Axis and Allies 1941: Transport Rules for on loading and offloading units

Question

No House Rules

So My main question is: Can an infantry and a tank (Cargo Option 01) board a transport, then have the transport be moved to a territory which is empty. But hostile, and drop those units there in the same turn?

I ask this because for the longest time. I had the thought that when you move an infantry unit on a transport, it counts as ONE move. So that being said, the infantry unit is stuck on that transport till the next turn.

But a recent video I saw on youtube explaining the rules for transports, mostly not mentioned in the rulebook. Explains that you can indeed move an infantry unit and a tank and/or 2 infantry units on a transport and then on the same turn drop them off somewhere valid to the transport movement of 2 sectors. Which would count as one move for the cargo units. So the tank has one more move left, but infantry is stuck at that territory.

So ->Onload units -> move transport -> offload units -> thats one move for all the units.

Is this the case? Or is this not true?

I hope this is explained well! Thank you in advance!

Answer 1

Yes, what you are describing is possible and called an Amphibious Assault.

However, the sequence load -> move transport -> offload is not limited to situations in which you land in hostile territory, but is also true for offloading into friendly territory.

Here's all your transport options for one single turn:

• Board a transport from an adjacent territory, leave the units onboard as cargo or offload into an adjacent territory (which is called bridging)
• Board a transport and move the transport, leave the units onboard as cargo or offload them into an adjacent territory
• Move a transport, then board it with land unit(s), then leave the units onboard as cargo or offload them into an adjacent territory
• Move a transport one space, then board it with land unit(s), then move the transport another space, then leave the units onboard as cargo or offload them into an adjacent territory
• Board a transport with one unit, move the transport, board with an additional unit (keeping the transport's capacity in mind), then leave them onboard as cargo or offload one or both units into an adjacent territory
• Board a transport with one unit, move the transport one space, board with an additional unit, then move the transport another space and finally leave them onboard as cargo or offload one or both units into an adjacent territory

Do any of the above offloads into hostile territory and it is an Amphibious Assault, which requires you to offload all units on the transport (you cannot choose to offload none or only one). Keep in mind that Amphibious Assaults are conducted during the Combat Move Phase, while transports into friendly territory take place during the Non-Combat Move Phase.

Also, remember that a transport can only offload once per turn and cannot afterwards load, move or unload, again - which is also and especially true for the aforementioned bridging maneuver.

One mistake in what you are describing though: Loading or offloading does not count as ONE move, but as a unit's ENTIRE MOVEMENT. So, if it either boards or leaves a transport or both, a land unit cannot otherwise move during this turn. Therefore, a tank cannot move 1 space and then board a transport, or leave a transport and then still move a space.

All of this is explained in the Unit Profiles chapter of the Rulebook, in the section on Transports, p.28f.

Answer 2

Actually, what you are talking about is an amphibious assault.

A transport can pick up ground troops adjacent to its starting sea zone, move two sea zones, and then "dump" them on a land square adjacent to its ending sea zone in the same turn.

Example: Your transport starts in se zone A. it picks up ground forces in land zone X adjacent to A. It moves through two sea zones, B and C, landing its troops on ground zone Y, adjacent to C. These zones are laid out as follows:

X-A-B-C-Y

If the landing is opposed, the landing troops have to fight it out with defending forces, possibly supported by air or sea bombardment. But if the hostile zone is empty, your forces land unopposed and capture the land zone Y without a fight.