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RE: Grab bag of noob questions - 2/2/2018 7:04:39 AM

Barb

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From: Bratislava, Slovakia
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Re: Subs IRL

IRL there were these main submarine bases in the Pacific IIRC:
San Diego - usually a newly built subs on the West coast underwent part of their training there. (East coast built subs trained at New London, CT plus Key West, FL and Coco Solo, Panama before deployment to Pacific)

Pearl Harbor - Main naval base. Subs arriving to Pacific underwent up to 2 month training here.
- PH Advanced base at Midway - allowed refueling and with AS tender repairs en route to patrol area as well as emergency repairs on way home.
- PH Advanced base at Guam (late 1944-1945) - Forward submarine base for 5th Fleet subs - similar to Midway but with better facilities and allowing R&R for crews (thus no need to go back to PH)

Brisbane - Main submarine base for SouthWest Pacific forces - used mainly during Guadalcanal and Papua New Guinea Campaigns
- Advanced base at Milne Bay - refuel, tenders, limited R&R
- Advanced base at Admiralities - refuel, tenders

Freemantle, near Perth, Australia - Main submarine base for SouthWest Pacific submarines + some Dutch and later British - it allowed for shortest access to DEI - Java Sea, South China Sea, etc.
- Advanced base at Exmouth - refuel, AS tenders
- Advanced base at Darwin - refuel, AS tenders - used particularly for Philippine "special" missions (scouts, agents, passangers, evacuees, medicaments, ammunition, radios, etc...)

Trincomalee, Ceylon - Main submarine base for (especially short legged) British subs and in the 1942-1944 period - allowed a short passage to Strait of Malacca and Andaman Sea
Later in the war several British subs and tenders moved to Fremantle-Exmouth

SOP (Standard operational procedure) called for departure from the main base, stopping at the advanced base for a 1-3 days to top of fuel and rations as well as to make repairs to any deficiences found out during the voyage (period with frequent drills, tests, etc). Then continue on patrol. When going back sub could be stopped at the advanced base for short turnaround back to area just after about two weeks of rest. Otherwise (and more common) it was back to main base for 3-4 weeks of rest, repairs, refit, etc. Most of the work IRL was done via tenders - this included main gun installations, radar installations, scope re-arrangements, various electronics, radio repairs, "sail" cropping, electro-motor rewiring etc. Docking at major ports were required only with serious hull damage or shafts/screws, planes and their mechanisms, etc.
To translate it into game terms, the AS stationed at Midway should be able to repair system dmg of sub up to 10, flotation up to 5, engine up to 5 as well as to handle most of the upgrades. Yet the usual in game turnaround of a subs in game is much quicker (due to how current repair system works and without crew fatigue) that a few trips back to proper "Repair shipyard" would only help to tone down the operational tempo of the subs ops (not enough anyway).

< Message edited by Barb -- 2/2/2018 7:05:04 AM >

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RE: Grab bag of noob questions - 2/2/2018 1:10:57 PM

boldrobot

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Joined: 7/12/2010
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quote:

ORIGINAL: BBfanboy

quote:

ORIGINAL: rustysi

Alternately to that stated above you can create PT's right at your base. IIRC the base must have at least 10k of supply and you must have PT's available for deployment. By available I mean on the bottom right of your base screen (again IIRC) you should see a button, 'create PT's'. If its grayed out you have not met conditions.

Another way to move those PT's at Pearl is to 'move' them back to your pools. You can do this by right clicking on your PT boats and there should be an option to do so. Pretty sure they have to be disbanded at the base to do this. After some time they will re-appear in your pools and may then be 'created' at another base. The base will spend supplies to create these vessels.

There are also requirements for the port size or Naval/Command HQ presence. And the port must be of the correct nationality (except Australian ports that can make US PTs).
Then there is the option to create PTs from the supply in a TF, provided the supply was loaded in the US and there are PTs in the pools.

Ha... the level of detail in this game really is insane.

Thanks so much to everyone for the helpful responses.

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Post #: 32

RE: Grab bag of noob questions - 2/6/2018 5:06:52 AM

boldrobot

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Couple more things I'm wondering about:

First, is there a good way to tell whether an LCU can be fully unloaded from an Amphibious TF, assuming little or no port or naval support in the destination hex? I keep ending up with a handful of vehicles that won't unload. This is just when moving troops around to friendly bases without good ports, not assaults or anything. Do I just need to look at the TOE? If so, how do I know what elements won't unload all the way from an Amphibious TF other than just looking for vehicles?

Second, when can a port rearm torpedoes? I noticed that I couldn't rearm torpedoes on subs at Brisbane until I parked an AS there, and currently I'm unable to rearm DD torps at Darwin because I don't have an AD there. Is there a certain port level, level of naval support, or LCU I need present?

Third, I'm curious roughly how I'm doing with my attacks on Japanese shipping. I'm a couple days shy of 4 months into the campaign. Intelligence reports about 300 merchant and auxiliary ships sunk (i.e., xAKs, xAKLs, xAPs, etc.) between my sub ops and various surface/air actions. I assume this is an overestimate (potentially a large one). Does it seem like I am "on pace"? I don't have a good sense of how large the Japanese merchant marine is. Japan has had little success attacking my merchant shipping, other than a disaster in early January when Betties sank a large troop convoy headed to Rangoon carrying like 8 or 10 thousand guys.

< Message edited by boldrobot -- 2/6/2018 5:07:48 AM >

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Post #: 33

RE: Grab bag of noob questions - 2/6/2018 6:26:36 AM

Barb

Posts: 2503
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From: Bratislava, Slovakia
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quote:

ORIGINAL: boldrobot

Couple more things I'm wondering about:

First, is there a good way to tell whether an LCU can be fully unloaded from an Amphibious TF, assuming little or no port or naval support in the destination hex? I keep ending up with a handful of vehicles that won't unload. This is just when moving troops around to friendly bases without good ports, not assaults or anything. Do I just need to look at the TOE? If so, how do I know what elements won't unload all the way from an Amphibious TF other than just looking for vehicles?

Use Amphib type of Task Force when moving units to bases with low port values - that way it may take few days, but eventually everything can get unloaded (maybe some superhuge radar or coastal gun wont carry them to nearest port to unload, reload them in small transport to fit the port and send it to rejoin the unit. Motorized support usually is small enough to get unloaded eventually over the beach. It just may take few days (imagine derrick unloading of a 3 trucks a day to a coastal lighter or something similar).

Second, when can a port rearm torpedoes? I noticed that I couldn't rearm torpedoes on subs at Brisbane until I parked an AS there, and currently I'm unable to rearm DD torps at Darwin because I don't have an AD there. Is there a certain port level, level of naval support, or LCU I need present?

Look into Manual. There is a page dedicated to the "Rearming capability". Each Naval Gun/Torpedo has/AA gun has some reload cost value. To rearm, you have to had the Port or Tender capable of rearming it. Port capacity is calculated by its size plus Naval Support Squads present at the base. e.g. AE with 4900 load capacity is equivalent to Port size 5 plus 360 Naval Support or Port size 6 plus 120 Naval Support or Port Size 7.

Third, I'm curious roughly how I'm doing with my attacks on Japanese shipping. I'm a couple days shy of 4 months into the campaign. Intelligence reports about 300 merchant and auxiliary ships sunk (i.e., xAKs, xAKLs, xAPs, etc.) between my sub ops and various surface/air actions. I assume this is an overestimate (potentially a large one). Does it seem like I am "on pace"? I don't have a good sense of how large the Japanese merchant marine is. Japan has had little success attacking my merchant shipping, other than a disaster in early January when Betties sank a large troop convoy headed to Rangoon carrying like 8 or 10 thousand guys.

To have 300 Japanese merchant ships down in March 1942 is good. Japan has about 1300 merchants available at the start of war plus another 1000 or so in build queue. So yes, you have dug in deep. But apparently you are playing against AI. If it is on Very Hard it wont matter much. On the other hand you can seriously hamper the AI scripts to be run adequately.

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Post #: 34

RE: Grab bag of noob questions - 2/13/2018 1:02:04 AM

boldrobot

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Couple more questions:

1. Any tips on getting useful intelligence out of the SigInt reports? It's early May 42 in my game, and I just suffered my first major naval defeat when KB raided the east coast of Australia and sank Lexington and its escorts (a couple CAs, a CL, various DDs), which happened to be in the area. I know there are times when I am going to get surprised, but I also know that irl, the Allies sometimes knew roughly where KB was headed. Is it just luck of the draw on if you get a useful piece of SigInt about a carrier? Any techniques I should know about in terms of interpreting SigInt?

2. What is the best way to handle future objectives when an army is advancing and expects to fight at a few places in a relatively short period? I successfully defended Rangoon and forced the IJA to retreat at the start of April 42, then moved about 60,000 men to Pegu. After a few weeks of bombarding, I just pushed the IJA out of Pegu, and now they are retreating towards Moulmein. I know there is going to be a fight at Moulmein, but I don't expect the IJA to hold out for very long. I plan to pursue them to Bangkok, if I can. Should I be planning for Moulmein, even though the planning won't get very high by the time our forces meet? Or should I go ahead and plan for Bangkok, since that is where I expect to face the stiffest resistance?

3. What's the deal with all of the Japanese casualties when they bombard me? I have been reading AARs/LPs of this game for years and I know that it's common for the bombarding side to suffer more casualties than the defending side. For example, during the battles at Rangoon and Pegu in my game, the IJA consistently suffered way worse casualties when they bombarded me than when I bombarded them. Does this represent counterbattery fire by my men? Is it due to the fog of war? Is it just the inscrutable math that underlies ground combat in WitP? Really just curious on this one.

4. I've started planning for invasions of Guadalcanal and Tulagi in my game, intending to launch the operation around the same time as irl. I know at some point I will need to land engineers and not just infantry. Is the best practice to send engineers ashore with the first wave to facilitate unloading? Or should they follow up once the beachhead has been established? Does the answer depend on what type of engineer unit - for example, USMC combat engineers vs. SeaBees vs. [letter] Det Port Svc? [side note - my great grandpa was an officer in the 6th SeaBees so I am looking forward to them showing up in a month or so]

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RE: Grab bag of noob questions - 2/13/2018 2:06:27 AM

Aurorus

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quote:

ORIGINAL: boldrobot

Couple more questions:

1. Any tips on getting useful intelligence out of the SigInt reports? It's early May 42 in my game, and I just suffered my first major naval defeat when KB raided the east coast of Australia and sank Lexington and its escorts (a couple CAs, a CL, various DDs), which happened to be in the area. I know there are times when I am going to get surprised, but I also know that irl, the Allies sometimes knew roughly where KB was headed. Is it just luck of the draw on if you get a useful piece of SigInt about a carrier? Any techniques I should know about in terms of interpreting SigInt?

Heavy Radio traffic in your sigint is a reliable indicator of large TFs entering or leaving a port. Oftentimes, this is all that you have to base your guess as to where KB is.

2. What is the best way to handle future objectives when an army is advancing and expects to fight at a few places in a relatively short period? I successfully defended Rangoon and forced the IJA to retreat at the start of April 42, then moved about 60,000 men to Pegu. After a few weeks of bombarding, I just pushed the IJA out of Pegu, and now they are retreating towards Moulmein. I know there is going to be a fight at Moulmein, but I don't expect the IJA to hold out for very long. I plan to pursue them to Bangkok, if I can. Should I be planning for Moulmein, even though the planning won't get very high by the time our forces meet? Or should I go ahead and plan for Bangkok, since that is where I expect to face the stiffest resistance?

There is no simple answer. If you do not expect a difficult fight at Moulmein, then it is probably best to prep for Rangoon.

3. What's the deal with all of the Japanese casualties when they bombard me? I have been reading AARs/LPs of this game for years and I know that it's common for the bombarding side to suffer more casualties than the defending side. For example, during the battles at Rangoon and Pegu in my game, the IJA consistently suffered way worse casualties when they bombarded me than when I bombarded them. Does this represent counterbattery fire by my men? Is it due to the fog of war? Is it just the inscrutable math that underlies ground combat in WitP? Really just curious on this one.

For bombardments, size and range are often more important than the number of guns. In general, Japan suffers from a lack of heavier artillery. Many of their divisions are light divisions with only 75mm guns for support, and the heavier divisions do not have as many large caliber howitzers as U.S., Australian, and British divisions. For siege battles, the standard complement of divisional artillery is not sufficient for the Japanese. Japan must bring in auxiliary heavy artillery support. Much of this must be removed from Manchuria, and the AI is often slow to bring its heavier artillery to the front. For example, first-time Japanese players are often shocked at the casualties that the coastal artillery at Bataan will inflict. Without all of the very heavy guns from Manchuria (especially the 24 and 30cm guns) bombarding Bataan is folly.

4. I've started planning for invasions of Guadalcanal and Tulagi in my game, intending to launch the operation around the same time as irl. I know at some point I will need to land engineers and not just infantry. Is the best practice to send engineers ashore with the first wave to facilitate unloading? Or should they follow up once the beachhead has been established? Does the answer depend on what type of engineer unit - for example, USMC combat engineers vs. SeaBees vs. [letter] Det Port Svc? [side note - my great grandpa was an officer in the 6th SeaBees so I am looking forward to them showing up in a month or so]

Landing combat engineers in the first wave is highly recommended against most targets, especially where there is armor or Japan has had time to fortify. Landing construction engineers or Seabees is not very helpful, and in general, these should constitute a second wave or even third. Engineers off-load at slightly slower rates than standard infantry, so it is best to have your engineers distributed among a number of ships with high amphibious ops points, such as APAs. This is especially true when invading atolls, where a shock-attack is automatic any turn in which troops offload.

< Message edited by Aurorus -- 2/13/2018 2:12:48 AM >

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Post #: 36

RE: Grab bag of noob questions - 2/16/2018 1:19:41 PM

boldrobot

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Joined: 7/12/2010
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Thanks!

What determines whether I can mount drop tanks on a plane, assuming the plane can accept drop tanks? I tried to fly some P39s from Sydney to Darwin via Horn Island, but they can't mount drop tanks at Horn Island. Horn Island has a size 1 (I think) airbase and happens to be super low on supply at the moment, though I have a TF there right now unloading about 3,000 supply. Is there a minimum amount of supplies to mount drop tanks? A minimum airbase size? Something else?

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RE: Grab bag of noob questions - 2/16/2018 3:53:54 PM

rms1pa

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my magic number for drop tanks seems to be 10,000 supply.

keep in mind some aircraft do not have drop tanks availible until a future date.

rms/pa

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RE: Grab bag of noob questions - 2/19/2018 9:48:45 PM

boldrobot

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quote:

ORIGINAL: rms1pa

my magic number for drop tanks seems to be 10,000 supply.

keep in mind some aircraft do not have drop tanks availible until a future date.

rms/pa

I ended up being able to put drop tanks on once I got Horn Island to 1,000 supply or so, for what it's worth

A couple more questions:

1. CV Enterprise was heavily damaged during a major carrier battle in the Coral Sea and barely made it to Townsville - there was no chance it would make it anywhere further south. After putting out the fires, the ship has something like 83 systems damage, 18 flotation damage (all of it major), and 25 engine damage (all of it major). I don't think I can even get the ship down to Sydney with so much systems damage, since the temporary flooding repairs would probably fail on the way, but the systems damage is projected to take like 200 days to repair. Is there anything I can do to speed the repairs up, or do I just have to accept that Enterprise is going to be sitting at Townsville for months? I sent an AR over from Noumea but it didn't shave very much time off the repair estimate.

2. Is there any easy way to tell which squadrons are equipped with photo recon planes? It's July of 42 in my game and I'd love to get some photo recon over Guadalcanal before I kick off my planned invasion in hopefully a month or so. The only photo recon squadron that I'm aware of is a squadron of recon B-25s in Calcutta.

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Post #: 39

RE: Grab bag of noob questions - 2/19/2018 11:14:15 PM

BBfanboy

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1. - Get Australia Command HQ or SWPac if it has arrived to Townsville.
- Get some ARs to Townsville. If no ship is assigned to them they donate their repair points to the port.
- Build Townsville port as rapidly as possible.

Don't move Enterprise until system damage is below 30. At that point you can move her in short hops to at least Brisbane (bigger port but the SY is still too small). Keep close to shore in case flooding starts to increase and you need to port and pump.
PS - if a lot of the flood damage is minor and can be pumped out at Townsville, I would consider moving Big E when Sys was below 40.

2. You get a lot of photo recon aircraft - check the Lysanders in India and the Buffalos in Malaya/Burma/India - but they won't help much around the Solomons!
Depending on game date you might have some F-4 Lightning photo recons. Half decent range on those. There are some Beaufort recons too but range may not be enough, even from Port Moresby.

The B-25s you have will be your longest-ranged PR aircraft until the Liberator photo recons arrive (F-5?).

Note that one of the carrier F4F-3 models has photo recon capability but it sucks as a fighter.

For my money, just train some Cats to over 30 in Recon skill and send multiple passes on the same turn (several squadrons or split a big one in four). IRL they had a hand-held large format camera which (if modeled) should help with getting recon numbers up.

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RE: Grab bag of noob questions - 2/20/2018 12:24:24 AM

boldrobot

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quote:

ORIGINAL: BBfanboy

1. - Get Australia Command HQ or SWPac if it has arrived to Townsville.
- Get some ARs to Townsville. If no ship is assigned to them they donate their repair points to the port.
- Build Townsville port as rapidly as possible.

Don't move Enterprise until system damage is below 30. At that point you can move her in short hops to at least Brisbane (bigger port but the SY is still too small). Keep close to shore in case flooding starts to increase and you need to port and pump.
PS - if a lot of the flood damage is minor and can be pumped out at Townsville, I would consider moving Big E when Sys was below 40.

2. You get a lot of photo recon aircraft - check the Lysanders in India and the Buffalos in Malaya/Burma/India - but they won't help much around the Solomons!
Depending on game date you might have some F-4 Lightning photo recons. Half decent range on those. There are some Beaufort recons too but range may not be enough, even from Port Moresby.

The B-25s you have will be your longest-ranged PR aircraft until the Liberator photo recons arrive (F-5?).

Note that one of the carrier F4F-3 models has photo recon capability but it sucks as a fighter.

For my money, just train some Cats to over 30 in Recon skill and send multiple passes on the same turn (several squadrons or split a big one in four). IRL they had a hand-held large format camera which (if modeled) should help with getting recon numbers up.

Thanks! A bit of follow up:

1. I've got one AR at Townsville and might be able to scrounge another up. Would it be better to assign Enterprise to the AR in the ship repair screen, or just let the AR be there and give its points to the port, leaving Enterprise on pierside?

2. What would be a good altitude to fly the PBYs at for recon? Altitude in general is pretty mystifying to me - I understand that you can use it to coordinate strikes and have been doing that, but I have zero sense of what altitudes are effective for different missions (other than dive bombing which I get). Like, what's a good altitude to fly B17s for airfield strike missions? What's a good altitude for naval search? Etc. etc.

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Post #: 41

RE: Grab bag of noob questions - 2/20/2018 2:15:59 AM

BBfanboy

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1. ARs only really help with engineering damage repair if you assign the ship to them. They are intended to fix the 1-5 points of major engineering damage that every ship can suffer just from operating at sea. So do not assign Enterprise nor any other ship to the AR and the points can help with system and float damage.
Note that the game engine prioritizes damage repair where (after fires are out and for the same damage band) Flotation damage is handled first, Engineering damage second and System damage third.

What's a damage band? The potential damage of 99 points per type is divided into bands of mostly 15 points so the damage is worked on by highest number of points as first consideration, but when other types of damage fall within the same band of 15 the above priorities are applied to decide which type of repair gets worked on. So in your case Enterprise has 83 Sys damage and if Flotation damage was within the same band (70 - 84) then Flot would be repaired first until it reached 69. then the Sys damage would be worked down to 69. You cannot influence which type of repair gets handled except by assigning the ship to an AR that only does Eng damage or an ARD which only does Flot damage.

2. Use the "Database" button at the top left of the game screen to look up Japanese AA weapons and note their max range in height. My general sense of it is that their light 7.7 mm AAMG (which is ubiquitous) can only reach 2000 feet, their medium AA reaches as high as 8000 feet (but few units have it, usually dedicated AA units) and their heavy AA of 75-120 mm can reach 25K feet, maybe more. I don't worry too much about the heavy AA because of its inaccuracy, poor rate of fire and lack of radar fire control.

Also be aware that larger bases have more barrage balloons to snag your aircraft. Balloons can go up to 6000 feet and the more engines your aircraft has the greater its chances of hitting a balloon. Balloons might only damage the aircraft but they can also destroy it.

So, it comes down to how much risk you are comfortable with considering:
- the importance of the mission
- the skills of your pilots and squadron commander (especially Defensive skill)
- the depths of your aircraft and pilot pools
- how much AA the enemy has and whether he has supply to fire it

Throw in consideration of enemy CAP - what type of aircraft, what altitudes does it usually fly at, how good are his pilots and does he have radar to vector CAP onto your aircraft.

And then there is weather. Higher altitude means more likelihood clouds will obscure the target. I often fly bombers at 5000 feet to try get under Overcast or Heavy Cloud conditions.

Bombing accuracy and Recon detail are no doubt affected by Altitude. A good example is in Canoerebel's AAR in which he had to work out what altitudes to use for Strategic bombing of industry/cities. He went as low as 2000 feet which got great bombing results but was prohibitively expensive in bombers (and pilots). He had to go higher to get above medium AA and balloons.

So choosing the altitude is a crap shoot at which you can improve your odds by applying what you know about enemy capabilities and your own. After that, it is a crap shoot whether you chose right vs. what the enemy and the weather are doing that particular place and turn.

Good luck!

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Post #: 42

RE: Grab bag of noob questions - 2/20/2018 7:12:42 AM

CaptBeefheart

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Drop tanks: They won't show up if the base has a yellow or red exclamation mark (i.e. it's low on supply). Also, in some airplanes like F4Fs, they come later.

PBY altitude: As far as I know, 6,000 feet is the accepted norm for Nav Search, 1,000 or 2,000 for ASW. For Recon, 20,000 or a bit higher seems to work fine.

EDIT: For recon aircraft, it seems to really help if it has a camera. You can check in the database whether a particular aircraft has a camera. Some interesting ones are F4F-3P, other USN "P" models, and my favorite, the F4F-7.

Cheers,
CC

< Message edited by Commander Cody -- 2/20/2018 7:16:35 AM >

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Post #: 43

RE: Grab bag of noob questions - 2/20/2018 11:24:19 PM

boldrobot

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Thanks once again for all of the responses, you guys are seriously great. I've got a few more questions in connection with my planned invasion of Guadalcanal and Tulagi, specifically regarding HQs. I've read some other threads about HQs but still find it a little confusing.

First, Air HQs. I want to smash the airbase at Lunga before I send in the Marines. I've built Luganville up to size 6 and will have 80-100 B17Es on hand when the operation kicks off. I've got II Fighter Command at Luganville, which is assigned to Fifth USAAF. Luganville itself is owned by the restricted Australian command. The B17s are mostly assigned to Seventh USAAF, with some assigned to V Bomber Command. Seventh USAAF itself is at Moresby, where I'm planning on massing bombers to hit Rabaul. Will the Luganville bombers get bonuses to coordination just because there is an HQ at the base? Or do I need to have the bombers and the HQ unit assigned to the same command? What if I were to assign the HQ unit to Pacific Ocean Areas, of which Seventh USAAF is a part? Does it matter at all that Luganville is not in the same command structure? I don't mind moving these squadrons around as I have plenty of PP, just want to make sure it would actually be a good use of points. Finally, am I correct in thinking that the name of the HQ unit doesn't matter, i.e., that it's fine for II Fighter Command to be at a base where I'm mainly flying bombers?

Second, Land HQs. I've got a bunch of LCUs staging at Noumea and Luganville. US land HQs in theater are Southwest Pacific at Townsville and South Pacific at Noumea. Both are planning for Lunga. The LCUs for the invasion force are honestly a bit of a mess OOB-wise, they're in various commands within Pacific Ocean Areas, South Pacific, and South Pacific. Pacific Ocean Areas is back at Pearl and hasn't been planning for anything. How should I organize my OOB to get the most out of my units? Am I correct to assume it would be best to pick a command (e.g. South Pacific or I Amphibious Corps) and put the invasion forces under it? I've also read that it helps when a unit is in range of a land HQ unit - is this only true when a unit is assigned to that land HQ, or when any land HQ is nearby? And how can I tell when the unit is in range?

Third, a smell test on the operation. It's mid-July '42 and I'd like to kick things off within the month. I've got Yorktown, Saratoga, Wasp, and Hornet operational - Lexington got sunk and Enterprise is badly damaged, I don't expect it back in operation until 1943. Japan has lost Shokaku, Akagi, Kaga, and either Shoho or Ryujo (conflicting reports but definitely one of them). I think it makes sense to go forward with the operation with all of my carriers present, as even if all of the remainder of KB shows up, I have a slight upper hand. Is this a crazy risk?

I know this is a ton of questions - any insight would be very much appreciated.

< Message edited by boldrobot -- 2/20/2018 11:29:36 PM >

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Post #: 44

RE: Grab bag of noob questions - 2/21/2018 1:07:19 AM

Blackhorse

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quote:

ORIGINAL: boldrobot

Second, Land HQs. I've got a bunch of LCUs staging at Noumea and Luganville. US land HQs in theater are Southwest Pacific at Townsville and South Pacific at Noumea. Both are planning for Lunga. The LCUs for the invasion force are honestly a bit of a mess OOB-wise, they're in various commands within Pacific Ocean Areas, South Pacific, and South Pacific. Pacific Ocean Areas is back at Pearl and hasn't been planning for anything. How should I organize my OOB to get the most out of my units? Am I correct to assume it would be best to pick a command (e.g. South Pacific or I Amphibious Corps) and put the invasion forces under it? I've also read that it helps when a unit is in range of a land HQ unit - is this only true when a unit is assigned to that land HQ, or when any land HQ is nearby? And how can I tell when the unit is in range?

You just have to be in range of any appropriate Allied Land HQ . . . regardless of which HQ the LCU is attached to. For the 'Corps' combat bonus you want to be within 1 hex of a Corps HQ, or five hexes of an Army HQ. There is no additional bonus for being within range of multiple Corps and/or Army HQs. For the maximum bonus, the LCU should be within range of either a Corps/Army HQ, and also a Command HQ (range 9 hexes). For combat on bases it also helps if the HQs are prepped for that base.

If you are doing an amphibious invasion against an enemy-occupied base, then you really want your LCU prepped for the invasion hex, and near 100%. And it helps to have an AGC in the invasion task force (once they arrive). It helps more to have an AGC with an Amphibious Force HQ loaded, but the first one doesn't arrive until 7/43.

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Post #: 45

RE: Grab bag of noob questions - 2/21/2018 1:33:45 AM

BBfanboy

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To add to what Blackhorse said:

- I think the LCU HQ bonus is a die roll thing, sometimes you get it, sometimes not. Getting the bonus for both a Corps/Army HQ and Command HQ in range is a rarity. Note that HQs provide other benefits - speeding up upgrades and replacements, drawing supply to the location, and perhaps helping speed recovery of fatigue and moral or increase rate of prep for new target (if the HQ is already prepping for the same one).

- Air HQs are somewhat similar - the Squadron does not have to belong to the HQ to get some help, but if it does the help seems to be more effective. E.G., any Air HQ in range will help with strike coordination but having all the squadrons assigned to the same target in range of their own Air HQ is more likely to keep the coordination.

- like land HQs, Air HQs help with administration like repairs, upgrades and replacements and, once they draw torpedoes from supply, can provide torpedoes to Squadrons within their command radius.

About the B-17s: they are rugged in battle but they do wear out during ops, as do their pilots. Range to Lunga from Luganville is 12 hexes. After a couple of strikes you will have to rest your squadrons for days while the aircraft are repaired. They will also us a lot of supply - stock your bases well!

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Post #: 46

RE: Grab bag of noob questions - 2/21/2018 1:40:28 AM

boldrobot

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So based on both of your responses, fair to say that OOB doesn't matter that much as long as there is an HQ present within the relative radius?

I've got 100k+ supply stockpiled in Luganville, Noumea has like 350-400k and Sydney has over a million. Well north of half a million units of fuel between the same 3 bases. LCUs have been prepping for months. Hope all that will be enough to maintain operational tempo.

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Post #: 47

RE: Grab bag of noob questions - 2/21/2018 3:57:35 AM

rms1pa

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quote:

So based on both of your responses, fair to say that OOB doesn't matter that much as long as there is an HQ present within the relative radius?

Yes, much of the planned HQ effects were not implemented.
air HQs help with base capacity , coordination and supplying torpedoes.

allies start with 2 unrestricted lcu corp HQs as i remember

1 amphib corp and 3 indian corp. . i tend to have 1 amphib start planning for lunga dec 8 .

rms/pa

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Post #: 48

RE: Grab bag of noob questions - 2/21/2018 5:24:58 AM

BBfanboy

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quote:

ORIGINAL: boldrobot

So based on both of your responses, fair to say that OOB doesn't matter that much as long as there is an HQ present within the relative radius?

I've got 100k+ supply stockpiled in Luganville, Noumea has like 350-400k and Sydney has over a million. Well north of half a million units of fuel between the same 3 bases. LCUs have been prepping for months. Hope all that will be enough to maintain operational tempo.

Sounds like you are a lot farther along in your game than I thought. Please post the game date to help frame the answers to your questions. Much depends on what you have to play with (like AGCs and Amphib Force HQs).

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Post #: 49

RE: Grab bag of noob questions - 2/21/2018 12:44:00 PM

boldrobot

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quote:

ORIGINAL: BBfanboy

quote:

ORIGINAL: boldrobot

So based on both of your responses, fair to say that OOB doesn't matter that much as long as there is an HQ present within the relative radius?

I've got 100k+ supply stockpiled in Luganville, Noumea has like 350-400k and Sydney has over a million. Well north of half a million units of fuel between the same 3 bases. LCUs have been prepping for months. Hope all that will be enough to maintain operational tempo.

Sounds like you are a lot farther along in your game than I thought. Please post the game date to help frame the answers to your questions. Much depends on what you have to play with (like AGCs and Amphib Force HQs).

I mentioned it but it was kinda buried at the end of the post - it's July 1942. I don't have AGCs or Amphib Force HQs yet. Aiming for a roughly historical date for the invasion of Guadalcanal/Tulagi.

Photo recon of Lunga reports about 38,000 troops there. Yikes!

< Message edited by boldrobot -- 2/21/2018 1:15:52 PM >

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Post #: 50

RE: Grab bag of noob questions - 2/21/2018 10:10:45 PM

BBfanboy

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quote:

ORIGINAL: boldrobot

quote:

ORIGINAL: BBfanboy

quote:

ORIGINAL: boldrobot

So based on both of your responses, fair to say that OOB doesn't matter that much as long as there is an HQ present within the relative radius?

I've got 100k+ supply stockpiled in Luganville, Noumea has like 350-400k and Sydney has over a million. Well north of half a million units of fuel between the same 3 bases. LCUs have been prepping for months. Hope all that will be enough to maintain operational tempo.

Sounds like you are a lot farther along in your game than I thought. Please post the game date to help frame the answers to your questions. Much depends on what you have to play with (like AGCs and Amphib Force HQs).

I mentioned it but it was kinda buried at the end of the post - it's July 1942. I don't have AGCs or Amphib Force HQs yet. Aiming for a roughly historical date for the invasion of Guadalcanal/Tulagi.

Photo recon of Lunga reports about 38,000 troops there. Yikes!

Well you can go there and grind away to see who wears out first, but most players use the "Hit-em where they ain't" strategy.

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Post #: 51

RE: Grab bag of noob questions - 2/23/2018 6:24:08 PM

rustysi

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quote:

Photo recon of Lunga reports about 38,000 troops there. Yikes!

quote:

Well you can go there and grind away to see who wears out first, but most players use the "Hit-em where they ain't" strategy.

Yeah, go somewhere else. As a Japanese player I can tell you if he's that strong, that early, in that location, he's weak somewhere else.

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Post #: 52

RE: Grab bag of noob questions - 2/25/2018 8:43:20 PM

boldrobot

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Against the advice of the thread, I went for it at Guadalcanal and Tulagi and managed to pull it off, securing both islands after about a month of fighting. Dropping 1800AV at Lunga across 2-3 waves did the trick. There was a super intense series of carrier battles in the Solomons that saw 5 Japanese carriers confirmed sunk and 1 presumed sunk. The only Allied losses from the operation were CV Saratoga heavily damaged (it'll survive but won't be back in action until next year), a couple of BBs moderately damaged, and a couple of APs sunk. Major credit for this stunning victory goes to all of the help you guys have given me.

One more question for now: How exactly does replenishment of carriers from an AE or AKE work? The manual is pretty thin on this. I know that you can't replenish from an AE at sea until very late in the war. Can you replenish from an AE/AKE if that vessel is in a task force in port, or does it need to be disbanded? Will a carrier replenish sorties from an AE/AKE? Torpedoes? Both/neither?

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Post #: 53

RE: Grab bag of noob questions - 2/25/2018 11:55:21 PM

BBfanboy

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If the AE/AKE is in a TF it is considered "at sea" even if it is in the port hex (unless the TF is docked). These ships are normally disbanded in port and will automatically replenish ships that the Port itself cannot handle. That includes carrier torpedoes.

Note that there are operations limits for both the receiving ship and the AE/AKE. Once they reach 1000 points, they are done for the day. It can take several days to replenish a big TF with carriers and BBs. The more AEs/AKEs, the fewer days it will take.

Also keep an eye on the level of cargo in the AE/AKEs. They must be replenished from the port from time to time and this will use ops points. The amount of cargo ammo that can be loaded on the AE/AKE in one turn is dependant on port size and Naval Support.

IIRC, the AEs/AKEs must have no damage at all before they will do their work.

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Post #: 54

RE: Grab bag of noob questions - 2/26/2018 5:37:02 PM

rustysi

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quote:

IIRC, the AEs/AKEs must have no damage at all before they will do their work.

Also, they must be of adequate size in order to replenish ammo. Its all dependent on their 'cargo' capacity. AE/AKE capacity must be => rearm cost. See manual p284.

quote:

Against the advice of the thread, I went for it at Guadalcanal and Tulagi and managed to pull it off, securing both islands after about a month of fighting.

I suspect you're playing the AI? When and if you PBEM use caution as 'bad habits' developed against the AI can result in disaster.

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Post #: 55

RE: Grab bag of noob questions - 2/26/2018 8:52:27 PM

GetAssista

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quote:

ORIGINAL: BBfanboy
IIRC, the AEs/AKEs must have no damage at all before they will do their work.

You are thinking about ARs here. AE/AKE can replenish when damaged (not severely, there is some threshold) while disbanded. Dunno about in route for AEs but no damage rule also would be illogical here since damage would accumulate in high seas, exactly where you would want to use AEs

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Post #: 56

RE: Grab bag of noob questions - 2/26/2018 9:49:39 PM

BBfanboy

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quote:

ORIGINAL: GetAssista

quote:

ORIGINAL: BBfanboy
IIRC, the AEs/AKEs must have no damage at all before they will do their work.

You are thinking about ARs here. AE/AKE can replenish when damaged (not severely, there is some threshold) while disbanded. Dunno about in route for AEs but no damage rule also would be illogical here since damage would accumulate in high seas, exactly where you would want to use AEs

Ah, thanks GA - I was having trouble remembering which type it was with the "no damage" rule and never thought of ARs.

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Post #: 57

RE: Grab bag of noob questions - 4/11/2018 6:12:48 PM

boldrobot

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Gravedigging my thread to ask a quick question about the end game: Is it possible to keep playing after autovictory or does the game end no matter what? It�s late August 1943 in my game and the score is already about 2:1 in my favor. Unless the AI pulls off a major reversal, it therefore seems likely that I will get autovictory as soon as 1945 hits, even if I don�t carry out any more offensives. I�d kind of like to play around with some of the endgame stuff, like invading Japan or dropping the bomb. Not a big deal either way, but I�m curious.

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Post #: 58

RE: Grab bag of noob questions - 4/11/2018 6:39:17 PM

BillBrown