Questions about transport vehicles

Publilius · #1 January 14th, 2015, 08:58 PM

Is it a game design to not allow troops to load on vehicles that are not part of the platoon?
For example, the US has a group called BN Weapons Company 43 that includes 2 platoons of HMG's and a platoon of 5 2 1/2 T trucks as well as 7 bazookas with a separate truck platoon for transport. I can load them at the beginning with the load all units, but not load up all units on platoon vehicles. Once the game has stared, once the vehicles have been unloaded they can no longer transport anyone because they are not part of any manned platoon.
I'm trying to play a long campaign but I am having problems choosing the units I want because of this limitation. I can take individual units and add them to the desired platoon but that means I always lose the cost of the lead unit as 0 units cannot be associated with a platoon.
Any help will be appreciated.

Imp · #2 January 14th, 2015, 09:33 PM

Unsure what you are saying
In the deployment screen you can use the load all function though you are generally better off loading units individually if you want to be sure which vehicle has which passenger.

In battle use the L key to load/unload (about 4 buttons from top I think if you want to use the interface)
Except in rare cases like landing craft the unit must be in the same hex as the unit it is loading onto.
If the vehicle already has a passenger make sure you have the unit you want to load selected when you press L otherwise you will unload the current passenger.
If it wont load its because it wont fit, see the game guide for more info on that.

Warwick · #3 January 14th, 2015, 09:33 PM

Hi,
Welcome to the forum, haven't checked your example but any unit should be able to load onto any vehicle with the capacity to carry the unit. I think where you might be going wrong is that the vehicle and the unit you want to load must be in the same hex in gameplay as distinct from the deployment stage where they can be in different hexes. Hope this helps.

Regards, Warwick

Publilius · #4 January 14th, 2015, 10:18 PM

Sorry for any confusion. A specific example is, I bought a veteran infantry platoon and the vehicles needed to carry them. I assigned the vehicles to the infantry company. I then placed each infantry company over the trucks and pushed the L button. Nothing happens. It only seems to work if they are in the same platoon.
I will verify again tomorrow. I thought the icon even says "Load all vehicles onto platoon transport" or something to that effect during deployment.

Thanks for the responses. I assumed I had to be doing something wrong.

Imp · #5 January 14th, 2015, 10:43 PM

Yes you must be

The load all button will attempt to load everything it can during the deployment phase.

When using the L button to load a unit you
1) select a unit (the one you want to load is best
2) Press the L button
3) Now select the unit you want it to load onto

As said both units should be in the same hex.
It doesn't mater which company or platoon either unit is in, it will load the unit if it fits.

To unload just press the L key on a unit with passengers

Mobhack · #6 January 15th, 2015, 06:05 AM

The L,D sequence only works for troops of the same platoon - as mentioned in the G/G. On deployment they can be spread apart, in game the dismounts require to be in the same hex as the vehicles of course. The feature is also limited to full game owners, IIRC.

How else would the code be able to determine exactly what troops to go into the transports (or vice-versa)?.

It's mainly there as a quick way for you to bulk upload your mech platoons in the deployment phase. I use it all the time - select any element and hit L then D, unless I have a specific plan for who is to go in what vehicle, when I load individually. (there is an 'load all' feature - but it loads everything, and is really just what the AI does on deployment, made available for those humans who want a similar jumbled up mess.)

99.9% of mech/motor rifle platoon formations are infantry + transports. Any other mixes are for some reason known only to the OOB designer (e.g. too many elements to fit platoon limits?).

Publilius · #7 January 20th, 2015, 10:42 AM

I was in the middle of a battle I wanted to finish before I tested this.
On Friday I started a US long campaign starting 9/44 in Europe. I got the 3 Vet Inf Co.'s and added an AB sniper and scout team to each and then bought the vehicles to move them. In Deploy I used L-L to load platoon transports and then L and click on vehicle for non platoon vehicles and it worked like stated in this thread.
I am slowly gaining more experience in how the game works which is having a big impact on my results. I am just finishing up the game started on Friday and I think I will get my first major victory. For the most part I was getting 3 and 4 to 1 margins.
I think the other big change was treating each unit as critical. In the first few games, I was just trying to win. Now I am trying to win and lose as few troops as possible.
The other thing that has made me more successful is buying more AT and less armor. The TD AT (T) 44 group is one of my favorites and I also really like the Stuarts for infantry as much as CS tanks. They seem to drive troops out of buildings and off cover better than anything else I have used.
Thanks again for all the advice and help

Publilius · #8 January 21st, 2015, 11:41 AM

I just missed the decisive victory. I had a little over 9500 and he had a little less than 1500. He had artillery hits on 4 of my light trucks and took out 2 inf groups and 4 bazookas. I also made the mistake of trying to chase him off screen and found a couple immobilized Panzers that took out one of my TD's and 2 of my M20's. I really like the troops I have though and look forward to building them up for the next few months.