A . dot a life saver

[MonkeysBrain2]

http://www.gamesquad.com/forums/index.p ... cks.77167/

I know that almost all TOAW players know this but . DOT on keyboard is a life saver, it finds next entrained unit.
Many times I forgot some entrained unit when I am not very careful. Few turns in this game I play now (Europa 1947 one of best scenarios for TOAW) I forgot some Bulgarian armored rgt because it was under some other units...

[demyansk]

The period key right?

[Hellen_slith]

Yes, the "." key ... another lifesaver trick for the huge maps:

to find those air units lurking about the edge of your map,
to be moved up to combat / AA range, is to do following (this example is for Soviet east edge, but
same principle applies for Germans etc. on western edge)

1. Open your Air Units briefing by pressing the "A" key
2. SORT the report by clicking on the "Location" white little label
3. Scroll the report down to bottom, it will list those units on east edge of map
4. Click on the unit label you want to move west
5. Map will locate onto that unit: at this point, make "locations" INVISIBLE (map will scroll faster)
6. scroll the map west using the "<--" key on NumPad (the 4 key)
7. Map will scroll faster, locate the airfield you want to move that unit
8. Press SPACEBAR to hide units
9. Press RIGHT CLICK on the mouse on that airfield to then move that air unit to the airfield
10. Watch her ZIP right across the whole map almost instantaneously
11. Then press the "U" key to open unit report and set to AS, CS, or interdiction, to your liking,
as well as range and loss tolerance. Press SPACEBAR again to reveal units again.

Rinse, Repeat. You've just relocated your air units in about 30 seconds to a minute, instead of
scrolling around. Re-enable city locations at your liking. Also, hiding the mini-map and air briefing report
will increase speed of game (if you have a potato computer like me, if you have supercomputer might not matter)

[Hellen_slith]

forgot to mention, in the air report above, the first number of the X,Y axis / hex location is the number I look at, anything above the 250,n range needs to be moved west ... so I would esp. look at the units with locations of 300+,n to move west. If they cannot be moved, the "mission" tab would not be clickable. An unclickable "mission" tab indicates the unit is garrisoned for reorganization or other reason it cannot move.

Also, note that in the X,Y axis of location, the HIGHER the X number, the farther west is the unit.
The higher the Y number, the farther south...

edit: sorry, I got my east / west mixed up. Also, depends on map orientation (I think) but general, in X,Y axis, X is east to west, Y is north to south.

[demyansk]

When I play I always have to go to each unit to entrench them further. Big pain.

[MonkeysBrain2]

ORIGINAL: demyansk

When I play I always have to go to each unit to entrench them further. Big pain.

But fortified status pays off... Good bonus in defense. Some guys were arguing before on some forums that in TOAW you can reach Maginot line in few turns.... Well, even with fortified units you can brake the line with sufficient firepower. But defense in TOAW is also tricky...

[Hellen_slith]

<shift+D> entrenches the entire stack that is selected

<shift+L> changes loss tolerance for an entire stack

[KwanzaO]

Might there be something similar for the reinforcement list ?
Sure would help on some of those FITE2 turns [:)]

[Hellen_slith]

ORIGINAL: KwanzaO

Might there be something similar for the reinforcement list ?
Sure would help on some of those FITE2 turns [:)]

In what sense? You can look at the recent reinforcements, and do the same sort of thing with that list ... click the unit tag to go to that unit; you can also sort this list by clicking on a white label.

[Hellen_slith]

PS: if you are looking at "Order of Battle - Units" list, and click on the unit tab, you then have to press "5" on the numpad key and then the map will center on the unit that you clicked on the label.

In the big scenes like RGW or FiTE, one of the first things I do every turn (after disembarking everyone with "." key) is check all engineers / ferry engineers / motor engineers to see if there is a bridge near them that needs repairing. I find the engineers easily by going to "Order of Battle - Units" report, and then sorting that list by "Icon Type" as shown in the below. Then, I click on the first in the list, then press "5", and ... VOILA!! Engineering Check!! Then I press SPACEBAR to hide units and check for any nearby broken bridges (sometimes the Engineer unit is already "on top of" the hex to be repaired) ... or I move the Engineer to the broken bridge...press spacebar again to reveal unit, attempt repair. Then I go back to OOB list, sort the list again, pick the next engineer, rinse, repeat. You have to scroll down the list to make sure you catch all engineers (because MOTOR engineers sort into the "M" section) .... doing it this way, it takes me only 10 or so minutes to complete my "engineering" checks, even in FiTE2. I also take the time (sometimes) of setting nearby units if they need digging, loss tolerances, or even set up some battles while I am doing the engineer check. This process speeds up the game immensely for me, as it forces me to look closely all over the map, and it gives me an ideas of the more detailed stuff when setting up for the first round of combat. I hope this makes sense! Example below of what I mean:

[KwanzaO]

Ooohh, I like the order of battle tip.
As for the reinforcements, I was thinking more of a way of selecting "next unit" on the reinforcement list instead of having to open up the list every time.

[Hellen_slith]

Ah, ok, I have not been able to find even a "short cut" key to open the "recent reinforcement" schedule. or a work around for that (yet)

That does seem to be a chore, esp. if the reinforcement schedule is beefy, as with the RGW/D21/FitE scenes during Barbarossa.

I will keep toying with that to see if I can find a procedure that might speed that up a bit.

As far as the Engineers / OOB tip, that also works well with any "dedicated" type unit ... such as AA ground units, e.g. I've been messing around with how to get the best use out of that OOB Units report; e.g. w/ the Engineers, I put on my "Quartermaster General hat" ...

then, after that, I think I will go through that procedure w/ AA ground units (putting on my "AA Defense General" hat, making sure they are all where they should be (to me, either on airfields or bridge defense--not running recon, as some folks do).

I know some folks like to put those in front line, or use them for recon, or just move them to counter interdict, but to me they are "second tier" units that have specific tasks. In a pinch, I might use them for front line defense, but otherwise, they should be scanning the skies for enemy fighter-bombers.

Same w/ Engineers: not very good to use them as front line combat or even recon units, (some folks will use those for recon, is gamey to me, but whatever floats your boats!) but for me, Engineers are for bridge repair and transport help ... except in a pinch. YMMV!