CORE 0.60 for AoD Release Candidate 1 (0.60.22)

Can it be installed over 0.60.21b ?

Thanks

Fab

Nice. Is this the final step before official release?

What is meant by "many new or corrected model icons"? For ships?

Playing as USA I get a CTD whenever I try to modify the building queue right after the start.
I have a clean install over 1.08, no modifications.

Edit: I tried GER, UK, SOV, and JAP - no problem there.

GER and Venezuela don´t need convoys for trading. They seem to have a land connection

Edit: this is true for every country on the American continent.

How should I best utilise Patrol Bombers - in a stack of 1, 2 or 4? What goals should they have - just as scouts positioned on my Japanese islands to search for enemy ships or can they also pose a threat to enemy vessels and shall thus be used actively to attack them?

How should I best use Scout Destroyers/Scout Cruisers? As separate task groups (consisting of other scout ships) destined as spotters for enemy CAG's/SAG's? Or should they be used in a stack with any task force in order to simply enhance spotting abilities?

How should I best utilise Patrol Bombers - in a stack of 1, 2 or 4? What goals should they have - just as scouts positioned on my Japanese islands to search for enemy ships or can they also pose a threat to enemy vessels and shall thus be used actively to attack them?

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You should be using them in stacks of like 30 if you want them to do some real damage. Otherwise they work quite well as spotters, but spotting works separately for ships and planes so you can't immediately send your battlefleet to rip that lone transport apart. Well you can but chances are you'll never actually catch it. Well at least it makes yourself aware of where the enemy fleet is.

How should I best use Scout Destroyers/Scout Cruisers? As separate task groups (consisting of other scout ships) destined as spotters for enemy CAG's/SAG's? Or should they be used in a stack with any task force in order to simply enhance spotting abilities?

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If you send them by themselves they are likely to be destroyed. Fast fleets are very useful, but the speed of cruisers is generally overkill anyway when compared to best achievable speed of capital ships.

You should be using them in stacks of like 30 if you want them to do some real damage.

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Since the maximum is 12 in a stack I would thus need two such stacks which is a no go so I suppose you just meant to say - nope, they are not good for attacking ships but should be solely used as scouts so that you are aware of where enemy ships are positioned?

If you send them by themselves they are likely to be destroyed. Fast fleets are very useful, but the speed of cruisers is generally overkill anyway when compared to best achievable speed of capital ships.

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So how should I use the ones that are present at the game's start (playing as Japan)? I suppose no special designation for them then and just mix them with different TF's?

Hister said:

Since the maximum is 12 in a stack I would thus need two such stacks which is a no go so I suppose you just meant to say - nope, they are not good for attacking ships but should be solely used as scouts so that you are aware of where enemy ships are positioned?

So how should I use the ones that are present at the game's start (playing as Japan)? I suppose no special designation for them then and just mix them with different TF's?

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Actually the maximum for an air stack is 4. However you can attack with several stacks into one sea zone. Navs do cause some damage, but they´re fairly vulnerable to ground defence (AA) and have low org, so you only can attack once before they usually need to rest.

I tend to build large airfields on islands so that I can station there a stack of CAS too; they have good anti-ship values and better org. You can combine at least one of them with the NAV-brigade, increasing damage against naval targets as well as improving their spotting ability.

Thank you Blecky. The maximum units an air commander can command before stacking penalty applies is 12 units that's why I said 12.

So attacking ports with patrol bombers is a no go then. I'll invest my IC into CAS's with naval brigades (1 stack will have 2 units with naval brigade and 2 without since the ones with naval brigade seem to get penalty for attacking ground targets) and put them to my islands when my current serial run of tactical bombers finishes (getting ready for the war with China).

I see that medium bombers with naval brigade do less damage then CAS with naval brigade but their range is tempting. Has anyone used them with naval brigades and where?

I'm still waiting though that someone explains me how I should best utilise scout destroyers I start with. Perhaps as a convoy hunting task group together with mine layers? Added speed would be negated then since mine layers are slow but their added spotting capability would be useful here. Level 6 destroyers that have this brigade have the lowest ranges of any destroyers present at game's start so I am reluctant to put them in any SAG or CAG and thus greatly diminish the range capability of such task force.

Is it worth applying blockade runner commander to CAG? CV's have huge visibility and I don't know if it is worth applying commanders with such traits since I don't know how much is visibility lowered with that trait. I suppose assigning them to submarine wolf packs is a better idea?

In vanilla game having a stack of 26 subs is the best combo as suggested by Pang but since stats for them are very different in CORE I forgot how many in a stack are the most efficient for this mod?

I would really appreciate if someone who played Japan in CORE would tell me how he reorganised starting naval OOB. Pretty please. o

Patrol bombers can be useful because of their long range. But you really need several dozens of them to do some damage. You need to make swarms of them that come from several directions to converge to one target. This works, but I'm not sure if it is the most cost-effective thing to do.

Light bombers(CAS) are completely useless in the Pacific because the range is too short. If you're lucky you'll be able to hit the seasone directly adjacent to the island where they are based, sometimes not even that. Light bombers are useful in the Med or in the North Sea but as Japan or the United States you have to build some tactical bombers with the nav brigade. I also build heavy fighters, but this is less useful in singleplayer I guess.

I think scout ships are not that useful. Either put them in a fleet or modify them by adding a more useful brigade instead. I think there is no proof that sea detection helps detecting convoys. Personnaly I use older destroyers for ASW duty only, while battlefleets get modern destroyers.

I don't think stacks of 26 subs are useful, unless you plan to attack the enemy battlefleet with them. For convoy raiding it would make more sense to organize them in small groups attacking enemy convoys.

As for the fleet of Japan, you may take a look at their Pearl Harbor OOB, it may give some ideas. Generally mixing CVs and BBs is not very good as you are slowed down. A friend of mine who plays Japan makes a single Carrier Fleet with all carriers he has, several smaller fleets with battleships, and a fast fleet with only cruisers and destroyers, meant to destroy enemy CTF. I, on the other hand, usually group my carriers with some Battlecruisers to be able to fight back when it comes to close quarters.

Excellent advice Amallric, thank you very much! You just saved me from making a big blunder aka investing in CAS's I would not be able to use properly. Good, I'll expand the current serial of tactical bombers but the only issue I have with them is that this serial has a defensive armament attached to them - I suppose I can't both save the existing line which has gearing bonus to them and also getting rid of this brigade?

How can I build heavy fighters? Later on in the campaign?

I'll put my old DD's to ASW duty as suggested by you. How many destroyers should have an ASW brigade attached to them in a SAG of 12 ships?

I'll have stacks of 3 subs doing anti convoy duties so they can rest until I start war with the Allies.

So you group your battlecruisers with CV's because of their speed? Why not CA's?

One more thing - I still don't know what I am supposed to do with my transport fleets. Should I left them unguarded? Should I attach some heavy ships to them in order for the automatic naval bombardment when amphibious assault happens? Or should I have a separate SAG in the same sea zone province? There is also this idea that CVL's should be attached to such fleets. I'm puzzled.So what do you use for transport fleets when invading Pacific?

Thank you very much again for your help - this will improve my handling greatly!

I suppose I can't both save the existing line which has gearing bonus to them and also getting rid of this brigade?

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As you need bombers for both land and naval warfare I would recommend two production lines. I personnaly don't add defensive armament brigades and wait until escort fighters are available.

How can I build heavy fighters? Later on in the campaign?

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Well they should be available as soon as you research fighters(not interceptors).

I'll put my old DD's to ASW duty as suggested by you. How many destroyers should have an ASW brigade attached to them in a SAG of 12 ships?

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I don't put ASW destroyers in fleets. SAGs are not suitable for ASW because a lucky shot by a submarine can cripple a battleship for a year. They ought to have destroyers with them so they can react to an occasional sub attack, but don't send them hunting the subs. For that role I use either carrier fleets(but those are usually needed elsewhere) or small fleets consisting only of obsolete destroyers. You need to have about 5 destroyers in each as with less the subs will sink your ships. Of course you can't send those on the battlefront but subs usually operate behind the lines.

So you group your battlecruisers with CV's because of their speed? Why not CA's?

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Battlecruisers are much more powerful than heavy cruisers. I try to make fleets as small as possible to minimize stacking penalty, with a carrier fleet you already have several capital ships and every capital needs an escort. Besides, the speed of battlecruisers matches that of carriers. But then again I play the US and I can afford 6 battlecruisers on game launch, with Japan things are different I guess. As I said my friend bets on his ability to avoid battles he doesn't want to fight and does not escort his sole carrier fleet.

One more thing - I still don't know what I am supposed to do with my transport fleets. Should I left them unguarded? Should I attach some heavy ships to them in order for the automatic naval bombardment when amphibious assault happens? Or should I have a separate SAG in the same sea zone province? There is also this idea that CVL's should be attached to such fleets. I'm puzzled.So what do you use for transport fleets when invading Pacific?

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This is a tricky question. On one hand it seems safer to escort them, but on the other if your fleet gets caught in battle, then the transports will suffer anyway. I tend to favor the separate SAG approach but it requires a lot of micromanagement. You can't even synchonise arrival like with land units. I never thought of attaching CVL's but on the paper at least the idea looks good. I don't know if it is worth researching and building CVLs for that only use though. In the end, you simply should ensure that there are no enemy vessels anywhere near your transports.

Even JAP or USA can use CAS as anti naval units, esp. from lv. II onwards when their range is sufficient for most adjacent sea zones. You need to protect your islands. If you combine them with NAVs you´ll be able to spot most of the enemy fleets in the vicinity. When you are able to station a strong CTF at that island too, you can sortie and attack the enemy group after it has been hit by your planes.

For nothing in the world would I order a carrier fleet to make a sortie when an enemy fleet is blockading the port.

Amallric said:

For nothing in the world would I order a carrier fleet to make a sortie when an enemy fleet is blockading the port.

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Playing as USA this worked pretty well. After softening an enemy CTF with aerial attacks I´ve sent out my own CTF (5 rather modern CVs, CAs and DDs) from Guam. They sank most of the enemy fleet. The engagemant didn´t start at close quaters.

A good player would have launched a carrier strike on your fleet in the hardor then retreated with his carriers, sending battleships that would have annihilated your fleet when it would go out. But yeah, against the AI everything works.

You know, you might be correct