Matrix Games Forums

Prefernece: New player.

1) Ok I am attempting to get a perfect Tutorial and have a problem with the TF creation as follows:

Once I create my 1st TF from a port all is good. But, once I begin for form my 2nd+ TF all is not good as the ships I can pick from are all this ships in the hex (not just in the port mind you but the Port and all the previously created TF's). So when I am down to creating my 6th TF out of 11 or so (as an example) during the same turn I end up picking ships for my most current TF from ships already in other TF's ergo robbing them of ships. So when I am complete with all TF's created and go back to review the earlier ones to check for accuracy I find they are stripped of ships due to this problem.
Is there a way to ONLY pick ships from the PORT and never the TF's in the hex?
Is there a way to ONLY pick ships from the PORT when "transfering" ships (due to some mistake made during initial TF creation etc...)?
Is there a way to ONLY pick ships from the TF's when "transfering" ships and not the port?


2) When picking the commanding officer of a TF one can pick Auto pick but the choice is not always what you want. So I often do not allow the program to pick whom is in charge. If the computer picks then I will invariably feel the need to go back and pick another one but at that stage the list of potential officers is rather small. Why is this? Why a small list all of the sudden?
But if I pick the officer then this list is huge... with no (seemingly) order to it. So when attempting to find a rather rare officer, say a land invasion inclined one, it is no small affair to find a good one as the list is LONG and it can not be adjusted (seemingly) to filter all the land invasion officers to the top of the list etc... Is there something I'm missing here? Is thier a filter I don't know about?

Thanks!

Welcome aboard Whisper01 - get ready for a steep climb up the learning curve!
 
1)  TF Formation:  When you form the subsequent TF's the rightmost column on the ship screen gives the current location of the ships, whether in port or in another TF.  To avoid robbing ships out of TF's just be sure to pick ships that are still in port.  Is there a resolution issue on your screen where this column isn't visible?
 
2)  Leaders:  If you go down to the "Must Read" threads I believe there are some downloadable lists that highlight the specific abilities of different commanders.  Another point is TF nationality.  If you are playing the Allies, then the engine will designate a flagship and the TF CO will need to come from the flagship nationalities pool of officers.  For example, if the Tromp ends up as the flagship, you get the short list of Dutch officers while if Boise if the flagship, you get the prodigious list of USN officers.  There are three easy filters to apply without getting into downloads:
2.1)  You can click on leadership and the game will sort the leaders on that factor.  High leadership leaders tend to be pretty competent and you can find a suitable admiral pretty quickly.
2.2)  You can click on inspiration and the game will sort the leaders on that factor.  High inspiration leaders also tend to be pretty competent.
2.3)  You can click on name and the game will alphabetize the leaders on last name.  If you're a history buff you may recall particular leaders who have the historical reputation for competence and the game largely supports that.  You won't go too badly wrong with Buckmaster or Forrest Sherman or Halsey in command of carrier TF or Lee in command of the surface TF. 

1. When picking ships to N-th TF look to the right of the "list of available ships". The last column says Location of the ship. It is either "Port name" or "TFxxxx". Pick ships that have as location name of the port.
2. I dont use Auto pick leaders. Unfortunately in WITP there is no other sorting possible than name, leadership, inspiration, rank and points. So you have to manualy click on them to see what are their actual skills. Fortunately in WITP-AE it will be possible to sort them by those skills also (IIRC)

For TF formation, sort ships by location (just click on the location column), making sure you only pick ones whose location is listed as the base you are forming the TF from.

Welcome Wisper01.