Reinforcement, throughput help

[HermanGraf]

(edit - I could not figure out how to include the save, error every time)

My units are just not replenishing from their supply and replacement stocks.. I have no idea why and its very frustrating. I've been reading and reading but I just cannot seem to fully grasp why certain units off the front and sitting in depot centers are not replenishing, and sometimes getting negative #s in their (replacement -XXX (freight) screen).

A few guesses which you may be able to answer before you load up my save

1. I have heavily invested in the Eastern front (stable up until current year Jan 1944). I am constantly refitting units, withdrawing and sending them to rebuild in Berlin, and sending newly formed units to the East. The payoff is never really worrying about the steamroller. The negative, I am assuming the eastern front gets priority and since I am consistently refitting units in the East the priority of replacements, tanks, supplies, fuel goes there?

2. I have lost 43k+ vehicles (no idea how)... Perhaps my units away from the depots cutting their teeth in Italy do not have the trucks to get supplied?
However, my production screen reads:
Vehicle: (Capacity) 529 (no damage) - (Pool) 83k+ - (Built) 156k
Vehicle Repair: 101k (Pool) - 282l (Built)

3. Interdiction is not strong with the AI, it was, but they have lost 13k planes since 1943 and its starting to let up a bit (no idea if 13k is a lot or a little at this point vs AI).

4. The freight and rail lines are all green going toward my Italian front where I need my reinforcements the most.

5. Italy could be choked? I have quite a few units there. However, there are units in France that are out of supply and not receiving replacements. New divisions that come in with a TOE or 45 or so stay that way for a few turns..

Thanks in advance!

[loki100]

one way to get a save up is to use wetransfer - its free and there is no download to your PC. It'll give you a url that anyone can use (for a week) to access the file.

Truck losses actually sound ok, in my PBEM I've destroyed 14,000 German trucks in 11 turns. This will get worse in the autumn/winter as while allied interdiction will ease up there will be more attrition for getting supply. Key is how well your front line depots (ie the attached railyards function).

One issue, its a bit opaque (most of the details of the logistics system are) but replacements are the last thing sent. So remaining rail cap (after any unit moves in your turn) is used first for freight (which is supply/ammo/fuel on receipt). Its not impossible that this leaves very little rail cap (remember rail cap in this sense is how many trains you have not the per hex value) left over.

If so, and this sounds unintuitive. Drop your corps supply priority to say #2, that will stop them demanding so much freight and leave more for replacements. You really have to do this on quiet sectors.

In general refit+being on a depot with spare capacity is needed - this will rarely happen near to an active front line. Even the allies in France may have to send a unit back 10+ hexes so it can absorb replacements.

[HermanGraf]

Save

Does that work?

I have a few div behind the line refitting.. VERRRRYYYY slowly

[LiquidSky]

Replacements are freight. So in order to receive replacements, a unit needs to be in the logistic network...so needs freight from a depot.

Replacements include manpower. You need manpower in your pool. Quite often by late 1944 you will run out of manpower.

You also need armaments, but that is rarely an issue.

Looking at your save game I click the gear button to bring up the production screen. I click on Germany in the top right corner. Hmm..it looks like you have a bit of manpower in your Active pool (you can change the pool on the very bottom right from Active/Transit/All)

Your depots in Italy near the front have freight. And trucks.

Your Supply priority is 3 for Army Group C and 1 for the OB West and AGB...so it should get replacements first.

I set it to 4...which also sets all the Army HQ's attached to 4....which then sets all the Corp HQ's attached to 4.

I ran the turn and the PGDiv in Rome got a lot of replacements. The stuff around Berlin got a bit. The stuff in France got none.

[LiquidSky]

You can get manpower by disbanding units. You can also get a lot of trucks into your pool by disbanding motorized stuff.

Since replacements are freight, it is good to park guys who are repairing on/adjacent to depot hexes.

You also want higher priorities/supply levels in your HQ's and depots. Each level is like an extra draw step...so a level 4 priority will get more then a level 3....and so on. And it will take supply/fuel over replacements first on the early draw steps.

A good way to look at it is start a campaign game...set OKW to 4 which sets all HQ's to 4. Notice how your units on the map fill up. (like the garrison values as CV goes up as well as the units get stronger).

Try it again with all HQ's set at 3....and they will not be as strong.

[cfulbright]

Did you put the save file into a Zip file before trying to upload it?

Cary

[Searry]

The best way to refit is to have an extra hq laying around a national supply source with the highest priority. Then always have the refitting units attached to the HQ while sitting on the national source.

[cfulbright]

For support units and brigades that can be on-map or support, the best thing I've found is to put UK Homes Forces on Sheffield, SHAEF on Birmingham (both national supply sources), and reassign the support units back to one of them for refit.

Cary

[HermanGraf]

Thank you, looks like parking them on national supplies like Frankfurt or Berlin obviously helps with refit. But the suggestion of setting Army Group C to priority 4 really helped, one of my panzer divisions is up to 96 TOE now from 45. Still seems to take a while to refit other units though, but guess that makes sense.

[loki100]

ORIGINAL: LiquidSky



Replacements are freight. So in order to receive replacements, a unit needs to be in the logistic network...so needs freight from a depot.

...

just to pick up on this as it is important. The answer is 'yes, but ..' What we know from testing is that replacements are only sent if their is still spare transport capacity, so if you are at the end of a relatively stressed network you may still get reasonable supply/ammo but won't get replacements.

ORIGINAL: cfulbright

For support units and brigades that can be on-map or support, the best thing I've found is to put UK Homes Forces on Sheffield, SHAEF on Birmingham (both national supply sources), and reassign the support units back to one of them for refit.

Cary

never tried this as I find anywhere in the UK works well. I just make sure the big commands are on a depot with decent rail capacity but find any unit sent back to the UK recovers very quickly (as long as you have the assets in the pool).

[cfulbright]

[/quote]
never tried this as I find anywhere in the UK works well. I just make sure the big commands are on a depot with decent rail capacity but find any unit sent back to the UK recovers very quickly (as long as you have the assets in the pool).

[/quote]
Hi Loki,

For many Allied support units like US tank or engineer battalions, it's the only way to get them back to full-strength.

Cary

[loki100]

apols - wasn't clear, my comment was about locating to Sheffield/Birmingham since I find that refit works well in most of England.

Now as an aside, the idea of a bunch of senior officers and associated civil servants being relocated out of London does seem rather a good idea [;)]. Virtually every UK Defense Review for the last 50 years recommends this and amazingly the entire bureaucracy stays in London