Questions & Comments

[Owl]

Yahoo, game arrived finally and patched (from 2.0 to 2.) :rolleyes: then to 2.11. Took a while (and yes I should'a come here first) but it's working.

Initial comments - I was surprised that even with fog of war on I got carrier and ship names/classes listed on the attacks. Late at night with nothing around (I am playing Japanese) I get a "Lexington sunk" notice.
IMO I would like to see a mode where I don't know what carrier was attacked, or BB or CA, etc. This way all I'd know is some carrier was reported to be hit and burning. Next attack I could find another carrier or the same one - not necessarily know if it's a new one or same one! In other words I want MORE fog of war, more un-knowns.
That midnight report of sinking too was (to me) unfortunate - I would rather wonder if I'd sunk her or not, or if she's gonna return for revenge later!

Now to questions: Japanese ASW - even putting AV float planes ALL on ASW and keeping them near my other task forces I rarely get contact on a sub. Second, is it possible for the japanese to SINK them? I know historically the Japanese had trouble, suppose my frustration is realistic!
Are spotted subs less efficient? **** things cause me fits!
Attacking Port Morseby - do the air attacks destroy planes on the ground - do I get bombers on the ground? Taking down the Dauntless at PM is a priorty, not sure how to do it other than to move a CV TF into range and put all cap on and bait them in.

Last comment - wow. Great game. Overwhelmed with so many Japanese land units popping up at Truk and don't know what to do with them all!
Again, Great game. I like! Worth the wait!

[Grotius]

I'm relatively new to UV myself, but I can take a stab at your last question. Yes, if you set your bombers to "Airfield Attack" against PM, you can destroy enemy aircraft on the ground. But of course you have to find some on the ground; if they're off flying missions, you won't get them. And you have to get thru CAP and flak. As for "baiting" Dauntlesses based at PM, be careful what you wish for! Even if just a couple get thru your CV's CAP, they can ruin your whole day. I personally prefer to commit my CVs against the other player's naval assets, but I'm pretty new too, so what do I know.

Incidentally, the game generates after-action reports that give you a clue about whether you got enemy planes on the ground. If you destroy a few bombers in the attack, then obviously you did something right. <grin>

Also, consider checking out the combat-summary file in your UV directory; it's called something like combat.txt or something. After every turn, it contains a summary of that turn's battle. If you copy the file into a new notepad or wordpad file, you can hang on to it; otherwise the file gets overwritten every turn. To tell you the truth, I'm still unclear about whether this file is affected by FOW. The only info I really "trust" is the intel screen, which updates each side's losses every turn. (And even this screen doesn't account for sunk enemy ships immediately.)

Finally, be aware that the current version makes Allied bombers rather tough on IJN fighters. A fix is in the works, so don't get too discouraged if you lose a pack of Zeroes to unescorted B-17s. The patch should be here soon.

Oh, and welcome to UV! Great game, eh?

[Feinder]

FoW - It's a bit foggier than you think.

Sometimes you'll get a "ship is sunk" message in the replay, but in fact, it was only severly crippled (and may yet still sink). This has definately happend to me in my current PBEM game.

If a pilot can't idenify the specific ship he's attacking, he'll tell you the class. He doesn't tell you that he's saying the "Sims" class, he just says he's attacking the Sims.

Carriers are alot easier to identify, because they've got big white numbers painted on the flight deck (*smile*).

Bear in mind the "ships sinks" message, a day or so after the battle, can be attributed to the radio chatter that goes on when a carrier with a crew of 3500 men sinks. If you were to scuttle it, it's likely that your opponent wouldn't get the message onto his Intel Screen for a little while. Also, confirming that you sank a sub is difficult, those guys often don't show up on your Intel screen for a week or so.

The longest a ship will take to appear on the Intel screens tho, I think is 30 days. Say you have a cripple that actually makes it back to port, but you can't get things under control, so you scuttle it. Your enemy's last intel will be that your ship made it to port, so it'll probably take a while for his Intel Screen to update.

The .txt file is useful. It's is indeed a summary of the combat execution. Be aware however, that it's often a very good idea to WATCH THE ACTUAL REPLAY. The .txt file just tells you how many shell, bomb, and torp hits occurred. However, getting hit by a 60kg bomb from a Val is alot less painful than a 250kg bomb. The .txt file will only report a bomb hit however. Also, READ THE CRITICAL HITS. They make a difference. One of those "harmless" 60kg "toy" bombs hit one of carriers last night, and while the damamge to integrity of the ship was minimal, it happended ot take out my CXAM radar. That's something you don't leave home without. Even tho she's only got minor damage, she'll be going back to Pearl to repair that radar set.

Be advised that the combat report is not entirely accurate, and the sinkings reported therein may not be accurate. Your Intel Screens are ALWAYS accurate. However, MORE might be sunk than is reported, but it just hasn't been confirmed yet.


ASW and Subs... Japanese surface vessals are alot less capable at ASW than their American counterparts. I'm fairly, spotted subs are less capable, as their positions have been reported to nearby TFs. That doesn't mean they won't find something to shoot at tho. Your sub captains will be grateful if you keep themout of the shallow and coastal hexes, as they're alot more likely to survive. You planes need experience of about 70 before they'll even go after a sub, and that doesn't mean they're going to hit it. And US subs have high(er) chance of duds as torps. It doesn't say "dud hit", it just registers as a miss. I think they're correcting this (to say "dud"). It gets VERY frustrating to see a crippled Shokaku in your periscope, and hear "bong" instead "BOOM".

-F-

[Toro]

And just because a report says you've spotted the CV Saratoga, don't count on it being true. I've seen plenty of instances where a sighting report says one ship was spotted, but in fact it was another.

FOW here is good.