Loving it so far, but some questions.

[Grotius]

I'm really enjoying the game so far, though I confess I haven't made it past Operation Husky yet. Oh man, I love this new air system. A huge improvement over WiTE. And while it's not as granular as WITP/AE, in some ways it is more powerful: you can set flight paths (to some extent, anyway?), targets, altitudes, larger air force doctrines, etc. The depot and logistics system is really interesting. I find myself digging down into individual ground units to see where they're getting their supply, what's not arriving, etc. (You can get much of this info just by looking at the unit summary, but the details are illuminating too.) I'm also enjoying the weather model: it's cool to see actual low and high pressure systems trundle on by, like in the real world, instead of a die roll for weather zones. It's too early for me to judge the AI, although I can report that I'm in a dead-heat tie in this first training scenario, having bungled some of the offloading of troops in turn 1 and 2.

I do have some questions.

1. I'm not entirely sure I grok how air moves mesh with land moves. I *think* the idea is that the seven days of air execution resolve big-picture things like air superiority, strategic bombing, naval interdiction, etc. Then, during movement, the air execution phase kicks in again, when I'm conducting my land attacks: if I've done a good job of arranging air superiority and ground support, then I'll have better air support for my land attacks. Is that the idea?

2. For some reason, I find it odd that in ground combat, the defender appears on the left and the attacker on the right. For the Allies, who are generally attacking east, it would feel more natural to have attacker on left, defender on right. Any way to change this?

3. Is there a hotkey for changing units from number to name? Honestly, I wish we could have both sets of info on the counter: combat/movement numbers plus a small ID mark or name or symbol. I know the HQ attachments provide some of this info, but for me it would add a lot of flavor to see the CV/MP as well as the designation. Even a brief, 6-point-type designation would make me happier. Is that in the cards?

4. Is there a way to see how many aircraft are at an airbase, at a glance? I know I can use ctl-2 to see a graphical representation, and that's great. But in the airbase screen itself, and in the rollover, I don't see a simple number of total aircraft ready/damaged/reserve. I can sort of see it, by mentally totalling the number listed "Ready", but I don't see one easy-to-read overall figure. Am I missing it? Not a big deal, as the graphical thing is way cool.

5. Do I have to manually move air support and support to air bases? (In WITP, we have to slog naval and air support everywhere.) Or if I move an air unit, will it bring aviation support and ground support with it?

That's all I've got for now. Really enjoying it so far.

[Helpless]

Thanks for your response. [:)]

1. I'm not entirely sure I grok how air moves mesh with land moves. I *think* the idea is that the seven days of air execution resolve big-picture things like air superiority, strategic bombing, naval interdiction, etc. Then, during movement, the air execution phase kicks in again, when I'm conducting my land attacks: if I've done a good job of arranging air superiority and ground support, then I'll have better air support for my land attacks. Is that the idea?

You are very close to get the idea behind the various phases, the only thing is that air execution is done only once per player. Besides immediate effect of strategic bombing, air execution plots various interdiction/recon values in the hex which are greatly influencing coming ground movement and logistics. Also you may reserve some air units for the ground support role to be involved into direct ground battle support.

2. For some reason, I find it odd that in ground combat, the defender appears on the left and the attacker on the right. For the Allies, who are generally attacking east, it would feel more natural to have attacker on left, defender on right. Any way to change this?

It is possible to change this, but i'm not sure everyone would like it. Also from the game perspective player 1 is always Axis, which is asking to place it first.

3. Is there a hotkey for changing units from number to name? Honestly, I wish we could have both sets of info on the counter: combat/movement numbers plus a small ID mark or name or symbol. I know the HQ attachments provide some of this info, but for me it would add a lot of flavor to see the CV/MP as well as the designation. Even a brief, 6-point-type designation would make me happier. Is that in the cards?

iirc, y key should do it. We have unit insignia art on the unit detail screen. Unfortunately they can't be used on the counter.

4. Is there a way to see how many aircraft are at an airbase, at a glance? I know I can use ctl-2 to see a graphical representation, and that's great. But in the airbase screen itself, and in the rollover, I don't see a simple number of total aircraft ready/damaged/reserve. I can sort of see it, by mentally totalling the number listed "Ready", but I don't see one easy-to-read overall figure. Am I missing it? Not a big deal, as the graphical thing is way cool.

Map rollover text has a list, but not the totals. It is possible to add it there. You may find totals on the air base counter display on the right bar, but it needs to be an empty hex. Also when you go to the air hq detail screen, it shows you a list of air bases with ac totals. Commander Report allows to filter out non-empty or empty air bases (handy to set supply priorities)

5. Do I have to manually move air support and support to air bases? (In WITP, we have to slog naval and air support everywhere.) Or if I move an air unit, will it bring aviation support and ground support with it?

Air support arrives during the next logistics depending on the air base TOE setting. When on auto it depends on the amount of aircraft in there.

[Erik Rutins]

ORIGINAL: GrotiusOh man, I love this new air system. A huge improvement over WiTE. And while it's not as granular as WITP/AE, in some ways it is more powerful: you can set flight paths (to some extent, anyway?), targets, altitudes, larger air force doctrines, etc. The depot and logistics system is really interesting. I find myself digging down into individual ground units to see where they're getting their supply, what's not arriving, etc. (You can get much of this info just by looking at the unit summary, but the details are illuminating too.) I'm also enjoying the weather model: it's cool to see actual low and high pressure systems trundle on by, like in the real world, instead of a die roll for weather zones. It's too early for me to judge the AI, although I can report that I'm in a dead-heat tie in this first training scenario, having bungled some of the offloading of troops in turn 1 and 2.

Very glad to hear that you are enjoying it - I agree on these, they are among my favorite improvements.

Regards,

- Erik

[Grotius]

Thanks for the replies, guys. Can't wait to dive in for more WITW goodness later this afternoon.