Still a little confused.

[Zal]

I bought this game about a month ago, and while I've been having an absolute blast, I find myself having to keep a backup save not because of any crashes or bugs, but simply because the computer is constantly making moves or battles are resolving in ways that I didn't think were possible. I've read the manual and played both sides of each of the scenarios multiple times at this point, but I still don't think I have a full handle on all the rules. If anyone can just clarify these situations for me, I'd really appreciate it.

1) combat in transit.

A) I was moving a convoy through a base to somewhere else but it came under attack in a node it was passing through.
Is this affected by the condition of the base if its destroyed or not? or hostile? or what day it is? if their boats weren't attacking but also moving through the node (if it were a destroyed base) at the same time will they meet?

B) if you have two rival forces of about the same speed at adjacent bases (say luzon and leyte) and both attack, each force will reach the opponents base and find it empty, it seemed. is this affected by the two forces speed at all? or do they always sail past each other rather than meeting at one base or the other.

C) Is the above scenario different if there is a node in between? say Tarawa<->Palmyra<->WestCoast. Right now I err on the side of extra patrols, but if I understood when and where in-transit conflicts occured I think things would be a lot easier to manage.

2) Invasions and guns
A) As far as I got from the manual you see 3 rounds of surface fire, approximately 1 torpedo attack, and 1 round of air combat per day. But after a long and drawn out air battle defending an island of mine, I ordered my ships to close to surface hoping to inflict some final losses on the IJN before they limped back home... after 3 rounds of fire, 1 torpedo attack, and fairly even losses I was dismayed to see a 4th round of surface combat followed by another torpedo attack, instead of either combat resolution (it was the last day after all) or at least some more air-strikes. A 5th round of combat followed, putting my carriers on the block, so I finally ordered a withdrawl, which after a 6th round of combat finally things (with all of my carriers playing submarine sadly).

B) when invading a battered wake with 5 battleships and an amphibious unit I encountered 2 CVL's. knowing I could easily weather their assault I decided to press for the surface, and troops hit the shore on day 3 with the carriers staying at range. they continued to peck away at me on the 4th day, but refused to engage, yet.. as near as I could tell my battleships were not firing on the island, the last day finally hit and a small army of boats arrived and obliterated my battleships in surface combat, with me ultimately failing to take the ground. When exactly do battleships bombard? how many days do they need to set up if there are no boats guarding the island? do ships docked in port alter this at all?

C) Are the odds of torpedo attacks occuring earlier or more frequently in any way increased by being the attacker or defender, in the CE percentages of either force? It seems fairly random to me, but they are the biggest factor in determining any engagement that includes surface fire exchanges, and it would help to know if there are things that affect them.

3) Options and Side Screens

A)Is there any screen that lists what ships were repaired the previous turn (for my side or both sides)? or how many aircraft were destroyed in a given fight? I haven't spotted screens for them yet, but want to make sure I'm not missing something obvious.

B) I was reading the forum and it sounds as if the PBEM system works differently than single player. Is there a way to play the AI with PBEM rules?

I am playing the most up to date version at this point as well, if it matters. Thanks again, and I really enjoy the game.

[Strider]

I'll try to answer some of your questions...

1.
It's abstracted on movement obviously, so what is considered to happen is that the fleets pass each on the open sea, without seeing each other. Not sure what may have occurred with the convoy, unless there was some factor that prevented it from making it to the island you intended, so it stopped before then. True, you have to 'control' an island node to pass through it, but this is for gameplay, not that ships meet up with each other. Currently, there is no meeting at sea, unless both sides go for the same island, then the meeting is considered at sea (other than invasions), not on the island itself, so to speak.

2.
A. When your ships take damage in a battle, they may be unable to disengage when you want them to.
B. I don't think battleships (by themselves) are working as intended.
Docked ships are sitting-ducks. They don't fight, and they don't add their factor to Required Patrols.
C. The CE factor is suppose to have an abstract effect on everything...speed, guns, pilots, hits, damage, etc. Torpedo attacks should only be occurring once per day.

3.
A. No. No screens for that type of info.
B. AI can't play PBEM. You could use it to play 'hotseat', but that wouldn't be the same as what you're asking.

[JMHawkins]

Zal,

Strider covered the basics for where combat occurs. I’ll add one thought about the convoy that was attacked passing through a node. Was that a base that you controlled, or one the enemy controlled? You can’t move through one enemy base to another, but it is possible to move through one enemy base to get to another friendly base. However, there is a possibility (exact chance depends on the forces patrolling the enemy base) of being intercepted. Other than that, in transit combat doesn’t happen.

Your report about the gunnery combat after what you expected to be the last day (and no air strikes) sounds like it could be a bug. I’ll look into it – do you remember if the enemy was invading your base?

when invading a battered wake with 5 battleships and an amphibious unit

The latest patch fixes a bug with bombardment, but perhaps there’s still a problem. Battleships generally will only need one round to close to bombardment range, but also bombardment doesn’t guarantee success. Did the defending carriers score hits on your troop transports? That will reduce your odds of capturing the base.

The timing of torpedo attacks is completely random. I wanted them to evoke a sense of anticipation or dread. The torpedoes are running beneath the surface hidden from view. Their impact is supposed to be dramatic. Now, I’m sure some players think I got it right and other think I blew it, but that’s what I was trying to do anyway.

For you question #3, there are no reports for what you mention, though that sounds like a good suggestion for a future patch. Strider’s correct that there’s no way to play the PBEM rules against the AI. The differences are there to reduce the amount of email exchanges needed to complete a turn, so I didn’t put much thought into making the available for solitaire or FtF play.

Thanks for the reports and question. I hope you keep having fun with the game.

John Hawkins
KE Studios, LLC
www.kestudios.com

[Zal]

Thanks for all the feedback, I think this games great, and just wanted to have a clearer idea of a few things. I'm still playing away, and trying to get a friend hooked while I'm at it, but the demo wasn't cooperating with his machine. Still I'm confident he'll get it up and running (and won't be able to go 24 hours without the full version like me haha) and then I'll have a PBEM buddy.