Time Management

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Time Management

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All Forums >> [New Releases from Matrix Games] >> War in the Pacific: Admiral's Edition >> The War Room >> Time Management

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Time Management - 1/12/2012 1:37:24 AM

Disco Duck

Posts: 198
Joined: 11/16/2004
Status: offline

As much as I like the game I feel a little overwhelmed by the amount of time it takes to set up each move. The early moves are killers. Can any of the people who play the campaign games give me any hints as to how much time they use per turn or any tricks they use to make things more manageable?

A search of the threads did not give me any results so if there is already a thread a link would be great.

Thanks

Post #: 1

RE: Time Management - 1/12/2012 3:16:44 AM

Treetop64

Posts: 722
Joined: 4/12/2005
From: 519 Redwood City, CA - BASE (Hex 218, 70)
Status: offline

I play as the Allies and easily spend at least an hour each turn, usually two or more. This is exacerbated by the fact that I now have the game date synced to the real-world calendar date, and only play one game-day turn per real calendar-day. Consequently, I have more time to deal with many of the little details that I would have otherwise glossed over if playing multiple turns per day.

IMHO there really isn't any way to quickly play this game, unless you're playing one of the smaller scenarios. There is simply too much to look after, and even if one spends an eternity on each turn he/she is likely to still miss things.

I'm often floored by the depth of this game, even after all these years playing it!

Oh, forgot: the first month or two in game time is a royal pain in the ass. Get used to it.

I have a first day turn, and a first month turn saved in a safe place with things already set up.

< Message edited by Treetop64 -- 1/12/2012 3:18:59 AM >

_____________________________

"Junk is something you've kept for years and throw away three weeks before you need it"

(in reply to Disco Duck)

Post #: 2

RE: Time Management - 1/12/2012 2:27:07 PM

John Mark

Posts: 34
Joined: 1/8/2006
Status: offline

When playing the Allies against the AI, I usually work a spiral pattern ... starting at Pearl Harbor, then to West Coast, east map edge, west map edge, north map edge, India/Burma/China, Sumatra, Australia, New Zealand, Pacific islands. This gives me structure and routine.

The first turn is a bear, taking 3 hours or more. Daily turns take an hour or more. I usually play 2-day turns to move things along.

Daily, I check the reports screen for reinforcements and missed withdrawals, the info screen for future reinforcements and withdrawals, and the squadron screens to move pilots around.

Mark

(in reply to Treetop64)

Post #: 3

RE: Time Management - 1/12/2012 2:31:24 PM

obvert

Posts: 3687
Joined: 1/17/2011
From: London, UK
Status: offline

If you're the Allies, you can spend a bit less in the beginning, as it's not as critical how you set up the background stuff right away. You have a week or so to start pilot training, supply runs, fuel movement, and planning your early build-up in the Pacific. Just concentrate on the tactics in the DEI and Malaya, and really don't let China go if you're playing an aggressive human. Against the AI, most of this can wait.

Most likely an hour per turn is a good average. This will increase for the Allies as you get more stuff and begin campaigns.

As Japan it's a little different. Plan a good week of several hour days to get your first turn set up. Then each of the turns for the first month at least will be around 2 hours if you really want to get it all looked at and tweaked. Remember, you'll not only have to dictate the first 4 months of conquests, but also respond to the Allies and what they tryo to throw in your way. All while trying to manage the economic set-up, which can be daunting at first.

For me now in Feb 42 as Japan most turns are an hour. I have more fun though when I get 3-4 hours to micromanage everything at least once a week!

(in reply to Treetop64)

Post #: 4

RE: Time Management - 1/12/2012 2:38:58 PM

vettim89

Posts: 3234
Joined: 7/14/2007
From: Toledo, Ohio
Status: offline

Things move incrementally enough that many things can be checked only every few days. For example, pilot training in rear areas moves so slowly that if you are checking it more than once a week, you may be overdoing it. I live with a yellow legal pad sitting on my desk next to the computer. I write important dates down such as when a major ship is due out of the yard. By doing this I do not have to check every major port every turn. So I spend one or two turns a week scouring the map and the rest only focusing on tactical issues. I have done a PBEM turn in as little as 25 minutes. The only reason I can do that is I have things organized in such a way that I know the specific things I need to do ahead of time.

Man, after reading that, I either need a drink or a therapist. I'm at work; ergo, I get neither.

PS: you are not truly hooked on this game until you find yourself having a hard time falling asleep because you are worried about the next big turn in your PBEM

_____________________________

"We have met the enemy and they are ours" - Commodore O.H. Perry

(in reply to John Mark)

Post #: 5

RE: Time Management - 1/12/2012 5:28:50 PM

freeboy

Posts: 8346
Joined: 5/16/2004
From: Colorado
Status: offline

I have a fast play mode, when turns come quick and my oponenet and I each have time.. where we can kick turns back 20 minutes or less, the trick is to know when to stop and look at whats happening in detail.. and to stop every week, game time, or so and run a long administrative turn where all the back areas are inspected and long term planning takes place.. for me as allies this means looking forward to whats coming into the game, massing convoys and troops / planes toward the bases which support the fronts... By doing this not every turn but spaced out, I avoid needless repitition.
hope this helps.. and its also not for everyone... if detail management is your thing knock yourself out every turn ! lol

(in reply to vettim89)

Post #: 6

RE: Time Management - 1/12/2012 9:20:19 PM

SqzMyLemon

Posts: 2132
Joined: 10/30/2009
From: Alberta, Canada
Status: offline

I can get sucked in and spend hours just tweaking things that are not important or relevant to the situation at hand. With multiple games running and other interests/hobbies demanding time, something had to give. I now try to be much more disciplined and deal with immediate issues to get a turnaround time of 45 mins a turn.

As others have suggested, production, pilot training and resource TF's for example can all be checked and tweaked every few weeks rather than daily. Theme turns also work, one day will be pilot training, another check production, another check base construction...etc. This way things are managed in bite sized portions that don't suck up hours of your time. As Vettim mentions, a pad and pencil help highlight your priorities or track things quickly saving you time later. The initial setup is time consuming, but after that it takes little to maintain things, sort of like working out.

_____________________________

Luck is the residue of design - John Milton

Don't mistake lack of talent for genius - Peter Steele (Type O Negative)

(in reply to freeboy)

Post #: 7

RE: Time Management - 1/13/2012 12:57:29 AM

Gabede

Posts: 151
Joined: 2/7/2010
From: Central, NC
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: vettim89

Things move incrementally enough that many things can be checked only every few days. For example, pilot training in rear areas moves so slowly that if you are checking it more than once a week, you may be overdoing it. I live with a yellow legal pad sitting on my desk next to the computer. I write important dates down such as when a major ship is due out of the yard. By doing this I do not have to check every major port every turn. So I spend one or two turns a week scouring the map and the rest only focusing on tactical issues. I have done a PBEM turn in as little as 25 minutes. The only reason I can do that is I have things organized in such a way that I know the specific things I need to do ahead of time.

Man, after reading that, I either need a drink or a therapist. I'm at work; ergo, I get neither.

PS: you are not truly hooked on this game until you find yourself having a hard time falling asleep because you are worried about the next big turn in your PBEM

WHOOO...i thought i was the only addict that woke up in the middle of the night to piss.... and then remembered to pass the computer and write down somthing i forgot on my last turn.

_____________________________

One of the serious problems in planning the fight against American doctrine, is that the Americans do not read their manuals, nor do they feel any obligation to follow their doctrine

(in reply to vettim89)

Post #: 8

RE: Time Management - 1/13/2012 4:19:05 AM

derhexer

Posts: 174
Joined: 9/19/2007
Status: offline

For the campaign games as the Allied player I can easily spend 1 1/2 - 2 hours just setting up the first move for the December 8th or May 1, 1942 scenarios. I want to set things up so I don't have to worry about much except either causing the Japanese as much losses as possible, or getting ready for a counter-offensive. Much of that is moving submarines into place and setting good bases for subs to return to. I�ve had some luck in sending PT boats north from Manila to cover the landing beaches. Kind of embarrassing when a Jap heavy cruiser gets torpedoed, or several APs with thousand of troops are sunk by plywood boats. I also sent my PT boats out from Pearl Harbor on December 8th and the little bastards sank the Jap battleship Kirishima when it came for shore bombardment.

If I'm playing the Japanese in the grand campaign I might spend 45 mins to an hour setting up my move for the first 7-10 turns. Some of the effort is sending sub mine laying missions to Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, Brisbane, Sydney, Suva and the Panama Canal. Later in the grand campaign I find myself spending more time, much of it getting supplies and troops into place for further offensives.

One thing that I found that saves a lot of time is saving my scenarios in sub-folders in the Save folder. I have sub-folders for Allies and Japanese for May 1, 1942, Allies and Japanese for the Grand Campaign and the Allies for invasion of the Marianas. Depending on the game I want to play I drag over the .WPS file into the Save folder and off we go.

(in reply to Gabede)

Post #: 9

RE: Time Management - 1/14/2012 4:49:01 PM

kbfchicago

Posts: 62
Joined: 10/17/2009
Status: offline

turn time savers IMHO ranked in order of benefit (to me);
1. have a pattern.� As an Allied player I always start at Pearl, go North, back down through US (West-Panama-East), out to SOPAC, SWPAC, up the DEI, Burma, India, Aden, finish up at Cape, then check strategic items like w/drawls, intel, etc.� End with a review of the Ops report to pick up anything I may have missed.� Having a set pattern is critical to not missing anything (by jumping around) and speeding up your turn execution.
2. make notes.� I'm not as good with this as I'd like but a "diary" in a small notebook (old school paper day planner you can still pick up in Office Max barging bins) along side your pc with a few simple annotations of long range plans or a note placed for a turn 2-3 weeks in advance to remind you to check/rotate/upgrade/land/etc... is a huge time saver and keeps you focused on objectives.� Additionally I write an "AAR-FOR" (after action report / future ops report) at the start of every 30 game days.� Sectioned by major (AO) area of operation (SOPAC, CENPAC, NPAC, etc..) its 2-4 short paragraphs of what happened that month and then another 2-4 para of what I see happening in the next 30 days, "i.e. Suva needs at least two supply runs".� Helps focus both tactical turn/turn actions and tie together an overall strategy that will lead you to victory.
3. set "maintenance" turns.� I conduct (almost, sans emergency needs) all pilot maintenance moves, rotations, etc on/about the first day of the month.� This is also where advance notes can really help you... i.e. Sqdn xyz will need to train until at least Sep 42 before pilots are ready, so don't waste time looking here for replacements to rotate into the pool.� Also stratigize on which ships will go through upgrades for the month.
4. use TF names to keep track of "next steps" and outcomes.� i.e. TF name for a supply run to Pearl might by "exch DD-Ward to SF for u/g" or "rtn to Kodiak" (as a reminder to return to an alternate port for its next mission).� Very helpful as "weeks" will go by before the 1st mission is complete and you will be struggling to recall or end up constantly re-planning what you need them to do next.

These actions help me keep turns (we play a two day game cycle) to as little as 30 minutes, generally 45-60 minutes. Opening turns, which require you to "touch" everything will take considerably longer. To reduce those opening moves, have a plan before you start...is I think about the only advice. Having started the campaign three times now...it really didn't get a whole lot easier between #2 and #3 :)

< Message edited by kbfchicago -- 1/14/2012 5:04:52 PM >

(in reply to derhexer)

Post #: 10

RE: Time Management - 1/15/2012 1:21:10 AM

Disco Duck

Posts: 198
Joined: 11/16/2004
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: Gabede

quote:

ORIGINAL: vettim89

Things move incrementally enough that many things can be checked only every few days. For example, pilot training in rear areas moves so slowly that if you are checking it more than once a week, you may be overdoing it. I live with a yellow legal pad sitting on my desk next to the computer. I write important dates down such as when a major ship is due out of the yard. By doing this I do not have to check every major port every turn. So I spend one or two turns a week scouring the map and the rest only focusing on tactical issues. I have done a PBEM turn in as little as 25 minutes. The only reason I can do that is I have things organized in such a way that I know the specific things I need to do ahead of time.

Man, after reading that, I either need a drink or a therapist. I'm at work; ergo, I get neither.

PS: you are not truly hooked on this game until you find yourself having a hard time falling asleep because you are worried about the next big turn in your PBEM

WHOOO...i thought i was the only addict that woke up in the middle of the night to piss.... and then remembered to pass the computer and write down somthing i forgot on my last turn.

What? You don't sit down and play another turn?

I would like to thank everyone for their answers, they have been very helpful. I guess I need to do a better job of prioritizing areas and concentrate on the active areas and let the rear areas take care of themselves more often.

(in reply to Gabede)

Post #: 11