Matrix Games Forums

Hope this hasn't been covered but when looking at a shot of the setup screen I noticed an option for each country called 'Area Supply'.

I understand Automatic Supply and Advanced Supply, but what exactly does Area Supply mean?

I believe (and someone will correct me if I'm wrong) that it means that the computer will automatically move one supply into every area you control (and it can get to). You can turn this off & move the supply manually.

Countries like Japan might want to turn this off to preserve supply & not have it moved to out of the way areas (like the Island garrisons) if you don't need it there.

I think it just sends supply to areas that need it - so areas where you don't have units and that do not run any risk of partisan creation will not receive supply. But I could be wrong, I haven't played with this option in quite a while. I prefer to have all my supply in stockpiles to move where I need it.

It should only send a supply point automatically to areas with friendly units.

Thanks guys, now I get it. I think the micro manager in me would probably not want to use that option.

Do game set up options have the ability to be toggled off and on after the game has been started so one might ascertain the effects?

I believe most of the game setup options are set before you begin...haven't tried it recently to see if one or two might be changeable. I know you cannot, for instance, switch from Adv. to Simple Supply.

In games against the AI, you can change any settings during play. You do have to be careful however as some changes won't work well (for example you really can't switch between Standard Supply rules and Advanced Supply rules because it doesn't know to take the supplies on or off the map from/to the general pool). Some items are no problem (like Fog of War on/off). When playing against a human opponent, Game Option settings (rules) can't be changed after start.

Let me see if I understand this supply thing correctly, since it appears to be a very important parameter to success, or so it seems. I'm getting the feeling that Advanced Supply will be the preference for historical accuracy, as it should be. This is where you manage your supply and transportation system without any help from the AI? I'm a little confused about the Auto Supply option, assuming it is a separate selection from the 3 supply modes? Is Auto Supply and Area Supply one and the same? If I don't use either option, I will have to move supplies manually to all my areas? If I fail to move supplies to an area that is attacked, I'm assuming that I will bare the consequences in reduced combat effectiveness....does it inhibit the defense or just the ability to counter-attack? If I choose Auto Supply/Area Supply, will the AI only move enough supply to an area to sustain it for a single combat or will it begin to build a "Dump", perhaps exceeding what is really needed for that region? It seems to me that the only need for Auto/Area Supply is to guarantee that you don't forget to have at least minimum supply to any region. Is this a correct assumption?

Simple Supply: All your supply goes into an off-map pool, from which any unit can draw from at any time. Lend Lease is done with the press of a button.

Advanced Supply: Supply appears on the map in the form of supply units (little trucks, one truck = one supply unit). You have to move them where you need them, just like you do with other units. Lend Lease needs to be physically moved to USSR.

Auto Supply: If on, whenever you do something that would consume supply, the game tries to move supply to the relevant area, where it will be consumed. Example: you want to repair the rail line in Netherlands. You click repair, and the game goes off to find 5 supply units and move them to the Netherlands, where they are consumed to conduct the repair.

Area Supply: If on, at the start of each turn, the game will move one supply unit to each area with friendly troops (if possible - isolated areas will not get supply).

does it inhibit the defense or just the ability to counter-attack?

IF you don't have 1 supply in an area then your evasion rating gets reduced by 1 when fired at, and one is added to the evasion rating of enemies you return fire at. That is teh reason for ARea supply, so you don't brain fart and leave an area unsupplied. It is definately a twin edged sword though...it ALWAYS takes the supply from where you were stockpiling JUST enough to attack the next turn...[8|] Auto supply sometimes does that, but in general I have play like I have auto supply off, stocking areas where I want them. But if i forget, it backs me up.

If you don't have 1 supply for every unit you want to move into an enemy occupied area (creating a combat) then you simply can't move any more units in one you are out of supply. You can undo and retreat out usually. Sometimes you can't (if the movement revealed hidden units in a pbem)

Got it, thanks all. Is there a hot key that allows you to scroll through your areas of insufficient supply? Okay, I know we need to define "insufficient supply", how about no supply. Is the extreme zoomed-out map helpful in determining supply of a large (continental) area? Just how do you guys recommend the easiest way to ascertain the supply of your possessions when playing on advanced supply...fully manual?

Paul you mentioned movement to an enemy occupied area consumes supply and initiates combat. Is there an additional supply consumption for combat and what about units in support, like artillery, TAC, Naval bombardment etc. do they consume supply although they may not move to the area but are adjacent, or do I have a missconception of the combat model? I understand that elligible units attack in sequence, is that correct? Are any units elligible to conduct more than one attack per turn and if so how is supply consumed in that instance. What if you attack in your turn, consuming supply, and then defending in your opponents turn, since theoritically turns are simultaneous, do you need to make provisions for additional supply consumed by your defense? In other words is your supply situation relevent for both you and your opponents turn(one seasonal turn)?

On the top toolbar is a button you can press to change what's shown on the map from combat units to supply units. The numbers displayed shifts from combat units in the area to supply units in the area. One click and you see your supplies on the map, one more click and you are back looking at your combat units. Another button allows you to view information about partisans and garrisons and another shows infrastructure info. You can go back and forth between these four views (via buttons or hotkeys).

ORIGINAL: Becket

Auto Supply: If on, whenever you do something that would consume supply, the game tries to move supply to the relevant area, where it will be consumed. Example: you want to repair the rail line in Netherlands. You click repair, and the game goes off to find 5 supply units and move them to the Netherlands, where they are consumed to conduct the repair.

Auto supply may seem like semi-newbie option (simple supply = total newbies, advanced supply = gurus) but it really is not. It's for advanced players.

When going from simple supply to another step up the realism ladder, I'd suggest actually NOT using the auto supply. I'd sugest auto supply only to the players that are totally comfortable with the system, especially when playing as WA. Why?

Well, in Beckett's example, you want to repair rail in Holland, you click and you repair the rail, and supply is automatically taken and consumed from, say, USA, and your whole chain of transport fleets from USA to Holland goes 5 transport points down, and is unable to move for the rest of the turn (because once something is transported over a transport fleet it is unable to move for the remainder of the turn).

So, auto supply is an option to be used by advanced players. Intermediate players better move their supply manually. (That means being sure what you want, placing transports, then manually moving some trucks to Holland and repairing rail).

Oleg

I think the idea of supply in a a game of this magnitude is a wonderful addition! Most strategic level wargames do not include such things as logistics, production time, population limits and factory-resource ratios.

I applaud 2x3 and Matrix for bringing a game of this epic, and yet playable, magnitude to life. KUDOS!

An aside to the developers: I teach US History to high school kids in Indiana. I already have plans to use this in class as an instructional tool for the 1939-1949 era. Maybe I can spur on a couple new gamers! [;)]

Thanks again for all of your dedication and hard work on a project that will bring so much entertainment to so many! [:)]

Mike

Using this game as educational tool is a wonderful idea. Not trying to sound like some "marketing drone" but really, if you'd want to teach an ET (or kid [:D]) who knows next to nothing about WW2 as to HOW and WHY WW2 went on the way it did, I can't imagine any better and more useful tool than GG WAW.

It could be marketed as "WW2, in a nutshell" (but that sounds too simplistic which would scare the grognards off, which is bad [:D])

O.

ORIGINAL: SeaMonkey

Paul you mentioned movement to an enemy occupied area consumes supply and initiates combat. Is there an additional supply consumption for combat and what about units in support, like artillery, TAC, Naval bombardment etc. do they consume supply although they may not move to the area but are adjacent, or do I have a missconception of the combat model? I understand that elligible units attack in sequence, is that correct? Are any units elligible to conduct more than one attack per turn and if so how is supply consumed in that instance. What if you attack in your turn, consuming supply, and then defending in your opponents turn, since theoritically turns are simultaneous, do you need to make provisions for additional supply consumed by your defense? In other words is your supply situation relevent for both you and your opponents turn(one seasonal turn)?

You spend 1 supply point to supply a unit. Once supplied, it remains "in supply" until the beginning of your next turn. When supplied, the unit can move tactically (although movement by armor and some fleets over 1 area requires extra supplies) and the unit may attack fire once during it's turn. The key here is attack fire. The unit can move into many combat situations, but once it fires at a unit in combat, it won't be able to fire again in it's turn (and won't be able to move again into an area with an enemy unit). There are some differences with subs and transports that I won't bother to go into. Units must be in the area to be in the combat, unless it is a bombarding ship assisting an attack from an adjacent sea zone. So basically you spend 1 supply per unit to move and attack in your turn. When your units are attacked in another player's turn, if any of the units in the area are not supplied, 1 supply will be spent from the area (or an adjacent are) to supply all of the defending units. So if you attack with 20 units, you pay 20 supplies, but if you defend with 20 units in one area, you spend only 1 supply (if any of the units aren't yet supplied). As you can see, attacking takes more supplies than defending. Early in the game the Axis are burning supplies. The Allies are using burning supplies to move their larger navies. Later, the Allies go through an enormous amount of supplies to move their armies, navies and air forces. One thing to note, transports move for free, and units moving strategically (via rail and/or transports) move for free, but they can't attack. Obviously using strategic movement whenever possible is a supply saver.

I already have plans to use this in class as an instructional tool for the 1939-1949 era. Maybe I can spur on a couple new gamers!

I"ve given some copies to professors at the Naval War College, a couple are looking at using it as an "engine" behind their strategy and policy decision making introductory, (using it sort of along the lines of teh "forum AAR" where resource allocation and strategic decision alternatives are presented to teams of students to discuss and decide on, and allow for a coherent "resolution and feedback" process. Also in their elective on on WWII history.

I demo'd the game at a wardroom social (we are trying to get a wargaming club off the ground...how can the Naval War College, one of the birth places fo US military wargaming, NOT HAVE A WARGAMING CLUB!!![X(]) it generated a LOT of interest...It appeared to have teh desired effect of attracting those who maybe played Panzer General or Axis and Allies into discussions of more involved wargames (a friend and I were playing Russian campaign next to the laptop withthe AI playing itself...A great worm to bait the hook!![8D]

The primary benefit I see, as a US history teacher, is that the game has not only the entertainment appeal to grab potential buffs, but also the historical accuracy to make it an effective teaching aid. One thing I try to get my students to see is the "Whole enchilada" from a global perspective. I want them to see the ramifications of speicific battles and influences of nationalism, etc... This is the first computer game version of WWII that comes anywhere near attaining those lofty goals. I applaud your team again for the effort.

On a side note....I had to tell the kids that it would be another week before it was released! If ever I was to be lynched, today was the day! [;)]

Looking forward to the release.

Thanks again;

Mike