Conducting Amphibious Landings in CWOL
CWOL offers players the ability to load land units into transport
groups, sail them across water, and land them. Doing so requires
players to coordinate their actions in both ROTD and WISC. This page
explains how to conduct an amphibious landing in both modules.
The first step is to procure sufficient transports. Transport groups
are rated by capacity, from 1,000 to 20,000. The amount of capacity
required depends on the number and strength of the land units to be
transported. Infantry units take up one capacity space per man of
strength; cavalry takes up 3 spaces per man; artillery takes up 2
spaces per man. An infantry or cavalry unit with an attached battery
counts 100 men as artillerists. For example, an infantry brigade of
2500 men and no batteries takes up 2500 capacity, but a brigade of
2500 men and 1 battery takes up 2600 capacity; 100 artillerists take
200 capacity, and 2400 infantry take 2400. Similarly, a cavalry
brigade of 1200 men and no battery takes up 3600 capacity, but one
of 1200 men and a battery takes up 1100*3 + 100*2 = 3500 capacity.
An artillery brigade of 300 men and 3 batteries takes up 600
capacity. Army HQs take up 250 space, corps HQs take up 500 capacity
plus 20 for each supply carried. Example: A landing force of 4
brigades of infantry with 2000 men each, 1 brigade of cavalry with
900 men, 1 brigade of artillery with 400 men and 4 batteries, and a
CQ carrying 8 supplies requires 4*2000 + 3*900 + 2*400 + 500 + 8*20
= 8,000 + 2700 + 800 + 500 + 160 = 12,160 transport capacity to
carry it. This can be provided by a single transport group with
12,160 or greater capacity, or by multiple groups whose total
capacity is 12,160 or greater. If multiple groups are used, each
transport group must have enough capacity to carry the units
assigned to it. In the example, to load two infantry brigades and
the cavalry brigade on one transport would require 6,700 capacity,
and to load the other two infantry brigades, the artillery, and the
CQ on another would require 5,460 capacity. If two transports groups
are in the same location and tactical location, you can transfer
capacity between them freely. If you had one transport group of
7,500 capacity and another of 5,000 capacity, you could move them
together, then transfer 500 capacity from the first group to the
second in order to load the units.
The second step is to move the transports to the right place to load
the units. If the units are in the strategic square of a city which
is also an ocean port on the ROTD map, then if no enemy unit is
present in the strategic square, the transport may be in either the
harbor of the port or the coastal waters to which the port is
attached. If there is an enemy unit present, then if the units are
in the city tactical square, the transport must be in the harbor,
and if the units are not in the city tactical square, the transport
must be in the coastal waters. If the units are not in the city, but
in a strategic square on the coast of the same sea area that the
port is on, then the transports must be in the coastal waters of the
port on the ROTD map. If the transport is in a river strategic
square (including river ports) then the unit must be in a tactical
square adjacent to the river bank, or if no enemy unit is present in
the strategic square, it can be in any tactical square. Units in
strategic squares with hill or mountain terrain may not load. There
is an Excel
map available showing where transports must be to load troops
from any particular ROTD square, and a text list of all coastal squares in
ROTD and the matching sea areas, which you should consult any time
you load troops. Example. To load troops from I3-X2 (the port city
of Beaufort SC) the transport must be in Savannah coastal waters or
the harbor of Beaufort on the WISC map (depending on where the units
are and whether any enemy units are in I3-X2). To load troops from
I4-X1 or I2-X4, the transport must be in the coastal waters of
Savannah. To load troops from I0-X7, the transports must be in
Brunswick coastal waters.
The third step is to load the units onto the transports. Both the
units and the transports must send orders to do this. The transports
must send an order to load units, and must list each unit that is
loading on the transports. If the transport is loading more than one
unit, then separate the unit IDs with spaces (not commas). The units
must send an order with the ship ID of the transport group (eg,
US1TR) as the first and only square of strategic movement. Both the
unit and the transport must send orders; this is to ensure that the
loading does not take place unless both the unit command and the
transport commander want it done. This is necessary because neutral
and even hostile units may be loaded onto transports. If only one of
the two sends the order, the loading will not take place. If the
transport group is in an ally-controlled harbor, the loading is
completed in the initial amphibious phase and the transport group
can move normally. If the transport group is anywhere else, the
loading is not completed until the final amphibious phase, and
neither the unit nor the transport group can do anything else on the
turn of loading.
The fourth step is to sail the transports to the right place to
unload the units. The rules for location are exactly the same as
they are for loading locations. To unload in a port city tac square
on the ROTD map, the transport must be in the harbor, or if no enemy
units are in the port city strategic square, the transport can be in
the attached coastal waters. To unload into a port city strategic
square but not its tac square, the transport must be in the coastal
waters, of if no enemy unit is in the port city strategic square,
the transport can be in the harbor. To unload into a strategic
square other than the port city the transport must be in the correct
coastal waters. Units may not unload into strategic squares with
hill or mountain terrain. The Excel
map and text list show the
relevant sea area for each GITM square.
The fifth step is to unload the units from the transports. Both the
units and the transports must send orders. The transports must send
orders to unload units, listing each unit being unloaded, separated
by spaces if there are more than one. The unit must send an order
with the ROTD strategic square, or name of the off-map port, into
which it wants to unload as its first strategic move, and the
tactical square it wants to land in as its entry square.
- If a unit is landing from harbor onto the ROTD map, it lands
in the city tactical square.
- If landing from coastal waters onto the ROTD map, its entry
must occur along an edge of the tactical map which is adjacent
to an ocean square on the strategic map. Example: A unit landing
at I2-X4 enters on the east map edge, because the adjacent ocean
square I3-X4 is east of I2-X4. A unit landing at I5-X0 can enter
on either the south edge or the east edge, since there are ocean
squares adjacent on both those sides of I5-X0 (at I6-X0 and
I5-X1 respectively). A unit landing at F2-Y6 can enter on the
south, east, or west edge, since that square has oceans on those
three sides (all but north).
- A unit landing in a river strategic square must give the
strategic square the transport is in as its first strategic
move, and a tactical square adjacent to the riverbank as its
entry square.
If the transport group is in an ally-controlled harbor (ocean or
river) and the unit is moving to the port city tactical square, then
the unloading is completed in the initial amphibious phase and the
units and transports can move normally. Otherwise, the unloading is
not completed until the final amphibious phase; the transport cannot
do anything else on the turn of unloading, and the landing unit may
only move in tactical phase 5. If the unit instead lands at an
off-map port (Ship Island or Dry Tortugas) then the unit will move
into garrison at that port, which may result in either combat or
capture of the port under the appropriate circumstances. No other
order is needed, or effective.
It is also possible to load and unload supplies from transports. A
transport that is in the harbor of a port may unload supplies
directly into the port city in ROTD , up to the number of supplies
that it can carry. It may move on the same turn that it does so. To
unload supplies into a port, a transport in a harbor need only order
to unload the desired number of supplies; they will be automatically
deposited into the city.
A transport that is in a port (harbor or coastal waters) can also
unload supplies to a CQ; this type of unloading is limited to 1
supply per 500 capacity of the transport group (example: a transport
with 4000 capacity can unload 8 supplies per turn into a CQ). The
transport must not have move orders, and the CQ must not have
strategic movement orders; if one or both do, then the supply
load/unload is cancelled and the movement orders are used. To unload
supplies, the CQ must be in a position from which it could board the
transport. To unload supplies into a CQ, the transport issues an
order to unload the number of supplies it wishes to unload, and the
CQ lists the transport as its supply source in its orders. For
example, if CS1TR with 5000 capacity was in Pensacola coastal
waters, and BR2CQ was at F5-Y5, then CS1TR would issue an order to
unload 10 supplies, and CS1CQ would issue an order to draw 10
supplies with CS1TR as its supply source.
Maintained by Stephen Schmidt.
Last updated 12-9-15.