Carrier Gameplay

[TheMac]

I am considering buying the game, because I love carrier gameplay. I am wondering if there is any way to control when the engagements occur (time of day). Obviously, carriers don't fly planes at night during WWII. I would also like to know if the German navy ever gets a carrier (non-historical ships)? Thank you.

[nzgunner]

Time of day is random, but carriers can send up planes day or night.

The Germans never get carriers, whereas the RN gets 2 flleet and 2 escort classes to choose from - so no carrier v carrier battles.

Carriers carry a mix of bombers and fighters - bombers can carry bombs or torpedos, fighters can carry bombs but there seems little point in ever using fighters.

Bombing/torpedo runs (1 plane per turn) are pretty easy once you get used to it - you'll hit every time unless a plane is shot down by AA.

Your biggest frustration will be engagement distances, especially vs subs - expect to have carriers struck by torpedos in the first turn, you'll get a chance to move/turn to avoid the full spread, but you'll always take one, and half the time that will be enough to sink you.

I'm sure they'll bring out Pacific Fleet soon enough for genuine carrier battles - in the meantime maybe take a look at Victory at Sea.

[TheMac]

Originally posted by nzgunner:

Time of day is random, but carriers can send up planes day or night.

The Germans never get carriers, whereas the RN gets 2 flleet and 2 escort classes to choose from - so no carrier v carrier battles.

Carriers carry a mix of bombers and fighters - bombers can carry bombs or torpedos, fighters can carry bombs but there seems little point in ever using fighters.

Bombing/torpedo runs (1 plane per turn) are pretty easy once you get used to it - you'll hit every time unless a plane is shot down by AA.

Your biggest frustration will be engagement distances, especially vs subs - expect to have carriers struck by torpedos in the first turn, you'll get a chance to move/turn to avoid the full spread, but you'll always take one, and half the time that will be enough to sink you.

I'm sure they'll bring out Pacific Fleet soon enough for genuine carrier battles - in the meantime maybe take a look at Victory at Sea.

Wow. Thank you very much for the info. I can't believe the game allows aircraft launches at night. That's a shocker. I'm also quite amazed that one torpedo will sink a CV. Sounds like this game has a lot of potential, but still needs considerable polish.

Thank you. I already have Victory at Sea and feel it's quite a good game. I do like the manual drops of this game, which introduces a bit of skill, though.

Do you still see the carriers struck by torpedoes if you have several other ships escorting the carrier? I would think they would sail ahead of the carrier and provide a screen. Hmmm.

[nzgunner]

depends on where the subs are, but there always seems to be at least one in position to fire an unavoidable spread at the carrier - which they'll target ahead of everything else, andif it's at night the subs start closer

escorts are really just there for revenge attacks because they don't protect the capital ships

[TheMac]

Oh goodness. That doesn't make a lot of sense. Thank you for the infomation.

[Julhelm]

Originally posted by nzgunner:

Time of day is random, but carriers can send up planes day or night.

That is not entirely true. The player can launch planes at night yes, but this is an oversight on our part as it never occurred to us that players would be launching airstrikes at night in a WW2 setting. AI carriers never launch planes at night, however.

[TheMac]

Thank you for responding. I'd like to get the game, but I don't want the frustration of losing a CV every turn because by some miracle, a submarine always seems to be within torpedo distance. Is the engagement range an option I can choose, or is that something your team is working on? Thank you.

[c2h5ohsponge]

Originally posted by TheMac:

Thank you for responding. I'd like to get the game, but I don't want the frustration of losing a CV every turn because by some miracle, a submarine always seems to be within torpedo distance. Is the engagement range an option I can choose, or is that something your team is working on? Thank you.

Get this game, you won't be disappointed! I've used Illustrious Class CV to great effect against German ships in the campaign mode. Also, CV's can launch depth charge bombers against subs. One of the easiest ways to beat subs in fact.

[Twelvefield]

There is a lot of good research that went into this game, no doubt about that. It looks good and it plays out quickly and easily, as easy as moving chess pieces around a board. There are a number of issues that prevent it from being historically accurate in several ways, though. If that's a sticking point, well, don't let it bother you. This is just a great little war game that happens to be very entertaining regardless of its flaws.

Air operations are almost completely schematic, so you won't see a lot of fidelity there. So are sub obs and ASW, for that matter. The stars of the game are the battleships, and the game plays out a bit like that artillery command game where you plink away at one another by lobbing shells.

It's not an expensive game, and you get way more than your money's worth. It may not be what you are looking for, but it deserves being bought anyways.

[TheMac]

Thanks for the info. Good to hear both sides. Yes, I have seen some very good BB play. They are beasts.