Does anybody else think the field medic special is worthless

[Narcot1ck]

The very small amount of credits is alway nice but we're not talking big money. I also think the field medic jeep should be allowed to repair more easily. It seems impossible to ever get units repaired because the jeep and unit have to sit there forever without attacking or moving and there have been times where I don't think it was working properly even after sitting there. I have the same problem with the support ship although I have had better luck with the repair ship working properly.

[gunnergoz]

Personally, I feel the ambulance jeep is kind of lame and the main value to the choice of advanced first aid versus Higgins boats is that the advanced first aid gives you a few resource points per turn as units recover slowly from combat depletion.

The game offers these periodic technology choices and so far I've learned that the best one to take is the one that historically had the most impact upon victory in the real war. The LCVP Higgins boats (Landing Craft Vehicle Personnel) were essential to amphibious landings and the Allied amphibious assaults conducted during the war would not have been successful without them. Some of the subsequent technology choices are tough but if you read enough military history of the war you can figure out which ones are most influential. I'll save a more detailed discussion about them for later, once I"ve played through an entire Allied campaign.

I must say I'm really curious as to what the choices the Japanese get to make in their campaign. I'll find out soon enough, I guess!

[Longasc]

I prefer field medic as it generates credits, the landing craft special has not been needed at all so far. (edit: typos)

[gunnergoz]

I prefer field medic as it generates credits, the landing craft special has not been needed at all so far. (edit: typos)

Wait until you get to the later war amphibious assaults...it won't be fun waiting a full turn to attack after you unload from the transports.

[Greven]

Yep, I totally regret the choice I made early in the campaign now... I badly need the landing craft specialization after Guadalcanal...

[Narcot1ck]

I restarted my game right after I chose it on day one. I'm glad I did.

[Loki1942]

Maybe let us choose the Higgins specialisation a bit later instead of so early while we are still struggling on the defensive. Myself i chose the Field Medic trait because i thought i might get to pick the Higgins one at a later time...

[gunnergoz]

So far I have not heard of anyone completing the entire US campaign, so I have no idea what the tech specialization choices are after the third selection (proximity fuse-improved AA defense vs radar - longer radar detection range for US ships.) I think in WW2 historical terms the better choices are Higgins Boats, then Pilot Training, then Naval Radar - at least of the first three. The reason I say that is because years of reading WW2 history books has drummed it into my head that those were the real war-winners for the US in the Pacific war in particular. Which is not to say the "losers" were not important, only not quite so important.

What is totally unclear as yet is whether these tech specializations are final (i.e. the one we ignore, never comes to pass?) or do the ones we ignore eventually are implemented later on, anyway? In other words, in making a choice for one over the other, are we simply accelerating the introduction of one of the two, and that eventually both will end up being implemented as the campaign proceeds? Historically, that is what happened - the US did not make an either/or choice for radar vs proximity fuzes since both came to be used, but the advancement of naval radar began much earlier, being pursued and issued to ships from 1941, whereas the proximity fuze was not introduced widely until 1944.

[Erik2]

May be a better solution would be to keep earlier specializations that were not taken available as an option when the next batch is introduced?

[zakblood]

both campaigns have been completed many times tbh in testing, by quite a few testers

[Erik2]

both campaigns have been completed many times tbh in testing, by quite a few testers

Yes, and I think we were offered the specializtion only once, hence my suggestion.

[zakblood]

sorry Erik, my reply was in reply to gunnergoz, but yes agree with you also

[Jagon]

The manual says we only get to keep one of the specializations. The one we don't choose is not offered later. After I read that, I restarted the scenario (at turn 4) to choose the Higgins boats.

[Longasc]

Do those who chose the Higgins boat really want to forgo resource points upon attacking for being able to attack right after leaving the transport?

The income per turn is some 15-30 in most scenarios so far, or zero. The amounts gained by Infantry attacks add up.

[gunnergoz]

both campaigns have been completed many times tbh in testing, by quite a few testers

Yes, but no one has commented here that has completed a game who is not a beta tester, and who has commented about the late game tech specializations.

[ColinQ]

I'm currently on Okinawa right now

I find that Higgins boat to be very useful in New Georgia & Leyte especial if you are aiming for the secondary objectives (by extension, LCT is also very good for Leyte)

in addition to being bale to attack as soon as they land, they can also attack from the coast without being counter attacked which deals decent damage

however I did find RP to be quite tight up until Okinawa
if field medic is generating avg 20 RP per turn (per post above) for about 150 turns (30ea for Plan Orange, Bataan, Guadalcanal, New Georgia & Leyte), that would equate to 3000 RP which would allow me to upgrade alot of units

[Longasc]

Colin, I would go with 1-3 resource points per attacking Infantry unit. 2 as average for calculation purposes. I actually wanted to say, with 15-30 points being the usual per turn income, those extra "+2" resource points per Infantry attack really adds up. I am playing on difficulty III and am not really having a surplus of resource points.

I think this is good design and balancing, that we are debating the merits of either choice. Lots of pros an cons for either choice.
For later choices I think the "Flight School" is probably everyone's favorite e.g..

[ColinQ]

Colin, I would go with 1-3 resource points per attacking Infantry unit. 2 as average for calculation purposes. I actually wanted to say, with 15-30 points being the usual per turn income, those extra "+2" resource points per Infantry attack really adds up. I am playing on difficulty III and am not really having a surplus of resource points.

I think this is good design and balancing, that we are debating the merits of either choice. Lots of pros an cons for either choice.
For later choices I think the "Flight School" is probably everyone's favorite e.g..

I've just finished Okinawa and starting my last mission tonight
my spec are Higgins boat (medic) Flight School (jerry can) Prox Fuse (naval radar) LCT (advanced aero) and Nuke (British fleet)


In hindsight higgins boat/medic is prob the most balanced
I remember really running tight on CP in Guadalcanal and Leyte so I would've chose jerry can over flight school IF I didn't come here and read about lousy exp gain given the increased xp gain in the hotfix I'd expect flight school to be less popular
Naval Radar isn't all that helpful because I tend to fan out my destroyers screen so I can catch them w/o the 10 range (also sad that there is only 1 more major Air/Sea mission followed by bunch of amphib assult)
Advanced Aero is also a bit pointless as I cant afford to upgrade to new planes anyway (I'm still hanging on to some of my wildcats even in the last mission)
British fleet is bugged for me so Nuke it is (I can see them while in the campaign map, but not in deployment), tho I do question the usefulness of 1 extra battleship + 1 empty carrier in the final mission where I just sunk their last battleship (YAMATO) in the previous mission

[simcc]

On the last mission as well. Same choice I made with ColinQ except I took the medic. I dun use Higgins boat as I use that blue transport that is really awesome land and move inland hehehe and no lost of effectiveness. I admit flight school is abit useless as the air power becomes weak for Japan later. To be honest that medic jeep is useless since we can reinforce our unit and both option use resources and the medic jeep need the unit to be out of combat for a turn also the unit turn or orange efficient after medic heal which again is a bummer. Those small credits is helpful if you sacrifice those non core unit for credits which I often did hehehe
Thx

[gunnergoz]

On the last mission as well. Same choice I made with ColinQ except I took the medic. I dun use Higgins boat as I use that blue transport that is really awesome land and move inland hehehe and no lost of effectiveness. I admit flight school is abit useless as the air power becomes weak for Japan later. To be honest that medic jeep is useless since we can reinforce our unit and both option use resources and the medic jeep need the unit to be out of combat for a turn also the unit turn or orange efficient after medic heal which again is a bummer. Those small credits is helpful if you sacrifice those non core unit for credits which I often did hehehe
Thx

How do you "sacrifice non core unit for credits?" None of my non-core units can be disbanded - there is no "disband" button at all. Sure, you can use them up in battle, but you cannot sell them back like you can core units.