Newbie Questions

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Alsadius
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Newbie Questions

Post by Alsadius »

I'm playing my first game, as Japan fighting the Allied AI. And, as I assume is tradition for newbies, I have a lot of questions. I've played WitE 1/2, and I was brought into WitP by watching some Youtubers(THG vs Lodrik, specifically), so I have a general sense of how they act. But I know I've still got a bunch of holes. I figure this is a training game, in practice, but I'd still like to learn what's what. And yes, I know I'm asking for a mid-sized book here, so links to threads are just fine in place of writing up a long-form answer.

In case it matters for any of the below, I'm on the first turn (Dec 9th, because 2-day turns), scenario #1, fog of war on, no reliable USN torp, no realistic R&D, and PDU on. My first-day kills were Prince of Wales, Repulse, Maryland, and Nevada, and all six of the others on Battleship Row showing 2+ torpedo hits with heavy fires and/or heavy damage.

Garrisons
Is there a fast way to see garrison status for cities? I know you want to use your units with low experience/morale as garrisons (Chinese and Thai troops, commonly), but dividing them up to cover everything off properly seems like it could be a real pain. You need what, two-thirds of the listed garrison size to avoid penalties?

Locked Forces
I hear a lot about locked forces, but other than static units like forts, I cannot for the life of me figure out how to tell what's locked and what isn't. Does this show up in game? Or is it all a house rule?

Air Production
I haven't been able to find a guide that goes into details of what exactly you should produce, so I did my own analysis from Tracker CSV dumps. Here's what I came up with.
Main engines: Mitsubishi Ha-32 and Ha-33, Nakajima Ha-35
Secondary engines: Aichi Ha-60(R&D), Kawasaki Ha-60(R&D), Nakajima Ha-45(R&D)
Haven't changed factories away: Mitsubishi Ha-31 and Ha-43(R&D), NE turbojet(R&D), Toko Rocket(R&D)
Stopped outright: All others

Added production above starting levels: A6M2 Zero, D3A1 Val, B5N2 Kate
Planning to stop after using up their engine stockpiles: Ki-57-I Topsy, Ki-27b Nate, Ki-36 Ida, E14Y1 Glen (I figure that if they're half price, and the factories are already running, I might as well make them as second line/trainer planes.)
Major R&D efforts: A6M5 Zero, G4M2 Betty, J1N1-Sa Irving, Ki-102b Randy, Ki-44-IIa Tojo, Ki-61-1a Tony

I've already made changes to all the factories in line with the above, but I haven't invested much into expansion yet. So there's still room to adjust things based on which factories I'd like to build up.

Industrial Expansion
I've heard that over-expansion is a good way to kill your economy, but it sure looks like some amount of expansion is needed. What's the balance I should aim for? If I understand the mechanics properly there's no benefit to doing big lumps of expansion - as long as there's at least 1 damaged size point, it'll repair as fast as if there's 100 - so I know I can chip away over time. But what's the broad goal here? In particular, I'm wondering about HI and air/engine factories - it looks like shipyards are relatively less important, and LI is significantly less efficient than HI, so I figure neither of those needs expansion. What about armament/vehicle factories? I've put a bit of growth into all of the above, but not much - about 100 HI, 20 vehicles, and 40 armaments.

Pacific Bases
I expect I'll focus a bit more on the land side of things, but I'll still need my major forward bases against the USN. I'm thinking Saipan, Truk, Rabaul, Luganville in the New Hebrides, and (if I can get that far) Suva on Fiji as main bases. Forward bases could be Wake, Maloelap in the Marshalls, and Tarawa in the Gilberts, mostly as air bases for scouting, subs, and a bit of fleet support.

When I set up a base, I assume it needs a decent pile of supplies and fuel, base forces to build and maintain infrastructure, some defending infantry, and a mix of planes that includes fighters, naval bombers of some sort, and recon/patrol planes. Plus maybe some tenders, especially if it's a sub base.

Ground Combat Tactics
I assume this isn't nearly as much about "surround them and then reduce the pocket" as killing Soviets in WitE is. How important is surrounding, and how practical is it? Or is combat more focused on pushing people back and dominating the supply lines?

Also, it's obvious that big rail > small rail > big road > small road, but how large are the differences in throughput? Are there any force sizes where I should worry that I'm going to choke my supply lines?

Long-Term Targets
- Seems like the main choices of possible targets (after you've already achieved Japan's historical conquests) are China, India, Australia, New Zealand, or the Pacific/USN(possibly including Hawaii). How do I go about picking between them? (Yes, I know this is an even bigger question than the others I've asked.)

Random Questions
- When I press the 4 key, numbers show up above every land hex. What are they? Is that related to unit locking?
- I see you can rename naval TFs. Can you do the same with land/air units?
- I've heard that units are stronger built up than they are broken down, so I should try to consolidate as many brigades and divisions as is practical. Is that accurate?

Thanks.
ishtarin
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RE: Newbie Questions

Post by ishtarin »

Locked Forces
It's more of an in house rule thing. Aside from static units, many Manchurian/Chinese units are considered restricted, denoted with [R] after the name of the army they are attached to. You can freely move them between land borders but cannot move them using ships. Many house rules forbid Manchurian units crossing into China before their HQ is changed.
Air Production
The G4M2 is in my opinion not worth focusing. Researching gives far better yields on planes with long lines with many variants (Zeroes, Judies, etc) than just a single end line plane. It also benefits from planes that are far off yet have amazing capabilities. The G4M2 falls into neither of these. I would recommend for the Army and Navy each to have 2 fighters and 1 bomber. The P1Y and the B7A are recommended choices, but I personally use the D4Y because of that 800kg bomb waiting at the end of the tunnel. Focusing both the Ki-61 and Ki-44 is a waste of resources with PDU on, I'd recommend turning the Ki-61 off because you can save an engine line. The N1K and Ki-84 are almost mandatory.
Industrial Expansion
I keep Armament factories and upsize vehicle factories to 250 or even 400, don't expand HI or LI. Don't repair LI or Resources when you capture them.
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Platoonist
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RE: Newbie Questions

Post by Platoonist »

ORIGINAL: Alsadius


Garrisons
Is there a fast way to see garrison status for cities? I know you want to use your units with low experience/morale as garrisons (Chinese and Thai troops, commonly), but dividing them up to cover everything off properly seems like it could be a real pain. You need what, two-thirds of the listed garrison size to avoid penalties?


Yes. Just go to your bases screen (hotkey "B"). Then click the resource and garrisons filter.

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WEXF
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RE: Newbie Questions

Post by WEXF »

The Royal Thai Army is another example of units that are [R]. They can't change HQ.
If you look at a unit like the 4th RTA Division you will notice that it reads "Attached to Royal Thai Army [R]" and that it is in white and cannot be changed.
Units that can change HQ are in yellow. Clicking on them will tell you how many PP the change will cost.
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RangerJoe
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RE: Newbie Questions

Post by RangerJoe »

Never repair manpower . . .

Go through this thread, being aware that some of the material did change due to updates:

FAQ / Info for Newb's

https://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=226013

You might want to switch to 1 day turns . . .

Seek peace but keep your gun handy.

I'm not a complete idiot, some parts are missing!

“Illegitemus non carborundum est (“Don’t let the bastards grind you down”).”
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Platoonist
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RE: Newbie Questions

Post by Platoonist »

ORIGINAL: Alsadius

- When I press the 4 key, numbers show up above every land hex. What are they? Is that related to unit locking?


That gives the country code for the hex of each nation. 70=China,42=India,20=Canada. Not terribly useful if you already know your geography.
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Platoonist
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RE: Newbie Questions

Post by Platoonist »

ORIGINAL: Alsadius

- I see you can rename naval TFs. Can you do the same with land/air units?

No. You can only change the name of ground and air units in the editor and then it must be before you start a game.
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Alsadius
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RE: Newbie Questions

Post by Alsadius »

Ishtarin: Thanks. Some of those planes are ones I've got factories for(like 0(55) for the Ki-84a Frank and another 0(15) for the Ki-84b), they're just ones where I think that was the default starting arrangement, not ones where I moved things over. TBH, I think I phrased it misleadingly - most of the factories I switched were smaller ones, so I have 70 Frank R&D factories and 21 for all variants of the Betty combined. (Stands to reason that my efforts to summarize my interactions with a super-complex system I only halfway understand would be misleading, I suppose...)

The locking being a house rule thing makes way more sense. What do 400 vehicle factories do for you, though - do you have enough tank units to absorb that production, or can you make new ones over and above the usual amount?

Platoonist: Awesome, thank you.

RangerJoe: Your link isn't working. Did you link a private message, by chance? EDIT: No, I see that you just missed a digit off the end - it's supposed to end in 137 (won't let me post links), which I'd already looked through. But thanks - it was definitely worth reading, so it's a good one to link.
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Platoonist
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RE: Newbie Questions

Post by Platoonist »

ORIGINAL: Alsadius



What do 400 vehicle factories do for you, though - do you have enough tank units to absorb that production, or can you make new ones over and above the usual amount?

You can't actually build any new ground units other than the ones that arrive according to the ground unit arrival schedule. The vehicle factories just add tanks, trucks, half tracks etc, to the vehicle pool so you can fill those new units out,or replace losses in others or eventually upgrade units to better equipment.
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Alsadius
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RE: Newbie Questions

Post by Alsadius »

ORIGINAL: Platoonist
You can't actually build any new ground units other than the ones that arrive according to the ground unit arrival schedule. The vehicle factories just add tanks, trucks, half tracks etc, to the vehicle pool so you can fill those new units out,or replace losses in others or eventually upgrade units to better equipment.

I thought as much. I'm just a bit surprised that that's a big enough benefit to justify a major investment of industrial effort. But you're not the first I've heard discuss expansion there, so I guess it is.
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RangerJoe
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RE: Newbie Questions

Post by RangerJoe »

My error, it is the link stickied at the top of the page . . .

https://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=2260137
Seek peace but keep your gun handy.

I'm not a complete idiot, some parts are missing!

“Illegitemus non carborundum est (“Don’t let the bastards grind you down”).”
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ishtarin
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RE: Newbie Questions

Post by ishtarin »

ORIGINAL: Alsadius
ORIGINAL: Platoonist
You can't actually build any new ground units other than the ones that arrive according to the ground unit arrival schedule. The vehicle factories just add tanks, trucks, half tracks etc, to the vehicle pool so you can fill those new units out,or replace losses in others or eventually upgrade units to better equipment.

I thought as much. I'm just a bit surprised that that's a big enough benefit to justify a major investment of industrial effort. But you're not the first I've heard discuss expansion there, so I guess it is.
The starting 170(?) factories aren't enough if you're constantly using (and losing) tanks in places like India and Australia for example. In my experience 250 is enough to bring the production rate to a slight surplus by late 43. In terms of industrial effort it's rather cheap for what it can bring. 70,000 supply to keep your most powerful units online and in fighting condition is something I would consider worthwhile.
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Kull
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RE: Newbie Questions

Post by Kull »

The Japanese Economy Primer was a great help when playing my first campaign as Japan.

I will just note that for your first campaign, the Allies are a better choice since you don't have to worry about the economy and the game is complicated enough without adding that sizable headache. Plus you can make mistakes galore and still win, while Japan has little margin for error. And maybe the best reason? You get to see up close and personal the capabilities that will be deployed against Japan as each month passes and the Allied Logistical Avalanche pours forth.
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RE: Newbie Questions

Post by BBfanboy »

ORIGINAL: Platoonist

ORIGINAL: Alsadius

- When I press the 4 key, numbers show up above every land hex. What are they? Is that related to unit locking?


That gives the country code for the hex of each nation. 70=China,42=India,20=Canada. Not terribly useful if you already know your geography.
It can be useful in some areas. For example, look at the Kuriles and press 4. Note that the four main Japanese islands are code 100 while the Kuriles appear to all be code 101. That means that an invasion of those islands does not trigger release of emergency reinforcements (the Depot Divisions for example) on the main islands. It is hard to see, but Paramushiro Jima is the exception - it is code 100. So if you want to work your way close to Japan in the Kuriles but don't want to trigger the reinforcements, just bypass and neutralize PJ.
No matter how bad a situation is, you can always make it worse. - Chris Hadfield : An Astronaut's Guide To Life On Earth
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RE: Newbie Questions

Post by RangerJoe »

ORIGINAL: BBfanboy

ORIGINAL: Platoonist

ORIGINAL: Alsadius

- When I press the 4 key, numbers show up above every land hex. What are they? Is that related to unit locking?


That gives the country code for the hex of each nation. 70=China,42=India,20=Canada. Not terribly useful if you already know your geography.
It can be useful in some areas. For example, look at the Kuriles and press 4. Note that the four main Japanese islands are code 100 while the Kuriles appear to all be code 101. That means that an invasion of those islands does not trigger release of emergency reinforcements (the Depot Divisions for example) on the main islands. It is hard to see, but Paramushiro Jima is the exception - it is code 100. So if you want to work your way close to Japan in the Kuriles but don't want to trigger the reinforcements, just bypass and neutralize PJ.

Then invade Hokkaido in 1944 while the enemy has no clue that this is going to happen since you are still playing in the Solomon Islands and the Japanese have an extensive perimeter. Watch just how fast the air units return to the Home Islands while the perimeter shrinks . . .
Seek peace but keep your gun handy.

I'm not a complete idiot, some parts are missing!

“Illegitemus non carborundum est (“Don’t let the bastards grind you down”).”
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Lokasenna
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RE: Newbie Questions

Post by Lokasenna »

Garrisons: you need the full amount to always avoid penalties. If you don't have the full amount, there is a chance (based on the proportion of the full amount that you do not have present) you will take penalties. Also, I rely more on the mouse-over on the map as there are some edge cases where non-combat devices seem to count for some of the garrison requirement.

Locked forces: generally, what you are referring to are "Restricted units." There are two kinds. "White restricted" (or grey), which can never be changed commands - so can never be airlifted or transported by sea, but may walk across borders with no issue (sometimes people house rule this, personally I think it's a nothingburger). "Yellow restricted" are those that you can use Political Points to change their command to anything else, which will allow you to load them on planes or ships if you set them to an unrestricted command (without an "(R)" in the name). Note that there is no point in using PP to assign a restricted unit to another restricted command, unless all you are trying to do is recombine sub-units (but that if you want the final unit to be unrestricted, you probably have to change them all to that anyway, and the cost is not going to be substantially different before or after combining).

Air production and industrial expansion: using Tracker or your own spreadsheet is basically required. Personally I would find a spreadsheet more robust for my uses, but Tracker is good enough that I never actually made that fully functional spreadsheet. As for what you "should" do, there is no real recommendation beyond general guidelines to (1) not overexpand, particularly your refineries and heavy industry, as it is expensive and you have limited resources, and (2) don't overbuild planes or engines that you don't need.

Skipping ahead to ground combat tactics: surrounding units is extremely important if you want to stop them from running away. Sometimes, you will want them to run away, however... depends on whether you want the VPs from killing the unit outright - which is easier when they are surrounded, although will take longer than simply making them retreat. Units that retreat also tend to take heavy casualties when doing so, so the same attack that would cause a non-surrounded unit to retreat will often cause more casualties than against a surrounded unit, as the surrounded unit won't suffer those retreat casualties. So, it depends on what you're trying to do in that particular moment - and whether you think the forces are about to escape before you can surround them. The 'w' hotkey is your friend (I also use it for terrain hexside questions).

You should look up the emergency reinforcement rules in the manual if you have not already. You can look up these emergency reinforcement packages here on the forum, and you can find their devices in the editor if you want to peruse the consequences of invading beyond certain points.

Yes, in general built-up units are stronger than their component parts, due to how units take casualties.
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RE: Newbie Questions

Post by WEXF »


[quote]ORIGINAL: Lokasenna
Locked forces: generally, what you are referring to are "Restricted units." There are two kinds. "White restricted" (or grey), which can never be changed commands - so can never be airlifted or transported by sea, but may walk across borders

Actually, units that are restricted (white HQ) can be air transported as long as it is to another base of the same HQ. They cannot be loaded on ships.
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RE: Newbie Questions

Post by RangerJoe »

For emergency reinforcements, use the term "Emergency reinforcements" and "Bullwinkle" for your search terms as he did the work many years ago. Here is one thread:

Emergency Reinforcements--India/Socotra

https://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=2616532
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RE: Newbie Questions

Post by BBfanboy »

Lokasenna: The 'w' hotkey is your friend (I also use it for terrain hexside questions).

Not sure I understand how the 'w' hotkey can help with terrain detail on the hexside; don't you need to use the F6 key for that?
No matter how bad a situation is, you can always make it worse. - Chris Hadfield : An Astronaut's Guide To Life On Earth
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RE: Newbie Questions

Post by RangerJoe »

ORIGINAL: BBfanboy
Lokasenna: The 'w' hotkey is your friend (I also use it for terrain hexside questions).

Not sure I understand how the 'w' hotkey can help with terrain detail on the hexside; don't you need to use the F6 key for that?

I believe that the "W" key shows hexside ownership.
Seek peace but keep your gun handy.

I'm not a complete idiot, some parts are missing!

“Illegitemus non carborundum est (“Don’t let the bastards grind you down”).”
― Julia Child

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