Yes...it is a nice manual. Just a shame they couldn't have substituted the 'Printed in China' label on the back with one that says 'Printed the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere.' ;)

Lucky me, don't have any such label. :hmmm:

It's gonna take me a week before I end my first turn. :lol:

Seriously thinking about buying this. Having decided to probably permanently pass on HOI3 I have a gap in my schedules for a decent and detailed strategy game. I know it's not exactly the same game as HOI3 but to me thats a major plus point! I have a copy of Uncommon Valor around somewhere that I loved but this looks crazy good.

The one downside is the price. Obviously if they are going to the trouble of printing a full colour manual I should support that but it's nearly 60 quid by the time postage is added in....not a cheap shot by any means - regardless of how many years I'll be playing it for.

Pass on HoI3 permanently, what's so wrong with it?

Anyway, from what I've seen now (Which is not nearly close to everything), I can already recommend WITPAE if you have the time to spare playing it and the patience...

I liked it at first but started getting frustrated with it. This has happened to me with a couple of Paradox titles over the last couple of years. It's not an issue with bugs - bugs happen - but a general feeling it's not what I'm looking for any more. Hey, I liked it about a thousand times more than I liked 'Rome' but it just seemed to be missing some quality that pulls all the great ideas in it together.

Permanently was the wrong word perhaps. I'll probably take another look at it once the inevitable expansion comes out but for now it doesn't do it for me.

OK. Just bought it. Once my heart and wallet recover from the price (£70?? :wah:)and I finish downloading the updates I'll have a quick look tonight.

I reinstalled Uncommon Valor for the first time in years the other night. All that did though was make me hungry for the whole theatre.

Can't wait to get the printed manual. it looks like required reading and I always prefer to do that with a hard copy.

A quick note. There are some major changes to the interface and pilot management that come with the updates that won't be in the printed manual. They are in the "Manuals" folder of the game as Adobe Acrobat Files.

How is stability and bugs in WitPAE? I've recently re-engaged in several really tough correspondence chess matches again, and I feel like I could get interested in another, different longtime strategy effort as well.

Finally had time to burn through the Coral sea scenario tonight: I got my ass kicked and no mistake. Lost the Yorktown, lost a bunch of cruisers and destroyers, the Lexington was losing the battle to stay afloat on her way down to Brisbane and the Japanese flag was flying above Port Moresby. Not a good night.

On the plus side my subs puts torps in quite a few IJN ships including one of their carriers. I can see myself getting obsessed by the Submarine war when I play the full campaign. It still feels pricey to me but I think I'm going to be playing this for years so I can't complain too much. I wish my hard copy would come so I can get my hands on the manual.

@Skybird. I admit I don't have too much experience so far but the game seems very stable to me. The official forums don't seem to be reporting too many issues but they are still patching and updating. Doesn't seem too bad so far.

Do updates interrupt running campaigns: must they be restarted or can the running match (save game) be carried on? That's an issue especially if you do the full campaign (which I assume is included).

Nothing better than having invested some days or weeks of micromanged playing the game, being in the middle of the campaign, and then the update kills the match prematurely. If that is the case I probably would wait another year or so before getting into it.

That I do not know. What I do know is that there is at least one major patch to come but I have no idea of the timescale.

Yeah...the same thing happened to me when I first fired up that scenario. The trick to win is to cripple the Japanese invasion fleet so they won't have enough troops to take Port Moresby. Your goal is not sinking the Japanese carriers but the Japanese troop transports. :cool:

Put Lexington and Yorktown close to each other headed NW with 50% of fighters on CAP and search planes from all fleets and ground based planes searching E and NE to try and spot the invasion fleet when they sail around the eastern tip of New Guinea to get to Port Moresby. Send your surface fleet of cruisers to Port Moresby, using the CV fleets for cover. If you are lucky, you will pounce on the PM invasion fleet before the Japanese carriers spot you. If you succeed, then run south. You don't want to stick around to slug it out with the Shokaku and the Zuikaku. They have better fighters and torpedoes.

No WITP AE update (to date) has required a restart, though some changes (primarily date changes) do not take effect until a new game is started. I don't expect any of the code changes currently being looked at would only work with a fresh start, they should apply to ongoing games as well.

Thanks. The game is marked on my list for some time later this year, then.

When I first ran the Coral Sea scenario, I managed to bomb Shoho and the Japanese transport fleet to oblivion (Well, a couple of half-crippled ships managed to unload at Morsbey, but not nearly enough troops to take it), then the 5th KS came out of nowhere and obliterated both my carriers without me so much as sighting them, at which point I withdrew the rest of my ships and let the Japanese troops landed at Port Morsbey waste themselves in a few ill-fated attacks.