Couple of miscellaneous questions

[Fox]

Been having allot of fun with this game lately, I’ve come up with a couple of new questions in the meantime.

Firstly, I was wondering about the logic behind the selection of the supplying base for a given unit? This came to my attention when I was playing the greyhound dash scenario and was having a few supply problems with a particular unit (1st battalion from the 60th Pzgren Regiment). As can be seen in the attached image (below) the 60th Pzgren Regiment has its own organic supply base, yet the 1st battalion and all its units were drawing their supplies from the 58th Panzer Corps base instead.

This was important as the 60th Pzgren base had lots of supplies while 58th Panzer corps was bone dry.


Secondly do roads have a limited capacity of that they can support at a given time, i.e. if you order too many units to move along the same road can you cause a traffic jam? (I know this could be a problem in real life and was wondering whether it is possible in game)



Thirdly I think I read on the forums that at one point it was possible to conduct an “in situ” attack whereby units would not move from their positions until the actual assault began. This to me would seem like a useful way to simulate assaulting from a fortified position like trenches, and would be very helpful in situations where you want to attack with a unit that is currently holding the line (currently you have to pull the unit back out of the line to form up otherwise it will get shot up badly while all the companies move about to their assault positions).

However to the best of my knowledge this is not currently possible, was wondering why this ability was removed and if there is currently any other way to achieve a similar effect?

 

[zardoz]

1st issue (supply):
Hard to say something about this matter. Actually the situation has to be analyzed in detail with the save-file.
Sometimes supply-units get interdicted by enemy forces often hidden due FoW. Then probably substitute bases of a higher level take their part for a while. Perhaps the own depot lost too many vehicles before or lack of fuel (if there arent any or enough horses?).

2nd issue (capacity of roads):
I would say clearly yes! Roads, depending of their size, do have a certain capacity for marching usage. If a formation moves on a road, I dont think any other formation uses this section at the same time and units avoid mixxing-ups. Therefore a unit would wait a marching unit to pass, until following. So time delay is a fact, if too large formations move on a certain part of a road at the same time. Best idea might be to use different roads if possible and to give marching execution orders not for the very same moment. Use limited infrastructure capacities to let tired and/or low morale units rest until the road is free again.

3rd issue (in-situ-maneuvres):
I didnt play these versions yet. The latest games I played still offered the opportunity for in-situ-movement. Of course you re right when stating that offensive preparation positioning directly at the front line normally causes unnecessairy casualities. So I couldnt see the sense of removing that option. Otherwise I would expect the AI to not perform extensive forming ups of units, if exposed to the front and so threatened by heavy enemy fire until attacking.

 

[Daz]

In situ attacks can be made at the individual Coy level.
Here is an example of an in situ attack I had to conducted in, From the Meuse to the Rhine.

 

[zardoz]

In situ attacks can be made at the individual Coy level.
Here is an example of an in situ attack I had to conducted in, From the Meuse to the Rhine.
View attachment 4510 View attachment 4511 View attachment 4512 View attachment 4513 View attachment 4514 View attachment 4515 View attachment 4516

Hope this is just a temporary solution, since the idea of the game was to not depend on micro-management and trust on the AI to do a reasonable job.

 

[Daz]

That's what the On Map Boss's command load is for, to give you a guide as to whether you are doing to much micro.
Its up to you as the player to recognise where the centre of gravity is in your battle and focus your attention on the most important parts while you leave the rest for the AI to manage.
After a while you also start to recognise situations where the AI might have problems. This is one of those situations as there was an enemy unit in the location where the FUP needed to be, the units involved in the attack were spread quite widely apart, and time was very short, as they needed to attack at last light and have time to return to their positions by day break.

It's not the size of the formation/unit you manage that adds to the command load, and micro management, its the number of formations/units you have under your direct control.

 

[zardoz]

Still the question remains: Will there be an in-situ-option again, if there currently really was no adequate setting?

Probably there was a reason for removing it. Perhaps it lacked functionality? So there might be an overhauling? I just dont know. At least the devs know the answer ....

 

[Daz]

An AI controlled in situ attack at Bn and above level of command, would be useful for sure, for attacks from defensive positions.
There is a danger that it might undermine the whole concept of a planned attack where they form up in the FUP then fan out on the start line though. There is good argument to say that this is only really necessary when the attack is taking place some distance from the attackers location however.
Attacking from an established defensive position would give the commander of the attack plenty of time and opportunity to brief his subordinate officers and in turn their men in their trenches on the plan.

As for the work around I posted above, at least when you take individual control for the in situ attack, there is a punishment for doing so, in the fact that you will have an extra load on the On Map Boss, to represent his/your direct involvement in the planning for the attack.

 

[Daz]

BTW, If you want to see the full AAR for the images I posted above its here:

http://forums.lnlpublishing.com/threads/snippets-from-the-meuse-to-the-rhine.887/

It's quite an old one now however and I like to think I have got a bit better at them since then.
Having said that, at least I finished it, something I have been getting bad at doing lately