Matrix Games Forums

I have a couple questions regarding national morale.

In section 7.29.4, the manual states:
"Majors with reduced National Morale will suffer a small penalty to their Unit Morale, while those with National Morale of higher than 110% will benefit from a small boost.
o If National Morale < 40 % then Unit Morale is multiplied by 0.85.
o If National Morale < 75% then Unit Morale is multiplied by 0.90.
o If National Morale < 95% then Unit Morale is multiplied by 0.95.
o If National Morale > 110% then Unit Morale is multiplied by 1.10.


Are these penalties applied every turn? Are the penalties cumulative?

For example, if Germany's National Morale dropped to 90% at the beginning of April and a unit's morale was 80% at the end of the prior turn, would the unit morale in April be .95 x 80% = 76% (ignoring other mitigating factors)?

Then, if for example, at the beginning of May, Germany's National Morale stayed at 90%, that same unit's morale would again be penalized .95 x .76 = 72.2% (again ignoring other mitigating factors)?

And would the penalty keep getting applied every month to every unit (land, air, sea) as long as Germany's National Morale was below 95%?

My other question is in regard to section 6.6.3 of the manual:

"Whenever an enemy unit is destroyed when its supply status is less than 5, the major whose unit destroyed it will receive a National Morale bonus equal to the MPP cost of the unit it has just destroyed."

Is the MPP cost adjusted for the upgrades of the unit destroyed?

Also, I remember reading a post stating that land unit losses during invasions reduced USA National Morale. But the manual appears to indicate that unit losses (other than ships) do not affect the National Morale of the major who owned the lost unit, regardless of whether the destroyed unit was in low supply or full supply. Which statement is correct?

I'm asking because USA National Morale appears to drop at a steady rate starting Jan 1944. Does USA National Morale automatically drop by 1 to 2% per turn after 1943 or is the drop due to unit losses?

Are any of Hawaii, Manila, Singapore, Batavia, Guam, Kukum, Calcutta, etc. in Axis control?

For example, if Axis control Singapore, Batavia, and Guam. US NM will drop with 130 each turn (50 + 50 +30)

LoneRunner wrote: Sat Apr 09, 2022 12:09 am
In section 7.29.4, the manual states:
"Majors with reduced National Morale will suffer a small penalty to their Unit Morale, while those with National Morale of higher than 110% will benefit from a small boost.
o If National Morale < 40 % then Unit Morale is multiplied by 0.85.
o If National Morale < 75% then Unit Morale is multiplied by 0.90.
o If National Morale < 95% then Unit Morale is multiplied by 0.95.
o If National Morale > 110% then Unit Morale is multiplied by 1.10.


Are these penalties applied every turn? Are the penalties cumulative?

I believe this is just in regard to combat. So the unit morale combat component of combat is lower/ higher when National Morale breaches those thresholds

Is the MPP cost adjusted for the upgrades of the unit destroyed?

Yes. Cheaper units and cheaper upgrades

I'm asking because USA National Morale appears to drop at a steady rate starting Jan 1944. Does USA National Morale automatically drop by 1 to 2% per turn after 1943 or is the drop due to unit losses?

Losses of land / air units reduce National Morale
Lower National Morale reduces combat effectiveness

US National Morale is Fubar currently

LoneRunner wrote: Sat Apr 09, 2022 12:09 am
"Whenever an enemy unit is destroyed when its supply status is less than 5, the major whose unit destroyed it will receive a National Morale bonus equal to the MPP cost of the unit it has just destroyed."

Can you point me to the page in the Manual so I can check we have the wording right?

Just to clarify: all unit losses reduce NM, and the more expensive a unit (e.g. if it has upgraded) the greater the NM loss.

As to the effect on unit morale, it does apply every turn but it is an adjustment to what their morale would have been, i.e. every turn morale is recalculated and then the NM is taken into account, so the degree to which the unit's morale is affected is limited.

EarlyDoors wrote: Sat Apr 09, 2022 8:39 am US National Morale is Fubar currently

Is this because Axis players are now adopting a strong strategy in the Pacific to weaken the US?

Previously players had said they were largely ignoring the Pacific so I wonder if Allied strategies need to be refined to cater to these changes?

There have also been concerns that the recent changes made things too hard for the Axis, but this makes me wonder whether things are really ok, providing Japan does adopt an aggressive Pacific strategy?

BillRunacre wrote: Sat Apr 09, 2022 8:39 am

LoneRunner wrote: Sat Apr 09, 2022 12:09 am
"Whenever an enemy unit is destroyed when its supply status is less than 5, the major whose unit destroyed it will receive a National Morale bonus equal to the MPP cost of the unit it has just destroyed."

Can you point me to the page in the Manual so I can check we have the wording right?

Sorry Bill, I usually remember to include the section on my quotes. The quote is from Section 6.6.3 National Morale Bonus.

BillRunacre wrote: Sat Apr 09, 2022 8:39 am
Just to clarify: all unit losses reduce NM, and the more expensive a unit (e.g. if it has upgraded) the greater the NM loss.

As to the effect on unit morale, it does apply every turn but it is an adjustment to what their morale would have been, i.e. every turn morale is recalculated and then the NM is taken into account, so the degree to which the unit's morale is affected is limited.

Thank you for the clarification Bill. Section 6.6.6.2 of the manual states that National Morale suffers a penalty when a vessel is sunk. However, I can't find anything in the manual that refers to air or ground unit losses reducing National Morale. Perhaps it's there but I'm just not seeing it.

Thanks LoneRunner, the crucial phrase is in 5.11.1 but I can see that it doesn't exactly stand out there:

National Morale represents a Major Powers’ willingness to fight, and will be reduced when their resources are captured, casualties are suffered and key locations are taken.

Perhaps an additional sentence like this:

All unit casualties reduce the controlling Major's National Morale by the MPP value of that unit's losses, e.g. 5 strength points lost on a unit that cost 100MPPs to buy (including any unit upgrades) equates to a loss of 50 NM points.

How does that sound?

BillRunacre wrote: Sun Apr 10, 2022 4:12 pm Thanks LoneRunner, the crucial phrase is in 5.11.1 but I can see that it doesn't exactly stand out there:

National Morale represents a Major Powers’ willingness to fight, and will be reduced when their resources are captured, casualties are suffered and key locations are taken.

Perhaps an additional sentence like this:

All unit casualties reduce the controlling Major's National Morale by the MPP value of that unit's losses, e.g. 5 strength points lost on a unit that cost 100MPPs to buy (including any unit upgrades) equates to a loss of 50 NM points.

How does that sound?

Thanks for clarifying Bill. Wow, that's huge. I thought National Morale would only be affected if a whole unit was lost. But casualties affect National Morale! Cool.

Perhaps the additional sentence could read:
All unit casualties (land, sea, air) reduce the controlling Major's National Morale by the MPP value of that unit's losses (ignoring adjustments for production technology), e.g. 5 strength points lost on a unit that cost 100 MPPs to buy (including any unit upgrades) equates to a loss of 50 NM points.

I wonder how this fits with section 6.6.6.2 which states that when a vessel is sunk, the MPP cost of the vessel is assessed as a penalty to National Morale. Also if a carrier, battleship, or cruiser is sunk, the penalty to National Morale is double the MPP cost.

That section appears to indicate that even if a battleship had only one hull point remaining, sinking the battleship would penalize the owner of the battleship with double the entire MPP cost of the battleship. Am I reading it correctly?

Maybe the penalty for sinking a vessel is in addition to the casualty loss?