Transport vs Cargo vs Tanker

[Rogue187]

Does it really matter?

[EHansen]

I doesn't seem to, but it does help to identify your TFs. xAP, AP, APA can only go in Transport and only TKs can go in a Tanker.

[rustysi]

Its all about what type of ship can go into what type of TF. Starting on pg 280 of the manual it lists all of this. For example an APD can go into a transport TF, but not a cargo TF.

[RogerJNeilson]

The nature of the TF gives the method of loading and therefore the capacity of load. That's how I have always thought of it.

So my approach has been - offload onto beach or jetty or contested location - Amphib (less capacity per ship due to 'loose loading'
Transport - men and equipment to offlaod at reasonable port so you have cranes jetties etc
Cargo - tightly packed using every inch of space but needs a good port facility to properly unload

Roger

[crsutton]

ORIGINAL: rustysi

Its all about what type of ship can go into what type of TF. Starting on pg 280 of the manual it lists all of this. For example an APD can go into a transport TF, but not a cargo TF.

But you can dump them all into an "escort" TF and still load supply normally.

[geofflambert]

If you use transport to carry troops, they have to be in strategic move mode. I never do that. I like to use smaller ships and spread the troops among many so if one gets torpedoed it's not a disaster. I try never to use xAPS. APs on the other hand are too useful in amphibious assaults.

[LargeSlowTarget]

This is for helping the AI to chose the proper types of ships when using the auto-select option. When auto-select is used in combination with tanker TF, the AI will put tankers into the TF, when the choice is transport TF, it will look for APs, for cargo TFs it will take AKs etc.

[Alfred]

It is also a carry over from classical WITP where the type of TF also impacted upon the threat tolerance.  With AE there is now an independent threat tolerance metric available.
 
Alfred