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byron13 -> Port Facilities (8/3/2002 12:56:58 AM)
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Yup, still like that comment. A good argument always bear repeating. I hope the lads at Matrix take notice.
I can't remember what your suggestions were in the other thread, but how would it work dumping on a beach? Would you have lighters in the game? Or would MCS's just unload very slowly? Or would APD's and LST's dump faster on the beach? Maybe an unimproved facility downloading factor for MCS's that improves over time with the assumed introduction of DUKWs and other ferrying equipment?
Too many restrictions would force both players to operate invasions on a shoestring, which isn't unrealistic. Guadalcanal was a relatively small affair for a long time. It sure would slow down the ahistorically high pace of operations we see in the game (e.g., I'll just take these three divisions and invade that island tomorrow).
Still, all beach assaults were kept well-supplied even at the end of the war when they were massive affairs. Permitting MCS's to unload only at a very slow rate on a beach probably would result in insufficient supplies reaching the shore to maintain the historical rate of supply. I'm thinking the missing element is the small craft that ferried materiel in to shore. Given enough of these craft, you could probably unload a ship almost as fast as you could in port. What about the idea of having invasion lighter units that would be sent with an invasion fleet that would substantially accelerate the unloading of ships. These would represent the myriad small craft used to transport stuff to shore. Probably neither side would start with any, and the U.S. wouldn't get any until probably early 1943. The U.S. would get just a few of these, though they could grow in size and effectiveness. They could not be attacked, would not use fuel, etc. Unlike the other units in the game, these would be more abstract and would represent the theatre commander's decision to send a large percentage of these small craft to one place. If one of these units is at Guadalcanal, it cannot be at Kwajalien, so the unloading of supplies at Kwajalien would be painfully slow. This would also keep the Allies from invading four places at one time, which historically would have placed too much of a drain on Allied resources. If you have enough MCS's and transports in a game, you can invade four places at once, but this does not take into account all of the little logistical things that could only support one or two operations at a time.
Alternatively, you could use units like the LST's in PacWar, but have them be lighter units and not transport units.
I also like the idea of not teleporting ships using the "get" command. While it certainly saved by bacon or allowed me to exploit weaknesses a number of times, it is highly unrealistic. In PacWar, you could mount a multi-division invasion instantly. "Colonel, I decided this morning that we're invading in three days with the 24th and 25th Divisions. Get some ships from San Francisco and Pearl, load the troops and supplies, and let's get going!" I think the game needs to force the player to spend a certain period of time collecting the assets he needs to mount an invasion. Requiring ships to transit to the embarkation point at realistic speeds would help. (Of course, that's not even entirely realistic since you can't just strip the West Coast ports bear of ships at a moment's notice or it was create havoc with planned shipments.) Even better would be a system where you had to declare that you were going to mount a regimental/division/corps sized invasion from a certain place, the assets required would disappear from the game and be placed in a holding file and would appear at the embarkation point after a period of time, e.g., two weeks for a regiment, four weeks for a division, etc. That would be the game's way of simulating the logistics of pulling together an operation, conducting the planning, creating load listings, loading ships, etc. Alternatively, if the player can steam ships to a place manually, he can do what he wants. But no "get" function for instant invasion. As it is, a player can mount a corps-sized shake-and-bake operation too easily and quickly.
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