Just bought WW2:ToW -have some questions

[Marshall Thomas]

I just bought WW2:ToW (digital download) and, after reading the manual and playing the tutorial, I think I'll really end up liking this game a lot. Some basic questions:

- what are some good tips for managing many units (corps and divisions) when playing as a country with a sizable army? I've learned that the tab button cycles through all of your units; but I don't know what order it does so. So how do you make having several units more manangable?

- some of my units have the letters "frzn" instead of action points. Does this mean "frozen"? How can I give these units action points so that they can move and attack?

- naval combat, naval movement, convoys and raiding are a bit confusing to me; even after having just read the manual. What are some good tips for playing and understanding the naval aspect of the game?

- what's a good country to play as for my first 1939 campaign?

- though not overly complex, the diplomacy aspect of the game looks great. What are some good tips for using diplomacy to your advantage?

- I know that I'm a newbie and I have to gain some experience; but when I get to the point where I want to give the AI an advantage, should I give it extra production points? or should I give myself a production point penalty? In other words, should I play on "hard" or "very hard" -or- should I set the AI nations to "easy" or "very easy"? Which works better? Thanks in advance

[cpdeyoung]

In my games I move from cluster to cluster, where a cluster is a group of units sharing a geographical location and a task. For example, in early Barbarossa the the AGN, AGC, AGS army group clusters tend to break up into the Odessa cluster, the Pskov cluster, the V.Luki cluster, etc. You wil find the task of each cluster reminds you what the units are up to each turn.  I guess what I am saying is that in gameplay you focus on the goals, not each unit.  I usually do everything in one sector then move to the next. As I leave each sector I note any unmoved units in case I need strategic movement to another sector.
 
Frozen units become unfrozen when the freeze turns expire, or, more often by events, but you cannot unfreeze them as such yourself.  You can disband them if it suits your strategy.
 
It will take awhile to learn the naval system, but remember the broad naval position.  While the French are active the Franch and Royal Navy should be able to dominate.  If France falls the Royal Navy will have to carry the burden against the Italians and Germans.  They often can do this, and sometimes not.  The concept of a "fleet in being" was important in 19th and 20th century naval strategy and it is important in the game.  Don't waste you fleets.  Be careful of land based air.  Start to think the way WW2 admirals did and you will find the ideas help here.
 
The big campaign is fun, period.  You will find that after playing as the Axis, you want to play the Allies, and vice versa. I enjoy playing the Soviets, with all other nations handled by the AI too.
 
Your question about how to give an advantage is interesting.  I guess if you like big scenarios with even more units then give them "easy", but if you like less units give yourself "hard".
 
These are excellent questions and indicate to me that you are going to really like the gameplay.  See you in PBEM land sometime?  Have fun.
 
Chuck

[Texashorns]

Hey Marshall,

I'll try and answer some of these for you.

1. unit management- I haven't found any special system for this, and occassionally I'll forget to move a unit or two. I usually start at one end of my line on a front and move along it, moving units as I go. I don't use the tab.

2. Frzn- you can't give frozen units ap's. you have to wait until the become unfrozen due to events or in reaction to enemy units.

3. Naval- there are quite mixed feelings from the community on the naval aspects. what is happening at sea is definetly not clear cut, and maybe that is the way the designers wanted it. how many ships in a sea zone that actually participate in a combat seems dependent on search and discovery some how. air craft carriers of course give the fleet an advantage. I group my fleets in a group of at least 4-6 ships minimum. I use a mix of ship types. although a group of 6-8 subs can do some nice damage as a regular fleet. I watch my ship damage closely and move ships back to port after 50% damage incured. You can transfer ships between fleets while in a sea zone, not just in port. If transfering between fleets do so before movement. You can't transfer after fleet moves. SO when a ship unit suffers 50%+ damage I transfer them creating a new fleet, then move them to port for repair. You can only move one sea zone per turn. Look closely at which zones you can reach from which ports. You can get to south atlantic from german ports. convoys can ship supplies and pp's. when you have units that cannot trace an overland route to a main supply source, you need to set up a convoy to transport supplies from one of your home ports to a port your units to can trace a route to. Comes into play quite a bit in North Africa, or if attacking Norway, Malta, etc. If you transport units to Finland, you have to supply them with a convoy. You have to have shipping points available to conduct convoys. they can be purchased. as enemy naval units attack your convoys (raiders) you will have to purchase more shipping points, so a keep an eye on them. Also, you can transport pp's to allies, minor allies or nuetral's using convoys. I usually send pp's to Finland when playing Germany. you can also manually send pp's using the F11 function. Raiders- I usually group my sub raiders in groups of 4-6. they will eventually get sunk. however, by having raiders you not only cause pp's loss, but also shipping point losses that have to be replaced by the enemy. as the german you also can cause sub events to fire on britain and usa, causing additional pp loss. bb's and ca's can also be used as raiders, but they are highly vulnerable. using tactical air adjacent to sea zones to attack enemy naval can also give you an advantage once naval combat occurs, as the enemy naval units will have already incurred some damage. a persistent use of tac air vs naval has been known to force the enemy to relinquish control of sea zones.

4. play as?- LOL I always seem to play the Germans, and I woudl recommend them for your first big game. You get to attack Poland initially to get your feet under you tactically speaking. The western allies, in my opinion are the most difficult.

5. diplomacy- I never seem to have as many dp's as I'd like. Coup's have not been a very efficient use of pp's in my experience. I strictly use them to exert pressure on minor allies to get them in the war. sometimes axis minors will enter on their own, other times not. I don't know what the difference is. So keep dp's handy to get Hungary, Romania and Finland in the war if you need to. Italy always seems to come in on their own okay. I did put some in Spain one game, but the allies always countered them, making it a waste.

6. AI- in seeking a harder game I've played Germany on hard. it really makes a difference pp-wise. I found that my army was smaller and not as technologically advanced as when I play on normal. I figured I'd make it harder on me as opposed to easier for the AI. I figured the AI would just build more units. if you've ever attacked Russia, more units for them would just be crazy.

Hope this helps you get off to a good start. It's a great game, warts and all.

[vonpaul]

Nice advice here, only 1 point I would disagree on.

Submarines, I only send out groups of 1 as anything more then that generally gets killed straight away (bug?)