Transports as blockade runners?

[ohms_law]

So, here's a question that I have: As the Confederates, do regular transports work as blockade runners in the Blockade boxes?

I'm talking about these guys:
[ATTACH]30566[/ATTACH]

[Merlin]

They'll get savaged by the blockade, but work well to run supplies for your actual runners.

[ohms_law]

They seem to be doing ok, so far (over a couple of turns), in not getting "savaged". I can't tell, for sure, but I don't think that they're actually blockade running though. I'm pretty sure that it's only the brigs that are bringing in war supplies and money.

[Ol' Choctaw]

Transports bring supplies to the Brigs. That keeps their cohesion higher so the brigs don’t have to go to port as often.

The only way for CSA transports to ever bring money or WS is if you drive all Union Combat Ships out of the Shipping Box. That is not something very likely to happen. Never against a human player and only rarely with the AI.

[ohms_law]

As it turns out, that's not quite true. Transports don't help in blockade running, but they do help out the CSA in the shipping lanes box:

[ATTACH]30569[/ATTACH]

FYI: they took hits getting into the Shipping Lanes box (coming from the Atlantic Blockade box), but they haven't been found by the Union fleet (yet). We'll see if they are on the upcoming turn.

[Merlin]

Interesting... I never tried that. They may very well be fine as they are, given Semmes is in command.

[Captain_Orso]

That's odd. If you note in the above illustration on line 10/11 the CS transports give no naval transportation, which from my understanding is by design as at one time they did.

So if the CS is restricted in that sense I wonder if this might be an oversight.

Personally, I feel that there should be no restrictions on CS shipping. If the CS want to risk putting transports in the Shipping Box I say let him.

[pgr]

Well it would make sense that if you park transports in the shipping lanes box, you would get Overseas Transport...

[ohms_law]

That was the first turn that they were in the box. They've been there for a couple of turns now, and I moved a few more transports that had been in the Gulf Blockade box into the shipping box as well.

Last turn "Transport ships in Shipping Lanes transported 1971 supply points oversea, their maximum capacity being 2500 points."

...which means that supply moved around the confederacy via those transports, correct?
I don't usually play the Union (haven't since AACW), so I don't usually deal with this mechanic at all.

[Captain_Orso]

After some thought, I think the issue with it is that the game concept never considered what it might mean if the South is allowed to operate exactly as the North.

Theoretically the South could stage a coastal invasion along the northern Atlantic into New York or Boston. Without naval transportation troops there would however soon be starving. But the game does not realistically represent naval supply distribution. It basically assumes that only the Union would be doing it and that they would have enough control over the seas to make any actual game mechanics representing the actual transportation and CS attempts at intervention a waist of time to develop and processing time during each turn execution. But some players might actually develop such a strategy of strategic invasion, which would then break with the game's paradigm.

Even the game handling of Union shipping is extremely generic and actually unrealistic. I read lot long ago a statement that even up to WWII the US had not fully recovered from the damage to commercial shipping caused by the CW. Yet in the game I have never lost a single transport nor had to pull any back to port for repairs. Then number of raiders in the Shipping Box does lower the Unions returns, but that is all.

Also, raiders didn't work out of Southern ports. They supplied themselves in neutral harbors, which in the game are locked to both Union and CS access.

In short, to represent shipping properly would require a complete overhaul of the naval system altogether.

[Captain_Orso]

That was the first turn that they were in the box. They've been there for a couple of turns now, and I moved a few more transports that had been in the Gulf Blockade box into the shipping box as well.

Last turn "Transport ships in Shipping Lanes transported 1971 supply points oversea, their maximum capacity being 2500 points."

...which means that supply moved around the confederacy via those transports, correct?
I don't usually play the Union (haven't since AACW), so I don't usually deal with this mechanic at all.

If the messages in the Mail Box said that 1971 points were transported, then I would believe that. So my assumption was incorrect.

[ohms_law]

Oh, I believe it. I'm just wondering what it means, exactly.

Regardless, right now I'm thinking that transports in the Shipping Box (both Union and Confederate, for that matter) ought to be more vulnerable than they currently seem to be. I don't seem to be having an trouble avoiding Union patrols there. Granted, I've got Semmes' Fleet using the Evade Combat order, but still...

[Captain_Orso]

Oh, I believe it. I'm just wondering what it means, exactly.

Supply distribution has a number of steps:
Supply Production
First Supply Distribution
Second Supply Distribution
Third Supply Distribution
Naval Supply Distribution
Supply Decay

The first three distribution steps only transfer supplies over land, by rail and by riverine transport. The fourth distribution step checks coastal harbors if they need supply and then transports it to them from other coastal harbors which have supply in excess.

If you get a message saying that so-n-so number of supply points were transported by naval supply, then that is the sum-total of supply points--AMMO and GS--transported from harbors with excess supplies to harbors needing supplies.

Regardless, right now I'm thinking that transports in the Shipping Box (both Union and Confederate, for that matter) ought to be more vulnerable than they currently seem to be. I don't seem to be having an trouble avoiding Union patrols there. Granted, I've got Semmes' Fleet using the Evade Combat order, but still...

I think that the Naval Blockade should affect the amounts of resources being brought in by CS shipping in the Shipping Box. After all, they can only deliver their cargo into friendly harbors which are being blockaded.