[Consim-l] Flat Top question

[Mike NotSpecified]

I’m getting ready to play the Coral Sea scenario in AH’s Flat Top.  I need 
some help with the fueling rules.

The rule is; “
Each ship must stay in the TF that contains the AO (oilier) for 
the entire turn
.Each ship must stay with the AO until fueling is complete or 
have its Movement Factor reduced to 1
The same is true for a TF that does not 
begin fueling by the required turn
 It takes 10 turns to completely fuel, the 
turns do not have to be consecutive
.”

Coral Sea starts 0600 May 4 with Lexington and the Japanese carriers fueling, 
and Yorktown is required to begin fueling by 0100 May 5.

This is not what I expected when I saw oiliers and fueling were included in 
this game.  I imagined that  each ship would start the scenario with a certain 
fuel state and that one of the considerations for the commander would be when 
to fuel.  For instance, if Lexington has sufficient fuel for only 20 more 
hours of high speed (MF=2) or 80 hours of low speed (MF=1) operations then 
you’ve got to think about how likely you are to want that high speed 
maneuvering.  If you also have a rule that says fueling interferes with air 
operations, then you’ve got to pick your best time to fuel (presumably at 
night).

But as written, I don’t see any reason for everyone to not spend the first 10 
turns fueling, then be done with it.   The Lexington and Japanese CV groups 
are already reduced to MF=1, the same speed of their oiliers, so they almost 
have to stay together.  And since there is no apparent restriction on 
operations while fueling, they might as well just spend the first 10 hours 
fueling eh?

Yorktown might want to engage in some high speed maneuvering and rendezvous 
with her oilier later, maybe after dark on 4 May, but that looks like about 
the only possibility for doing something different.  And it risks having the 
oilier found and sunk before fueling is completed.

Am I missing something?  Is there some reason why I wouldn’t just have the TFs 
stay out of harms way and spend 4 May fueling?  Which is OK, I can imagine the 
land based air and hours of maneuvering for the TFs even while fueling are 
still sufficient to make this first day worth playing for how they set up the 
next day, but it seems fueling is a pretty minor decision point.

(just out of curiosity, how does Avalanche Press handle fueling in the SWWAS 
series?)