HPS new games

[Prince of Eckmühl]

ORIGINAL: JudgeDredd

If it's there, I missed it - but I think a "double click" to open the Aircraft mission dialogue is needed.

I'm gonna try that tonight! [8D]

[RedArgo]

ORIGINAL: Prince of Eckmühl

No doubt, you're aware of the problems with American torpedoes, issues that weren't resolved until well into 1943.

I haven't had that problem as in the 4 or 5 games I've played all the way through, I've never had a TBD get close enough to launch!!!

[rahamy]

ORIGINAL: JudgeDredd

ORIGINAL: RedArgo
...
Also, in this last game my scout who found the enemy got shot down. I moved in several other scouts, but I had to manually keep them in contact with the Japanese CVs. Is there a way to have the scouts automatically stay in contact after I had to move them?
...

re this point - I did it this way. I went to the carrier and opened up the aircraft dialogue. I selected one of the other Scouts and assigned it a patrol mission and set it to loiter when the CV is found. There are one of two things I did before that...I either set the aircraft a direction towards the carrier, then waited for it to make contact and THEN set the mission, or I gave the aircraft a path using the max and min degrees, knowing it would put the scout in touch with the carrier and set it to loiter on CVs

If it's there, I missed it - but I think a "double click" to open the Aircraft mission dialogue is needed. It's a pita having to go back to the carrier and selecting the correct flight. It's been a few days since I played as I am rebuilding a friends computer and my memory is terrible at the moment, but I can't remember if there is another way to re-assigning an air group as opposed the the method I know (going back to the carrier, finding the right air group and setting the mission)

Might try selecting the flight, the using Command Menu/Assign Mission to give the flight a new Search mission. Note that there is also a Command Menu/Packages option to review and modify packages.

[JudgeDredd]

nice one. Thx (double click would be nice though [;)] )

[Prince of Eckmühl]

ORIGINAL: RedArgo

I haven't had that problem as in the 4 or 5 games I've played all the way through, I've never had a TBD get close enough to launch!!!

If you can saturate the enemy defenses, they can get through. And I've seen them put a damaged carrier away. Regardless of the TBD performance, however, it's never going to match the Kate because of its torpedo.

[JudgeDredd]

I had 4x3 Devastators the other day and not one torpedo hit!!! I thought I was doing something wrong, but couldn't understand what. I saw the white splashes, then as they went towards the CV, some disappeared, others seemed to strike, but I had no notifications/sounds to suggest contact was made, neither did any damage occur!

[Prince of Eckmühl]

ORIGINAL: rahamy

Might try selecting the flight, the using Command Menu/Assign Mission to give the flight a new Search mission. Note that there is also a Command Menu/Packages option to review and modify packages.

Well, darn if the obvious didn't elude me. This will allow me to completely avoid accessing the aircraft's base. It's worth noting that same MISSION dialogue allows players to assign the aircraft to an active package via the drop-down window. I mention that, because it saves the hassle of creating an entirely new mission.

[Airborne82nd]

The TBD's are horrible (just as in RL). I've also had the above mentioned strikes passing each other. This has happened more times than not, actually. I usually end up micromanaging my F4F's (if any survive) back to their flock.

I can live with these nuisances because I really like this game. Something did come up over the weekend when playing Coral Sea, however. I kept my 2 carriers (US) hugging a cloud bank after launching the searches, and then, strikes. The expected Japanese strikes passed mine and I immediately got off all remaining CAP and then headed for the bad weather to hide my carriers. The first enemy strikes bagged the Yorktown (it was closer to the clouds but also closer to the enemy). It had just disappeared under the cloud cover so I didn't think much of it other than cursing my slowness at getting them there. However, the wave of Kates came in after my TF was under clouds but still managed to deliver a crushing torpedo strike on the hapless Yorkie. I thought clouds hid TF's from strikes? Or, does it just lesson the chance of them getting detected and hit?

Incidentally, the Lexington survived as I used the Yorktown (now a floating wreck) as a decoy between my surviving flattop and further expected strikes. It worked until she sunk and a wave of Kates torpedoed the Lexington for light damage. My air groups hit both Japanese CV's (for, I guess, light damage and burning). I've only got 2.5 hours left in the scenario and I doubt that's enough time to launch a further crippling strike on the enemy. Shame, because I have more than enough a/c to do the job.

Thanks for the tips above on (re)managing air units. It would be nice to be able to command multiple groups of a/c instead of double clicking on them. This tends to have units all over the map (from the same formation) deploy to the selected location. Would be nice to command just the rag-tag bunch you've got locally.

Also, in my current game, I managed to spot a lurking Kate near my TF and shot it down with an F4F. Do you folks have success at finding enemy search planes with (radar) or CAP? I don't have much luck.

Great stuff!!

Chris

[Prince of Eckmühl]

ORIGINAL: JudgeDredd

I had 4x3 Devastators the other day and not one torpedo hit!!! I thought I was doing something wrong, but couldn't understand what. I saw the white splashes, then as they went towards the CV, some disappeared, others seemed to strike, but I had no notifications/sounds to suggest contact was made, neither did any damage occur!

As in real life, the TBD pretty much sucks. I believe that it got seven hits on the Shoho, but I suspect that the SBD had gotten their first. Of course, that just fostered the notion that it and it's torpedo were a capable weapons combination (which of course, they were not). The Midway engagement disabused the world of that notion.

[Prince of Eckmühl]

ORIGINAL: Airborne82nd

Something did come up over the weekend when playing Coral Sea, however. I kept my 2 carriers (US) hugging a cloud bank after launching the searches, and then, strikes. The expected Japanese strikes passed mine and I immediately got off all remaining CAP and then headed for the bad weather to hide my carriers. The first enemy strikes bagged the Yorktown (it was closer to the clouds but also closer to the enemy). It had just disappeared under the cloud cover so I didn't think much of it other than cursing my slowness at getting them there. However, the wave of Kates came in after my TF was under clouds but still managed to deliver a crushing torpedo strike on the hapless Yorkie. I thought clouds hid TF's from strikes? Or, does it just lesson the chance of them getting detected and hit?

Someone from the developer please correct me if I'm wrong about this, but I don't believe that clouds completely hide units. Rather, they appear to drastically reduce visibility. I've had aircraft shot down while in the middle of a cloud-blob which wouldn't be possible were this not so. This suggests that units can "stumble" into one another in a cloud and engage in combat. I'd also note that aircraft should be able to operate beneath a cloud.

Also, in my current game, I managed to spot a lurking Kate near my TF and shot it down with an F4F. Do you folks have success at finding enemy search planes with (radar) or CAP? I don't have much luck.

The ability to whack lurkers before they can phone-home is the holy-grail of the game. I don't think that the USN ever really succeeded, btw. As in real-life, it may not be possible to do so in the game. I've tried a lot of techniques, some of the, fabulously gamey and/or ahistorical in my attempts to do so. The one that appears to hold the most promise is using picket destroyers, each with it's own Wildcat CAP. I deploy the DD in an arc around the carrier task-force. It works, but it uses up a lot of resources, and isn't fool-proof. When all's said and done, I'm not sure whether it's worth the hassle.

BTW, the USN used picket destroyers late in the war as radar-early-warning vessels. The kamikaze still got through.

[rahamy]

Guys, there's now a dedicated forum for this series over at the Wargamer, so I invite you to migrate there if you are so inclined:

http://www.wargamer.com/forums/tt.aspx?forumid=238

[JudgeDredd]

excellent [&o]

[hank]

This one sure slipped by me.  I have Guadalcanal and enjoyed it for many weeks until I played through all the scenarios many times over.

I'm going to have to download the patch tonight. 

I obviously will need to buy Midway after reading all 6 pages of comments here at the Matrix.  Sounds like Mr. Tiller has a potential winner.

After reading through all these posts and the upgrade notes, the one feature I wish the surface combat had was the ability for the battleships and heavy cruisers (and possibly light cruisers) to target the main guns (16 inch) on one target and the secondary guns (5 inch mounts) independently on a second target.  But, I'm not complaining; with the air warfare factor the lack of that feature will be buried in the enjoyment of carrier actions.

best regards to all ... off I go to download

[Ashtur]

Hey all, sorry I've been gone a bit. I'm focusing a bit more on the boardatthe Wargamer now, since it's dedicated to this game.

In any case, in terms of strikes "running into" one another. That's an actual occurance in the war. I can think of two right off the top of my head. At Midway, the fighter escort for the first Japanese strike on the Yorktown (the Vals) peeled off their escort duties to rip into one of our homebound strikes. They hadn't caught up with hte Vals by the time the strike hit the US CAP (this is reflected in the "Japanese Counterattack" scenario, where the Zeros are well behind the Vals). Then, the escort for one of the IJN strikes at Santa Cruz jumped one of our outbound strikes and made a mess of it. But, again, the Zeros were entirely out of position to defend their own strike aircraft when the time came.

I'm not sure if I'd ay it's "too common" in game or not. It's a matter of the most logical course to follow to your enemy is the same general route they're following to find you!

[junk2drive]

ORIGINAL: rahamy

Oh I wouldn't say that at all...Wargamer has had more traffice when you combine the HPS specific forums & the general gaming discussion area. [8D] The Blitz is also pretty active...GameSquad has been pretty quiet of late though...

Still think there is more elsewhere?

[Prince of Eckmühl]

ORIGINAL: garymc

In any case, in terms of strikes "running into" one another. That's an actual occurance in the war. I can think of two right off the top of my head. At Midway, the fighter escort for the first Japanese strike on the Yorktown (the Vals) peeled off their escort duties to rip into one of our homebound strikes. They hadn't caught up with hte Vals by the time the strike hit the US CAP (this is reflected in the "Japanese Counterattack" scenario, where the Zeros are well behind the Vals). Then, the escort for one of the IJN strikes at Santa Cruz jumped one of our outbound strikes and made a mess of it. But, again, the Zeros were entirely out of position to defend their own strike aircraft when the time came.

As Gary states, this is perfectly legit. It's a simple matter of geometry. And, as he implies, the hyper-aggressive pilots of the Kido Butai appear to have been more likely to stray from their escort duties than Allied pilots.

[Prince of Eckmühl]

Some simple stuff for a patch:

-a hotkey for command/return to base
-a hotkey for command/assign mission
-rearrange the toolbar icons such that turns for individual units is isolated from turns for groups (this should apply to all games in the series).

Any other ideas guys?

[V22 Osprey]

I really want this game now. I was going to get Empires of Steel from Battlefront but may get this instead. Heck, my monthly $20 allowance(I already have some money saved up) is coming in soon anyway so I might just get both. hehe.

[goodwoodrw]

Well,just received my game in the post, 7 day turn around not bad at all.
[:)][:)]
ron

[goodwoodrw]

G'day all, just started to fiddle with this game it appears that you can't use a/c from BBs to search. In fact I don't believe the program caters for search a/c other those carried on carriers, am I correct?