Some Questions from a Newbie

[Blizzard]

Hi there.

I just played War Plan Orange for over a Month now. I read almost the whole Manual but i cant Find anything releated to my 5 Questions/Problems or i cant find it

1. I play as Allies in the Scenario wher u play against Jap with British and French Forces around 1922. My Subs find an Enemy Convoi (2 or More Ships) and know there Direction they are heading (Heading West). I enegage with my Ships from Hong Kong (3 BC and some DD) in the Direction they are heading. I can sent them in the Next Hex where the Ship should be next round or in the same hex. Problem is that i often cant find them [&:] HOw to know how far they will Travel and where they go? How do you Intercept an Enemy COnvoi that u have hurt or got the Heading it is going. How do u haunt an Enemy TF that has attacked your Harbour and the Rests are fleeing to their Homebases? How do the GAme Calculate the %Chance to find an enemy TF?

2. My Allied Subs dont attack. I like to Use my Subs Human controlled. For 4 Turns my Subs are in the Same hex as an Enemy Convoi (AK,AP) but they dont attack. Cant they Find the Enemy Convoi? Is it a Bug? When i switch them to AI Controlled the do way better with attacking. What am i doing wrong?

3. My BB and BC or most others Attack going on at Night. Is it coincidence that i always fight Nightbattles? I sent TF on Patrol No retierment allowed and Sent them to an Hex but they fight most of the TIme the night Battles. What am i doing wrong?

4. Question: Can someone explain me the Max React thing? I just dont get it. What do the Fleets React to? Do the React as TF BC and BB and an Enemy is spottet in another Hex and they try to get there and attack it?

5.QUestion: Can i set waypoints for my Ships so they dont travel the Direct way to a Destination Hex?

Hope the Communitiy can help me with those Problems and can explain me the things im doing wrong.

Thx so far

Greetz From Germany from

Blizzard

[Helpless]

ORIGINAL: Blizzard

Hi there.

I just played War Plan Orange for over a Month now. I read almost the whole Manual but i cant Find anything releated to my 5 Questions/Problems or i cant find it

Welcome to WPO.

1. I play as Allies in the Scenario wher u play against Jap with British and French Forces around 1922. My Subs find an Enemy Convoi (2 or More Ships) and know there Direction they are heading (Heading West). I enegage with my Ships from Hong Kong (3 BC and some DD) in the Direction they are heading. I can sent them in the Next Hex where the Ship should be next round or in the same hex. Problem is that i often cant find them [&:] HOw to know how far they will Travel and where they go? How do you Intercept an Enemy COnvoi that u have hurt or got the Heading it is going. How do u haunt an Enemy TF that has attacked your Harbour and the Rests are fleeing to their Homebases? How do the GAme Calculate the %Chance to find an enemy TF?

There is no mid ocean intercepts. So you have to place your TF in the same hex with enemy fleets - either day or night phase. This is not easy task, but usually when you guess right naval combat should happen. Then the engagement depends on many odds (fleet composition, commander ratings, crew exp, orders, gun's specs, etc)

2. My Allied Subs dont attack. I like to Use my Subs Human controlled. For 4 Turns my Subs are in the Same hex as an Enemy Convoi (AK,AP) but they dont attack. Cant they Find the Enemy Convoi? Is it a Bug? When i switch them to AI Controlled the do way better with attacking. What am i doing wrong?

Spotted subs are not effective. Try to rotate them. If you have Allied sub doctrine on, then subs will be very passive.

3. My BB and BC or most others Attack going on at Night. Is it coincidence that i always fight Nightbattles? I sent TF on Patrol No retierment allowed and Sent them to an Hex but they fight most of the TIme the night Battles. What am i doing wrong?

As said naval engagement depends on both sides. If enemy sets "retirement allowed", then his TF will try to arrive at night to DH.

4. Question: Can someone explain me the Max React thing? I just dont get it. What do the Fleets React to? Do the React as TF BC and BB and an Enemy is spottet in another Hex and they try to get there and attack it?

Naval reaction for SC TF suppose to work only from the friendly port, i.e. if you spot enemy approaching the base TF could react and engage. CV TF is reacting to other enemy CV TF (this is imo left over from WITP where fast CVs could travel additional hex during the phase towards the enemy CV TF)

5.QUestion: Can i set waypoints for my Ships so they dont travel the Direct way to a Destination Hex?

No waypoints.

[Blizzard]

So to the DAy/Night Cycle. How long is one Cycle going to you? When i press "End Turn" one Day and Night Cycleis passing bye. Is this right?

[LarryP]

ORIGINAL: Blizzard

So to the DAy/Night Cycle. How long is one Cycle going to you? When i press "End Turn" one Day and Night Cycleis passing bye. Is this right?

This depends on the turn settings you have set in the options. 1 Day, 2 Days, 3 Days, or Continuous.

ORIGINAL: Blizzard
4. Question: Can someone explain me the Max React thing? I just dont get it. What do the Fleets React to? Do the React as TF BC and BB and an Enemy is spottet in another Hex and they try to get there and attack it?

The way I understand it is the Max react are the number of hexes the ship or plane will go out of it's way to react to an enemy nearby. That's how I have used it and it holds true for me like that. That's also what I have read in the manual.

[Helpless]

Unfortunately manuals are far approximations for both WITP or WPO [;)]

[Blizzard]

My Subs work and i start to get a Feeling for the Game. I play Pacific Jutland and do very much Damage to the Japanese Forces. I sunk just 1 BC so far but Inflicted heavy Losses to their AK,TK and other Suppli Stuff Cappaility.

But i lost my only CV. I pared it infront of Manila to counter the Enemy Torpedo Bombers and Level Bombers but it didnt work. My Fighters jsut didnt put up the Fight. Wich settings should i use next time to get rid of their Fkn Torp Bombers? THey Killed 2 Pre Dreadnought BBs of mine and my CV! [:@]

[Mobeer]

ORIGINAL: Blizzard

5.Question: Can i set waypoints for my Ships so they dont travel the Direct way to a Destination Hex?

The only options seem to be:
- pick a new destination each turn and guide your ships manually
- set the home base to the destination, then pick an intermediate point and choose the "Retirement Allowed" option. Only works if the destination is friendly.

[Blizzard]

Thx for your Replies so far Mates.

But can anyone tell me how i can Kill these Incomming TOrp Bombers with my Figthers onto my Carrier Vessel?

[JagdFlanker]

try

tm.asp?m=1473445

in the war room

[Blizzard]

There i cant find really how to sent Fighter on CV Protecting Anti Air Strikes.

[Blizzard]

I still cant make my CV Fighters go to protect against incomming TOrpedobombers. Anyone can tell me how to do?

[Helpless]

Set them on CAP. [&:] [:)]

Knowing that pilots' exp level is really low they hardly will shot all the TBs.

[Blizzard]

Set them on CAP with 100% will do it? I had saved the Game and tried it 10times but they didnt ever attack the TBs. I sent them on Long Range CAp 100% FIgthers that are Carrier trained but they just dont attack the Fighters. 34 Torpedo and Level Bomber attacking the CV and only the AA Guns are firing back. So whats wrong with that? What to adjust to make them Defend their Carrier?

[engineer]

My experience is that WPO air to air isn't very lethal.  Playing the late scenario, I've seen Jap AI successfully put CAP over their carriers and 4-7 fighters have attempted to disrupt the attacks on my incoming bombers.  In several attacks, I'd say the Japanese fighters were only successful in damaging one bomber and the balance pushed on to conduct their attacks. 
 
For land-based air, there was a prolonged fight between fighters based on Tinian and Guam conducting sweeps over each other's islands.  Even with high experience factor (60+) pilots, I would say that pilots only succeeded in shooting down a plane once every 20 sorties on average.  In about a thousand sorties, only one pilot (a 90+ hot shot) managed to shoot down two planes in one mission.  The bulk of the fighting was between Curtiss P-1B's and early F4C's versus Mitsubishi 1MF3.   
 
The wargaming in the 1930s led admirals in the USN to believe that one deck load of planes from a fleet carrier could sink two carriers. The only battle that got close to that was Midway so the wargaming got it wrong.  Defenses were more resilient and/or attacks were more complicated and difficult to execute than peacetime training led people to believe.  In WPO a deck-load of the early carriers can sink one dreadnought or a carrier so WPO seems aligned with the 1930s wargaming. Maybe the absence of flak on 1920s warships give the pilots a realistic "happy hunting" period or the algorithms for missing the target and flak need tweaking in favor of he defenders.  I haven't played much with late upgrade ships that start to have more aggressive AA protection. If the WPO engine is a bit biased in favor of the offense then there's not a lot you can do in a stock scenario. 
 
Where does that leave you in WPO? 
1)  Don't bother to load inexperienced fighters on your carriers.  Train the fighters or find a soft target where your men can fly lots of relatively safe missions so they are toughened up before deployment.  In meantime, load up on LB and TB planes.
2)  The routines for allocating attacks can be confused with multiple task forces (and weather can complicate things).  If you sail your carrier task force within a haze of other task forces, then a certain number of the attacks will strike the decoys and not hit the carrier (Like when the Japs hit the Neosho during the Coral Sea thinking they had a carrier in their sites).
3)  Be careful if you think you're facing carriers.  Carrier battles are much more of a "roll of the dice" compared to battlship actions so you need careful planning to put the odds as much in your favor as possible.