Trying to Wrap my Arms Around Logistics

[carlkay58]

Bamilus - there is another depot strategy which may work and that is creating 'pulses' by setting everything to '4' which will grab freight at every depot and then reset the rear ones back down to '1' the next turn so then everything will be sent on. I will note that this is a theory and I have not yet tried it - although I keep planning to try it. There is a large surge in throughput when I go back and prioritize them after having them all at '4'. It may be that you should keep them all at 4 for more than just one turn and possibly at 1 for more than one turn too to increase it. This is a test I probably should start pretty soon in my AAR.

[Bamilus]

That's a good point. I didn't run a pulse like that intentionally, but I noticed that I could free up the stored freight from the back depots at 4 by moving them down to 1. However, after that I never turned them back to 4 but I'll try that. Please post your results too!

[loki100]

ORIGINAL: carlkay58

Bamilus - there is another depot strategy which may work and that is creating 'pulses' by setting everything to '4' which will grab freight at every depot and then reset the rear ones back down to '1' the next turn so then everything will be sent on. I will note that this is a theory and I have not yet tried it - although I keep planning to try it. There is a large surge in throughput when I go back and prioritize them after having them all at '4'. It may be that you should keep them all at 4 for more than just one turn and possibly at 1 for more than one turn too to increase it. This is a test I probably should start pretty soon in my AAR.

this works - see my AAR where I use it around super-depots. I set one up, let it fill, leave the HQ (for processing capacity) and move the FBD on, the freight then tumbles into the advanced depots. Best done in connection with a large rail yard if you can.

For the Soviets 1943+ this trick is absolutely critical. Set up the pattern and then once the front has moved, break the super-depots and you can keep a surprising amount close to the front. Really helps where you have high demand or poor infrastructure (such as in Hungary)

[loudscott]

1 - freight can move 200 rail hexes in a turn if there is no congestion, as congestion builds its range reduces. As in the player's notes, think of this as each tonne of freight is given 200 SMP and off it trots to its intended destination.

the 30 hex rule (this one) simply says that in determining how many units/tonnes of freight get 200 SMP to play with depends on how many level 2 railyards in 30 hexes still have unused capacity

Loki, I'm just getting back into this game and I know this is an ancient thread but as I'm re-reading this I am very confused by the above statement that "each ton of freight is given 200 SMP" when 25.4.3 clearly says freight has unlimited SMP's. Can you help me here?

Thanks in advance

[loki100]

aye, its one of those things were what actually happens is tricky.

In effect you have unlimited freight at the NSS, the amount that can be sent is constrained by distance and rail cap (so for Germany all the level 2 rail yards west of say Warsaw). This gives 000 MP that is used to push out the freight. So its Feb 1945, the Soviets are in Germany proper, you can effectively forget all the issues around logistics, just set your depots to #4 as distance is minimal.

Having said that, each ## of freight is also constrained to only 200 hexes of distance. It then finds a depot at that limit and settles down. Hence all the stuff about intermediate depots, set to pri #4 and so on. If its not consumed at that advanced depot then its eligible for another 200 hexes (subject to the rail cap/volume/distance constraints) in the next turn

[loudscott]

Thanks, tricky is right

[loki100]

Best way to think of it is as a system with multiple constraints. Which is the critical one shifts according to circumstances.

So in most situations, those that stem from demand and storage capacity are secondary but there are times when that side has to become your focus.

In terms of supply, the usual big constraint is that your railyards around the NSS generate xxxx rail cap and that is used up both in volume and distance (with the two interacting - longer distance/lower volume etc). Now how you set up the depots and their priorities (and unit demand) can have the effect of minimising that in one sector and letting others worsen, or you can go for 'not quite enough anywhere'. But while the basic equation is rail cap --- vol/distance, each individual unit of freight is also capped at 200 hexes (in effect that is as far as a 'train' can travel in the week). That one is rarely the big constraint but it can come into play.

So the idea of secondary depot clusters based at and around big railyards can really help. You can get more freight to Minsk than say Rzhev due the volume/distance concept. If Minsk is set up as a holding depot, it won't interfere with freight that can move directly further east but will grab freight that can't go beyond Minsk. In turn freight at Minsk can move further east when released than anything coming from Berlin.

My view has always been its not a system you can over-analyse. There are a lot of variables, including random bits added in to reflect less than stellar management, accidents or low level partisan/air interaction. But if you get the basics reasonably nailed down, most of the time it will work as well as it can. In my last game I had a major set of battles east of Grozny and with the best part of a Pzr Army never ran into supply problems - I could keep my mobile units >30 MP etc. What stalled me in the end was my opponent's ability to generate fresh formations on that sector far outweighed my ability to commit anything more or to destroy enough ... especially once he could deploy rifle corps with some ease

[jonreb31]

My biggest "Hail Mary", "Aha!", or "Wow, I'm a terrible general" moment was when I figured out how important it is to capture Railyards for my own supply needs, while also depriving my enemy. These hexes provide the largest possible depot potential and inject new locomotives into the system.

I spent one campaign being lazy about capturing Odessa figuring it would be a waste to put my forward divisions into siege mode for a backwater city that would eventually fall. I had no idea I was depriving myself of essential trains.

So now I more aggressively target the big cities that have these, like Minsk, Smolensk, and Kiev, but they're also scattered around smaller hexes (Example: Genichesk at the entrance of the Crimean Peninsula) so I go after these little nuggets with a vengeance.