Am I the worst player in the world?

[Freddy Fudpucker]

I've had UV for quite some time now. I uninstalled it soon after I first had it because I started to get really peed off with certain things about the game, namely trying to win any kind of combat. The most vivid one I recall is a fleet surface combat where I ha over a dozen ships versus just two japanese capital ships. I lost 5 ships and the Japanese sailed away victoriuos despite the fact that I hit both ships continously including one of them 28 (thats twenty eight!!) times.

I've recently reinstalled and tried again but i'm still geting the same stupid combat results. Today saw my bombers launch six attacks in clear wheather versus a Jap transport and two destroyers. I lost several planes and didn't drop a single bomb in the process. The Japs launch a bombing raid on my airfield, 14 unescorted bombers against my CAP of 19 fighters. The Jap bombers shot down 3 fighters for no loss and continued on to bomb my airfield.....how is that even possible?

Does nayone else have similar problems?

[Von Rom]

HI

Some tips:

1) At the beginning of the game the Japanese ships/planes are elite. Going head-to-head with them will invite disaster.

2) Train your pilots and let them rest often (ie rotate planes from the front).

3) READ and STUDY the manual. I cannot stress this enough. There are many subtle aspects to gameplay that MUST be understood, especially the "React/Don't React" aspect.

4) Setup supply routes/convoys for your forward bases.

5) Transport engineers, base troops and AA guns to a few of your forward bases (such as Port Moresby) and build-up the airports and ports and fortifications.

6) In the first few months try hit and run tactics to nibble away at IJN strength.

Cheers!

[CMDRMCTOAST]

ORIGINAL: Von Rom

HI

Some tips:

1) At the beginning of the game the Japanese ships/planes are elite. Going head-to-head with them will invite disaster.

2) Train your pilots and let them rest often (ie rotate planes from the front).

3) READ and STUDY the manual. I cannot stress this enough. There are many subtle aspects to gameplay that MUST be understood, especially the "React/Don't React" aspect.

4) Setup supply routes/convoys for your forward bases.

5) Transport engineers, base troops and AA guns to a few of your forward bases (such as Port Moresby) and build-up the airports and ports and fortifications.

6) In the first few months try hit and run tactics to nibble away at IJN strength.

Cheers!

Ya what he said..

Also rotate your ships back thru Pearl Harbor for AA upgrades thru out the game
as this will greatly increase your survivability against jap aircraft.
Never ever go toe to toe with Japanese CV'S in the first few months
until you have full squadrons of wildcats and your newer torpedo bombers,
you do not stand a chance at first.
This game is about attrition and logistics not a slugfest in the beginning of the war
You have to plan everything or you will come up short most of the time.

have fun.

[Von Rom]

For new players it is imperative to understand:

Movement Orders (React/Don't React) - found on pp 43-48 of the manual

Supply Issues - found on pp 102-112 of the manual


Read the whole manual, but pay close attention to the above pages and study them. This will help resolve a lot of misunderstanding as to what is happening in the game.

[Fred98]

Well I am a 2 year veteran of the game.

Way back in 2002 I read the manual - twice.

I copied certain important pages, and have them in clear plastic files so I can reference them easily (such as the React/Don't react)

Given any scenario, long or short, given land, ground or air forces, or any combination, whether or not I have superior forces, which ever side I play, I lose every battle. I lose, lose, lose.

I am currently playing a PBEM game.

I started with a larger score and it is up to him to catch my score.

I will avoid combat at all costs

If I do NOTHING, except build up all my bases to the maximum, then late in the game, use overwhelming force to re-capture one of his, that should be enough for a victory.

But this is a 9 month scenario and the only combat will be in those final 6 weeks – and only if I need to.

If I have a good lead I will avoid combat completely.

It will be a 9 month game with little or no combat because combat will lead to a great loss.

-

[scorryuk]

Experience, Experience, Experience!! Has same problem when first started UV especially as I prefered playing as USN. Have found though, that exp. of 60-70 just isn`t enough. You need to blood all your units. Even ships- note crew experience starts very low for some. Get them to do things whilst avoiding contact with anything less than cannon fodder on the part of the IJN. Do surface bombardments to knock out airfields and give exp. , hit convoys but avoid direct fleet battles. Will take a few months before the balance starts to shift. And be sure and pick the best commander for TF. Early on I made the mistake of ignoring this important factor.
Same goes for aircraft. Make sure they are always busy. Naval search alone will help knock experience up. LBA attacks against defended ships is suicide early on. Attack airfields or unprotected APs,AKs. Expereiment with altitude. But always rest them when fatigue starts to go above 20-30. Once they are into 70`s your chances of successful strike start to rise. Some LBA better than others. B17 are best- attack unprotected shipping at 100ft to skip bomb or raid enemy port at 18,000ft and maybe get lucky with hit on ship.
All in all be patient. You will take casualites early on but don`t be goaded into fight you cannot win. I`m playing scen16 at moment as USN and it`s only in late July/early August that my forces are starting to do serious damage. Sent bombardment fleet into shortland harbour during the night and suprised enemy convoy. Sunk 2 TK, 4APs and 2 DD with no loss before pounding crap out of airfield and retreating before daylight. Very satisfying!

[AmiralLaurent]

ORIGINAL: Freddy Fudpucker

I've had UV for quite some time now. I uninstalled it soon after I first had it because I started to get really peed off with certain things about the game, namely trying to win any kind of combat. The most vivid one I recall is a fleet surface combat where I ha over a dozen ships versus just two japanese capital ships. I lost 5 ships and the Japanese sailed away victoriuos despite the fact that I hit both ships continously including one of them 28 (thats twenty eight!!) times.

BB are immune to anything except other BB, dive bombers and torpedoes. Cruisers and DD may hit them many times without doing anything than rise SYS damage to some points and ignite some fires. My personnal record is a TF of CA and DD against an USN BB and his escort of DD. All USN DD were sunk but the USN BB was missed by all torpedoes and finally escaped after taking between 120 and 130 shells hits. His SYS damage rises from 5 to 9 according to my opponent. Next time she was suprised, took 9 torps and sank..;

ORIGINAL: Freddy Fudpucker
I've recently reinstalled and tried again but i'm still geting the same stupid combat results. Today saw my bombers launch six attacks in clear wheather versus a Jap transport and two destroyers. I lost several planes and didn't drop a single bomb in the process. The Japs launch a bombing raid on my airfield, 14 unescorted bombers against my CAP of 19 fighters. The Jap bombers shot down 3 fighters for no loss and continued on to bomb my airfield.....how is that even possible?

Does nayone else have similar problems?

Well at the start of the game, Allied LBA planes are basically unable to hit something with bombs, except allready damaged ships. Exp has to be above 70 to hit something. So it's normal.
But you were unlucky with your fighters. You have to take care of fatigue (should be > 20) and of morale (should be at least > 50) before engaging any plane, so it may explain the poor results and the fact that all bombers escaped. But I have never seen Japanese bombers shot down more than one Allied fighter. In fact I have several IJN PBEM now well in 1943 and in all of them I have only one bomber score in victory (that is respectivelly in 15, 13 and 12 months of battles).

At the start of the game (May 1942), the only useful units are the submarines (S-XX, other with fishs names have useless torpedoes), the CV and their air units (notice exp is high is this unit, around 70-80) and the surface vessels, that may attack Japanese convoys but will lose against an equivalent IJN surface force, as IJN is far more experienced, especially at night.

As said Joe 98, this game is not about incessant battles but about planning and logistics and engage at the right time and the right place. I started recently a PBEM of scen 17 where I played USN. After 25 days of play, I launch only one air raid, the IJN none. One of my sub attacked once and was sunk, one of the IJN subs attacked and missed. In the mean time, IJN took unopposed Guadalcanal and Tulagi. And the IJN CV TF just toured S of Port Moresby chasing for Allied ships, found none and returned to Rabaul without searching more trouble. My only attempt to oppose it was to send subs to try to attack them but they failed.
But in the mean time, all my air units are training, ground units are moved to the bases I want to defend by C-47 and ships, TF are created to react to Japanese invasions, some ships sent back to Pearl to increase AA defences and so on.

[AmiralLaurent]

And I you want some changes and still stick to the Allied side, play a 1943 scenario for some time. IJN is behind USN in all terms: technology, experience and number, and has only the advantage of defending.

[Freddy Fudpucker]

Thanks for all the replies guys,

I'll be trying out all your advice. One thing I noticed when I continued my game last night:- Jap planes were bombing my TFs at 200ft, I'm bombing at 6,000ft. The next air strike I launched vs IJN AP,s I bombed at 1,000ft and it made a huge difference, I actually hit them a few times[:)].

I even won a surface contact, although it was 2CAs and 2DDs versus one Jap Mine Sweeper. After 36 hits it finally sunk!!!![:D].

Cheers.

[AmiralLaurent]

ORIGINAL: Freddy Fudpucker

I even won a surface contact, although it was 2CAs and 2DDs versus one Jap Mine Sweeper. After 36 hits it finally sunk!!!![:D].

Well, that is exactly the type of surface battle you should try to engage. You crews win exp and suffer no loss while you sink at least one Japanese ship. And you wil ldiscover that MSW are really valuable in UV, as there are too few of them.

In UV, ships can't sink during a combat phase (they may be several during a given battles, at different distances). So you can see PT boats take a dozen 18in shells and still not sinking...

My advice is to watch the animations of the surface battles at least, as they show far more than the results screen at the end of the battle. What counts is not the number of hits on a given vessel but the number of hits that pierced the armor. In this MSW case, this mades no difference but if you fire at a cruiseror a BB there are probably more shells bouncing on the armor than those actually doing damage.

Japanese planes flying at 200 feet are launching torpedoes, all torpedo planes attack at this alt. Against small TF, LBA at 1000 feet may score some hits but will suffer from AA against more protected targets. Train your bombers until they have exp 60+ and then use them against ports, airfields and ground units (exp will rise more quickly that during training) until they have exp 70+ and then use them for naval attack.
Right now, your best ship killers are your SBD, set them at 10000 feet or at 15000 if you except IJN CV. At 15000 feet and more, they will attack by 9 rather than the usual 4 and so have more chance to cross the AA and score... but will attack fewer ships, of course.

[Von Rom]

ORIGINAL: Freddy Fudpucker

Thanks for all the replies guys,

I'll be trying out all your advice. One thing I noticed when I continued my game last night:- Jap planes were bombing my TFs at 200ft, I'm bombing at 6,000ft. The next air strike I launched vs IJN AP,s I bombed at 1,000ft and it made a huge difference, I actually hit them a few times[:)].

I even won a surface contact, although it was 2CAs and 2DDs versus one Jap Mine Sweeper. After 36 hits it finally sunk!!!![:D].

Cheers.

Early on you will want to avoid a CV vs CV confrontation. Try to have your CVs where the IJN don't have theirs.

For example:

If several IJN CVs are bombing Port Moresby, then build up your AA defenses and Land Based fighters there to deal with them.

In the meantime position your CVs south of the 'Canal, and attack any IJN transport ships and capital ships that come into view. Do this for a couple of turns, then "Get outta Dodge Pronto". Send your CVs back to a port for rest, because very soon IJN CV TFs will come a-calling at the 'Canal. But they won't find you [;)]

This tactic drives the IJN AI nuts. . . heheh

But gives your CV TF and planes lots of experience.

[scorryuk]

[/quote]

In UV, ships can't sink during a combat phase (they may be several during a given battles, at different distances). So you can see PT boats take a dozen 18in shells and still not sinking...


[/quote]

Untrue. I`ve engaged a number of IJN DDs at night and blasted them to the bottom of the ocean right before my very eyes. Took alot of hits from CAs but finally they go 45 degrees down into sea (pretty sure message says they are sunk) and guns switch to new target.

[Freddy Fudpucker]

[/quote]Untrue. I`ve engaged a number of IJN DDs at night and blasted them to the bottom of the ocean right before my very eyes. Took alot of hits from CAs but finally they go 45 degrees down into sea (pretty sure message says they are sunk) and guns switch to new target.
[/quote]

Correct, the MSW in this case sunk 'on screen' during the combat phase. Last time I played UV (a long time ago) I once sank several IJN ships during a single combat phase, but they were worthless little transport type boats that don't even appear in the manual. i.e they weren't AP, AK etc

[crsutton]

ORIGINAL: Joe 98


Given any scenario, long or short, given land, ground or air forces, or any combination, whether or not I have superior forces, which ever side I play, I lose every battle. I lose, lose, lose.

Remind me to never get on an airplane with you [8D]

[crsutton]

Here are some simple rules for surface combat that I have found work very well-for both sides.

1. Don't load up your TF with ships. This is the most common mistake of new and experienced players as well. If you have a dozen ships in a TF, you might just get a spanking. The game is designed very well in this respect. Historically large TFs at night were difficult to control and did not fare too well. I like six to eight ships with two or three CA and CLs in my force. If you expect a big enemy force send two or three 8 ship TFs. You will win. There is a good chance you will suprise the larger TF and get the first shots in. This is especially advantageous for the Japanese as they can do some serious torpedo damage.

2. Don't use BBs for night surface actions. Talk about torpedo bait. Why send these valuable assets into combat where a lowly DD can put it out of action for six months? You will find that many times your BBs will not even fire a shot in a night action against smaller ships. Plus you are pretty sure that any TF with BBs will be spotted by air search before the battle thus negating any chance you have for suprise. BBs have two functions in the game-bombardment and carrier escort. If you are looking for the big decisive naval battle with loads of BBs, you are falling into the same trap that American and Japanese admirals did and are asking for trouble.

3. Fight on your own ground. This is espcially true of the Allies. You should be looking to fight at your own ports or near enough where damaged ships can get back to port quickly. The burden is on the Japanese to attack early in the game. Make them come to you. This way your heavily damaged ships will have a greater chance to survive. The same advice applys to Japan when the tide has turned. A heavily damaged ship that has to go a long way home is most likely a dead ship. So what if you send your surface ships 15 hexes away to win a sucessful battle only to have your TF pounded by LBA on the way home.

4. Pick your commanders carefully. It really does matter. If you send Tanaka into a melee with a superior Allied TF-he may just kick some butt. But if he does not, he will stay and fight until he is dead. Is that what you are looking to achieve? There are roles for aggressive commanders and there are roles for cautious commanders. Pick and choose depending on the situation.

5. System damage is important. Many inexperienced players will send a surface ship into a fight with 20 or more sys damage. Sys damage degrades performance. You are asking for trouble. Use fresh ship and let the high sys damaged ships go home for repair.

6. Find ships with SG radar and place at lease one of them in your TF. SG radar was a dramatic improvement over the old SC radar and can makes a big difference.

7 As the Allied player, look to have a 3-2 edge in ships (not TF size) if you are sending untested crews into combat. On equal terms your low experienced crews will usually get smashed. Try to run raids with inexperienced crews to knock of some weak AP convoys. This will boost your experience quite a bit.

Hope this helps.

[scorryuk]

Some excellent advice crsutton. Didn`t know about the TF size although gut instinct in last few weeks has stopped my from overloading my TFs with too many DDs. (probably after several beatings from smaller IJN forces)Quality over quanity. Been checking the stats on each ship much more. Some DDs are made for good AA cover, some for naval combat (i.e good compliment of torps & guns)

[Freddy Fudpucker]

ORIGINAL: Freddy Fudpucker
The Japs launch a bombing raid on my airfield, 14 unescorted bombers against my CAP of 19 fighters. The Jap bombers shot down 3 fighters for no loss and continued on to bomb my airfield.....how is that even possible?

Hhmmm, those pesky Jap bombers are at it again. 9 Betty bombers unescorted faced up to my CAP of 30 fighters half of which are now exp > 75 and I loose 2 fighters to 1 bomber.[:@].

Also, a Jap CA cruise has over the past three days taken 18 bombs 500/1000 lbs and two torpedoes and was last seen still afloat, heading for home. When my sub put the 2 torps into to her I even got the message flooding and counter listing. This is annoying!

Question:
Talking of subs, why do such a high proportion of sub attacks fail to hit the target? I would have thought that once a sub had manoeuvered for position the odds of missing would be slim.

[Freddy Fudpucker]

Another question:

Should I deliberately ground my aircraft when thunderstorms are forecast? I was hoping the AI would handle the situation, but it appears not.

[Von Rom]

ORIGINAL: Freddy Fudpucker

ORIGINAL: Freddy Fudpucker
The Japs launch a bombing raid on my airfield, 14 unescorted bombers against my CAP of 19 fighters. The Jap bombers shot down 3 fighters for no loss and continued on to bomb my airfield.....how is that even possible?

Hhmmm, those pesky Jap bombers are at it again. 9 Betty bombers unescorted faced up to my CAP of 30 fighters half of which are now exp > 75 and I loose 2 fighters to 1 bomber.[:@].

Also, a Jap CA cruise has over the past three days taken 18 bombs 500/1000 lbs and two torpedoes and was last seen still afloat, heading for home. When my sub put the 2 torps into to her I even got the message flooding and counter listing. This is annoying!

Question:
Talking of subs, why do such a high proportion of sub attacks fail to hit the target? I would have thought that once a sub had manoeuvered for position the odds of missing would be slim.

Most likely FoW.

You probably sank that CA. Wait a few days then check your Intel for ships sunk. It will probably be listed.

[Von Rom]

ORIGINAL: Freddy Fudpucker

Another question:

Should I deliberately ground my aircraft when thunderstorms are forecast? I was hoping the AI would handle the situation, but it appears not.

Good idea. This way, you know it's being done.

Also, to help counter those pesky Japanese bombers, I usually transport almost all of the AA batteries located in the Australian cities to Port Moresby.

Nothing says "G'day" better than having multiple Flak batteries welcome the Nipponese. . . [8D]