You're right about logistics being important. From my initial reading of the manual, that's pretty clear. Can't just "beam it aboard" like in Star Trek, can you? Anyway, having played other computer games like Caesar, Civilization, Railroad Tycoon, and even worse yet, Transportation Tycoon, I'm used to dealing with logistic issues, but not necessarily as complex as WitP.
An yet compared to real world logisitcs, the game is pretty easy.Gives you a whole new respect for those supply people! [:D]
Canoerebel,
Point well taken on someone new like me understanding the "logistics puzzle," especially for the "long term" campaign. I've now gotten through the Tutorial from the Japanese side which is getting me more familiar with the menus. I'll tackle the Allied side soon.
I've been working through the Tutorial and just finished the Allied Turn 2 Review, the one which says "This should be a very active turn." Boy was it! The combat replay is an absolute blast, worth the price alone for this game (including the Japanese CVL Junyo sinking). I can't wait to continue to move forward!
I can't say about Japanese, but if you're playing allies you need to move Supplies and Fuel forward. Look for bases that have a combined Airbase and Port size of 4 or more. These can be built up to a combined size of 10 and are thus immune to spoilage. Build these bases up in areas near the front lines. Then start shipping in supplies and fuel. Try to get 999,999 supplies and fuel at each of them {doing this over the course of 18 months or so}. Islands are better for this as the supplies and fuel don't get pulled to other bases. This will leave you with supplies and fuel pre-positioned when you begin your counterattack. It sucks to have to delay your attack because you need to bring a bunch of loaded AKs from SF.
For an absolute minimum I would try to have at least 25000 supply points available for any given new forward base. That is just to start with. All those units you pile in will eat more and any expansion is also going to eat them. Remember your Engineers! They will build eveything! Troops can hold but the ENG units make it possible.
Along with the initial landing you should have weekly small convoys loading up to add to your bases. Fuel is
another side of the same die. If your going to move alot of ships through add tankers. But you can also shut off
the refuel button to keep transports from sucking your new base dry! A good fighter cover to keep your
guys from getting slaughtered always helps. Like Clauswitz said "In war even the simplest things are hard."
I don't always use "small weekly" convoys. I'm more inclined to send one big dollop of supply and fuel to a forward base, partly to minimize danger to supply convoys, and partly because I'm too lazy to resupply a base every week. At a small base, though, it's true that a big dump of supply and fuel will partly go to waste. I track wastage in WITP tracker to ensure that it isn't out of hand.
For small outpost islands (Midway, Johnston, Canton, Palmyra, ...) it is enough to have one small AK doing Continuous Supply run from PH.
This is the only thing AI is able to handle [8|]
I've worked through the entire Tutorial (beginner's version). I've saved where I left off for future reference, and play.
As suggested by vettim 89, I took a look at the Guadalcanal scenario. That's definitely a good one for me to start with to get the feel of amphib operations. As also suggested, I'll look at Coral Sea to get the TF side.
Again, thanks for all the hints and tips. So far, WitP has been more fun than a "barrel of monkeys."
Try them all. Jump around, switch sides. And try silly mistakes. Better to make them against the AI , then a person in a PBEM , who will eat you alive. Try playing against yourself. The more you try , the more possible variables you will encounter. Don't hesitate to keep notes, or better yet a notebook. And examine closely all the report screens.
In other words ,play with it and try everything, even stupid mistakes (the stupider the better) . That's a great way to learn what not to do! And ask questions. If you don't want to ask in open forum, PM us. Certainly I'm happy to help out , and while I'm not all that experinced , I can try to point out to you which of our very many guru's can help you. But by all means ask. And have fun! [:)]
AW1Steve,
Thanks for the advice. I do plan to play all the scenarios, both sides. And I don't mind making mistakes (and owning up to them). I just tried Coral Sea from the Allied side and got torched (Lexington badly damaged, Australia and Yorktown sunk, no compensating losses on the Japanese side). Whenever I got questions, I'll let you know, I'm still on a very steep learning curve no.
I've also got Grisby's the World at War, and now how you have to learn from what doesn't work. I didn't win the 4th campaign scenario from the Allied side until yesterday. My problem was trying to invade Honshu directly to knock out Japan and couldn't do it. What I discovered was I needed, in the last stages, knock out the KB (in the Yellow Sea) and then amphib invade the southwest of Honshu (that avoided op-fire issues when directly invading Honshu). Once I got my toehold on Japan, it was straightforward taking Honshu and knocking out Japan. (It also took a bit to figure out how to take both eastern and western Germany to knock out the Germans). Guns of August was a challenge too at the beginning (I'm a WWI buff), but I finally got the hang of it, winning Decisive Victories starting in 1914 from both the Central Powers and Triple Entente sides. I expect the same to happen with WitP.
Stay tuned for further entries from me. (I'm also reading Costello's Pacific War, and am now up to where the Japanese evacuate Guadalcanal, so I'm getting a better idea how the PTO played out historically.)
Thanks for the advice. I do plan to play all the scenarios, both sides. And I don't mind making mistakes (and owning up to them). I just tried Coral Sea from the Allied side and got torched (Lexington badly damaged, Australia and Yorktown sunk, no compensating losses on the Japanese side). Whenever I got questions, I'll let you know, I'm still on a very steep learning curve no.
I've also got Grisby's the World at War, and now how you have to learn from what doesn't work. I didn't win the 4th campaign scenario from the Allied side until yesterday. My problem was trying to invade Honshu directly to knock out Japan and couldn't do it. What I discovered was I needed, in the last stages, knock out the KB (in the Yellow Sea) and then amphib invade the southwest of Honshu (that avoided op-fire issues when directly invading Honshu). Once I got my toehold on Japan, it was straightforward taking Honshu and knocking out Japan. (It also took a bit to figure out how to take both eastern and western Germany to knock out the Germans). Guns of August was a challenge too at the beginning (I'm a WWI buff), but I finally got the hang of it, winning Decisive Victories starting in 1914 from both the Central Powers and Triple Entente sides. I expect the same to happen with WitP.
Stay tuned for further entries from me. (I'm also reading Costello's Pacific War, and am now up to where the Japanese evacuate Guadalcanal, so I'm getting a better idea how the PTO played out historically.)
He's very good.Edwin P. Hoyt. And lately I've been reading HP Wilmot's stuff. Enjoy! [:)]
Making progress through Guadalcanal scenario (Allied), mistakes and all. I restarted once after learning from some of those mistakes, and making more mistakes to learn from, including handling the logistics. Have just taken Lunga and Tulagi, and moving supplies/fuel towards those new bases.
One thing I've learned to do is to check each base to see what assets it has. For example, I didn't realize I had naval transport at Brisbane until after sending Aussie troops by foot. Oh well, as someone on this thread pointed out, you'll make mistakes and learn from them in WitP.
Well, now that I've secured Lunga and Tulagi, I've got questions (please don't laugh too hard, I'm still on the step part of the learning curve):
1. Even before I secured these bases, I started supplies/fuel and support units towards them. My first question relates to the support units for captured bases. I realize the composition of the support force may vary depending on the size of the base, what it's for, etc. Is there any standard support force to use for captured bases?
2. I've started a PT Boat TF towards Tulagi for basing there. Is that a good idea?
3. I'm currently sending a B-17 force to each of Rabaul and Shortlands to pound the ports there for harrassment and to slow down reaction to the taking of Lunga and Tulagi. Is that a good idea?
4. There's a Japanese unit parked adjacent to Port Moresby which is being held off by an Aussie unit. Currrently I'm pounding this Japanese unit with a B-17 force. I'd like to do it with a B-26 force, but the B-26 forces don't have sufficient legs from their bases in Australia. I'd like to move these B-26 units up to Port Moresby, but what I see suggests that will creat a supply and aviation support problem. I'm trying to move additional supplies from Brisbane up to Port Moresby; is that a good idea? Also, what's the best way to get additional aviation support to Port Moresby?
5. The limited number of Allied forces in and around Port Moresby makes me nervous, especially with that Japanese unit parked next door (as well as the other Japanese bases close by). I'm trying to move additional combat units into Port Moresby. Is that a good idea?
6. I know there's both "fuel" and "oil". What's the difference between these two in terms of what units can use which resource?
That's it for the moment. Stay tuned and Tallyho!
Good luck mate. Play the solomons campaign from both sides, and then the opening from both sides. By then you will get an appreciation of the problems both sides face and their relative strengths and weaknesses. Then get yourself a PBEM opponent. Say goodbye to your girlfriend/wife as this game will demand at least 4 or 5 hours a day for the next couple of years
You have to anchor yourself at port Moresby. Before you do anything else, ensure that Port moresby is secure and expand the airfield there.
Oil i9s used for production, ship it to HI centres. Fuel is what your ships need in order to sail.
Ground support for the Aussie brigade N of PM is a good idea. It can get bounced out of there occasionally if you don't disrupt the Japanese unit and at the same time you can train up lba. Include your fighters on ground attack when you can, generally bad weather days. Make sure you can hold your own in the air battle over PM before you thnk about basing too many bombers there. Numbers of fighters is the only way to overcome your initial lack of quality in planes and pilots. Remember, the Japanese don't start the scenario at full strength either.
Base your PTs at the base you want to protect from bombardment tfs, i.e. Lunga, not Tulagi. I think they can still intercept from Tulagi, just not as automatically and they probably use up op points in the process.
Take care of your B-17s, your replacement rate is not high. Use them on clear days, with good morale, low fatigue against not well defended but well-reconned sites.
Against the AI an overland campaign to Buna w/ an Inf division isn't a bad idea. It protects your very scarce shipping from having to amphib attack it which in turn protects your f4fs (low replacement rate) by not having to provide cap for it.
Slowly establish and secure your bases providing them with enough recon so you can spot the mini-KB early enough to counter it at a favorable spot. Eliminating the mini-KB makes the IJN/IJA one-dimensional.
Your ultimate goal in the scenario it establishing a quadrilateral of bases (PM, Dobadura, Lunga and Munda) that can shut down Rabaul as an lba threat and let you run rampant.
Enjoy the scenario. The Marianas is another good one. It's a good tutorial on how to execute an amphib invasion.
At a small base, though, it's true that a big dump of supply and fuel will partly go to waste. I track wastage in WITP tracker to ensure that it isn't out of hand.
