Disappearing Supply Wagons

[Shkuro]

When playing the St. Clair scenario my stack of units under St. Clair has one supply wagon attached to it, but when ever I move my stacks into the wilderness (i.e. out side supply forts) the wagons, which I need to supply them gradually attrition away. Leaving my army stranded without supplies. Why is this happening? How can I attack into the wilderness if my supply wagons keep on getting killed. Mind you no combat is taking place. Are their more soldiers than the wagon can support? How many soldiers can a wagon support?

[Pocus]

That's normal, there is no abstracted, 'free' support, i.e 'a wagon can support x units in-definitively'

A wagon has supply points, which are replenished each turn as long you stay at the fort. When you start moving into the wilderness, the soldiers eat what is in the wagon.

[Shkuro]

Thanks. If my men eat my wagons clean, how does one engage in campaigns in the wilderness? If you don't take the enemies fort are you just screwed?

[Erik Springelkamp]

You can send fresh supply trains after the army, and shuttle them from and to a supply source, but for that you need the extra trains, and a reasonably good road.

But you just discovered the most important strategic consideration in this type of war.

[arsan]

Hi!

I guess you mean the supply stored by the wagons was consumed (that's normal) not that the wagons themselves disappeared (that would be weird)

The supply situation on wilderness areas (most of the map on BOA II) is very hard.
You have to plan how to keep your forces feed. You can add more wagons (the supply will last longer) sent empty wagons back to your depots to replenish and then send them to your armies again, take new supply sources (enemy depots and towns) build depots with your wagons... And of course, don't send more units than you are able to feed!

In any case, there are wild areas where you cannot hope to send regular armies at all. Terrain too difficult, supply too low, distances between towns too big... use fast irregulars (indians, rangers...) there for best effect.
Playing you will come to know the land and find which avenues of approach are suited to send big regular forces and what are not... The map is very big with a lot of regions, but in many of them regulars, guns, wagons and the like are completely out of place. You will see that big armies usually move along some very defined paths, as in history, usually along rivers and lakes or hopping from fort to fort or town to town.
Rivers are great "highways" you can use to move around. Usually is much faster to move armies by bateaux than by foot.

Regards!

[Shkuro]

Thanks guys.

“I guess you mean the supply stored by the wagons was consumed (that's normal) not that the wagons themselves disappeared (that would be weird)”

Maybe we are talking past each other, but on my St. Clair play through my supply wagon did disappear. Unless that means when the supplies were eaten up he died first? It showed the four smaller brigades going from green health to red health then disappearing.

More questions can I supply my troops by sea. I was besieging Louisburg as the Brits and my wagons ran out of supplies and died.

Thanks guys.

More questions can I supply my troops by sea. I was besieging Louisburg as the Brits and my w

[arsan]

Wagons, as any other unit can die because of lack o supply, bad weather, enemy attack. But they usually last longer than combat units (because they are support units and rarely targeted in battle).
If you mean they were the only ones that get destroyed on an army while the rest of the forces were OK, that's not normal at all
Never seen a similar problem reported...

Regarding sea supply, you can send full wagons by ship to the island and send the empty ones back to your cities to replenish. It's a little logistic nightmare, but doable.
Another option is to use two of your wagons to build a depot on the empty region on the island, so your troops can get food from there. But if your army is big it will not be enough.
Regards

[Durk]

Thanks guys.

“I guess you mean the supply stored by the wagons was consumed (that's normal) not that the wagons themselves disappeared (that would be weird)”

Maybe we are talking past each other, but on my St. Clair play through my supply wagon did disappear. Unless that means when the supplies were eaten up he died first? It showed the four smaller brigades going from green health to red health then disappearing."


More questions can I supply my troops by sea. I was besieging Louisburg as the Brits and my wagons ran out of supplies and died.

Thanks guys.

More questions can I supply my troops by sea. I was besieging Louisburg as the Brits and my w

Yes as to wagon supply being consumed.

I think you explain what happened on St Clair, but wagons were lost as units lost supply.

When you are the besieging army you do not get supply. So with Louisburg, you need to build a depot in the adjacent region so you can send your wagons to refill with new supply. Besieging units have no way to earn supply.