Matrix Games Forums

Hallo there! I'm a new convert to this game and I must say that I'm fascinated by the detail. But like every newbe, I got a series of questions.

Naval warfare

1) There are a lot of ships called ....tender. What exactly is their role in game? Ex seaplane tenders for the allies, where do you put them? Do they repair ships etc?

2) These type of ships, should they be deployed in the harbour (ie accessed through the anchor icon) or should they be created as an indipendent TF in port?

3) same as above for the ARs. Where should I deploy repair ships?

4) Naval resupply: If I create a replenishment TF and have another TF (any type) in the same hex, the latter should take fuel and ammo from the former, right?

Land warfare

1) One problem I 'm finding in defending India is that land units take ages to arrive from one point to another, especially the non motorised units. Do they slow down (I'm getting this impression) or is it the fatigue? Sometimes its been whole weeks of marching and yet the units seem to remain in place. Ironically I got a Japanese division which is moving rapidly towards Imphal and I can't seem to slow it down...

2) The weak Indian Divisions found at the begining of the scenario, will they be reinforced over time? They are no match one to one to the Japanese formations.

3) Which sort of attack is best used with Tanks? Shock or deliberate?

4) Is there a way to free up some of the Australian formations of Australia command except by changing their parent HQ spending political points (which is impossible at the beginning of the game)? In fact I only managed to change the HQ's of the Tank regiments present in Brisbane and sent them to Rabaul which kind of made the Japanese pause, so...

5) what is the intrinsic value of HQ's? do their support units help in the recuperation of units?

6) What is the difference between different base units? Some seem to be more geared to build bases while others are more of support units. Also does fatigue effect their performance?

Air warfare

1) to upgrade a squadron, do I need to put it on an advanced airfield + supplies, or just need supplies?

2) Ok this is a silly one but since I'm asking.... in the upgrade list, the most advanced planes are at the bottom, right? [:)] Those are the ones that I should aim at having, right?

3) How can I switch off production of aircraft? I got enough Wirraways to equip an air army by now...

Thanks in advance. [:)]

Welcome to the Pacific..

In answer to part of your questions.....Seaplane tenders and AR's should be kept in a port.

Seaplane tenders give aviation support to seaplanes, at that port.

AR units repair damage on ships in the same port, and the AR must be "parked".

NOTE:Having engineer units at the port will also assist in repairing damage to ships!

Yeahh, if i don't make a mistake, we got a new french threadster brother!
Bienvenue parmi nous, vieux ! [;)]

N'hésite pas a poser toutes les questions qui te passent par la tete: quelqu'un finira toujours par te répondre, et si cela reste flou pour toi, demande des precisions, tu en auras. C'est un forum que je trouve personnellement tres amical, donc, n'hésite pas.

And welcome again

I'm actually Maltese, which would make me possibly one of a very few such on these boards! [;)]

What is meant by support though? Does it mean repairs etc? or something else completely?

As to the repairs: so AR's stay in port but should damaged ships be parked in port as well or should they be all put in a TF and given the dock TF order?

Tnx again

Welcome!
 
I will take a crack at trying to answer some of your questions. I am sure more people will chime in.
 
Naval:
 
1) The seaplane tenders, for example, support patrol planes. The AVs have a higher support capacity than the AVDs. You can place them at dot hexes or small bases where you do not have a base force and they will support the patrol planes (PBYs, etc.) to get eyes out.
 
2) In either case they provide support. In a dot hex or a port size less than 3 they will need to be in a TF to provide the support at that base.
 
3) Repair ships are for repairing your damaged ships. They assist in repairs for up to four ships at a time. You can place them in a port but tactically you as a player should best determine how to employ them (port size 3 near the front lines where there is heavy action or port size >5 behind the front lines to make ships seaworthy for sending back to the repair yards for further reparis or back in the repair yard ports to increase the speed of repair.
 
4) Try going to the TF that you want resupplied and click on the replenish TF at sea button towards the right side of the box and that should transfer the supplies from the replenishment TF to the TF needing supplies.
 
Land:
 
1) I assume you are playing the AI. The AI gets some movement bonuses when controlling a side so in this case the Jap AI has a "speed" advantage on you. Also, fatigue and disruption of your units impact the movement rate (fatigue predominantly) so the higher the fatigue the slower you will move. Cross country and road movement is significantly different as I am sure you could surmise.
 
2) The replacement rates for the Indian Divisions is slow. Supply affects ability to receive replacements too so if you have your units at the front and supply is being consumed for operations you may not be getting the replacements that rear echelons are getting. One way to work this is turn off replacements for most units and concentrate on one or two at a time to build them up and when they get strong enough switch and repeat the process.
 
3) Tanks can do both. Deliberate attack is more methodical and shock is balls to the wall all out attack. Each tactical battle should be weighed independently as to defender strength, defender fort levels, attacker fatigue and disruption, combat odds, etc to determine best method of attack. With a shock attack you have the option of advance after combat should the defender retreat. This simulates the pursuit and exploitation portion of an attack.
 
4) No, you have to spend PPs to change command. The Australia Command as well as a few others are restricted commands.
 
5) HQs have some effect on combat but the support squads help with the units that do not have intrinsic support. Others can comment more on this.
 
6) Base units generally provide the same type benefit.....support for units such as air units (aviation squads), some AA defense for the base, additional ground support squads like in 5) above, etc.
 
Air:
 
1) Supplies are normally the opredominant factor however being close to the parent HQ can affect ability to change as well. In the manual it describes the either or situations for upgrades.
 
2) Take a close look at the aircraft in the database screens. Some you may not want to upgrade to and skip over them for better planes coming in the near future. There have been debates about the differences and which is best but it is a players choice as to what they think will work best with their strategy.
 
3) Can't switch off or change production for allies.
  

Sorry about confusion,your name sound so french.......[:o]

Support: theses squads don't repair anything: they help the others sqads to act properly: you can see support squads in many troops (HQ, lands units, engineers, bases, and so on).
If a land combat unit don't have enough support troops (show on the troop window, on the left; not enough would show in red), it's troops won't fight well and suffer a loss of effect.
For others troops, i suspect that it's a bit the same: the unit won't act at it's maximum effect, for engineers building base or forts, for Anti Air guns, and so on.
Most HQ are "only" support troops to put in the same hex as the others units.
If my explanations are not enough, just wait, a veteran will end reading this post and add commentary [:)]

Edit: see....just the time to write my post, and some vets are answering !! [:)]

Air Questions;

1: 20,000 supply or air HQ, also have to have aircraft available. e.g for 24 A/C unit you need over 24 (or more) upgrading A/C available.

2: Is normally the case, but remember A/C on bottom of list could be years away.

3: Can’t switch off A/C production for Allied player, can only ‘fiddle with’ Japanese production.

EDIT;Welcome to the Game, and may the dice roll be kind to you.

DP.

Thanks for the answers! [:)]

So basically I can use the tender ship classes to extend the range of operations of the units (ex PTs, subs etc). Hehe the Japanese will get a nasty surprise around Rabaul then when I put an AGP and an oiler between Rabaul and Truk! I just love raiding with PTs!

With regards to land units, then it is better to route them along roads. It seems that the AI simply shirks away from countryside hexes. By the way, are there any tried and tested ways of reducing fatigue except for stopping the units for a rest?

@gladiott: no problem. [:)] Je parle seulment un peu du Francais mais je comprende le langue. Je n'avez pas parlez Francais plus de 15 ans...[:o]

Welcome to the club! You will now have far less time to live your life [:D]

Welcome aboard, Offworlder. [8D]

ORIGINAL: Offworlder

I'm actually Maltese, which would make me possibly one of a very few such on these boards! [;)]

What is meant by support though? Does it mean repairs etc? or something else completely?

As to the repairs: so AR's stay in port but should damaged ships be parked in port as well or should they be all put in a TF and given the dock TF order?

Tnx again

I know what you mean as i've not seen anyone else from Gibraltar on the boards either

ORIGINAL: Tallyman662


Land:

1) I assume you are playing the AI. The AI gets some movement bonuses when controlling a side so in this case the Jap AI has a "speed" advantage on you. Also, fatigue and disruption of your units impact the movement rate (fatigue predominantly) so the higher the fatigue the slower you will move. Cross country and road movement is significantly different as I am sure you could surmise.

To expand on this a bit. Supply levels and supply lines are very important as to move speed and unit fatigue and disruption once they arrive. The march from base needs to be well supplied, and use the 'w' key (IIRC) to check the supply line from your unit back to friendly bases (Allied conctrolled hexes will have an A, Japanese a J, some will have both to show contested, and some will have none as nuetral). The more open paths you have from friendly bases to the marching units, the better.

Supply levels that are in the red on the unit view means there is not enough supply. And units low on supply have poor morale, higher disruption and higher fatigue levels.

Another avenue you can use to help with unit supplies is using transport planes to increase unit supply levels. This is not ideal, but can be used to supplement overland supply. You most likely cannot keep a unit at full supply via air transport, but it won't run completely out.

5) HQs have some effect on combat but the support squads help with the units that do not have intrinsic support. Others can comment more on this.

HQs will really help with morale, disruption and fatigue issues, improving each. In my experience, having a HQ unit in the same hex as your attacking forces gives you a slight bonus in the odds, but not anythign that will make up for poor units etc.

Hi Offworlder,

It is a grand game. Spend a bit of time reading some of the "must read" threads. They are rich in information. I second Gladiatt's strong words of support about the value of the forum. I have received a great deal of help from the WITP community. (In my experience, it is better to ask only a question or two in each posting. That way you get more focused answers. It also makes it easier to select a tipic name that makes sense.)

So bien venue, or whatever they say in Malta!

Hi Offworlder,
AW offworlder,

I am Maltese to ! welcome to witp and forget u have a life lol. merhba ghalik offlander. I have been playing witp for the past 3 years and been addicted for the same amount.

If u need any help PM me and I will help u.

BTW if u like strategy this is the ultimate game !

Abandon all hope all ye who enter here !



CHE200

Support has different meanings, depending upon the application.
 
Aviation Support (provided by Aviation support squads and seaplane tenders) basically repairs damaged aircraft. If you have more aircraft in a base than aviation support, some of those aircraft are not going to get repaired. Exception: you never need more than 250 aviation support in any one location.
 
Ground unit support is provided by Support squads. Almost every ground unit has some support squads intrinsic to that unit, but most units do not have enough support squads. You will find extra support squads in HQ and Base Force units. If you do not have enough ground support squads, your units will lose effectiveness - their fatigue will increase, their morale will decrease and squads will become disabled. These problems increase at malarial bases.
 
You need to read the portion of the manual dealing with naval replenishment, because the various tenders are needed for reloading certain weapon systems. I am writing this during my lunch hour at work, so do not trust the following numbers to be the absolute truth - I am running from a foggy memory:
 
Sub tenders (AS) are required to reload torpedoes on submarines in any port that is smaller than a level 8 port. Sub tenders also help repair damaged sumarines.
 
Destroyer tenders (AD) are required to reload torpedoes on non-PT surface ships in any port than is smaller than a level 8 port. Destroyer tenders also help repair damaged destroyers.
 
PT boat tenders (AGP) are required to reload torpedoes on PT boats in any port that is smaller than a level 3 port.
 
 
Seaplane tenders (AV, AVD) merely provide aviation support to seaplanes only. They do not provide aviation support to any land based aircraft. These will provide aviation support at any size base, even teh level 0 "dot bases". They do not meed to be anchored (disbanded in port) to provide this support.
 
Replenishment TFs will refuel any ship from their AOs at sea, but to replenish ship ammunition from the AEs you will need to have those TFs in a port (at least until 1945, after that they will replenish ships at sea). I am pretty sure that only the smaller guns are reloaded at sea, but this could be false information.
 
Be careful about sending your tenders to forward areas without proper fighter protection. The IJN Betties and Nells will sink them faster than you can say Oh s***! if you don't give them protection.

Welcome to "our" world.

Many of your questions can be answered by reading the "Must Read" thread.

tm.asp?m=1274014

I often go back here for answers and was there today looking up stuff on China.

Offworlder...  Quick!  Run for your life!  If you value anything in this world you'll listen to me...  before it's too late!
 
...they're coming for me... 
  
        == SBD dive bombing Kaga == 
               == EXPLOSION BELOW DECK ==
                          == FIRE ==
 
God I love this stuff...
 
Aloid

ORIGINAL: Aloid

Offworlder...  Quick!  Run for your life!  If you value anything in this world you'll listen to me...  before it's too late!

...they're coming for me... 
 
       == SBD dive bombing Kaga == 
              == EXPLOSION BELOW DECK ==
                         == FIRE ==

God I love this stuff...

Aloid

Of course, being a big JFB, I find that concerning and the following to be much more rewarding...

Sub attack near Sydney at 38,125

Japanese Ships
SS I-156

Allied Ships
TK Empire Druid, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
DD Evertsen
DD Van Ghent

And got away clean. [:D]

One amazing thing about this game (among many) is those combat status' (Torpedo hit, explosion below deck, critical damage, etc.)...

they first pulled me into Grigsby's games back with Guadalcanal Campaign on the early '80s.

All the graphics in the world still don't beat it. IIRC the critical hits used to flash back in the Apple ][ days.

ORIGINAL: Offworlder

I'm actually Maltese, which would make me possibly one of a very few such on these boards! [;)]

What is meant by support though? Does it mean repairs etc? or something else completely?

As to the repairs: so AR's stay in port but should damaged ships be parked in port as well or should they be all put in a TF and given the dock TF order?

Tnx again

Very nice to have you on board. And the rest of your life now belongs to us.