New player needs some help!

[Yggdrasill]

Hi everybody, I'm quite new to the world of UV and there are still a lot of issues I need answered. But for now, I need some advice regarding custom scenarios.

So here goes...
I tried building a custom scen based on South from Rabaul (I think it is number 19). I would like to extend the game into early 1944 (probably till June). You guessed it, I'd like to reenact the Marianas Turkey Shoot, albeit at a different location. To that end, I created additonal ships for Japan (several destroyers Akizuki class, plus Taiho CV which I based on the Shokaku class), and US (several CAs and a few additonal Essex CVs). I set the delay for those ships at about 700 turns, and the number of turns at 850. However...

When I open the Intel screen while playing the scenario, and look up the Ship Availability screen, these ships are not listed as... well they just don't exist! Is that perhaps because the game doesn't allow for scenarios, whether 'official' or custom-made, to be extended beyond 31.12.1943? Does a scenario come to an abrupt halt at that date regardles of the number of turns I set in the Scen Editor? Or am I simply doing something wrong?

Also, why is Kaga's top speed only 28 knots? It should be 32 kts. I am absolutely sure of that.
Why do Japanese CV have less aircraft capacity than they shoul have (for example Soryu/Hiryu class, instead of 72 they have only 63 air capacity). Again I'm not ball-parking these figures, virtually every source I have at my disposal tells me so.
Is there any way of modify the ship classes, so I could change at least the speed of Kaga CV?

One final question. Advanced Japanese fighter planes, George, Frank and Tojo, as far as I see, initially do not equip a single air unit. So how (and when) do they appear? Do they perhaps replace older Ki-43s in mid to late '44 in air units that are initially equiped with these older type planes? And if the game does not extend beyond 31.12.43 (see above) how in the world can Frank even become available, since it was a 1944 plane? If so, why does it even exist in the game roster?
I'd like to add a few custom made Sentais to the OOB for my custom scenario, equiped with Tojos and Georges, and I'd like to activate them in mid '43 (as they historically become available). However, I do not know if the game will allow for replacement aircraft of that type to appear in the replacement pool at that time. Where can I find and perhaps change the aircraft rate of replacement? This is not available throug the scenario editor!


Hope somebody can help.

[Desertmole]

I can answer your questions about the Japanese carriers. First, Kaga was slower thant the Akagi. She was built on a battleship hull that had a rated speed of 27 knots. Akagi was built on a battlecruiser hull with a speed of 30 knots. A good, though dated source is Breyer's Battleships and Battlecruisers 1905-1970. [:)]

Capacity is a rule of thumb thing. Soryu and Hiryu normally carried an operational group of 63 aircraft in combat, but could carry 9 spares in semi-dismantled state. It took a few hours to get them operational. They only did this in the Pearl Harbor raid, carrying, IIRC, 3 extra Zeros. IIRC the extra Zeros were made operational and flown as a part of the CAP after the first wave left for Pearl, so that more fighters could be sent with the strike groups. At Midway, they used the space to carry extra Zeros that would have been flown to Midway after capture. I think the designers used traditional numbers instead of book capacities.[:(]

The sources on the US carriers usually say something similar. For example, Silverstone's US Warships of WWII said the Yorktowns carried 100 a/c. That may have been possible in 1936-7, but by 1942, the planes were bigger and heavier, and took up more space. That is why they are rated at 90. The biggest operational groups were generally 84-87 a/c - 36 VF, 36 VSB and 12-15 VT. Yorktown deployed to the Pacific carrying 129 aircraft, but operations were very, very limited, and the deck crew was very overworked to provide limited CAP and ASW patrols, since every time they launched or landed they had to jockey several a/c around to clear sufficient space for operations. [X(]