CMAK Passenger Capacity & Transport Class Question

[Eric.B.Hall]

Some random CM questions:

1. Do they ever tell exactly what "transport class" means? If I remember right it goes something like 0 to 6. Is it related to what it can tow or is it at all related to passenger capacity?

2. For "passenger capacity" do they define this somewhere? And this question is probably related to #1 above. Units, if I understand correctly, can be "split-squads", "observers", "teams", and squads. I've never been exactly sure of the relative size, as it would seem that they are ordered in terms of size by how I have listed them, with "split-squads" being the smallest unit and squads being the largest unit. I don't remember what passenger capacities I've seen, but I think I've seen "team" and "squad". As I've seen it it seems that you can always put a "split squad" on a vehicle, you can never put an observer on a vehicle [which I have yet to understand], teams seem to fit on vehicles and squads fit on some vehicles. Sometimes I've gotten a team and a squad on a vehicle, but I don't know the logic here. Complicating all of this is the fact that German & Soviet squads seem to be "big" [6 to 10 soldiers] whereas US/British squads seem to be smaller [3 to 4 soldiers].

[flamingknives]

1) Guns, mortars, machine guns and the like also have a transport class. If the transport class of the vehicle is the same or higher than that of the unit, then it can transport the unit. So a universal carrier can tow a 6pdr, and a bren carrier cannot. There are 8 transport classes. 8 is functionally immobile, unless it starts the game hitched up to a suitable vehicle. This is pretty much exclusively the German 88mm and the Famo? prime mover. 7 is the larger ATGs, like the 75mm, 17pdr etc. These can only be towed by trucks and halftracks. 6 is lighter ATGs, like the 6pdr. Mortars and machine guns vary between 2 and 5. Tanks can carry units of transport class 2, so the more cumbersome MGs cannot be transported on these.

2)Passenger capacity is controlled based on the number of men in a unit. 6 or less and it is a team, 7 or more and it is a full squad. This is covered in the unit information screen (select unit and hit enter) Vehicles that an carry a team can carry one unit of 1 to 6 men. Vehicles that can carry a full squad can carry either:

Two teams of between 1 and 6 men

or

One squad of 7 men or more, plus one team of 1 or 2 men.

There are two types of observer. Wire and radio. Wire observers have faster response times, but cannot embark on any vehicle. Radio observers embark and function as a two man team.

Squad size varies between nationalities and also between particular unit types. German squads vary between 10 and 8, for the most part. US squads tend towards 12 and British/commonwealth usually operate with squads of 10. There are some exceptions, usually bought about by transport issues. Where squad size is reduced to 6 or less it is considered to be a team for transport purposes. In addition, squads reduced to 6 men or less due to casualties count as a team for the purposes of transport.

To further complicate things, squads can be split into two teams, each about half the strength of the full squad, one with the majority of the long range weapons and one with the lions share of short range firepower.

[Other Means]

Wire and radio FO's have different response times? That's the first I've heard of that.

I thought the only parameters were nationality, experience and command level (Battalion, Division, Army, Corps).

Anyone?

[flamingknives]

That's my recollection. It also makes logical sense, since with radios you're more likely to have comms difficulties and interference.

Plus, being as you move around faster, you've got to recalculate your position more often.

[stoat]

Originally posted by Other Means:

Wire and radio FO's have different response times? That's the first I've heard of that.

That's the only difference between them. Otherwise they have the same number of tubes, same ammo loadout, etc. Radio is faster and costs more to purchase.

[flamingknives]

...and, to save hijacking this thread still further, radio can be transported in vehicles and wire cannot.

[jBrereton]

It goes from nil to nine.

Nine is untransportable by the Allies, and only transportable by the German prime mover until such a weapon disembarks, at which point it's stationary.

6 and under is a team or half-squad (so you can split recon squads and put them in jeeps etc.) and 7 and over is a squad. 7 on its own is just the squad, 7 (Full Squad) is a squad plus a support team.

The number of transport class for a weapon has to be equal or under the class of the transport it's using for it to be carried.

For example, a truck (Transport 8) could take a 6pdr. gun, which is Transport 5 (iirc), or a 17 pdr. gun of Transport 7 (?).

A weedy Kübelwagen (Transport 4), on the other hand, could just about manage a 75mm recoilless rifle of Transport 4, and not that much else.

[flamingknives]

Yes, 0 - 9 does sound right, but the transport class (TC) has nothing to do with the number of men. Tanks, for example, typically have a TC of 2 (IIRC) but can carry a full squad (7 men and up) plus a two man team. They cannot tow guns (there might be exceptions but I don't recall any).

Vehicles can tow/carry multiple support weapons, as long as their crews are 6 men or less. However, their cumulative TC must be less than that of the towing vehicle.

[jBrereton]

Hmm well I haven't played CMAK for ages (I'm a CMBB man myself), so you might be right on the issue of how many soldiers tanks can carry etc.

[flamingknives]

The same goes for CMBO and CMBB

[Eric.B.Hall]

All,

Thanks so much for the in-depth information!

Eric