How do I start?

[rustysi]

You can ignore all the economy and still be OK for 5 to 6 months,

Here we go again, someone 'stealing' my thunder.[:D] That's exactly what I did my first two or so games. When stuff started to run out I started over. Added a new facet every restart. Made it easier to take it all in. BTW, always the campaign game. Only played one scenario, and that was face-to-face with a friend. Don't think he's gonna get into the game.

[rustysi]

have a look into the manual(is the printed version any good, still did not receive the hardcopy?)

Yeah, and useful, but if you're like the rest of us here it'll fall apart pretty soon.[8D]

[rustysi]

It has taken me nine years to get a game played through to completion and I have never been bored with it.

I came late to the'show' for various reasons, so say around '12. Didn't get serious 'til about '14. So that's about six years. It takes me about one-and-one half days to complete a turn. So you do the math...[:D] I should probably get there in about what? Twelve years.[:D]

[rustysi]

Every now and then I stsrt a sencario in different game and after a few days I abandon it and come back to playing this.

Once you're hooked no other game will satisfy.

Yeah, until the crash of '17.[:D] My system crashed and I lost a lot of stuff. Fortunately I had a save on a 'stick' and only lost about a month. Hey, that reminds me, I need to do an offline again.[:)]

[rustysi]

ORIGINAL: HansBolter

ORIGINAL: btd64

ORIGINAL: Lokasenna

For the record, I started immediately with a full campaign.

Yeah, me too. But I have a working knowledge of the PTO. That helped a lot....GP

Same here as well, but I had been playing UV and WITP prior to moving to this.

I've never played the smaller scenarios and would likely find the Coral Sea scenario lacking after having played Uncommon Valor.

+1

[rustysi]

do bear in mind the first turn will be a bear

And a half. Add to that the more you understand about the game the worse it gets.[:D]

I dread the day when I start my next game. It will be PBEM however, so that's something to finally look forward to.

[dasboot1960]

Starting a Grand Campaign as IJ is a Brain Buster. I'd recommend Allies first because you have such limited resources the game moves faster and you get the basics down. IJ industry/production/R&D/AC training has been a real eye opener for me going first time as the Emperor. Plus all the 'little' questions. A working knowledge of history is a great help; beware of pre-conceived notions...

[kris279]

ORIGINAL: Lecivius

ORIGINAL: kris279

ORIGINAL: Lokasenna

For the record, I started immediately with a full campaign.

Was actually thinking about it......[:D]

If you are comfortable with the history of this time period, that may not be a bad idea. do bear in mind the first turn will be a bear [;)]

To be blunt honest. I am VERY comfortable with history in the Atlantic/European/Russian Theatre of this time being an Austrian and VERY interested in history in general but of this time in particular.

As the Japanese where not "really"(meaning that they had their own interests in that conflict and the germans - and vice versa - only where a convenince then a "real" ally) axis from german point of view, even tech exchange was tried for a bit(e.g. Fighters sent to Japan but really never got further) it never really succeeded.
Even the Pacific war always was interesting to read about(e.g. Coral Sea)it was never really a main interested of me. So, my understanding of the Pacific war is, nicely said, very basic. I know what each side did, how the other side countered, which battle was the turning point of the entire conflict, but that's it, basically.

So, I think I have to figure it out the "hard" way which actually is something I am looking forward to(e.g. not knowing if Japan will throw CV's at me at some specific battle is actually something that is good in my opinion - same goes for if I will meet BB Yamato or Musashi in any given area).
So, no, I do not know which fleet movements they did in which area of the war(which I know roughly for the german side at any time during the european part of that WW, but again, their fleet movements where very small compared to that ones in the Pacific - which is most likely the reason why I was always somehow fascinated about that part of the conflict). And of course me placing as a kid SSI's fantastic(but very basic) "War in the South Pacific" from 1986 on C64 if I rememeber it right. Bought that nicely carton box from a dealer in my hometown in the Alps(had it most likely in his shelf catching dust for ages^^) because I saw ships and fighers and a lot of action at the outside of that box.
After opening it up and playing it on my C64 it was a hard wakeup but I decided to push through and was all catched up a few hours later trying to push back the IJN. I think it all started there.

I guess I will try with "trial and error"(reading up now what exactly happened at which time feels almost like cheating on the AI for me).

[Mike Solli]

ORIGINAL: Jorge_Stanbury

smaller scenarios are usually hard.
I would just play the smallest scenarios a couple times to get a handle on the most basic aspects like TF management, setting air missions and land combat; Coral Sea for example, Aleutians is another good starting point.

I would then jump to a Japanese player grand campaign, but the key is to focus on one topic at a time and just for a few months. You can ignore all the economy and still be OK for 5 to 6 months, and you have all the advantage in these early months, overall you start with overwhelming superiority; you have the numbers and your troops will be very experienced fighting against 3rd rate enemies, moreover, Japan starts with several amphibious TFs already created/ on transit, you can let them go and see how the invasion turns out, focus on Malaya or Philippines, ignore the rest. Just play, make mistakes, restart once you are ready for the next lesson

That's exactly what I did way back in 2004 with the original WitP. I was in a unique situation though. I had just deployed overseas when it came out. Actually, I was at the mob station and downloaded it over a phone line overnight. [X(] I had no internet access with my laptop and this forum was blocked on my military computer. So, I had a year to learn it in isolation, but lots of free time in the evening. I probably spent a good 3-4 hours a day on it for a solid year. I'd start the grand campaign (I've still never opened a scenario), play a couple of weeks focusing on one aspect then restart and add another aspect. Fast forward a year later and I got on the forum, found an opponent (the same guy I'm playing now) and off we went. We restarted a couple times in WitP, then restarted in AE and restarted AE a couple of times because of patches and business from one or both of us. I'm sure we'll finally finish this one, probably in a couple of years. [;)]

[Mike Solli]

ORIGINAL: rustysi

do bear in mind the first turn will be a bear

And a half. Add to that the more you understand about the game the worse it gets.[:D]

I dread the day when I start my next game. It will be PBEM however, so that's something to finally look forward to.

As the Japanese, the first turn takes me about 100 hours to complete. Yep, it's a bear, but the best bear you'll ever come across.

[CaptBeefheart]

Welcome to the forum. I also had a graduated approach to this game through Pacific War, Uncommon Valor and WITP (I started it all with the Victory In the Pacific boardgame the neighbor kid had in junior high school). I knew a fair amount of Pacific War history before but I keep buying books on the topic. The missus thinks I love war more than her. "Not true, honey. Not true."

Cheers,
CB

[m10bob]

ORIGINAL: rustysi

have a look into the manual(is the printed version any good, still did not receive the hardcopy?)

Yeah, and useful, but if you're like the rest of us here it'll fall apart pretty soon.[8D]

Badges...err...I mean "Manuals?....We don't need no stinkin' manuals"!

[GetAssista]

ORIGINAL: Lokasenna
For the record, I started immediately with a full campaign.

I hope it was an Allied campaign.

Starting with Japan is a road to frustration in my opinion. Much more to handle, and many decisions with long-term consequences that you are simply not aware of at the time.
When I started Japanese GC, I restarted several times after clocking some weeks on a previous game because I made some critical errors. Allies, on the other hand, can always gloss over the errors with the abundance of material. It can even be fun of its own

[LargeSlowTarget]

ORIGINAL: Mike Solli
As the Japanese, the first turn takes me about 100 hours to complete. Yep, it's a bear, but the best bear you'll ever come across.

I got fed-up with the thousands of clicks necessary on turn 1 just to collect the hundreds of ships scattered all over the place. So I used the editor to create task forces at each port holding ships, assigned the ships at each port to the corresponding task force, and ordered the task forces to proceed to certain "collection points". Took a few hours of editor work, but now saves me many hours of 'clickfest' at each restart.

[Mike Solli]

ORIGINAL: LargeSlowTarget

ORIGINAL: Mike Solli
As the Japanese, the first turn takes me about 100 hours to complete. Yep, it's a bear, but the best bear you'll ever come across.

I got fed-up with the thousands of clicks necessary on turn 1 just to collect the hundreds of ships scattered all over the place. So I used the editor to create task forces at each port holding ships, assigned the ships at each port to the corresponding task force, and ordered the task forces to proceed to certain "collection points". Took a few hours of editor work, but now saves me many hours of 'clickfest' at each restart.

Sneaky, sneaky. [:-] Where's the fun in that? [:D]

[Yaab]

ORIGINAL: kris279

Hello together, as a HOI/Decisive campaigns player, HOW do I start to "tacle" this monster of a game?

Any advice from seasoned players?Thank you!

Start grand campaign as Allies

Allocate 20-30 save slots for the first turn setup, so you dont have to redo the whole turn lest you forget to have issued some orders.

Give global orders first ( aigroups stand-down; turn repairs OFF)

Disband the airgroups which can give you extra PPs on first turn (some B-17s in SF, British airgroups in HK etc.)

Locate all your command HQs present on map ( the HQs that can give you up to 100% AV combat bonus). Analyze the map and see which important bases the HQs can start planning for ( Port Moresby, Pago-Pago, Changsha etc)

Start giving ship/air/LCU orders from the left part of the map to the right -This is the most TIME-CONSUMING part. DO NOT load any units on ships yet, because you cannot undo this order.

Spend PPs on immediate priorities i.e fighter air groups in PH have leaders with lousy AIR skill - replace the leaders lest the KB revisits Pearl Harbor on Dec 8.

Load units on ships

End the turn


------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Create an EXCEL or MS WORD/LIBRE OFFICE text document so you can write all your orders down. You will thus create a MASTER CHECKLIST for turn 1, which you can reuse and upgrade with each restart.

[Kull]

I started with the Aleutians,and highly recommend it. There's a limited number of things going on (air war in particular is barely there), so you have the opportunity to learn a few of the basics without having to swallow the entire elephant in one bite.

As for the Grand Campaign, we'd like to see you around here for a while so do NOT start as Japan. Do.not.do.it.

[Big B]

ORIGINAL: kris279

Hello together, as a HOI/Decisive campaigns player, HOW do I start to "tacle" this monster of a game?

Any advice from seasoned players?Thank you!

ORIGINAL: Lecivius

Start on a small scenario first. Coral Sea is a good one. And be patient, this game is HUGE compared to HOI [;)] And ask questions. This forum is great to new players trying to get the hang of it.

Yes, start with smaller Battle scenarios first.
I produced a Coral Sea (forces filled out), and Relief Of Wake Island - Dec 16 1941 (both play well against AI from either side, and are OOB Historically accurate) for this very purpose.
They can both played by simply downloading here.

They should be entertaining for an hour or so each, from both sides, have replay ability, and will help learn a lot of basics....


B

[geofflambert]

kris, to tell you the truth, you should first pull your fingers away from the keyboard, then run in any direction that gets you away from it. Call the police to have them disarm your computer and remove any software from Matrix or Slitherin. They may have to use explosives. Then forget you ever heard of WITP-AE and try to have a normal life.

[kris279]

That is a lot of feedback . Sorry about my late reply, somehow the forum software does not leat me post(something about 10 posts in 7 days or so...must be a bug). Edit: I think it was the commerial at that I used to address individuals.....


geofflambert : Good advice, will ring them up ^^.

Big B : Thank you, will try that and see how it goes with that scenario

Kull : It seems the small scenarios are the way to go. For work/familyreasons I had no time yet to start, hope I can make some time free to finally "dig in".

Btw.: Had a look at your different "setups" - scary. Seems there is a LOT coming my way...

The idea to have a kind of checklist for the first turn makes sense. Will start to make notes anyway but to make that kind of CL you first need to understand the basics of the game I think.

Very alive and friendly forum. Thank you very much for that warm welcome!!! [:)]