The Joy of Digging or How Best to utilze Construct SUs

[PeteJC]

I have been at this great game since it first came out. I have never given all that much thought to how best use all of the construction support units. Originally, I just spread them out two to a corps and the remainder to the Army HQs. Recently I have been spending the AP and assigning them to depot hexes so as to repair railyards as quickly as possibly (I am assuming they speed up repair). However, I wonder if the construction unit is helpful when the corps advances 5 hexes past the city it is assigned to, and they are then out of command radius. If so, I am thinking of assigning just 1 to the corps and more to the Army HQs. What other uses are there for these units? Do they help when building up defensive lines as Germans to hang in there during the first winter. If so, how - just leave them to the corps HQ, assign to cities/towns on the line??

[Lovenought]

I'd love to know more about this too. When I leave them all in higher command (like STAVKA), many of them are sitting unused. But when I assign them to low level commands, I don't seem to see them helping build entrenchments or anything.

[Stamb]

From a manual.
20.2.2
Any ground elements in the unit that are not engineer or construction types have their construction value divided by five when adjacent to an enemy unit.
...
Keeping with the same example, the division reports to the XIII Corps and that has 2 Construction battalions attached. These can be used to support the construction of fortifications by any unit in the same command.



I might be doing it wrong, but this is how I am using my construction SU. Axis side.

If I want to speed up railyard repairment I do NOT use priority repair for 1 AP as AI can ignore this directive and not attach any construction SU. Thus this 1 AP is wasted. I assign construction workers by myself. It cost same 1 AP for 1 construction SU.

Also I assign SU to a corps HQ whose divisions are going to dig in fortification levels above 1. Because of that statement from a manual "Keeping with the same example, the division reports to the XIII Corps and that has 2 Construction battalions attached. These can be used to support the construction of fortifications by any unit in the same command." I assign construction units to a corps HQ in a ratio of 1:1 to a divisions that report to that HQ. If I have 4 divisions under HQ, at least 4 construction units are assigned to this HQ. So in theory each division can get assist from one construction unit if everything aligns . But you have to check what construction units are doing on the next turn. Some might be send to a cities or depots to repair things and more construction units are needed in that HQ

[Gunnulf]

2-3 at axis corps level or 4-6 at soviet army is what I usually use for helping units dig in, roughly one per 2 divisions. I don't usually bother with more at Front level but sometimes a couple at Axis army too. Everything else waiting at high command which will sometimes use them for free to fix cities. If I assign to help repair cities for AP, which is quite often, I usually use start with the spares at OKH/stavka first. Don't use the ones assigned to lower HQ unless running low. But if you did assign one from a corps to a city it shouldn't matter if they are outside 5 hexes, they are doing their own assignment now and don't need the boss to tell them how to fix a railyard.

[PeteJC]

I also assign them specifically and do use repair priority. I play the grand campaign as German against the AI so I will start with 3 at each Army nothing at the corps and all the extras at OKH. When I assign them to cities, I will use teh OKH ones and then hope the army construction units get randomly used by the AI.

If I haven't won by the victory point check on turn 16 then they will all go down to corps level. A little earlier if it is obvious around turn 13 or 14 that I am not going to get the 700 points.