Some Easy and Basic Questions about Cargo

[DWReese]

The cargo aspect has changed a lot since the last time that I used it. I am just reacquainting myself with it. I have a few simple questions that would help me catch up to speed:

1.) You no longer HAVE TO individually load your LCAC boats as the program can do it for you if you use the mission planner. Is there any method as to which particular pieces of cargo (i.e. guns, personnel) the the program will select first? Or, is it just random?

2.) Let's assume that the amphib ship is sitting off of the coast southwest of the target zone. Sometimes the LCAC will head directly for the coast (such as on a 45 degree angle) and other times it heads due north before making a sharp right angle turn toward the landing zone. Is there any reason for that? Does the LCAC try to position (for example) personnel at one location and artillery at another, or is it purely random?

3.) As the the boats return they have varying degrees of fuel left. Since they are on a fast repeat cycle (lots of cargo to get to) in most cases they don't refuel. I occasionally get that they have run out of fuel on the return back to the amphib ship, or they are returning on BINGO fuel without off-loading anything. I believe that part of this situation is due to the fact that they appear to drive around on land for a while before offloading their cargo. Has anyone experienced that? If so, is there a way to have the LCAC refueled while the new cargo is being loaded before going out on its next run?

4.) If I was to decide to handle the loading myself, is there any particular item (weapons/personnel/etc.) that should be loaded/off-loaded first? By that I mean, should personnel go before tanks, to establish a beachhead? Does it matter?

This can help me get quickly caught up. Just some short and quick answers would be fine.

Thanks in advance.

[Kushan04]

The cargo aspect has changed a lot since the last time that I used it. I am just reacquainting myself with it. I have a few simple questions that would help me catch up to speed:

1.) You no longer HAVE TO individually load your LCAC boats as the program can do it for you if you use the mission planner. Is there any method as to which particular pieces of cargo (i.e. guns, personnel) the the program will select first? Or, is it just random?

2.) Let's assume that the amphib ship is sitting off of the coast southwest of the target zone. Sometimes the LCAC will head directly for the coast (such as on a 45 degree angle) and other times it heads due north before making a sharp right angle turn toward the landing zone. Is there any reason for that? Does the LCAC try to position (for example) personnel at one location and artillery at another, or is it purely random?

3.) As the the boats return they have varying degrees of fuel left. Since they are on a fast repeat cycle (lots of cargo to get to) in most cases they don't refuel. I occasionally get that they have run out of fuel on the return back to the amphib ship, or they are returning on BINGO fuel without off-loading anything. I believe that part of this situation is due to the fact that they appear to drive around on land for a while before offloading their cargo. Has anyone experienced that? If so, is there a way to have the LCAC refueled while the new cargo is being loaded before going out on its next run?

4.) If I was to decide to handle the loading myself, is there any particular item (weapons/personnel/etc.) that should be loaded/off-loaded first? By that I mean, should personnel go before tanks, to establish a beachhead? Does it matter?

This can help me get quickly caught up. Just some short and quick answers would be fine.

Thanks in advance.

1) IIRC, it works from the top of the list down.

2) Don't know, would need to see save.

3) This sounds like it may be a bug.

4) It doesn't matter. After the unloading time, everything gets placed at the same time. Managing what order things get unloaded is well below Commands level.

[DWReese]

Thanks for the info

[Quixotic1917]

Semi related but it’s worth pointing out that beachhead seizure is usually done via air assault just a few minutes before the landing craft arrive these days, with a pre-landing force delivered by helicopter or tilt rotor aircraft. Planners tend to avoid contested landings whenever possible, and between tiltrotors and LCACs it’s usually possible to circumvent beach defenders to encircle them from elsewhere

[DWReese]

Thanks for the info, and that makes sense. Unfortunately, I was playing a specific scenario using Chinese forces, and those types of units were not really available.