Centuur and rkr1958: a production masterclass

[Centuur]

You've got maximum production.

But there are things you can do better...

First: let France sent the Indo Chinese resource to China and not the CW (during the lending stage). Send a fourth non oil resource from the CW to France. This saves a convoy point for the Wallies. And if you send a US convoy point into the South China Sea, you can send the one out of the Phillipines to China (that's even better).

Second: look at the resources which are being send to France. They are coming out of the UK and Canada. Those are not the best ones to be send to France. If you send the Cyprus and two Indian resources to France, check what is happening with the number of unused convoys.

Now you can return to base 29 unused convoy points. Next turn you will be able to send resources out of Australia to Europe, simply by giving France non oil resources out of the east...

[rkr1958]

ORIGINAL: warspite1

I will continue with the EoT once Centuur and rkr1958 have opined.


Meanwhile a question. If one puts convoys to sea and the program decides that it can't be arsed to put on Sentry, what is the latest time for amending this? I'm at PP stage and can't see how I can do it......

I'm tied up (figuratively not literally) this weekend and will defer to Master Centuur for this turn.

[warspite1]

ORIGINAL: rkr1958

ORIGINAL: warspite1

I will continue with the EoT once Centuur and rkr1958 have opined.


Meanwhile a question. If one puts convoys to sea and the program decides that it can't be arsed to put on Sentry, what is the latest time for amending this? I'm at PP stage and can't see how I can do it......

I'm tied up (figuratively not literally) this weekend and will defer to Master Centuur for this turn.

warspite1

Will do

[warspite1]

ORIGINAL: Centuur

You've got maximum production.

But there are things you can do better...

First: let France sent the Indo Chinese resource to China and not the CW (during the lending stage). Send a fourth non oil resource from the CW to France. This saves a convoy point for the Wallies. And if you send a US convoy point into the South China Sea, you can send the one out of the Phillipines to China (that's even better).

Second: look at the resources which are being send to France. They are coming out of the UK and Canada. Those are not the best ones to be send to France. If you send the Cyprus and two Indian resources to France, check what is happening with the number of unused convoys.

Now you can return to base 29 unused convoy points. Next turn you will be able to send resources out of Australia to Europe, simply by giving France non oil resources out of the east...

warspite1

Thank-you.

The second point is pertinent here and I will explore this next (I have to re-do the PP stage because of the sentry issue anyway).

The first point (if I have read you correctly) is that you are saying the CW could have chosen to send 4 non-oil resources the previous turn? If so that is good info - and useful in terms of how a player can think about the convoys - but not important for this exercise. That would mean working out what would be optimal for every turn and that is not what this is trying to achieve. Happy to receive these comments though because its all useful MWIF knowledge.

[warspite1]

Well here's another new MWIF experience. I was working through the game and when I went back into the program I got this. This is a first....

Any one got any ideas what I do now please?

[warspite1]

Problem now sorted I think. I'll pick up again in the week with a view to doing turn 3 next weekend.

[warspite1]

Nov/Dec 1939
Preliminary Planning

So let's look at the effect of Centuur's suggestion on the Allied convoys.

Although we have the maximum production/oil saving, we don't have the most efficient use of convoys.

[warspite1]

Nov/Dec 1939
Preliminary Planning

By switching the resources lent to France to Cyprus and India, there is an immediate saving of 6 convoys points.

[warspite1]

Nov/Dec 1939
Preliminary Planning

Comfortable I have the maximum BP and oil for the convoys in place, I now start closing down the forms.

Sadly I have to call a temporary halt again as when I got to Finalise Production, the two Soviet traded oil I placed to Save had gone to idle [&:]

[warspite1]

Nov/Dec 1939
Finalise Production (FP)

Germany

So I go back to the auto saved for US entry and run through again. I now get back to FP stage and am pleased to say that Germany looks good this time. Saved Oil Points are 2 (three at the end of Sep/Oct less the one used for reorganisation). And 5 controlled - that is the addition of the 3 saved this turn (see below).

Note the screenshot below is with the oil filter (bottom left hand box) ticked on. All 5 oil should be in Berlin and to check I click on 'Controlled' in the bottom box below. I will check this at the start of next turn to ensure the map ties up with the form.

[warspite1]

Nov/Dec 1939
Finalise Production (FP)

Italy

Italy remains straightforward at this stage. 3 oils - all saved in Milan. Italy will join the war next turn.

[warspite1]

Nov/Dec 1939
Finalise Production (FP)

Japan

I click on Saved oil Points - Controlled for Japan and this shows the 6 oil from the end of Sep/Oct + 2 saved this turn. There was no oil required for reorganisation.

Again I will need to check the map, but there should be oils in:
Sapporo x 2, Sendai, Tokyo, Nagoya, Yokohama and Canton x 2

[warspite1]

Nov/Dec 1939
Finalise Production (FP)

China

I don't bother showing China. All is as it should be with its one saved oil in Chungking.

Commonwealth

The Commonwealth looks good too. The saved at the start is 5 and controlled is 10. If you recall these numbers were 7 and 12 respectively at the Preliminary Production stage. The Commonwealth used 2 oil this turn to feed its navy.

There is a limit on oil storage for ports/cities/capitals and also there is a danger that oil is placed where it may be lost to enemy activity. The oil used for reorganisation was the 2 oil saved in Singapore in Sep/Oct. Oil is saved at:

Manchester, Coventry, Amman x 2, Rangoon x 2, Port of Spain x 2, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore

[warspite1]

Nov/Dec 1939
Finalise Production (FP)

France

France is all good. No oil points expended and so a continued 1-point increase in the saved oil.



United States and Soviet Union

No need to show either of these neutrals. They are on maximum production as per the PP screenshots 11 and 8 respectively with the maximum 1 oil saved (now up to 5 each) and no oil reorganisation required.

[warspite1]

Jan/Feb 1940

So far so good. I have checked all the oil locations and the map detail matches to the forms. Both the French and Soviets saved a build point - Toulouse and Moscow respectively.

So during this turn the Italians are going to enter the war and there will be some submarine action to try and break up the Western Allies comfortable convoys.

This will also allow some Germany to Italy trade agreement so that I can see if I can replicate the oil saved problems encountered in recent games.

[Shannon V. OKeets]

I don't know if anyone has mentioned this before. If so, I apologize for the redundancy.

China should save the oil with which it starts the game far to the west: Kasgar or Urumchi. There it will be safe from Axis attacks and the temptation to use/waste it for production.

[warspite1]

ORIGINAL: Shannon V. OKeets

I don't know if anyone has mentioned this before. If so, I apologize for the redundancy.

China should save the oil with which it starts the game far to the west: Kasgar or Urumchi. There it will be safe from Axis attacks and the temptation to use/waste it for production.

warspite1

As said to Centuur, if people want to chip in with their comments around the wider subject then of course they are welcome. However, this is not the focus of this thread.

I think it should be pointed out that saved oil can be moved. I will do that with the Chinese oil in line with the comments above.

[warspite1]

ORIGINAL: warspite1

Hi Steve - that's great. Just a couple of suggested amendments. Could we say (amendments suggested underlined):

"Oil received in trade this turn can't be used to reorganize units and isn't listed here. If 0.5 or less of an oil point remains, the entire oil point must be expended. Oil fully expended to reorganize units can't be be saved or used in production and so may affect your preliminary production planning".

I don't know whether there is space for this but just wanted to make the latter point in particular clear. This would stop a player thinking the program was at fault if he/she suddenly lost a build point or two between PP and finalisation - and not realising that oil usage in reorganisation can affect that planning.

warspite1

Steve - did you have any thoughts on this please?

[warspite1]

Question for Centuur and rkr1958

So on the first impulse of the Jan/Feb turn the Italians join the war and get lucky with attacks on the Allied convoys in the Med.

When something like this happens what action (if any) do you as the Allied player take?

My immediate thought would be to start checking the PP screens and seeing what effect the convoy loss has had. However, I am (rightly or wrongly) loathe to play around too much with the PP screen at this time because the program seems quite temperamental and sensitive to changes out of time.

Keen to know your thoughts please so that I can then do the next Allied impulse.

[Centuur]

ORIGINAL: warspite1

Question for Centuur and rkr1958

So on the first impulse of the Jan/Feb turn the Italians join the war and get lucky with attacks on the Allied convoys in the Med.

When something like this happens what action (if any) do you as the Allied player take?

My immediate thought would be to start checking the PP screens and seeing what effect the convoy loss has had. However, I am (rightly or wrongly) loathe to play around too much with the PP screen at this time because the program seems quite temperamental and sensitive to changes out of time.

Keen to know your thoughts please so that I can then do the next Allied impulse.

What I usually do is to see how much of the convoy line can be repaired, using surplus convoy points (and you have a lot of those now). Of course, you can look into the production planning form, but I would not make any changes to production at this stage. That's because next Axis impulse, the Axis might invoke more losses of convoys and that might mess up the changes you've made again.