinder wall wore down and oil would get into the combustion chamber. Time for a ring job and maybe a cylinder re-bore and lining.

I have never seen a modern engine require a ring job or re-bore, nor have I seen one emitting blue/black oil smoke. So your point about not needing to blow out carbon might be valid, but I wonder about residue from other fuel additives or dissolved dirt in the gasoline.