Use of construction brigades and battalions?

[Fänrik Stål]

I'm trying the Road to Leningrad scenario for the first time, now it's turn 16 and the Soviets are actually forcing me to retreat in some areas. I feel one of my big problems is supply, and the biggest issue I have is that rails aren't being repaired fast enough. I understand how to use the brigade that I can control manually, no problem there. My question is if anyone could share their ideas on how to get the ones that the AI runs to perform optimally? Should I just stick them in the various army HQs and hope for the best?

TIA

[htuna]

Yeah they all go off and do those lil 'side' lines, which is useless to the player... Is it better to send them back to the HQ and hope that maybe they reappear on a Main line to the front?

[ComradeP]

Returning them to their HQ basically only has downsides as they won't repair a hex during that turn. Getting the rail lines operational is tricky with just 1 or 2 FBD units, as you can only repair a single main rail line manually. At an impressive speed due to the lowered repair cost in the Baltic states, but still.

[htuna]

I guess it's just more frustrating in the smaller scenarios, because time is limited and your Mechanized groups run out of supplies quickly, so while you try to run your FDB's as quickly as possible down the direct path, it bugs one to see the Automated onces doing side lines to nowhere..

[Fänrik Stål]

In my game they were faffing about in Kurland while my troops where dying along the Volkhov. I think they need to work in a more useful way.
I tried putting a few of them under army HQs closer to the front which helped a little, but it's still pretty random and mostly useless, at least in the short term.
Shouldn't it be possible to get them to favour the lines leading to the front a little more?

[ComradeP]

They'll repair rail hexes within the command range of their HQ, so keeping them in units with a small command range (corps) should mean the hexes closer to the front also get repaired, although I'm not sure how the AI decides which units assist in fort construction and which units assist with rail repair.

As an aside: what battle/who does the painting in your avatar depict?

[XAAL.]

Don't forget to take Tallinn ASAP, so your troops can be supplied directly by sea when approaching leningrad.

[ool]

Comrade P I would like some clarification on construction and RR brigades from the Soviet point of view. Specifically in the unit assign/form option. Can you form these units when there isn't enough components to fully flesh out these units? Can you form them and then have them remain in a unready state as over time they would be fleshed out as the labour squads become available? I think you have to be able to have 100% of the components in order to from but I have always had this thought about this option bugging me. Thanks in advance for your reply.

[ComradeP]

All support units are formed as shells as the Soviets, they'll try to fill up in the next logistics phase. They're always refitting, so most manpower requirement only (anything without guns or AFV's) support unit types should be full strength after that. If you don't have enough guns or AFV's to fill units using those up, they'll just remain understrength, but you can still form them. There's no prerequisite for forming a support unit aside from the type being available at the time and having at least 1 AP left during the turn.

[Fänrik Stål]

I'll try the scenario again and put some construction battalions in my army and corps HQs from the beginning, see if that helps. Thanks for the responses. [:)]

ORIGINAL: ComradeP
As an aside: what battle/who does the painting in your avatar depict?

It's a painting of an event in the book "The tales of Ensign [Sw.: Fänrik] Stål" by Finland-Swedish author J.L. Runeberg. The book is a collection of poems about the war between Sweden and Russia in 1808-09, the scene is the brave but simple-minded soldier Sven Dufva who single handedly defended a bridge and didn't let the Russians cross.

[Fänrik Stål]

ORIGINAL: XAAL.

Don't forget to take Tallinn ASAP, so your troops can be supplied directly by sea when approaching leningrad.

Is it possible to just repair the rails starting from Tallinn?

[XAAL.]

I tried to repair railroads from Tallinn, but it doesn't seem possible, unfortunately.
Nevertheless, taking Tallinn shortens supply lines.

ORIGINAL: Fänrik Stål
Is it possible to just repair the rails starting from Tallinn?

[ComradeP]

It's a painting of an event in the book "The tales of Ensign [Sw.: Fänrik] Stål" by Finland-Swedish author J.L. Runeberg. The book is a collection of poems about the war between Sweden and Russia in 1808-09, the scene is the brave but simple-minded soldier Sven Dufva who single handedly defended a bridge and didn't let the Russians cross.

Thanks for the information. The painting has the look of a heroic last stand.

-

Ports do seem to count as a railhead as far as repair distances (the number of hexes a rail hex you want to repair can be from the nearest functional rail hex in order to be repairable) are concerned.

[Mehring]

Not that I object entirely, as the overall speed of rail conversion in both zones is probably much faster than historical, but I notice that sometimes an FBD with plenty of movement points left will not repair its rail hex. Is this intentional?

[ComradeP]

That shouldn't be happening. If it has 1 (Baltic zone pre-December 1941) or 3 (the rest) MP's left, it should be able to repair the hex it's sitting on.

[karonagames]

As long as it's not more than 4 hexes from a rail head (6 in the Baltic).

[Mehring]

OK, there's definitely a bug then. I'm mostly playing a server mp game atm. Can you save these games onto pc so I can in send a file next time I notice it?

[karonagames]

The other thing that might cause it, is a break in the line caused by partisans further back down the line. If you press "r" and see green cicles with dashes, then this indicates damage.

[Mehring]

Unlikely as it happens often after several hexes have been converted that turn on the same stretch of line. Possible though, if the conversion takes the FBD more than 4/6 hexes from the line cut. I'll have a look when it next happens. Are all partisan cuts notified in the battle report?

[karonagames]

The attacks are, but the amount of damage they do isn't, but the "r" report shows the % damage in each hex.