Convoy Routes

[Octus Imperium]

How about if I load some cargo (0 action points), and then assign a fleet to a convoy route (CONV order) in the same tun - is that legal? Or will it fail because the fleet did something before being part of the convoy route?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

As per hobknob, our friendly system listing author.

 

I do this very thing frequently. As a matter of fact, need to do this to a couple fleets this turn....

 

Octus

[hobknob]

Just about every fleet that I use regularly is assigned to a convoy route. Most of those routes are simply fall back orders in case I happen to not get a turn in or leave fleet idle for a few turns. Then there are all the fleets that are on a SKIM convoy route. They jsut get parked at a planet with atmosphere to refuel when it is convenient to do so.

 

Convoy routes are the biggest mod this game has seen to date IMHO.

 

[Hughestrog]

Hughestrog, the main problem is that Convoy RN can only bring ships into the convoy.

 

I have been working on a solution to a similar problem as the one you describe, unfortuantly it hasn't been tested in practice yet .

 

First of you need a holding fleet for your shipyards to place the newly built ships into.  Your convoy will now be able take any ships that are waiting in your holding fleet and ship them of to your junction system.

 

Once your convoy has arrived at your junction, you will need to get those ships out of the convoy.  The problem with this is that as mention before RN in convoys can't place the ship into another fleet  .  A second convoy can however take the ships from a fleet in the convoy, you will however have the slight problem of needing a RN order for each 24 ships per fleet, since the RN order dosn't have an exclude option like the OC and LC orders  .

 

So with a little bit of calculating and a lot of orders you can set up a nice group of convoys which will quickly wisk those brand new battleships out to the fronters with very few orders required once its been set up. 

 

Sir Smeg

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Is this mentioned in the orders supplement? And why only to take a fleet out? I think I've thought of a way around my initial problem, but wouldn't it be easy to allow the RN in and out?

[hobknob]

The problem is that fleet numbers are variables in a convoy route. The RN order would have to be modified to allow it to use a variable as the receiveing fleet.

 

[ShadowKitsune]

The problem is that fleet numbers are variables in a convoy route.  The RN order would have to be modified to allow it to use a variable as the receiveing fleet.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Actually, the only convoy route variable is the first fleet number, which for most orders is the only fleet number, but for orders that have more than one (i.e. the Reorganize Naval [RN] Order) it only uses the first.

 

Examples

WARP, <Fleet Variable>

MOVE, <Fleet Variable>, System, Warp ID

LC, PopGroup, <Fleet Variable>, Item1, Qty1, ... Item25, Qty25

RN, <Fleet Variable>, Target Fleet, Ship Type1, Qty1 ... Ship Type 25, Qty25

 

In order to make Fleets on Convoy Routes acquire new ships, as part of the Convoy Route, Pete would have to either (1) add an order for that specific purpose [quick and semi-painful] or (2) completely rework the way Convoy Routes interact with certain orders [slow and painful]. The new Order would also have it's shortcomings, but we're looking for a quick solution here, not necessarily the most elegant.

 

For discussions sake let's say the new Order will be called Acquire Vessels [AV], and it's format would be identical to the Reorganize Navy Order in all respects. Thus the only coding change will be that instead of this ...

 

RN, <Fleet Variable>, Target Fleet, Ship Type1, Qty1 ... Ship Type 25, Qty25

 

You would use this ...

 

AV, Source Fleet, <Fleet Variable>, Ship Type1, Qty1 ... Ship Type 25, Qty25

 

... when setting up a Convoy Route. The only way to change the Source Fleet would be to use the Edit Convoy [ECNV] Order. However, you probably wouldn't need to because you'd have a standing order [XSHIP] spitting out ships into a particular Fleet ID each turn that you would be "acquiring" vessels from.

 

M2CW,

-SK