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RE: Just Starting - 1/13/2021 5:36:35 PM

cfulbright

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What do you mean by "plan my own it initiatives"?

Cary

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Post #: 31

RE: Just Starting - 1/14/2021 7:52:44 PM

MPHopcroft1

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From: Portland, OR
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The AI*'s air planning ability Seems to reduce the complexity of the game, but the results on ground m4hky are not worth it. The air war is one of the most complex things to manage in the game, but rewarding to master.

Ehsat does the ten-page thing say about ai??

I still wan to know why those panzers are doing in the mountains, and why it's so hard to get them away from where they can threaten my supply lines.

_____________________________

"Any asset that would cost you the war if lost is no longer an asset, but a liability." -- Me

"No plan survives the battlefield" -- old Army saw.

"Without Love, I'd have no Anger. I wouldn't believe in Righteousness" -- Bernie Taupin

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Post #: 32

RE: Just Starting - 1/17/2021 8:45:43 PM

MPHopcroft1

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Back to Sicily again today. I hope to actually win the scenario this time. Any final thoughts?

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Post #: 33

RE: Just Starting - 1/17/2021 10:41:15 PM

cfulbright

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I may have mentioned this before:

1. On turn 1 naval move the 7th US Army and 8th BR Army to Panetelleria or somewhere like that that is a friendly port.
2. On turn 2 land those two army HQ's on Sicily, unload them, then transfer support units from 15th AG and AFHQ to those two army HQ's.
3. On turn 3 those SU's will be available to your ground units in Sicily.

Cary

(in reply to MPHopcroft1)

Post #: 34

RE: Just Starting - 1/18/2021 12:42:36 AM

MPHopcroft1

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I don't know that I saw it before, but it definitely;y sounds good.

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Post #: 35

RE: Just Starting - 1/18/2021 12:58:32 AM

cfulbright

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The reason I tell you this is because the alternative is to naval move the army HQ's with those big support units, which both take up a lot of naval movement/transport points, and also make it much more likely the army HQ will get hit and attrited by naval interdiction while moving.

Cary

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Post #: 36

RE: Just Starting - 1/26/2021 3:58:50 AM

MPHopcroft1

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Completely non-apropos to any of this, my printer is not printing the One-Page Guides properly. The colors it prints are washed out and significantly less sharp than those in the manual. This is to the point that much of the guides are barely-comprehensible, (EDIT: I found out what was wrong with my printer -- one of the cartridges has a block print head. So I ordered a cleaning kit and we'll see what happens./)

What I'll probably have to do, alongside my other projects (I'm in the final stages of publishing my first novel) is going to a Kinko's and finding out what it would cost to have them print the Handbook in color and get it coil-bound. That way I should have it ready, the colors will be bright, and the lessons will make a lot more sense.

I looked online about four that it would be about a $5 job to print and twenty bucks to ship. And that's even without getting the pages laminated.

< Message edited by MPHopcroft1 -- 2/8/2021 4:30:52 AM >

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Post #: 37

RE: Just Starting - 2/17/2021 2:58:37 AM

MPHopcroft1

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I still have not given up. But I still have so many abortive plays from the conclusion that I am unclear on the basic systems. I'm going to agree with the cuncultions thatletting the AI managwe the air is simnjething I need to stop doing.

Most of all, I must disabuse myself of the notion of a "quick" game. This is a game where a pace of a turn a day is convincing -- possibly a turn every two or three days (I have three days of snowed in, two of them without power, to recuperate from). So when I pic it back u ion a couple of days I should know better (I need recovery time from this week, which has been pretty bad in a lot of places in the US).

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Post #: 38

RE: Just Starting - 2/17/2021 8:43:05 AM

loki100

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The good thing is after a while you come up with your own air OOB (& that is what consumes the time) that makes sense. Once you have that in place, it does get quicker.

I tend to go for functional commands, so at the start in Italy its only 4 Eng bombers in the strat command and the rest go to tactical air. Equally in the UK I make sure I separate out the tactical recon assets from the strategic ones. Over time I then create geographical distinctions so I might use Malta Air to control all the islands and tactical air just on the mainland of Italy or Malta Air on the Adriatic.

I also do things like group the British Liberator bombers with the US B-26s, they are actually the same plane and have the same benefit of very long range but the same problem of being fairly fragile. So that becomes an element in my air planning separate to the B-17s.

Its all about creating clear clues to yourself as to what is where, and how you originally planned to use it.

But T1 (for both sides) is time consuming as you start to put this together

Its not till quite late in 1944 that moving the ground assets really involves too much time.

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Post #: 39

RE: Just Starting - 3/6/2021 12:38:09 PM

CrackingShow

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I'm completely new to the War in the X series.

What do I do with the elements attached to various HQs? I see they have AA/Tanks etc attached to them, do I want them attached to divisions? Do I want them attached to HQs and have those HQs near the front line?

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Post #: 40

RE: Just Starting - 3/6/2021 5:21:05 PM

cfulbright

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It sounds like you're talking about "support units", which can be assigned to on-map units such as combat units like divisions, brigades, and regiments, and also to HQ units like corps, armies, etc. There also are a hybrid unit called a "multi-role" unit that is a brigade or regiment which can be on-map or broken up and assigned to one or more other on-map units.

There's a lot of detail and nuance on support units. I'll try to touch the highlights and then please feel free to ask me specific questions.

For attacks I assign two armor battalions and an engineer battalion to most divisions, or if attacking into heavily fortified or mountains, I attach one armor, one SP artillery, and one engineer. The same is pretty true for defense.

You can't assign regular field artillery to combat units, so assign them to corps HQ's supporting an attack or defense. I generally when playing the Allies I spread them somewhat evening among my corps HQ's by nationality.

If you assign all three battalions of a multi-role unit one turn to a division, then in a subsequent turn you can "convert" the multi-role unit to a single on-map unit and it can advance one hex, no matter the terrain (as long as the terrain is passable!). I use this to advance an extra hex into a vacation hex if I have a good breakthrough going, as it lets me make a deeper penetration that can unhinge a line.

The game has a very limited concept of "combined arms". Artillery units are useful to help attack or defend, and engineers help attack fortified units or help build fortifications, but there's no benefit to assigning infantry to armor or vice versa.

Never assign AA units to combat units, even the German 88mm AA units. They have very little combat value. Rather, assign them to corps and army HQ's to defend against air attack.

When my support units aren't directly attached to a combat unit, I attach them to an army group HQ that I've set up in a large depot - ideally a port - such as Naples, Marseille, Antwerp, etc, where the weakened ones can recover. Because I've assigned them to an army group, they're available to be assigned to any division or regiment within that AG, whereas if I assign them to a corps HQ, they can't be assigned to a unit in a neighboring corps. I also set up my high command HQ's (AFHQ, SHAEF, UK Home Forces) in the highest level "national" depots such as Oran, Sheffield, and Birmingham, and then transfer very low TOE support units back to one of them for a few turns of major refit, then transfer back to the army HQ when they're back up to snuff.

Cary

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Post #: 41

RE: Just Starting - 3/6/2021 6:24:30 PM

CrackingShow

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Thank you for your response.

I just finished the 'Rommel Attacks 43' scenario from the Torch expansion and won a major victory, and that's about all the experience I have, I tried the Husky scenario multiple times but found it difficult - just so you have an idea of my understanding of the game.

Is it better to fight battles with units from one corps at a time? Or is it ok to have say 2 divisions from Corps A, and 1 form Corps B.

What does TOE stand for? Is it something to do with efficiency? How much morale/fatigue etc the units have?

How many bombers do you want to use per hex? When I played the Rommel Attacks 43 scenario, I picked two hexes that I was going to push into, and then bombed those hexes with a couple of hundred of planes each, and then had about 100 planes on Ground support, sometimes I did good damage, sometimes lower damage... What sort of damage should I expect from planes?

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Post #: 42

RE: Just Starting - 3/6/2021 8:04:34 PM

cfulbright

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quote:

Is it better to fight battles with units from one corps at a time? Or is it ok to have say 2 divisions from Corps A, and 1 form Corps B.

Ideally all units are in the same corps, as there is a small penalty (usually 6%) on the attack strength of the units of the lesser corps. But more units attacking is better. You can transfer units to the dominant corps for the attack. Historical purists may object. Consider it temporary assignment!

quote:

What does TOE stand for? Is it something to do with efficiency? How much morale/fatigue etc the units have?

"TOE" stands for Table of Organization and Equipment. Essentially what percent of full strength is the unit. You can see unit morale and fatigue in the Commander's Report, but not on the unit details screen.

quote:

How many bombers do you want to use per hex? When I played the Rommel Attacks 43 scenario, I picked two hexes that I was going to push into, and then bombed those hexes with a couple of hundred of planes each, and then had about 100 planes on Ground support, sometimes I did good damage, sometimes lower damage... What sort of damage should I expect from planes?

Use as many as you can. FB's are much more effective in Ground Attack than are LB's. There's a debate about whether it's better to target Interdict or Unit in your Ground Attack missions. I prefer Units. Check the loadouts. I try to use 1000lb bombs if available. Some people believe twice as many 500lb bombs are more effective.

Cary

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Post #: 43

RE: Just Starting - 3/7/2021 3:58:19 PM

CrackingShow

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Thanks.

Is there a way to export the data from the editor into excel? I'd like to find out the effective altitudes of the different planes.

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Post #: 44

RE: Just Starting - 3/7/2021 4:58:10 PM

cfulbright

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Yes, there's a CSV tab on the top right of the screen. You can choose which tables to export from there.

Cary

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Post #: 45

RE: Just Starting - 3/9/2021 6:13:55 PM

CrackingShow

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Is there a speedy way to reassign air groups to a different AirHQ? I want to have all the 4 engine bombers in Strat command and two engine bombers in Tac command, but I don't want to have to do 10000 clicks.

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Post #: 46

RE: Just Starting - 3/9/2021 6:31:48 PM

cfulbright

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There's no way to filter and achieve what you want in two clicks. The closest/most efficient way to do this would be:

1. Press F10 (move air units), filter in the Commander's Report screen to the aircraft model you want for SAF, then move all of those air groups to the handful of bases you want them to be at; do the same for TAF
2. If necessary, change the air base HQ for the SAF air group bases to SAF; do the same for TAF
3. For each air base, click on the detail screen and use the link at the bottom to change all air groups at that base to the HQ of the base itself (see screenshot)

It's not two clicks, but it's still less than the way most people do it.

I owe thanks to Loki to teaching me that last trick.

Cary

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Post #: 47

RE: Just Starting - 3/9/2021 8:39:38 PM

CrackingShow

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Thanks a lot!

How do you use Night Fighters? It's something to do with Night Intruder but I dont know how to set it up.

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Post #: 48

RE: Just Starting - 3/9/2021 8:48:38 PM

cfulbright

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I use most of my NF's as Night Intruders. The way you set them up is to create an Air Superiority AD, set it to Night (that makes it a Night Intruder AD), assign 1-2 NF groups to it. Set a Req AC of 12. Set it to Friendly Phase Only. Seven days a week. Pick a hex from where you think a lot of German NF's are flying from, set an area of 5-6. Set up several of these to cover a big area.

After the first turn, look at where air combat took place, and if you see your NF's shooting down German NF's over certain airbases, you know where to concentrate.

If you really want to have fun with this, play the 1943-45 Grand Campaign with Extra Air HQ's campaign. You can put a lot of your NF's in the No. 100 RAF Group and also the individual RAF Griups under Bomber Command, to get more coverage.

And if you really want to go crazy, assign Ground Attack AD's with one LB group each to do a night attack on the target airbases. Have them fly seven days a week. That will stir up the German NF's, which makes it easier to shoot them down. This might be a little gamey, though.

Cary

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Post #: 49

RE: Just Starting - 3/10/2021 5:53:53 PM

CrackingShow

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I set up some night intruder and ground attack missions on the Husky campaign, but nothing happened.

I'd post a screenshot but I don't know how to do that.

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Post #: 50

RE: Just Starting - 3/10/2021 5:58:41 PM

cfulbright

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There's only one German NF air group in Husky, and because you're not sending Bomber Command on night missions over Germany, there's not going to be any German NF activity for you to contest.

There really isn't much use for the Allied NF's in the Husky scenario that I can think of.

Cary

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Post #: 51

RE: Just Starting - 3/10/2021 6:11:06 PM

CrackingShow

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Oh so night fighters only fight other night fighters, ok that makes sense.

I had assumed that the Axis would throw up something to fight your night fighters.

Thanks.

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Post #: 52

RE: Just Starting - 3/10/2021 6:15:06 PM

cfulbright

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You can use NF's as escorts on other missions, or even use them in Air Superiority AD's, but their slow top speed, climb, and low maneuverability make them less than ideal for those roles. But if you need to throw more aluminum bodies at the problem, they're better than nothing.

Disbanding them doesn't help, because the NF pilots are in a separate pool from LB and FB pilots.

Cary

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Post #: 53

RE: Just Starting - 3/10/2021 7:05:36 PM

CrackingShow

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How does naval interdiction work? Do you need it all across your supply lines, for example from north Tunisia all the way to Gibraltar?

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Post #: 54

RE: Just Starting - 3/10/2021 7:16:22 PM

cfulbright

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Most important is Naval Interdiction over the landing zones, plus clear paths to those landing zones from Tunis. The outbound and return paths of the AD's should create the latter.

If you have leftover PA's and TB's, I would run them along the coast of North Africa so that when you send reinforcement units, they don't get interdicted.

Cary

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Post #: 55