The Ensign’s Guide to Seaborne Operations (or Your LST and DUKW User’s Manual)

[Mike Dubost]

The question of how to operate at sea (invasions and sea transport) has come up several times. I know I got the idea on how to operate from an early thread, and I have since seen two more.

I have taken the liberty of writing a brief guide to the mechanics of land-sea operations and added a few strategy tips. Anyone who wishes to add to or correct this guide should feel free to dive in (just make sure you are wearing your Mae West life vest [:)]). The general idea is that I would like others to ammend and revise my draft, and then I want to try to get a moderator to "sticky" it.

I prepared one figure, but I would like advice from others on the need or lack thereof for more figures / screenshots.

For ease of commenting, I have broken it up into posts by chapter (chapters are of widely varying lengths).

[Mike Dubost]

Figure 1, the main screen

[Mike Dubost]

Chapter 1: The Types of Transports

There are 2 types of transports which are purchased separately. They are Amphibious Points which are purchased individually for use in invasions, and Sea Transport Points which are purchased in blocks of 10 for shipping units to controlled ports, and for transporting supplies and production points. They are represented abstractly on the menu bar in the center of the screen as AIP: X(Y) and STP Z respectively (where X, Y, and Z are integers). The X is the remaining unallocated AIPs, Y is ROUGHLY the total AIPs purchased (more on this later), and Z is the total unallocated STPs.

For example, in Figure 1, X is 0, Y is 1, and Z is 41.

Each unit embarked costs a certain amount of points (either AIPs or STPs, depending). Generally, the infantry division is the cheapest, and the armored corps the most expensive (yes, you can invade with an armored corps if you can afford the AIPs). The mechanics of loading, moving, and debarking or invading will be discussed a bit later.

There are a few key points that you will see through careful observation during the course of a game. When AIPs and STPs are purchased, the cost increases with the number that you already have. Note that for AIPs, this is based on Y, and for STPs it is based on Z. When you embark units, you will see that X or Z will drop.

IMMEDIATELY after you debark units from sea transports, you will see Z increase again by the amount of points used to embark the unit (e.g., I load an Italian infantry division aboard sea transports in Naples, and Z drops from 90 to 80. I ship said division to Tirane in Albania and Z does not change. I debark said division in Tirane, and watch Z go from 80 back up to 90). STPs are also used for supply and production distribution. You will not see the impact on Z during the turn, but will see Z drop the turn after you create or increase a convoy. The computer will automatically use as many STPs as you need for supply / production shipment (unless, of course, you run out), so if you ship more units to Libya from Italy, you will see the Italian Z value drop next turn. Furthermore, as a result of sea battles along your convoy lanes, your convoys will often take damage, and the turn after the battle, you will see Z drop by the amount of losses taken from your convoy. Z is a running total, taking into account last turn’s events.

When you load units aboard amphibious transports, you will watch X decrease immediately, but Y does not change. When you land your troops on the hostile shore, you will see NO CHANGE in X and Y from the landing. However, AT THE END OF THE MONTH, you will see Y drop by the amount of AIPs used in the invasion. Thus, Y has a 1-month lag.

OK, so much for the types of transports. Now, how do I actually use the darn things? There are three sets of buttons that you will need to find. They are located on the right side of the screen. One is immediately above the area that shows data on the selected unit (this set has 3 buttons), one immediately below this area (this set has two rows of buttons), and one is at the bottom (it includes purchase, diplomacy, and fleet). Note that the first two are only visible when a unit is selected, while the third is visible at all times during your turn.

See Figure 1 for their locations.

[Mike Dubost]

Chapter 2: Sea Transport

The STPs can be used to load land units and ship them to ports controlled by you or your loyal allies. Air units cannot be sea transported.

To load a land unit aboard a regular transport, it must be in or adjacent to a port, and have at least one action point left. You can move a unit and still load, as long as it has at least that one last action point. Select a land unit that meets these criteria (you may want to note the name of the unit), and look at the second set of buttons I talked about above (the set below the unit information box). You will see the second row has two icons that have a stylized image of a ship. The second from the left has a large ship and the third from the left has a small image of a ship.

The large image of a ship is the normal sea transport button. Go ahead and move the mouse to hover over it. You will see that the menu bar (center top of your screen) will show you how many STPs it will take to embark the unit, and how many you have. If you have enough, you can click the button and the unit will vanish from the screen. (and Z will decrease by the indicated amount).

OK, so where did the unit go? It vanished into the fleet screen.

Go ahead and click on the fleet button (in the bottom set of buttons). You will see that ports containing fleet units are highlighted (the anchor symbol is blue, while empty ports have white anchor symbols). Click on the port at which you just loaded your brave troops. If there was a fleet already there, the transport is tacked onto the first existing fleet. Otherwise, the unit was placed into a brand new fleet of its own. Either way, you will see an icon for a ship that looks like a merchant ship with a high bow and stern (if you see an icon that looks like a ship with a towering stern and a flat bow, you have an amphibious transport instead). If you click on this icon, you will see that it is named with the unit name of your land unit.

Note: If the first existing fleet belongs to an ally, you will see your unit shown as a transport of your nationality, but the fleet moves during that ally’s turn, and the unit debarks on that ally’s turn. This may come into play in the case of US/UK invasions of France, or German troops shipped to North Africa to join the Afrika Korps (DAK).

With the correct fleet selected, you will see a set of lines going to boxes at sea and anchor symbols for other ports. Red lines mean that the straits between the sea zones are not controlled (e.g., to move from the Baltic to the North Sea, the coalition must control Copenhagen). For the purposes of this test, select one of the ports the unit can get to in a single move. Now, you see the anchor symbol at the destination port is blue (if there already was a fleet there, it has not changed, otherwise, it turned blue).

Click on the destination port. Select the fleet that you just moved there. Select the transport that you wish to unload. You will see that the unload button lights up. Click on it and the transport ship disappears, unless the port and all adjacent hexes are occupied by other units. In that instance, an error message will appear to tell you there is no room to unload additional units. If you get the error, move a unit out to clear a hex and try again. You can of course, leave your unit aboard the transport and come back at a later time to unload, but then you have needlessly deprived yourself of the services of the troops.

Once you have debarked the unit, exit the fleet screen, and you will see the unit is in or adjacent to the port. You will see it has zero action points, and usually a very small strength, so you should not throw it straight into the front lines if you don’t need to. Give your troops a chance to get over the seasickness of the voyage. If you have kept track of the STP values shown on the menu bar, you will notice that you have “recovered” the STPs used to ship your troops.

That is one use for STPs. What about the convoys?

[Mike Dubost]

Chapter 3: Convoys

Convoys are even easier to set up. Go to the fleet screen, and look in the lower right corner. You will see a button labeled convoys. Click on this button and a box will appear listing your existing convoys and containing a number of buttons. Click the one labeled new convoy. Select the starting port and the destination port. All convoys start as supply convoys by default. To set up a convoy shipping production, first set up the convoy. Then, click the convoy in the list, and select the option to change the type. You can delete a given convoy by clicking on the convoy and selecting the option to delete the convoy. Since convoys are performed in order, you can move them up or down the list to give your most important convoys priority for shipping.

You can set up convoys that cannot be executed (e.g., you expect to capture Copenhagen, so you pre-set a supply convoy to get there next turn to supply your invasion force), and you can also set up convoys for a neutral country (e.g., Italy can set up a convoy to North Africa prior to entering the war), but these convoys will only be executed on turns that they are legal. In the examples above, if Italy did not enter the war, the convoy would not be executed, and if your bungling officers failed to take Copenhagen (of course, you as leader would never make a mistake [;)]), that convoy would not be executed.

[Mike Dubost]

Chapter 4: Amphibious Invasions

The process of loading a unit aboard an amphibious transport for invasion is identical to loading it aboard a regular transport, except for the obvious fact that one clicks on the other button. The movement to sea is the same.

In order to invade, the unit must begin the turn in the sea area adjacent to the target hex. This means that you must end the turn after moving your unit to sea. Once the next turn starts, click on the target hex, select the “unload units from the sea” button (see Figure 1 for its location), and select the unit that will storm ashore.

Now that you know the mechanics of conducting seaborne operations, lets discuss a bit about the strategy of them.

[Mike Dubost]

Chapter 5: Strategy

In general terms, your strategy should be conducted according to 3 principles: the “Fleet In Being” of Mahan, the “calculated risk”, and the “economy of force”.

Mahan wrote about naval strategy in the years before WW I. He laid out a series of principles of conducting operations and concepts of strategy. One of the major concepts was the “Fleet in Being”. The idea is that so long as you have a fleet, you can compel your enemy to prepare for your possible actions. Even if your fleet stays in port, the enemy must consider the possibility of a sortie. This is illustrated in the disposition of Allied fleet units during Murmansk convoys. Major elements of the RN and USN covered convoys at various times due to fear of German surface raiders sneaking out of Norwegian fjords. Even a cruiser could inflict major losses on a merchant convoy. Also, watch “Sink the Bismarck” for an idea of what a battleship could threaten to do with even one sortie. The RN and USN had to keep ships on station and scatter forces for convoy protection even when the Kriegsmarine stayed home.

So, this means that you should try to preserve some fleet presence, and repair damaged units. It does not mean to keep your fleet idle for fear of losing it. That way results in the WW I mentality in which the High Seas Fleet fought only 1 major fleet action in the North Sea and thereafter rarely left port. If you want to accomplish anything at sea (or prevent your enemy from doing everything he wishes), you must send the fleet to sea and keep your enemy off balance. You should take calculated risks, for example use subs to harass the enemy’s convoys. If your enemy appears to have the bulk of his fleet in the North Sea, try sending out forces in the Med or the North Atlantic. Weigh the potential losses against potential gains, and see what you think you can do with what you have.

Your risks will be reduced by concentration of force at decisive points, or by forcing the enemy to disperse his forces (the “economy of force”). You don’t need to be strong everywhere if you are strong at the key point. As the Allies, do you plan to invade Normandy but not Italy? If so, keep more of your fleet in the North Sea than in the Med. As the Axis, can you spare some subs to try to cut the convoy lines? If so, you can force the RN and USN to send ships to sea in the North Atlantic, not in the Med, thus helping the Italians.

As for specific advice, let’s start with a simple thought. If you are considering an invasion in a sea area where your enemy has a major edge in number and/or technology of ships, STOP. The only thing that you will accomplish is the loss of your brave troops, the resources spent equipping and training them, and the sinking of such combat vessels as you send to accompany them. All enemy ships within sailing distance will rush in and blow your ships out of the water.

Be aware that the system has some oddities in which hexes are adjacent to which sea zone. I would not have expected Oslo to be on the North Sea, for example.

Supply is sent to ports. Plan to build an artificial port (expensive at 300 pp) or capture a port city in the first turn of any invasion, or be prepared to watch your starving troops crushed by fresh enemy forces.

Copenhagen and Gibraltar are two critical hexes, since they control movement through the nearby straights. If the Axis takes Gibraltar, the RN is split into Med and Atlantic fleets, and cannot move ships between them. This would greatly complicate the Allied “economy of force” problem while simplifying the Axis issue.

Most importantly, plan ahead. As mentioned above, amphibious units must spend at least one start of turn afloat. Don’t expect to move to sea and invade that turn, so plan your declarations of war accordingly. Also, if you look back at Chapter 1, you might notice two interesting facts. The total number of AIPs “purchased” resets at the end of each month, and this number determines the cost of more AIPs. If you plan sequential invasions, try to time them so that there is a month end in between, if you wish to increase your “bang for the buck”. STPs reset as soon as you debark units from transports. If you buy more while units are still aboard the transports, you get more “bang for the buck”. If you are planning seaborne operations, make sure you budget for naval repairs, AIPs, and STPs in your production.

Edit: thanks to Chocolino for reminding me to mention that direct port-to-port transport of troops are not intercepted. If you can set it up so your regular transports don't have to start a turn at sea, you won't need to worry about those pesky enemy ships sinking them.