Noob question

[jmalter]

ORIGINAL: Spurius Evidens
I'm taking my time with this as I like to pay attention to command structures and logistics.

Logistics should be your primary concern. As best I can tell, there is virtually no advantage to giving any attention to command structure, as far as LCU are concerned. If you've got 2 Chinese Corps listed as subordinate to "35th Group Army", it matters not a whit if they are co-located or within command-radius of the "35th Group Army HQ". Any support-device HQ can give support to any LCU, regardless of chain-of-command or even Nationality difference.

AFAIK, there are only 3 instances where command structure is important:
- when you spend PP to change a 'semi-restricted' LCU or airgroup to an 'unrestricted' formation, the unit is then free to be shipped or flown to any base.
- when you spend PP to change a base-hex to a different (unrestricted) command - for example, if you change a base to ABDA command, 'restricted' airgroups (such as KNIL) already subordinate to ABDA can fly to that base.
- there might be some advantage for 'aircraft availability' if an Air-HQ unit is the same as or subordinate to its base-hex's command.

[Spurius Evidens]

That's a pity about appropriate command structure being irrelevant. Personally I'd prefer if incorrect HQs could give some support but not as much as the correct ones. As it stands atm there's little incentive to make an effort to use the correct ones. A relatively minor complaint given the plethora of fine gaming AE offers, but one that bugs this old time gamer a little. After all, it's taken me years to get to the stage where I'm good at that stuff only to find it doesn't matter here.

As for logistics, well that's obviously where this game is largely won or lost. My planes won't even land at a field unless they're serving steak and chips in the mess and have a soft serve ice cream machine, not to mention a Disneyland as well. That's for the US troops. For my Aussie brethren fighting it out in PNG and Burma an AK a day of beer per brigade will suffice. The Indian troops are just happy to be fed at all.

The truism about Aussie troops and beer is still true today. When the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq went down my brother was serving with the Brit 3rd Commando brigade. I got word through to him that I'd like a set of those 'Most wanted' playing cards issued to US troops in Iraq. Well they wanted a carton of beer for them and there was only one place to get it obviously. I can't remember what the Diggers wanted for the beer but in the end I got the playing cards. If he's ever captured he'll make a great scrounger, a la James Garner in the Great Escape.

Thanks for the input guys, perhaps we'll cross swords some time. Cheers, Richard.

[jmalter]

hi SE,
I agree w/ your thoughts that 'correct' command-structure should play a bigger role, in combat-effectiveness, replacement rates, & TO/E upgrades. But there's already so much going on w/ logistics & replacement availability, & the slow accrual of PP - we've got enough to plan for, w/o the add'l burden of command-structure.

I'm down w/ you wrt beer. I've got a reference book about amphib ops in late-WWII, the Brit fleet-support train despatched to the Far East included a dedicated 'amenities' ship, Menestheus, which had an on-board 250-barrel per week brewery.

I had an idea a year or three back, that the Allied O/B for AE should include air-transportable 'USO' units of leggy Hollywood pin-up headliners that could arrive at a base & give an instant one-time morale-boost to any LCUs set to Rest/Training mode at that base. Of course, if the Jayne Mansfield unit got destroyed by weather effects or enemy action, the entire US fleet & LCU would suffer a morale-loss!

We need ever-more-sophisticated mod scenarios, that include ships like Menestheus, mebbe as a type of AR, that could boost a BB's crew-rating after a day or three, if they were disbanded in the same port.

[Spurius Evidens]

You could model USO shows by training transport planes for an 'Entertainment' skill and then 'Bomb' your own troops? Drop some Bob Hopes on them.