A few newbie questions

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brian800000
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RE: A few newbie questions

Post by brian800000 »

ORIGINAL: wdolson

The unit can have a total of 90 support squads.  It currently has 41 good squads and 17 understrength/disabled squads.  If given a chance, the disabled squads will repair, the missing squads will have to be replaced from the pool.

Bill

So if I have replacements off, eventually I will have 58 good squads in the unit, but if they are on I can get to 90?

This is very good to know. Does the 45/64 have any significance?
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RE: A few newbie questions

Post by Alfred »

The "64" = the percentage of the TOE currently in the unit
The "45" = the percentage of of the TOE which is fit for combat

Hence a unit with 100/100 = a unit fully fitted out to its TOE with all squads/devices fit and available for combat.

With replacements on, provided you have support squads available in the pools and the unit is located near a supply depot, then yes you will eventually have 90 support squads. Note each replacement support squad will cost you supply from the supply depot at the rate of 1 supply point per load cost.

Alfred
brian800000
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RE: A few newbie questions

Post by brian800000 »

ORIGINAL: Alfred

The "64" = the percentage of the TOE currently in the unit
The "45" = the percentage of of the TOE which is fit for combat

Hence a unit with 100/100 = a unit fully fitted out to its TOE with all squads/devices fit and available for combat.

With replacements on, provided you have support squads available in the pools and the unit is located near a supply depot, then yes you will eventually have 90 support squads. Note each replacement support squad will cost you supply from the supply depot at the rate of 1 supply point per load cost.

Alfred

Thanks, that is immensely helpful. What should I do to "heal" the disabled squads, and how long does that normally take?
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RE: A few newbie questions

Post by Alfred »

Best way to "heal" disabled squads is to:

(a) be in rest mode
(b) have "support required" in the green
(c) be not subject to disruption from enemy attack
(d) not be in a malaria hex
(e) have adequate supply
(f) not be fatigued

Not possible to give a definitive answer as to length of time for recovery. As a very rough rule of thumb, I operate on basis of 1 device "healed" each day.

In your specific query which is based on a Chinese HQ unit, you may have to retreat the unit all the way back to Chungking, but this depends on whether this unit can avoid combat (unlikely if it was mauled by a Japanese stack on the march in China) and is near to some other supply depot.

Alfred
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RE: A few newbie questions

Post by USSAmerica »

As for the top left corner, those are percentages of the unit's completely filled out size.  With 45/64, the unit has 64% of it's total TOE present in the unit and 45% of the total TOE is "active" or not disabled.

Edit: Dang, I'm really slow. Didn't realize there was another page with replies already. [:D]
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brian800000
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RE: A few newbie questions

Post by brian800000 »

ORIGINAL: Alfred

Best way to "heal" disabled squads is to:

(a) be in rest mode
(b) have "support required" in the green
(c) be not subject to disruption from enemy attack
(d) not be in a malaria hex
(e) have adequate supply
(f) not be fatigued

Not possible to give a definitive answer as to length of time for recovery. As a very rough rule of thumb, I operate on basis of 1 device "healed" each day.

In your specific query which is based on a Chinese HQ unit, you may have to retreat the unit all the way back to Chungking, but this depends on whether this unit can avoid combat (unlikely if it was mauled by a Japanese stack on the march in China) and is near to some other supply depot.

Alfred

Wow, that is quite difficult. Units in Malaria zones (say the Burma theater) are going to have real difficulties.

Does healing a disabled unit use supply or devices?
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RE: A few newbie questions

Post by Alfred »

ORIGINAL: brian800000

ORIGINAL: Alfred

Best way to "heal" disabled squads is to:

(a) be in rest mode
(b) have "support required" in the green
(c) be not subject to disruption from enemy attack
(d) not be in a malaria hex
(e) have adequate supply
(f) not be fatigued

Not possible to give a definitive answer as to length of time for recovery. As a very rough rule of thumb, I operate on basis of 1 device "healed" each day.

In your specific query which is based on a Chinese HQ unit, you may have to retreat the unit all the way back to Chungking, but this depends on whether this unit can avoid combat (unlikely if it was mauled by a Japanese stack on the march in China) and is near to some other supply depot.

Alfred

Wow, that is quite difficult. Units in Malaria zones (say the Burma theater) are going to have real difficulties.

Does healing a disabled unit use supply or devices?

You don't need all 6 conditions to be present in order to "heal" disabled devices. The rate at which they will "heal" is dependent on how many of those conditions are present. Of the six conditions, definitely the single most beneficial one is to have the unit in rest mode. What should be obvious is that it is very difficult for a unit to have no disabled devices if it is in contact with the enemy and subject to enemy activity.

Regarding your latest question:

"Does healing a disabled unit use supply or devices"

IMHO you will find it easier to understand LCUs (your original starting off point of a few posts back) once you understand the following point. Everything in a unit is a device. It is immaterial as to whether one is referring to a squad of men, artillery tubes or radar set, every line item listed in the TOE is a device. So 160 Chinese 1941 infantry squads = 160 devices, 8 40mm Bofors = 8 devices. Of itself a unit is not disabled but it has some disabled and some abled (= fit for combat) devices. Hence the answer to this question has already been previously answered.

Alfred
brian800000
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RE: A few newbie questions

Post by brian800000 »

ORIGINAL: Alfred

ORIGINAL: brian800000

ORIGINAL: Alfred

Best way to "heal" disabled squads is to:

(a) be in rest mode
(b) have "support required" in the green
(c) be not subject to disruption from enemy attack
(d) not be in a malaria hex
(e) have adequate supply
(f) not be fatigued

Not possible to give a definitive answer as to length of time for recovery. As a very rough rule of thumb, I operate on basis of 1 device "healed" each day.

In your specific query which is based on a Chinese HQ unit, you may have to retreat the unit all the way back to Chungking, but this depends on whether this unit can avoid combat (unlikely if it was mauled by a Japanese stack on the march in China) and is near to some other supply depot.

Alfred

Wow, that is quite difficult. Units in Malaria zones (say the Burma theater) are going to have real difficulties.

Does healing a disabled unit use supply or devices?

You don't need all 6 conditions to be present in order to "heal" disabled devices. The rate at which they will "heal" is dependent on how many of those conditions are present. Of the six conditions, definitely the single most beneficial one is to have the unit in rest mode. What should be obvious is that it is very difficult for a unit to have no disabled devices if it is in contact with the enemy and subject to enemy activity.

Regarding your latest question:

"Does healing a disabled unit use supply or devices"

IMHO you will find it easier to understand LCUs (your original starting off point of a few posts back) once you understand the following point. Everything in a unit is a device. It is immaterial as to whether one is referring to a squad of men, artillery tubes or radar set, every line item listed in the TOE is a device. So 160 Chinese 1941 infantry squads = 160 devices, 8 40mm Bofors = 8 devices. Of itself a unit is not disabled but it has some disabled and some abled (= fit for combat) devices. Hence the answer to this question has already been previously answered.

Alfred

Thanks Alfred, that is a big help.

When you mentioned that as a rule of thumb you assume one healed device per day, does that mean larger units are at a disadvantage? Some of my Chinese Corps are trashed, with a hundred + disabled units. Would it be better to divide them into divisions when I send them to Chungking for faster healing?

Also, there are some Chinese Corps that are just basically ruined. One I saw is at 3/3. I'm going to let those guys fight as they are: no way I can rebuild them with the supply situation/limitation on the number of troops. Is that a smart strategy?
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RE: A few newbie questions

Post by Alfred »

ORIGINAL: brian800000

When you mentioned that as a rule of thumb you assume one healed device per day, does that mean larger units are at a disadvantage? Some of my Chinese Corps are trashed, with a hundred + disabled units. Would it be better to divide them into divisions when I send them to Chungking for faster healing?

Can't speak from personal experience but from recollection in classical WITP, some players used to engage in such actions (and then quickly recombine) to gain fatigue + "healed" benefits.

Also, there are some Chinese Corps that are just basically ruined. One I saw is at 3/3. I'm going to let those guys fight as they are: no way I can rebuild them with the supply situation/limitation on the number of troops. Is that a smart strategy?

It can be a good strategy if you can get the 3/3 Chinese unit to surrender. Destroyed Chinese LCUs return 30 days later at Chungking at 1/3 strength without dipping into your pool devices. However if the Chinese LCU disappears as a result of attrition without combat, the unit does not return. With the latest beta patch, it might be possible to pay PPs to resurrect such a unit but you would then have to draw down your pools in order to build up the unit.

Alfred
brian800000
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RE: A few newbie questions

Post by brian800000 »

In my game against the AI, I'm moving into February 1942. I'm a bit interested in what is going to happen: I've sunk 150+ Japanese ships, probably 120 or so are Aks or Akls. I haven't done any real damage to the combat ships of Japan, but I'm curious as to the breaking point for Japanese cargo ships. I've counted the number they get and they are not going to have any left in another year and a half if they don't slow down their loss rate. Is this the normal way to cripple AI Japan?

Also, I've taken on a few battleships and those things seem to be invincible. In a surface engagement I hit one 59 times (the largest shell was 8 in). Another BB I hit with 9 1000 lb bombs from Dive Bombers. Both stayed afloat. What do you need to do to sink these things, sans torpedo? Was I at least in the ballpark?
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Bradley7735
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RE: A few newbie questions

Post by Bradley7735 »

ORIGINAL: brian800000

In my game against the AI, I'm moving into February 1942. I'm a bit interested in what is going to happen: I've sunk 150+ Japanese ships, probably 120 or so are Aks or Akls. I haven't done any real damage to the combat ships of Japan, but I'm curious as to the breaking point for Japanese cargo ships. I've counted the number they get and they are not going to have any left in another year and a half if they don't slow down their loss rate. Is this the normal way to cripple AI Japan?

Also, I've taken on a few battleships and those things seem to be invincible. In a surface engagement I hit one 59 times (the largest shell was 8 in). Another BB I hit with 9 1000 lb bombs from Dive Bombers. Both stayed afloat. What do you need to do to sink these things, sans torpedo? Was I at least in the ballpark?

BB's in general won't sink to bombs or gun hits smaller than 14". Yes, you can sink them with smaller weapons, but you need a lot of hits. I think 150 hits from smaller guns will do the job, and I sank a Japanese BB with about 20 to 24 1,000 lb bomb hits.

If you don't have the luxury of dropping massive numbers of bombs on a single BB, then you need torpedoes or BB caliber guns. You already know that USN torpedoes are not really up to the job in 42. Brit torpedoes can do the job fairly well. The only other option is to take them on in a BB vs BB fight.

In my experience, Taking on the IJN BB's in 42 (or any other year) with Allied BB's is a bad idea. I've had a lot of fights with 3-1 odds and came out significantly the loser. I've had some fights with 1-1 odds and came out with total losses. I only engage Japanese BB's if they are solo and are already damaged via air attack.
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brian800000
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RE: A few newbie questions

Post by brian800000 »

ORIGINAL: Bradley7735

ORIGINAL: brian800000

In my game against the AI, I'm moving into February 1942. I'm a bit interested in what is going to happen: I've sunk 150+ Japanese ships, probably 120 or so are Aks or Akls. I haven't done any real damage to the combat ships of Japan, but I'm curious as to the breaking point for Japanese cargo ships. I've counted the number they get and they are not going to have any left in another year and a half if they don't slow down their loss rate. Is this the normal way to cripple AI Japan?

Also, I've taken on a few battleships and those things seem to be invincible. In a surface engagement I hit one 59 times (the largest shell was 8 in). Another BB I hit with 9 1000 lb bombs from Dive Bombers. Both stayed afloat. What do you need to do to sink these things, sans torpedo? Was I at least in the ballpark?

BB's in general won't sink to bombs or gun hits smaller than 14". Yes, you can sink them with smaller weapons, but you need a lot of hits. I think 150 hits from smaller guns will do the job, and I sank a Japanese BB with about 20 to 24 1,000 lb bomb hits.

If you don't have the luxury of dropping massive numbers of bombs on a single BB, then you need torpedoes or BB caliber guns. You already know that USN torpedoes are not really up to the job in 42. Brit torpedoes can do the job fairly well. The only other option is to take them on in a BB vs BB fight.

In my experience, Taking on the IJN BB's in 42 (or any other year) with Allied BB's is a bad idea. I've had a lot of fights with 3-1 odds and came out significantly the loser. I've had some fights with 1-1 odds and came out with total losses. I only engage Japanese BB's if they are solo and are already damaged via air attack.

Wow--good to know and suprising. I was shocked that after 50+ hits from CAs, CLs, and DDs it didn't sink. I guess I wasn't even close.
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RE: A few newbie questions

Post by Bradley7735 »

ORIGINAL: brian800000

ORIGINAL: Bradley7735

ORIGINAL: brian800000

In my game against the AI, I'm moving into February 1942. I'm a bit interested in what is going to happen: I've sunk 150+ Japanese ships, probably 120 or so are Aks or Akls. I haven't done any real damage to the combat ships of Japan, but I'm curious as to the breaking point for Japanese cargo ships. I've counted the number they get and they are not going to have any left in another year and a half if they don't slow down their loss rate. Is this the normal way to cripple AI Japan?

Also, I've taken on a few battleships and those things seem to be invincible. In a surface engagement I hit one 59 times (the largest shell was 8 in). Another BB I hit with 9 1000 lb bombs from Dive Bombers. Both stayed afloat. What do you need to do to sink these things, sans torpedo? Was I at least in the ballpark?

BB's in general won't sink to bombs or gun hits smaller than 14". Yes, you can sink them with smaller weapons, but you need a lot of hits. I think 150 hits from smaller guns will do the job, and I sank a Japanese BB with about 20 to 24 1,000 lb bomb hits.

If you don't have the luxury of dropping massive numbers of bombs on a single BB, then you need torpedoes or BB caliber guns. You already know that USN torpedoes are not really up to the job in 42. Brit torpedoes can do the job fairly well. The only other option is to take them on in a BB vs BB fight.

In my experience, Taking on the IJN BB's in 42 (or any other year) with Allied BB's is a bad idea. I've had a lot of fights with 3-1 odds and came out significantly the loser. I've had some fights with 1-1 odds and came out with total losses. I only engage Japanese BB's if they are solo and are already damaged via air attack.

Wow--good to know and suprising. I was shocked that after 50+ hits from CAs, CLs, and DDs it didn't sink. I guess I wasn't even close.

To sink a ship, you have to get it to 100 float damage. To do that quickly, you have to penetrate the belt. None of those guns can penetrate the belt. Only Torpedoes or BB main guns can penetrate a BB belt armor.

You can sink a BB by continued hits to the superstructure, though. The superstructure is unarmored, so even a 20mm hit can, in theory, damage a BB. The more superstructure hits you get, the more fire damage that accumulates. If you get the fire level high enough, the ship will start taking float damage. Out of 150 hits, approx 1/3 of them will hit the superstructure. 50 hits to the superstructure can sink a BB through the fire damage.

Unfortunately, bombs dropped from planes can not target superstructure on ships. It's belt or deck only. And, bombs don't have the penetration to get through the armor. But, bombs do cause some fire damage, even if they don't penetrate. Enough bombs, and the fire gets high enough to sink it. Against a human, I wouldn't expect you to get 20+ hits with bombs on one BB. That takes 2-3 days and a human will race it out of danger, or ambush you with his carriers.
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brian800000
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RE: A few newbie questions

Post by brian800000 »

Well, I got 18 bomb hits on a BB before it got out of trouble. It doesn't seem like I sank it, but hopefully it will at least waste some time getting repairs.

I'm playing with the new beta patch, and the feature where you can recall destroyed ground units doesn't seem to be working for me. I can recall one unit, but the rest of my destroyed units say the cost is "not defined." I'm into February, so I believe enough time should have passed to recall some of these--does anyone know is going on/I'm doing wrong?
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RE: A few newbie questions

Post by obvert »

About LCU again.

I have many units that are growing beyond their 100 sizes. So something like 128/156.

Will this keep going if they are at rest?
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RE: A few newbie questions

Post by LoBaron »

Usually not.
There are some units which can grow beyond 100 but they are the exception.
 
Also be aware that the left number shows the current unit strenght, and the right number shows the
maximum strenght.
So in your example the limit would be 156.
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RE: A few newbie questions

Post by HansBolter »

ORIGINAL: Bradley7735


BB's in general won't sink to bombs or gun hits smaller than 14". Yes, you can sink them with smaller weapons, but you need a lot of hits. I think 150 hits from smaller guns will do the job, and I sank a Japanese BB with about 20 to 24 1,000 lb bomb hits.

If you don't have the luxury of dropping massive numbers of bombs on a single BB, then you need torpedoes or BB caliber guns. You already know that USN torpedoes are not really up to the job in 42. Brit torpedoes can do the job fairly well. The only other option is to take them on in a BB vs BB fight.

In my experience, Taking on the IJN BB's in 42 (or any other year) with Allied BB's is a bad idea. I've had a lot of fights with 3-1 odds and came out significantly the loser. I've had some fights with 1-1 odds and came out with total losses. I only engage Japanese BB's if they are solo and are already damaged via air attack.


My experience bears this out completely. The Yamato and Musashi came to Midway with only a single CVL as air cover. I converged with 4 carriers. After dispatching teh CVL I pummeled both with massive numbers of 1000lb bombs, none of which penetrated the armor, but sunk both ships nonetheless. 100 fire damage sinks a ship just as effectively as 100 flotation damage.

In the Bay of Bengal I used 4 WWI era British BBs to take on the Hie and Kirishima. The two Japanese BBs made mincemeat of the old Brit battlewagons. For some reason (perhaps poor fire direction) the Brits opened up with secondaries and peppered the Jap BBs with paint scrathcers and the Japs replied with extremely accurate 360cm gun fire. Anyone can do the math on that one.
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RE: A few newbie questions

Post by HansBolter »

ORIGINAL: brian800000

Well, I got 18 bomb hits on a BB before it got out of trouble. It doesn't seem like I sank it, but hopefully it will at least waste some time getting repairs.

I'm playing with the new beta patch, and the feature where you can recall destroyed ground units doesn't seem to be working for me. I can recall one unit, but the rest of my destroyed units say the cost is "not defined." I'm into February, so I believe enough time should have passed to recall some of these--does anyone know is going on/I'm doing wrong?


You have to click on them and get a new screen that show the units current stats to "Define" it and get it changed in the destroyed unit list which will now show its cost to rebuild.

Beware that if the Command it is attached to is shown in orange text in the info screen that means it is permanantly attached to that command and cannot be changed with PPs after it is rebuilt. I discovered this the hard way after rebuilding units that are now useless to me because they can never be shipped anywhere.

It's the little things like a lack of explanation of how to use these functions and what the nuances of their use are that is the biggest source of frustration for this player. Time and time again new features like this are added with only a listing of the feature itself and no explanation of how they work. Far too much of the learning curve in this game is left to trial and error.[:(]
Hans

brian800000
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RE: A few newbie questions

Post by brian800000 »

ORIGINAL: HansBolter

ORIGINAL: brian800000

Well, I got 18 bomb hits on a BB before it got out of trouble. It doesn't seem like I sank it, but hopefully it will at least waste some time getting repairs.

I'm playing with the new beta patch, and the feature where you can recall destroyed ground units doesn't seem to be working for me. I can recall one unit, but the rest of my destroyed units say the cost is "not defined." I'm into February, so I believe enough time should have passed to recall some of these--does anyone know is going on/I'm doing wrong?


You have to click on them and get a new screen that show the units current stats to "Define" it and get it changed in the destroyed unit list which will now show its cost to rebuild.

Beware that if the Command it is attached to is shown in orange text in the info screen that means it is permanantly attached to that command and cannot be changed with PPs after it is rebuilt. I discovered this the hard way after rebuilding units that are now useless to me because they can never be shipped anywhere.

It's the little things like a lack of explanation of how to use these functions and what the nuances of their use are that is the biggest source of frustration for this player. Time and time again new features like this are added with only a listing of the feature itself and no explanation of how they work. Far too much of the learning curve in this game is left to trial and error.[:(]

Thanks so much--this is something I doubt I would have figured out.
brian800000
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RE: A few newbie questions

Post by brian800000 »

A few more questions, which at this stage I hope are moving beyond the newbie stage:

1) I want my B17s to ground bomb singapore. I set them on that every turn. But half of them bomb random targets. What gives? (my provisional theory is that since I own singapore and the enemy there is out of supply, my commanders are deciding to bomb places they consider more useful).

2) Enemy troops are attacking Singapore. When they attack me, they are slaughtered. When I attack them--even though they are out of supply--I am slaughtered. We seem to be degenerating into a staring contest. This is the situation in much of China. Is this normal?

3) Enemy troops are in Singapore, but at this point I have retaken Jahore Bahru. I want to reinforce Jahore Bahru but my troops can't march out of Singapore (and supplies don't seem to be moving either). What gives?

4) I've been using AS tenders so I can reload subs from Manila and Townsville. It has been working like a dream. But they aren't working from Darwin. One of the tenders was disbanded in port with 1000 supply. What is going on?

5) I can't figure out airfield overstacking. I thought 9+ airfields were immune. However, Soerabaja has an airfield of 5 plus a five command radius air HQ, but can't take more than 10 units without the overstacking penalty. What gives? Similarly, Batavia has a command HQ radius 9 with an airfield of 5, but with more than 9 units it is getting a penalty (this may be due to the size of the planes, since most of the squadrons are B17s). But can someone explain these limits?
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