I think I am playing this game wrong - especially naval warfare

[andysonofbob]

I was about to play UK yesterdays but stopped at the thought of setting up the navy again.

Reading a thread here I noticed the OP praising the naval mechanics. When I play I tend to let the navy just get on with it, like i would the air force. I even treat the battle pop ups as spam!

Are there any tips for playing/enjoying the naval battle mechanics as much as the land? Can you play it just as 'hands on'?

Thanks

 

[diablopl4]

technicaly you could play it hands on and put ships in every sea province and shuffle them whenever one of them gets attacked. However im not sure if this would contribute to you having naval supremacy which you nead for invasions and it would be bloody tideus. I rather set up navies for protecting convoys in the provinces i know i will be doing naval invasions and thats it. I dont think currently navy is really all that well and interesting in this game

 

[andysonofbob]

Is supremacy purely on stats in the area then?

If I wanted to micro for engagements, would it be more effective than leaving it to ai?

Thanks!

 

[Praetori]

I was about to play UK yesterdays but stopped at the thought of setting up the navy again.

Reading a thread here I noticed the OP praising the naval mechanics. When I play I tend to let the navy just get on with it, like i would the air force. I even treat the battle pop ups as spam!

Are there any tips for playing/enjoying the naval battle mechanics as much as the land? Can you play it just as 'hands on'?

Thanks

It's a game of cat and mouse and preservation of strength while utilizing air-power.
The optimization side of things comes down to retreating early when you're not superior in terms of fleet composition, weather, numbers or air superiority.
It's quite possible to minimize losses and thus maintain a proper growth of naval forces while you whittle the opponent.

Things to consider that's possible for the player to affect (on map):
Long-range ground based fighters for superiority. Naval-bombers, CAS and even TACs to swarm the sea-zone.
Mission types.
Fleet composition (number of screens to capitals).
Weather (CTF vs SAG in bad weather = bad)
Retreat stance (do-not attack order).
Damaged ships (affects enemy spotting).

One example:
Divide the navy into taskforces with speed as a guideline for matching screens with capitals.
That will mean CTFs with a fast captial (for spotting) and some screens with good enough speed.
You will have battleship squadrons with their screens, some battlecruiser SAGs for fast hunting and your destroyer escorts for convoy escort, sub hunting and for locking down enemy fleets.
You'll want land-based aircraft and not operate your fleets outside of their reach if the enemy is strong or you're low on carriers.

Your destroyer fleets can coverage large areas for a cheap buck as long as you don't go mucking about in areas where the enemy has a lot of airpower (just stay away) and are quite apt at judging enemy strength without putting the expensive stuff on the line.
When your destroyers find something you can make the decision early to take the fight or to retreat (by changing their stance).
If you decide to go for it then the airpower should be directed to the correct zone and also your heavy-hitters. The CTFs can join depending on weather or stay in a adjacent zone and just send in their CAGs (through the air interface as per normal). Normally your carriers are safe as long as the enemy doesn't have airpower but they're also the most valuable asset so putting them in harms way unnecessarily is to be avoided.

If you retreat you need to actually clear the zone or you'll be re-engaged. Consider the options you need to take to challenge the sea-zone or if you can ignore it and what it'll cost.

TLDR; It's all about retreating when the odds are not favorable or your entire fleet will eventually be dead.

 

[andysonofbob]

Thanks!

So it is somewhat possible to manage your fleets, if you wish to take the deep armchair general stance?

 

[Praetori]

Thanks!

So it is somewhat possible to manage your fleets, if you wish to take the deep armchair general stance?

Yes. Theoretically you could divide the fleets even further and micro the stances on each of them for a more "tactical" approach but be advised that once you retreat there's no way for that particular fleet to re-join the same battle (they can however get involved in a new, parallel one against some of the same enemy ships that are already engaged at times but this is very shady and probably a bug, happens more often if there are convoys involved).
All in all it's micro intensive if you also have a ground war to consider. No matter the division or approach you should keep an eye on the fleet-battles when they start and check back occasionally if you need to retreat. It's always a judgement call on weather you can afford to put the involved ships at risk or not compared to what you could potentially gain from committing.
If you're low on screens or lacking them altogether it's always best to retreat and head for home or you'll start losing capitals which takes years to replace.

The only situation where you might want to actually commit full tilt is if there are invasion-warning or you're doing one yourself. Naval superiority needs to be maintained no matter the cost if your the UK since once those troops are ashore the navy is insignificant (it's not feasible in the current iteration to strangle an invasion through naval power). Once the forces are ashore and have a port there's nothing any navy from any side can do to affect the outcome (then it's all down to divisions and airpower on land), sadly enough.

 

[andysonofbob]

Ahh, that 'no return to the same battle' is good to know!

Taking a step back...

Do people respond to the naval alerts when they pop up or do you treat it like spam like me?

If you do respond, how much time activity do you allow?

Thanks!

 

[Praetori]

Ahh, that 'no return to the same battle' is good to know!

Taking a step back...

Do people respond to the naval alerts when they pop up or do you treat it like spam like me?

If you do respond, how much time activity do you allow?

Thanks!

I check them every time (mostly multiplayer) to check the potential danger and keep a close eye on the big ones (if they involve capitals/CTFs from both sides).
I don't bother with subs or the occasional destroyer action though. Generally you should consider retreating if you'r inferior in numbers or the enemy has a lot of air and you don't.

 

[rwds]

(it's not feasible in the current iteration to strangle an invasion through naval power). Once the forces are ashore and have a port there's nothing any navy from any side can do to affect the outcome (then it's all down to divisions and airpower on land), sadly enough.

I've had success as Japan when naval invading an american island by putting a large fleet on hold position outside their port. They started becoming out of supply after a while of fighting and were wiped out rather easily by my marines thanks to the penalties from OOS. Are you sure you can't do the same as britain against operation sea lion?

 

[Praetori]

I've had success as Japan when naval invading an american island by putting a large fleet on hold position outside their port. They started becoming out of supply after a while of fighting and were wiped out rather easily by my marines thanks to the penalties from OOS. Are you sure you can't do the same as britain against operation sea lion?

Islands with limited port-size and it's possible to starve larger units (but it's still hard since you need to actually sink all the convoys, it's usually easier to strat bomb the island in question for the same effect). Multiple-province areas with good local-supply and the potential to grab several ports (or even just shorelines) makes fleets basically superfluous after divisions are ashore (other than shore bombardment when advancing along the coast but that's beside the point).

IF you have a superior army you only need to have naval superiority for one game-tick to get the invasion fleet to leave port, the second after that happens the fleets doesn't really mean squat (you can even lose superiority, the invasion will still go on). If you have the superior army and airforce it's all over once those armored divisions are ashore. You can have the entire Royal Navy sitting in the sea-zone outside of Dover and them panzers will be advancing no matter what.
They will more often than not even succeed in landing unsupported despite all those defending capital-ships sitting off the beaches as the defending navy will be busy in battles with some random destroyers or resource convoys going through the channel (one typical example that's easily enough to reproduce). The same can be said for landing in France, Japan or elsewhere. The resources for defense against invasions is better invested in forts, garrisoned ports and air superiority. Losing naval superiority in a single coastal-region for even a single game-tick will let even the weakest of naval powers invade, no matter how many battleships you can park outside the enemy's beaches once it has happened.

Fleets are still important though and they do make things easier but they're currently not a viable deterrent against invasions.