Updated
– 07/22/04
Beginner’s
advices – by Joel Billings
Tips
for the Japanese player – by Mr Frag
Jap
turn 1 checklist - by Luskan
What
to do with Allied ships in the first few days – by Raverdave
Advices
for defending the Phillipines – by Raverdave
Tips
for the Royal Navy – by McNaughton
Everything
you want to know about production – by Xargun & Wilhammer
Zen
and the Art of Japanese Aircraft Production – by Oznoyng
I want to strongly encourage all new
WitP players to fight the urge to jump right into one of the main campaigns.
Even if you are an experienced UV player, there are many new features that you
will want to learn. By playing a smaller scenario (like #2 Rising Sun or any
from #3-#6) you will quickly start uncovering these new features and new rules
without having to try to handle all of the units of the main campaigns. You
also won't have to worry about production. Scenario 2 is especially good, as it
will familiarize you with the main area of operations for the first 100 days of
the war. If you have not played UV (and maybe even if you have), using the
tutorial is a must. Since I like to play immediately when I get a game, I'd
personally start scenario 2 as the Allies and see if I could stop the Japanese
AI's opening moves. The unit count won't be too high and if you make some
mistakes, at least you'll learn quickly without having to play for hours. Once
you are ready for more, try scenario 2 as the Japanese. You'll have to manage
major operations with lots of ships and other units, but again it will be much
more manageable. At that point, you should have figured out a lot and all
you'll have left to learn is production (aside from strategy that is).
Alternatively you could start a full campaign and run only one
or a few areas (letting the AI run the rest), but the turns will take much
longer to execute (and a lot of the action won't involve your units). I'd still
stick with a small map scenario to start.
I know everyone wants to jump into the campaign. If you can
resist, you will learn faster and I think will actually be enjoying the
campaign much sooner than if you try to tackle it first. For the UV players,
playing scenario 2 should be a lot of fun as it will open up a whole new area
of the world to you as you prepare yourself for the main campaign.
If you wanted to climb Mount Everest, I think you'd want to
start with something a little smaller first and gradually work your way up.
WitP is no different. Consider UV like a nice 4,000-meter peak in comparison.
Key point #1:
Plan your shipping before you do *anything* else.
Load your troops into shipping. The ships will load instantly.
Should you have not planned right on the # of ships, it will
say "loading troops". If you had enough ships it will say
"loading supplies".
You must Cancel Loading or you just might find your ships still
sitting in port on turn 2 loading. Note this!
If you build a TF to do a supply run, it will not load supplies
until the end of the turn! Note this! Engrave it into your hand! It will be the
cause of many screwed up turn #1's.
Now, here's the trap. Aircraft upgrade, factory changes etc all
eat up supply. You ships are sitting there waiting to load that very same
supply!
Should you burn through the supply doing *other* things, you
will have your ships still sitting at the port when turn #2 starts, having not
moved yet because they have run into the rule that prevents the base giving up
all it's supply!
You will have completely blown your
first turn!
Key point #2:
Do NOT include ships with very small fuel capacity in your TF's
built on turn #1. They will cancel the special turn #1 move rate because they
force a refueling check. Do NOT use Fast Transport TF's on turn #1, they do not
get the bonus movement speed. Remember that this special move only eats 3 hexes
worth of fuel to get there but there is NO special move to get you BACK from
there. Again, think carefully about the low fuel ships. Do they have enough
fuel to get to somewhere to refuel based on where you are sending them?
Key point #3:
Some bases in China start with not enough troops to suppress
uprising. You must correct this on turn #1 or you will find yourself with bases
that are destroyed for nothing. Pay attention to those ugly red numbers before
it is too late!
Key point #4:
Get your subs moving! Subs benefit from this first turn speed
move. Everyone knows where they are. Move em!
Key point #5:
Ground Units that do not start at a base will have their
planned location set to the Capital. You need to correct this to the nearest
base right off to not loose time. Units in bases are set to the base. Look
around at your troops. You will see that some already have planned destinations
set for somewhere (hint hint - through them on ships and send them there!)
Step 1 : Is really a step before a step. Take a step back,
and look at the map for a minute. Your first three objectives are
1. To inflict as much damage to the enemy in that first turn,
2. Prevent his shipping from escaping the SRA and
3. Establish total and utter air superiority over the SRA.
With this in mind, decide on a few bases that will need to become IJN airfields
yesterday!
Step 2 : Subs. Do all your subs yourself Can be a bit tedious, but
rewarding. Decide where the allied shipping is going to flee and then set up
your picket lines. Take your time and be sure to leave no holes! Malacca
straight and near Balikpapan, Darwin and Batavia should be your main areas of
concern.
Step 3 : China. Decide which troops you want to go where and give them
those orders. Be sure to remember Hong Kong and Changsha and yenen as your
first 3 objectives. Send overwhelming force but don't strip any chinese bases
of all INF units or you'll be sorry.
Step 4 : Air attacks. Start with KB and set up your PH (or whatever).
Then check Tainan, and Pescadores and all nearby bases for your level bombers
and zeros. These air groups will need to hit the PI, mainly Clark airfield.
Then Saigon - from here you need to hit singapore or Malaya somewhere.
Step 5 : Small invasions. Start small. Figure out exactly how much AP lfit
capacity you need to take two SNLF units or similar sized INF units to any
lightly defended or empty enemy bases you want. I always start with Brunei,
Miri, Davao, Cagayan, Legaspi, Jesselton, Taytay, Vigan, Aparri, Laong,
sometimes Kuching, Peurto Princessa etc. Double that lift number and then get
that many APs into a transport group and load troops. About 2 X the lift
capacity is about right when you're taking supplies. Be sure there is enough
supply at any base to launch such an invasion otherwise your tfs will STALL and
still be sitting in port on turn 2, having missed that vital turn 1 boost.
Step 6 : Large Invasions. Well, this is where you are sending your
assault DIVISIONS. Same process as above, only now you need a whole lot more
APs, and plenty of escorts as well as supply. Khota Bharu is a must, as well as
somewhere in the Aparri, Vigan, Laong region. Land every division you can that
isn't a home defence force one. Also, this is the step you need to decide which
enemy airbases are about to become yours, and allocate larger inf units (but
smaller than divisions) to take them. Useful combat bde at Palau, and there are
a few around like this. Kendari, Davao, Khota Bharu and Laong all make
excellent air bases, so be sure to send an aviation regiment and a HQ and an
eng unit to repair any damage to those bases. Same steps for loading APs as
before.
Step 7 : Burma. Are you sending troops here? If so, figure out which
ones and send them on their way.
Step 8 : AK TK roundup. Go around the map and get every AK and TK that
isn't already doing something and stick them into big tfs and send them back to
osaka. They should mostly arrive by turn 2 or 3. These will be put into your
auto convoy system.
Step 9 : Go and assign a few bombardment tfs around the place for fun.
Step 10 : Put all available transports and escorts into auto convoy
system. Then select the bases you want them to go to from the bases list. I
select any invasion bases (after I've invaded and taken them obviously) and all
chinese and japanese ports plus Palau, Pescadoes, Saigon, Truk and Kwajalein.
Step 11 : Production: Change all Nate production to something else. That
should do for beginners.
Step 12 : Gather all little cvs in home islands and at palau in the one
spot, make sure they're packed full of aircraft (some are empty) and send them
off to war.
Step 13 : Check your way around the map. be sure that every INF, Eng, HQ
unit you can use to invade the SRA is being used. Sure, you can't load all of
them on turn 1, but know where they are and have them in big ports, ready to og
as soon as your transports return.
Step 14 : Find a really stupid allied opponent and loose the dogs of war
Send your transport ships that are
located in the PI to the DEI, Australia and the South Pacific, but try and send
them in SINGLE ship TFs. Really try hard to vary where you are sending them so
as to have different headings as this will really give the IJN a headache
trying to track all of the targets rather than one fat convoy heading to a
known destination. I know that this will take you a long time to do, but it
will mean the difference between loosing 60 ships or maybe only 8.
Keep at least 5 or 6 AKs at Manlia
and use these ships to suck supplies from the far flung PI Islands where it
will do you no good. You really really need to try and stock Manila/Bataan with
supplies so as to give them a chance of holding out. (once again try and keep the
TFs to single ship TFs as they are much harder to spot.
Also consider this.....you don't
have to send all of your transports ships off at the first turn, vary when they
leave from the first turn onwards. In my games against Luskan I have had AKs
leave Manila in late Jan'42 and get away intact simply because his fleet
operations have moved on.
Another point to consider is
this.......when sending your AK's and AP's out of harms way to say Australia or
where ever why not send them there with supplies loaded from their home port or
bases? Those supplies, if NOT need for the defence of that local base, would be
better used at a place such as Darwin.....if you leave the supplies you are
only leaving them for the Jap. Better in your hands than his.
With the warships things are
somewhat different. The IJN will eat you alive in most games so you have to
think about force preservation with an eye on the future. Always be on the look
out for targets of opportunity as sometimes the Human player will, as the IJN, get
so excited by his string of victories that he will make a silly move. Hit and
run raids against bases that have already fallen can sometimes work well but
use your long range search aircraft to make sure that there are no surprises
waiting for you....the Dutch have a lot of these. But the upper most thought in
your mind must be force preservation.
Subs are a different matter, use
them. But try and find deep water choke points as the IJN ASW is good if he
finds you in shallow water. The Yank boats have the problem of faulty torps,
but the Dutch and Pommie boats can do a good job. Of course if you have becomed
overwhelmed by this point then simply let the computer control the subs.
1/ Fall back to Clark and Manila.
Don't warry about Bataan just yet because if you look at the map the IJN has to
go through Clark to get to Bataan. From the first shot fired, pull everything
thng back to Clark and start building your fort, same goes with Manila start building
forts right away.
Clark should be your "center of gravity" and thatb is where you
should concentrate your forces, Manila is not as important but you should at least put up a
fight there if only to hold it open while sucking out as much as the supplies
as you can (Send the HQs to Clark and the supplies will follow).
2/ decide if you are going to keep your aircraft in the PI or
move them to say Oz or the DEI. I tend to move the B-17s and the P-40s out to
Oz as they are far more value to me latter rather than getting shot down over
the PI by far more experianced jap pilots. What ever you do keep in the PI make
sure that the "accept replacements" is not switched on as this will
suck important supply points for little return.
3/ Check oll the industry at Manila and make sure that repair
is set to "NO" as this also sucks up valuable supply points.
4/ You are right about the ships, and I have already posted
what I do about them in The War Room. But I always like to try and keep 10 subs
around just to **** the IJN as much as I can, and I like to have at least 3 AKs
in Manila to drain the supplies by loading and sending them to Bataan.
The Royal
Navy in PacWar was almost totally useless, as whenever you set up a task force
you risked losing between none and all of the ships, rather randomly.
The current system gives the Allied player significant leeway, as they choose
what stays and what goes. This leads to the question, what to do with the Royal
Navy?
I used to leave the disposable ships, like D-Class Cruisers, Stronghold
Destroyers, and such in the East Indies with the hope that these could slow
down the IJN advance in PacWar, as they were generally useless, and the
withdraw system was fairly erratic and out of my control. Now, these ships are
more useful trading away as points so you don't have to send your good ships
out of the theatre. Since they probably won't sink anything anyway, better to
have them 'take the PP bullet' and go off to the Medeterranian than having your
good ships desert you (better that these ships sink in battle than to leave).
Saving the Prince of Wales and Repulse is fairly easy, and these two ships are
more valuable than all of the R-Class Battleships that soon arrive put
together. The AA of the Prince of Wales alone makes it not only a powerful
Battleship, (possibly the most powerful battleship in the theatre until the
arrival of the new USN BBs) but a perfect platform for protecting your
carriers. Warspite Class Battleships are also useful, albiet slow (not as slow
as the R-Class).
Carriers are worth a lot of points, as much as a battleship, but one CV is
worth more than one R-Class Battleship. The Hermes is fairly useless, and just
gives points to Japan when it sinks. It is good for a fleet scouting unit,
setting its Swordfish on patrol, but, putting the swordfish and gladiator
squadrons on Ceylon, and sending the ship back to the Medeterranian can still
give you the use of the aircraft, without risking the ship.
Virtually all RN heavy cruisers are useful, except for the Hawkins Class, and
the unmodified London class being the next weakest (in regards to AA power,
Exeter is weaker in Gun power). Realistically, modern RN CLs are tougher, and
their guns are INDIVIDUALLY weaker (not by much), but, they have significantly
more of them. A modern RN CL (Southampton and anything built after) are more
valuable than a RN CA in regards to firepower (AA and Surface) and tougher.
The ships with the second best fighting value to PP point value are the D-Class
light cruisers. They have weak guns, poor AA and OK torpedos. These should be
the second (or first, depending on your need to fight ASW) ships to leave.
AFIK, the C-Class Cruisers aren't moddeled COMPLETELY correctly, as many should
still be Light Cruisers, instead of CLAAs. Most regular Light and Heavy cruises
have comparable AA values as the CLAAs, plus they have a main gun battery.
Better to have a ship that is good in all aspects, than one so specialized but
not significantly better than a basic ship. Enterprise class Cruisers have a
good Torpedo Armament, but little else going for them. The newer early game
light cruisers are ranked with the Fiji being the best (they have everything a
Southampton class has, plus torpedos) and then Southampton. These two classes
should be kept around, as they have a good set of main guns, plus powerful AA.
British destroyers have some of the most powerful ASW factors in the game,
especially with the modified Pre-War types which gain hedgehogs in 1943 upgrades.
Their AA values are fairly low, until you get the J, N and P-Classes, but all
of the relatively modern destroyers have very good ASW capabilities, even the
Stronghold class. However, since destroyers are worth 300 PP points, and Light
Cruisers worth 500, losing two Stronghold DDs is better than losing the
Maritius. Ranking the Pre-War destroyers, from least to best, it goes pretty
much alphabetically. S, A, D, E (however there should be an I class, as this
class actually had banks of 5 Torpedos instead of banks of 4 Torpedos, instead
of being just a copy of the E-Class). Unfortunately, three of the S-Class
Destroyers start the game in Hong Kong, and getting them out of there intact is
tricky, basically losing the player 900 possible PP points that they could have
sent home. The Dutch Admiralen 2nd Generation destroyers, with 4x 40mm AA Guns
are amazing vessels. They individuall provide about as much AA values as about
4 pre-war British Destroyers combined. Save these three ships at all costs.
----------
Historically, after the losses in early 1942 the British were forced to keep a
large fleet of obsolete vessels as a defense against Japan. However, one can
easily save the Prince of Wales and Repulse, which are excellent vessels for
the core of the fleet, as they are both multirole. Each RN ship sunk, even
obsolete, means that you lost that equivalency of PPs at the end of the month.
Being cautious with the RN can pay off, as if you keep a modern fleet together,
regaining control of the Bay of Bengal can be done years in advance, and
possibly not having it lost in the first place.
Having a two primary squadrons, full of modern vessels in the theatre at all
times (i.e., never send these to the Med Sea) is important.
One battlefleet, of the Prince of Wales and Repulse, with modern CLs (Fiji with
its Torpedos before Southamptons), backed up by CAs and any DD A-Class and
later.
The Carrier TF should contain any CLAAs left over, as well as Southampton CLs.
Dutch 2nd Generation Admiralen DDs are fantastic. They provide ASW protection,
as well as significant AA. P-Class Destroyers are powerful AADDs as well, with
J and N class DDs following up next (however, they are also great for surface
TFs as well).
The Allied player gets about 1500 PPs per month, some of which could be spared
to save a destroyer each month from being sent back. Better to save a destroyer
each month (another month you might need it to trade away to save a cruiser),
than to risk reaching a point where in order to save a ship you need, you have
to get negative PPs.
Saving as many of the Dutch GVT Squadrons is very important. Since the Dutch
get replacement pilots throughout the game, and the British are lacking in land
based recon, saving these Flying Boat flights, and scattering them around
Ceylon and the Indian coast, can give ample long range early warning.
While being a powerful force, there is no way that the RN could hold off a
concerted Japanese attack. The IJN could put together a fleet twice as powerful
as the RN, and still have forces left over. A single IJN CV is about as
powerful as two RN CVs, due to airgroup size (RN does have an edge with their
powerful AA), and the IJN has 6 of them, to the RNs 2-3. That means keeping the
RN close to the Indian coast, and that a significant number of RAF squadrons
have to be detailed to protecting the RN, which in turn protects the shipping
routes from Karachi to Burma. If the IJN ever comes into the Bay of Bengal in
strength, either take a risk, and try and hold them off at Ceylon, backed up by
the RAF, or withdraw to Karachi where it is really safe.
1 Resource
point = 1.25 Resources (round down) + 1 Supply
1 Oil Point = 6 Oil + 1 Fuel
1 Manpower Point requires 10 Resources per point or none will
operate.
Consumes 10 Resources per point. Creates 4 Manpower Point per
point
1 Heavy Industry Point requires 1 Resource + 2 Oil in the hex
to operate. [No consumption here]
1 Heavy Industry Point consumes 1 Resource + 1 Oil.
Produces 1 HI added to HI Pool + 1.5 Fuel + 1 Supply
Aircraft and Engine Factories: These production size is per
month / not per day
Engines: If HI available equal to engine factory size, then
engines CAN be produced.
# of factory (each factory at each location is done separately)
+ RN (1-30) / 30 (round down).
Consumes 18 HI per engine built.
Airframe: No HI requirement
# of factory (each factory at each location is done separately)
+ RN (1-30) / 30 (round down).
Consumes 18 HI per engine needed on aircraft + # of engines [So
for a G3M Nell it will cost you 36 HI
+ 2 Mitsubishi engines (another 36 HI)
1 Vehicle/Armaments Factory Point requires 6 Heavy industry per
point or none will be produced
Consumes 6 HI per point and produces 1 appropriate point
1 Naval/Merchant Shipyard Point consumes 3 HI
Repair Yards produce repair points equal to their size daily
(for free). Can store up to 4x their size
It is possibly for the smaller factories (engine & Aircraft
below 10) to never produce a single product. It probably won't happen that way,
but it could. These small factories are cheap and easy to enlarge so do it. I
recommend at least a size 20 factory - that way you should produce 2 items
every 3 days.
Oil Point (size 1 port or greater) = 6 oil + 1 fuel
Oil Point (size 0 port) = 6 oil + 0 fuel
No fuel is created in a oil center with size 0 port only the
oil...
Mandalay by way of example will produce each turn, (50 oil
points)
300 oil
0 fuel
Not so simply instructions:
Convert A5M4 Claude -> A6M2 Zero (Nagasaki has 6)
Convert G3M Nell -> G4M1 Betty (Gumma has 20)
Convert Nissan engines to Nakajima
Convert Aichi engines to Nakajima
Expand Nakajima engines
Leave the rest alone for the next 6 months of the game.
Rangoon will produce each turn (50 oil points)
300 oil
50 fuel
First off... Yes, you need to pull resources and oil back to
japan to the tune of roughly 6000 of each per day - luckily you have enough
stockpiled for roughly 190 days - so if you don't have most / all of the bases
you need by then, GAME OVER.. As to where to land them it depends on where its
coming from, but you want to concentrate in large ports so they can unload
faster. Try for Sasebo as its a size 10 port as is Hiroshima I believe. Tokyo
is just too far east - save it, Osaka and Nagoya for sending out supplies and
fuel to your bases...
Once you dump off the oil / resources in Sasebo and such the
rail will move it all over Japan to where its needed... BUT remember not
everything is connected to the Home Islands.. You have industry in Formosa you
need to fuel... Some on Sakhalin Island thats need oil and resources, not to
mention China and Kwangtung - especially Singapore and Manilla (I think) once
you take them. You will have industry all over the place and it ALL needs fed
to keep the HI points up where you need them to be. Right now I barely have
enough HI points to run everythign I have and I still have major expansion to
do - just waiting for my current expansion to finish and for more supplies to
save up.
Xargun
Out of the 9 engines designs you only need 5 different ones and
then only a couple in large amounts. You need Aichi, Nissan, Hitachi,
Mitsubishi and Nakajima... With Nakajima the top and Mitsubishi the second. I
believe Aichi is only one aircraft design (D4Y Judy) but you definately want
that one - better DB for your CVs. Kawasaki has 1 type as well (Ki-46-III KAI
Dinah fighter. HItachi has several types - mostly recon and transport planes. I
forget what the Nissan engine is for, but I think only 1 design as well.
In my current PBEM game, I am currently producing all 5 engines
in varying amounts. I think I have only a single factory for the small three
and large factories of Mitsu and Nakajimas.
The A6M3 is crappy, but you need them to fill incoming fighter
squadrons. Upgrade to Zekes as fast as you can once you get them... Right now I
have over 100 A6M2s in production and unfortunately only have like 10 in my
pool - just reloaded all my CVs and airgroups and upgraded all CV Claudes to
Zeros. So now I just have to produce enough to cover my losses. BTW, dont
expect to convert aircraft overnight on CVs - so far its been like 3 days and
only 9 Zeros have been repaired while the other 9 are sitting around broken.
Sloooooow..
Xargun
I agree. I like smaller factories (size 50 or so) compared to
80+. Its just better that way, as you must have HI in the pool equal to the
entire factory size before it will even consider producing ANY engines and the
larger factories may not make any in the later years when HI grow short. I
think I have AIchi expanded to 50 (I want lots of DBs for my CVs) and the
others are in the 20-30 range. I have one huge Nakajima factory (150+) and the
rest are smaller. As 42 closes I will probably convert at least one or two of
the Mitsu (80 size) factories over to Nakajimas as the need for Mitsu decrease
a lot in late 42 and onward (when compared to Nakajima need).
I believe HI points accumulate into a pool and are spent from
that pool in a certain order. The trick with engines is that if you have a 30
Kawasaki Engine factory you need 30 HI points available before it will even
THINK about making engines... Then, you will only produce 1-2 engines out of
the factory per day. So if you have 30 HI left - the factory will run, but it
will only produce 1 engine as the each cost 18. The extra 12 HI would carry
over to next turn.
Basically the factory will not produce ANY engines if you do
not have HI points equal to the size of the factory left in your pool - which
is why those large Mitsubishi factories are not that great - you'd be better
off having 2 or 3 smaller ones than 1 large one.
Xargun
These questions were confirmed via Betas and the design team in
another thread. HI consumes 1 oil and 1 resource ONLY - BUT it needs 2 oil at
the location per HI point for it to run - kinda like a reserve. If you have 500
HI, it checks to see if you have 500 resource and 1000 oil at the location - if
you do - it will run and consume 500 of each and produce 500 HI (also produce
500 supply and 750 fuel). If you do not have the 500 resource & 1000 oil no
HI will run at the location.
HI production is ALL OR NOTHING - same as Aircraft Engines...
If it doesn't make the checks it won't run any of the industry.
First Principal of Aircraft
production:
Aircraft in the pool do not do you any good unless they are
Terminal Upgrades (TU), or SLOC's to SRA are broken.
What good does an aircraft in the pool do for you? It sits
there waiting to be put into an active squadron. Until it is used as a
replacement, it is useless. What malice does an aircraft in the pool do
for you? It sucks up an engine that may never benefit you.
Think about it this way. It is January 43. By producing Ki-27
Nates for the last year, you have 500 in the pool even after
replacements/reinforcements them. All of a sudden, oscars can replace Nates and
those 500 extra planes are worthless to you as more and more get added to the
pool from upgraded units. Your goal should be to have a pool of ZERO on the
date that an aircraft type upgrades to another aircraft. Compare the two
situations: I lose 18000 HI (or 500 engines and 500 airframes) when I kept
producing for too long. For every aircraft in the pool when an upgrade to the
aircraft is available, I wasted 36 HI (18 of it most likely "banked"
- see Second principal).
You can ignore this principal in two cases: the aircraft being
produced is a Terminal Upgrade, or when the SLOC's to the SRA are cut (or the
home islands are under bombing threat). In the case of a terminal upgrade, the
aircraft will never be replaced. You do need to make sure the pool numbers are
not insanely high compared to the Total Build Out (TBO), but for most types
this should not be a problem. In the case of SLOC's and bombing of the home
islands, you need to turn stuff into planes while you have the ability to do
it.
Spend a little more on production capability, and less on the
aircraft themselves. If you overbuild your production and halt it when the
pools get too high, you can build planes out as you need them, then rapidly
build out when the home islands or the flow of supply from the SRA are
threatened.
Second Principal of Aircraft production:
Engines in the pool are money in the bank, keep em there
unless you need them to replace losses "just in time", or to produce
a terminal upgrade.
A Nakajima is a Nakajima is a Nakajima. If you use one in an
aircraft that gets scrapped, you have wasted 18 HI. I would much rather Halt production
on a Nate and have the extra engines for later Franks, A6M5's, etc. Build your
pools of engines early in the war while your industry is safe. Halt engine
production when the islands are under threat and use your pools to produce the
latest aircraft models.
Third Principal of Aircraft production:
Get bang for your buck when you do research. Make sure the
Total Build Out of the aircraft type is large enough to merit the resources you
put into it and make sure the aircraft type is not a Self Starter.
Researching aircraft is expensive in terms of factory usage and
the returns are somewhat underwhelming. Choosing wisely is important. What
makes a wise choice? The first thing to consider is the upgrade's Total Build
Out. Choosing an aircraft that only has a few airgroups totalling only a
hundred aircraft (like the Myrt) is simply stupid when compared to researching
the A6M5/A6M8/A7M2 series (approx. 1900 TBO). An early war research priority
should probably be the Oscar, since it has the next largest TBO at roughly 1200
a/c.
One thing to be wary of when it comes to research is "Self
Starters". Self Starters are aircraft that are never an upgrade path for
another aircraft. Let's say you manage to get the Frances to production status
4 months ahead of time. Great, where are the airgroups you can put them into?
Does researching an aircraft move the arrival date of reinforcements for that
aircraft up?
Fifth Principal of Aircraft production:
Better planes = fewer dead pilots.
The problem in this game is not really limited Japanese
production of aircraft, but rather training of pilots. Towards that end,
putting your pilots in better planes asap is a priority. A better plane is no
guarentee of keeping a pilot alive, but producing and upgrading aircraft should
be done as fast as you can. This argues (again) for a large factory capacity
that is Halted when pool sizes and upgrades are sufficient.
Sixth Principal of Aircraft production:
Big is not better.
Large plants are risky for two reasons:
1. Limited HI, etc. can shut down a large plant more easily
than a small one.
2. Small plants are easier to repair and harder to damage than
large plants.
Therefore, increasing production capacity should be
accomplished by focusing on fewer aircraft and procuding each at multiple
plants.
Glossary
Self Starter - an aircraft that is not an upgrade of another
aircraft. The Total Build Out of a Self Starter is the total of the OOB plus
replacements. An example of a Self Starter is the P1Y Frances - nothing upgrades
to it.
Terminal Upgrade (TU) - an aircraft type that does not upgrade
to anything else. The A7M2 Reppu is a Terminal upgrade - it doesn't get any
better than that.
Total Build Out (TBO) - the total number of aircraft in the OOB
for the aircraft type, including air groups upgraded to the aircraft. For
example, in Scenario 15, the Ki-43 IIa enters the game from replacement
airgroups totaling 468 aircraft. However, most of the the Ki-27 aigroups
upgrade to the Ki-43 IIa. Airgroups totalling 504 Ki-27 start the game in play
and reinforcement airgroups add another 252 a/c for a Ki-27 TBO of 756 a/c. The
TBO for a Ki-43IIa is 1224 a/c (468 + 756).
First, engines.
By now, everyone should know that Ishikawajima and Nissan
engines are useless for aircraft production. You should definately change
all of these to Nakajima. So,
Tokyo has Ishikawajima (0) x 20 xfer to Nakajima
Hamamatsu has Nissan (0) x 9 xfer to Nakajima
Shimuzu has Nissan (0) x 7 xfer to Nakajima
Tokyo has Nissan (0) x 10 xfer to Nakajima
Now, Hitachi has a single plant in Tokyo producing 120
engines per month. Short version: On or about 1/7/42, convert this plant to
Nakajima.
Long version: The planes that can use that engine are the
Ki-36, the Ki-54, and the Ki-32. I am going to be charitable and say that these
planes suck only a little worse than a two-bit hooker.
- The Ki-36 has 2 air groups with 39
total aircraft in game. Thirty-seven aircraft are in that squadron and there
are 45 already in the pool. The Ki-36 upgrades to nothing, is slow, rickety,
and suffers from very short legs. Usable early in the game, but you should
probably not waste the pilots and VP later. There is absolutely no reason
anyone would want to produce more of these trash heaps. If you even keep them
around, 45 of them will replace every one in your squadrons with extras to
spare. If you are stupid enough to waste pilots out of your pool to put them in
these death traps, I want to play you.
- The Ki-32 is not currently being
produced and in any case is replaced by the currently producing Ki-48. So, no
need for engines for the Ki-32.
- The remaining type that uses this
engine is the Ki-54 Hickory. Technically an upgrade to the Ki-59, it has half
the range of the aircraft it replaces. The Ki-59 has 4 squadrons of 12 with 27
AC in those squadrons and 11 in the pool. The Ki-54 has one squadron of 36 that
arrive in 404 days. Ideally, we would go back to the Ki-59 and forego the
upgrade, but game mechanics do not allow it. So, I plan produce enough Hitachi
engines to produce approximately 60 Ki-54. With the 28 I have in the pool to
start, I will have 88 aircraft. I will then consolidate the Ki-59's into three
squadrons by upgrading or withdrawing one squadron and giving me 36 a/c in
three squadrons and 2 in the pool. I will then use 48 of the 88 for the
squadrons of 12 and 36. That leaves me 40 a/c for the pool, etc. Once the
engines are produced, I will xfer production to Nakajima. Once there are no
engines left, the Hickory plant will be retooled for something else.
Aichi engines I plan to leave alone. The engine is used
in the D4Y, the best dive bomber Japan gets. The TBO for the D4Y is 393 a/c and
can begin production in 11/43. If I produce 20 per month, I will have enough
engines stockpiled by 11/43 to completely replace my Vals and have a pool of 60
or so as cushion. Since the D4Y is a Terminal Upgrade, I don't need to be
concerned about the number that end up in the pool. Depending upon losses, I
might increase production by converting an additional small plant later (10 or
fewer engines).
Kawasaki engines are used only in the Ki-61 Tony. The
TBO for the Tony is 432 a/c beginning around 8/42 and not upgraded again until
2/45. Current engine production is at 160 engines per month. In 8 months, I
will have stockpile of 1280 engines, far in excess of the 432 a/c TBO. Also,
better than half the Tony squadrons do not appear until '44. Fortunately, the
Kawasaki production is split up into several factories, so I plan to keep 40
prducing per month at Maizuru and convert the rest to Nakajima:
Maizuru produces Kawasaki (0) x 40
convert Osaka Kawasaki (0) x 10 to Nakajima
convert Kitakyushu Kawasaki (0) x 10 to Nakajima
convert Hakodate Kawasaki (0) x 10 to Nakajima
convert Nagoya Kawasaki (0) x 40 to Nakajima
I am still pondering what to do with Mitsubishi and Nakajima.
I have converted the Mitsubishi plant at Shimuzu ( (0) x 50 ) to nakajima as
well. When the Hitachi plant is converted and all changes take effect, I will
have
Mitsubishi (0) x 815
Nakajima (0) x 646
Kawasaki (0) x 40
Aichi (0) x 20
I may expand the 3 10 engine Kawasaki plants that were
converted to Nakajima to 40 engines each.
Production thoughts:
Transport Aircraft:
In general, transport aircraft should have the lowest attrition
level of any aircraft in the game. They don't get shot down very often, and you
should be able to minimize operational losses. In other words, you shouldn't
need to have a very big pool of these guys sitting around. You should produce
what you need, with a reasonable cushion, then convert production to other
types. If it was possible to convert all transport production to the MC-21,
L3Y, and H6K2-L, I would. Unfortunately, the only upgrade path available is one
that makes little sense, so your job here is to get a big enough pool and use
the factories for something else. Specifics follow:
1. Change production of L1N1 Thora
The TBO for the L1N1 is 84 a/c, yet you already have 34 in
squadrons and 111 in the pool. Building 5 more a month seems like a pittance,
but that is 10 Nakajima engines and 270 HI saved.
2. Convert Ki-54 production to researching another type
after producing approximately 60 of them.
You need 48 a/c to upgrade one squadron of Ki-59's and bring
your replacement group into play. Adding 12 more gives you a replacement pool.
One month of Hitachi engine production then convert to Nakajima, and two months
of Ki-54 production, then convert.
3. Produce another two months on the MC-21, then convert to
another type.
You have one fully equipped squadron of MC-21's and get no
others. You are only producing for the replacement pool here and you don't need
that many for it. Producing two more months gives you a pool of 12 for 12
aircraft that should never see combat. If you run out, you run out. Meanwhile,
same reasoning as on option 1 above.
4. Double production on the H6K2-L
The H6K2-L has long range, can deliver to dot bases, carries
more than any other transport, is durable and armored. The tragedy is you only
get two squadrons of this one - 24 a/c with only 8 a/c in them to start, a pool
of 8, and production of 2 per month. With no operational losses, you will get
your squadrons to full complements in April or May. Personally, I'd rather have
this capability sooner and be able to sustain some losses, so I will double the
production (to a whopping 4!).
5. Double production on one Ki-57 II Topsy plant and convert
the other.
You get 168 Topsy's and 10 per month seems like a decent
production rate for them. However, that production is split between two plants.
I would double one plant to 10 and convert the other to diversify production on
another aircraft or use it for research.
6. Leave the L3Y production alone for the first 6 months.
Multiply your operational losses in the first 6 months by 12 and add 36. Stop
production when you get to that number.
Torpedo Aircraft
1. Research the B7A.
The B7A is the best Jap torpedo plane. With a top speed of 352
mph and a TBO of 543 a/c, getting this one a few months early can make a
difference.
2. Increase the production of the B5N.
At 20 per month, you can replace the aircraft losses of a days
operations from KB every month. Granted, KB will not be losing 20 a/c everyday,
but 20 is nowhere close enough. I plan to increase production of the B5N to at
least 80 a/c.
Recon aircraft
Recon aircraft are important - as important as the skill of
your fighter pilots. Nothing is more deadly than information and nothing
provides more information than your recon planes. The better they are (and the
better their pilots are) the better your strikes will be, the better your
warning of invasions will be.
1. Halt the H6K4 plant and let it convert on 1/1/42 to H8K,
then restart it and increase production to 16 or 32. You can halt the H8K later
when you have a large enough pool.
As good as the H6K4 is, the H8k is better. It is faster (fater
even than both the Claude and the Nate), has longer range, is more durable, has
more defensive armament, and is more manueverable. Personally, in Jap shoes, I
would have considered creating a bomber version of it. That aside, I highly
recommend getting your H6K's replaced with H8K's asap. Remember, if you can see
it coming, you can react. This guys can give you 2 extra turns of warning on an
invasion fleet and that is priceless.
2. Double Ki-46 Dinah II production
The Ki-46 is a big upgrade for the Ki-15 Babs - 77 mph faster,
10 more durability, and a hex longer range. At game start you have 20 of these
guys, but putting your *starting* squadrons at full strength will require 186
aircraft, then another 117 for your upgrades. Oh, and you have air-to-air
losses and operational losses on top of those. With 31 a/c producing, you will
take 6 months to get all of them operational with no losses. That is too slow.
Double production to 62.
3. Convert the Ki-36 to something else.
I posted already about the Ki-36 being a dog. With a top speed
of 216 miles per hour, this is just a death trap for pilots against any
location with CAP. Use them til they are dead since they don't upgrade to anything
else. If they can be used for ASW, do that.
4. Halt or convert C5M production to something else.
The C5M upgrades to the J1N1-R Irving in October 42. The pool
on this aircraft is small, but you only have 27 TBO on them. If losses mount in
this squadron, draw it back until the J1N1-R is available.
5. Don't research anything in recon.
Despite the importance of recon aircraft, there aren't enough
of them to get bang for your buck here and the upgrades that can be researched
are not significant enough. The best recon aircraft will be the Ki-46 III and
TBO for it is only 303 a/c. In the meantime, the Ki-46 is a more than
serviceable stopgap until you get the Dinah III in 1/43.
LBA
YOur current LBA is fairly good compared to your future LBA.
The improvements are noticeable, but you are in okay shape. Given the upgrade
paths in place, no model is a big enough upgrade over it's ancestor to warrant
accelerating arrival dates.
1. Halt Nells and let them convert to G4M1 on 1/1/42, then
restart.
You save 20,000 supply and the HI. Let the game upgrade you for
free in return for delaying production a bit. Pools for both the Nell and the
Betty are very large and you can let the Nells and Betty's range against naval
targets early without fearing CAP as much, so it isn't really critical to
convert G3M's to G4M1's early. You definately want these guys fully stocked,
but they are overstocked with big pools to start with. Only when the G4M2 comes
in should you try to build large pools of aircraft, since it is a terminal
upgrade.
2. You might want to halt the Ki-21 for a while and see what
happens.
With a pool of 401 a/c you can lose alot of a/c before you need
to think about restarting. If losses get too large, you can restart the plant.
Float planes
1. The E7K2 Alf should be halted.
It has 140 in the pool already and 140 in operation. Evaluate
the need for replacements after 6 months and look at what will be needed for
new construction, then convert or restart as appropriate.
2. Consider cancelling the F1M2 Pete.
With a tiny range, the Pete is not all that useful for naval
search. I plan to put every one on ASW. Given that, I am going to evaluate the
need for replacements, build up a pool of them, and stop when I get the number
I think I need. Since the majority of losses from this plane are going to be
operational losses and going down with the ship, I do not plan to have much
wiggle room in my stockpiles of it.
3. Consider canceling the A6M2-N completely.
I have never seen anyone extol the virtues of this aircraft. I
probably need to look at it's mission options, but unless I can be used as an
armed naval search, recon, or ASW, I probably will never have more than the one
operational squadron I can get from the pool I have at start.
Fighter Bombers
There are only 3 Jap FB's and the A6M5c has no upgrade path.
The only candidate for action is the Ki-102a Randy (TB0 = 468 a/c), which is
the upgrade for the Ki-46 II KAI Dinah (60 a/c), the Ki-45 KAIb Nick (36 a/c),
and the Ki-48 Lily (336 a/c). Another 36 a/c come as a reinforcement. The
biggest hit on the Randy is a smaller bombload than the Ki-48. It is faster,
vastly more manueverable, more durable, armored, longer ranged, and better
equipped with guns. The Ki-48 can carry a torpedo, but the Randy can't. I would
be tempted to research this one if I felt I could afford it. I put a premium on
aircraft that give aircrews a better chance to survive. and the loss of
bombload, while significant, is offset by the far superior ability to deliver
it to a target. I dont't know if I will actually upgrade it or not, but I
definately will give it some thought.
Fighters
This is the most complex category of aircraft, the place wehre
you will research the most, and the place with the most opportunity for an
impact upon Japan's fortunes in the war. Put simply, the faster you get better
aircraft into your front line squadrons, the fewer pilots you will lose. Get
the best fighters you can as fast as you can.
1. Increase A6M2 production.
There are 239 a/c operational now, you need replacements for
them. Another 330 Claudes need to be converted to A6M2's. I plan to at least
double my production of A6M2's.
2. Do hard core research on the A6M5/A6M8/A7M2.
It is all about pilots and numbers of aircraft. By the time you
are done, you will have 1910 aircraft in Claude/A6M2/A6M5 squadrons. The faster
you get upgrades - any upgrades - the more pilots you will preserve. If it is
possible to upgrade a squadron from the A6M5 to the A7M2, then skip research on
the A6M8. (I haven't been able to determine if you can skip an upgrade.)
3. Do research on the Ki-43 IIa Oscar.
No, I am not nuts. If you look at the upgrade paths for the
Ki-27 Nate, they mostly go to the Oscar - and then nowhere. Unfortunately,
there are around 1000 Nates that upgrade to the Oscar. The Oscar is not a bad
aircraft, but by late 43, it will suck. It has *very long range*, more guns
than a Nate (though still undergunned), is faster, more manueverable, and can
carry a bomb. The sooner you get it, the more opportunity you will have to
exploit it's strengths - and in more numbers than any aircraft other than the
Zero series.
4. Ignore the Shinden
No. Again, I am not nuts. The Shinden is an upgrade to the
George and the Jack - both of which are comparatively good aircraft with longer
legs than the Shinden. You are better off upgrading 1900 odd A6M's early with
A7M2's than you are if you upgrade 465 Jacks and Georges.
Dive Bombers
1. At least double production of the D3A Val
See notes on the B5N. Same deal.
2. Research the D4Y
See notes on the B7A. Same deal.
Q -
Are the "Special Rules" the only rules that affect the PBEM staring
conditions (i.e like we have in UV under "Japanese Submarine Ops
ON/OFF", "Ship Commitment %" that determine PBEM and once set
can not be changed)?
A - No these rules are in effect all the time
Q - But, are there any other PBEM options that are
selected ON/OFF (i.e. like we have in UV and I descirbed above)?
A - There will be several - Auto Build On/Off sets all
bases to expand (airfields, ports, fortifications), Accept replacmets On/Off,
Upgrade On/Off and maybe others.
Q - I presume that "Manpower" means targeting
people in a city rather than a specific industry. Are there victory point for
killing people as was the case in PACWAR?
A - Any production items that are destroyed (only via
fire bombing or A-bombs) will score strategic points, including killing
manpower.
Q - What does "amphibious value" mean for
ships? What effect does it have?
A - This represents how efficient they are at landing
troops. It affects the amount of disruption your troops will get when landing.
Q - If the British ships have been sunk, do you still
lose political point for not being able to send them back? If you don't, you may
as well use them as "rogue elephants". If you do, than you had better
get them out of the action immediately.
A - If you mean what if all your ships are sunk it will
not ask for a type that is unavailable. So if you've gotten spanked and have no
warships left then it should never ask to send them back. IF it asks for a BB
and you have 1 and it gets sunk in route then you're losing the Political
Points at the end of the month unless you get lucky and get a new BB in theatre
and can send it right back.
Q - Is this a one off payment/forfiet of political
points for those ships or do you keep loosing points every month until you do
send them back ?
A - All withdrawals are per month. If it asks to send
ships back you have the rest of that month to send them back. If you don't you
lose the points. The next month there is a new withdrawal generated and it
starts all over. Losing the points the previous month has no bearing. Keep in
mind you're not going to be dealing with this every month. I check on the 1st
to see if any are there but it's random and more than likely you'll not have a
request. It'll just say none. I've played several games where the first
withdrawal wasn't until March and only once have I seen back to back
withdrawals. But that was when it first went in. I think the code changed since
then because it was happening too often. I haven't seen the British get sapped
of strength with this rule as you can always spend the points to keep them.
Q - I thought that the Allies did a lot of troop movements
in the early part of 1942 while trying to first bring troops into the DEI, then
trying to get them out. Are you saying that the troops that are there are stuck
in their bases? What about movement between bases?
A - They can move in-between bases that have a land
route. You just can not load them on ships or air transport. There are enough
ships in the PI to move the entire allied army out on the first turn. This is
not realistic and would never have been allowed politically in real life. This
is a way to limit the players from using historical knowledge that in the real
world would not have been available. I also believe it make for a more exciting
game. now you have to make some hard choices, who to save and who to sacrifice.
Q - Are political points expended to
"activate" an LCU, as was the case in Pacwar? What about LCU movement
- in Pacwar if you had enough "points" (what was the term in Pacwar
anyway?) you could move an LCU with minimal loss of readiness, but if you
didn't, the LCU would lose most of its readiness.
A - No
Q - Also, do you expend political points to move units
between bases controlled by the same HQ? E.G. moving troops or planes between
different bases in the Phillipines.
A - No, you spend them to reassign units, bases, and air
groups to different HQs, or to reassign leaders.
Q - When you change the HQ for a base, do the units in
the base automatically now belong to the new HQ, or do they stay part of their
old HQ.
A - They keep thier original HQ.
Q - Do you have to change the HQ of LCUs that you send
to different bases to match the base HQ, or do the troops remain part of their
original HQ? E.G., if you send some Auzzie troops to Timor, do they stay under
Australian command or do they go to ABBA?
A - They keep thier original HQ. The only way to change
is to use PPs.
Q - If you divide a unit into A, B and C sub units it
can never receive replacements?. The player will have to re-combine the sub
units to get them?
A - No, A/B/C units are not considered sub units. They
should have their own TOE (1/3 of full unit TOE) and they will try to keep to
that TOE. Sub units are the /1, /2 units.
Q - Is there a first turn load rule? I've noticed that
even the US on the first turn gets to instantaneously load troops and supplies.
All ships load out to 100%.
A - All players get this on turn 1 of all scenarios.
Q - The message delay settings have odd values. It use
to be in increments of .5 and start at .5. It still in increments of .5, but
you are offset by one. The settings are .6, 1.1, 1.6, 2.1 so on and so forth.
A - A left mouse click increases or decreases the value
by 1.0 and a right mouse click increases or decreases by 0.1.
Q - Is there a Port size limit to filling up AVGAS/Ammo?
A – No
Q- Are the number of A-bombs limited to only two?
A - I think they can built
Q - Are both Fat man and Little boy modeled?
A- They are generic
Q - How do you order a Atomic bomb Strike?
A- You have to use the City attack option, no naval
attack.
Q - Is it a B-29 Mission?
A- A-bombs may only be dropped by the 393rd NBS unit
(B-29s)
Q - Can the Plane flying Atomic Bomb Strikes be shot
down?
A - Yes
Q- Does the bomb have to be dropped on a city or can it
be droped on a naval taskforce?
A- You have to use the City attack option, no naval
attack.
Q- Is there a polictical point cost to drop one?
A - No
Q - What amount of Damage does the Bomb do?
A- A lot
Q - I know we can replace "bad" leaders with
Political Points, but if we choose not to, will those leaders gain experience
and possibly increase their ratings? Also, I know units can "train
up" for operations, but how do they gain experience beyond that? By
winning fights or just being involving in combat?
A- Yes they can and do.
Q - Can one of the playtesters explain how to destroy or
heavily damage an oilfield or heavy industry location before it is captured?
A- First of all you actually do not destroy anything you
damage it so that it stops producing and then the player must expend supply
points to effect repairs to get production going again.
If you are specifically asking if the Allied player can pre
damage his own HI and resources at a base prior to capture, then no you can
not.
Any damage that is done to bases occurs at the time the base is
captured, as your forces are retreating or surrendering or being destroyed your
engineers are blowing things up to cause damage. One misconception I have seen
mentioned here many times is that the player must sacrifice his engineers to
cause damage. Unlike UV nearly every unit in WiTP has an engineer component as
part of its TOE, so there are already engineers present at every base if it is
defended as well as additional independent engineer units in separate units
that you may or may not elect to move into a base to help increase the damage.
Simply put the more engineers in a base when it is captured the more damage
inflicted on HI and resources when it is captured.
I have captured some bases that were totally useless to me as
the Japanese player for a long time due to huge amount of damage inflicted; the
engineers will also inflict damage on the airfield and port when the base
falls.
Q - Does basing carrier aircraft on land bases cost
political points?
A- No
Q - Is it true that if an air unit other than the native
air unit is on a CV it will suffer higher op loses?
A- The rule specifies that the carrier group must be
native to being deployed on a carrier, not to a specific carrier. Thus a
"native" airgroup would be any VF, VB or VT airgroup that starts
service on a carrier.
Q - How does the player tell if a base is non malarial
or not?
A- Lower left corner of base display screen will show
what zone it is, example "Temperate Zone" means fair climate, no
malaria....."Malarial Zone" means just that and units, (LCU's and
airgroups can suffer fatigue and morale issues if left there too long)
Q - What scenarios are provided with the game.
A - Here's what we plan at release:
1 Tutorial
2 Rising Sun: 7 Dec 41 - 16 Mar 42
3 Coral Sea: 1 May 42 - 15 May 42
4 South Pacific (Hypothetical): 1 May 42 - 28 Feb 42
5 Guadalcanal: 4 Aug 42 - 7 Feb 43
6 Marianas: 6 Jun 44 - 29 Aug 44
7 Manchuria: 8 Aug 45 - 31 Aug 45
8 The First Year: 7 Dec 41 - 31 Dec 42
9 The Turning Point: 1 May 42 - 30 Sep 43
10 Campaign 45: 1 Jan 45 - Jun 30 46
11 Campaign 44: 1 Jun 44 - Jun 30 46
12 Campaign 43: 1 Jun 43 - Jun 30 46
13 Campaign 42A: 1 May 42 - Jun 30 46
14 Campaign 42B: 1 Aug 42 - Jun 30 46
15 The War in the Pacific: 7 Dec 41 - Jun 30 46
Scenarios 8-15 are full map with production. Scenarios 2-7 are
small map without production.
I fully expect that given the power and relative ease of use of
the editor (although it is a lot of data to push) that there will be many more
scenarios made, and that some of them will be posted as official scenarios for
download. There may even be some of those avaiable for download by the time the
game is ready for sale.
Q - Can someone tell me how big the whole map is in hex?
(Ie: 200x100 hex size etc.)
A - 148 X 148 60NM hexes
Q - Is there a campaign that runs the whole war from Dec
7 1941 till end 1946. Covering the whole map?
A - The longest full map scenario is scenario 15 which
runs from December 7 1941 to March 31 1946
Q - If you cut off a Japanese base, do you get VP's for
the losses they incur because they are out of supply, as they "wither on
the vine"?
A - Yes all losses are accounted for.
Q - I guess the follow up question is whether the
Japanese player will receive victory points for owning the bases that have been
bypassed and unsupplied, or will they be reduced somehow?
A - They would still get the VPs.
Q - Would they get less points if the base is out of
supply?
A - Supply has no bearing on base ownership or the VP
handed out for such. Take it back or Japan continues to get the points. Each
side has a VP value in the database (ie: Tokyo = 1 for Japan, 500 for Allies)
Q - How are naval reinforcements in partial map scenarios
dealt with?
same as in UV? Do you have more control?
A - Similar to UV, but without the dreaded
"chance" of getting it back ... you get what you get ... period.
Ships sent for repairs will come back.
Q - In UV if you returned a ship to Pearl or Tokyo, (In
this case to the UK or whatever) you had a chance to get another. For instance,
I always returned Long Island as soon as it appeared. Now, if as the Brits I
return the Rodney, a pretty useless BB, Does it improve my chances of receiving
a possibly better BB or another ship, or are the replacements hard coded?
A - The whole ship allotment thing does not exist. Ships
show up when they are due and remain until sunk apart from a few Brits getting
sent home when asked for.
Get used to the idea of controlling hundreds of ships at once.
Q - In one of the AAR's, it was stated that ships
disbanding in a port with a repair facility ships will start upgrades
automaticaly if upgrades are availablity. Is this true?
A - Upgrades happen when sticking your ship in a port
(generally size 10) with a repair yard. (Japan home islands, Singapore, Diamond
Harbor, Pearl Harbor, West Coast ports, Sydney, Bombay, Columbo, Hong Kong)
Q - Does EACH ship of a class need to be upgraded, or
just one ?
A - Ships are independant. Damage added from an upgrade
is not going to sink you.
Q - So you can lose a ship to an upgrade by accident if
you're not careful correct ?
A - Yes
Q - BTW, are there any upgrades for AKs and APs ?
A - Yes
Q - Do the ships have to be in port for a turn before
being upgraded ? Or just in port for a second ? Also, I'm assuming docked ships
will not be upgraded ?
A - Upgrade happens when the turn runs. You can mess all
you want until hitting end turn.
Q - Is there an advantage to sending ships already
damaged for upgrades? Is the upgrade damage always add onto the existing
damage? or does it say only increase it to a threshold?
A - Upgrades *add* SYS damage. You don't get a discount
for already being damaged.
Q - I know we can convert AKs into all sorts of neat
stuff (like ARs). How does the game know which class of AR, or sub tender, or
other ship to convert it into? Is there only one, generic, AR class? One per
side? Or, do we get to pick?
A - It has a generic class for each type of conversion.
Q - Can the game start out with these converted or do we
have to wait 180 days?
A - PRINT THIS OUT - REMINDER: TURN #1 Do not forget to
convert ships!
Q - If you play PBEM and use either historical first turn,
or allow the japanese player to do his own first turn, does it basically run
the first turn without the Allied player doing anything ? Basically, is it like
PacWar was on turn 1 ?
A - If you use historical 1st turn on then there is no
input from either side. If i is off both sides can move.
You can use house rules to vary this as well. Historical first
turn off - house rule US player does not move etc..
Q - Do the Japanese recieve the limited supply of 1,760
lb. AP bombs(modified 16" BB shells according to my sources) that the
Kates used in the first wave of attack at Pearl Harbor? Is this a one time
bonus? and is it limited to a Pearl Harbor attack only?
A - There is a Realism Option that allows the player to
simulate the First Turn Surprise rule. This rule simulates this in an abstract
way.
Q - Could the first turn move rule allow the ijn to
attack the west coast?
A - No.
Q - I was wondering if one (or more) of the Beta testers
can give us some information on the costs and time involved in expanding
Japanese industries.
A - Factory expansion costs 10 HI+10 Man per point + 100
supply. Repairing costs 1000 supply
Q - What kinda time is involved though? (curious) 3
months per point for example?
A - Expansion is instant but the new section is damaged
... repairs a point a day (ie: 40 point = 40 days, 250 points = 250 days)
Q - If new industry starts damaged, how many damage
points does it start wtih?
A - You expand by 100 which is instantly built but
starts off all damaged.
You repair 1 per day for 100 days. Until the point is
undamaged, it does nothing.
day 1: 100+100 damaged
day 2: 101+99 damaged
day 3: 102+98 damaged
Q - So that is for all industry ? Aircraft, Vehicle,
Ship, etc...
A - Thats for all industry thats for all industry
Q - Then I have no clue how aircraft and such are
produced. Can someone explain this ? I thought there would be factories like in
PacWar where they produce X amount of planes per turn, but this can't be the
case if you can expand once and get 100 more planes per turn.
A - Short answer: Heavy Industry feeds factorys.
Factories make parts. Parts make planes and units and ships.
Q - Mandaly is an inland city that produces and stores
Oil. How is this oil transported and used in the game?
A - Rangoon pulls the stored oil and resources to its
port. That is part of the Rangoon production set. Loosing Rangoon is a bad
thing!
Q - I'm assuming increasing this will speed up the
arrival of new aircraft models ? Is there any way to control which models
arrive earlier ? Like put more into new fighters or new bombers ?
A - The Japanese player has complete control over what
planes he wishes to produce/research so you can devote factories to said
research but you'll be taking away current production to do it.
Q - My question is : In palembang there is 700 oils, how
many oils per day is produce and ready to be ship?
A - 1 oil kicks out 6 oil units + 1 fuel unit so thats
4,200 oil a day and 700 fuel a day.
This of course assumes that you get it undamaged.
Japanese TK's come in two sizes: 16,000 and 9,000.
Basically 8 large TK's a month need to be cycled through the
place. One also needs to keep in the back of your head that it takes *time* to
get there and back and your ships use fuel while getting there and back.
Q - Does pilot exp play a bigger role in air-2-air combat
in WITP than it does in UV?
A - Experience does play a greater role in the
calculations.
Q - What is the level of experience of the pilots, by
nation, when they arrive?
A - Pilot Experience by Nation - The following applies
for those 0 groups by year (41, 42,43,44,45,46). V6.2
{65,60,55,50,45,40}, // JA
{80,75,60,45,40,40}, // JN
{70,70,75,75,75,75}, // USN
{55,55,60,65,70,70}, // USA
{55,60,60,65,65,65}, // USMC
{55,60,60,65,65,65}, // AUS
{55,55,60,60,65,65}, // NZ
{55,60,60,65,70,70}, // BRIT
{55,60,60,65,65,65}, // FR
{55,60,60,65,65,65}, // DUT
{45,45,45,50,50,55}, // CHI
{55,60,60,65,75,75}, // SOV
{50,55,60,60,65,65}, // IND
{50,55,60,60,65,65}, // CW
{50,55,60,60,65,65}, // PHIL
{50,55,60,60,65,65}, // COMM
{55,60,60,65,70,70}, // CAN
Q - Is the appearance of the proximity fuse during the
war for US and Allied AA guns modeled in WitP?
A – Yes, the proximity shell factor begins in early 1943
and becomes fully enabled by Oct 1943. It does have a substantial effect on
Allied AA.
Q - If put you a non cv capable squadern on a cv and set
it to training, will it eventualy become cv capable?
A – No, its hard coded
Q - Have any changes been made to the
"Disband" and "Withdraw" options for airgroups? Do
returning airgroups still return even when there are no aircraft for them
airgroups with 0 planes)?
A – You now get an option when you disband a unit to
either reform it in 90 days or to permanently disband it.
Q - When Droping bombs or torpedos what is the best
attiude to drop them from?
A – When you set the altitude, you are picking the
approach altitude not the drop altitude. The AI picks the best altitude to drop
the weapon depending on the type of aircraft and the type of weapon. Dive
bombers drop at 2000 feet, torpedo bombers drop at 200 feet and level bombers
drop at the approach altitude.
Q - How does one strafe an enemy airfield?
A - You can make and Airfield attack and set the
altitude to 100 feet or you can send in a fighter sweep.
Q - Can fighters strafe Land units? is this effective?
ie. resulting is many losses or mostly disruption and/or fatigue?
A - Yes, yes, both. Set your air
group to ground attack at 100 feet.
Q - Is there a limit as to how many A/Gs can be
converted to Kamikaze?
A - One per day.
Q - Some cats are fully amphibious some are not
Sunderland’s & do-24's can only leave the water on beaching gear for
maintenance most IJN fling boats are also incapable of landing on land strips,
is this model?
A - Seaplanes, float planes and float fighters can only
operate from coastal bases, in War in the Pacific and not from inland bases.
Some models of some of these aircraft were "fully amphibious" and
others not. For game purposes, none are.
Q - If an air field was 100% damaged, could float planes
still take off seen as the dfon't use it?
A - Yes. Yes, they could. They ignore air fields.
Float planes do not require an airfield in the hex. You can put
100 float planes in a hex with size 0 airfield and they will fly if you have
enough AV support and supply.
Q - Say I have a squadron with 5-6 aces in it (it can
happen). Can I pull 2-3 of these guys to flesh out a new green squadron or, for
example, pull a particularly hoo-ahh individual to command a squadron that has
not yet formed.
A - They stay there, although it is possible to split
the group, merge one of the sub groups into another group as a means of doing
it.
Q - How would you train up a PBY squadron to a
sufficient experience level to do night torp attacks? Do you get experience
while searching/on ASW duty?
A - Yes they gain experience with every flight just like
every other pilot.
Q - I have been confused since UV how morale was
calculated and regained especially for pilots. Can someone please go into some
detail regarding morale for WitP?
A - Morale for airgroups will take it's biggest hits
from being battered by enemy airpower....this includes "damaging"
hits as well as "destroyed" hits. The more of either, the shakier
(lower) your airgroup's morale will drop. If morale drops low enough you'll
start seeing "elements of [airgroup designation] breaks off!!"
Constant heavy use can also impact morale, such as the
beforementioned, 70-100% CAP though it wont drop quite as fast as in UV because
fatigue rules have been adjusted downward.
Besides resting them, best way to quickly get morale back in
shape is to transfer the air unit to a non malarial area.
Q - Just a question that occured to me. If a sub is based
in manila, is out on patrol, and manila gets captured, what happens to the
entry under home base in the task force screen of the sub? Do they return to
the default base (like PH for the US etc.)??
A - AI will set them to new port if using it. If not,
then you are the master of your own demise. As subs require either a size 9
port or a AS in a size 3+ port, you will be pretty much in charge of them
anyways.
Q - In UV, there was no sense in operating several subs
in one space, since wolfpack-tactics hadn't been introduced just yet. How about
WITP? can you use wolfpacks later in the war?
A - Players can still operate more than one sub TF in
the same hex. One can also make multiple sub TFs.
Q - The old S-Class subs were slowly but surely phased
out during 1943, being used in the north pacific and for training. In WITP, do
these subs stay in frontline duty right up to the end?
A - They stay in the game. It will up to the player if
they want to keep them on the front line.
Q - Will ss vs. ss encounters happen it WiTP?
A - No, but there is alway the patch.
Q - Is there still the multiple subs per hex pelalty
that was added in to UV in one of the patches?
A - No
Q - It sometimes happened that during convoy attack, a
spread of torpedoes hit more than one target. Also many ss captains attacked
multiple targets with single torpedoes to cause mayhem and finish'em off later.
Are such situations possible in WiTP?
A - Its not possible to have a spread hit multiple
ships, but it is possible to have multiple attacks on different ships, and on
the same ship if it stays in the hex.
Q - How does the user change leaders and commanders and
such?
A – Every Land Combat Unit, Air group, Ship, Base HQ,
and TF has an information screen associated with it. On this screen you will
find the Leader’s name and rank in yellow text. Click on this text to change
the leader. There are some restrictions that are too many to list here, but if
all the conditions are met, you can pick a new leader.
Q - When transferring Gen. MacArthur of the phillipines,
do you transfer the whole HQ like in Pacwar or do you simply exchange the
commander? Or do you have to actually evacuate the HQ via sea (sub on a
transport mission, for example)?
A - Simply pay the
political points and exchange commanders
Q - Do repair ships stack ? If I have an AD and an AR in a
port with enough supply, do Destroyers benefit from both ships or only one ?
A - Yes they do stack, but only to 4 ships for the AR's
Q - Same question with AV and AVDs ?
A - For the AV's and AVD's there is no stack limit
Q -How long does it take to convert an AK to a diffrent
ship type?
A - 180 days
Q - What size port does it need to occur?
A - Japanese ships must be in Osaka and Allied ships
must be in San Francisco
Q - Apart from dedicated fleet oilers, can larger ships
refuel dd, des or other?
A - Any ship with fuel can be leached from to fuel other
ships. It will bring your move speed down to a crawl, but it can be done.
Q - What is the number between () after gun and ASW?
A - Percentage of ammo remaining.
Q - What is the max ASW a ship can have? As well i like
to know if we can upgrade asw on DD's for the jap.
A - The ASW # is an abstraction of the actual ASW
weapons. Think the highest is an 8 ... one of the Allied uber hunter-killers
with multiple DC racks and throwers.
ASW weapons being upgraded are no different then any other ship
upgrade. They are not treated specially. It is just another form of weapon.
Q - I have a question, concerning whether or not the
Japanese side in WITP is able to capture shipping? Can anyone confirm if this
element is modeled or is it ala UV, where enemy ships are treated as
"sunk", rather than capture?
A- You can't capture shipping. It is not in the game. Any shipping caught
in that position will be scuttled.
Q - It has been mentioned that you can minimize your
disruption during beach invasion by preparing your men for the invasion. How is
this done ? Do you simply prepare for any beach invasion, or a specific target
? And do the troops on japan's turn one benefit from this preparation ?
A - You set a specific target then wait a few weeks
while they prep. Each day, they gain a couple of points towards 100%.
Q - What does 100% (or any %) give you ? Just less
disruption ? Or less losses over the beach ?
A - Both and every turn after 100% has a chance of
increasing the units experiance (a way to train LCUs).
Q - Will training for LCUs exist in WitP?
A - Training of LCUs - You assign a target for the unit.
Each turn, it increments the planning value for that target. Once the value is
100%, the unit will start to make rolls for experience gain. It can continue to
gain experience, until it reaches 75%.
Q - Why do the Artillery units not have an assault value
(always wondered about this in UV also)? How are these units to be used? . . .
as AA, CD, Defense only? Always confused about these units because they don't
have an associated assault value.
A - They don't assualt the enemy in a hex. they stay
back and fight. field guns bombard the enemy causing death and disruption that
helps your assualt troops. AA guns shoot at those aircraft flying into the hex
that are trying to cause death and disruption among your troops, and CD guns
shoot at those bastards that keep sailing up to your island and raining 14 inch
shells on your troops.
Q - So I assume that if you have ART units with your
troops when you attack, they will increase your chance of success? They
shouldn't just be used for defense I guess was my original question.
A - Bombardment reduces the effective Assault Value of
the enemy units in that hex for that turn only. If you then carry out an
assault in the same turn, it will have a greater chance of success.
Q - Can paratroops be airdroped?
A - Yes, on any base that has an airfield.
Q - Does the IJN start with paras? Could they be used in
my burma first strategy?
A - Yes, Yes
Q - Auto Convoy system - What are the primary components
of the new system? Do they apply to each side equally, and, if not, what are
the different aspects for each side?
A - Simply put, it allows you to dump ships into your
main port and assign them to convoy duty. You also toggle bases on or off. The
combination of the ships and bases makes the AI automatically generate convoys
to keep those bases stocked. The continuous supply thing from UV still exists
too, but has nothing to do with the above system.
Q - As a Japanese player setting convoy task groups for
Truk and the system decides that two medium AK’s and one small TK is needed to
supply this particular base, keeping this base at a 2x supply level is fine.
However, what if I were too add another tanker and two or more cargo ships to
this defined task force, would Truk receive more supplies and oil, and if no,
why not.
A - The auto system aims to fill the base based on the
bases *requested* level. Should you go and stick some extra ships in, they will
end up there too, they are part of the same TF.
Be aware, the auto system is for *rear* area use. I would not
advise sticking any *active* bases in the list unless you assign a crapload of
asw ships to the pool.
Personally, I find it easier to do myself with monster convoys
with insane asw assets assigned to protect the monster.
Very first thing I do as the Allies (turn 1) is form all AK's
& TK's into TF's and start them loading right away in the rear areas. Once
they load (thank god for the do not unload toggle), I pull out ships into
smaller TF's and send them off. I also funnel all the useless shipping back to
Karachi or San Francisco (shipping starts scattered all over the map).
Easy to remember: AK & TK to the rear, AP & AO to the
front.
Q - So the automatic convoys are actually on the map and
can be viewed unlike in PacWar correct ? Can you also stick escorts in them if
you wish for some moderately threatened bases ?
A - Yes, they are real TF's, just computer controlled.
Q - Can I define level of supply I want to be kept by
auto convoy system?
A - No, it is fixed.
Q - Do these convoys run continuously, or only when the
computer determines the target base needs supplies?
A - The way I understand it the AI checks the base
requirements and dispatches TFs are needed. So no they would not be considered
continuous.
Q - DO all supplies / Fuel suffer spoillage ? What about
oil and resources ? How much spoilage do they suffer ? Is it dependant on base
size ? If so, can we get some examples ?
A - Oil and Resource dont suffer spoilage. The rate of
spoilage is dependant on port/airfield size in ratio to the amount of
supply/fuel being dumped so the more lopsided the figure the greater the
spoilage. Sorry, dont have the exact formula on me.
Spoilage
Fuel over 1000 + ( ( port + airfield size ) * ( port + airfield
size ) *1000 ) suffers spoilage.
Supplies over 5000 + ( ( port + airfield size ) * ( port +
airfield size ) * 3000 ) suffers spoilage.
Any base with combined port and airfield of 10 or more has no
spoilage