Campaign For North Africa 40D-43

[Olorin]

ORIGINAL: warspite1

ORIGINAL: Olorin

It means that so far you have already spent 5/10 of your turn.
So, current round is 6.

warspite1

Ah. I knew that (as per previous posts) but I thought there may have been something different as I didn't recall seeing grey dots before the yellow previously. That's good news anyway as it means I haven't misunderstood what I thought I knew I knew (sorry we're into Runsfeld territory!) [;)].

This reminded me of Bernard Woolley, the private secretary of Her Majesty's Minister Mr Hacker who secured a place in the history books by gallantly defending the British Sausage against Continental Imperialism. [:)]

[Cfant]

Can you show your supply situation? Some of your units... we'll, they won't have a really good dinner tonight, I guess

[warspite1]

Turn 2
14th December 1940

Anybody care to hazard a clue as to what this all means!?!?

I can see that the supply is highest on the coast road - I have a supply unit just off that road - I guess it is wasted there. What do the Blue and Red things mean?

[Curtis Lemay]

ORIGINAL: warspite1

Turn 2
14th December 1940

Anybody care to hazard a clue as to what this all means!?!?

I can see that the supply is highest on the coast road - I have a supply unit just off that road - I guess it is wasted there. What do the Blue and Red things mean?

Red: Red side supply only.

Blue: Blue side supply only.

No color: Both sides supply.

Numbers pertain to the phasing side only.

[warspite1]

Supply

Supply Lines: As a general case, in order to receive resupply, units must be able to trace a Line of Communication back to a friendly Supply Source. If the unit cannot trace this Line, its Supply Level will drop by an amount equal to the number of half days in a Turn. Such units are marked as Unsupplied. They will also be subject to isolation effects in combat.

Supply Source: For the British there are a number of these at the extreme right of the map

Lines of Communication (LoC): An LoC is a path from one location to another. LoC are blocked by enemy units, non-Road Badlands terrain, non-Road Dunes terrain, or terrain that cannot be entered by a normal Land unit. A unit without an LoC is marked as Unsupplied


Plus see post 91 for two additional Supply Sources

[warspite1]

Supply (Cont)

The distribution of supply can be viewed via the Supply Button on the Control Panel. Under this view each supplied location will have a supply marker with a number on it. The colours of the markers tell which side can trace to the location: Red markers mean only the Red Side (Allies) can trace; Blue markers mean only the Blue Side (Axis) can trace; And Gold markers mean both sides can trace.

The number in the marker is the location supply for that hex for the current side. (If blue i.e. less than 5, then these locations are Overextended. The number is the base value all units in that hex will use to calculate the supply they will receive in their next supply replenishment phase.

Overextended Supply State: A supply state between Supplied and Unsupplied. Stops units from continuing to press on indefinitely at red unit-supply conditions. Units in this state will have to slow down enough to keep their unit supply levels above their desertion levels – or wither away. A unit is Overextended if it has an LOC less than 5 in this scenario. Overextended units receive supply normally. However, they suffer desertion losses as if they were Unsupplied. Overextended units only receive replacements if they are not suffering desertions (their unit supply level is above (100 – unit proficiency)).

[warspite1]

Supply (Cont)

Unit Supply: Each unit has its own Supply Level, which is a percentage value reflecting the unit’s own internal Supply stockpile (food, bullets, gasoline, etc.). These supplies are actually in the hands of the troops, available for immediate use. A unit’s Supply Level strongly affects its Capabilities. Each unit expends Supplies as it acts to follow orders. When necessary, units draw new Supplies from their Force Supply stockpile, through their Formation supply system. Units may begin a Scenario with a level greater than 150%, but Supply Levels may not be increased above 150% during the course of a Scenario. Any oversupplied unit (with a Supply Level greater than 100%) will lose its excess supplies if it moves. (For this purpose, participation in combat is not considered movement.) Unit readiness is limited to no more than the unit’s Supply Level or the minimum Readiness (33%), whichever is higher.

Supply Level (from the scenario documentation): Commonwealth supply levels increase significantly over the course of the campaign. They start at 40, increase to 52 on turn 51, and finally rise to 78 on turn 173.

Force Supply Stockpile: Each Force has a Supply Stockpile Level. This Level generally remains constant, but can vary in some Scenarios. It represents supplies available for distribution to units through Formation Supply systems.

Formation supply: Each Formation has a Supply Distribution Efficiency, which is a percentage value reflecting the Formation’s ability to distribute supplies from the Force Stockpile to units in the Formation. This value is set for each Formation in a Scenario, and actually means different things for different types of Formations. It takes into account everything from dedicated organic transport capability to the mindset of the troops responsible for getting the goodies to the troops.

[warspite1]

Supply Units – Increases the Supply Level in each supplied location that can trace a path no longer than the Supply Radius to the Supply unit. Additionally, Supply units multiply supply distribution to adjacent Cooperative units by 1.5. There is no effect on Unsupplied locations.

Force Supply Radius: The default Force Supply Radius is four hexes, but can vary from zero to 100, depending on Scenario design. This is 25 for this scenario (see later post by Curtis Lemay).

[Curtis Lemay]

ORIGINAL: warspite1

Supply

Supply Lines: As a general case, in order to receive resupply, units must be able to trace a Line of Communication back to a friendly Supply Source. If the unit cannot trace this Line, its Supply Level will drop by an amount equal to the number of half days in a Turn. Such units are marked as Unsupplied. They will also be subject to isolation effects in combat.

Supply Source: For the British there are a number of these at the extreme right of the map

Lines of Communication (LoC): An LoC is a path from one location to another. LoC are blocked by enemy units, non-Road Badlands terrain, non-Road Dunes terrain, or terrain that cannot be entered by a normal Land unit. A unit without an LoC is marked as Unsupplied

When you're looking for your supply sources it's best to turn the units invisible. You have supply sources in Alexandria and Mersa Matruh. You also have rail lines that run from Mersa Matruh to Alexandria and all over the Delta and down the Nile, etc. Each location on a rail line that traces back, unbroken, to a supply point is a supply source.

[Curtis Lemay]

ORIGINAL: warspite1

Force Supply Radius: The default Force Supply Radius is four hexes, but can vary from zero to 100, depending on Scenario design. There is nothing in the documentation so presumably it is four for this scenario. [/i]

The supply radius is shown in the Expanded Situation Report. It is 25 for this scenario.

[warspite1]

Additional two supply sources that were obscured by units.

[warspite1]

Well that was a lot of words - although somewhat condensed from the manual - and what I hope is a logical order. However even having put to paper this summary I still don't feel I really understand the complexity - maths not being my strongpoint.....

For such technical points I really think a few worked examples could have been included in the manual.

For example: Although I now understand how supply gets to a unit and (subject to below, what blocks it) I still don't really understand the detail of the calculation for supply to any given unit. So for the Commonwealth the Supply Level starts at 40, but how does this number relate to the number in the supply marker and the Formation Supply Distribution Efficiency? Does anyone really know!?

In Post 83 there is a British unit seemingly cut off but it does not (from what I can tell) appear to be Unsupplied. Why is this?

[Curtis Lemay]

ORIGINAL: warspite1

For example: Although I now understand how supply gets to a unit and (subject to below, what blocks it) I still don't really understand the detail of the calculation for supply to any given unit. So for the Commonwealth the Supply Level starts at 40, but how does this number relate to the number in the supply marker and the Formation Supply Distribution Efficiency? Does anyone really know!?

9.1.7.3 in the manual explains supply lines under New Supply. The formula is shown as:

1.10 / (1.375 ^ (Supply Distance / Supply Radius))

And there is a plot that shows how that formula decays with distance.

The Formation Supply Distribution Efficiency factor is just a scalar applied to the final value.

In Post 83 there is a British unit seemingly cut off but it does not (from what I can tell) appear to be Unsupplied. Why is this?

Because it is not cut off. It still has a line-of-communication. (A very long line-of-communication, but it has one).

Only impassable terrain, enemy units, or enemy ZOCs block lines-of-communication. Friendly units cancel enemy ZOC they occupy.

[warspite1]

ORIGINAL: Curtis Lemay

In Post 83 there is a British unit seemingly cut off but it does not (from what I can tell) appear to be Unsupplied. Why is this?

Because it is not cut off. It still has a line-of-communication. (A very long line-of-communication, but it has one).

Only impassable terrain, enemy units, or enemy ZOCs block lines-of-communication. Friendly units cancel enemy ZOC they occupy.

warspite1

Thanks. Mmmm - a classic case of reading something (LoC) but then seeing what I think intuitively is the case and so overriding what I've read!

Looking at the picture below, that unit has to be cut off - but reading LoC again then I can see (if not entirely understand the rationale) of why it isn't.

I searched Zone of Control and ZoC in the manual and the documentation and there were no examples of the former and 7 of the latter - none of these seemed to tell me what the definition of a Zone of Control is in the manual, while neither term appears in the documentation.

Lines of Communication (LoC): An LoC is a path from one location to another. LoC are blocked by enemy units, non-Road Badlands terrain, non-Road Dunes terrain, or terrain that cannot be entered by a normal Land unit. A unit without an LoC is marked as Unsupplied (Note the manual states the marker is black, but it appears to be orange and black in a circle - see post 143).

Possession: Flags – Territorial ownership is indicated on the Map by national flags

So I was thinking Possession = Control and therefore this unit is cut-off.


What is the Zone of Control of a unit?

[warspite1]

ORIGINAL: Curtis Lemay

ORIGINAL: warspite1

For example: Although I now understand how supply gets to a unit and (subject to below, what blocks it) I still don't really understand the detail of the calculation for supply to any given unit. So for the Commonwealth the Supply Level starts at 40, but how does this number relate to the number in the supply marker and the Formation Supply Distribution Efficiency? Does anyone really know!?

9.1.7.3 in the manual explains supply lines under New Supply. The formula is shown as:

1.10 / (1.375 ^ (Supply Distance / Supply Radius))

And there is a plot that shows how that formula decays with distance.

The Formation Supply Distribution Efficiency factor is just a scalar applied to the final value.

warspite1

Right so this is too hurried reading of the manual and/or trying to read from a screen. I'd read the supply section and then ignored anything beyond 9.1.7.2 Old Supply Rules as I'd stupidly assumed that was it.

I hope this supply section of the AAR is helpful to people, although having seen the explanation in 9.1.7.3 and noted the formula, I think that this is something I personally will probably need to gloss over. It will be a case of understanding the general concept but no more. That formula sadly is way above my pay grade. As I say, it would be nice if, in the manual they produced a worked example for so complicated (to me at least) a formula.

I did wonder why some units on the road and next to a supply unit were not back at 100% supply. The following extract from 9.1.7.3 seems to be the reason why:

Note that this will mean that very dense locations will likely suffer some supply reduction due to added movement costs of that density condition (stacking limits, however, will not block supply).

[Olorin]

In practical terms, your units on the improved road along the coast will resupply by about 10 points each turn.
Hex supply up there is ~25, the Formation Supply is generally ~60%, if a unit has moved in the previous turn its resupply is reduced by 33%. So:

25*0.6*0.67 = 10

If a unit has a friendly HQ adjacent to it, it will receive a resupply bonus of 50%. Plus, if it hasn't moved in the previous turn it will receive:
25*0.6*1.5 = 22

I think. [:D]

[loki100]

as ever your AARs are a great read and very informative.

Does add to my long held suspicion that TOAW (in all its incarnations) is a bit of a marmite game in terms of how people respond to it.

To me, all this just seems a too complex way of doing something, what ought to be clear in the manual/players notes etc is roughly 'here are the supply dynamics and problems' and 'here are the tools you have to mitigate the situation'.

[Curtis Lemay]

ORIGINAL: warspite1

So I was thinking Possession = Control and therefore this unit is cut-off.

A common misunderstanding of new TOAW players. Possession does NOT block Lines of Communication. And that's critical to know if you want to cut off enemy units.

What is the Zone of Control of a unit?

I guess the game doesn't use that term, but it's a common wargame term and should be familiar. The six hexes adjacent to an enemy unit block friendly Lines of Communication unless canceled by friendly units in them. (Some units don't exert them, though - air units and naval units, for example).

[Curtis Lemay]

ORIGINAL: warspite1

I hope this supply section of the AAR is helpful to people, although having seen the explanation in 9.1.7.3 and noted the formula, I think that this is something I personally will probably need to gloss over. It will be a case of understanding the general concept but no more. That formula sadly is way above my pay grade. As I say, it would be nice if, in the manual they produced a worked example for so complicated (to me at least) a formula.

You don't really need to understand the formula. You just need to understand that supply attenuates exponentially with distance from the supply source - scaled by the supply radius. The plot that was provided should have been helpful in that regard.

[warspite1]

Turn 2
14th December 1940

The first thing necessary to send the Mediterranean Fleet back to port. Supply is almost exhausted (as can be seen from this screen shot of HMS Valiant).

I have searched 'naval' and 'port' in the manual but cannot see if there is any special setting required for while units are in port to ensure supply is maximised. I have only Mobile, Local Reserve or Tactical Reserve to choose from - none of which intuitively feel right for a unit sitting in port seeking re-supply. Have I missed something obvious again?