Air-dropping supplies

[rader]

How does air-dropping supplies work vs. just sending them to a base by air? Even if I have a lot of transports flying to my troops, they never seem to get many supplies through (if any, I can'te tell if they are even flying). It seems worse when there are enemy units in the hex (which makes sense, but just clarifying).

How many air transports (say C-47) would you expect to need to be able to supply say a division by air? Is there any figure based on load that I can use to compute how many supplies they carry? Is there some way I can verify that they are actually flying other than ops losses? Have people had a lot of success with air supply or is it fairly useless?

[Mike Solli]

Divide the transport aircraft capacity by 2000 and round down.  That's how much supply each aircraft will drop per sortie.  You don't get much unless you use massive numbers of aircraft.

[Barb]

I think that 2000 plane load equals 1 supply point. so C-47 (plane load 10000) squadron of 16 planes flying once a day will deliver 80 supply points.
Each element in a division need 1 supply point each month (if I recall correctly).
 So a 1000 element division (squads, mgs, mortars, guns, armor,...) will spent approximately 33 supply points a day. If unit is in combat, amount of needed supplies is doubled (but I dont know if this also apply when you are receiving fire only).
Additional supplies will be consumed to combat fatigue, disruption, repairing disrupted squads.

I hope I havent mislead everyone. [:D]
PS: to track supply sorties, track pilot sorties in the unit. Also, if you are doing resupply flights for few days in row, write down the begining amount of supply and the one on the end.

[Feinder]

Air dropping to
 
1.  Friendly base (with or without enemy troops present).  Not an issue.  Probably no reduction in supplies carried.  Fewest ops losses.
2.  Friendly non-base hex, with no enemy troops present.  You -can- drop supplies here (see example below).  But it seems to be about 50% efficiency, and you'll suffer a surprising amount of ops losses.
3.  Contested non-base hex, with enemy troops present.  I don't think works.    It'll let you target the hex, but i'm pretty sure nothing flies.
4.  Enemy base with enemy troops present (and obviously your friendlies). - I don't think this works either.
 
It was my experience when attacking Daly Waters across the desert (in CHS), air-drop is quite difficult.  I wasn't pulling much (if anything) while targeting my troops in enemy held Daly Waters hex.  I think I tried targeting the hex behind me, but with no troops present, it wouldn't let me (I think, it was a while ago).  So I ended up putting a unit in the hex behind my main formation, targeted that unit for air drop, and then supply would trickle forward to the main formation assaulting the enemy base.
 
Be advised that it hasn't worked very well.  My guys were constantly below 100% supply, making it very difficult to attack.  I also suffered almost 700 ops losses of C-47s (I think because I was flying to a non-base hex, altho it's stupid, because those C-47s shouldn't be considered "landing" at the destination hex).  I've currently pulled back to Tennet Creek, to refit my formations and give everybody a short reprive (my army has litterally been at Daly Waters for about 6 months).
 
For "how much does it take to supply a division".
 
Under best conditions, each C-47 carries 5x supplies.  Load is 10k,  Each 2k of capacity = 1 supply.  If your squadron has 16x planes (and everybody happens to fly), you'll be able to haul 80 supplies per squadron.  I think 80x supply requirement "feels" like it's about a regiment (not positive). 
 
Also, your supply usage can go up considerably if
1.  You share a hex with a bad-guy.
2.  Either you or he is bombarding.
3.  Either you or he is attacking.
4.  You're being bombed.
5.  Your LCU is trying to repair disruption, fatigue, or disabled squads.
 
Top of my head, I think supplies required can go from what you see as "normal" when at a usual base (no enemy units).  To about x4 that amount when in combat with enemy units.
 
So it can take a LOT of C-47s to supply a division (fortunately, you have quite a few of them, but beware of ops losses, they can be staggering).
 
-F-

[herwin]

ORIGINAL: Feinder

Air dropping to

1.  Friendly base (with or without enemy troops present).  Not an issue.  Probably no reduction in supplies carried.  Fewest ops losses.
2.  Friendly non-base hex, with no enemy troops present.  You -can- drop supplies here (see example below).  But it seems to be about 50% efficiency, and you'll suffer a surprising amount of ops losses.
3.  Contested non-base hex, with enemy troops present.  I don't think works.    It'll let you target the hex, but i'm pretty sure nothing flies.
4.  Enemy base with enemy troops present (and obviously your friendlies). - I don't think this works either.

It was my experience when attacking Daly Waters across the desert (in CHS), air-drop is quite difficult.  I wasn't pulling much (if anything) while targeting my troops in enemy held Daly Waters hex.  I think I tried targeting the hex behind me, but with no troops present, it wouldn't let me (I think, it was a while ago).  So I ended up putting a unit in the hex behind my main formation, targeted that unit for air drop, and then supply would trickle forward to the main formation assaulting the enemy base.

Be advised that it hasn't worked very well.  My guys were constantly below 100% supply, making it very difficult to attack.  I also suffered almost 700 ops losses of C-47s (I think because I was flying to a non-base hex, altho it's stupid, because those C-47s shouldn't be considered "landing" at the destination hex).  I've currently pulled back to Tennet Creek, to refit my formations and give everybody a short reprive (my army has litterally been at Daly Waters for about 6 months).

For "how much does it take to supply a division".

Under best conditions, each C-47 carries 5x supplies.  Load is 10k,  Each 2k of capacity = 1 supply.  If your squadron has 16x planes (and everybody happens to fly), you'll be able to haul 80 supplies per squadron.  I think 80x supply requirement "feels" like it's about a regiment (not positive). 

Also, your supply usage can go up considerably if
1.  You share a hex with a bad-guy.
2.  Either you or he is bombarding.
3.  Either you or he is attacking.
4.  You're being bombed.
5.  Your LCU is trying to repair disruption, fatigue, or disabled squads.

Top of my head, I think supplies required can go from what you see as "normal" when at a usual base (no enemy units).  To about x4 that amount when in combat with enemy units.

So it can take a LOT of C-47s to supply a division (fortunately, you have quite a few of them, but beware of ops losses, they can be staggering).

-F-

That suggests it is impossible to play the Burma campaign of early 1944 as Slim used air transport to supply most of his forces in contact, and most of those forces had Japanese in the same hex.

[n01487477]

As a side-line ...
What makes a device too big to transport - load cost ? Is it calculated the same way, capacity of plane to device ?

[Feinder]

That suggests it is impossible to play the Burma campaign of early 1944 as Slim used air transport to supply most of his forces in contact, and most of those forces had Japanese in the same hex.

I'll just say that, "by observation" my transports didn't like to fly into hexes with enemy units present (unless dropping paras). I also had/have a rather large army there (about 22 Divisions), with a huge appetite for supplies. It's possible they were receiving supplies while in contact, but I can say that their percent deficit was much less when flying supplies to a friendly unit 1-hex behind the line.

With regards to, "what can be transported". All infantry, support, engineers, and av-support squads. Most light weapons (MGs) and Mortars will go as well. However ATs and artillery of 47mm and larger will NOT air-tran however (which is silly, because the 75mm pack-howitzer that the USMC paras are equipped with was certainly air-transportable). So you'll drop all your squads (providing your AV), but your guns will have to be transported after the fact by ship or march.

That being said, there are certainly some "quirks". I've seen where occasionally you get an artillery piece transported - BUT, this might be that, the rest of unit had been transported to destination, and you have the small fragment of artillery that can't be lifted. So the computer "degrades" (kills) the artillery since it's a fragment lacking support, it -will- die. And the parent unit draws replacements of the artillery pieces. I'm not positive this is what is happening, but it makes sense.

See sceen shot manual on air-transport (I couldn't cut-paste the PDF).

-F-

[rader]

Thanks, all that helps a lot guys!