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RE: Understanding Supply

Posted: Sat Dec 05, 2020 3:42 am
by mdsmall
Bill - please bear with me for one more supply question. How do the new HQ Supply Distribution Values, which you listed at the top of this thread, square with the Minimum Supply Values for HQs, as explained in section 7.25.6 of the Game Manual? If the latter take precedence over the former, any HQ at zero supply which has a strength of 7 or higher will have a minimum supply value that is higher than the new HQ Supply Distribution Value of 3. The same is true for partial strength HQs at supply levels 1, 2 or 3. Can you clarify how these two different rules now work together?

Michael

RE: Understanding Supply

Posted: Sat Dec 05, 2020 6:00 pm
by Hubert Cater
ORIGINAL: mdsmall

Hubert - thanks for testing this. I repeated my HotSeat experiment a second time and after a few turns I found that the Soviet unit at zero supply on hex 205, 50 started to suffer from attrition. So, assumed the result I reported earlier was the result an odd run of chance.

However, after doing more HotSeat tests to study other supply effects, it seems that attrition kicks in if a unit is at zero supply regardless of whether is adjacent to two enemy units or not, or if those units are at supply level 5 or not. Also, once attrition starts, units seem to suffer from attrition loss every turn until the unit is lost, even when adjacent enemy units move away. This is not what I expected based on the explanation in Section 7.28.2 in the Game Manual. Have the attrition settings been changed in a patch since the Manual was published?

Michael

Yes and I've updated the second post at the top of this thread, look at number 6) for a more detailed explanation.

1) Essentially units out on their own at zero supply will suffer attrition regardless of adjacent enemy units, but only if not adjacent to a friendly supply hex. This is just to give the unit a chance to get back into supply, e.g. it is out of supply, but not way out on the map somewhere out of supply.

2) Those that are not out on their own somewhere on the map, but adjacent to enemy units, and at zero supply, can suffer attrition losses, but only if adjacent to an enemy front line ZoC unit such as an Army, and at a rate of a 50% chance of 1 strength point loss per adjacent unit up to 2 units, e.g. you need at least 2 units but only up to 2 units will have an effect or in other words at most 2 strength points.

My guess as to why some of your units did not suffer a strength point loss was that it wasn't adjacent to enough front line ZoC units or it didn't get any hits at the 50% chance. If this is the case the regular 0 supply attrition rule should have taken at least 1 strength point, but perhaps the Soviet unit was adjacent to a friendly supply hex.

RE: Understanding Supply

Posted: Sat Dec 05, 2020 6:05 pm
by Hubert Cater
ORIGINAL: mdsmall

Bill - please bear with me for one more supply question. How do the new HQ Supply Distribution Values, which you listed at the top of this thread, square with the Minimum Supply Values for HQs, as explained in section 7.25.6 of the Game Manual? If the latter take precedence over the former, any HQ at zero supply which has a strength of 7 or higher will have a minimum supply value that is higher than the new HQ Supply Distribution Value of 3. The same is true for partial strength HQs at supply levels 1, 2 or 3. Can you clarify how these two different rules now work together?

Michael

For this one I would also just take what is currently written above in Post #2 as gospel here as to the current supply rules and how it works with HQs. I've added a Logistics section, 5), that covers some additional minimum distribution value information for HQs as well.

RE: Understanding Supply

Posted: Sat Dec 05, 2020 7:51 pm
by Hubert Cater
ORIGINAL: mdsmall

Hi Bill - I have been thinking through the implications of your reply above in terms of the mechanics of the overall game. It does not exactly square with section 7.12.2 in the Manual on Industrial Centers which says "These act as a primary supply source providing supply up to their maximum strength value according their Resource type (usually 10) even if they are cutoff from the Capital". St. John's, since it is located on an island, is always cut-off from both its (minor) Capital in Ottawa or the nearest Major Capitals in London or Washington. Yet it is obviously is not serving as a primary source of supply. I wondered if this was because St. John's is an Industrial Center that belongs to a Minor power.

Yes, it is because it belongs to a Minor power. Another way to consider this is that Primary and Industrial for Majors provide maximum supply, usually 10, but for Minors, when they are disconnected from a Major Primary supply source, they pretty much act as a typical Major power Secondary source of supply does, e.g. it maxes out at the usual 5.

It is the same reason why Canada, even though it has a Primary supply source in Ottawa, maxes out at 5 until the US joins and it is then connected to Washington D.C.

This is why Ottawa jumps to 10 once the US joins, because the connection now to Washington D.C. takes precedence for supply, but also why St. John's remains at 5 as it still disconnected. Because it is disconnected, and because it is a Minor Industrial source, that gives it its max value of 5, e.g. otherwise it would be considered fully disconnected and drop to 3 instead.
So, using Hotseat with the Case Blue campaign, I tested out cutting off from supply the only other Industrial Center belonging to a Minor that I could find on the map - Kalamata in southern Greece. In this campaign, Kalamata is an Axis occupied town connected by rail to Athens (its minor Capital) and back to Berlin and has a supply level of 6. I found that if I landed British units on the isthmus of Corinth (hex 191, 108) and cut the rail line this had no effect on its supply, which remained at 6 (and did not drop to 5 as I expected). This is not what happens when other Axis occupied towns are cut-off from a rail connection back to Berlin. So, I guessed this was due to it being an Industrial Center which was serving as its own primary source of supply. However, I was surprised to see that if British units also occupied all the land hexes on the mainland of Greece north of Kalamata, cutting off all overland routes back to Berlin, it drops to supply level 3 (consistent with the last bullet under the supply connection rules under 7.14).

Also, playing around with this scenario, I found that if I cut-off Athens (a city which is a minor Capital) both by rail and by land from the rest of the Axis, it still maintained its supply level of 8. Unlike Kalamata, its supply does not drop to 3 when cut-off by land. Even placing a naval unit against its port has no effect on its supply level. To double-check this result, I then used amphibious invasion to land a British unit in Denmark on hex 167, 68 cutting off the only land connection from occupied Copenhagen back to the rest of the Axis. Same thing - its supply level remained at 8 and did not change, even though it has no land connection at all to a friendly Major's Capital, Industrial Center or Primary Supply Source.

So, can you explain in terms of the rules why Kalamata retains a supply level of 6, even when its rail line is cut back to Berlin, while St. John's stays at 5. And can you explain why these two minor Capitals, even though both were completely cut-off by land, remain at their original supply levels for an occupied city, namely 8? The reason why I am keen to understand these specific cases is to fully understand how the supply connection rules work in practice.

I'd have to see screen shots to better understand and possibly explain these as it gets a bit tricky with occupied resources and whether it is a fully occupied and surrendered location, e.g. Greece is surrendered, or just partially occupied and so on. This is also because of the occupational efficiency factor that is applied to any occupied and surrendered locations and whether it is fully connected by rail to Berlin which would take precedence as the Major supply source, and/or whether there is a territorial connection as well, e.g. connected by friendly path of hexes but not necessarily via rail.

Hubert

RE: Understanding Supply

Posted: Sat Dec 05, 2020 8:11 pm
by mdsmall
Hi Hubert - ok,that all makes sense now. Thanks for updating and elaborating on the info at the top of the thread. You are right that the one Soviet unit that was not suffering attrition every turn was adjacent to a hex which had 1 supply point (from an HQ), so the automatic attrition rule did not apply.

I get how Logistics tech raises the Minimum Supply Value of HQs. However, I am still puzzled by how the rule in 7.25.6 on HQs Minimum Supply Values relate to the rules on HQ boosting. Section 7.25.6 says that a 10 strength HQ in zero supply would have a Minimum Supply Value of 5. If that is the case, then two full strength HQs in a chain would never have a Final Supply Distribution Value of less than 8, regardless of their initial supply values. Is that correct?

RE: Understanding Supply

Posted: Sat Dec 05, 2020 9:23 pm
by mdsmall
ORIGINAL: Hubert Cater
ORIGINAL: mdsmall

Also, playing around with this scenario, I found that if I cut-off Athens (a city which is a minor Capital) both by rail and by land from the rest of the Axis, it still maintained its supply level of 8. Unlike Kalamata, its supply does not drop to 3 when cut-off by land. Even placing a naval unit against its port has no effect on its supply level. To double-check this result, I then used amphibious invasion to land a British unit in Denmark on hex 167, 68 cutting off the only land connection from occupied Copenhagen back to the rest of the Axis. Same thing - its supply level remained at 8 and did not change, even though it has no land connection at all to a friendly Major's Capital, Industrial Center or Primary Supply Source.

So, can you explain in terms of the rules why Kalamata retains a supply level of 6, even when its rail line is cut back to Berlin, while St. John's stays at 5. And can you explain why these two minor Capitals, even though both were completely cut-off by land, remain at their original supply levels for an occupied city, namely 8? The reason why I am keen to understand these specific cases is to fully understand how the supply connection rules work in practice.

I'd have to see screen shots to better understand and possibly explain these as it gets a bit tricky with occupied resources and whether it is a fully occupied and surrendered location, e.g. Greece is surrendered, or just partially occupied and so on. This is also because of the occupational efficiency factor that is applied to any occupied and surrendered locations and whether it is fully connected by rail to Berlin which would take precedence as the Major supply source, and/or whether there is a territorial connection as well, e.g. connected by friendly path of hexes but not necessarily via rail.

Hubert

Hi Hubert - ok, I understand the situation with St. John's, although I think it will require an amendment to the rules to explain the special case of supply connections for Primary Supply Centers and Industrial Centers of Minor Powers.

I am still very puzzled by the other cases I cited above of Kalamata (an occupied Industrial Center) and Athens and Copenhagen (both occupied Minor Capitals). I don't think occupational efficiency has any bearing on what I am observing - all these centers are showing the right supply levels taking occupational efficiency for their respective countries into account. What is puzzling is that they do not drop in supply when cut-off by enemy invasions as the rules would lead me to expect. In the case of Kalamata, if cut-off by rail from Berlin, it stays at 6, when I think it should drop to 5. If cut-off entirely by land, then it drops to 3, as it should. In the case of Athens and Copenhagen, they do not drop in supply value at all, even when they are completely cut-off by land from Berlin (which is easy to do, as both have only one hex land connections to the rest of Europe).

Since I am working from the Case Blue campaign, both Greece and Denmark have surrendered and are completely occupied. However, I have also tried testing this out in the Soviet Union, which of course has not surrendered. If I take Stalingrad (a Major City which is also an Industrial Center) with Axis units and then cut-it off with Soviet units, it behaves like Kalamata - i.e. it keeps its occupied supply level of 7 even when its rail connections are cut, but drops to 3 when fully surrounded by Soviet units. In contrast a regular occupied Soviet city like Kharkov drops to 5 when its rail connections to Berlin are cut and then 3 when fully surrounded. So an occupied Industrial Center has some additional staying power in terms of supply, but not as much as a friendly Major's Industrial Center which keeps its full supply level even when completely surrounded. What really puzzles me are the cut-off Minor Capitals I described above.

I am sorry but I don't know how to take a screen shot on a PC and then paste into a post on this Forum. (I have tried various times on the PC laptop I borrow to play Strategic Command and I can't make it work. If you can give me step by step advice, I will be happy to try again). But if you test it out yourself, using Allied units and amphibious movement to cut-off these resources in Greece and Denmark, you will see what I am talking about. I have repeated the test a couple of times and the results do not change.

Grateful if you or Bill could clarify what is going on here.

Cheers,

Michael



RE: Understanding Supply

Posted: Sun Dec 06, 2020 2:58 pm
by Hubert Cater
ORIGINAL: mdsmall

Hi Hubert - ok,that all makes sense now. Thanks for updating and elaborating on the info at the top of the thread. You are right that the one Soviet unit that was not suffering attrition every turn was adjacent to a hex which had 1 supply point (from an HQ), so the automatic attrition rule did not apply.

I get how Logistics tech raises the Minimum Supply Value of HQs. However, I am still puzzled by how the rule in 7.25.6 on HQs Minimum Supply Values relate to the rules on HQ boosting. Section 7.25.6 says that a 10 strength HQ in zero supply would have a Minimum Supply Value of 5. If that is the case, then two full strength HQs in a chain would never have a Final Supply Distribution Value of less than 8, regardless of their initial supply values. Is that correct?

As mentioned the Manual may not be as up to date as the latest notes linked to above. For example, if you look at the following from my post above, minimum distribution supply value for an HQ that is at 0 supply is now 3 instead of 5.

e.g.:

2) HQ distribution supply:
a) HQ supply = 0 will have a distribution supply value of 3 (previously it was 5).

For the second part on chaining/linking, what is key to remember here is that HQ 'supply' and HQ 'distribution supply' are two different things.

Therefore, an HQ that is at 0 supply cannot boost another HQ, e.g. even if its distribution supply is at 3 (previously 5). It is the supply value that the HQ is at that matters when considering a possible boost to another HQ.

This part is covered here:

3) HQ boosting can only be achieved if the first HQ has a supply value > 0.

Hope this makes sense,
Hubert

RE: Understanding Supply

Posted: Sun Dec 06, 2020 4:12 pm
by mdsmall
ORIGINAL: Hubert Cater

As mentioned the Manual may not be as up to date as the latest notes linked to above. For example, if you look at the following from my post above, minimum distribution supply value for an HQ that is at 0 supply is now 3 instead of 5.

e.g.:

2) HQ distribution supply:
a) HQ supply = 0 will have a distribution supply value of 3 (previously it was 5).

For the second part on chaining/linking, what is key to remember here is that HQ 'supply' and HQ 'distribution supply' are two different things.

Therefore, an HQ that is at 0 supply cannot boost another HQ, e.g. even if its distribution supply is at 3 (previously 5). It is the supply value that the HQ is at that matters when considering a possible boost to another HQ.

This part is covered here:

3) HQ boosting can only be achieved if the first HQ has a supply value > 0.

Hope this makes sense,
Hubert

Hi Hubert - This does makes sense as far as chaining HQs goes. What I am trying to understand is how they apply to section 7.25.6 in the Manual which covers the "Minimum Supply Value" of HQs at below full strength. If I take those rules as still valid and combine them with the revised rules on supply distribution that you have spelled out at the top of this thread, what I come up with is that there are a number of circumstances where HQs can have a higher Minimum Supply Value than their Distribution Supply Value.

For example, this would happen if a HQ with a strength of 10 is receiving zero supply. In this case, it would have a Minimum Supply Value of 5 (which would apply only to itself) and a Distribution Supply Value of 3 (which it could provide to other units). Or, when a HQ with a strength of 7 is receiving a supply of 2. Its Minimum Supply Value would be 6 (according to the table in the Manual) but its Distribution Supply Value would be 5.

Logistics Tech applies to raising the minimum Distribution Supply of HQs. So, if a 10 strength HQ receiving zero supply has a Logistic Tech of 5, its Minimum Supply Value will be 5 (as per the case above) but its Distribution Supply Value will also be 5, due to the benefit of Logistics Tech.

Is my understanding of how to apply these rules as spelled out here correct?

Michael

RE: Understanding Supply

Posted: Mon Dec 07, 2020 12:29 am
by Hubert Cater
ORIGINAL: mdsmall

Hi Hubert - This does makes sense as far as chaining HQs goes. What I am trying to understand is how they apply to section 7.25.6 in the Manual which covers the "Minimum Supply Value" of HQs at below full strength. If I take those rules as still valid and combine them with the revised rules on supply distribution that you have spelled out at the top of this thread, what I come up with is that there are a number of circumstances where HQs can have a higher Minimum Supply Value than their Distribution Supply Value.

For example, this would happen if a HQ with a strength of 10 is receiving zero supply. In this case, it would have a Minimum Supply Value of 5 (which would apply only to itself) and a Distribution Supply Value of 3 (which it could provide to other units). Or, when a HQ with a strength of 7 is receiving a supply of 2. Its Minimum Supply Value would be 6 (according to the table in the Manual) but its Distribution Supply Value would be 5.

I added another section to my notes above, section 8. I think the confusion with respect to the table in section 7.25.6 is that it should read 'Distribution Supply'. It also was just a quick look up table to the following formula:

New Supply Distribution Value = Old Supply Distribution Supply Value * HQ Strength / 10

This formula here still applies, but the values in that table would now change according to the new 'distribution' supply values outlines above in my second post, then factored with this formula relative to the HQ strength.

So to clarify using your example here, an HQ with a strength of 10 receiving zero supply, receives zero supply but would have a 'distribution' supply value of 3, as based on the rule above in section 2a).

Hopefully this makes sense?
Logistics Tech applies to raising the minimum Distribution Supply of HQs. So, if a 10 strength HQ receiving zero supply has a Logistic Tech of 5, its Minimum Supply Value will be 5 (as per the case above) but its Distribution Supply Value will also be 5, due to the benefit of Logistics Tech.

Not quite, it just means that no matter what the distribution level for an HQ would have been calculated to be, as based on the formulas outlined in my post #2 in this thread, if it were below 5, but the Logistics Level is at 5, then the distribution value for an HQ would then be 5.

Essentially the current Logistics level guarantees a minimum level of distribution for an HQ, e.g. if the regular formula puts the distribution level below the logistics level.

RE: Understanding Supply

Posted: Mon Dec 07, 2020 12:49 am
by mdsmall

[/quote]

I added another section to my notes above, section 8. I think the confusion with respect to the table in section 7.25.6 is that it should read 'Distribution Supply'. It also was just a quick look up table to the following formula:

New Supply Distribution Value = Old Supply Distribution Supply Value * HQ Strength / 10

This formula here still applies, but the values in that table would now change according to the new 'distribution' supply values outlines above in my second post, then factored with this formula relative to the HQ strength.

So to clarify using your example here, an HQ with a strength of 10 receiving zero supply, receives zero supply but would have a 'distribution' supply value of 3, as based on the rule above in section 2a).

Hopefully this makes sense?

[/quote]

Hi Hubert - ok, all that makes sense now. The simple formula you have provided above is a big improvement over the complexity of section 7.25.6 in the Manual, so happy to scratch all that and take your note above as gospel. Also, the role Logistics Tech plays in guaranteeing a minimum Distribution Supply makes sense too.

I am grateful for your patience in sorting this out for me (and the patience of anyone else still following this thread). Now, if you can clarify the other tangle of issues I have posted regarding the supply levels for cut-off Minor Capitals and captured Industrial Centers, it would be great!

Cheers,

Michael

RE: Understanding Supply

Posted: Mon Dec 07, 2020 2:01 pm
by Hubert Cater
Our pleasure Michael, and that formula is also found in the Manual under section 7.25.5, but probably gets lost in the details there once the tables show up in 7.25.6. Also as the rules have changed a bit since the original release it can certainly then get even more confusing when referencing the Manual. We try our best to not change too much and to keep things up to date, but as the game progresses some changes are inevitable to ensure optimal game play.

RE: Understanding Supply

Posted: Mon Dec 07, 2020 2:05 pm
by Hubert Cater
For the specific resource supply questions you've noted above in this thread, I needed some time to go through it all.

It looks like there is a bit of a bug in that once those primary/industrial sources of occupied Minors are cut off from a Major primary source of supply, they are not correctly dropping back to 5 as you would have expected when they were rail cut. They are however dropping to 3 when fully cut off.

This will be fixed in a future patch, but not likely until a patch for after the holidays.

RE: Understanding Supply

Posted: Mon Dec 07, 2020 4:58 pm
by mdsmall
Thanks, Hubert. Something to think about in a future patch is simply eliminating Industrial Centers and Primary Supply Centers in Minor Powers altogether, so that there is no need for a rule to cover them as special cases. In the War in Europe game, there are no Primary Supply Centers outside the Major Powers (Ottawa is a Minor Capital, not a Primary Supply Source). And as I noted above, the only two Industrial Centers in Minors that I could find are St. John's and Kalamata. I have a specific suggestion regarding St. John's which I will make in a separate thread. As for Kalamata, it seems an anomaly to me that it is an Industrial Center - I find it hard to imagine many circumstances when the controlling player would want to build a Greek unit there if it was cut off from Athens. It would be simpler just to make it a Secondary Supply Center. I have briefly looked at the WW1 game and World at War maps and could not find other examples of Industrial Centers or Primary Supply Centers in other Minors in those games, so this might be an easy tweak to make across all three games.

RE: Understanding Supply

Posted: Mon Dec 07, 2020 5:39 pm
by mdsmall
In the spirit of PvtBenjamin's suggestion which started this thread, I have been working for a while on my own effort to rewrite the rules governing supply and supply connections in way that takes into account all of the changes made in recent patches, plus the clarifications offered by Hubert and Bill in this Forum, including at the top of this thread. This rewrite is not/not meant to change any of the rules - it is just another way of explaining them in way that might be easier to follow for players who want to see all the supply rules one place. I do not try to cover all the effects of supply in these notes, or other aspects of the game rules (such as production and reinforcement of units) which are interspersed in the Game Manual with the supply rules. I have spelled out some of the implications of the supply rules that are not fully explained in the Game Manual and have included a few explanatory comments that I think might help players. I have tried to avoid using terminology from the Manual that I found confusing (such as the distinction between resources and Key Resources) and in some places have used my own terms in lower case that I think help explain the meaning of the rules.

My preference would have been to post these notes as an attachment but since that does not seem possible, I will paste them below as a single, very long post. No doubt there are corrections and improvements that could be made to these notes. All comments would be very welcome.

Michael

RE: Understanding Supply

Posted: Mon Dec 07, 2020 5:58 pm
by mdsmall
Notes on Supply Sources and Supply Connections (updated to reflect changes in version 1.19)

(covering Game Manual Sections 5.13, 7.11 - 7.14, 7.25.2 - 7.25.9, 7.26)

General

1. Supply is a fundamental factor in the game. Supply affects units' combat effectiveness, Action Points, capacity for Operational Movement, reinforcement levels, vulnerability to desertion and attrition, as well as the cost to National Morale if they are destroyed and the cost in MPPs if they are then rebuilt. The supply levels of towns, cities and ports determines where units can be built and up to what level they can be reinforced and if units can use Operational movement though them.

2. Land, air and naval units all need supply. Most of the following rules apply specifically to land units. For the differences in the rules rules governing supply for air and naval units, see the relevant section below.

3. Supply for both players is calculated at the end of each turn. You can check the supply potentially available to your land units in every hex at the start of your turn by pressing the S key. If you press the S key again, it will recalculate what your supply would be in each hex next turn, taking into account any moves you have made so far and any automatic increases in the level of friendly supply sources.

4. Land units have three potential sources of supply: urban resource hexes; ports; or HQ units. Often land units can trace a supply line to more than one of these sources. A unit's supply level is determined by the highest value supply source which it can reach through a line of supply.

5. A line of supply is a line of contiguous friendly controlled hexes between a unit and a supply source. Enemy zones of control do not cut supply lines, but enemy controlled hexes do.

6. Each supply source has a supply range which depends on its current supply level and the number of Action Points required to move from the source to the units being supplied. Terrain costs thus can reduce the supply available to land units. If a supply line can be traced over a road hexside, it will negate the terrain effects of that hex (unless it is an unpaved road in Mud conditions).

7. An urban resource, a port or a HQ can supply an unlimited number of friendly land units within supply range. (There are different rules for air units - see below).

Supply from Urban Resources

8. The following are the maximum supply levels available from the following friendly controlled urban resources:

a) Major Cities: 12
b) Cities, Fortresses and Fortified Towns: 10
c) Towns and Settlements: 8

9. Urban resources that have been captured from the enemy have their maximum supply levels reduced by an Occupational Efficiency factor. In the default campaign, this factor is set at 80% for every country except the Soviet Union, which is set at 60%. This gives the following maximums for occupied urban resources:

a) Major Cities: 10 (rest of the world); 7 (Soviet Union)
b) Cities, Fortresses and Fortified Towns: 8 (rest of the world); 6 (Soviet Union)
c) Towns and Settlements: 6 (rest of the world); 5 (Soviet Union)

10. An urban resource will only provide its maximum supply if it is connected by an unbroken line of friendly controlled rail hexes of any length to one of the following: a friendly Major's Capital, Industrial Center or Primary Supply Center. The rail line cannot pass through any urban resources with a supply level of less than 5.

11. The supply level available from any urban resource will be reduced to a maximum of 5 if any of the following conditions apply:

a) if it can trace a supply line over friendly controlled land hexes but not by rail to a friendly Major's Capital, Industrial Center or Primary Supply Center;
b) if it can only trace a supply line (by rail or land) to a Secondary Supply Center;
c) if it can only trace a supply line (by rail or land) to a Minor Capital;

12. If an urban resource is completely cut off by land from any of the above supply sources, its maximum supply level will be 3. This can happen if it is cut off from a supply source by enemy controlled or neutral hexes or by water hexes.

13. If the factors reducing the maximum supply of an urban resource no longer apply (e.g. if it has a rail link to a friendly Major Capital restored) the resource will increase its supply by 1 point a turn until it reaches its maximum. (This is the same rate as an urban resource will recover from attrition due to adjacent enemy units, combat damage or scorched earth effects).

Supply from Ports

14. Ports can also provide supply to land units. Since land units cannot occupy port hexes, a port's supply range starts from the friendly controlled land hexes adjacent to the port (which usually, but not always, includes an urban resource). Thus, a level 10 port provides level 10 supply to units in the adjacent land hexes, diminishing to zero over its supply range, just like an urban resource.

15. Port hexes provide supply to land units up to their maximum level provided that a supply line can be traced by rail from the port hex to a friendly Major Capital, Industrial Center or Primary Supply Center. The maximum level for Major Ports with such a rail connection is 12 and for regular Ports it is 10.

16. Major Ports and regular Ports that do not have a connection by rail to one the above friendly Major supply sources have their maximum level reduced to 5. (This is the reason why ports in Scandinavia, on islands in the Mediterranean, in North Africa, the Middle East and Canada all start the game at level 5).

17. Ports that have had their maximum level reduced by adjacent enemy units, combat damage or scorched earth will recover at the same rate as urban resources i.e. 1 point per turn.

18. Occupied ports will have their port levels reduced by the same Occupational Efficiency factor that applies to Urban Resources in that country.

19. The presence of an enemy naval or land unit adjacent to a port will block all supply to friendly land units from that port.

Supply from HQs

20. HQ units are also a source of supply. HQs take the supply they receive from their nearest supply source and then distribute it at a higher level to other units in their supply range. This supply distribution feature of HQs makes them especially valuable when your units are operating at or beyond the range of supply from friendly urban resources or ports.

21: You can see these two different supply values for an HQ if you click on it. The HQ's incoming supply level is listed first, followed in brackets by its supply distribution level. Thus, if a HQ unit has a supply of "5 (8)", its incoming supply is 5 and the supply it distributes is 8.

22. The maximum supply that a HQ distributes to other units depends on the strength of the HQ and its incoming supply. Full strength HQs distribute supply according to the following scale:

Incoming supply: 0 Distributed supply: 3
Incoming supply: 1 or 2 Distributed supply: 5
Incoming supply: 3 or 4 Distributed supply: 6
Incoming supply: 5 Distributed supply: 8
Incoming supply 6 up Distributed supply: 10

23. Under certain conditions, one HQ can boost the supply distributed by a second HQ that is within its supply range. Only two HQs can be linked this way to form a supply chain. Within a chain, the HQ with the lower command rating boosts the supply distributed by the higher rated HQ. (If you click on the HQ receiving a boost, the HQ providing the boost will be highlighted in yellow.) Supply boosting between two HQs applies:

a) If the first HQ has an incoming supply of 1 or 2 and the second HQ has an incoming supply of less than 3, then the second HQ will have its supply boosted to 5(6).

b) If the first HQ has an incoming supply 3 or more and the second HQ has an incoming supply of less than 5, then the second HQ will have its supply boosted to 5(8).

24. HQs increase the minimum level of supply they distribute with each increment of Logistics tech, regardless of their incoming supply or their strength. Thus, a HQ with Level 5 in Logistics Tech will always distribute at least level 5 supply to other units, even at partial strength and with an incoming supply of zero.

Supply for Air Units

25. Air units can receive supply from urban resources and ports just like land units. However, to receive supply from a HQ, an air unit must be attached to it. Air units which are not attached to a HQ that is in range are indicated by a red hatch beneath the unit. Air units which could receive a higher level of supply if attached to a different HQ in range are indicated by a purple hatch beneath the unit. Unattached air units, especially in low supply areas, can find themselves much less effective in combat than attached air units.

Supply for Naval Units

26. Naval supply is calculated differently from supply for land or air units. Naval units can only receive supply from friendly ports. Unlike land or air units, the amount of supply received by naval units does not depend on the strength of the port - a naval unit will be resupplied to level 10 by ending its turn on any friendly port. Ports can project supply to naval units at sea for a supply range of 10, with the value of the supply received diminishing by 1 for each hex distance from the port. If naval units move out of range of a friendly port their supply levels will not drop (unlike land or air units). However, naval units will have their supply reduced by 1 point per turn if they move using naval cruise or they raid a convoy route. They will also lose 1 supply point per combat they engage in, whether in attack or defense. The exception to this rule is regular Amphibious Transports (but not Long-Range Transports) which will have their supply reduced by 1 point for each turn that they are at sea.

Supply for Amphibious Landings

27. All units (except HQs) making an Amphibious landing disembark at the current supply level +1 of their respective Transports. HQs disembark with an incoming supply level of 5 plus their current Amphibious Warfare tech level. After their first turn ashore, all units (except HQs and Special Forces) must find a local source of supply or their supply will drop to zero. If they are disembarked with a HQ, it can serve as a friendly supply source for up to 5 turns, at a diminishing rate of 2 supply points per turn. Special Forces also retain their own supply after disembarking, at a diminishing rate of at 2 supply points per turn.

RE: Understanding Supply

Posted: Mon Dec 07, 2020 11:01 pm
by Elessar2
Just reiterating my request that the HQ boost from the Logistics tech be mentioned in the in-game text on the investment screen.

RE: Understanding Supply

Posted: Tue Dec 08, 2020 1:01 am
by Tanaka
ORIGINAL: Elessar2

Just reiterating my request that the HQ boost from the Logistics tech be mentioned in the in-game text on the investment screen.

Agreed!

RE: Understanding Supply

Posted: Tue Dec 08, 2020 5:52 am
by BPINisBACK
What, what?
Explain that, please. [&o]

RE: Understanding Supply

Posted: Tue Dec 08, 2020 7:36 am
by The Land
Great post mdsmall! Very clear.

Just one thing:
17. Occupied ports will have their port levels reduced by the same Occupational Efficiency factor that applies to Urban Resources in that country.

Is this the case? Overseas Ports seem to end up at Supply 5 even when captured. this suggests the only thing at play is not having a rail link to a capital (etc) - no additional penalty is applied for being occupied.

RE: Understanding Supply

Posted: Tue Dec 08, 2020 12:14 pm
by mdsmall
ORIGINAL: The Land

Great post mdsmall! Very clear.

Just one thing:
17. Occupied ports will have their port levels reduced by the same Occupational Efficiency factor that applies to Urban Resources in that country.

Is this the case? Overseas Ports seem to end up at Supply 5 even when captured. this suggests the only thing at play is not having a rail link to a capital (etc) - no additional penalty is applied for being occupied.

Hi - glad you liked the post! It is the case - this is what I think explains what you are seeing. All regular ports have an underlying value of 10. Occupied ports have the Occupational Efficiency factor is applied first and then reduction in their maximum to 5 for not having a rail link to a friendly Major Capital etc. The same sequence applies to occupied overseas ports as to occupied ports on the mainland of Europe.

This is why if the Axis captures Leningrad and establishes a rail link from Berlin through Finland to Norway, the Norwegian ports on a rail line, like Oslo, rise to 8, while those Norwegian ports not on a rail line, like Kristiansand, remain at 5. The same thing would happen if the Axis occupies Egypt and the Middle East and then brings Turkey into the war on the Axis side. The occupied Egyptian ports on a rail line, like Alexandria, would rise to 8.