Overview
This guide is for newcomers and people who haven’t played for a long time.You can find the official game manual here:https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steam/apps/806950/manuals/vasp_manual_1.0.pdf?t=1598528231The basics will be explained in the tutorial.I have put most of this guide together in a kind of FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions). If you know the answer, you can go to the next question.I will update this guide if there will be more questions or more features/units finding their way into this game.
1. Basics for the game
How to move a fleet?
Right-click on the map and you will be able to “Move” or to “Patrol” with this fleet. You can even set more waypoints/orders by holding the shift-key.
How to merge fleets?
Select your fleet you want to merge and right-click on the other fleet which will receive these ships and select “Merge fleets“. The first selected fleet will steam to the other fleet and will become a part of it in a subgroup (e.g. Baker Squadron). To merge this fleet to the Able Squadron click on the bar with the name Baker Squadron and drag the marked ships onto the Able Squadron and now it becomes one group.
How to disband a ship or ships from a fleet?
Left click on the ship (if there are more than one, hold the shift key) that you want to take out of the fleet and then drag this ship (s) out of the Able Squadron while holding the mouse button. A Baker Squadron (sub group) is now being created in this fleet. Click on the bar of the Baker Squadron and drag the marked ships out of the window to the right. Now a new fleet is born.
How to build ships?
Select a large port or supply-port. there you will find the button “shipyard“. Click it and build some ships purchased from war bonds. You’ll receive new ship-types after the xp-bar has grown at the top of your screen.
How do I replenish my fleet with supplies (rations, ammunition and fuel)?
Select your fleet and right click on a port that is not in enemy hands with right click and click on the field “Repair and resupply“. The fleet steams there and if there is enough of all the required resources stocked it is replenished there. You can set a next waypoint (holding shift-key) where the fleet should go next in adavance after the replenishment has been done.
If you use an allied port you can no longer see your fleet at anchor there and you cannot select it on the map … to avoid this, set a waypoint with the shift key after the first command or select the lost fleet via the small “fleets” (on the top right of your screen = symbol with 3 ships) window out to find them again.
How to repair ships and planes?
Ships and damaged aircraft from ships must be repaired in a port. Select the fleet with the damaged units and right click on a port and select the “Repair and resupply” field. The units are then automatically repaired in the port (including the aircraft on board). To speed up ship repairs, you can select the “Fleet” button on the top of your screen. In the new window at the top left, you can have the entire fleet or individual ships repaired faster with the command “prioritise repair ships” (tool symbol). Damaged or destroyed aircraft on an airfield are automatically repaired over time. If you have enough warbonds, buy a couple of replacement aircraft in advance so that flight operations are always guaranteed.
Why should I upgrade bases?
The most important thing is that it brings a larger airport. Such an upgraded base is a large aircraft carrier and with its guns at the same time a battleship. If several developed bases are close together, you need fewer ships there to protect them. The number of operational aircraft increases enormously.
With larger bases you get more warbonds with which you can build planes and ships (and their upgrades). In the last stage (which no longer brings a warbond bonus) you get building sites for building even more ships.
If you start early enough, it will pay off in the course of the campaign.
How can I change the fleet or a ship name?
To do this, press the “Fleet” button.
In the top left of this new window you will find the fleet name. In the middle of the window you will find the ships in your fleet. The name is under the ships. Simply click on the name of the fleet or the name under the ship and you will be given the opportunity to change the name in a new mini-window.
Where can I save, load and delete game-saves?
Click on the “OPTIONS” button on the top of your screen. There you can do this and leave the game.
Formations why should I use them?
The standart “circle formation” is usefull if you are under attack by enemy bombers and you have several ships in this fleet with AA (Anti-Aircraft) support.
The formations are helpful for warships. Seperate them before battle starts to a subgroup and let them steam in a column, to get the enemy sideways in front of all your cannons. With practice, this can be very effective.
The formations can be changed on the top bars of the groups in a fleet.
What makes waypoints and patrol commands so special?
During the Move or Patrol command, your reconnaissance aircraft in your fleet will independently carry out reconnaissance. Once the fleet stops, no planes will take off.
If you don’t want your spotters to start, click on the white plane next to your ship name to deactivate them.
Sometimes my ships shoot and sometimes they don’t, why is that?
Click on the FLEET button to see which “FLEET CREW BALANCE” is used. Always switch this to “Prioritise gaining experience” (globe symbol for the whole fleet) in combat.
Or perhaps the white icon for auto-fire of your ship was deactivated in the fleet-bar.
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2. Advanced basics for the game
Fight battles on the tactical map or in combat mode?
On the tactical map, the outcome of a battle is simply calculated and you can unnecessarily lose units there that you would not lose in a real-time battle.
Why do the same ship names keep appearing in the game?
The game correctly shows the real names for each ship class. If you build more ships of a class (the AI does this very often) the game is running out of names. An overview of how many ships there were of a class can be found as an overview in the forum an in this guide further below… if you want to recreate the real fleets.
Why do I get to the “combat screen” when I press the “Fleet” button with the last fleet used (where I actually want to change fleet names, ship names, watch information about the fleet or to make settings in the fleet crew balance)?
Make sure that this fleet is surrounded by a yellow circle before you press the “FLEET” button. Sometimes you have to re-select the fleet in order to be able to see set waypoints or so that waypoints/commands can be set.
What is the fastest way to get my aircraft to take off with my aircraft carriers?
On the tactical map, align the aircraft carrier fleet to the north with waypoints (hold shift for the next waypoint). The carrier ships always turn north to start the planes. And you should set the “fleet crew balance” (to be found on the fleet screen) to “Prioritise gaining experience” to level these carriers faster.
What are the “FLEET CREW BALANCES” in the “Fleet” window for?
At the top center of your screen you will find the “FLEET” window.
When you open it you will find the 4 setting options for “FLEET CREW BALANCES” which are divided into 4 types:
“Even crew distribution” = with this setting, all ships are delivered from the shipyard. They can fight, but sooner or later they have a moral problem.
“Prioritise gaining experience” = your ships get a lot more exp than normal and fight very well. Disadvantage … satisfaction drops very quickly in continuous operation.
“Prioritise repairing damaged systems” = this is worthwhile in the case of heavily damaged units for faster repairs.
“Prioritise boosting crew moral” = your men have gone ashore or are totally drunk and the crew is severely understaffed and cannot manned all operating systems on board (no guns are fired) but are very happy for a long time.
The secret is to change these “BALANCES” between the “gaining exp” (globe symbol) during combat situations and when navigating enemy waters due to aircraft attacks and from recovery phases “boosting moral” (smiley symbol) when nothing can happen to this fleet and it is anchored without enemy activity … you just have to keep thinking about switching it. With the help of the smiley on your small “fleets” display you can see if you have overlooked someone.
In this “Fleet” window you can also individually set how strong which station should be manned on board. But you don’t really need that.
Why should I regulary delete game-saves?
A save-file can contain around 50 MB each if you have lots of units builded and stocked hundreds of planes in your hangars. So delete the saves you will not need anymore to get some free space on your HD.
How do I get ships of very different types combined (cargo ships in TFs and warships in convoys)?
To do this, the ships must be relatively close to one another.
Either in a harbor or you set a waypoint (or protection function from the warships to the convoy).
Now you open the “FLEET” button at the top of the screen. Then place these two units on top of each other with the mouse button pressed (drag and drop) and they are joined together. It might help that you give this fleets a name for the overview.
You have to keep in mind that you should change the formation of war fleets before.
Otherwise the convoy ships remain in their convoy formation after they were merged and it is impossible to change the formation of the TF later on.
How to take more than one port with “amphibious assault” in the same time like the japanese do in the tutorial?
Set the time scale to zero = pause the game.
After that, just set a waypoint before you set (hold the shift key) the next order “amphibious assault“. This way you can take several ports at the same time with several or one fleet before you get a timer for the next landing operations.
How do you prevent the enemy from repairing his base?
Simply position one or a few ships (if the port has a shipyard) within gunreach and meanwhile you can attack other ports and set the income for the enemy to zero for this port.
Why should I build tugs and torpedo boats?
They don’t actually seem useful because of their range. On the other hand, they are very small targets for the enemy and ideal for defending a base against a superior force if you only have 1 or 2 battleships there as defenders. Positioned in front of the actual valuable units, the AI tries to hit the small targets first before shooting at the BB or the island. They are best used as a meat shield and at night the torpedo boats are useful against units without radar.
If I’ve played the US Campaign before, should I skip the tutorial?
Definitely not! In the tutorial there are a lot of warbonds as rewards and some warbonds are even hidden. You can exchange the planes on Guam, Wake Island and the Philippines (6 bases) for cheaper planes and directly afford the 2 missing carriers (the Hornet = Yorktown class and the Wasp) and can send 2 of the 6 carriers to Guadalcanal much earlier to protect the allied convoys. Then you save for the 50x Casablanca-class CVEs, the 9x Independence-class CVLs and 14x Essex-class CVs if you want to stay realistic and start with “Island-hopping”.
I am playing the American-faction and the Aussis and Kiwis are at war too, should i care?
Yes!
Send reinforcements to them as soon as possible .. preferably 2 aircraft carriers relatively early and protect the allied convoys at all costs. They are real helpers if you have reached the middle of the map to get enough supplies.
Set all of your ports to “PRIORITY None” (except Noumea) and set waypoints for your convoys by yourself. If not the allied convoys are in great danger. (e.g. supporting Komandorski and travel trough japanese waters.)
Is there some kind of a guide in this forum with Tips and Tricks for the American Campaign?
Yes!
Made by the gamer “SoBeFL“:
[link]
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3. Basics for airfields, carriers and planes
How do I buy new aircraft for my airfield or aircraft carrier?
Left click on the base. Then the airfield with the available aircraft appears in the middle of the screen at the bottom. Select one of these aircraft with the right mouse button and a new window will open.
Land bases have a hangar. If you bought the planes on the left side of the window (new types of planes will be added as you gain experience), these new planes will be parked in the Hangar. To get these planes on the Runway on the right-hand side, left-click on the plane, then select “swap” (which then becomes “swapping“) and then the plane on the runway that you want to swap.
It is similar with aircraft carriers. Bring the aircraft carrier to a port and select the aircraft carrier from the task force that you want to equip with a double left click. The flight deck of this aircraft carrier now appears in the middle lower section of your screen. Right-click on one of the aircraft on deck. A separate window will now open again. And there you buy the planes and “swap” these planes via the landbase Hangar on the Flight Deck. The decommissioned aircraft will be put in the hangar of the land base. If you no longer want to use these old models, you can sell them and receive warbonds in return by clicking the X of each old aircraft. There is also the possibility to update outdated equipment with the button “UPGRADE ALL FLIGHTS” above the right side… if you have warbonds in reserve.
Please note that the new aircraft are not ready for use and must first be fully assembled. This happens automatically but takes some time.
How do I know that I am in range of the enemy with my aircraft?
Left click on a plane (e.g. torpedo bomber). A green radius appears and represents the range of the aircraft.
How can I convert the armament of aircraft on the airfield or the aircraft carrier without having to select each individual aircraft?
Right click on one of the planes. A mini-window appears at the bottom right for the type of armament of this aircraft (“Payload“). Now change the desired armament and click on the small symbol which is displayed on the right above the selection = “copy payload” and all aircraft of this type will receive the same armament.
What types of aircraft should I have at the airport and which aircraft should definitely be in the hangar?
Spotters can be a big advantage. 1 or 2 should be used in bases where enemy activity can be expected.
Fighter planes are extremely important. Whoever has control of the air can determine the next move.
In the hangar you should have the types of aircraft that you can take out if necessary. Planes against submarines (ASW), Torpedo planes (and a little more in reserve), fighter planes as a substitute for losses and long-range bombers (to soften a base within range before you want to take this).
Which aircraft should I definitely take on board my aircraft carrier and which ships are usefull to assist my carrier-fleet?
American carriers can transport around 20 flight groups. There should not be more than 12-14 bomber planes on board at the beginning of a campaign so that you can still use enough interceptors and the supply of bombs and torpedoes does not run out too quickly. Later, when you have many aircraft carriers in a group, you can increase the number of “replacement bombers” and reduce the number of interceptors per aircraft carrier … there was actually a TF with 6 CVs and 6 CVLs.
The following escort ships should accompany the carrier fleet:
* Destroyers: ASW (Anti-Submarine) and AA (Anti-Aircraft)
* Light Cruisers: AA and Spotter-flights
* Cruisers: AA, against Destroyers / Light Cruisers / Cruisers and Spotter-Flights
* Battleships which dont slow down the speed of the carrier force: AA, Spotter-flight and are able for most engagements supported by naval and air forces.
My planes are going crazy! What could be the problem?
That’ll be a more detailed answer.
There can be many factors for this:
* Has or was the fuel supply used up?
* Is the ammunition on the base or the carrier running out?
* Did I set a waypoint on the tactical map and it was reached?
* Has the ground target been destroyed and the divebomber cannot find the right approach angle for its new target by itself?
* Have all the intercepting aircraft been sent out to hunt freely with the command “Intercept aircraft” and no enemy aircraft have been spotted in combat mode?
* Waypoints have been used in combat mode and half of the fuel is used?
All of these could be the trigger why your planes don’t do what you would like them to do and in most cases want to fly home again.
To avoid this, practice with the commands available to you on the tactical map, in combat mode there are many more by right-clicking and using the function on the bar of the flight group of a squadron of an aircraft type.
The flight altitude can also be set on the tactical map and the squadron can be merged more quickly by “rejoin formation” of stragglers (appears on the right of the aircraft name as a white symbol) than in “combat mode”. In combat mode, it is best to give each individual group a target so that no ammunition is used unnecessarily in order to attack only one target in an enemy fleet with many aircraft. Right click on the enemy target with each flight group.
If your planes are circling somewhere and don’t want to land, then go into COMBAT mode and select the whole group and give the command “Land“.
In rare cases, the AI is sometimes overwhelmed with normal landings. Save, quit the game and reload. That mostly helps.
What is the best way to attack with a fleet of aircraft carriers?
With an aircraft carrier fleet you should let your planes attack and not let the fleet itself steer towards the enemy.
You can select aircraft individually or all aircraft of an aircraft type of a ship or even all aircraft of an aircraft type of a fleet.
Select a single plane: leftclick on one plane of the carrieredeck
Select all planes of one type of an aircraftcarrier: At the bottom of your screen you will find symbols at the bottom right of your aircraft carrier deck that you use to select all aircraft of a type.
Select all planes of an aircraft type of a fleet:
Click on the main bar of your fleet (e.g. Able Squadron), that all ships are highlighted. now you can see a bar at the bottom with which you can let all aircraft of one type in the entire fleet take off.
Which commands are very usefull instead of a simply attack command for planes?
On the tactical map, the “Loiter” command is very valuable. Your planes gather at this point and you can fly combined attacks or fend off something else at another location on the map in the meantime.
The “Defend” command is very usefull too. You are able to stick your fighterplanes at a bomberformation and if there are enemy planes showing up you can select these fighters to engage the enemy planes. The escort will return to their airfield/carrier before they run out of fuel.
“Intercept aircraft“: this can be used in the combat mode to attack nearby enemy fighters. Dont merge fighters with others in combat… they will join together and will not fight!
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4. Information about convoys
There is a thread in the official VASP forum about convoys that I wanted to add to this guide… if you have further questions about convoy mechanics, feel free to ask your question here or add some helpfull hints. 🙂
[link]
Can I determine the routes my convoys should steam myself?
This is now possible. Right click on a base or supply port and use the command “load cargo” or “unload cargo“. Use waypoints (Move while holding the shift-key) or a field which you should avoid on your way (Create convoy waypoint). You can set up regular services and ensure that supplies arrive where they are most needed. You should always make sure that you do not overuse your supply ports, otherwise the convoys will be empty.
Why should I actually build new convoy ships, even though I have more than enough of them at the beginning?
In the beginning you have a lot of very slow ships (especially as Allied). The further you advance on the map, the faster you need supplies in these ports and as a beginner you will lose many of these ships to submarines and destroyer squadrons.
There are some ships that specialize in certain supplies (oilers for fuel and Japanese ammunition ships).
If you were allowed to unlock faster freighters and have enough building space to build new convoys, you should pay attention to their speed and not combine them with slower ships in order not to waste the speed, which will be noticeable.
If you build many new, fast convoy ships, you can anchor full loaded old ships in your bases and use them as additional storage facilities.
Not only build warships like a „devil“ but also think about supplying the front.
Should I create special convoys?
I think it is advisable for every base that is in the border area and requires a lot of resources for air traffic to create its own convoys and to load them to the brim and then leave them in these ports. As soon as the torpedoes or the fuel run out, simply use this convoy to refuel before the display drops to zero and aircraft show a strange behavior because they have been empty in the hangar.
E.g. For the Aleuten Islands just use one bigger convoy taking the same route over and over again. This will stock up all ports there after a while.
Use waypoints if you use big convoys to make sure that they approach the same supply-port every time and these will not run dry because it is in use of several convoys.
What do I do if the supply ports are dry and I have many convoys that have not received any cargo?
As an ally you have nice neighbors who can lend you something. Simply approach and loot bases that are not in danger or load something from your own bases with just a few ships from the convoy (just take them out of the convoy and then add them again) so that these full bases do not become empty.
As an American, I recommend going to the major supply ports of your allies and loot there (Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Wellington).
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5. UI “bridge view” and commands
This is the map of the Pacific War from which you can see the complete war events, e.g. Location of your fleets and where you can select your bases.
You can move around this map with A W D S or by holding down the middle mouse button
You can see tabs above that I would like to briefly explain (from left to right):
* COMBAT
From this tab you can always switch directly from the tactical map to a more detailed view of your armed forces and bases, even if there is no fighting, e.g. Activate your anti-aircraft guns on board your ships in peace.
* FLEET
Here you can make settings (combat stances or the individual occupation of stations on your ships) or obtain information about supplies or ship status, if you have selected a fleet.
Under this tab you are able to merge fleets by drag and drop on the right side and you can change ship-names and give Fleets another name for a better overview.
* LOG
Under this tab you will find information about recent events and how they went exactly: e.g. Ammunition consumption and below which of your ships were damaged or even sunk.
On the left side of this tab you can also access older information (new units that have been activated are also listed here)
* PERSONNEL
If you select this tab, you can see which level your ships have reached and which skills (TRAITS) they have received … you can also see the combat stance of your ships here, as on the FLEET tab.
* BRIDGE
If you have one of the other tabs active, you can switch back to the tactical map = BRIDGE VIEW with this tab or by pressing the M key.
* OPTIONS
Under this tab you can load, save and exit the game (QUIT). In addition, you can change graphics and sound settings here and also find keyboard commands and change them according to your personal taste.
In the upper right corner you will find a controller to adjust the game speed. Set to zero, you switch to pause. Also set to zero, you can give your units orders and sometimes have a little more peace to get a better overview and to plan. e.g. To be able to carry out coordinated air and sea attacks at the same time from several adjacent bases and fleets.
Under the above mentioned tabs you will find 6 other tabs (marked with symbols) which are very important.
(left to right)
* Fleets
Here you will find all of your TaskForce units. The smiley to the left of the fleets indicates satisfaction and can be changed in the previously explained FLEET tab. The symbol to the left of the smiley indicates whether your fleet is floating in the ocean without orders (X), is anchored in a port (anchor symbol), is heading towards a waypoint (arrow pointing downwards to a circle), is on patrol (half circle with 2 arrows), heading for a port (tool symbol), carrying out a raid (explosion symbol), refueling soon (fuel canister), protecting a base or other ships (shield symbol) or scouting an enemy base (periscope symbol). In addition, you will be shown here exactly where your fleets are.
If you select the fleets with a left click, you will be automatically directed to this fleet on the map.
* Coastal
Displays the coastal defense fleets that are available. The same information is available here as in the “Fleets” tab described above.
* Ports
here you will find the ports under your control. The priority is shown as to how these should be supplied with convoys or whether these are supply ports. If these ports have a crane symbol on the right, ships can be built here. The larger ships cannot be built in all ports. If you click on a port, you will get two windows displayed below: The airport is located in the middle and to the right of it you will find a window showing how many supplies are in this port. Here you can set the priority for your convoys and expand the port / airport.
* Objectives
this shows which “quests” you have to do in order to take a realistic route. You will be rewarded with war bonds and war experience if you have successfully completed these objectives.
* Supply convoys
all your convoys are displayed here.
The same information is available here as in the “Fleets” tab described above.
* War bonds
Here you can see how the inflow of your war loan is made up and how much you will receive monthly.
Bases built up to the penultimate level give the most inflow. War bonds that you receive as a bonus are not listed here: destroying enemy ships, capturing bases or destroying ground targets.
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6. UI “combat view” and commands
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7. Ship-types information
I found a very interesting HP for this section:
[link]
If you’re looking for detailed answers to a Pacific War term, you’ll find it here:
[link]
[link]
Please note:
I have found nothing about Destroyer Squadron sizes about the IJN.
They used 1 – 8 DD’s to protect larger ships. 1-10 DDs for larger fleets and that fast light cruisers were used as Destroyer-Leaders. Destroyers were used as fast troop transports as well in typical groups of 4 DDs each (each DD 600 men and about 35 tons of equipment). Most time they operated together with cruisers.
1943 the IJN had a serious “Destroyer shortage” problem.
IJN DDs were still Torpedo vessels until the end of the war (The most successful hit by a Japanese destroyer in World War II had a range of 11 nmi), while the Allied DDs reduced their Torpedo tubes for AA armament during the war.
A typical US “DesRon” contained 2x 4 Destroyers + 1x Destroyer-Leader or 1x Light Cruiser (e.g. Atlanta-class).
The UK used Destroyers of one type as a DesRon (the first letter in the ship name represents the destroyer-class). They adopted the US DesRon size after the war and reduced it to 4 DDs in the 1950s.
8. Plane-types information
History:
World War II was the second “mechanized” war of modern times. It turned out especially in this war that it is important to maintain the air superiority in order to be able to win a war successfully (of course it does not work against a guerrilla war).
This development meant that battleships were no longer the rulers of the world’s oceans.
The first nation that built a “modern” aircraft-carrier was Japan.
Especially in the Pacific it was the first war in which aircraft carriers were used in large numbers.
The training of an American pilot took at least 7 months.
Night operations were also flown, which in 1944 were so specialized that there were night fighters on the US carriers and there were many technical innovations that we know today from civil aviation.
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You will find 6 different types of planes in the game. Some plane-types of them can switch their armament (payload option):
Invented as the first type of war aircraft in the great war. These types of aircraft are used to carry out reconnaissance and to uncover enemy movements of ships, submarines and aircraft on the “bridge view” map. In addition, they serve to localize the exact position of ships in the “combat view” so that long-range guns can find their targets (stay high to avoid AA fire).
Many of these types of aircraft are seaplanes or flying boats. The smaller ones can not only operate from airports, they can also used by some larger classes of ships.
ASW = anti-submarine warfare. These aircrafts have a sonar device and can detect submerged boats (medium depth). They use depth charges and drop them over the target. They are a good alternative to destroyers. It is relatively safe and faster, but also uses a lot of fuel if you have to constantly fight submarines at a certain position on the map.
These types of aircraft carry one or more torpedoes. This is the most powerful weapon that can be used against ships. Most small ships sink after being hit. These types of aircraft should always be carried on board an aircraft carrier. The carrier-supported torpedo bombers can also be converted into bombers if you need these aircrafts to attack structures on land. The early models are not very robust and should be used in large quantities to help some achieve their goal. The Japanese models were far superior to the American ones at the beginning of the war. Be careful of the Japanese medium bombers, which are equipped with torpedoes.
This type of aircraft was developed to pounce on its target from a great height. It is responsible for the loss of most of the large ships in the Japanese fleet. This bomber is a typical aircraft aboard an aircraft carrier. This bomber should also be used in large numbers so that most of them can get to their destination and cause devastating damage.
This aircraft is ideal for accurately neutralizing structures on land.
This big type of airplane carries a lot of bombs and was developed for carpet bombing from great heights. Level bombers usually have a very long range and are ideal for eliminating enemy airports or severely weakening a base before an attack from the sea.
With luck, these bombers can be dangerous even to large ships.
The type of aircraft that most people think of when they think of warplanes. They are fast and very agile. The idea comes from the great war when a solution was sought to be able to fight enemy spotters.
The tasks range from the interceptor to shoot down enemy bombers to fighting ground targets and to gain and secure air superiority over enemy interceptors.
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9. Ships: United States Navy (USN)
The classes marked with (*) have found their way with the RealismMOD into the game. (A lot of the old versions were updated in the RealismMOD).
This is my favorite side to get information about WW2 vessels:
[link]
(here you’ll find more information: e.g. vessel names, names for planned vessels or origin names before this ship received another name, technical information, commissioning dates, details about the history/development of these classes/vessels and fates.)
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Nevada-class (*) = 2
[link]
Pennsylvania-class = 2
[link]
New Mexico-class (*) = 3
[link]
Tennessee-class = 2
[link]
Colorado-class = 3
[link]
North Carolina-class = 2
[link]
South Dakota-class = 4
[link]
Iowa-class = 4
[link]
Richelieu-class = 2 (1 enemy vessel. Wrong faction! Should be added to the UK. She was repaired in the US, served for the UK and operated at the coast of Indochina. Her sister was not completed and was hard damaged by the US Navy at Casablanca.)
[link]
Lexington-class = 2
[link]
Yorktown-class = 3
[link]
Wasp-class = 1
[link]
Essex-class = 24 were built in total (14 served in the Pacific during WW2) [link]
Independence-class = 9
[link]
Casablanca-class = 50 (all built within one year)
[link]
Alaska-class (*) = 2
[link]
Pensacola-class = 2
[link]
Portland-class = 2
[link]
Northampton-class = 6 (5 served in the Pacific)
[link]
Wichita-class (*) = 1
[link]
Baltimore-class = 18 built in total. (12 served in WW2)
[link]
Des Moines-class (*) = 3 commissioned after the end of WW2
[link]
Atlanta-class = 11 (8 served in WW2; AA cruiser and Destroyer-Leader)
[link]
Omaha-class = 10
[link]
Brooklyn-class = 7
[link]
St.Louis-class = 2 (These were modified Brooklyn-class CLs.)
[link]
Cleveland-class = 29 (25 served in WW2)
[link]
Worcester-class (*) = 2 commissioned after the end of WW2
[link]
Erie-class gunboat = 2
[link]
Clemson-class = 298 (WW1 design. Lots of modification were made for many of these ships before and within WW2: e.g. seaplane tenders, fast transporters or minesweapers. Many were given to the UK in 1940 and lot of them were stricken in 1930.)
[link]
Porter-class destroyer leaders = 8
[link]
Gridley-class = 4
[link]
Somers-class destroyer leaders (*) = 5
[link]
Sims-class (*) = 12
[link]
Fletcher-class = 175
[link]
Gearing-class (*) = 98 (minimum 49 served in WW2)
[link]
Admiralen-class = 8 (Royal Netherlands Navy)
[link]
Gato-class = 80
Balao-class = 126
[link]
K VIII = 3 (Royal Netherlands Navy)
[link]
Cherokee-class = 6
[link]
Elco-MTB-class = 352 served in the US Navy (one with JFK onboard)
[link]
—————————————————————————————–
10. Ships: Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN)
Note: A lot of aircraft carriers (1 CV, all CVL and all CVE) and most seaplane-tenders are missing in the game. Most of the carriers have much less planes onboard as they had in original. To recreate them, simply use the models available to you and look here for the missing ships: [link]
and 3 more CVE and 1 more AV you’ll find here
[link]
————————————————————————————
Fusō-class = 2
[link]
Ise-class = 2
[link]
Nagato-class = 2
[link]
Yamato-class = 2 (biggest battleships ever built)
[link]
Kongō-class = 4
[link]
Akagi-class = 1
[link]
Kaga-class = 1
[link]
Sōryū-class = 1
[link]
Hiryū-class = 1
[link]
Shōkaku-class = 2
[link]
Hiyō-class = 2 (It should read Junyō-class. Hint: use this model to recreate CVL and CVE)
[link]
Shinano-class (*) = 1 (Built from a Yamato-class hull.)
[link]
Unryū-class = 3
[link]
Chitose-class = 2 (both were converted to CVL in the year 1942 and 1943)
[link]
Furutaka-class = 2
[link]
Aoba-class = 2
[link]
Myōkō-class = 4 (It should read Nachi-class)
[link]
Takao-class = 4
[link]
Tone-class = 2
[link]
Mogami-class = 4
[link]
Tenryū-class = 2
[link]
Kuma-class = 3 (2 of the 5 built ships of this class were finished as CT)
[link]
Nagara-class = 6
[link]
Sendai-class = 3
[link]
Agano-class = 4
[link]
Duguay-Trouin-class = 3 (Vichy-France. Only “Lamotte-Picquett” served in the Pacific)
[link]
Kitakami-Class = 2
[link]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_cruiser_%C5%8Ci
Fubuki-class = 20
[link]
Akatsuki-class = 4
[link]
Shiratsuyu-class = 10
[link]
Kagerō-class = 18
[link]
Akizuki-class = 7 (1st generation of this class)
Fuyutsuki-class = 4 (2nd generation of Akizuki-class.)
Hanatzuki-class = 1 (3rd generation of Akizuki-class. It should read Mochitsuki-class.)
Michitsuki-class = 1 (never completed. Belongs to the 3rd generation. It should read Mochitsuki.)
[link]
Matsu-class = 18
[link]
Tachibana-class = 22 (2nd generation of Matsu-class DE)
[link]
Thonburi-class coastal defence ship = 2
(The PG ingame was built in Japan for the UK before WW2 and used by the Siamesian Navy. It should read Sri Ayuthia coast defence ships.)
[link]
Hei-Gata-class = 11 (3 classes)
[link]
[link]
[link]
Kaidai-class = 36 (7 classes and 2 sub-classes)
[link]
[link]
[link]
[link]
[link]
[link]
[link]
[link]
[link]
I-400-class = 3
[link]
T-1-class = 6 (Prototype for many more classes of these ship-types)
[link]
Shinyo-class =
Approximately 6,200 Shinyo were produced for the Imperial Japanese Navy
and 3,000 Maru-ni for the Imperial Japanese Army.
[link]
—————————————————————————————–
11. Ships: United Kingdom (UK)
Below in the following link you’ll find all ships of the UK that fought in the late stage of the Pacific War (22nd of November 1944) independent of the US Navy: [link]
Before this time UK ships served in combined TFs with the US Navy after they had lost 2 of their capital ships 10th of December 1941.
UK = United Kingdom (3 Navies in the Pacific):
RN = Royal Navy (BPF = British Pacific Fleet)
RAN = Royal Australian Navy
RNZN = Royal New Zealand Navy
—————————————————————————————–
King George V-class = 5 (3 served in the Pacific)
[link]
Illustrious-class = 3 (all served in the Pacific)
[link]
Implacable-class = 2 (both served in the Pacific)
[link]
Colossus-class = 10 (6 were completed in WW2)
[link]
Ruler-class = 34 (these are Lend-Lease US Bogue-class escort carriers and not all served in the Pacific)
= 11x Attacker-class (1st generation Bogue-class)
[link]
= 23x Ameer-class (2nd generation Bogue-class)
[link]
Leander-class = 8 (not all served in the Pacific. It should read Sydney-class)
= 3x Sydney-class
[link]
= 5x Leander-class
[link]
Fiji-class = 8 (only “Gambia” served in the Pacific. Also known as Crown Colony-class.)
Ceylon-class = 1 (Sub-class of the Fiji-class with stronger AA modifications)
[link]
Dido-class = 16 (Dido 1st group = 10, Dido 2nd group = 6)
[link]
Bellona-class = 5
[link]
Tribal-class = 27 (3 of them were built in Australia and served in the Pacific)
[link]
J-class = 8
K-class = 8
N-class = 8
[link]
V-class = 8
[link]
Bathurst-class = 60
(Designed and built in Australia during World War II. Originally classified as minesweepers)
[link]
Flower-class = 221
[link]
S-class: 34
[link]
T-class: 16
[link]
U-class: 46
[link]
Fairmile A-class Motor Launch = 12
[link]
Fairmile B-class Motor Launch = 671
[link]
Fairmile D-class Torpedo Boat = 229
[link]
Vosper 1-class Torpedo Boat = 32
[link]
Fairmile C-class Motor Gun Boat = 24
[link]
Vosper 2-class Motor Gun Boat = 10
[link]
12. Hints for the tutorial
Mission Start after the introducing how to handle the game (mousecontrol, navigate your destroyer, shooting, merging fleets and using planes and destroying a japanese submarine).
——————————
Mission “TF 3”
Use your “A-bomb” cruiser and the 3 DDs against a small japanese fleet…
Pause (reduce time-scale to 0) the game and select all airfields from the ports that will soon captured by Japan.
Evacuation part 1:
You have 4 minor airfields in the Philippines (Manila, Tacloban, Mindanao and Davao) and 2 small ports (Guam and Wake Island).
Select each airfield and replace each plane on the runways with a Vought Kingfisher spotter for the price of 5 warbonds and sell all replaced planes.
You can use these warbonds to get some more F4F Wildcat and PBY-Catalina planes for the runways of Noumea, Midway and Pearl Harbor (to have more ASW planes against the Subs right from the start, that are ready for action in time). At Pearl Harbor you’ll need only Catalina planes at the beginning of a campaign.
Wildcat and Catalina planes is all you need at the start, sell all other planes that are now shown in the hangar, except of the spare catalinas (torpedo version is very strong in air to ground attacks done on the tactical map view).
Deactivate the autostart function for all of your airfields, to save as much air-fuel as possible.
Meanwhile set all ports to “none” priority, if you wish to have more UK convoys at your service later in the game (except of Noumea), if you handle the routes of your own convoys by yourself.
Some hints for new gamers…
Try to keep your Clemson-class destroyers staying alive. You’ll need them later against Submarines at Hawai and after controling the Aleutian Islands for chasing japanese submarines heading toward your convoys on this route.
The Portland-class cruiser is one of the best US shiptype at the beginning. It is well armored, fast (around 40 knts if the crew is happy) and is equiped with some “long range” guns… It’s the perfect DD hunter/killer.
Try to show the enemy all your guns at once by turning 90° if your ship opens fire and set waypoints by holding the shift-key in zigzaging on the ocean to avoid to receive too many hits if the enemy is in range to open fire at you and try to keep distance. It’s a lone-wolf unit.
IMPORTANT:
Before you click on the okay button for the next mission send TF 3 direction to Pearl Harbor. The 3 Clemson-class destroyers need an upgrade for SubHunting asap and will be needed in this area soon. Make sure that the two carrier groups are in the port of Pearl Harbor to finish the plane repairs. It doesn’t work anymore if you pressed the okay button first.
——————————
Mission “TF 5” you’ll be trained to handle submarines. Don’t run deeper with the Sub, otherwise the whole tutorial is broken!
Recon Makin Atoll for the next mission, so that the upcomming carrierforce receives their targets and after this is completed, destroy the mini-convoy.
After this task is done you’ll receive the order to take care about another TF. But sneak back to Tarawa and recon this port too before this attacking force will start the raids. This will credit you extra warbonds, when the tutorial is over and now there will be no ships that can be dangerous for your submarine.
Send the “Drum” direction Ellice Island and start an “amphibious assault” as soon as you are able to do this after the tutorial ends and dive direction to Solomon Islands (Tulagi and Guadalcanal) after you have occupied Ellice Island and start an amphibious assault on these islands too, to get more warbonds early on.
Submarines are perfekt for recon runs against small ports. Use this vesseltype to recon each small port with a exclamation mark showing above the enemy port to get some additional warbonds and experience for the war progress bar. Reconing all enemy small ports asap.
————————————
Mission “TF 17”. With this TF you’ll get the order to assault Makin Atoll and after that to fall back to Johnston Island for refilling the supplies.
Raid Tarawa too in this mission.
You’ll get extra Warbonds for destroying emplacements on this other island.
Hint:
To safe pilot lifes, change the torpedo bombers to levelbombers.
Start the TBD Devaster planes with loaded bombs. Only the TBD Devaster planes and not the SBD Dauntless planes.
Set an altitude above 5k meters (that’s above AA range) and attack first after all highlevel bomber planes have reached this altitude. If the planes are close enough, you can pause the game and select for each bomber one enemy AA emplacement as a target.
You’ll need 2 runs to finish them off. With the second strike destroying all AA, the dive-bombers are wellcome to destroy what is left intact. After all AA emplacements are broken, you don’t need to climb above 5km any more.
And the same procedure for the mission target Makin Atoll again.
You should have much more warbonds now.
———————————–
Pause the game and make your first save of the game.
Save the game often, before each bigger battle.
Buy the missing carrierplanes in Pearl Harbor for the Yorktown of TF 17. The planes will be in service until the carriers had arrived for upgrades here in this port. If you like you can reduce the fighters on your flightdecks. 6 Fighters are enough for a big carrier each, if you merge several carriers to one bigger fleet later. Torpedo planes make tons of damage if they are used on the tactical map.
Now you will learn more about building new ships/fleets created in shipyards. If the game is paused you can cancel the construction without any lose of warbonds.
The game will cancel the timescaling set to 0.
All ports where you have sold your airfield planes should be lost to Japan now.
Now you’ll learn some more about your objective list tab.
The game will cancel the timescaling set to 0 again.
Now you are able to arrange landing operations (“amphibious assaults”).
Set the priority for convoys at these ports to “none” to evade that UK convoys will be destroyed. You’ll need these allied convoys later in the game to supply the center of the map faster.
Epilogue
Why are there no seagulls in the game?
I dont know!
There is a section in the game’s forum: “Tips, advice, helpful hints” from which I took up some ideas and questions.
[link]
If you have any questions about the game, please feel free to contact the community.
[link]
If you should find bugs in the game, the developers would be very grateful if you would share them in the forum. Under this section:
[link]
This game has a modding section too:
[link]
How to install a MOD (you need a program to unzip … e.g. WinZip):
[link]
****************************************************************
My special thanks goes to:
@ evil.twins
for a wonderful game and their support, to take up ideas from players and to take their gaming community seriously.
@ harley9699
he gave me the inspiration to finally create this guide.
@ fragile
who gave me lots of hints and tips to have much more fun with this game.
@ SpecTRe_X
he also gave me the inspiration to summarize everything more compactly 😉
and that he makes a very nice MOD available to the community:
[link]
@ Kaiviel, Onewhosaysgoose, Dreadx and YorkCrescentia
for modding activities. Helping to get out more of this game as shown in the
Improved-realism MOD
there is also a nice Vid made by Onewhosaysgoose about AA:
That’s all folks…
good hunting!
History (Documentaries)
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