Matrix Games Forums

I am fairly new to WaW - and enterely new to PBEM.

My chief question is with advanced supply. I see that most all PBEM games play with that on. Whats the reason for this? Does it affact the balance of the game - or does it "merely" allow for skill and planning to play a larger part? I assume the main effect is that you can truly isolate pockets of units - but are there other importent effects of playing with this?

I plan to try adv, no auto, no area supply vs the AI - before trying PBEM. I just figured I would ask here before doing so as it seems like a good deal more unit shuffling atleast when playing the AI.


My second question is with respect to Op-fire.

On my very first attempt with the WA I (foolishly) charged the US navy deep into IJN waters. When I later wanted to retreat this still rather large fleet a single plane counter on an island was able to prevent a good sized fleet from sailing away. This left me pondeing how it could be that this plane seemed able to op-fire on every single ship trying to leave. It all seemed a bit silly to me.

Am I missing either a way to extract said fleet with only a few fleets taking a hit - or am I missing the rational reason that so relative few planes could so effectively dominate the retreat of that many ships? I readily admit - the naval portion of the game is still not 100% clear to me.

Thanks in advance.

Advanced supply is great! You truely get a feel for the realities of WW2. There's only so much transportation (rails, ships, & supplied movement) and always more things to move! With Adv Sup on, you have to balance movement, supplies and reinforcements, along with paying for repairs. It's tricky, but adds to the fun of the game
How does Opp Fire allow that? Because it's always BAD to get caught with your pants down! lol! Also, the effects of Opp Fire diminish each time it's done, so there is a very real limit on how much damage a single unit can dish out. But it hurts! Ouchies!
The Navy is tricky to master. Watch out you don't leave your fleets out of supply! Play with Fog of War off for a while, because FoW can get your ships "stuck" in many cases.
PBEM is way different than the AI. For one thing, humans are sneaky! And very aggressive! Once you can pound the AI on Normal, give PBEM a try & see the difference first hand

Thank you for the reply.

I pounce the AI easily enough on Challenging as Germany, WA (barely due to the naval error mentioned) or Russia without advanced supply. I reckon I will try a few games with advanced supply and then move on to PBEM for the real fun.

Its good to know that OP fire gets negative modifiers on subsequent rolls. I had missed that. Time to reread the naval rules I reckon.

I think the only fall off in Op-fire is versus amphibious invasions. Otherwise it's at full effect. However, you don't get the bonus during Op-fire for shooting at a unit that has already been shot at during its turn. Basically, you should not put yourself in a position where you will be Op-fired at by something that has a good chance of hitting you. It's tempting to run fleets past enemy positions deep into enemy territory, but that's a very unrealistic tactic, and there are many rules (including OP-fire) that try to make this potentially very costly if not impossible.

In your situation you should use your carrier air to eliminate/damage the air units that would opt fire at you, make sure you have a line of transports back to your factories or your damaged units will end up dead.[:@] Then you can retreat in relative safety.[;)] It Should be noted that each time you pass a enemy land mass you will take a -1 combat penalty so advancing deep in to Japanese held territory is bad for your ability to fight in combat.[:-] Better to take is slowly one area at a time, taking control of enemy islands until you have a free path to Japan, then invade.[:D]