AI Need Supplies in Detailed Combat?

[Miserere]

I am loving the beta patch, and am especially impressed with how much more aggresive the Union AI has been strategically compared to how dilatory it was behaving under the official patch.

I do have one question: Does the AI actually use supplies in detailed combat? I have yet to see the Union supply wagons do anything other than hang back in the rear of the battle lines, and I also am seeing no indication that AI troops engaged in drawn out firefights are running out of ammo, whereas I am constantly scambling to keep my troops from running out of ammo. That concerns me, because any strategy I employ to deny the enemy of their supplies prior to a battle would be a wasted effort.

Thanks for a great game - I am blown away by both the breadth and depth of what you have created.

[Erik Rutins]

Yes, it does as far as I know. At least, I've destroyed supply wagons and had AI enemy troops run out of supply in detailed combat.

[ericbabe]

The AI should be using supply in detailed battle, they get no benefit for this.  If you're playing on a hard enough level, their bonus can compensate for being out of supply, but they shouldn't otherwise be getting any detailed battle supply bonus.

[PaulWRoberts]

But I seldom see their supply wagons near the battle line.  Are they using them at all?  Or do they have a bonus to supply range?

[ericbabe]

They don't have a bonus to range, though they may have a small movement bonus depending on the difficulty level.  I'll look for this during the next battle I test.

[Miserere]

May I say I am a complete idiot? My concern was based on the fact that I never saw the wagons move next to any of their brigades on the front line, and never saw those engaged units suffer a penalty to their fire combat in the combat reports, which considered together led me to believe they weren't being resupplied. I thought I had read that supply wagons had to be adjacent to a unit to resupply it, but I discovered during a battle last night that resupply can happen over several hexes in many cases. I wish I had known that earlier, as I have lost some wagons by moving them up to resupply units in trouble!
 
And I also saw last night that a couple of the Union brigades had their fire effect reduced specifically for being out of supply, so that does indeed confirm that AI units use and require supply. All is well.
 
Thanks again for a truly wonderful game.