new supply rules: terrain effects on supply distribution

[cathar1244]

Scenario designers may find this useful.

One aspect of supply distribution under the new supply rules to bear in mind is that clear (or arid) terrain gain no supply distribution advantage from roads ... unless mud or snow is present. Lesson here is that maps with lots of clear terrain hexes tend to easily distribute supply during fair weather.

Attached are three images that depict the degradation of supply distribution as a consequence of terrain. From what I can tell from tests, this degradation's amount is not changed by time or space scales in a scenario; it is driven by how many hexes of a particular type of terrain the supply has to reach without the benefit of roads.

new supply distro 1.jpg (340.52 KiB) Viewed 385 times

new supply distro 2.jpg (70.44 KiB) Viewed 385 times

new supply distro 3.jpg (468.23 KiB) Viewed 385 times

[Curtis Lemay]

One aspect of supply distribution under the new supply rules to bear in mind is that clear (or arid) terrain gain no supply distribution advantage from roads ... unless mud or snow is present. Lesson here is that maps with lots of clear terrain hexes tend to easily distribute supply during fair weather.

If the "Divisor of Improved-Road Motorized-Movement" is greater than 1, then Improved Roads will help distribution in such terrain.

Attached are three images that depict the degradation of supply distribution as a consequence of terrain. From what I can tell from tests, this degradation's amount is not changed by time or space scales in a scenario; it is driven by how many hexes of a particular type of terrain the supply has to reach without the benefit of roads.

Did you muck about with the Supply Radius?

[cathar1244]

Yes, points on target.

I should mention the "backstory" of testing this. We have for TOAW (III at least) tables in pdf format that explain movement and combat effects of terrain. For supply, effects can be viewed in the game, but I was interested in a compact way of comparing terrain effects on supply distribution.

For the images above, the force on the left had a supply radius of 5 and the force on the right had a supply radius of 4.

As mentioned in the quoted comment, the supply radius of a force (set in the event editor) affects the magnitude of the numbers shown within the supply symbols. As noted in the manual,

The exact formula is: 1.10 / (1.375 ^ (Supply Distance / Supply Radius)).

and,

to calculate location supply values we use a formula based on the movement points that would be expended by a virtual “Supply Unit” (which has motorized movement and a 50% unit density) to get to the location.

In brief, as one increases the supply radius, the amount of supply available in a given hex will be greater than if the supply radius was smaller.

In the next comment, I'll try to show some general effects by terrain type and their relationships in terms of the supply values displayed.

One aspect of supply distribution under the new supply rules to bear in mind is that clear (or arid) terrain gain no supply distribution advantage from roads ... unless mud or snow is present. Lesson here is that maps with lots of clear terrain hexes tend to easily distribute supply during fair weather.

If the "Divisor of Improved-Road Motorized-Movement" is greater than 1, then Improved Roads will help distribution in such terrain.

Attached are three images that depict the degradation of supply distribution as a consequence of terrain. From what I can tell from tests, this degradation's amount is not changed by time or space scales in a scenario; it is driven by how many hexes of a particular type of terrain the supply has to reach without the benefit of roads.

Did you muck about with the Supply Radius?

[cathar1244]

So, without the additional effects lent by roads or weather, one may gather some general ideas about supply distribution under the new supply rules.

1. Non playable hexes can't be entered by a unit, but supply reduction occurs within them (see second image above).

2. Alpine, dunes, flooded marsh, and badlands block supply distribution (supply value = 0 in those hexes). Likewise, "super" river, major escarpment hexsides, and Suez Canal terrain blocks supply distribution.

3. Supply distribution over open and arid terrain will occur quite freely unless the supply radius is set to a low value.

In terms of roughly comparing terrain effects on supply distribution, one way to look at it is to see how many hexes of a given terrain type cause the supply value to drop to roughly half, as compared to a fully supplied hex. In cases where the fully supplied hex is at the value of 110, these figures show how many hexes supply distribution occurs through before the supply value of the hex drops to 51. Besides terrain which blocks supply distribution, there are four classes of terrain:

Most restrictive (mountain, marsh, jungle, minor escarpment hexside)
Restrictive (forest, hills, hedgerow, rocky)
Less restrictive (sand, light woods, cropland, dense urban)
Least restrictive (open, arid, urban)

Because the supply value depends on the force supply stockpile and the supply radius setting, the number of hexes to drop from a supply value of 110 to 51 is variable. In the case of the supply radius being set to 5,

Most restrictive -- 3 hexes
Restrictive -- 4 hexes
Less restrictive -- 6 hexes
Least restrictive -- 12 hexes

Now look the number of hexes if the supply radius is doubled to 10:

Most restrictive -- 6 hexes
Restrictive -- 8 hexes
Less restrictive -- 12 hexes
Least restrictive -- 24 hexes

Which indicates the effect of the formula that takes into account motorized movement rate and the supply radius setting. It is a relationship of 3:4:6:12 for the four classes of terrain.

Bear in mind this is all "in general" and can widely vary because of the effects like the improved road divisor or weather effects.