Matrix Games Forums

another newbie ques I am sure, but difficult to find the correct answer for:

I've got troops in a base set to STRAT mode, and they seem to load ok (one of the australian brigades). However, for seemingly no reason doing the same thing from a different base (brisbane I believe) takes 3 days to load all the troops up (and yes, they were in strat mode for several days before this, so it wasnt waiting on the troops to change modes). Additionally, sometimes when I load supplies on a TF they will load immediately to ships capacity, and other task forces seem to take days to load up.

What determines the loading speed of a TF that is shipping oil/cargo/fuel/supplies? And is there a way to 'force' it to leave the dock even though its only half loaded?

thanks

Speed of loading/unloading is determined by a combination of port size, naval support, the facilities of the ship itself (example: AK faster than xAK), and maybe some other things. Note that naval HQ's lend naval support beyond just the port where they are. They also provide some support to surrounding ports.

Some ships are also just too big to tie up at small ports, and will only unload there via (virtual) small barges that the game abstracts. BUT - some equipment cannot be loaded/unloaded that way and require the ship to dock at the pier.

So, when working with small ports use small ships. Also, it pays to use large, fast ships between big ports and then distribute via smaller ships and TF's.

Hope this helps.

Also, you might check if the slower loading TFs were actually docked. If not, the rate of loading is markedly lower. My experience is that when you create a transport TF initially, it starts out undocked.

ok Docked was the issue. Nice catch thank you!

I've found that "large" items in LCU's, such as engineering vehicles, large CD guns (5"+), radar/sound equipment and armor, will simply not load or unload at a port they cannot dock at (whether it's from the port being too small or the ship being too big).  If it's an amphibious TF then it's even worse unless you're using an AK/AP ship; if you use an xAK or xAP they will never unload!

is there a way to 'force' a ship that is only partially loaded to immediately depart for a destination?

Sure.  Click on "stop loading troops" and give them a destination; they'll stop loading immediately (this works if they're loading supplies or fuel too) and head off for their destination.

awesome thanks. for some reason I thought the stop loading would simply unload them again.

dont know why really. maybe 10 hours of play today and ignoring my kids is too much ... ;>

So how do you check to make sure they are docked?

The TF screen tells you over in the right hand column.  You've got an option to dock if the port can handle the TF, or undock if they're already docked.

If your TF can't dock to unload because of size, then disband and organize new TF with fewer ships that can dock.
Repeat this process till all ships are unloaded....


JIM