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glyphoglossus -> RE: Planning LCU transport: LCU-Ship Allocation Calculus (11/23/2016 4:34:42 PM)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Uncivil Engineer
quote:
ORIGINAL: glyphoglossus
So, I've been through the manual closely, as well as scoured these forums, but it appears I still do not get it.
My understanding is that, each LCU has a troop and cargo cost, that both must be fulfilled by the transports.
There is a complex algorithm as to how these units --- troops, devices, etc. --- are distributed amongst the transports, but as long as my transports have sufficient independent troop and cargo capacity, I do not have to worry about cross-loading etc., I can leave all other worries to the (AI) ship masters?
Furthermore, if it is a Transport TF mission, then the LCU's must be in strategic move mode, while if it is an Amphibious TF mission, the LCU's must be in combat mode.
Crucially, as far as calculating loads go, if it is an Amphibious TF mission, then it is a combat load, where: transport troop/cargo capacity is reduced by 80%, and an extra cargo space if required to carry 3 days supply per unit.
In addition, and this very, very, very, very important thing is something that I missed ENTIRELY the first time: each ship can only accommodate a SINGLE unit, either in whole or in part.
Alternatively: even if a single ship is not filled to capacity by a unit, it cannot take another unit, either in whole or in part, even if there is room to spare!
OK, all well and good.
So, after very carefully planning the absolute most efficient collection of ships to provide transport for a COMMERCIAL load of LCU's ... I find that I have underestimated.
Here are the troops I want to transport, and their associated load costs:
-----------------------+-------+-------
LCU | Troop | Cargo
-----------------------+-------+------
121st USN Base Force | 1280 | 728
131st USA Aviation | 900 | 0
3rd USN SeaBees | 388 | 1200
11th USN SeaBees | 388 | 1200
-----------------------+-------+-------
Total | 2956 | 3128
-----------------------+-------+-------
And here is the TF that I have assembled, and their supposed/expected loadings:
+----------------------------------------+---------------+-------+-------+
| Load | Ship | Troop | Cargo |
+----------------------------------------+---------------+-------+-------+
| 121st USN Base Force Tr: 1280 Ca: 728 | - xAP Adelong | 500 | 750 |
| | - xAP Manunda | 900 | 800 |
| 3rd USN SeaBees Tr: 388 Ca: 1200 | - xAP Rhesus | 500 | 750 |
| | - xAP Mungana | 500 | 750 |
| 11th USN SeaBees Tr: 388 Ca: 1200 | - xAP Murada | 500 | 750 |
| | - xAP Barwon | 500 | 750 |
| 131st USA Aviation Tr: 900 Ca: 0 | - xAP Maori | 900 | 800 |
+----------------------------------------+---------------+-------+-------+
All looking good? Room to spare?
Apparently not.
After laboriously assembling the TF in one port and moving it to the base with the LCU's, the load cannot be accommodated:
http://imgur.com/a/C66N4
The manual describes the load allocation procedure in Pg. 122. The largest unit will try to be fitted into the smallest ship that can take it. If this does not work, it will be fitted into the largest ship, and then the cycle repeats with the excess.
The discrepency here seems to be how the game handles the remainder after the 121st is loaded on the largest available. After the Manunda takes on as much of the 121st, I have the remaining 380 troops (and 0 cargo) going on to the 500-troop capacity Adelong.
But, instead, the game selects the 900-troop capacity Maori for this, which is excessive.
As a result, there is insufficient capacity remaining to load up the SeaBees.
Why did the game select the 900-troop capacity transport for the remainder of the 121st, when any of the 500-troop capacity transports could have served?
How do you folks plan shipping required for LCU's?
[image]local://upfiles/55143/89ADE3C4332E4FED91FE689FFC5F9948.jpg[/image]
In your analysis you have 7 ships listed, but when you load the units there are only 6 ships - I don't know if anyone else pointed this out, but it goes a long way toward identifying your problem. I will frequently load a unit at a time, selecting the ships needed for that unit; then assemble the final TF by combining several unit TF's, with additional ships loaded with supply only, before setting the destination. Often some of the initial TF's can be docked, whereas the resulting assault TF due to size could not be.
Good catch!
However, even with the full complement of ships, the multi-LCU load cannot be accommodated, even though when (manually) splitting the ships into TF's, one TF to each LCU, everything goes fine. It all comes down to how the AI distributes the ships to LCU's: it seems to not consider the big picture, thinking about one LCU at time and grabbing the biggest ships available in order. This "greedy" approach fails to find the optimal solution.
So now I just target just one LCU per TF, at least for loading.
If I have a lot of ships, then following advice above, I do not try and calculate the required capacity down to the last square millimeter: I just throw in a bunch of ships, over-estimating capacity generously using the rule-of-thumb described previously.
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