A couple newbie questions (HQ and transporting tanks)

[jonpfl]

All,

1) Is there a way to transport an Italian tank from the mainland to N Africa? I tried to create a transport and it was greyed out.

2) What combat bonus (if any) does a HQ unit convey to a unit (is it just indirect help in the way of more supply)?

3) If the answer to 2) is just supply, I assume that bumps morale and readiness, correct? Or is there more to it than that?

Thx
jonpfl

[Taxman66]

1) You are either are short of mpp, not adjacent to the port, or have already moved the tank.

2) HQs passively improve the supply of units (planes have to be linked to an HQ, but not necessarily the one closest/providing the best supply) even if they are not linked to said unit(s).

Units linked to a HQ will have their morale/readiness improved directly by the link. Though I don't believe it is ever qualified exactly by formula. You can experiment by linking and unlinking units to see this, particularly in areas without great supply driving the base m/r high in the first place.

Additionally HQs provide direct combat bonuses. You can only see this by looking at combat predictions with units while toggling linkage.

How well an HQ improves m/r and provides combat bonuses is based on the HQs rating + experience. Each pip of experience is roughly equal to 1 level of rating.

[jonpfl]

1) You are either are short of mpp, not adjacent to the port, or have already moved the tank.

2) HQs passively improve the supply of units (planes have to be linked to an HQ, but not necessarily the one closest/providing the best supply) even if they are not linked to said unit(s).

Units linked to a HQ will have their morale/readiness improved directly by the link. Though I don't believe it is ever qualified exactly by formula. You can experiment by linking and unlinking units to see this, particularly in areas without great supply driving the base m/r high in the first place.

Additionally HQs provide direct combat bonuses. You can only see this by looking at combat predictions with units while toggling linkage.

How well an HQ improves m/r and provides combat bonuses is based on the HQs rating + experience. Each pip of experience is roughly equal to 1 level of rating.

For 1),
1) Is the cost the same for a transport for both a tank and troops?
2) Is the cost a fixed cost where you can see (via the UI or in the manual) OR is it variable OR is it behind the scenes?

For 2),
Is this explained better in the manual? I looked at earlier this morning and couldn't find it (if it exists)?

Thx
jonpfl

[Taxman66]

1. I believe it is based on the cost of the unit or base cost of the unit. It is reduced by Logestics tech. You can see the cost when loading (if you have the mpp) as it will give you a confirmation message with the amount needed.

2. Not really. It's been gone over in the forums before but no details on exactly how much of an improvement. In short HQs are worth their expensive costs.

[Platoonist]

1) Is the cost the same for a transport for both a tank and troops?

No. The cost for transporting units is set at 10% of unit cost although logistics research will decrease this cost by 10% per level.
In addition, even if a nation has sufficient MPPs, each nation can only put a limited number of units into the water by transport mode at any one time. Italy starts out at level zero and can only transport 3 units a turn, but this limit will increase through researching logistics, as the build limits for transports will increase by 1 per logistics level for major powers and their respective minors.

[jonpfl]

1) Is the cost the same for a transport for both a tank and troops?

No. The cost for transporting units is set at 10% of unit cost although logistics research will decrease this cost by 10% per level.
In addition, even if a nation has sufficient MPPs, each nation can only put a limited number of units into the water by transport mode at any one time. Italy starts out at level zero and can only transport 3 units a turn, but this limit will increase through researching logistics, as the build limits for transports will increase by 1 per logistics level for major powers and their respective minors.

I was low on MPPs, thanks for all your answers!

Thx
jonpfl

[DarkHorse2]

There are times when the MPP cost for naval transport seems excessive.

I think for Italy to transport a HQ down to Libya costs around 47 MPPs.

Italy is only earning around 70 MPPs a turn (or less) before entering the war.

IIRC, it only goes up to around 110-120 MPPs a turn after that.

So, to transport 1 HQ a short distance via naval transports can cost Italy 25-50% of their revenue for the turn.

That doesn't sound right.

The way this has been abstracted in SC3, it is like you purchase the merchant transports, on demand. But then discard them immediately afterwards.

[DarkHorse2]

The default transport cost in MPPs can be computed as follows:

(Cost of the Unit) * 0.10 + 10

So a unit that cost 250 MPPs to build requires 35 MPPs to naval transport.
250 * 0.10 + 10
25 + 10 = 35

With a HQ, it gets weird as the rating of the leader is also factored into the total cost.

Without factoring the leader, the cost to transport a HQ would be 40 MPPs. (which, IMO, is more than enough)

However, in the case of the only Italian HQ on the map in 1939, the cost to transport it is 47 MPPs.

I am NOT in favor of adding the leadership rating of the HQ when factoring transport costs.

It just seems weird that a better leader costs more to transport.