Sardaukar's Newbie Tutorial AAR for Newbies (vs. IJ AI)

[Micah Goodman]

I have a few questions about Malaya on the first turn. First, sine the 5/14 Punjab Battalion is attached to the III Indian Corps I was thinking of loading it up on the first turn and moving it to Chittagong. Does this weaken the area too quickly? I figure it's best to have these guys in India where they can do more good in the long run. Second, should I re-base all air assets to Singapore on the first turn or move just a few?

[Numdydar]

I'll bump this too [:)]

[Sardaukar]

Bump!

[desicat]

Interesting.

[sufa101loofa]

Naval
- disband SC TF in Colombo

Sardaukar, why did you disband the TF in Colombo?
The CL - Enterprise and the CL - Caledon will never return.
Appreciate the great work, it helps a lot!

[Yaab]

Bump.

[GamesaurusRex]

It's been a year since last bumped and is informative for noobs like me... so I'm bumping this again.

Thanks to Saurdaukar... wherever you are ! (rhyme intended) [:D]

[AW1Steve]

Bump!

[Yaab]

Sardaukar, do you still use B-17s on Naval Search?

I have followed you advice but I have mixed result with them. Since Naval Search is a continuous mission flown each day, the wear and tear accumulates on B-17s rather quickly everywhere but for the biggest most lavishly equipped bases i.e PH. At some point, a big chunk of B-17s in stood down for maintenance for ungodly amount of time, especially at smaller bases. Also, if they are set to Naval Attack they can perform two missions per day provided there are targets. This degrades them even quicker. They have durability 68 and service rating 5 compared to Catalian 42 and rating 2. I still use B-17s on Naval Search but only flying them from the biggest bases (i.e PH, Sydney etc).

[Knucles2]

If you use 17's at max range you accumulate a lot ops probs. I reduse the search rand a couple or 3 hexs and don't have the wear n tare you seem to.
Also, if you want Sar's attention you shouuld PM him as he doesnt get to read all of the forums all the time.

[Sardaukar]

Bump, just in case people still find this useful. Some of the stuff is outdated though with changes in code and database during years.

[diamond dave]

Any chance of perhaps updating this guide a bit to account for game version upgrades/changes? I decided to fire the game up again (for the holidays while I'm off from work) and am discovering that while much of your guide is still valid, there's a few things here and there that aren't anymore. Plus maybe tweak a few strategies to account for the AI upgrades...

[adarbrauner]

ORIGINAL: Sardaukar



- set Patrol planes to either Naval Search or ASW (I use alt 6k for Search, 1k for ASW),

I usually set higher altitudes, say 4k for ASW and 10k for naval search. REason being, is that I thought the higher, the more you see...no?

[Anachro]

http://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=2260787

ASW:

Until your pilots get to the 70+ exp, you won't attack consistently.

To kill subs near your ports:

ASW Mission
100 feet (or 1000 if the plane will not go to 100)
Max Range
Use bombs not torps, if that is an option.

To see subs as far out as possible:

Naval Search Mission
6000 feet
Max Range
Use Bombs not torps, if that is an option.

Naval search...
High altitude will spot large TF's.
Lower altitudes spot smaller TF's.

Q:The Manual says the actual ASW range is half of the normal range. if the ASW range is 5, What's the actual range? 3 or 2?

A: A general rule of thumb is that if anything is divided, the fraction is usually thrown away, so if you have a range of 5, 1/2 would usually be 2.

[damdirtyape]

Hi all. New to the forums here. Played the original War in the Pacific a few times many years ago (maybe 20+) against AI Japan - always good fun but always the same strategy, hold out early on until the numbers game crushes Japan. So after two decades, late last year I decided to get bitten by the bug (again) and downloaded it again and often thought .. "Wouldn't it be great if they updated this game ...... ". So after a quick google search I found the matrix games website and purchased WITP AE, installed it on wine (on my Mac) and here I am - straight into Campaign (without China) [:D]

I looked around the forums to get a feel for what there is (great to see many active people) and came across this thread. Great read Sardaukar [&o] - I'm just following these tips and learning a bunch of stuff! (I'm just about to kick off the 'end turn' for day 1)

One thing did occur to me though when setting up the sub patrols from Manila on turn 1 ... does anyone create Sub Patrol TF's with multiple subs? Is it worth it? Is there any benefit to this? (besides saving clicks and not falling asleep) [:)]

Cheers,
DDA

[dave sindel]

ORIGINAL: damdirtyape

Hi all. New to the forums here. Played the original War in the Pacific a few times many years ago (maybe 20+) against AI Japan - always good fun but always the same strategy, hold out early on until the numbers game crushes Japan. So after two decades, late last year I decided to get bitten by the bug (again) and downloaded it again and often thought .. "Wouldn't it be great if they updated this game ...... ". So after a quick google search I found the matrix games website and purchased WITP AE, installed it on wine (on my Mac) and here I am - straight into Campaign (without China) [:D]

I looked around the forums to get a feel for what there is (great to see many active people) and came across this thread. Great read Sardaukar [&o] - I'm just following these tips and learning a bunch of stuff! (I'm just about to kick off the 'end turn' for day 1)

One thing did occur to me though when setting up the sub patrols from Manila on turn 1 ... does anyone create Sub Patrol TF's with multiple subs? Is it worth it? Is there any benefit to this? (besides saving clicks and not falling asleep) [:)]

Cheers,
DDA

I'm a relative newbie myself, but the research I'v done and information I've read indicates that multiple sub TF's (i.e. a "wolfpack" concept) are not effective in this game. The only times I have multiple subs in the same TF are minelaying missions and transport missions.

[BBfanboy]

ORIGINAL: dave sindel

ORIGINAL: damdirtyape

Hi all. New to the forums here. Played the original War in the Pacific a few times many years ago (maybe 20+) against AI Japan - always good fun but always the same strategy, hold out early on until the numbers game crushes Japan. So after two decades, late last year I decided to get bitten by the bug (again) and downloaded it again and often thought .. "Wouldn't it be great if they updated this game ...... ". So after a quick google search I found the matrix games website and purchased WITP AE, installed it on wine (on my Mac) and here I am - straight into Campaign (without China) [:D]

I looked around the forums to get a feel for what there is (great to see many active people) and came across this thread. Great read Sardaukar [&o] - I'm just following these tips and learning a bunch of stuff! (I'm just about to kick off the 'end turn' for day 1)

One thing did occur to me though when setting up the sub patrols from Manila on turn 1 ... does anyone create Sub Patrol TF's with multiple subs? Is it worth it? Is there any benefit to this? (besides saving clicks and not falling asleep) [:)]

Cheers,
DDA

I'm a relative newbie myself, but the research I'v done and information I've read indicates that multiple sub TF's (i.e. a "wolfpack" concept) are not effective in this game. The only times I have multiple subs in the same TF are minelaying missions and transport missions.

Firstly - Welcome back to the madness! [:D]

Secondly - This is Sardaukar's AAR and usually comments from others are directed toward AAR events. Questions about what works in game are best posted in the main forum or the War Room.

Thirdly - good question. Most veterans will tell you that single sub TFs patrolling an fairly wide area offer the best chance of finding targets and avoiding detection. I differ a little - if I know where the enemy traffic flows I use two subs per TF and a smaller patrol zone. If detection level shows the enemy knows about them, I send them to another spot along the stream and substitute another sub TF in the area vacated.

Why two subs? One sub cannot always detect everything in a hex - visual range in good weather daylight is about 11 nm and radar range would be limited by the relatively low antenna position, so two subs seem to work a little better than one (no scientific proof, just my impression). Most importantly, if one sub gets an attack and doesn't sink the target, its detection level is raised and the other sub often gets a second attack. Damaged ships often get that second attack and are sunk (after US torpedo dud levels get reasonable!) [;)]
So try out both methods and decide what you like.
PS - match subs by speed and range, don't hobble a Gato boat with Argonaut, Nautilus, Narwhal or Dolphin!

[Bif1961]

On a different tangent, the manila subs, unless the S-versions only have about a 10% chance of their defective torpedoes actually exploding when they do hit. I use my fleet subs at Manila to lay mines at areas I think he will invade and once the mines stocks are exhausted then use them for patrols in his major sea lanes in large numbers using single sub TFs. Your real threat early in the war are the Dutch subs which have effective torpedoes. Use them to hunt any carriers that he might place in those restrictive waters and also at natural choke points. Also swap out commanders for high nav skill high agression and let them do their best at hitting the Japanese, who have poor early war ASW capability. Good luck and enjoy.

[Sardaukar]

I still use US fleet boats normally. While they don't get that many sinkings, they do get quite surprisingly many. Plus they gain experience.

High aggressiveness, low naval skill in commander and low crew experience is prelude to lost sub, so check your sub commanders when sending them out.

[Bif1961]

Changing that many commanders that early causes a lot of PP to be spent where the PPs could be spent elsewhere. The US Fleet subs used the Mk 14 torpedo which has a failure rate of approximately 90% when it hits. The S-boats used the Mark 10 which has a failure rate of about 30%. Use the fleet subs as mine layers, mines work far better than their torpedoes do, and then after the mines are exhausted use them as normal.