Time for Beginner's Questions?

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JReb
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Time for Beginner's Questions?

Post by JReb »

I have no idea why I chose to punish myself by learning this game but.....I have some questions as you might imagine. I have played several starts that lasted into mid '42 but I still have some issues with the game control.

1. What is the most efficient method for reviewing your commands and units? I have read the checklist and added many extras but what is the approach ....review by comand? by Port/AF/TF?

2. What relationship do the sub commands have with the main HQ? If all under computer control, will the main HQ change the target of the sub HQ? What if the sub is under human or operational control, how do they interact?

3. Do you have to activate LCUs before HQ requests transport? The manual says transport will be sent to move all "active" LCUs.

4. Do LCUs activate upon being attacked or should they be active if attack is suspected at their location?

5. How well does the Get Transport/Reinforcement work? Is it really nationality specific like the manual says? If Brisbane requests transport, will American ships sail from SF? At first I used Alt/F and located every TR, AP, APD, MCS, etc...made them into TFS and sent them on their way. Is this really necessary.

6. How far away should subs be placed from their home port to still be effective?

7. How much do you have to do with the industries? Does the game automatically stop making outdated aircraft or do you have to change them manually?

8. Pools? any tips there?

9. Replenish at sea. One of the craziest things you ever saw if you were in the Navy. Do you have to pick a TF to replenish? How? Will the replenish TF follow the other TF around until it catches up?

10. Can an LCU be stuck between bases? I thought I had that happen in the Phillipines.

Thanks for any help. With luck you guys may have a newbie to beat up on soon.
My shrink says I have anger management and conflict resolution issues....and I'LL FIGHT ANYBODY THAT DISAGREES!
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Beginner questions

Post by Koniev »

I thought I was too old to learn a new game until I read about WitP. Thuoght I'd play with PacWar till it's released. I can't help with the questions except to add my own which was alreadt asked by Jreb. How do you replenish at sea?
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Denniss
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Post by Denniss »

3) You have to activate a LCU to get transport ship for them using the "Get Transport" function

5) You usually get Transports refering to the HQ nationality - If brisban is US controlled you'll get US transports/freighters - if ANZAC or other british the you might get british ships or not

6) manual states some coastal Subs (RO/S) should be not placed at 20 or more fields away from base but the range calculation sometimes has bugs

9) get to the TF you wish to replenish and select Replenish TF and if a TF is in range it will refuel your TF and move back to it's position - if there are CVE in the Replenish TF with replacement aircraft and the TF to replenish has CV type ships they get replacement aircraft if needed
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deVada
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some answers

Post by deVada »

1. What is the most efficient method for reviewing your commands and units? I have read the checklist and added many extras but what is the approach ....review by comand? by Port/AF/TF?
PRESS "/" KEY, IT WILL DISPLAY COMMANDS LIST,
NICE TO USE "Z" "O" AND "N" FOR JUMPING BETWEEN AIR SQUADRONS, NON-EMPTY PORTS AND TASK FORCES
"ALT+F" DISPLAYS HQ LIST (REMEMBER TO SET ALL OF THEM TO FULL HUMAN CONTROL - AI IS STUPID)

2. What relationship do the sub commands have with the main HQ? If all under computer control, will the main HQ change the target of the sub HQ? What if the sub is under human or operational control, how do they interact?
NONE RELATION, SET SUB CONTROL TO HUMAN AND JUST PLACE (BY "ALT+M") YOUR SUB GROUPS WHERE YOU WANT THEM TO ACT, EVENTUALLY MOVING SUBS TO PORT CLOSER. AFTER PLACING ON DUTY THEY'RE COMPLETELY INDEPENDENT.

3. Do you have to activate LCUs before HQ requests transport? The manual says transport will be sent to move all "active" LCUs.
YES. ALTHROUGH IT IS NOT ALWAYS WORKING - IF THERE ARE SPARE TRANSPORTS (AP/APA/LCI) - SOME OF THEM WOULD BE APPEARING IN PORT IN QUANTITY JUST ENOUGH TO LOAD ACTIVATED UNIT.

4. Do LCUs activate upon being attacked or should they be active if attack is suspected at their location?
IF YOU'RE ON OFFENSIVE OR WANT THE UNIT TO TRAIN, OR TO BUILD (FOR SBF'S AND ENGINEERS) - ACTIVATE THEM (BUT WATCH YOUR PREPARATION POINTS - EVERY ACTIVATION COSTS, PLUS LCU AUTOMATICALLY CHANGES ITS HQ TO BASE HQ WHERE ACTIVATED.

5. How well does the Get Transport/Reinforcement work? Is it really nationality specific like the manual says? If Brisbane requests transport, will American ships sail from SF? At first I used Alt/F and located every TR, AP, APD, MCS, etc...made them into TFS and sent them on their way. Is this really necessary.
(YOU USED ALT+U), ALT+T MAY BE USED TO GATHER TRANSPORT, BUT REINFORCING SHOULDN'T BE USED UNTIL YOU'RE INTERESTED IN TELEPORTING CARRIERS. :)

6. How far away should subs be placed from their home port to still be effective?
NO DATA, THE CLOSER THE BETTER.

7. How much do you have to do with the industries? Does the game automatically stop making outdated aircraft or do you have to change them manually?
BETTER TO CHANGE IT MANUALLY, BUT IF THE GAME IS SET TO AI INDUSTRY CONTROL IT WILL UPGRADE MANUALLY. ANYWAY IT IS GOOD TO TAKE THE FACTORIES INTO OWN HANDS. AI IS TRYING TO PRODUCE EVERY TYPE OF PLANE, CLEVER HUMAN PRODUCES ONLY THE BEST MACHINES IN LARGER QUANTITIES.

8. Pools? any tips there?
NOPE, JUST GOTTA KEEP HIGH STOCK OF GOOD PLANES. YOU'LL NEVER GET ENOUGH AVF, AND OIL.

9. Replenish at sea. One of the craziest things you ever saw if you were in the Navy. Do you have to pick a TF to replenish? How? Will the replenish TF follow the other TF around until it catches up?
PRESSING "Y" WHILE POINTING AT TASK FORCE WILL ALLOW YOU TO TRANSFER FUEL FROM BIGGER SHIPS TO DESTROYERS AND OTHER SMALL UNITS. IF THERE IS REPLENISHMENT TASK FORCE (IT MUST HAVE A AO SHIP IF IT HAS TO REFUEL, OR A CVE IF YOU WANT TO SUPPLY MORE PLANES, OR SIMPLY A DESTROYER FOR TASK FORCE TELEPORTATION PURPOSES :P ).

10. Can an LCU be stuck between bases? I thought I had that happen in the Phillipines.
NOPE. THE ONLY BUG IS THAT IF YOU SELECT A TASK FORCE AT A BASE, PRESS "L", SELECT LAND UNIT TO BE LOADED AND THEN PRESS "ESC" - THE UNIT WILL GO TO THE HYPERSPACE.
GAME PROHIBITS SOME MOVEMENTS (I.E. CHINA AF CANNOT INVADE ALLIED BASES) AND THAT IS NORMAL.

KEEP GOING !
THE GAME IS PERFECT !
the more You play - the less You understand ... :p
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JReb
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Post by JReb »

Thank you for your responses.
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Capt. Harlock
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LCU Activation

Post by Capt. Harlock »

From my reading of the manual, activation of an LCU is required only for attack or movement. LCU's are automatically activated when being marched or loaded on to ships. Note--this means an LCU may attack when it arrives at a base with enemy troops. Since a moving unit will always suffer a loss in readiness, it may be wiser to de-activate the unit after it has marched, and re-activate it the next turn for an attack.

Activation makes no difference to defending units--they fight back equally well whether activated or not.

I was under the impression that activation is also not required for training or for base expansion by engineer units. I know for a fact that non-activated units can gain experience and build base facilities. Does it happen faster if the units are activated?
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Post by sbond »

A few tips:

When you are planning an attack on a base, lets say Truk.

Before you start teh attack make a Replenishment Task Force, with AO and Tanker if you can, send this task force to Truk. Order Taskforce to Standoff 7 or 8 maybe less if you like with orders to Remain At Target. Now when your bombardment ships start running low on Ammo and Fuel just right click and replenish the Replenish Task Force will move in do their work and move back off out or range and concern for land based attack aircraft. Remember that most bombardment forces will no longer attack when ammo gets to 3 so replenish at 3 ammo.

In most attacks I use 2 or even 3 Replenish TF's. Add CVE if you want aircraft for the Carriers to be replenished. I have one grabbing more supplies while the other stands on duty for replenishing.
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JReb
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Post by JReb »

OK. Next set. Battle analysis.

Playing allies in Jan'42. Formed 2 carrier TFs. One with 2 CVs he other with only one.

Made New Caledonia location for S. Pacific cammand. Had Ldrs assigned to TFs and HQ.

TFs target was Rabaul, standoff set at 3,ROS. One TF targets airfield on Rabaul. The other targets any Jap TFs.

Battle ensued and the result was that 29 Jap fighters wiped out most of all three naval air groups and damaged the Enterprise all with a loss of maybe a dozen Jap planes.

The question is why were the Rabaul fighters virtually invincible against three naval air groups? I understand why the Enterprise was hit but why did my air assets do so poorly against the Japs.

Since I have no control over the tactical side of the battle itself, what kind of things can a lpayer do to improve his chances?
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Post by sbond »

JReb wrote:OK. Next set. Battle analysis.

Playing allies in Jan'42. Formed 2 carrier TFs. One with 2 CVs he other with only one.

Made New Caledonia location for S. Pacific cammand. Had Ldrs assigned to TFs and HQ.

TFs target was Rabaul, standoff set at 3,ROS. One TF targets airfield on Rabaul. The other targets any Jap TFs.

Battle ensued and the result was that 29 Jap fighters wiped out most of all three naval air groups and damaged the Enterprise all with a loss of maybe a dozen Jap planes.

The question is why were the Rabaul fighters virtually invincible against three naval air groups? I understand why the Enterprise was hit but why did my air assets do so poorly against the Japs.

Since I have no control over the tactical side of the battle itself, what kind of things can a lpayer do to improve his chances?

I think it is a limitation of the game. But, anti-air is really poor early war, most full taskforce may only have 1200 AA. Fighters for USN are both not up to par with Japanese nor are the pilots as good as the Japanese.

Besides hit and run tactics or surface engagements I keep my CV's running lose and safe until 1943 when the better Aircraft come out and the crews have a good level of experience killing AP DD's and such.

I think early game the IJN is given huge bonus cheats to balance the game.
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Post by JReb »

Would training for a few weeks change anything? months?

I understand your strategy and agree.

So what I hear you saying is poor aircraft and green aircrews make for inferior allied air assets until later in the war?
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Post by Sardaukar »

JReb wrote:Would training for a few weeks change anything? months?

I understand your strategy and agree.

So what I hear you saying is poor aircraft and green aircrews make for inferior allied air assets until later in the war?
Allies are inferior to Japanese in air, due to Japanese high experience and better aircraft during 1942. In 1942 as Allied, I'd strongly advice against splitting US carriers. Form them all into one CV TF with Halsey in command, and you'll see the difference. And you need 80+ exp aircrews to be really successful against Japanese CV and Navy pilots. Build their exp up with few "milk runs" against some Japanese owned atolls/islands with move option 2 and target set to Land Units, to minimize losses. Never ever attack with target setting as default or airfield against island with no enemy air, losses to flak are not worth it. Of course choose some remote place, so that risk of multiple CV enemy TF popping up is small. Also choose island with no AF..use Sigint.

I'd never go against Japanese with less than 3 CVs in TF, you need that CAP desperately before your AA ratings get higher. Later in war, with multiple CVs and CLAAs, you can have AA rating of 5000+..that is lot more than 2000+ you can achieve in early war.

Cheers,

M.S.
"To meaningless French Idealism, Liberty, Fraternity and Equality...we answer with German Realism, Infantry, Cavalry and Artillery" -Prince von Bülov, 1870-

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Jan. '42 is too early

Post by Capt. Harlock »

Two other points to consider: First, some of the American CV's have Buffaloes instead of Wildcats at the start of the game. Meat on the table for the Zeroes. Second, around May 1942 there was a switch from the F4F-3 version of the Wildcat to the F4F-4. The important difference: the F4F-4 had folding wings, allowing around half again as many to be stowed in the hangar deck. Pacific War simulates this by having the number of fighters carried on the American CV's jump from about 27 up to 36 at this point. So, I would say you are not ready to engage significant Japanese air opposition until your carriers have the higher numbers.
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JReb
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Post by JReb »

Thanks Captain. I went back and saw the Buffaloes on one of the CVs and realised the quality difference. I am still just figuring things out and learning the controls. This game has an amazing amount of detail but the user interface is terrible! Definitely a steep learning curve.

What about standoff ranges for theCVs? Is three hexes enough? Should it be less than the range of the CV's aircraft?

Also, is there a way to know what the enemy LCUs that are attacking are, their strength? For instance, after the invasion of the PI, it would seem that the allies would have an idea of how many and what type of units are attacking.

What about taking an island? Do you use SIGINT to estimate land forces? How else would you know what the size of your invading force should be?
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Post by Sardaukar »

JReb wrote:Thanks Captain. I went back and saw the Buffaloes on one of the CVs and realised the quality difference. I am still just figuring things out and learning the controls. This game has an amazing amount of detail but the user interface is terrible! Definitely a steep learning curve.

What about standoff ranges for theCVs? Is three hexes enough? Should it be less than the range of the CV's aircraft?

Also, is there a way to know what the enemy LCUs that are attacking are, their strength? For instance, after the invasion of the PI, it would seem that the allies would have an idea of how many and what type of units are attacking.

What about taking an island? Do you use SIGINT to estimate land forces? How else would you know what the size of your invading force should be?
Standoff ranges: Of course if attacking static installations, that should be less than range of your aircrafts. It can be used as move option to intercept enemy task forces too, in which case move option range could be considerably higher. I use that very rarely, though. And remember, closer you are, more ordnance your CV bomber planes can carry. For example, 2000 lb bombs compared to 1000 or 500 lbs ones.

Strengths: One way is to watch combat reports, then you see detailed report about engaged enemy forces. As other forces, only way to have an estimation is to use Sigint. Using Marine division against Regiment is minimum odds in amphibious assault. If you see something like "1/*something* *something* is a weak formation", you could be assured that a Division would take the base and finally annihilate opposition in amphibious assault, since enemy is only battaillon usually. Beware though, Sigint is not *god's eye* and might not report all units in that base.
Division is minimum when assaulting base with known enemy presence, if you are absolutely sure base is unoccupied, anything goes. And when assaulting, be sure it's good exp division, since especially atoll combat is lethal..on atolls, "only one walks away".

Cheers,

M.S.
"To meaningless French Idealism, Liberty, Fraternity and Equality...we answer with German Realism, Infantry, Cavalry and Artillery" -Prince von Bülov, 1870-

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Post by Denniss »

If you want to fly air attacks on land bases make sure the standoff-range do not exceed your fighter aircraft range or you might get attacks with less or no fighter escort and your bombers are nice food for jap fighters (even the worst types)
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Enemy Strength

Post by Capt. Harlock »

in my experience, the best way of all to determine the enemy forces at a base is to send in a Bombardment TF the turn before. Make sure you have selected at least "medium" detail in combat reports, and watch closely during the execution phase. Every LCU present at the base should show up in turn, along with a message giving you the level of disruption they are suffering. It also doesn't hurt that the enemy LCU's will be "softened up", but they will usually recover all of their disruption by the following turn.

So it's an excellent idea to send in a Bombardment or Surface Combat TF along with your invasion force. (A Surface Combat TF will bombard only twice instead of three times, but if there are any defending TF's, they're ready.) And naturally, if enemy LBA is in the area, a covering CV TF is in order.

About stand-off ranges: remember that the Buffalo has one advatage over the Wildcat--it has a range of three hexes instead of two. This is why the Americans often have to wait until mid-1943 and the Hellcats to really get their island-hopping campaign in gear. Two hexes is closer than you want to get to most bases!
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Post by JReb »

I found out about the "medium reports" setting last night and think that adds a lot to the understanding of the game.

For standoff ranges I was thinking about 3-4 hexes (300-400 miles) which I thought was historically the operational range of most fighters.
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Post by Sardaukar »

JReb wrote:I found out about the "medium reports" setting last night and think that adds a lot to the understanding of the game.

For standoff ranges I was thinking about 3-4 hexes (300-400 miles) which I thought was historically the operational range of most fighters.
If you put standoff range as 4 and your fighters have range of 3, your bombers fly unescorted. That can be really bad, as previously stated...plus your fighters won't get the exp if they don't contribute to attack. I only use standoff ranges over 2-3 if I want to have a chance of carrier battle/TF interception with very good and aggressive commander (aka Halsey). And...it's useful to change your HQ target to base you are amphibiously assaulting, since it gives benefits. Of course AI will then know that you are coming after that place and might send something to combat you. It can be good for increasing chance for carrier battle in 1943 and later. 1942 I try to avoid carrier battles against Japanes as much as possible. When you can get 5 CVs in one TF, you can saturate the air with your CAP...but your strikes suffer reduction in size, due to co-ordination problems. Trade off, but helps to survive the long range nasty but fragile Japanese bombers.

Cheers,

M.S.
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JReb
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Post by JReb »

What are APDs, AVs and SBCs?

Thought APDs were fast transport but I can't get them to pick up anything.

SBCs...Seabees? AV...Auxiliary Vessel?

What role do the APD and AV fill?
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Post by Sardaukar »

JReb wrote:What are APDs, AVs and SBCs?

Thought APDs were fast transport but I can't get them to pick up anything.

SBCs...Seabees? AV...Auxiliary Vessel?

What role do the APD and AV fill?
APDs are indeed armed fast transports. Not much capacity, but useful. Form a TF with them and then select "Load TF" and then either supply (if you want to do that) or combat units. Only AP* classes can carry troops, MCS cannot. APs and APDs can carry also other stuff, but they are mainly troopships.

AVs are mainly used for transporting planes from place to place. It has also some anti-submarine value due to floatplanes. Also MCS can transport planes, but AVs and CVEs without airgroups are lot faster.

SBC ? Donno about that. What comes to my mind is the carrier dive bomber.

Cheers,

M.S.
"To meaningless French Idealism, Liberty, Fraternity and Equality...we answer with German Realism, Infantry, Cavalry and Artillery" -Prince von Bülov, 1870-

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