Suggestions thread

[MechFO]

I thought it might be a good idea to create a consolidated thread on what could be improved.

My list:

- make the altitude visible in the combat report so one actually has an idea at what altitude the combats are taking place (this would also help to debug flak)

- make cities/airbases with (flak) attachments highlighted on the map. Right now it's a nightmare trying to keep track of where there are excess/unnecessary or holes in the flak coverage. The name list doesn't help, it's too big and there are too many small places I can't place precisely.

- set default supply to HQ's at higher than 1. I think 2 or 3 might be a good compromise. A lot of micro is spent in the beginning going around and changing anything (for that matter I'm glad to finally figure out why my units had *** supply!)

- do away with the HQ attachments of air units, handle it exclusively via the HQ of the airbase. AFAICS both fulfil the identical role, except for the unlikely case one would like to split operational control of the airbase from that of the stationed air units. Unnecessary micro.

- the default auto loadout of nearly all planes I've seen makes little sense. Fighters and FB in the fighter role should have auto loadouts that are as clean as possible, maybe with droptanks, but that's it (range tradeoff might not be worth performance penalty for Axis). Bombers/Tac should have the largest number of decently heavy bombs without droptanks as default. Again unnecessary micro to set everything up.

- maybe provide information what the default interception radius for fighters stationed at a base is.

- redo the auto upgrade routine or else at least enable a manual upgrade option for air units in the EF box. The AI likes to swap around various aircraft with great regularity, even if it makes little sense. This leads to pool surges which upset the replacement flow to the rest of the air force.

- give option to turn of upgrade swaps. I have lots of planes converting to useless night fighters 109G6/N or 190A5/U2, which I would rather keep as day fighters. I know i can still use them in that role but it fractures the pools and causes more micro for little gain.

- enable an Air Directory for night interception (to recreate Kammhuber line), even though current NF performance leaves much to be desired.

- provide some more information on the replacements system for EF. I'm losing hundreds of rifle squads every turn but hardly any replacements are being sent, even though I have plenty of MP and Armaments.

- provide additional information on why production is not taking place. I have lots of industry not producing because of resource shortages, even though total res production is more than ample. Without additional information I don't know what the possible problems are (8 turns into 43-45 campaign)

[Grotius]

I agree with several of your suggestions. I like the idea of making altitude visible in the combat report, and I too would like more info on replacements and why production isn't occurring.

But aren't some of your other concerns are already addressed in the game? Maybe it's different on the Allied side of things, because I've played the Germans only briefly (in the "Breakout" scenario). But my default HQ supply isn't 1. It's at least 2. For the Allies, Shift-O highlights flak in cities, and hitting Shift-O a second time highlights all flak. (Shift-oh, not Shift-Zero.) I like HQ attachments of air units. Doesn't the UI already tell us the "radius" of an aircraft? (I'd been wondering what "radius" means.) Also, you see range circles if you have the squadron selected.

[Grotius]

My own suggestions might include:

1. In the Commander's Report: a way to select "Rest" or "Train" or "Day/Night" or "Day Only" or "Night Only" for an entire group of squadrons with one mouseclick (the way WITP does it). In particular, I'd like to be able to show only squadrons with morale under 80, for example, and then set all of those to rest. (I've already suggested this elsewhere, and I think the devs are looking into it already.)

2. I hadn't thought about the aircraft loadout suggestion in the original post, but I wonder whether a Commander's Report filter could help with that, too.

3. In Air Planning, I'd like an easier way to match up my recon missions with my other missions so that they overlap. I know Shift Y does this to some extent. But when I'm plotting recon, is there a way for me to see where I've already plotted Bomb City or Ground Attack? Shift Y only shows me other recon missions when I'm plotting a new recon mission, doesn't it? Anyway, I'd suggest that once you've plotted a bombing mission against a center hex, that hex could be highlighted throughout the Air Planning phase -- maybe red for Bomb City, orange for Ground Attack. But I may be missing something obvious in the UI, and this is not that big a deal.

[Helpless]

- make the altitude visible in the combat report so one actually has an idea at what altitude the combats are taking place (this would also help to debug flak)

The problem is that flights taking part in the battle might have very different altitudes. It is possible to display averages, but we have to very creative to fit everything on battle screen.

- make cities/airbases with (flak) attachments highlighted on the map. Right now it's a nightmare trying to keep track of where there are excess/unnecessary or holes in the flak coverage. The name list doesn't help, it's too big and there are too many small places I can't place precisely.

Shift-o should display them. You may cycle though till you get city-only values.

- the default auto loadout of nearly all planes I've seen makes little sense. Fighters and FB in the fighter role should have auto loadouts that are as clean as possible, maybe with droptanks, but that's it (range tradeoff might not be worth performance penalty for Axis). Bombers/Tac should have the largest number of decently heavy bombs without droptanks as default. Again unnecessary micro to set everything up.

There is no default loud out as such. Automatic loud out shown used only during planning to provide the biggest coverage (if ammo/fuel permits). When flying loud outs picked depending on the mission and range to target. I.e. it won't pick DT if it is not needed. Also DT are usually dropped prior the combat if current position permits or escort passed rolls and starts aggressive chasing of intercepts.

- maybe provide information what the default interception radius for fighters stationed at a base is.

There is no default radius, it may even intercept on the extended range. In coming patch it will happen much more often.

- redo the auto upgrade routine or else at least enable a manual upgrade option for air units in the EF box. The AI likes to swap around various aircraft with great regularity, even if it makes little sense. This leads to pool surges which upset the replacement flow to the rest of the air force.

Some changes are done in coming patch. Also EF groups usually do not fill to the max and can pass swap out roll easier. W

- give option to turn of upgrade swaps. I have lots of planes converting to useless night fighters 109G6/N or 190A5/U2, which I would rather keep as day fighters. I know i can still use them in that role but it fractures the pools and causes more micro for little gain.

It can be swicthed off by setting AC change to manual.

- enable an Air Directory for night interception (to recreate Kammhuber line), even though current NF performance leaves much to be desired.

NF interception will be more active in coming patch. We planning to add night intruder missions, but this is nothing to do with day light AS we have now.

[Helpless]

1. In the Commander's Report: a way to select "Rest" or "Train" or "Day/Night" or "Day Only" or "Night Only" for an entire group of squadrons with one mouseclick (the way WITP does it). In particular, I'd like to be able to show only squadrons with morale under 80, for example, and then set all of those to rest. (I've already suggested this elsewhere, and I think the devs are looking into it already.)

There is a Replace function button on the top which does it for the selection. I'm planning to add extra morale/exp filters.

2. I hadn't thought about the aircraft loadout suggestion in the original post, but I wonder whether a Commander's Report filter could help with that, too.

Loud out filter allows you to display them and select groups depending on the setting.

3. In Air Planning, I'd like an easier way to match up my recon missions with my other missions so that they overlap. I know Shift Y does this to some extent. But when I'm plotting recon, is there a way for me to see where I've already plotted Bomb City or Ground Attack? Shift Y only shows me other recon missions when I'm plotting a new recon mission, doesn't it? Anyway, I'd suggest that once you've plotted a bombing mission against a center hex, that hex could be highlighted throughout the Air Planning phase -- maybe red for Bomb City, orange for Ground Attack. But I may be missing something obvious in the UI, and this is not that big a deal.

It is possible to have linked ADs. Shouldn't be too hard. As for now, bombers do some reconnig (damage assessment) after the strike, so having extra recon after the strike is not so critical as prior recon.

[MechFO]

ORIGINAL: Helpless

- make cities/airbases with (flak) attachments highlighted on the map. Right now it's a nightmare trying to keep track of where there are excess/unnecessary or holes in the flak coverage. The name list doesn't help, it's too big and there are too many small places I can't place precisely.

Shift-o should display them. You may cycle though till you get city-only values.

Apologies for the RTFM question. Missed that.

ORIGINAL: Helpless

- the default auto loadout of nearly all planes I've seen makes little sense. Fighters and FB in the fighter role should have auto loadouts that are as clean as possible, maybe with droptanks, but that's it (range tradeoff might not be worth performance penalty for Axis). Bombers/Tac should have the largest number of decently heavy bombs without droptanks as default. Again unnecessary micro to set everything up.

There is no default loud out as such. Automatic loud out shown used only during planning to provide the biggest coverage (if ammo/fuel permits). When flying loud outs picked depending on the mission and range to target. I.e. it won't pick DT if it is not needed. Also DT are usually dropped prior the combat if current position permits or escort passed rolls and starts aggressive chasing of intercepts.

I see, that's good to know.

Do the gun pod load outs of Axis fighters also get chosen automatically?
On what criteria are bomb load outs chosen when there are multiple possibilities (f.e. 32x50kg vs 8x250kg vs 2x1000kg)?

ORIGINAL: Helpless

- redo the auto upgrade routine or else at least enable a manual upgrade option for air units in the EF box. The AI likes to swap around various aircraft with great regularity, even if it makes little sense. This leads to pool surges which upset the replacement flow to the rest of the air force.

Some changes are done in coming patch. Also EF groups usually do not fill to the max and can pass swap out roll easier. W

Thanks, I will see how it's then. From a players perspective I'd actually want it the other way round, low swap chances but replacements keeping the units at a decent strength (70-80%). As there are no useless planes within the same category I also don't see the danger of excessively gaming the system.

ORIGINAL: Helpless

- give option to turn of upgrade swaps. I have lots of planes converting to useless night fighters 109G6/N or 190A5/U2, which I would rather keep as day fighters. I know i can still use them in that role but it fractures the pools and causes more micro for little gain.

It can be swicthed off by setting AC change to manual.

I meant the swaps happening as part of the production system, when items are exported and upgraded.

[Helpless]

Do the gun pod load outs of Axis fighters also get chosen automatically?

Automatic loud out code is not aware of extra gun pods as it deals with mostly device characteristics. So if it is part of high range (DT) loud out it might get selected. Otherwise you need to do manual to make sure it will be in.

On what criteria are bomb load outs chosen when there are multiple possibilities (f.e. 32x50kg vs 8x250kg vs 2x1000kg)?

Depends on the range and ammo stock. If you are low on ammo or fuel (<50%) it select the one with the least sortie ammo or fuel mod. First it tries to select bomb load with biggest "effect", if it is not in range is tries to select the one with lowest endurance penalty (reduced bomb load).

I meant the swaps happening as part of the production system, when items are exported and upgraded.

Adding extra group level setting is something we trying to avoid. It is possible to make combined switch, but it adds extra complexity which I'm not sure is worth the benefits.

[Radagy]

May be I missed something, but I would enjoy a chat box to send a few words to my opponent when playing on a Slitherine Server.

[Helpless]

May be I missed something, but I would enjoy a chat box to send a few words to my opponent when playing on a Slitherine Server.

We are investigating such possibility. No promise for the real chat, but it should be possible to leave some SMS.

[Radagy]

Yeah, thanks. Even a few characters should do the trick.

[MechFO]

ORIGINAL: Helpless

I meant the swaps happening as part of the production system, when items are exported and upgraded.

Adding extra group level setting is something we trying to avoid. It is possible to make combined switch, but it adds extra complexity which I'm not sure is worth the benefits.

I think we are talking past each other. I mean the special upgrades to G6/N and A5/U2. Though they seem to have a hard limit so the impact is not as bad as I feared initially.


Some more points:

- lower the AP requirement for flak redeployment if outside Germany/Italy(prior to surrender). I don't see a French city getting much say if part of it's flak cover gets withdrawn, and the current AP limits mean that all flak is frozen in place, even when in occupied countries.

- eliminate the AP cost for flak redeployment if attached to a town with only an airbase (named location with no Pop), right now these should probably count as pure airbase defences (attached to the airbase instead of the town) and it makes shifting around the airforce artificially hard since no flak defences can go with them.

- have an option to attach all empty airbases to a specific HQ.

- make it possible to see which air units participated in a combat during the current turn. Right now it's quite a hunt to try and figure that out unless it suffered catastrophic losses.

Some problems:

- look at the replacements system? Even with putting several divisions on refit in both east and west(at national level 4 depots), hardly any replacements are flowing even though I have some huge pool numbers (1000+ panzershrek, 1500+ 20mm AA, 1600 81mm mortars, 1000+ 75mmAT, 33k Manpower and lots of armaments).

- I have depots in the East of the map using huge numbers of trucks over several turns? I have no idea of what is going on.

Danzig 15'500
Koenigsberg 10'000
Bucharest 24'000
Lodz 13'000
Ploesti 10'000
Kuressare 2'500 (an island with literally nothing on it, this used to be over 15'000 until I built a depot in Riga, but I have no idea what it is supposed to be supplying)

Ploesti has a few fighter units right next door, but nothing else is east of Berlin/Vienna except for some scattered flak.


Some errata:

- add the Fw190A/U12 as a special upgrade variant (with it's pods), and the Me410B (seems to be missing entirely)

- your accuracy numbers seem to have the 30mm Mk108 (low velocity) and the 30mm Mk103 (high velocity) mixed up.



- your scenario designer probably already has the info but in case he doesn't here are the actual monthly LW strength reports http://www.ww2.dk/oob/bestand/flugbew.htm

[marion61]

+1

[Denniss]

Eliminating (or just 1 AP) the cost for (re-) moving Flak to non-population locations/town sounds ok, especially if not in the area of the Reich.

We can't model every special aircraft model, the 4x underwing guns of the Fw 190A-5/U12 were disliked by the pilots and seldomly used, the planned /R1 version of A-6 to A-8 were stricken from the production list, unsure how many such gunpods were ever used operationally.
All the Me 410B offered over theMe 410A was replacing fwd 7.92mm guns by 13mm ones. Both weren't of much use vs bombers anyway and may have been removed to save weight (especially if equipped with multi-cannon packs in the bombbay.

The aircraft gun data has been taken over from Bombing the Reich, the accuracy value seems to be more of a misnomer for rate of fire than actual gun accuracy. For WitE I recalculated the guns to factor-in muzzle velocity and ended up with 16 accuracy for the MK 103 (+3) and 15 for MK 108(-3) with the latter having 1000 less range.

With your replacements, please ensure your manpower is in the active pool (ready for action), not in the transfer pool (on the way back from service)

[MechFO]

ORIGINAL: Denniss

We can't model every special aircraft model, the 4x underwing guns of the Fw 190A-5/U12 were disliked by the pilots and seldomly used, the planned /R1 version of A-6 to A-8 were stricken from the production list, unsure how many such gunpods were ever used operationally.

All the Me 410B offered over theMe 410A was replacing fwd 7.92mm guns by 13mm ones. Both weren't of much use vs bombers anyway and may have been removed to save weight (especially if equipped with multi-cannon packs in the bombbay.

Fair enough, just thought I'd mention it since other more exotic/no in game difference variants are in.

The only pictorial evidence is with A5/U12, though first time I actually hear that the later variants were stricken from the production lists. I do know the packs were officially withdrawn from service in March/April 44.

ORIGINAL: Denniss
The aircraft gun data has been taken over from Bombing the Reich, the accuracy value seems to be more of a misnomer for rate of fire than actual gun accuracy. For WitE I recalculated the guns to factor-in muzzle velocity and ended up with 16 accuracy for the MK 103 (+3) and 15 for MK 108(-3) with the latter having 1000 less range.

That seems more plausible, Acc being a ROF proxy explains a lot. Any idea when the recalculated data will get into WITW?

Also did you look at effect ratings as well?

ORIGINAL: Denniss
With your replacements, please ensure your manpower is in the active pool (ready for action), not in the transfer pool (on the way back from service)

Something fishy is definitely going on. Huge pools of various items by turn 16 of the 43-45 campaign, several depleted divisions in the East and West(on national supply centers) on refit but hardly anything is flowing. I would say the real anomalies started with the TOE upgrades to Inf 44a/b, but even Inf Divs at 40-50 TOE on refit are not receiving anything over 2-3 turns. Looks like the production system is producing according to demand but nothing is getting shipped. Should I post in Tech Support?

[Erik Rutins]

ORIGINAL: MechFO
Something fishy is definitely going on. Huge pools of various items by turn 16 of the 43-45 campaign, several depleted divisions in the East and West(on national supply centers) on refit but hardly anything is flowing. I would say the real anomalies started with the TOE upgrades to Inf 44a/b, but even Inf Divs at 40-50 TOE on refit are not receiving anything over 2-3 turns. Looks like the production system is producing according to demand but nothing is getting shipped. Should I post in Tech Support?

What are your Supply Priorities set to in your HQs for those units? What does the Supply Detail for those units say about why they are not receiving replacements? Odds are your Supply Priority is too low. Also, if refitting, park them on a Depot hex behind the lines, it will help.

Regards,

- Erik

[MechFO]

ORIGINAL: Erik Rutins

ORIGINAL: MechFO
Something fishy is definitely going on. Huge pools of various items by turn 16 of the 43-45 campaign, several depleted divisions in the East and West(on national supply centers) on refit but hardly anything is flowing. I would say the real anomalies started with the TOE upgrades to Inf 44a/b, but even Inf Divs at 40-50 TOE on refit are not receiving anything over 2-3 turns. Looks like the production system is producing according to demand but nothing is getting shipped. Should I post in Tech Support?

What are your Supply Priorities set to in your HQs for those units? What does the Supply Detail for those units say about why they are not receiving replacements? Odds are your Supply Priority is too low. Also, if refitting, park them on a Depot hex behind the lines, it will help.

Regards,

- Erik

EDIT: posted thread in tech support

[Denniss]

MechFO: Please open a thread in the Tech Support sub forum and attach a save. This may be something for Pavel to investigate.

[marion61]

I had this written down before beta ended, but "the dog ate my homework" and I just found it today. I wanted to ask why there is not, and are there any plans for random weather as an option?

[parusski]

ORIGINAL: Denniss

Eliminating (or just 1 AP) the cost for (re-) moving Flak to non-population locations/town sounds ok, especially if not in the area of the Reich.

Yes, yes, yes.

[bairdlander2]

EF arrivals.They should arrive close to OKW hq not in the middle of the Alps.