Supply is a tough one

[pvthudson01]

I have looked over the WIKI and the book but I seem to be having an issue with approaching the game as far as traveling. Even in the tutorial scenario

I noticed that I become unsupplied quickly as the troops move overland. Although I won the scenario I never took Charlestown. I even bombarded with my ships

My first mistake was leaving the nearby towns I owned with no supply wagon attached. I understand that. But I had two issues:

All the provinces were zero supply rating. How can one survive and counter this without supply wagons. I forgot how forage works

I had an American general all alone in one province and he had no protection. How do you take him out? My guys would not fight him.

Do you set postures BEFORE or after you move? A few times I saw my units flip posture and not accept what I told them too.

That is all for now but 70% of my casualties seemed to be from supply and chasing that American General down and not being able to eliminate him

Thanks

[twitter]

I have looked over the WIKI and the book but I seem to be having an issue with approaching the game as far as traveling. Even in the tutorial scenario

I noticed that I become unsupplied quickly as the troops move overland. Although I won the scenario I never took Charlestown. I even bombarded with my ships

My first mistake was leaving the nearby towns I owned with no supply wagon attached. I understand that. But I had two issues:

All the provinces were zero supply rating. How can one survive and counter this without supply wagons. I forgot how forage works

I had an American general all alone in one province and he had no protection. How do you take him out? My guys would not fight him.

Do you set postures BEFORE or after you move? A few times I saw my units flip posture and not accept what I told them too.

That is all for now but 70% of my casualties seemed to be from supply and chasing that American General down and not being able to eliminate him

Thanks

Hi,

With regions that are zero supply you must have a wagon to provide supply (it simulates the harsh terrain and the fact that back then supply was everything to a fighting force) or you must not dwell too long in that region as the supply your troops carry on their person does not last long.

As to the general (I assume you were playing as the British) and I don't think you can fight a leader who has no troops (he could be killed in battle while commanding troops - but not alone). At least this is my experience.

You can (and I do) set postures before moving, but if the unit is low on cohesion (and supply can affect that level) they sometimes switch postures on their own (to simulate low morale). Sometimes, if you have the unit on defensive posture and give them orders to move into unfriendly territory they will automatically switch to offensive posture in case of an engagement. The reverse happens when/if the unit has low cohesion.

In my experience with this game, you must look after supply and your unit cohesion (weather comes in third). Master those concepts and your troops will be ready for a fight - neglect them and they will break and maybe even rout in battle. Weather is also a factor as winter sets in you should be in winter quarters and only move in winter with supply (as they take hits for your units) and only if you really need to switch regions.

I hope these simple answers help.

[pvthudson01]

Yup thats exactly what I needed. I was close in my ideas but just going about it wrong. I figured leaving without a wagon would be bad.

Thanks.

Does that theory extend into most Ageod games like the new Russian Revolution one? I mean with supply carts and things like that?

Yeah I was playing the British. Ok so I dont need to chase down single leader units or anything? I was afraid he may do something behind my lines etc etc

[twitter]

Yup thats exactly what I needed. I was close in my ideas but just going about it wrong. I figured leaving without a wagon would be bad.

Thanks.

Does that theory extend into most Ageod games like the new Russian Revolution one? I mean with supply carts and things like that?

Yeah I was playing the British. Ok so I dont need to chase down single leader units or anything? I was afraid he may do something behind my lines etc etc

I'm not sure about the supply theory in RUS (I have only toyed around with the demo a few times, but it looks similar in that each region has supply and wagons/carts are a must). I can only assume that a Russian winter is NO place to be without supply!

As for the leaders in WIA - they don't hurt you without troops. Now, I learned the hard way about chasing around the Natives - hard to trap, they can travel much faster/farther then you, and they divert your attention from your 'main objective'. When I first started playing I would try and get them, but they would lead my away from what I wanted to protect and the British would come in and steal it without much effort.

[pvthudson01]

Yeah I have fallen for that many times. I think what I did wrong in the tutorial ( I kept playing after the time limit) was attacked too weakened and my cohesion was messed up because I had a big stack with not enough leaders. I did figure out moving my ships in to bombard and help on the attack though.

Will units just SIEGE a town if they are not put into assault mode in the same province as town? I mean is it safe to leave them there? I remember that if you are in a town you can tell the occupants to make sorties or something like that

[twitter]

Yeah I have fallen for that many times. I think what I did wrong in the tutorial ( I kept playing after the time limit) was attacked too weakened and my cohesion was messed up because I had a big stack with not enough leaders. I did figure out moving my ships in to bombard and help on the attack though.

Will units just SIEGE a town if they are not put into assault mode in the same province as town? I mean is it safe to leave them there? I remember that if you are in a town you can tell the occupants to make sorties or something like that

Ah yes, the command points are also very important as your troops will suffer a penalty in battle if there is not enough commander points for that stack. Which can make the game very interesting if you have a leader killed in battle.

As for the siege question, I do believe that even in a defensive posture your units will lay siege to an enemy controlled structure (place on attack posture if you want them to battle the enemy should he come out of this structure to try and lift the siege). As for leaving them there to siege - as long as they have enough supply to finish the job and you really want that structure - I leave them there until it is mine. As I mentioned earlier, I sometimes place my troops in attack posture as the AI will sometimes come out of the structure to try and leave and/or lift the siege. That way if your unit is larger, they should win the battle and keep the enemy bottled up in the region. If you get them to surrender, you don't have to worry about them later in the game as they are 'taken off the map' by surrendering.

[Mickey3D]

In BOA2 supply rule is simple but severe : you can draw supply from the region you are in and the adjacent regions (as long as your control is sufficient).

If you want to move a big stack, supply wagons soon become mandatory if you are not near cities.

Don't try to move your units through all the turn : keep 10 to 15 days of rest each turn or cohesion will fall and you could even lose troops.

Siege is effective in defensive posture too.

[malthaussen]

Very important to note, especially when playing the British: the rivers are your friends. So long as you have merchant ships, coastal supply will be transported at will along the coast and up the rivers, so long as you control them. Thus it is possible to keep a ridiculously large army supplied inland so long as the river route is open. Of course, to use this power, you have to capture a harbor first!

-- Mal

[Anazagar]

Very important to note, especially when playing the British: the rivers are your friends. So long as you have merchant ships, coastal supply will be transported at will along the coast and up the rivers, so long as you control them. Thus it is possible to keep a ridiculously large army supplied inland so long as the river route is open. Of course, to use this power, you have to capture a harbor first!

-- Mal

I don't think that is true. In WIA supplay doesn't "move" like in the other games. In order to ressuply you have to move the unit into a region with supplies.

[malthaussen]

/me shrugs. It's working for me. I've got armies needing 40+ supply sitting on regions with rivers that have only 6 supply and no depot, and they are being supplied just fine. No monthly change in amount on hand.

-- Mal

[Mickey3D]

/me shrugs. It's working for me. I've got armies needing 40+ supply sitting on regions with rivers that have only 6 supply and no depot, and they are being supplied just fine. No monthly change in amount on hand.

-- Mal

I'm inclined to agree with Anazagar. Do you have the name of the region ?