Supply... what am I missing?

[cdvalenta]

Hi everyone -

Let me say up front that this seems like a game that I would really enjoy and this is not a knock on the game. I have played the tutorials and seem to understand the mechanics of the game. I have read the "Supply system for newbies" thread and understand how it works. My question is this -

How do you guys play the game so that it does not start to feel like an exercise in accounting each turn when managing supply? It seems like I have to break out spreadsheets and calculators to make sure every unit gets enough supply.

Are there any tips to make the game seem less like crunching numbers each turn? What am I missing?

[Lunaticus_matrixforum]

I am sure you will enjoy the game, although it might take a little bit longer to get into than a beer&pretzel game I find it much more rewarding.

As to your question: It would be possible to play the game the way you describe but I do not think it would be much fun. In most cases it is enough to have 1 (or 2) "Supply Dump" HQ who get most of the supply production assigned and then automatically distribute to the lower lever HQ. Then it mostly suffices to check for the Supply Dump HQ how much supply it got, how much it sent out and how much is left. Then I think I have a good understanding if my supply production is adequate or not.
Of course there are special cases to consider like isolated units, whole fronts which need their own supply or ships who come into port and deplete all your supplies if you do not micromange these. Playing the West in WaW takes a lot of special attention to your supply.
But for most situations I think working with supply dumps works without too much effort...
Enjoy.

[Joshuatree]

Well maybe this supply system needs to be adressed in a sequel because every new player had troubles understanding the mechanics of it. I know that once you master it, it all makes sense, but the learning curve is quite steep IMO.
The way I do it is ensuring I produce enough, and add then a little extra for the upgrades/winter effects/increasing supply demand/ and so on. I check every few turns or so if I still have enough, then raise supply production a notch or two. I usually make the Supreme HQ the supply dump, untill that doesn't work anymore (too great a distance, or when island hopping) then I make one or two other HQ also supply dumps. Just set a few newly conquered cities to produce the goods you want, plus the supply you want for that HQ (add a little extra so you can upgrade still when that HQ is cut off from your Supreme HQ).
No need for spreadsheets or, heaven forbid, calculators.
After you've played a few games you get the hang of it, really. You just *know* when your army needs more supply, usually that starts to rise when you start using tracked vehicles and planes, footsoldiers and horses can live of the land so to speak... almost that is. And you also start using up more supply when you have the majority of you army on the move, that does make sense doesn't it? Trucks, tanks and planes all on the move tend to guzzle up huge amounts of supply.

[cdvalenta]

I am seeing a trend here... the HQ supply dump. I think maybe I was over thinking things and I was making like a supply tree with many levels of supply. I am going to try this new philosophy tonight and try putting away the calculator. Thanks for the responses. The game seems really cool, it is just this one aspect I am having trouble with that keeps me from really enjoying.

Anybody else have any suggestions?

[Twotribes]

Pay attention to distance. As your forces m ove farther away from the main headquarters create an intermediate hqs assigned to SUpreme with all the fighting Headquarters attached this will double the range you can use the Supreme Hqs from.

[explorer2]

Just pay close attention to the column that says "Real" for your "supply dump" HQ.
I ALWAYS want it to have a positive number there, meaning there's some excess.
And remember winters can be VERY hard. I like to try to have double the needs of non-winter turns in storage before the FIRST winter turn begins. I have seen sometimes needing even triple non-winter supply needs.

Supply was incredibly hard for me to learn also, and I know there's some things I still don't understand.
Looks like you're on your way to overcoming the learning curve though.

Have fun.

[Widell]

Also, not sure if you checked the sticky on supplies out: tm.asp?m=1723339 Good read, and very explanatory.

[Zaratoughda]

The key thing... at least in the random games.... is to use your supreme HQ as a supply dump. There are variations of this but this is essentially what you need. Then, each turn check how much supply your supreme HQ has and if it is getting low they allocate more towns or villages to supply your supreme HQ. The 500 point villages are good for this (and not much else except PP).

Remember if you have a turn where your supreme HQ does not have enough supply... big deal..... typically all your units have 2 turns supply so if they don't get all the supply they requested in a given turn they will not be affected. You just don't want this to go on multiple turns consecutivly as then your units will start to become affected. Also, if you do not have enough supply one turn then the units will request what they didn't get on the following turn.

Also remember that if you build ships, they will want 20-30 turns of supply at the start... so you want to allocate enough in production to take care of this.

If you want to get into more specifics there is the production overview and the supreme HQ and also the specific supply forcaster chart.

In any case.... with this supply management gets to be pretty straightforward. Mostly a matter of looking at how much supply your supreme HQ has each turn and allocating enough villages and towns to have enough. Yeah, good to build up a bit of a surplus.

Zaratoughda

[cdvalenta]

Thanks again to everyone. This is exactly the type of info I was looking for. Real practical tips from the players. As I said before I was really overthinking things and making it way more complicated than it needed to be. You guys give good tips! I played a small random game last night and this morning and it is like I am playing a new game.

The game is really great and I knew I would enjoy it once I got supply down.

Thanks again!

[Widell]

You're welcome. The AT crowd is a very helpful one, and I think I speak for all of us when I say "glad to hear you like the game". You can also have a look at tm.asp?m=1866376 which is the epic WWII battle between George and Seille over Russia. Not only is it a great read, but you learn lots and lots of what, and what not, to do in AT.

[Jxai]

I pray the supply system is never changed.  Although difficult to learn, it is the most transparent and manipulable supply system I've ever used and it makes managing logistics enjoyable - this coming from a guy who hates micromanagement.
 
First post, nice to meet y'all.

[Barthheart]

ORIGINAL: Jxai

I pray the supply system is never changed.  Although difficult to learn, it is the most transparent and manipulable supply system I've ever used and it makes managing logistics enjoyable - this coming from a guy who hates micromanagement.

First post, nice to meet y'all.

Welcome to the game and the forum.

Could not agree more about the supply system.