Matrix Games Forums

Hi All:

Haven't been posting much, but playing some. Ran into a problem.

It's October 20, 1942, I'm playing US, advancing up the Solomons. Suddenly, my AE ships at Lunga and New Caledonia will not load my BBs with heavy shells or my Air Combat TFs with torpedoes. Both have 400K+ supply levels. Lunga is a 4(1) port. New Caledonia is a 6(4) port.

What am I missing?

Bella wrote: Mon Aug 11, 2025 3:53 am Hi All:

Haven't been posting much, but playing some. Ran into a problem.

It's October 20, 1942, I'm playing US, advancing up the Solomons. Suddenly, my AE ships at Lunga and New Caledonia will not load my BBs with heavy shells or my Air Combat TFs with torpedoes. Both have 400K+ supply levels. Lunga is a 4(1) port. New Caledonia is a 6(4) port.

What am I missing?

A picture of both ships/task forces.

Most likely you ran out of ops points for your AEs, your BBs or your port. It often takes more than one day to reload BB ammo. You only have 1000 ops points per phase, 2000 for the whole day. If you have several BBs then even a level 7 port could run out of ops points before reloading them.

BBfanboy wrote: Mon Aug 11, 2025 5:40 am Most likely you ran out of ops points for your AEs, your BBs or your port. It often takes more than one day to reload BB ammo. You only have 1000 ops points per phase, 2000 for the whole day. If you have several BBs then even a level 7 port could run out of ops points before reloading them.

That is true. A picture would show that. A picture would also show if the AEs were also loaded since that is also needed.

Thanks for responses. I did not know that AEs need to be loaded with supplies. I thought they were like AVPs and such.

Bella wrote: Mon Aug 11, 2025 4:19 pm Thanks for responses. I did not know that AEs need to be loaded with supplies. I thought they were like AVPs and such.

That is why we ask that people post pictures of the situation. A quick look instead of guessing what the problem might be helps to get a quicker and a more accurate response.

AE only does repl at sea in 1945??

Cav

Cavalry Corp wrote: Mon Aug 11, 2025 7:35 pm AE only does repl at sea in 1945??

Cav

That is correct.

Note also that AE/AKE can only re-arm ship main weapons according to their capacity.

BB main guns can often exceed that.

Bella wrote: Mon Aug 11, 2025 4:19 pm Thanks for responses. I did not know that AEs need to be loaded with supplies. I thought they were like AVPs and such.

This is true for all aircraft tenders but only up to their support capacity. Some other considerations as I understand them

No ship based air missions uses supply, they use sorties.
All land based missions use supply if the mission flies. The cost is for fuel, bombs, drop tanks, etc. Bullets you get free, torps are special supply. These are generally offensive missions.
Land based seaplanes supported by an aircraft tender uses landbased supply if they exceed the tenders support capacity.

If you load a tender with supply you can, in most cases, unload that supply and hence use it when the base runs out. If you completely run dry then no landbased missions will occur except for those few aircraft directly support by the tender's capacity.

To be clear, when a CV type arrives at base to replenish sorties, the base or AE/AKE uses supply to do that. Sorties are enabled by having bombs, torps, aviation fuel, spare parts etc. just like land aircraft.

Bella, you must look at the manual pages on Auxiliary vessels and understand what they are for. A few like repair vessels (AR, ARD) do not need supply but most do.

AGs are for small vessels like SCs, KV, AMs, etc. You will find that you need them scattered around the map to re-arm your smaller vessels with depth charges. Given how hard it is to hit subs they often exhaust their small number in their magazines. AGs can only replenish shells up to about 4" caliber. They also help repair minor damage faster.

ADs are for DDs and they can rearm torpedoes and guns up to 5" caliber as well as depth charges. They can help repair DDs too, but not major damage.

ASs are for subs - replenishment of ammo and repair assistance. I don't think they can refuel the sub - only the port does that. (in the game subs cannot be refueled at sea by any type of ship or sub).

AOs are refueling tankers that can transfer fuel in their main tanks to surface vessels (but not subs). They can do it at sea or in port. TK tankers can haul fuel and refuel other ships when in port, but cannot transfer that fuel to other vessels while at sea. But any ship can transfer fuel from their own bunkers (for their engines) to other vessels if they have enough to spare.

AV types support only seaplanes - floatplanes or patrol planes (flying boats). They help with repairs and replenish fuel and ammo if they have supply on board. Bases can also provide that assistance to seaplanes if they have an airfield and air support squads ashore. I am not sure if a level 1 or more port is required to allow the seaplane to dock.

AGPs are for patrol boats like MGB/MTB/PT vessels. They are small but can replenish torps if they have enough supply aboard. Of course they also assist with minor repairs. AFAIK they cannot refuel the boats.

There are also restrictions on which types of vessels can travel together in a Task Force, depending on TF type. See the charts in the manual on this.

In this Ship Repair 101 Guide by Alfred, there is a list what ships can be repaired by what tenders.

https://forums.matrixgames.com/viewtopi ... 3#p2847023

Aircraft tenders such as CS, AV, AVD, and AVP do not have to have a port size when they are disbanded at a base to support flying boats and float planes.

There is a guide to various tenders, I don't appear to have that one bookmarked . . .

I found it, I was using Alfred as the author but he did not write it:

https://forums.matrixgames.com/viewtopi ... ilit=guide

BBfanboy wrote: Tue Aug 12, 2025 1:13 pm ...
AV types ..... I am not sure if a level 1 or more port is required to allow the seaplane to dock.
...

Seaplanes can operate from any dot base if it has water, a tender is not needed but you obviously require AV, supply etc.

A tender with air capacity can also operate it's FPs from any location but it does have to be in a TF (can't be anything else).

Chris - this part of the reply contradicts itself: "a tender is not needed but you obviously require AV, supply etc." An AV is a tender.

The flying boats and float planes can operate from a dot base if there is no tender (including AVs) but they need air support devices and supplies there.

RangerJoe wrote: Wed Aug 13, 2025 1:30 pm The flying boats and float planes can operate from a dot base if there is no tender (including AVs) but they need air support devices and supplies there.

Ah, right. So Chris was referring to AV as meaning Aviation support instead of using AS as some players do. I take back what I said about the contradiction in his post. It's confusing enough that AV stands for both a tender and Assault Value for LCUs without adding Air Support to the mix.

BBfanboy wrote: Wed Aug 13, 2025 5:15 pm

RangerJoe wrote: Wed Aug 13, 2025 1:30 pm The flying boats and float planes can operate from a dot base if there is no tender (including AVs) but they need air support devices and supplies there.

Ah, right. So Chris was referring to AV as meaning Aviation support instead of using AS as some players do. I take back what I said about the contradiction in his post. It's confusing enough that AV stands for both a tender and Assault Value for LCUs without adding Air Support to the mix.

No, you are correct. I think that he wrote the incorrect thing in Error. (Wherever that place called Error is!)

BBfanboy wrote: Wed Aug 13, 2025 11:36 am Chris - this part of the reply contradicts itself: "a tender is not needed but you obviously require AV, supply etc." An AV is a tender.

Eng unit with aviation support then. The manual uses AV for aviation support not AS. When I first looked at you post I thought what's a Sub tender (AS) got to do with it then I read it. Easy to get confused when an abbreviation can means two things.

Chris21wen wrote: Thu Aug 14, 2025 5:57 am

BBfanboy wrote: Wed Aug 13, 2025 11:36 am Chris - this part of the reply contradicts itself: "a tender is not needed but you obviously require AV, supply etc." An AV is a tender.

Eng unit with aviation support then. The manual uses AV for aviation support not AS. When I first looked at you post I thought what's a Sub tender (AS) got to do with it then I read it. Easy to get confused when an abbreviation can means two things.

Roger that!