LCU PURPOSE

[rjd28327]

I am playing the Allies in the 8 December; Full Campaign. There are four engineer units whose purpose eludes me.

42d, 43d, 44th Cavalry Engineer Regiment (UK) in CBI and 2d Engineer Amphibious Bde (US) in PAC. These units have support (naval in one case) value which I understand. The other value they have is motorized. Is there any particular use for the motorized support? Should they enhance logistics movement along the Ledo Road? I have placed them on the route, but I see no increase in supply movement. I have them filling out the general support function, but I want to use them properly if they have additional missions.

I'm a new guy. The forums are a tremendous resource and have answered the overwhelming majority of my questions. I did not see his engineer issue raised however. Hopefully, I didn't miss it. Thanks to everyone who has posted.

[jmalter]

Support & Motorized Support provide the same function, basically to 'fill out' the support needs for other LCUs in the same hex, allowing them to fight, recover & replace more efficiently. the real difference is that MotSupp moves (and un/loads to a TF) as a vehicle, not a squad. S & MS don't help movement of supply points, there's no point to stringing them out along a supply-path. keep them stacked w/ LCUs, distribute them as needed to keep LCU support #s 'in the green' when in combat or when resting/training/rebuilding.

Naval Support is a different animal. it's only of use in a Port hex (or in a hex you are amph-assaulting. It aids primarily in ship un/loading, also i believe they'll help ship repair and ammo reloading by adding capacity to the port. not entirely sure, but 2nd Engr Amph Bde sounds like the kind of unit that's a big help to an amph assault, esp. against an atoll. (atolls generally have limited stacking capacity, & an invading force will automatically attempt a shock attack. so the Amph Bde helps by increasing unload speed of other units (once it gets ashore), almost as important is its help in reloading the invaders back into their ships so the LCUs don't eat overstack penalties. note also that for quick-un/load amph assaults, you need to use APA/AKA/LST types, w/ a Force HQ embarked on an AGC in the Amph TF.

Air Support is also a different animal, it's needed at land airbase hexes, to keep the planes repaired.

& welcome to the forum!

[Alfred]

ORIGINAL: jmalter

... Naval Support is a different animal. it's only of use in a Port hex (or in a hex you are amph-assaulting. It aids primarily in ship un/loading, also i believe they'll help ship repair and ammo reloading by adding capacity to the port. not entirely sure, ...

Naval Support squads do aid in both ship repairs and ammo reloading. See section 9, tables of C and E of the ship repair 101 guide

tm.asp?m=2990845&mpage=1&key=ship%2Crepair%2C101

and s.20.1.2.2 of the manual.

Alfred

[JeffroK]

PS, I believe the 42d, 43d, 44th Cavalry Engineer Regiments (Indian) are ex Armoured Car units which converted into Royal Army Service Corps units.

[Icedawg]

If you are asking what is the difference between "support" and "motorized support", the only difference is that "motorized support" has a higher load cost.

Therefore, "support" is better to have in a unit since it can be loaded/unloaded easier/faster. Also, motorized support can't be airlifted. Support can be.

[PaxMondo]

ANd the dev's mentioned that motorized support was added to many units to give them more of a "tail" that they had in history.  MEaning they weren't really setup to move or relocate that fast.  Mot Support load/unloads much slower and doesn't move over rough terrain as well.
 

[Blackhorse]

I'd rephrase Pax' comment to say that the dev's used motorized support to better simulate the size of each combat unit's logistic tail. US Army divisions were truck-heavy, especially at the beginning of the war, and they were slimmed down, throughout. US Marine Divisions had fewer trucks, and were easier to sealift and land on beaches and underdeveloped ports.

In terms of the game, you are better off with support squads instead of motorized support. They perform the same function, but motorized support is treated as a vehicle and is harder to load/unload. It is one of the limitations of the game engine. IRL, motorized support would allow a unit to extend its line of supply inland in a way that "support squads" could not.

ORIGINAL: PaxMondo

ANd the dev's mentioned that motorized support was added to many units to give them more of a "tail" that they had in history.  MEaning they weren't really setup to move or relocate that fast.  Mot Support load/unloads much slower and doesn't move over rough terrain as well.

[crsutton]

Yes, I know what units you are talking about and they are of very limited use. Just send them to a major city for the added support. Other than that they add nothing much to the game.

[rjd28327]

crsutton-

Your comment pretty much confirms my suspicion. Thanks.