Fri Sep 10, 2010 8:59 am
The Supply rules seem simple enough and adequate for the job (although difficult to programme no doubt!) but likewise I've 'been a bit confused' by supply situations on the map. Some strange things seem to have been happening certainly!
The Supply overlay on the Military map view is not entirely clear (to me anyway), although gold seems good, and green, especially the brighter green, seems to indicate acceptable supply. After that I'm not sure. But, it certainly does not allow you to check enemy supply and it's important to do so to coerce the AI enemy to give up territory.
Recently I've been using the hot key Ctrl+S while any stack is selected, even an enemy stack! This shows a grahic in wagonwheel style with pink and green lines radiating from the stack to supply nodes. The beauty of this method is that once selected you can flip from one stack to another, checking supply without striking Ctrl+S again. Simply hit Ctrl+S to stop the interface doing this for you.
A stack which is shown as isolated has no lines at all. Click on one that is, perhaps an adjacent one, and you get the wagonwheel.
Overall I'd say I seem to get a raw deal compared to AI controlled stacks.
In my practice game on the Eastern front only, I lost two HQs in a single turn apparantly due to isolation, but they were not physically surrounded, and had an obvious and secure supply point just behind them, had never been denoted with an isolated or low supply symbol, and had no worse than an enemy Army approaching one flank. No idea why the penalty was so severe.
Meanwhile both in that game and my current 'serious' full Campaign, the enemy AI marches stacks across two rivers, flanking my Army which always fails to intercept (sure, ok, maybe he's just a dithering General!), and deposits itself deep in the rear and stays there a thorn in my backside for several turns without having any obvious supply route! Another enemy stack on the Western front I actually managed to surround completely and sure enough it showed as isolated but survived three turns! It then died but the region was technically still German as I'd not had time to reclaim it.
Guess what happened next? An interphase occurred and the enemy restocked the region with 4 Corps even though totally isolated!
In Eastern Prussia I've been beseiging Konigsberg for several turns without success. The German VIIIth Army has been surrounded in the hinterland beyond Konigsberg for the same length of time but presumably it's 'living off the land' and getting something through from Konigsberg. This interphase it concentrated into a single region, and another Army was suddenly deployed in the two regions it had vacated. The only physical route they could have taken would have been to break the seige lines at Konigsberg?
So, to summarise; 1) I get short shrift if I have a hint of isolation, 2) the AI by comparison gets let off lightly, and 3) the AI can 'parachute' armies into isolated zones whether or not its advantageous or downright insane!
Still enjoying the game which is now stable with patch 1.08L but I hope these instances don't recur when trench warfare sets in.