New to the game questions

[Speedysteve]

Hi All,

Just starting out my first play in the Arracourt scenario.

There's still a tonne I need to get my head around but a couple of questions that spring to mind:

1.) HQ's - what specific bonus do they give to the troops under their command? Is there a hex range they need to be in to benefit?

2.) Still getting used to how best to maximise combat success but a few questions on it: do you typically conduct bombardment/indirect attacks before following up with direct attacks OR do you direct attack and assign the artillery to assist in that attack? IS there a benefit to attacking a hex from multiple sides?

3.) The truck symbols on the road (in the attachment) - I assume they reflect road congestion?

Many thanks

[Speedysteve]

It feels like ranged attacks are the way to go as they cause more damage it seems?

[Speedysteve]

What does the 'Trucks Column' card do exactly? Provides replacements trucks to a unit?

[JacquesDeLalaing]

ORIGINAL: Speedysteve

1.) HQ's - what specific bonus do they give to the troops under their command? Is there a hex range they need to be in to benefit?

HQs/generals are important for 2 reasons:
1) You can use them to play command cards (each general has his own deck of cards, stats and command point rate)
2) Generic combat bonus: The combat bonus a unit gets from their HQ is a direct bonus on both its offensive and defensive striking power (off/def atk) and vulnerability/defence (hitpoints). So this can be very powerfull!

The calculation of the bonus is rather complicated but doesn't really need to bother you because it is listed for you in the officer tab (Combat bonus XX%). Just be aware of two things:

1) A unit needs to be within 5 hexes of its HQ to receive the full bonus. Beyond that, the bonus is reduced step by step. (you can turn "HQ Power Range" on in PREFS/Map to get an overlay).
2) Don't assign too many units to a single HQ. Keep an eye on the "Stf:Trp ratio" (Staff vs. Troops Ratio). If you assign too many units to the HQ, the ratio will fall below 1 and the combat bonus will suffer.

3.) The truck symbols on the road (in the attachment) - I assume they reflect road congestion?

Yes. Here is how congestion works:

You can check the status of road links between hexes in the detailed hex information tooltip. In the lower part of the tooltip, you will find two lines of values, labeled: "traffic points" and "max traffic points". The first indicates how many traffic points have already been used. The latter indicates how many traffic points the link can take (depending on the type of road). The values that follow correspond to the links to the neighbouring hexes like this: north, north east, south east, south, south west, north west.

A unit that is moved along a road link generates traffic points (unit weight *5).
Supply that is moved along a road link generates traffic points (0.1 per supply point, 0.3 per fuel point).
(Air strikes also generate traffic points)

As soon as the traffic points exceed the road capacity, a yellow truck symbol will show up. The positive effect of the road on movement speed (AP expenditure) is now reduced(both for troops and supply). Once traffic points exceed the road limit times four, the effect of the road is negated completely (which means units and supply use the ordinary movement costs of the target hex). As supply can only travel 100 AP from a supply source before the first malus sets in, clogged roads are a problem for supply.

At the start of each turn, traffic points in all road links are cut into half (thus a big traffic jam might take some time to resolve).

[Speedysteve]

Fantastic. Appreciate the response[:)]

Do Officer Command Cards replenish/are they different each turn? Just noticed them now[:D] Doing ok so far in Arracourt though and on track for a minor Axis Victory against Normal AI mode.

Loving the feel and flow to the game[&o]

[JacquesDeLalaing]

ORIGINAL: Speedysteve

Fantastic. Appreciate the response[:)]

Do Officer Command Cards replenish/are they different each turn? Just noticed them now[:D] Doing ok so far in Arracourt though and on track for a minor Axis Victory against Normal AI mode.

Loving the feel and flow to the game[&o]

- Each general has a deck of cards. You can click on a generals' picture (in the officer tab) to see some more info and his deck of cards.
- Each general can play 1 card per turn. If you play one, all cards disappear for the remainder of the turn. They will all be available in the next turn again (you can play the same card in consecutive turns).
- Playing command cards costs command points. Each general has a fixed rate of command point income.
- The stats of the general (audacity/resilience/intuition, etc.) modify the strength of the cards' effects (check the tooltips and pay attention to the color code of the cards and stats).
- Also note that the cards' effects are also reduced if the targeted unit is too far away (100% only if within 5 hexes of the general, as mentioned above...)

[Jagger2002]

2) Don't assign too many units to a single HQ. Keep an eye on the "Stf:Trp ratio" (Staff vs. Troops Ratio). If you assign too many units to the HQ, the ratio will fall below 1 and the combat bonus will suffer.

And this is the reason you don't want your HQ taking casualties. As you lose staff troops, your Stf:Trp ratio goes down. If your Stf:Trp ratio gets too low, your HQ morale and combat bonuses to the fighting troops also go down. HQs should not be in the thick of the battle. See section 4.7 in the manual.

[milesjb]

What is the significance of the different colors?

[Rosseau]

Generally, in this game, it goes from green, to yellow, to blue, to red, with red being a problem.

(This is a great thread, and it seriously warms my heart to see a lovely person with 20 posts helping a person with 15,850 posts! If Matrix had "awards" like Steam does, I'd go nuts honoring JacquesDeLalaing.)

But now, back to the business of learning this great game...

[JacquesDeLalaing]

ORIGINAL: Speedysteve
2.) Still getting used to how best to maximise combat success but a few questions on it: do you typically conduct bombardment/indirect attacks before following up with direct attacks OR do you direct attack and assign the artillery to assist in that attack? IS there a benefit to attacking a hex from multiple sides?

I'm not entirely sure about this one. A few things to consider:

1) In fact I try to "actively" use my artillery as little as possible and rely on intercept fire instead. Offensive bombardments (ranged attack orders you give yourself during your turn) will deplete all the APs of the artillery unit and cost lots of ammo. Also, any enemy you target proftis from his entrenchment. By contrast, intercept fire saves ammo and the enemy does not receive his entrenchment bonus. Also, artillery intercept fire seems to lead to more kill hits? And intercept fire also interrupts your opponent's moves (loss of AP), potentially getting him stuck in open terrain. Note that certain conditions need to be met in order to trigger intercept fire (recon on the target hex, the arty unit needs 40 AP, high readiness, and - for the Germans - needs to be quite close)

2) Aggressively bombarding an enemy position before an attack might serve 3 purposes:
a) The enemy's unit will lose AP if effectively bombarded. If you bring it below 40 AP (you never know for certain...!), it can no longer intercept fire, which might allow you to approach your attack force more safely.
b) Reduce the entrenchment of the enemy to make him easier to attack for your follow-up attack. If you land pinned hits on elements, they lose entrenchment (it could be -50% or -50, the manual is unclear). However, there seems to be a limit on the loss of entrenchment (the manual mentions the loss is capped at -0.3; unsure if this is refering to the start of the turn or just before the fire action...)
c) Knock out vital combat assets: This usually only works if the enemy is not dug in and not in cover. I sometimes hit the AI's units in the open with my artillery to knock out their AT-guns, then I attack (or just fire) with my tanks.

3) I sometimes also consider to use my artillery AFTER I have pushed him from his position. This can get really nasty. Once retreated, the enemy loses all his cover and is usually in open terrain.

SIDENOTE: From my observations so far, it seems as if elements capable of indirect fire don't lose their accumulated entrenchment when you let them fire. By contrast, direct fire elements do lose their accumulated entrenchment (fall back to the automatic entrenchment value of the terrain) AFTER the ranged fire action.

--------------

Regarding your other question: Yes, there is a bonus for attacking from multiple sides. For a coordinated attack from 2 hexes, you get +10% (on off/def Attack), for 3 hexes, it's +30% if I remember correctly. You get the idea. But remember that attacking with too many units is not efficient (Attack malus sets in once three elements have attacked a single enemy element) and wastes AP/readiness and supplies.

[JacquesDeLalaing]

ORIGINAL: Rosseau

(This is a great thread, and it seriously warms my heart to see a lovely person with 20 posts helping a person with 15,850 posts! If Matrix had "awards" like Steam does, I'd go nuts honoring JacquesDeLalaing.)

Oh I'm not a complete newbie. It's just that I'm active in other forums and in other games. I'm not a fan of the high operational-strategical scale, so the earlier Decisive Campaigns titles didn't spark my interest that much. With Ardennes, it's different.
I play a lot of John Tiller games, Command Ops 2, etc.

[JacquesDeLalaing]

ORIGINAL: Jagger2002

2) Don't assign too many units to a single HQ. Keep an eye on the "Stf:Trp ratio" (Staff vs. Troops Ratio). If you assign too many units to the HQ, the ratio will fall below 1 and the combat bonus will suffer.

And this is the reason you don't want your HQ taking casualties. As you lose staff troops, your Stf:Trp ratio goes down. If your Stf:Trp ratio gets too low, your HQ morale and combat bonuses to the fighting troops also go down. HQs should not be in the thick of the battle. See section 4.7 in the manual.

Very good point indeed! If you lose staff elements/points, the staff-troops ratio will deteriorate. If it falls below 1, your HQ-combat bonus will suffer.

However, in rare cases the loss of staff might take the heat off an otherwise overburdened general (officer-staff ratio).

[pedro0930]

ORIGINAL: Speedysteve

It feels like ranged attacks are the way to go as they cause more damage it seems?

Range attack suffers from a whole slew of possible penalty ranging from terrain, recon, and weapon penalty (most direct fire guns are weaker doing range attack than direct attack). In good condition, with enough guns, range attack can do significant damage, true.

ORIGINAL: Speedysteve

What does the 'Trucks Column' card do exactly? Provides replacements trucks to a unit?

It gives you a unit that consists of around 60 heavy trucks, capable of transporting around 1200 soldiers, so maybe 2-4 battalions, depending on the size of the unit. You can of course use their trucks to replace losses if you wish.