WitE Question and Answer Thread

W8taminute · March 16, 2015, 11:03:19 PM

Hi folks,

Spent most of the weekend playing this game and loving every minute of it. I'm currently playing the alternate grand campaign as the Axis. The manual is not terribly clear though on one item and that is railroad repair. There are some detachments that the ai automatically creates to repair the railroads but there are some units (FDR battalions I think they're called) that the player can use to manually repair rails.

Trouble is I can't figure out how to make them work. All of my FDR units are attached to Army HQs and well within their HQ command radius. All my FDR units start on good fixed European gauge rails hexes. I manually move them one or two hexes onto adjacent broken rails but nothing happens. What am I doing wrong? When I move the FDRs I notice no change in the rails. They're still broken on the current turn and again on the very next turn.

jomni · March 16, 2015, 11:54:40 PM

You have to press a button to make them repair. it is somewhere in the unit info box. it's just some initial as far as I recall like RRC

JudgeDredd · March 17, 2015, 08:06:54 AM

I HATED railroad repair!! I never had enough units and it was "move, click, move, click" iirc

W8taminute · March 17, 2015, 07:26:52 PM

Yes! That was what I was missing. I needed to click on the RRC tag in the unit display box when there was a numerical value next to it. I can now play Sid Guderian's Eastern Front Railroad Tycoon! Thanks O0

You're right JD, it is "move", "click", "move", "click". I'm sure I'll tire of it after a while but right now I'm so happy to now be able to get my supply network optimized. I've got a lot of panzers on the front line with only 30% supplies and fuel left. I need to get to Moscow before the snow sets in!

Rayfer · March 17, 2015, 07:49:48 PM

Great to see others are enjoying this game considering it often gets negative comments in other posts. The railroad repair process is easy to overlook and yet quite important. Maybe the day will come when I can afford War in the West...but for this will do nicely.

W8taminute · March 17, 2015, 09:20:03 PM

Quote from: Rayfer on March 17, 2015, 07:49:48 PM
Great to see others are enjoying this game considering it often gets negative comments in other posts. The railroad repair process is easy to overlook and yet quite important. Maybe the day will come when I can afford War in the West...but for this will do nicely.

It's interesting but I've also seen those negative comments as well in other threads/posts and I just don't get why. This game is really beautiful. The fact that it's more than just roll the dice on the highest odds table you can get. The simulation takes into account all of your elements within a units moral and experience not to mention supplies. I see a lot of combat where I have a unit with 12000 men attack a unit containing 17000 men and pushing them back. I lose 60 men but kill 700 of theirs and then that enemy division breaks and retreats. The odds shown in the combat box was something like 1:1.2.

Then the ai brilliantly adds support units to your attack when he sees you're trying to do something important. I love those message screens that let you know that an extra land brigade and or aircraft are being sent by army hq to help out. This game is strangely compelling and like a good book I can't seem to put it down.

Don't even mention the casualty report screen either. Staring at the number of losses I've inflicted and the much smaller number of losses I've taken is mind blowing. I'm sure my losses are going to mount fast however as it is now October 1941 and mud and foul weather must be around the corner and my men are starting to experience supply shortages.

jomni · March 17, 2015, 11:18:34 PM

The haters are usually one of these three types:
- those overwhelmed with monster games
- those rivet counters who want 100% historical accuracy
- axis fan boys

W8taminute · March 27, 2015, 05:12:59 PM

Here is a game mechanic I discovered accidentally this evening. If you select a stack of units then press and hold the shift key and hover the mouse over an adjacent stack those units will then be added to your attack. OMG I wish I knew that earlier! Now I know why my panzers never reached Moscow before the winter of '41-'42 set in.

jomni · March 27, 2015, 05:25:21 PM

Quote from: W8taminute on March 27, 2015, 05:12:59 PM
Here is a game mechanic I discovered accidentally this evening. If you select a stack of units then press and hold the shift key and hover the mouse over an adjacent stack those units will then be added to your attack. OMG I wish I knew that earlier! Now I know why my panzers never reached Moscow before the winter of '41-'42 set in.

Lol! That is an essential feature. O0

Rayfer · March 27, 2015, 05:51:22 PM

Quote from: W8taminute on March 27, 2015, 05:12:59 PM
Here is a game mechanic I discovered accidentally this evening. If you select a stack of units then press and hold the shift key and hover the mouse over an adjacent stack those units will then be added to your attack. OMG I wish I knew that earlier! Now I know why my panzers never reached Moscow before the winter of '41-'42 set in.

LOL...I take it you never did the tutorial? It's covered there!

W8taminute · March 27, 2015, 05:59:42 PM

Quote from: Rayfer on March 27, 2015, 05:51:22 PM
Quote from: W8taminute on March 27, 2015, 05:12:59 PM
Here is a game mechanic I discovered accidentally this evening. If you select a stack of units then press and hold the shift key and hover the mouse over an adjacent stack those units will then be added to your attack. OMG I wish I knew that earlier! Now I know why my panzers never reached Moscow before the winter of '41-'42 set in.

LOL...I take it you never did the tutorial? It's covered there!

The funny thing is I first played the tutorial but wondered why it was not telling me anything, like how to play the game. I just figured since it was a very small scenario they left it up to the user to figure it out. Have barely even cracked open the manual either. My bad. :-[

JudgeDredd · March 28, 2015, 01:12:44 AM

lmao - that IS an essential part of the game!

Grouping attacks.

JudgeDredd · March 28, 2015, 01:33:45 AM

My main problem seems to be not knowing how to attack.

For example, there some enemy units in a hex. I might even have some idea of the enemy value (but not really). I never really know whether to perform a hasty attack (will that be enough? I have no idea what the enemy is like...strength, dug in etc, etc), a deliberate attack with one group (will that be enough? I have no idea what the enemy is like...strength, dug in etc, etc) or a group deliberate attack (will that be enough? I have no idea what the enemy is like...strength, dug in etc, etc)

In other words, I don't understand how to gauge the enemy unit and therefore what kind and size of attack I can perform.

Oh - by the way W8taminute that "group" feature only works for a deliberate attack. Hasty attacks can only be performed by 1 hex.

JudgeDredd · March 28, 2015, 02:42:42 AM

^ oh - and I meant to say, that's my fault. I've not really taken the time to understand unit strengths, fortifications, quantity of troops (size of unit) etc....

Something I do need to remedy before I actually get properly into the game.

One thing I don't want (and didn't like in other games) was the "percentage win" mechanic, where you selected your units and hovered over the enemy and it told you what percentage chance you stood of winning...I don't like or want that. I just need to understand the mechanics so I can gauge my chances like real life commanders - by numbers and quality and faith. ;D

Rayfer · March 28, 2015, 07:22:04 AM

If I remember correctly there's a button along the top tool bar that shows fortification levels, 1,2,3,4 or 5, of hexes you face.