Something annoying about supply from ports

[PKH]

If you have a large port like Naples and stand just beside a smaller port even quite far away from Naples, both at 100%, the game will still pull combat supply from Naples. It should take from the closest port which is at 100% IMO.

Also, is there a limit to how far north one can do amphibious assaults on each coast ? North of Citavecchio - Rimini I didn't see any ports or beaches to assault.

[FrankHunter]

The limit to where you can invade is the limit of air cover. Once the Allies take Foggia and its fully supplied, air range is calculated from there and that opens up the rest of the map to possible invasions.

That port/supply thing was brought up in playtesting and I changed how it works so that supply would be pulled from the minor port in that instance, but after a week or so I changed it back because the cure was worse than the problem so to speak. I decided its something to make a note of and when I come up with a better solution I'll implement it.

Just to describe the problem for those that don't know about it, the problem is that Naples projects so much supply that even hexes nearby containing minor ports are considered to be supplied from Naples. All well and good most of the time as supply from Naples is superior. However, what if you have a unit sitting in Salerno that you wish to add combat supply to? Well, since the hex is supplied from Naples the fuel cost to move that combat supply point is calculated from Naples instead of from Salerno, which would be cheaper.

[PKH]

How about when you are in a 100% port (or maybe even adjacent to it) it will always pull supply from that port ?

I was able to assault up near Livorno this time. I think maybe it could have been weather that stopped it last time. Ended with a minor victory again as allies. Nearest unit was 3 hexes from Verona. It was really tight on supply for the last half of the game even though I tried to be careful with the fuel spending. I'm thinking it might be neccessary to do a double coast beach assault around turn 30-40 to try and cut off the germans and get rid of a good deal of their forces to have a chance at decisive victory.

[pzgndr]

ORIGINAL: FrankHunter
That port/supply thing was brought up in playtesting and I changed how it works so that supply would be pulled from the minor port in that instance, but after a week or so I changed it back because the cure was worse than the problem so to speak. I decided its something to make a note of and when I come up with a better solution I'll implement it.

I asked about this too during playtesting. Ideally, it would be interesting to have some better accounting of actual supply quantities entering specific ports by their unique port capacity (including damage and repairs), actual transportation of supply from those nodes to a subset (automated or designated) of specific units receiving supply from a given port, and over rail/road networks that also account for how much supply can get through. Ideally. But the rules necessary to support all that, the game programming needed, and AI programming too, probably means a game that's an order of magnitude more difficult.

IMHO, this game already challenges players enough to seriously consider their supply capacity for fuel and combat supply, moreso than most other wargames. I think it does pretty well. Sure, it could maybe be better, and as this game system expands to other theaters then maybe better supply accounting will be needed. At the end of the day many players may appreciate being challenged a bit more about logistics, but it shouldn't become so complicated and complex to ruin gameplay. I've been a Bde Asst S-4 and gotten into the weeds of logistics; I don't need to do that again when I play my games. [;)]