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PACIFIC WAR PLAYER CHECKLIST and TACTICS (All HOTKEYS are listed on the HELP MENU (press / or ?)). A. REPORTS SUBPHASE 1. Review last turn's battle reports (alt/B). a. To move a little faster do not follow the screen combat, but rather wait until it's done and use <Alt/B> to check out what happened. b. When a base is captured all of the supply is lost but half of the fuel is captured. When a base is captured many of the ships in the port will escape into a Task Force (TF) and head for the nearest friendly base. The remaining ships will be destroyed in port. c. Moderate damage to a supply depot should destroy about 20% of the fuel and 20% of the supplies at the base. d. LCUs with HIGH ENTRENCHMENT levels will take few losses from air bombardment. Air strikes against entrenched LCUs can only hope for DISRUPTION (reduced readiness). Disruption is not indicated on the after action Combat Report. The rules on base disruption should read: Base Disruption is reduced to ZERO before the start of each Execution Phase. Bases that receive TWO levels of disruption may not be supplied by routine convoys (they will show up on the ISOLATED BASE display). A base will never exceed level 2 disruption. 2. Use SIGINT to review enemy Task Forces (TFs), bases, and land combat units (LCUs) that have been spotted (F5). a. The information you receive by clicking an enemy TF is FREE SIGINT. However, not all enemy TFs will be displayed because only those TFs (randomly) detected by radio traffic will show up. TFs are also SPOTTED in the execution segment (if you watch on higher detail levels you will see what TFs are spotted). b. To use SIGINT put the cursor on an enemy port, TF or LCU and hit F5. Then hit the key corresponding to what you want to know about (P--Port, A--Airfield, R--Army, H--HQ, T--TF). 1) The best selections have been to ask about enemy HQ's, because sometimes you get a message that the HQ is planning an operation and what the target is (no dates). Use SIGINT to locate the important HQs, then check on them each turn to see where they are targetting. Once you know what the HQs plans, you can count on it sticking to the plan for awhile and spend some SIGINT watching TFs that support that HQ. 2) Use SIGNIT to check ports for task forces and troops. You can click on a TF and select SIGINT. Hit the 'T' and sometimes it will Using SIGINT on an enemy TF tells you where a TF is heading, what it is carrying and the names of specific ships in the TF. c. The only way for the Japanese player to get intel on enemy bases is to attack them. Only the Allies can get info from SIGINT. d. The Japanese usually keep their CVs in support of their main effort. 3. Check losses/score (F9). 4. Check sunken ships (F8). 5. Check ship pools (F4). a. Ships in the pool are automatically allocated during the Routine Convoy Phase. Japanese Routine Convoys (RCs) originate in NAGOYA. Allied RCs originate in LOS ANGELES and from the map edge south of INDIA. All ships that participate in RCs will end their turn in Nagoya, Los Angeles or Calcutta. For ESCORTS to participate in RCs they must START their turn in Nagoya, L.A. or Calcutta. Ships that are used in RCs may not be used by the player that turn. BEWARE: escorts that are sent to one of the above cities will become unavailable to the player as long as they see RC action. Version x2 solves this problem by making escorts available for removal from RC duty during the first week of each month. b. The Commonwealth ships are colored differently than the U.S. ships in the ship pools. c. If ALL your MCS units are assigned to TFs then there will be no routine convoys. However, it's hard to find a way to use all your MCS in TFs. There is not much YOU can do with ships in the pool. These ships automatically flow into and out of MCS, AP, LST,(etc) units as required. d. The Allied routine convoy system should be sending supplies to Noumea and Suva (assuming that there no supply or ship shortage and that the bases are not isolated/disrupted). B. REINFORCEMENT SUBPHASE 1. Check for reinforcements (in Sydney, Calcutta, Columbo, Kweiyang, Kunming, Soerabaja, Auckland, and Manila if Allied; in Tokyo, Shanghai, and Port Arthur if Japanese). a. Reinforcement ships are automatically activated if there are enough shipyard points. They will not show up if there are not enough shipyard points. b. If under 'computer control', the AI will 'temporarily disband' badly depleted air groups. These groups will show up as reinforcements on the next turn at S.F./Tokyo/Calcutta. If you have no use for these groups you can disband them. Their aircraft will go into the pool and the group will return as a reinforcement in six months. 2. Check replacement pools (F7). a. Air groups on remote islands will continue to take on replacement aircraft as long there are supply points to spend. b. On the aircraft replacement display, every fifth line is highlighted to make it easier to read. The data space set aside for aircraft names did not allow completely spelling out of P-38F Lightning and SB2U Vindicator. 3. Cycle through factory cities to see which planes are being produced and upgrade to newer models when applicable (F6). a. In version x5, a new feature, Alt/N can be used to toggle HUMAN/COMPUTER factory control. If you do not want the computer to automatically update your aircraft production, set it to HUMAN FACTORY CONTROL. C. HQ SUBPHASE 1. Examine HQs (alt/F). 2. List HQ units (alt/D). a. When an HQ is destroyed (such as ABDA or Malaya AG) the units subordinate to that HQ will automatically be transferred to another HQ. 3. Relocate HQs (alt/E). a. To relocate a land HQs (such as SWPAC), place the cursor on the NEW location. (The initial HQs location CANNOT be isolated.) Place the cursor on a target base (that is under SWPAC control), pull down the HQ menu, choose CHANGE BASE and then pick SWPAC. Next reselect the target base and pull down the HQ menu again and select RELOCATE HQ. The HQ will immediately move to its new destination. You an only move an HQ to a base it controls. If the HQ IS ISOLATED you can move the leader to a SWPAC base by putting him in charge of that base directly. (This is how historically MacArthur moved his SWPAC and the Asian Fleet HQ back to Australia from the Philippines.) b. You cannot move an ARMY HQ onto a TF because it cannot be located on ships. 4. Move HQs to TF in the same square (alt/S). 5. Assign new leader to HQs (alt/L). a. There currently is no way to examine the leaders without losing the one you started with. b. HQ air leaders should only be selected if their air rating is greater that the HQ commander. c. An HQ's leaders may gain experience. They gain it FASTER if they are NEARER to the action. Leader ratings will go up if they are involved in a lot of combat actions. There is a very small chance that a leader will be promoted. 6. Set HQ control (alt/K). a. The key to learning the game is to pick one HQ to run and set the others to full computer control. Gradually move the HQs to operational control and set their objectives, etc. You may never want FULL player control for all HQs. b. If an HQ is under 'Full Computer' or 'Computer Operational' control then the AI routines will automatically send reinforcement ships, planes and troops to the base where the HQ is located. c. If the HQ is under 'Computer Operational' control you can set the 'target' and the AI will automatically try to capture (or defend) the target. 7. Change base HQ (alt/C). 8. Set HQ target (alt/G). 9. List HQ aircraft (alt/X). 10. Assign HQ air leader (alt/P). a. The HQ air leader should only be selected if their air rating is greater that the HQ commander. 11. Reinforce HQ (alt/R). a. Only the HQ that is commanding your MAIN EFFORT should use REINFORCE HQ. b. The REINFORCE HQ routine will send ships and reinforcements to ANY non-isolated friendly base. D. LAND SUBPHASE 1. Examine land units in sequence (S/W). a. LCUs automatically gain 1 experience point each turn until they reach 50. Units of PHIL, DUT and IND nationality and all engineer units only gain experience up to 25. CHIN units never gain experience in this manner. Anything under 50 experience is a BIG risk for LCUs attacking atolls. If the LCUs miss a leadership check (or even two) they are history if there are any decent Japanese on the island. b. The routine convoy system should provide enough supply to keep army units at 99 readiness. This assumes that the base is not ISOLATED. 2. Divide units as needed (D on unit data display). a. Dividing an LCU will decrease it's combat effectiveness. Prior to separating an LCU division, increase it to an oversized division. b. Fractional LCUs that are stacked with their parent LCU may recombine with them automatically during the supply phase. c. The NEW unit you create when dividing an LCU will only receive replacements when it fall below 30 squads. The parent unit may build back to full strength. d. Dividing Allied engineer units is especially effective. The replacements bring both old and new subunits up to workable size quickly. 3. Activate all LCUs that will be loaded, moved, or that will attack (A on unit data display). a. If there is a '$' sign next to the unit then it is NOT ACTIVATED. b. Activated LCUs may still not attack if the odds are bad. However, if the LEADER passes an aggressiveness roll they will attack at any odds. c. You may activate LCUs without the necessary PPs but you will lose half of the LCU's readiness in the process. d. Check the rules on page 41: Special Headquarters Movement Restrictions. LCUs subordinate to restricted HQs (ANZAC, West Coast, China AG, Kwantung and Imperial GHQ) pay 10 times the normal activation cost. When activated, these units do not change their HQ. SOME LCUs may NOT be loaded onto ships. You can move the LCUs in their home country but they take x10 PPs to activate. These rules are necessary in order to keep the Japanese from pulling all their forces out of China and Manchuria, and the Allies from pulling their "Home Defense" forces out of Australia and the U.S. e. At various times during the game, ANZAC LCUs will be transferred to the SWPAC HQs. To ensure the ANZAC LCUs transfer occurs, you may need to put the Southwest Pacific HQ under computer control for one turn (either operational or total control). You will need to do this each time an ANZAC LCU is scheduled to be transferred to SWPAC. (Until ANZAC releases LCUs, take a division from Central Pacific Command, break it into smaller units, and use them to garrison the Solomons and New Guinea.) When an ANZAC LCU activates it wiil switch to SWPAC control and may arrive as a reinforcement in Sydney. Listed below is the ANZAC transfer schedule: 1) Apr 42 1st AUS Engr. 2) May 42 7th AUS Inf Div. 3) Sep 42 6th AUS Inf Div. 4) Nov 42 9th AUS Inf Div. 5) Jul 43 3rd NZ Inf Div. 6) Aug 43 8th NZ Inf Bde. f. In the last year of the war the Japanese started transferring divisions out of China and Manchuria for use in the Western Pacific. The divisions transferred out of China will show up in Shanghai (probably attached to 14th or 35th Army). The divisions transferred out of Manchuria will show up in Port Arthur. g. When an LCU is ACTIVATED it will become attached to the same HQ that controls the base. This is not true for LCUs that are attached to RESTRICTED HQs (such as ANZAC). h. Inactive LCUs will always DEFEND in land combat. Activating an LCU does not help it's performance while defending. i. A computer controlled HQ may activate some of your LCUs. j. Engineers DO NOT need to be activated in order to build airfields and ports. 4. Assign leaders to land units (F1 on unit data display). a. If there are LCUs belonging to various HQs at a location and there is no onsite leader then the leader will be chosen randomly from among the represented HQs. b. There currently is no way to examine the leaders without losing the one you started with. 5. March LCUs overland (alt/W). a. Marching to another base requires the LCU to start with at least a 50 readiness. An LCU can march to a connected location only if either the starting OR ending location is FREE OF ENEMY LCUs. EXCEPTION: if the LCU starts in an enemy controlled base then it may always march to an undisputed friendly base. 6. Call for immediate sealift forces (alt/T). E. AIR SUBPHASE 1. Check which enemy bases are exerting Air Zones Of Control (AZOCS) (alt/Z). a. Each time an undetected TF enters an enemy AZOC it will trigger searches by all enemy air groups in range. b. Air Combat TFs will only cancel enemy AZOCs if THEY ENTER THEM. The AZOC will be cancelled AFTER the Air Combat TF triggers any reaction combat or movement. As an example, in order to perform an effective amphibious assault in an enemy AZOC, you may need to send a Combat Air TF to the enemy base and set the STANDOFF RANGE to ZERO. This may CANCEL the enemy AZOC. Your transport TFs will then follow and may be immune to reaction air strikes. Of course, your carriers will have to withstand the full brunt of enemy air power. c. After an enemy naval force retires they can no longer be targeted by aircraft in the normal combat phase - they may only be subjected to reaction attacks as they move towards their home port. 2. Check which friendly bases are exerting AZOCs (shft/Z). a. Repeated bombing of a base will reduce the effectiveness of it's AZOC. A group of aircraft may not be enough to generate a AZOC at a disrupted base. Try moving more bombers to the base and see if a AZOC appears. AZOCs exerted by TFs are not shown (either friendly or enemy). Only AF AZOCs are displayed. 3. Examine airfields in sequence (Z or A). a. The big-wigs in the Pentagon plan to send all B-17s to Europe starting late 1942. b. The larger the airfield rating of a base, the harder it will be to destroy aircraft at that base. The high airfield rating implies MORE air strips and a better ability to disperse the air groups. c. The engineer construction rate of airfields is unpredictable. Some airfield levels may increase from two to six in eight weeks while other bases with more engineers, supply, and better terrain may take up to three to four months. Building bases up to an airfield level of four allows you to stage bombers from the U.S. to Australia, and points in between, by successive air transfers from base to base. Also, the bigger the base the more aircraft that are active in your squadrons. d. The maximum size for a land based fighter group is fifty aircraft. 4. Set priority target base (B). a. To get rid of an unwanted Airfield Target assign the AF to target itself. This should cause the airfield to perform normally during Execution and also to cancel the target flag by the next turn. 5. Set missions (D, N, NI, SA, OA, AB, T, D on air unit display). a. When viewing air groups, following the group name/number there is a designation in parentheses such as (D-USA) or (T-USMC). The T designates a Training unit and only holds four aircraft each. The "D" stands for Day Combat, "NI" stands for Naval Interdiction, and so on. Each AIR MISSION has a letter code. When you see (D-USMC) at the top of the air group display the 'D' stands for DAY mission (T=Training, N=Night, etc). b. You are not required to set a group's air mission. All groups will start with a mission already set - usually Day Combat. If nothing is next to the air group data on the display then the group has a Day Combat mission. An air group will remain active and perform it's assigned mission every turn without spending PPs every turn. c. Air groups with Naval Interdiction missions should only attack naval targets. EXAMPLE: a carrier has F4Fs, SBDs and TBFs - if the SBDs have an NI mission then only the F4Fs and TBFs would be allowed to attack an airfield. The TFs target priorities would not overide this. American and Japanese ARMY bombers will not attack ships unless they have a Naval Interdiction mission. Bombers with NI missions should perform reaction attacks against enemy TFs that enter nearby AZOCs. d. When torpedo bombers attack from MAXIMUM range they will carry bombs instead of torpedoes. This does not apply to TBDs. e. Air groups with Training missions will not perform any combat. They should be moved to the rear areas. f. There is no reason to put patrol aircraft, such as seaplanes, on Night missions. g. With the exception of HEAVY BOMBERS, aircraft are reluctant to fly missions against targets defended by CAP unless they have a fighter escort. h. If you do not want fighters to move away from their airfield, put them on naval interception (NI) missions. Fighters may provide CAP over the base. Starting with version x3, fighters will no longer strafe/attack COMBAT TFs. The only mission they will perform other than CAP, is strafe/attack are NON-COMBAT TFs. i. Transport aircraft, at a well supplied base, can airdrop supplies to ALL undersupplied units. They can supply up to two times their normal aircraft travel distance. Transport aircraft can airdrop supplies up to their maximum allowable distance to LCUs (to increase their readiness up to 49%) located with an enemy unit. This is handy as long as you can neutralize the AZOCs. Transport aircraft supply function is controlled by the computer. j. Changing an air groups mission requires PPs. If you do not have enough PPs, the mission can be changed but all the aircraft in the group become damaged. k. Planes over their own bases perform almost 3 times as effectively in kill rates. 6. Transfer air units (alt/A). a. Adding a patrol air group to an airfield should not count toward the maximum allowable number of units. As an example, a level four airfield can have four air groups, not counting transport or patrol planes, and each air group can have up to forty undamaged active aircraft. But if there are already four air groups at the airfield, you cannot add another non-patrol/transport airgroup (even if all four of the others are patrol/transport). In order to add a non-patrol/transport air group, move out one group to reduce the number to three, transfer the non-patrol/transport group to the airfield and then bring back the patrol/transport unit. This appears to apply with all sizes of airfields. b. The only aircraft that can be based at a size 1 airfield are Patrol types. c. For version x4, air groups may be moved around within China (those bases attached to China Exp. Force). However, air group may not transfer OUT OF or INTO China or Manchuria. Also, air groups in China and Manchuria will not be allowed to disband. 7. Upgrade older plane types (C on air unit display). a. The choice of fighter upgrade aircraft is as follows for the early part of the war (thru May, 1943): British LBA - Hurricane II changing to Spitfires as soon as possible, SEA - F4F Wildcats followed by Seafires (possibly F6F Hellcats) in the future (when the Brit CVs return), ANZAC Air - Same as British LBA Army Air Force - GET RID OF THE P-39s and use P-40s for most squadrons. Introduce the P-38Fs as soon as possible (note that the Spitfire VIII and Seafire are superior fighters to the P-38F) and later replace with P-47s and P- 38Js, Marine Air - F4Fs followed by F4U Corsairs, Navy Air - F4Fs followed by F6Fs. 8. Transfer aircraft factory control from computer to human or vice-versa (ALT/N). a. Make sure you leave one factory of each type of aircraft active unless the computer has switched that same type of aircraft factory to a newer one. If you want to tinker, change them until a couple turns before a new type becomes available, then switch back. Otherwise you're apt to not get the newer a/c on time, if at all. F. TASK FORCE SUBPHASE 1. Examine ports in sequence (O or P). a. In Campaign 41 or the Rising Sun Campaign, when you decide not to use the historical first move, there is a chance that some of the US Fleet will put to sea. b. When a port is expanded it may receive more supplies during routine convoy supply and TFs based at large ports will receive more PPs. The maximum fuel/supply level at a base is 50,000. c. To find out the OIL & RESOURCE levels press the F7 key - they are displayed at the bottom of the screen. Unless OIL & RESOURCE centers are isolated, the routine convoy system will automatically ship the entire production of those centers back to Japan every week! Heavy Industry consumes oil each week at a rate of 25 oil per heavy industry point. Oil reserves are converted into fuel (1 oil converts to 4 fuel). The fuel is used to stock the depots in Japan. Fuel is used whenever aircraft fly or ships move. If a city in Japan has fuel fall below 10,000 then 1000 will be subtracted from the oil reserve and 4000 will be added to the city's fuel depot. Forming TFs to do transport oil or resources is a waste of PPs. Historically, the Japanese experienced an oil shortage AFTER they captured the oilfields and BEFORE the Allied subs started taking their toll. In the game there is nothing you can do to prevent this except CONSERVE FUEL. d. The Preparation Point Allocation System is very complicated. Preparation Points (PPs) are allocated to TFs at the start of each EXECUTION PHASE. This means there NO way to see how many PP's the TF in question has. The PP number seen when clicking on a port is for the HQs commanding the port. A shortage of PPs reflects exhausted resources or unpreparedness (at the start of the war). Only NAVY HQs will provide TFs with PPs. All PP allocation is done by the computer. The players have no control PP allocation. 1) A TF which has a DESTINATION that is the same as it's HQ's TARGET will receive an additional 20 PPs. 2) A TF will receive both the 5 and 10 point bonuses if it has moved less than 30. A TF patrolling around it's home port (DEST=HOME PORT) does not receive a bonus for moving less than 30. 3) A TF receives PPs based on the TASK FORCE LEADER'S rating. If the leader has a high naval rating the TF receives more PPs. If a TF's HQs has less than 10 PPs then the TF will not receive the 5+ Naval Leader Rating bonus but will receive all the other PPs listed. If more than 10 PPs are left in the HQs you will get the 5+ Naval Leader bonus and 10 PPs will be subtracted from the TF's HQs. 4) The headquarters will never spend more than 10 PPs on a single TF. However, if the HQ has ZERO PPs then the TF will ONLY receive PPs equal to it's leader's rating (a maximum of 9 TOTAL). A TF will ALWAYS drain at least 1 PP from it's parent HQ each turn. 5) TFs do NOT retain unused PPs from one turn to another. 6) If a TF's headquarters is low on PPs then the TF will also have reduced PPs. However, a minimum of 5 PPs is allocated to all TFs. 7) Staying in port all turn does not add extra PPs to a TF. But if a TF starts a move their home port, it will receive PPs 2x the port size (so base at larger ports). 2. Examine existing TFs for damage, fuel, and threat levels (N/G). a. You can determine the vital statistics of any ship by examining the ship display. Find the ship in question on the TF/PORT display. Point the arrow at the ship and click the left mouse button. Dimmed or different color ships are actually British, Australian or Dutch ships. b. The number of asterisk(s) displayed after a bomb, torpedo, or gun hit reflects additional or critical damage has been inflicted. Each asterisk represents about 20% damage to the ship. c. Repairing ships in shipyard facilities may cause a delay in receiving 'new construction' reinforcements. Ports with a lot of repair points will NOT expend their repair points over and over again on the same ship until all their points are gone. If a port has sufficient repair points, it will automatically repair one damage point per turn on each damaged ship in port. Then each damaged ship in port will undergo two random checks with the chance of removing one additional point each. As an example, the maximum a battleship can repair in 1 turn is THREE damage points. Even though a port may have a number of repair points remaining after performing repairs on the battleship it will not USE them if there are no other damaged ships in port. The maximum number of damage points that will be removed in this example is 3 but the odds are only 1 or 2 will be repaired. d. Computer-controlled TFs disband when they complete their missions. Human-controlled TFs do not disband. 3. Unload TFs at destination bases (U). a. Transport TFs will only unload if their standoff range is zero. Both Transport and Cargo TFs should unload automatically. The Unload TF feature is useful if you load a ship and then change your mind. b. Oil cargo has one purpose in the game - to feed Japan's Oil Reserves. Therefore the only place Oil can be unloaded is in Japan. c. Unloading a TF containing an air group which overloads an airfield will increase the number of damaged aircraft. Until the situation is corrected, you will not have the FULL USE of any of the air groups at that airfield. d. When ships unload supplies in support of an amphibious assault, the supplies may be used in two different ways: If the assault units capture the base then the supplies are unloaded at the port. These supplies go into the base supply depot and may be used normally by LCUs, air groups and ships at the base. If the assaulting units failed to capture the base then the supplies are unloaded 'over the beach'. These supplies must be used immediately to raise LCU readiness (to a maximum of 49) or replace losses in the LCUs. Those supplies that are left over are lost. 4. Replenish TFs if possible (Y) . a. CVs will always attempt to replenish their air groups while in port. You can get replacement A/C for CVs by returning to a well supplied friendly port, or via a replenishment CVE group with ac:r as their load. The port will require enough supplies for the normal replacement costs for the a/c types involved (generally 2-3 supply points per replacement aircraft) plus a buffer so the port isn't unsupplied. b. CVEs may replenish carrier air groups while AT SEA. If the carrier has depleted air groups and the Replenish TF has CVEs loaded with replacement aircraft ([ar:r]) are within range (usually about 10 hexes) the transfer should occur. When you go to replenish, select the AC TF to be replenished, then pick "Replenish" from the menu. The CVE TF should automatically move to the AC TF. Now select "Replenish" a SECOND time. There is no special message to inform you that replacement aircraft are being transferred. Oilers and tankers can also refuel TFs in this manner. 5. Transfer damaged (or undamaged) ships to new TFs (T). 6. Scuttle badly disabled ships (S on ship display). 7. Disband TFs at destination ports (R). 8. Check for isolated bases that may require special convoys in order to receive adequate supplies (alt/O). 9. Create Transport TFs (and/or Tokyo Expresses, if Japanese) to resupply (isolated) bases in range of enemy air or sea zones of control (C). a. Create supply TFs when building an amphibious assault force (include MCS ships in TF) and to supply ISOLATED bases. Also create TFs to move some supply to a base that has engineers doing construction work, but only if the base has a supply level less than 1000. If a base is not isolated, supply will get there fine, either by routine supply convoys or overland. Locations where your HQs are located receive large amounts of routine supply. b. The GET TRANSPORT function will automatically send ships and reinforcements to ANY NON-isolated friendly port. The GET TRANSPORT function will NOT work at a base that is isolated. When GET TRANSPORT is used, the ship units come from the nearest eligible base. The NUMBER of ships in the unit may be adjusted by moving ships into or out of the ship pool. 1) Activate a LCU before you AUTO-SELECT the Transport TF. It should form a TF with an AP or LST unit of exactly the correct size to load the LARGEST ACTIVE LCU at the base. 2) GET TRANSPORT should only take units from areas subordinate to the requesting HQ or areas subordinate to computer controlled HQs. 3) GET TRANSPORT moves AP, APD and/or MCS units directly into the desired port. These ships should be immediately formed into TFs to prevent them from being moved the next time you use the GET TRANSPORT function. You should receive extra MCS units each time GET TRANSPORT is used. 4) If a British HQ uses the GET TRANSPORT command it will try to find a BRITISH AP unit. If all British APs have been sunk or assigned to TFs then you will not receive any APs. The same applies to APDs. b. For Transport TF's, the number of PPs will effect the READINESS level of combat troops that are unloaded. This is very important for Amphibious Assaults. c. Ships used in routine convoys may not be used by the player during the same turn. A delay flag is set to prevent it from being added to a TF. If you access a port display, and see a # sign next to a transport ID, this means that that transport was used for routine convoy duty that turn and will be unavailable for any missions. If you want to verify this, access the unit data for that transport and you will see a one turn delay next to it. d. Only JAPANESE CLs and CSs can load troops. e. You cannot change the mission of a TF. You must disband it in port and reform it with a new mission. 10. Create Cargo TFs to resupply bases in rear areas (C). a. Cargo TFs behave exactly like Transport TFs with one exception: Cargo TFs will never enter an enemy ZOC unless there is no other way to return to base. Cargo TFs will always try to avoid enemy ZOCs. Unless you are PLANNING to penetrate into enemy areas you should send your troops and cargo in Cargo TFs. b. To load an air group onto ships select a CARGO TF and load the group onto MCS, CVE or CS type ships. 1. When an air group is loaded onto MCS type ships they must be taken apart and CRATED for the journey. Thus when they arrive they are NOT READY to fly (they are damaged). 2. Single engined aircraft that are loaded onto CVE or CS type ships are not crated. CS ships may only be used to transport LAND based air groups. CVE and CS ships can move single-engined air groups without damaging (disassembling) them and are very useful in doing quick reinforcement jobs to airfields. CS ships are also a bit more survivable than typical MCS units, though not enough to send them into harm's way without escort. 3. AP type ships may not transport air groups. c. To get ships from Columbo to S.F., create a Cargo TF, give them a Destination of Perth and a Home Base of Suva. When they get to Suva they can be routed anywhere on the east side of the map. 11. Create Replenishment TFs (C). a. Only CVE type ships may carry reserve aircraft to replenish carriers at sea. In order to get reserve aircraft on a CVE, you can manually assign the ship from a port (it must start the turn manually attached to a port with an adequate supply level) and add the CVE to a Replenish TF. You can also AUTO-SELECT a Replenish TF and get CVEs in the TF pre-loaded with replacement aircraft (ac:r). Oilers and tankers also come loaded with fuel when selected in this fashion. After a replenish mission, you have to go back to a port, disband the TF and create a new replenish TF. Aircraft replenish missions seem to be a one time deal. If a CVE is in a TF or shows aircraft squadrons, it's in escort mode, and you can't load replenishment aircraft. Whenever CVEs are NOT carrying reserve aircraft they will be able to operate with their normal complement of 2 squadrons. CVEs may carry replacement aircraft equal to DOUBLE their capacity. b. CS ships do NOT perform replenishment missions. CS ships do NOT have the ability to LAUNCH fighters, dive-bombers and torpedo bombers from their decks. CS ships could only launch float planes. CS ships may TRANSPORT land based air groups. 12. Create combat TFs at friendly ports (C). a. For Air Combat TFs the number of PPs will determine the number of FULL airstrikes the TF can launch and chances of achieving surprise. b. For Surface Combat TFs the number of PPs will effect the chances of achieving surprise and which TF fires first. c. For Bombardment TFs the number of PPs will effect the TF's chances of firing TWO bombardments instead of one. 13. Assign leaders to TFs (F1 on TF display). a. There currently is no way to examine the leaders without losing the one you started with. b. You should always assign a leader to a TF that is performing a combat mission. This includes Amphibious Transport TFs. There are BIG combat penalties for not having a leader in a TF. Leaderless TFs will frequently abort their missions if attacked by a handful of bombers. Leaderless TFs can be badly outclassed in surface combat (being surprised or the opponent will get the first shot). c. You can include an American ship in a TF in a ANZAC TF and make it the flag giving you access to the American commanders for that TF or vice versa for other nations. It helps to toss in a few American merchant ships in ANZAC TFs so that you can use some aggressive invasion commanders. 14. Load TFs with troops, supplies, or fuel (L). a. When LCUs are loaded onto ships a percentage number will appear for each ship unit. This represents the percentage of the combat unit that can be loaded onto that ship unit. The LCUs lift capacity of a CS is 5 times its printed (aircraft) capacity. b. Here is a list of transport costs for all types of aircraft: 1) 20 for fighter, fighter-bomber, dive-bomber and torpedo bomber. 2) 30 for tactical bomber. 3) 40 heavy bomber, transport and patrol. c. British transports can only carry British troops. You can use any nationality ship to carry supplies. 15. Set TFs' destinations (D). a. The DEFAULT <D> feature is intended to make it easier to give multiple TF groups the same destination, home port or target. It remembers the last destination picked. As an example, if you assign 5 TFs to hit Guadalcanal, you target the first TF normally. With the second TF, you hit <D>estination and the screen shows "...or <D>efault: Guadalcanal." It eliminates a lot of mouse-work (especially if your destination is a long way from your starting point), as well as making it easier to switch the home port of a TF to the next target destination. You can target the TF, then <H> to change home Port and then <D> to set home port at the default destination. b. When steering your ships around enemy bases it is best to retain as much control as possible. Set the Destination and Home Base so that your TFs dogleg around enemy bases. 16. Set TFs' functions/move options (F). a. If a TF starts it's move in it's Home Port then it will receive a PP bonus based on the size of the port. b. Bombardment TFs will only bombard if their standoff range is zero. Bombardment TFs will never initiate surface combat. Surface Combat TFs will both initiate surface combat AND bombard. A Surface Combat TF may only fire ONE bombardment during a turn. If you want to keep your options open, you should assign Surface Combat missions even to those TFs you expect to bombard. c. Setting a Surface Combat TF standoff range to GREATER than ZERO will greatly REDUCE the chances of having surface combat with an enemy TF. The best way to get a surface combat is to send your Surface TFs to friendly bases that you expect will be invaded or use SIGINT to see where an enemy fleet is headed, and set your destination there. As long as enemy carriers or AFs are around, going straight for a major enemy port with a Surface TF could be problem. Surface Combat TFs are fairly immune to air attacks (compared to carriers and merchants) since the enemy aircraft tend to go for the larger, more heavily armoured, ships as priority. On the other hand, one critical hit can kill a battleship. Surface combat opportunities are increased after one or both sides have their carrier forces exhausted. Unless you achieve SURPRISE, an enemy Transport TF will always abort and withdraw BEFORE your Surface Combat TF can attack them. It is possible to catch an Air Combat TF in surface combat. However, this should be a VERY RARE occurance. It is hard to force a surface combat with carriers. In all of WW2 it only happened twice (Norway 1940 and Leyte 1944). d. A TF will have a STANDOFF RANGE only if it's destination is different from it's home port. If you set the MOVE OPTIONS for a TF whose destination is different from the home port, then you will set a STANDOFF RANGE and give RETURN/REMAIN ON STATION orders. A TF, whose destination is their home port, will have a REACTION RANGE. A TF that is eligible to react does NOT have a STANDOFF RANGE. e. A TF whose destination is the same as the home base is eligible to REACT. If you set MOVE OPTIONS for this TF you will only set the REACTION RANGE. A TF will not perform a reaction move to a distance greater than it's reaction range (the MAXIMUM reaction range is 15). Reaction MOVES are NOT automatic when enemy TFs enter a ZOC within reaction range of a Combat TF. The enemy TF must be spotted before there is even a chance of a reaction move and the chance decreases with range. For a reaction to be triggered, it is usually necessary for the enemy TF to plow through friendly AZOCs (be detected) or move very close to the reaction TF. No reaction combat or movement will ever be triggered by an undetected TF. If a TF is eligible to react, but never gets the chance, then it will never leave it's home port hex. f. In the x5 version, TFs will be able to react while ON STATION, even with a destination different from their home port. A TF REACTION should happen if the RETURN OPTION is set to LEADER'S DISCRETION. The TFs REACTION RANGE will be equal to their STANDOFF RANGE. Since reaction moves ONLY happen in friendly AZOCs there should not be too many situations where reaction moves are suicidal. g. The best way to get surface TFs to react is to: 1) set destination the same as home port. 2) set the reaction range to 15. 3) assign an aggressive leader to the TF. 4) surround the area with friendly AZOCs. (Reaction moves may only occur when enemy TFs enter friendly AZOCs and are detected). h. Air Combat TFs ON STATION will perform REACTION AIR STRIKES against TFs that enter nearby AZOCs. It is possible for more than one air combat TF to do a reaction strike against an enemy TF. They would do so one at a time. The first TF would react and resolve combat and then the second TF would react, etc. i. If an Air Combat TF is supporting an invasion, set the standoff range to 0 or 1. If raiding an enemy base set the standoff range to 2 or 3. Make sure that the standoff range does not exceed the range of any of the aircraft on the carriers. j. If an Air Combat TF has a priority target set to attack a port, has more than 45 Prep Points and the enemy airfield at the target poses a threat, then the carriers will send their FIRST STRIKE to hit the enemy airfield. k. If there are TOO MANY carriers in a TF, then there is a problem of coordinating effective airstrikes. What happens is that some or all of the carriers in the TF will launch HALF or QUARTER strength strikes. There is a similar problem with coordinating large numbers of CAP. l. A Transport TF's decision to 'Retire' and not unload is based on the TF leader's aggressiveness rating compared to the number of bombers that attack the TF. If the TF has more than 9 PPs then the aggressiveness rating is squared. You should allow retiring TFs to return to port before redirecting them back to an enemy base because these TFs are very low on PPs. m. Do not ignore your Patrol Crafts (PCs) when playing the Allied side. Put the PCs on "reaction" status in small non- priority friendly ports that you do not want to lose too quickly. Unless the enemy arrives with firepower, the transports will abort their mission. The Japanese tend to keep trying with the same force until some larger capital ships are in the area or air power. PCs are also great for soaking up land-based air attacks such as damaging or shooting down a bunch of Betties. n. The best way to soften up a beachhead for an amphibious assault is in two turns. On the first turn, put the enemy base under a friendly AZOC and bombard it with Air Combat TFs and Surface TFs. The carrier AZOC keeps the enemy troops from receiving supplies to boost their readiness. Air and surface bombardment tends to help wipe out enemy supplies. During the second turn, bring in the troops ships. Land combat occurs at BOTH the beginning AND at the END of the execution phase. Activated LCUs will not attack during the first phase unless they can get good odds or make a leader aggressiveness check. Since all damage during the phase is cumulative, most tough battles happen at the end of the execution phase. o. Move MCS's to San Francisco (SF) instead of moving them to Los Angeles (LA). LA tends to accumulate many more MCS's than it could ever use, and every so often run a large convoy up the coast so the ships will be at SF where they're needed. Also scour out the rear area islands every month or two, sending the extra MCS's back to SF. Get Transport works, but it tends to give you 40-odd ship units, which is a waste for carrying a small squadron of F4Fs to Oahu or Tonga. Sending the ships to SF by hand uses your merchant ships more efficiently. 16. Reset TFs' home bases as necessary (H). 17. Adjust submarine patrol locations (alt/M). a. Shipping lanes are in a constant state of flux. Watch the opponent's merchant convoy routes during the turn execution phase, look for long delays, and place subs accordingly as reasonably close to the action. Move the subs appoximately every five turns at least one hex. Moving subs too often means they're off patrol too much and too little means they will get destroyed. You can also figure out where the busy areas are by moving subs to an area and checking the number of 'attacks' they make. b. Watch the resolution of enemy sub battles (since these don't show up on the battle reports) and pick out the main zones where they are patrolling. Shift engineers, bombers and maybe even some hunter-killer groups to the area. The engineers will expand airfields, the planes will extend AZOCs over the area and the hunter-killers will make the subs move off your convoy route. Hunter-killer groups refer to Air Combat Task Forces. Use a stand-off range to settle an AC TF (and their zone of control) right on the subs if a group is getting too many transports. This is tactic is probably only viable for the Allies later in the war when ample AC TFs are available. Be sure carriers have plenty of ASW support. Also shift some escorts to the main convoy ports as mentioned in the manual (Los Angeles, Nagoya, etc). A group of Destroyers with a surface combat mission can be used as ASW decoys if sent from port-to-port in areas of high sub activity. c. Japanese subs were extremely effective during 1942 directing their efforts against American capital ships. Allied ASW technology improved as the war went on and by 1943 Japanese sub successes were rare. d. Control of your subs is not determined by HQ control. Press the 'E' key to toggle SUB CONTROL (Computer/Human). This will determine who controls ALL of your subs. 18. Rebase all subs as necessary (alt/M, R). a. In order to change the Home Port of a sub you must first move the sub into it's new port. To do this, move the sub onto the new port's hex. Then enter SUB MODE (Alt/M) and press R or click the REMV button. On the next turn the sub should be available to return to patrol at the new home port. 19. Remove TFs that completed their missions (Alt/Y). a. Starting with version x2 the Alt/Y routine will move the cursor to each TF that is in port and ask if you want to disband it. It will put the TF icon display on the screen to give you an idea what you are disbanding. You should use this routine BEFORE you start forming new TFs. A ship is sitting in port (NOT in a TF) may still be damaged by bombers that are attacking the port. b. Do not release troopships to rear areas. Try placing cargo task forces into rear area HQs so that they do not soak up carrier and combat forces PPs. This appears to be more of an issue with the Japanese than the Allies as they are more restricted on PPs in the long run. E-Mail Play 1. To play an E-Mail game, zip up the three save files (SAVEA, SAVEA.MD, SAVEA.CD for example) and put them in your opponents mail box. 2. The honor system for E-Mail games is desirable. When playing E-mail games the players should alternate watching the Execution Phase. The number and types of aircraft assigned to carriers varied wildly during the war. The number of aircraft aboard a carrier seldom matched it's capacity. (Carrier plane loads may run approximately 12 planes below capacity.) The capacity of the carriers is used, somewhat indirectly, to determine the size of the air groups on board. Here are some of the AC complements you can expect at various times during the war: FOR YORKTOWN/ESSEX CARRIERS early 42: 27 VF, 36 VB, 12 VT late 42: 36 VF, 37 VB, 15 VT 1943: 36 VF, 37 VB, 18 VT 1944: 43 VF, 27 VB, 18 VT 1945: 53 VF, 18 VB, 18 VT FOR SHOKAKU CLASS CARRIERS early 42: 24 VF, 24 VB, 24 VT late 42: 27 VF, 27 VB, 18 VT 1943-44: 27 VF, 27 VB, 18 VT 1945: 27 VF, 18 VB, 18 VT PLAYER CHECKLIST REPORTS SUBPHASE Review last turn's battle reports (alt/B). Use SIGINT to review enemy Task Forces (TFs), bases, and land combat units (LCUs) that have been spotted (F5). Check losses/score (F9). Check sunken ships (F8). Check ship pools (F4). REINFORCEMENT SUBPHASE Check for reinforcements (in Sydney, Calcutta, Columbo, Kweiyang, Kunming, Soerabaja, Auckland, and Manila if Allied; in Tokyo, Shanghai, and Port Arthur if Japanese). Check replacement pools (F7). Cycle through factory cities to see which planes are being produced and upgrade to newer models when applicable (F6). HQ SUBPHASE Examine HQs(alt/F). List HQ units (alt/D). Relocate HQs (alt/E). Move HQs to TF in the same square (alt/S). Assign new leader to HQs (alt/L). Set HQ control (alt/K). Change base HQ (alt/C). Set HQ target (alt/G). List HQ aircraft (alt/X). Assign HQ air leader (alt/P). Reinforce bases (alt/R). LAND SUBPHASE Examine land units in sequence (S/W). Divide units as needed (D on unit data display). Activate all LCUs that will be loaded, moved, or that will attack (A on unit data display). Assign leaders to land units (F1 on unit data display). March LCUs overland (alt/W). Call for immediate sealift forces (alt/T). AIR SUBPHASE Check which enemy bases are exerting AZOCS (alt/Z). Check which friendly bases are exerting AZOCs (shft/Z). Examine airfields in sequence (Z/A). Set priority target base (B). Set missions (D, N, NI, SA, OA, AB, T, D on air unit display). Transfer air units (alt/A). Upgrade older plane types (C on air unit display). TASK FORCE SUBPHASE Examine ports in sequence (O/P). Examine existing TFs for damage, fuel, and threat levels (N/G). Unload TFs at destination bases (U). Replenish TFs if possible (Y) . Transfer damaged (or undamaged) ships to new TFs (T). Scuttle badly disabled ships (S on ship display). Disband TFs at destination ports (R). Check for isolated bases that may require special convoys in order to receive adequate supplies (alt/O). Create Transport TFs (and/or Tokyo Expresses, if Japanese) to resupply bases in range of enemy air or sea zones of control (C). Create Cargo TFs to resupply bases in rear areas (C). Create Replenishment TFs (C). Create combat TFs at friendly ports (C). Assign leaders to TFs (F1 on TF display ). Load TFs with troops, supplies, or fuel (L). Set TFs' destinations (D). Set TFs' functions/move options (F). Reset TFs' home bases as necessary (H). Adjust submarine patrol locations (alt/M). Rebase all subs as necessary (alt/M, R).