NOOB Question (Again) :D

[sajer]

Although I don't post here much - I have had the game for many months. I am an experienced wargamer (take my word for it ) I read as many forum threads as possible and go over the manual quite alot.

NOOB Questions:

I have played the "Road to" scenarios ALOT - before I jump into the "Big Game".

In the "Road to" scenarios - I have thought alot about the different construction/RR units.

1) Why are thier regular construction bat's and then there are R.A.D. bat's, & O.T. construction bat's --- is there a difference between these title designations?

2) Do "construction bat's" help in the repair of ports or railyards?

In all the "Road To" scenarios not once have I seen a Corps HQ detach a construction/RR unit to repair rail lines..

This is also very rare, but even Army Group HQ's do not detach construction/RR units either. They seem to be teats on a bull - that is most of the time. One time I was playing the "Road to Leningrad" scenario and had parked 18th Army HQ in Riga on turn 3 or 4. I was testing a theory and had manually transferred alot of of constrction/RR units to that HQ. I seem to remember (getting old LOL) that I had the HQ set to "locked". Then I unlocked it and WHAM! The construction/RR units spread out like roaches after a light is turned on in a room. Is there something to this???? Inquiring minds want to know.

Also:

I am still confused about support units.

And yes I have read the manual and read forum threads, but I still can get my head totally wrapped around that whole system.

I have made attacks and the support units have rushed in to participate. However - for instance - in the pop-up combat box - some artillery units have a CV value of (1) and others that are participating have a CV value of (0). Does the (0) mean that they are participating - but don't have enough firepower employed to qualify for a designation of (1) or more?

Also does the support unit that is embedded in the Corps HQ, or more particulary - artillery units - have to be within a certain distance of the actual battle to be deployed in the battle. I KNOW that HQ's have to be within 5 hexes (50 miles) of the battle to employ support units. But does distance make a difference in the firepower of deployed artillery support units - 2 hexes (20 miles) or 3 hexes (30 miles) - (position of the Corps HQ of the actual battle)? It's hard to imagine that the smae artillery unit can take part in 3 or 4 different battles with combat units spread over 100's of miles. I mean horse drawn arty being dragged 50 miles to a battle, then being dragged another 50 miles to another...and so on. I know that the turns are a whole week...but it's seems a little far-fetched.

The ADD SUB LOCK of HQ's is still a bit of a mystery to me. No matter how many times I read a thread, a strategy for it or the manual I am still a bit confused.

1) Does clicking ADD - increase the # of support units that can take part in a particular battle? I mean you can increase or decrease this number from 0 to 9! Or does this number just determine how many SU's you might receive from a higher HQ?

2) Does setting a HQ to LOCKED mean that it is closed shut to receiving SU's from a higher HQ? Does that also mean that SU's are limited or shut down from participating in battles?

3) If I have a Corps HQ or for that matter an Army HQ stuffed with SU's - is it prudent to LOCK it?

OKAY - I know it's alot of questions - but I have more:

AIR UNITS:

1) What is the limit for participation? I know all about setting the counter to zero - to employ as many aircraft as possible - but how about the other part of the Air Doctrine - does anybody set that over 200%?

2) What is the penalty for moving air units around? Is it best done after the whole turn is done? Do any of you experienced players have any tips in regard to that?

3) I know that it is best for air units to be placed in clear hexes or as a second choice (light woods). What about a city or town? Is it horrible to place them in Heavy Woods or a swamp hex?

4) Do you GROUP you air units (as I do) to take advantage of HQ AA. Or do you leave them scattered around the map? I do know that they have HQ's and must be within 5 hexes, but is there a disadvantage to grouping 3 bases in just one hex? I also know about placing AB's that contain fighters closer to the front because of thier limited flying miles and possible sorties.

5) Does decreasing the availability to say (Bomb City) to a lower # or even 0 have an effect on possible participation for other possible attacks (i.e. Interdiction, interception etc..)?

6) What the HELL (lol) do Night fighters do? What is thier purpose and how do we see the results of night operations?

7) Why do air units that I can assign from the National reserve mostly have only 3 planes? Is that considered an air unit? Or are they still in the process of being filled out?

Well. I guess that's it (for now..hehe), but I didn't want to spend endless hours starting a Grand Campaign without knowing answers to most of these questions.

Like I said I am mostly a silent reader and player but I appear from time to time when something is bugging me and no amount of reading of the manual or threads fully answer my questions.

I thank anybody in advance for anybody willing to help me out.

[sajer]

Hi,
 
I was wondering if anyone was going to take a crack at answering at least some of my questions  [:(]
 
I know Iasked alot and some make look at it and say - "ah hell that's to much".  But it would really help me out if someone would take a crack at it.
 
I see that this thread has well over 100 views but no replies yet...please help a fellow gamer out.

[Attack]

Too much questions to answer!

I´m learning the game, I´m in my first PBEM, but I´ll try to answer someones in my poor english (I learned it playing wargames and trying to decifer the rules).

The night fighters fly at night, escorting or intercepting night bombers. There is a sun / moon to decide if day/night.

In airbases placed in heavy woods or swamps (or mountains), the aircrafts don´t fly.

If you place the interception,escort... at 200%, you´ll have strong attacks and defenses, but you´ll have less air missions. This is a tactic decision. At 50% you´ll have a lot of air missions.

The regiments RR will entrench faster that construction bat, and too they will repair railines (not the construction bat). I think that anyone can repair ports or railyards. The regiments cost more men that batalions.

About supports units in HQ´s, I always lock them and place the support units as I want. An Army HQ can take SU from its Front HQ, or from Higher Command (for free, but must be near, I think, more or less, 10 hexes).  Only if I want to empty an Army HQ I place it at "0", to save Ad. points (only stay contruction bat, I think, you must remove it manually).

[fiva55]

Q) Why are their regular construction bat's and then there are R.A.D. bat's, & O.T. construction bat's --- is there a difference between these title designations?
A) There is little to no difference, it is mostly the the number of labor squads that may slightly differ.


Q) Do "construction bat's" help in the repair of ports or railyards?
A) Construction and labor support units are used to assist in the building of hex fortification levels and the repair of rail lines. There is no mention of port or railyards repair in the manual, so I assume that they don't.

Q) This is also very rare, but even Army Group HQ's do not detach construction/RR units either.
A) HQs won't detach construction units within a certain distance of enemy units. Locking or unlocking an HQ has nothing to do with it.

Q) Does the (0) of committed support units mean that they are participating - but don't have enough firepower employed to qualify for a designation of (1) or more?
A) Correct.

Q) Does the support unit (SU) that is embedded in the Corps HQ, have to be within a certain distance of the actual battle to be deployed in the battle.
A) No, as long as the the fighting units are in command range , the distance doesn't matter for deployment, nor does it affect firepower. The important factor for any commitment is the initiative rating of the participating leader, provided you are in range. Note that when doing a deliberate attack, the HQ may move, and SU may still be committed, while when doing an hasty attack, the HQ must not move, for it to commit any SU.

Q)Does clicking ADD - increase the # of support units that can take part in a particular battle? I mean you can increase or decrease this number from 0 to 9! Or does this number just determine how many SU's you might receive from a higher HQ?
A) This number just determines how many SU's you might receive from a higher HQ.

Q)If I have a Corps HQ or for that matter an Army HQ stuffed with SU's - is it prudent to LOCK it?
A)It depends, playing German, I prefer to micromanage SU deployment, going for 3-4 Arty, 1 Pioneer, 1 AA and 2 construction battalion per corps HQ. To achieve that, I lock the corps HQs, set the number of SU Army and Army Group HQ may receive to 0, OKH to 9, and then spend insane amount of time and AP to get everything right.

You may of course do the smart thing and let the AI handle it using the automated system mentioned in the previous question.

Q) Regarding air units, what is the limit for participation? I know all about setting the counter to zero - to employ as many aircraft as possible - but how about the other part of the Air Doctrine - does anybody set that over 200%?
A) Setting percentage required to fly to >100% will ensure that nothing flies, so it is not recommended. As of the latest patches, only air units of the same air group may participate in the same battle. As for the other parts of Air doctrine, you may want to experiment with those settings yourself, for I have no idea how changing those settings will really effect the air war. Playing german, I don't mess with the settings, only turning off recon escort and occasionally ground support. As Soviet, I set fighter intercept to 150, and turn of recon escort.

Q) Do you GROUP you air units (as I do) to take advantage of HQ AA. Or do you leave them scattered around the map? I do know that they have HQ's and must be within 5 hexes, but is there a disadvantage to grouping 3 bases in just one hex?
A) I don't group air units to take advantage of HQ AA, I simply stack them all together, which I admit is a bad habit. The disadvantage of grouping 3 bases is that your opponent will have an easier time attacking your airfields, for it takes just one airfield attack to attack 3 bases. Theoretically, it would be best to spread your airfield, preferably in lightwooded terrain, to make detection harder and to force your opponent to make multiple attacks.

Q) Does decreasing the availability to say (Bomb City) to a lower # or even 0 have an effect on possible participation for other possible attacks (i.e. Interdiction, interception etc..)?
A) I assume it does, if you commit less units to a bomb city mission, more units will be available for a ground attack mission and vice versa. This is of course if you do air missions using the AI instead of manually selecting the participating aircrafts. In that case, it doesn't.

Q) What the HELL (lol) do Night fighters do? What is their purpose and how do we see the results of night operations?
A)They attack at night...... In theory, they are handy for the German player to disrupt night supply drops to partisans by the Soviets. As for seeing the results, just click on the airwing, and check the number of ground and air kills each turn.

Q) Why do air units that I can assign from the National reserve mostly have only 3 planes? Is that considered an air unit? Or are they still in the process of being filled out?
A)Just check what for unit group type it is, and you will know the max aircraft it may contain. Assuming you play German, a schwarm may have max 4 AC, while and Gruppe may have max 40 AC. If it is a Gruppe with just 3 AC, it means it means it is in the process of being filled out. See the section "Air units" in the manual.

[sajer]

WOW!! [8D]

Thanks for the answers - fiva55 and attack - they were very helpfull!  I really want to thank you for taking the time out of your day to so neatly address my questions. I have printed out your responses for a handy guide.  I will continue to pore over the manual and test out certain things.  I have played many Gary Grigsby games before and one thing that happens in his games is that when you play it things always turns out different from the last time.  [:D]

Once I get going - I tend to ramble and type and type and.....  So if I have other questions I will keep them short and sweet.

Thanks again!!

[sajer]

Does it have any effect on air combat operations during 1) the current turn or 2) during the following turn -- if you move your all or any of your airbases?

[cpt flam]

generally i move airbase before ending my turn
otherwise you will spend part of the milage of airplanes
does not think it will have effet during opponent turn

[76mm]

ORIGINAL: sajer

1) Why are thier regular construction bat's and then there are R.A.D. bat's, & O.T. construction bat's --- is there a difference between these title designations?
DON'T KNOW

2) Do "construction bat's" help in the repair of ports or railyards?
DON'T KNOW

II was testing a theory and had manually transferred alot of of constrction/RR units to that HQ. I seem to remember (getting old LOL) that I had the HQ set to "locked". Then I unlocked it and WHAM! The construction/RR units spread out like roaches after a light is turned on in a room. Is there something to this????
NO, AS LONG AS THERE ARE CONSTR SUs IN HQ, THEY WILL DEPLOY WHETHER OR NOT THE HQ IS LOCKED


I have made attacks and the support units have rushed in to participate. However - for instance - in the pop-up combat box - some artillery units have a CV value of (1) and others that are participating have a CV value of (0). Does the (0) mean that they are participating - but don't have enough firepower employed to qualify for a designation of (1) or more?
YES, BUT THEIR CV IS NOT THE MAIN POINT, IT IS THEIR EFFECT ON DISRUPTING ENEMY UNITS. MORE TUBES IS A GOOD THING.

Also does the support unit that is embedded in the Corps HQ, or more particulary - artillery units - have to be within a certain distance of the actual battle to be deployed in the battle.
NO

It's hard to imagine that the smae artillery unit can take part in 3 or 4 different battles with combat units spread over 100's of miles. I mean horse drawn arty being dragged 50 miles to a battle, then being dragged another 50 miles to another...and so on. I know that the turns are a whole week...but it's seems a little far-fetched.
I THINK YOU NEED TO GET OVER THIS.

1) Does clicking ADD - increase the # of support units that can take part in a particular battle?
NO

Or does this number just determine how many SU's you might receive from a higher HQ?
YES. BEST TO JUST LOCK THEM.

2) Does setting a HQ to LOCKED mean that it is closed shut to receiving SU's from a higher HQ?
NO AUTOMATIC TRANSFER, YOU HAVE TO DO IT MANUALLY

Does that also mean that SU's are limited or shut down from participating in battles?
NO, NOT SURE WHERE YOU GOT THAT IDEA...

3) If I have a Corps HQ or for that matter an Army HQ stuffed with SU's - is it prudent to LOCK it?
IT IS WISE IF YOU WANT THEM TO STAY THERE.

AIR UNITS:

1) What is the limit for participation? I know all about setting the counter to zero - to employ as many aircraft as possible - but how about the other part of the Air Doctrine - does anybody set that over 200%?
SURE, SOMETIMES. NOT SURE IT IF IS A GOOD IDEA THOUGH...

2) What is the penalty for moving air units around? Is it best done after the whole turn is done? Do any of you experienced players have any tips in regard to that?
THE MORE THEY MOVE ON THE GROUND, THE LESS THEY WILL FLY, AND VICE VERSA.

3) I know that it is best for air units to be placed in clear hexes or as a second choice (light woods). What about a city or town? Is it horrible to place them in Heavy Woods or a swamp hex?
ONLY HORRIBLE IF YOU WANT THEM TO FLY...

DON'T KNOW MUCH ABOUT AIR UNITS

Sounds like you're playing as German, you should definitely wait for the next patch to come out, it is chock-full of changes helpful to the Huns.

[sajer]

Thanks 76mm,

Didn't mean to ask some stupid questions.  Just new to the game...and wanting to get choke full with as much knowledge and tips - before beginning the Grand Campaign.

Sorry to be a pain in the arse [X(]

BTW - anyone have an estimate when the next patch is coming out? I currently have 1.04.36.

sajer

[Omat]

Hello

Beta patch V1.04.39 you can find here:

tm.asp?m=2886269



List of 1.05 update changes; read this post from Joel Billings:

fb.asp?m=2896148



When the beta patch V 1.05 will be released, read this post from Joel Billings:

fb.asp?m=2895235


Hope it helps..


Omat

ORIGINAL: sajer


BTW - anyone have an estimate when the next patch is coming out? I currently have 1.04.36.

sajer

[sajer]

Thanks for the links Omat.
 
Can't wait for the new 1.05 patch!  Waiting.....