How do you ship chain?

[splunge the 2nd]

I often read on the forums that people cahin ships to rapidly transport units to an off shore destination? Can anyone clue me in on who you do it and set it up? Thanks

 

[_ghost_]

hi


thats easy:

u place several transports at ur route. then u load the first transport with units. move to the 2nd transport on ocean. there u load the units from the first transport to the 2nd. then move the 2nd loaded transport to a 3rd on and so on. .... there u can move some units from one side of the map to the other during just one turn.

got it?

 

[Raliuven]

Ship Chain Basics:

Load a transport type ship with units.
Move the transport some distance to another waitiing transport (need to have them in place prior to using the chain).
Make sure both transports are now occupying the same ocean tile (not side by side, stack on top of each other).
Right click and wake up the transported units.
Load them into the transport that has not moved.
Move the new transport to desired locatoin or next ship in the chain. Repeat as necessary.

Things to consider:

You need to have enough ships in place and ready to receive the 'cargo'. Remember that you need to multiple ships so that as the chain moves back and forth you always have fresh ships waiting on the following turn so the chain can be used again. This means constantly sending ships up and down the chain to keep it 'alive'. If any one ship in the chain is missing or has used its movement for the turn and can't reach the next ship, the chain is 'dead' for that turn until you can correct it.

It is best used if the chain starts and ends in a port. This way the land units can move from one ship to another. Any unit with '0' movement left is stuck on the transport it is currently on - no ship chain until the next turn. So jumping from land into the ship (no city) means those units cannot 'chain' until the next turn. Also, from city-to-city you can actually transport them a huge distance and they can still arive with movement points and attacks (or can fortify).

Naming your ships (transports) is a good idea. I usually call them galley #1, galley #2, etc. This helps when you are transfering units from a ship that has used its movement to the fresh ship (movement still available). I also use the numbers to keep the galleys in the right positions.

 

[splunge the 2nd]

I thought that's what was involved, but doesn't loading take up movement, limiting you to 1 or 2 "links"

 

[Raliuven]

I thought that's what was involved, but doesn't loading take up movement, limiting you to 1 or 2 "links"

No, it is a free action. You can load/unload all day long. It is like fortifiying. You can fortify and unfortify as many times as you want.

The only time 'loading' costs an action is if you are moving onto or off a ship without using a city.

As an example, in an AoI game I have a shipchain all the way from Mexico to Austrilia to deliver units the same turn they are created. Added bonus - none of my costly units are ever left at sea to be sunk by enemy ships. At worse they sink a 10 shield transport. I've got hundreds of those things! Of course in a normal game where the cost of a transport is more significant I wouldn't be so careless. Still, losing an empty transport is better than losing a full transport, all things considered.

 

[splunge the 2nd]

Thanks, I'll give it a go. Take some setting up, I'm sure.

 

[Raliuven]

Indeed - and long ship chains, while exhilarating at first with the accomplishment, become boring very fast.

 

[Fiddlin Nero]

Looks well covered, I would add the caution to protect your transporting ships with another ship and If you get to Cruise Missiles they can only be loaded outside a city, so they can't be chained

 

[Aabraxan]

Handy hint: Give the transports unique names, or it gets really easy to mix them up.

 

[PaperBeetle]

Also note the double-width (i.e. sustainable, as discussed by Rali in post #3) chain's ability to move units in both directions at once (though you can't be fully loaded in both directions) which is often handy for getting slaves and leaders back home.

 

[Sakiar]

What is the advantage to this compared to having several smaller fleets carrying troops every 3-4 turns? As I can see, it is:

+You get troops produced immediately (good if hard war, if easy war not so important)
-Lots of micro management every turn
-AI can sink your ships (as opposed to having an escorted fleet)