Changing ship class/Need more AR's, tips for a new player.

[ScottyG]

First off i'd like to say hello to all, i really enjoy strategy games & WITP is right up my alley, now although i've owned the game for a lil while & i have used the forums to learn some, there is something that i missed & am in urgent need of help. I am in the full campaign as allied against japan ai 1941-1945 & am doing fairly well considering the fact that i've only learned a tad off of the forums, i've secured the solomons, virtually cut off rabaul, have secured the mainland of australia & and am slowly moving up the eastern side of New Guinea, have just started my conquest of the gilberts by capturing tarawa & nauru & in the midst of capturing makin atoll as well, but as far as repairing ships which you can imagine i have taken a beating on, i've read that the AR class is a big help in repairs, well i do not have "ANY" AR's at all, now i've checked in my ship replacement list & the first AR i am to receive is still 36 days away, now my question is, how can i succsesfully repair my ships at Pearl & Sydney & the West coast without the use of AR's??? And is there a way to change a class of ship in order to make more AR class vessels? (ex: disband tankers or AK's to create more AR's) how do you do this, all help needed (and appreciated) to continue my campaign, thanks in advance.

[Barb]

there are 3 kinds of repairs:
1st: Port - the bigger the better, makes random roll to see if a damage point is removed from a ship. (Ship must be disbanded at port)
2nd: Repair yard - have repair points which could be spent on ship repairs. each damage point repair cost ship durability+25. (ship have to be docked in a port, damage dont go under 5 unless disbanded in port)
3rd: auxliaries( AR, AD, AS, AGP) they tend to increase effective port size so the rolls are more succesfull.

To create repair auxliaries, you need BIG AKs (those 7000 capacity) in San Francisco, click into the ship and you have convert to possibilities there.
As for AGP i think you need LST or some PGs.

[John Lansford]

First off, try breaking up your sentence structures.  Periods and paragraphs are your friends and make reading your post a lot easier.
 
Second, are you sure there aren't some AR's in port?  I started a 1941 Campaign and had one or two in Pearl Harbor and another on the West Coast.
 
Third, if you want to convert a ship to an AR, look at some of the AK's.  If you click on the individual ship you'll get a menu in the lower left corner of the types of ships you can convert it to.  Click on the one you want and in a few months you'll get the ship ready to use.

[ScottyG]

I did find 2 AR's in Pearl. As far as conversion of AK's, i'll look into that as well. Thank you for your help.

[ScottyG]

Now, what do the other classes mean, ex: AO, AV, and AE & what do they respectectively do???

[NormS3]

AO is an oiler- put in replenishment task forces to increase your task forces range.
AV provides air support to patrols and floats and float fighters. You don't have to use base forces at a atoll.
AE is a work in progress that will solve all our free time problems
(really is a supply ship that needs to be in a port to work until 1944, when you can use it as you would an oiler.

And Welcome aboard

[ScottyG]

Ok, i'm now somewhat getting a grasp of all this, but, now do all of these "support ships" need to be in a TF docked in the harbor (as i have begun reshuffling some of these vessels) or do i have to disband them in there respective ports???

[NormS3]

Best to keep AR, AD, AS, MLE, AV, AVD docked in the harbor.
AE, AO (Not the Expansion[;)]) works in replenishment task forces. AO can move and replenish at sea, very useful ships keep them protected. AE same later on.

I will bring AV, AVD, and AEs to small bases (dots or harbors under 3) to create patrol plane bases, ASW bases, and staging areas for my fleets.

[Mike Solli]

AE (until 1944 for the Allies), AV and AR should be disbanded in port.  AOs in Replenishment TFs will replenish other TFs at sea.  When Replenishment TF A is in a hex with TF B and TF B needs fuel, open up TF B and click on "Refuel at sea" button on the right side of the window.  It'll draw fuel from TF A.

[John Lansford]

ORIGINAL: ScottyG

Ok, i'm now somewhat getting a grasp of all this, but, now do all of these "support ships" need to be in a TF docked in the harbor (as i have begun reshuffling some of these vessels) or do i have to disband them in there respective ports???

The AV and AR types can be disbanded in a port and will work just fine. Note you can only disband a ship in a size 3 or larger port. You can just dock them in a smaller port and they will still function though.

The AO's are oilers and need to be in a TF to work. When a TF needing fuel is in the same hex as the AO, click on "refuel from at sea" and the AO will transfer fuel to the TF.

The AS is a submarine refit and repair ship. You can put them in forward bases and the subs will reload torpedoes from them and repair damage if you leave them there long enough.

The AD is a destroyer refit/repair ship; it functions like the AS for subs, only with destroyers and similar ships.

The AGP is a patrol boat refit/repair ship; it functions like the AS and AD but for PT/MTB's. They all need to be in a port, either docked or disbanded, with some supplies, in order to work.

The AV is a seaplane tender; it allows you to operate patrol planes out of a base without needing a base force being present. If the base force is there they get a bonus to handle patrol planes; if you look at the base main screen, under "air support" there will be a "+" and a number. That's the bonus the AV gives and applies only to patrol planes. AVD's grant the same bonus but not as much as the AV's do.

The AE is an ammo resupply ship, functions basically like an AK in moving supplies until 1945, when it will allow resupply of ammo in a replenishment TF.

Oh, and then there's the MLE, which is a minelayer replenishment ship. If you've got one of those, your minelayers can reload mines in a port smaller than size 9 when its present.

[ScottyG]

WOW, Mucha Gracias!!! very, very helpful info guys. One thing tho, as previously mentioned by "John Lansford & Barb" in previous posts, "To create repair auxliaries, you need BIG AKs (those 7000 capacity) in San Francisco, click into the ship and you have convert to possibilities there" & "Third, if you want to convert a ship to an AR, look at some of the AK's.  If you click on the individual ship you'll get a menu in the lower left corner of the types of ships you can convert it to.  Click on the one you want and in a few months you'll get the ship ready to use". I did not find ANY AK's at all with this option, and i checked almost all of my active AK's???

[NormS3]

make sure that those AKs are disbanded in San Francisco

[John Lansford]

I believe the AK's have to be in San Francisco or one of the other major ports for the conversion options to be present.  Plus they have to be in port (disbanded), not in a TF.  I don't recall if you can convert an AK in Pearl Harbor or Sydney but I know you can't do it in a port like Noumea or Darwin, so you may have to find one in a port with a shipyard to get them to convert.

[Misconduct]

ORIGINAL: ScottyG

WOW, Mucha Gracias!!! very, very helpful info guys. One thing tho, as previously mentioned by "John Lansford & Barb" in previous posts, "To create repair auxliaries, you need BIG AKs (those 7000 capacity) in San Francisco, click into the ship and you have convert to possibilities there" & "Third, if you want to convert a ship to an AR, look at some of the AK's.  If you click on the individual ship you'll get a menu in the lower left corner of the types of ships you can convert it to.  Click on the one you want and in a few months you'll get the ship ready to use". I did not find ANY AK's at all with this option, and i checked almost all of my active AK's???

There's two things you can do then Scotty, either wait for a new AK to be introduced, or send an AK back to San Francisco and disband her in the port.

Best way to check is your ships availability screen, see when the next AK is available, if its to far away then simply send some back.

I made the mistake of not converting a few right off bat, its been 8 months now I only have 1 AR available, with more then 2 dozen ships damaged.

[ScottyG]

Ok, i have 3 AK's disbanded in SF (all 3 are slightly damaged if this makes a difference?) but now i cannot see them or locate them to see if a conversion is available, only way i can see them as being available is if i select "form new TF" which i believe you guys said is not what i wanna do. So how do i see the respective AK's as being available???

[Misconduct]

Go to san fransisco, you will see an achor in the HEX, those are Anchored ships, click on it then choose the AK you want to convert, bottom left you will see your 5 options, go ahead convert it and it should choose next ship anchored.

[ScottyG]

Got it, thanks. One last question guys/gals, once a land unit takes & occupies a island & loses men & equipment in the process, how do i get these units fully supplied with men & equipment again?

[Misconduct]

Basically look at the HEX of where your ground troops are, lower left box of that hex will represent ground troops, click on it and click on the individual troops you want to have replacements. 

[bradfordkay]

On a ground unit, you will need to make sure that "accept replacements" (or something to that effect) is chosen, and the unit needs to be in a base with at least 20,000 supply. I believe that the supply number for the base needs to be green, as well ("sufficient supply").

Once that is done, you have to wait as each turn some new squads will be possibly added to your ground unit (a die roll is made during the replacement phase), if they are available in the unit pools.

[John Lansford]

I have been busily moving Dutch LCU's out of Java and Borneo down to Timor and Darwin, where I've built up large amounts of supply.  When loaded the LCU's are about at half strength; within a few days of being at Timor/Darwin, they are up to full strength.  The question I have is, some of the units I evacuated are only fragments since the IJN showed up right after my TF's left the port.  Will these fragments reform into full strength units, and do I need the ABDA HQ to survive to insure this will happen?  Or can I just change their HQ to SWPac and let the US refit them?  I'd really like to get those CD units out of Java but some of the guns are immobile; will those refit eventually or are they lost forever if the rest of the unit is evacuated?