WHERE ARE THE JAPANESE PLAYERS?

[BraveHome]

ORIGINAL: irrelevant

I can only manage one PBEM. I spend so much time on the one that my wife gets cranky as it is. That's okay, I'm glad that after 14 years she still wants me to spend time with her[;)]

Right on! [8|]

[esteban]

Bravehome:

Thanks for the reference to the excel spreadsheets regarding loading rates at various ports, but that is not what I was looking for.

What I would like would be for the listed numbers for AP/AK loading, that you see on the transport loading screen, to be accurate. Right now, the numbers that are shown are about 1/2 of what is actually required.

That, and the way that units are distributed across a convoy if you try to load multiple units into the same convoy. In UV, if you figured out that a certain type of unit took 5 ships of a given size to carry, you could put 15 of those ships in a TF and load 3 units in one shot. In WitP, if you do that, you get about 2 units loaded, even if you make a provision for needing about twice as much shipping capacity as the numbers say.

As a result, you have to load each unit separately into a single TF. Then, if you have multiple units you are loading at one port, going to one destination, you have to combine all the separate TFs, each carrying a singe unit, into a larger TF.

This is a nightmare if you are running a turn where you have to load lots of units into troop convoys.

I am pretty sure that on your average turn, this would add about 10%-15% to the time you need to complete the turn. On turns where you are loading lots of invasion or troop convoys, it can more than double the time required.

[Grotius]

Esteban, can't you work around the loading problem by adding 2x the transports that the loading screen says you need? Don't you *want* extra tnansports anyway, to minimize casualties in case a transport is sunk -- or to make room for supplies?

Incidentally, I'm playing 3 PBEMs of short scenarios (Guadalcanal, Coral Sea), all as Japan. I like playing the underdog. But like many others, I won't start a new game until 1.5 arrives.

[BraveHome]

Ah! I guess it's so second nature now that I automatically double the size in my head to get the right number of transports.

I agree, the 1st time I attempted to load multiple units into a convoy it threw me (I never played UV, but it seemed 'intuitive'). No one says the interfaces to get things done in WitP are the greatest, but since it IS one of the greatest operational wargames ever, you make allowances [;)]

Besides, each one of your units will undoubtably benefit from your personalized TLC...

[esteban]

I am too practical to feel that each unit gets an advantage in terms of TLC. For me, the problems with convoy loading are a big playability issue. My experience has been that having a convoy loading system that works as well as the UV system did would save me a lot of time.

As for wanting to spread my units across as many transports as possible--two problems.

1) there are many cases where you don't have the ships to load everything you want to in the first place. having units spread themselves across 8-9 ships, instead of the 5 or so that are strictly required, is a big problem in these cases.

2) Fuel consumption. All those extra ships use extra fuel. If you can afford the extra consumption, great! But even in 1942, the Japanese player might be well advised to not use 10000 fuel for an operation, if he can pull the same operation off for 7000 fuel.

[Roger Neilson]

More of a problem to me is not really knowing when the stuff will be loaded and therefore when the task force is going to depart... this is a real pain as it wreaks havoc with my careful sychronised landings...(Lol)

Am i just a dumb guy here?

Roger

[BraveHome]

Hm....I haven't found fuel that big an issue (yet) in '42. My conquests actually feed me more fuel than I'm using.

And you really don't want your ships packed to the gills typically, as

1) Time is critical, and loading/unloading with more ships saves you Time (not to mention lowers your vulnerability while uselessly onboard ships) and

2) You lower your losses by loosely loading your landlubbers (couldn't lay off!).

I have also found (as the Japanese anyway) that I have reams of extra APs docked after the initial invasions.

[Tanaka]

ORIGINAL: esteban

I'd play the Japanese side (I think it's an underdog/do better than historically kind of thing). However, RL and other commitments are pressing, and I would really prefer some more progress on several issues before I commit to a game.

1) Japanese pilot drain (have to play a "fanboy" scenario right now to get anything close to a solution to this)

2) Night bombing (Currently, I pretty much have to insist on a house rule that prevents anything but city bombing missions at night. I don't like the house rule myself, but it's better than uber night bombing issues)

3) A fix for the transport loading calculation bugs. Getting this fixed so that you actually really knew how many ships you needed for a certain unit or units would cut turnaround time on the average turn by 10%-15%. Right now, I am to the point of wishing that the old UV transport/freighter capacity rules and numbers were patched into WitP in place of the current system.

4) IJA fighter upgrades. (Again, you have to play a fanboy scenario to get upgrades, even if you are doing exceptionally well)

5) Possibly a map fix to remove the utterly ahistorical Aussie peripheral road/railroad network.

So, I guess I wait for 1.50 to see what it brings.

Andrew Browns map fixes this....

I will be looking to start a PBEM as the Japanese when 1.5 comes out....

[romanovich]

When is 1.50 supposed to come out?

[Tanaka]

ORIGINAL: romanovich

When is 1.50 supposed to come out?

by march 31

[Halsey]

2006

[:D][:D][:D]

[romanovich]

No seriously. I've been going through the threads w/ Search, but can't find anything. Is the date 3/31/05 for the v1.5 release a guestimate or did Matrix commit to that date?

It seems they have loads of other things to do (promote World at War, move their servers, you name it). Just wondered because I don't want to start my first PBEM game with a version that will soon be history...

[Grotius]

A few weeks ago, Mr. Frag did say that the patch would be here by the end of March. Personally, I'd rather that 2by3 take the time to get it right, even if it means some delay. But yeah, right now it's looking like 1.5 will arrive this month.

[romanovich]

And this next one is going to be major, right? One of those "comprehensive"-type of patches, right?

I read that the Jap-airplane upgrade paths will become more flexible. Apart from that, are there other MAJOR rewrites that would really have an impact on game play?

Anyone?

[ADavidB]

ORIGINAL: romanovich

And this next one is going to be major, right? One of those "comprehensive"-type of patches, right?

I read that the Jap-airplane upgrade paths will become more flexible. Apart from that, are there other MAJOR rewrites that would really have an impact on game play?

Anyone?

Air upgrade paths for both sides will become player selectable.

Some of the OOB problems such as the Lexington self-destruction in 1942 scenarios will be fixed.

A number of problems related to leaders changing themselves will be fixed.

The rest of the changes/fixes haven't been announced or hinted at.

Dave Baranyi

[erstad]

Another one that's been announced is that cargo will be destroyed when transports are hit. That could impact gameplay for people accustomed to ramming a convoy into a friendly port under the opponent's LBA umbrella.

[Platoonist]

It's my understanding that the in-game font will be made more readable in 1.5. Just a cosmetic change...but nice.

[EdM]

I am interested in a game

[LittleJoe]

Answering the top title, i would be interested to playing a second PBEM as Japan, ive made a few bad mistakes in my first one but i have (hopefully) learned from them.

I got a bit of time on my hands with my other opponent on buisness trips a bit lately.

One thing i must say, my allied opponent must be in a European timezone, im Uk see... and the time differences can make for a slow game.

[Caligula]

Hi everybody!

I´m new to the game and I would like to play the Japanese side, so please contact me if you want to play. I have only played the computer thus far, and I haven´t noticed any bugs yet...

You can email me at fredrik_bermar@bredband.net. I prefer playing with these options:

Allied Sub Doctrine: No
Japanese Sub Doctrine: no
Fog of War: Yes
Advanced Weather Effects: Yes
Allied Damage Control: Yes
Historical First Turn: No
Vary Setup: No
December 7th Surprise: Yes
Reinforcements: Historical