Some questions about Supply

[KarlXII]

I´ve just played through my first three games all in the Tutorial Kasserine 43 scenario. I have also read the section about supply in the manual but I still do not get it.

- Is there any easy way to tell if a unit is in supply or not ?

- How do I know I have an unbroken line of communication to my supply depot ?
I would like to see a patch that graphically could show the line of supply from the supply source.

- There are many variables to be set by the scenario designer like Force Supply Radius that is important
to know of as a player. But no information is in the scenario briefing about that.

- I often try to surround the enemy but it is difficult for me to see if I have cut off the enemies supply route
or that he have cut off mine. Any tips ?

I hope anyone can give me some answer on this important topic. After all the supply warfare is extremely important. Even the best of units will not be much of a match if unsupplied long enough.

[nemo69]

ORIGINAL: karlxii

I´ve just played through my first three games all in the Tutorial Kasserine 43 scenario. I have also read the section about supply in the manual but I still do not get it.

- Is there any easy way to tell if a unit is in supply or not ?

The easiest way I've found is the 'U' keyboard shortcut. it brings out the report for the unit currently selected, giving you its status supply-wise.

- How do I know I have an unbroken line of communication to my supply depot ?
I would like to see a patch that graphically could show the line of supply from the supply source.

Basically, if a unit is supplied, it has an unbroken LOC to the nearest supply point on the map.
You have three levels of display for supply on the map (to be chose from View > Options> Supply or from the supply button on the right-hand panel): no supply displayed, sources only and trace. If the 'no border' advanced option is off, you'll be able to determine the supply status of each and every hex under your control. If it's on, only for those that you have information about. But as of now there's no display of the actual LOC between your unit and its supply source.

- There are many variables to be set by the scenario designer like Force Supply Radius that is important
to know of as a player. But no information is in the scenario briefing about that.

Yeah. It depends on the scenario designer to provide the information, be it in the briefing or in an additional document. If he didn't and you absolutely want the info, the only way is to open up the scenario in the editor and peruse the event structure.

- I often try to surround the enemy but it is difficult for me to see if I have cut off the enemies supply route
or that he have cut off mine. Any tips ?

You have to ensure that every hex around the enemy unit or group of units you're trying to cut-off is either occupied by a friendly unit or is in a friendly Zone-of-Control, adjacent to a friendly unit and empty of enemy units.
Take into account that you have to wait the next bookkeeping phase to see the enemy unit actually become unsupplied.

Hope it helps.

[KarlXII]

Thanks for the input! I have however some follow-up questions [:)]

ORIGINAL: karlxii

I´ve just played through my first three games all in the Tutorial Kasserine 43 scenario. I have also read the section about supply in the manual but I still do not get it.

- Is there any easy way to tell if a unit is in supply or not ?

The easiest way I've found is the 'U' keyboard shortcut. it brings out the report for the unit currently selected, giving you its status supply-wise.

- I use that but it only says how much supply I have right now. It doesn´t tell me if I am out-of-supply and that my supply percantage is being drained every turn. Besides if I fight and move a lot and are in supply I would still be low on supply. It is important to be able to determine wether I actually did receive supply or not last turn. The manual speaks about ordinary supply, limited supply and minimal supply. I would be nice to se which of these three the currently selected unit got.

- How do I know I have an unbroken line of communication to my supply depot ?
I would like to see a patch that graphically could show the line of supply from the supply source
Basically, if a unit is supplied, it has an unbroken LOC to the nearest supply point on the map.
You have three levels of display for supply on the map (to be chose from View > Options> Supply or from the supply button on the right-hand panel): no supply displayed, sources only and trace. If the 'no border' advanced option is off, you'll be able to determine the supply status of each and every hex under your control. If it's on, only for those that you have information about. But as of now there's no display of the actual LOC between your unit and its supply source.

.

- I use those views. What I don´t understand is why do we just see the supply numbers around the adjacent hexes of the troops ? It would be easier to understand the values if the where visible all the way from the supply source. Then I could figure out at which point my supply drain because of terrain etc. Right now I am trying to figure out why some hexes have a higher number than others despite that the supply chain goes all the way along a road with urban areas here and there.

[golden delicious]

ORIGINAL: karlxii

- I use that but it only says how much supply I have right now. It doesn´t tell me if I am out-of-supply and that my supply percantage is being drained every turn.

Does too. First line of the report, in brackets after "veteran" or "untried", it says either "supplied" or "unsupplied", followed by the unit weight.

- I use those views. What I don´t understand is why do we just see the supply numbers around the adjacent hexes of the troops ? It would be easier to understand the values if the where visible all the way from the supply source. Then I could figure out at which point my supply drain because of terrain etc.

Follow the supply back to where it first drops off from the highest level (the effective force supply as shown in the situation briefing).

Right now I am trying to figure out why some hexes have a higher number than others despite that the supply chain goes all the way along a road with urban areas here and there.

Sometime supply in a hex drops off but is carried on through to the next hex without being reduced. I think this is caused by mud and snow. Is this what you're experiencing?

[Catch21]

ORIGINAL: karlxii
I have also read the section about supply in the manual but I still do not get it.

I had a hard time on this at start too, but this helped: http://www.wargamer.com/toaw/scenplay/strategy.htm

Hope it helps you too.

[KarlXII]

Thanks for the help! NOW I saw that it actually states at the unit information screen if the unit is supplied or not. Haven´t seen it before. But then again...the text and unit icons are too small in this game. Like many others I have an 17" LCD monitor at 1280x1024.
And thanks for the guide too! That guide really explained what goes on under the hood so that I did understand much more. But still Supply is not an easy issue. But I suppose one has to abstract it to a more easy going level. One can´t keep track of every details but just follow a few core guides about supply.

[Catch21]

I know others will disagree, but I tend to keep supply trace on all the time so I can see which hexes are likely to get the best supply. It's maybe a little OTT but I try to factor it in to where units end up at turn close.

Not the main factor but if a mountain hex has a railroad in it as opposed to the same mountain hex without one next door, it gets my unit's vote.