Matrix Games Forums

Playing as the allies, do I have to concern myself with moving oil to heavy industry centers?
Other than salvaging oil from DEI's, are there bases that need oil removed, and bases that need oil as the allies?

There was a long thread on this recently entitled Oil for Oz.

Australia needs oil. Send it there. Everywhere else will take care of itself. Sydney and the Southern Australia HI centers are the best place to send it.

India needs oil also, though the term "need" is subjective. The allies dont actually need anything, for supplies the arrival points in US and India take care of that, and they have a huge surplus of HI stored before the war starts. A good portion of their air reinforcements arrive via none production, as well as manpower, units and armament ect.

The reason that it is preferable to send oil to Oz than India, is because if you send it to the AC factories in Oz, you get a direct return by forcing the AC factories to produce faster (otherwise, their only oil is trickling in from Brisbane).

India is lacking in oil, and could certainly use it to power it's HI, but again, since HI is simply a "pool" of points, it doesn't matter whether you're making up the deficit in Oz or India (and again, any extra oil in Oz will go towards increasing your AC production).

Frankly, I personally don't think it's worth the effort. You can say, "It just helps me to power my HI, so I might as well." True. But there is also the consideration that you're risking ships (esp escorts) and VPs as you transit the oil. If you can move everything safely, sure, knock yourself out. But frankly, I don't think it's worth risking TKs and their escorts (and the VPs involved), over something that truely -is- just a drop in the bucket of Allied production.

My 2 pfennigs.

-F-

Thats true, but youre also denying that oil to the enemy.
But that might be a drop in the bucket as well.

By the way, whats more valuable, fuel or oil?
I remove fuel first then oil from DEI. Should I reverse this, or am I correct in doing so?

As Oil produces fuel, it seems to be preferable to ship the Oil.

a good point. Singapore's massive fuel stocks make a very convienient fuel stop for the victorious Combined Fleet and a sizable reserve that will last quite a long time

Considering Singapore, it would be a nice move... However you'ld need some luck to avoid Japanese bombers if you don't want to loose the tankers involved[:(]

If you send US oil to Sydney via Suva you should not be losing any ships. The long trip also serves as a shake down cruise for your escorts.

Tankers will not have the range to reach Austrailia so they must be paired with AKs. Since there are plenty of resources there already I would load these with supplies or troops (including air units). You may also want to load fuel on AKs, AOs and extra tankers.

ORIGINAL: Nikademus

a good point. Singapore's massive fuel stocks make a very convienient fuel stop for the victorious Combined Fleet and a sizable reserve that will last quite a long time

I am trying to use up the fuel by using Singapore as a sub base and constanly topping off the subs there.

lol.....did the same in my current game. Alas, my subs are not making much of a dent.

the AI may not be Patton, but it did a good job suprising my large tanker fleet at Palembang. 16 TK's now sunk, all but wiping out the existing UK fleet avail after scrounging the ports of India and Java. Fortunately just got 96 TK's as a reinforcement in San Fran! Course they are half a world away right now. Dont think the AI is going to give me the time to make another attempt.

Try sending the Dutch PTs to Singapore. Mine are wreaking havok at the base one hex away.

Between subs, PTs, and airpower I have sunk over 100 transports by 2-10-42.

If the Dutch were this good in real life these deserve a lot more credit then they have recieved.

Someone else came up with this reasoning, but I'll repeat it here.

Oz doesn't produce enough supply or fuel on its own to support offensives. So, you need to ship in supply and fuel from US. However, if you ship oil, then the HI in Oz will produce supply AND Fuel. So, it's much more efficient to ship oil to Oz than it is to just ship in fuel.

I ship it all in. Supply, fuel and oil. You're bringing in 100 ship task forces anyway. Why not have 5 or 6 tankers full of oil too?

Hopefully not too much, otherwise i think we'd be looking at a gamey and unhistorical situaiton. I havn't done it enough to make a comment but i had assumed that the captured oil would just make Oz a little better at being self sufficient. She should still be dependant on the US for the supplies and fuel necessary to support a combined offensive

You might want to use all of those Brit tankers and AKs at Karachi to move some fuel to Oz. I set mine to go to a point as far west of the DEI as possible then return to an OZ base. This avoids Jap air power in the DEI. Besides, how much fuel does the Brit fleet really need since it will most likely just stay in port?

I just sent a Brit CV and CVL to OZ via the same route hoping to pair them up with my CVs.

BTW: Do we all get a slice for helping Nikademus get to 5,000?

huh?

I don't understand. In my example, I would form a task force from the US, include 60 AK's and 30 TK's. But, I'd load 5 or 6 of the TK's with Oil, not Fuel. I'd send all of that to Sydney. The oil will only produce supply and fuel equal to Oz's HI. and it takes a little time.

Is there something gamey with this?

ORIGINAL: Bradley7735

Someone else came up with this reasoning, but I'll repeat it here.

Oz doesn't produce enough supply or fuel on its own to support offensives. So, you need to ship in supply and fuel from US. However, if you ship oil, then the HI in Oz will produce supply AND Fuel. So, it's much more efficient to ship oil to Oz than it is to just ship in fuel.

I ship it all in. Supply, fuel and oil. You're bringing in 100 ship task forces anyway. Why not have 5 or 6 tankers full of oil too?

Bradley,

I would agree. You are shipping airplanes, troops, and other ships to OZ from the W Coast, why not have several TKs fuel of Oil to fuel the HI in Oz ?

ORIGINAL: Bradley7735

huh?

I don't understand. In my example, I would form a task force from the US, include 60 AK's and 30 TK's. But, I'd load 5 or 6 of the TK's with Oil, not Fuel. I'd send all of that to Sydney. The oil will only produce supply and fuel equal to Oz's HI. and it takes a little time.

Is there something gamey with this?

Not really. Everything you do in this game is a trade-off. I ship oil as well when my tankers aren't shipping fuel all over the damn ocean.

I'd consider it gamey only if the tactic results in Oz producing all or even most of the supplies needed by the Allies to conduct offensive ops from there. The whole reason for the Oz-USN "lifeline" and the Japanese concern over it was the ability (or lack thereof) of transforming Oz into a platform from which the US could launch a counteroffensive.

ORIGINAL: RUPD3658


BTW: Do we all get a slice for helping Nikademus get to 5,000?

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