ORIGINAL: Local Yokel
You may well have checked this at the time, but the thought occurred to me that the act of changing the status to "Unload Cargo" may have actually started the unloading process before you left port. In my experience of CHS scen. 157, a TF in a base or coastal hex having an existing status of "Do not unload" will quite often start to unload automatically as soon as that status is changed to "Unload Cargo." It's an insidious effect that has caught me out on a few occasions and nearly done so on many more - fortunately I usually notice that the TF in question is shown to be 'unloading' and issue the "Cancel unloading" order in time.
From my recollection the status on the cargo displayed 'Idle'. Fortunately my opponent was kind enough to allow me to replay the turns. I did not change their parameter for unloading this time and they have remained on board. I've noticed this problem mostly with barge units never loading their cargo if the status isn't changed. On several occasions in this game I've had units teleport back to the West Coast after being at sea for a few days enroute to Pearl Harbor. In some of those cases their parameter was set to 'Do not Unload'. It doesn't seem like a big deal unless you are timing for an operation because it is a guarantee of a week delay to sail back and reload the troops.
After I reconquered Johnston Island I was shipping the comat units back to Pearl Harbor and they kept teleporting back to Johnston Island. I would tell the TF to load, the units would appear loaded, ops points were spent and I would click the Return to Pearl Harbor button. The next day I would observe that the troops weren't aboard the ships anymore. It took several attempts to finally get them to load. I don't remember what I did to finally get the units to cooperate.
ORIGINAL: Local Yokel
Interesting to note that TF 1003 unloaded its troops then went on its way with supply still aboard. Also, if you have multiple TF's bound for the same destination, any particular reason for not combining them into a single TF? Cheaper than the point spend needed to assign a decent leader to each.
Its the same with TF 1044. They have supply aboard too but the troops are missing.
To answer your question, not all task forces are heading to the same location. Some are heading to French Frigate Shoals and some are heading to Laysan Island. These are both friendly beach hexes which will take forever to unload a large TF for one, for two more than 15 ships in a TF is a waste on combat effectiveness. There is also a penalty for having too many CVs in an allied Air Combat TF during 1942. Lastly, we have a house rule on the amount of ships allowed in an ASW TF.
I've never used PP for assigning a leader to a transport TF transitting to a friendly base. Is there any reason why you would want to do this? It is still pretty early in the game and I'm using points to move restricted command units to the front when I have a surplus available. The Air Combat TF have the best carrier qualified leaders assigned but the points for 6 separate TFs are negligible IMO.
Thanks for your insight. I'll make sure that my TFs are set to 'Do Not Unload' from now on. I just wanted them to unload right away when they arrived at their destination to avoid a delay and possiblity of additional casualties.
