Boat/raft xport and flares in campaigns

[rmmwilg]

Hi all, bought the whole series back in the 90's (disc) days, but let it slide after running into two problems in particular (see below). However, wonderful to see it's been updated since. So before I buy, I would like to confirm those two probs were tackled and fixed:
1. Any time boats, rafts, etc. were involved, particular in a campaign, it was useless, because the 'boats' could not be moved!!!! [:o]
> The infantry couldn't pick them up, only load into them (not much use in a land locked hex! [8|] ), and I couldn't get them loaded onto a truck. Only the infantry could be loaded! So I'd have all these boats/rafts scattered around on land and no way to move them to the water so as to cross my infantry!!
> Fixed or did I just miss something?

2. While the night flares work in the RS scenarios, they don't work in the campaigns
> Fixed?

If these have been fixed, I'm (back) in!

[Big Ivan]

Hi Robert,

Good to hear from you!

If we are talking about John Tillers Campaign Series (JTCS) Updated to 2.02 then I will try and explain your questions.

If you are running another addition like 1.03 or 1.04 which are much earlier editions of the game I'm afraid I'll
be of little help because I left those games behind long ago. JTCS 2.02 is the most current version. It is no longer
supported but there are some that will try and answer your questions like me for instance.

The good news is the Campaign Series is alive and well. First off the line is Campaign Series Middle East!

It is a new game with new code and programming much different than the old JTCS. It is available at Matrix and it spans
the Wars in the Middle East from roughly 1948 through 1985. It is a good game and if your interested in the period I
suggest you pick it up. It has brought me hours of enjoyment. It has been out since 2016 I think.

Next in line that is being worked on right now by the development team is Campaign Series Vietnam. From what I've read
on the forums it looks to be even better than its predecessor Campaign Series Middle East. Hopefully we all may see by
end of the year.

Planned down the road are East Front III, Western Front and Pacific Front. These are most likely in very early
development so don't expect to see them too soon.

Big Ivan[:)]

[rmmwilg]

Thanks for the reply Big Ivan,

It sounds like these problems did not get fixed then, even in the later, 2.02 version. Must admit that my primary interest remains in WW2. So I'll probably just look towards what that third iteration of EF, WF and RS will offer.

[Big Ivan]

Hi Robert,

To answer your questions here I go with what I know.

Self Propelled Boats: These can be loaded on to engineer trucks by engineer units and transported to the location you choose.
There they can be unloaded and then picked up by infantry units for use in crossing water. Since they are self propelled they
can return to the initial crossing hex and pickup more infantry.

See Section 21.3 of the manual.

Pontoon Ferries: You can do the same thing with them like Self Propelled Boats explained above but the good news is they can
carry just about anything across the water. You need a marsh or shallow water hex on both sides of the deep water to unload
them. Again see Section 21.3 of the manual.

Boats(regular): These can be carried by infantry units across land to the waters edge and then used to cross the water to the other side and then
unload the infantry. Sorry they can't move by themselves or be loaded on a transport. That is the old legacy issue I think of which you speak.
The carrying across the land has been fixed. Only infantry units can carry though.

Flares in Rising Sun: I never have played a Rising Sun Campaign so I really can't answer your question. I do know that in night scenarios with
Rising Sun I have been able to fire flares as long as I have them available. As soon as I get a moment I will try a Rising Sun Campaign Game
to see if it works.

Hope this helps!

Big Ivan[:)]

[rmmwilg]

Hi John,

That's some really good info. So I must have missed something then, because I could never get infantry to pickup and carry boats/rafts/dinghies no mater what I tried or how I selected units! Could I bother you to describe exactly that is accomplished please? It'll solve one of life's great mysteries for me [:D]
Nor could I get the larger boats loaded onto trucks as you describe; although I can't remember if I was specifically using Engineer units. Again, if I could trouble you to tell me exactly how that is accomplished?

[Big Ivan]

Hi Robert,

See Section 5.6 of the JTCS Manual. Its pretty self explanatory.

and I quote the part about loading:

"Loading – To load a unit onto any type of “empty” transport, the transport unit must be in the same hex as the unit you want to “load up” and the
transport unit must have at least as many Strength Points as its potential passenger. Both must also have the requisite number of Action Points
to load. Select both units (you can double click on the hex if they are the only two units in the hex; otherwise, see “Multi-Selecting” below),
then click on the “load/unload” Tool button (depicting a truck with an empty helmet) or by pressing Ctrl+L. Infantry-type platoons now require
a transport of half the Strength Points. For example; only a 3 Strength Point platoon of trucks are required to carry a 6 Strength Point platoon
of Infantry or Engineers. Crew-served weapons, such as artillery and machineguns, still require the same amount of transport Strength Points as the weapon.
Boats, ships, junks, and barges can only load in Shallow hexes."

Enjoy!
Big Ivan[:)]

[rmmwilg]

Hm, see that's what I would try, but always the infantry unit would be the one loaded, leaving the 'boat' unloaded still in the hex! If I tried selecting just the boat and the truck...can't remember the exact wording now, but it would say something along the lines that the boats can't load themselves. So then I'd select the infantry unit, the truck and the boat, and...the infantry would load into the truck leaving the boat behind! [&:]
I wonder if this can be tested, but the last sentence of the manual you quote there may be telling:
'...Boats, ships, junks, and barges can only load in Shallow hexes.' "

If they can only be loaded in shallow hexes, then maybe that's the problem, because I remember scenarios (solo and campaign ones) where the boats and their infantry would be setup, scattered around, quite a distance from any water or 'shallow' hexes, and so naturally one would bring up trucks and infantry to move them down to the water's edge only to find they're apparently glued to the ground!! [:@]
Please do let me know if you or someone can test this

Re the flare issue in RS campaigns, I've been watching someone's YouTube covering the Op. Shoestring campaign in (JT)RS, and it shows the starshells working there. So that's confirmed as working now [&o].

Thanks for being willing to give me your time on this [:D][8D]