wdolson
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Joined: 6/28/2006
From: Near Portland, OR
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Tuhhodge
LoBaron and Bill - thanks for the extra info. Very helpful stuff. Seeing as you are both being so helpful, perhaps you might like to answer these gems?
Considering the time delays caused by lengthy supply paths for bases like Darwin or the Burmese frontline, is it prudent to stockpile supplies along the route to those bases by stockpiling supplies in strategic locations? But if this were sensible practice, could it not lead to the stockpiling base along the supply path drawing back supplies from the very bases you are trying to supply?
Treespider came up with a technique of pumping supplies by increasing demand at various bases along a route one turn after another. It's been toned down a bit in one of the patches. It's also extremely wasteful because moving a lot of supply into a small base is going to suffer spoilage before it's moved to the next base down the line. If you don't do the pump right, you can end up sucking supply back the way it came (I've done it by accident).
The best way to supply bases like Darwin is to run convoys around Australia. If the sea route is closed by enemy threat, you'll have to experiment with the overland pump method. With the monsoon effects in Burma, pumping supplies in is even more difficult. The monsoon rules have tried to emulate the mess Burma really was.
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I'm wondering too about very remote bases. Let's take the example of Port Hedland which has no road link to the rest of Australia. Can it actually get supplies overland using the supplies requested button? There are other examples such as the Celebes bases where the north and south of the island are not linked by road and I cannot really see a realistic way in which supplies could be drawn across a jungle.
Supply will move a few hexes through jungle, but the transport losses will be high and the amount moved won't be much. The best way to supply isolated bases like you talk about is to send in an AKL or two from time to time. Port Hedland is going to pile up resources, so you probably want to put some AKs or AKLs on the run moving the stuff to someplace like Perth where it can be put to use.
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There are many small island bases on the map. Many have no LCUs besides the odd detachment or base force. They presumably use supplies but in small amounts. What's the best way to keep them supplied? An AKL once a month?
I often pull the small land forces out of those remote bases, but I keep a few garrisoned. The best way to handle them is to send in a freighter once in a while. If you scan those bases about once a week (in game time) you can see the ones that are beginning to run low with the yellow exclamation points. Load up a freighter with some supplies when you see that and you should be OK. Get 5K of supply in one of those bases and it could last six months or more.
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Lastly, why is there no 'fuel required' button to compliment the 'supplies required' button? I presume that the lack of this option means that fuel must be transported by sea in all cases where you feel the need to stockpile?
It was discussed, but wasn't done. I'm not sure why, but project management decided not to.
Fuel should tend to move towards either the port where you are having the most draw, or the largest port around if the draw is the same at many ports. So if you set up one West Coast port as your fuel terminal and load tankers there a few times a week, the fuel will tend to stay at that port. LA is a good choice for a fuel terminal because of the refineries there.
If you want to make sure the fuel stays put, you could ship large quantities from the West Coast to Pearl Harbor and use that as your fuel terminal for all points west. It would make good utilization for the shorter haul tankers you get. The 8000 endurance tankers aren't that well suited for the Australia run, but would be good for humping fuel to Hawaii.
Of course, if you're playing PBEM and have a tricky opponent, you probably need to mix things up a bit so he doesn't park subs along your common trade routes, or even worse send the KB in along the US to Hawaii route. Against the AI, you'll need a lot of ASW along the US coast for the first two years of the war until you've whittled down the long haul subs a bit, but it won't keep adjusting to what you do like a human can.
Bill
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