Out of command penalty

[Erik Springelkamp]

I am just playing my first PBEM game of RoP.

I march a corps over a distance, next turn it ends up in snow, so its final stretch to a city will cost more then 2 weeks, due to he corps commander being inactive.

However, I want them warm and dry to recover, so I order the divisions in groups to head for the city, which they will do in 12 days.

Now on the one hand I find it gamy to do this, but on the other hand I wonder why an inactive corps should be slower than an uncoordinated mob. It is just a road march through controlled territory.

[Pat "Stonewall" Cleburne]

Inactive commander represents someone who is unsure or vacillating. He's giving subpar orders.

I don't consider it gamey to split, because if you get caught, you will be at least partailly wrecked.

[Erik Springelkamp]

Inactive commander represents someone who is unsure or vacillating. He's giving subpar orders.

I don't consider it gamey to split, because if you get caught, you will be at least partailly wrecked.

That may be a rationalisation, still it doesn't feel entirely OK that I can move faster as a mob.

Some more questions came up:

- according to the tooltip, as Austrian player I should receive 2 engagement points per turn, but my counter remains at zero from Early to Late November 1756. Is there a special reason?

- when a corps is out of range of an army, is it better to detach it from the army, or keep it in but out of range?

[Krot]

That may be a rationalisation, still it doesn't feel entirely OK that I can move faster as a mob.

Some more questions came up:

- according to the tooltip, as Austrian player I should receive 2 engagement points per turn, but my counter remains at zero from Early to Late November 1756. Is there a special reason?

- when a corps is out of range of an army, is it better to detach it from the army, or keep it in but out of range?

1. I never hesitate to split inactive commanders unit if in a hurry, only trying to avoid disbanding divisions in such situations.

2. I suspect that your EPs were lost due to some scripted events that benefit your enemies (capture of Calcutta etc). They are writen in red in the turn log and have appropriate tooltips.

3. Even if out of command range of his army commander your corps CO still has huge boost in CP wich is lost if he is detached.

[Die Zieten]

Question to designers and modders, could this same out of command rule be included to other than rank, abilities of an officer?

Im just seeing a possible solution to the deep raiding/scouting problem, out of command without officer or one that is not suitable for the mission, and your detection, evade and police points suffer.

You would have to limit your bulk of light troops in patrolling areas you allready control, your own main colum vanguard/screen and close patrol.

[loki100]

breaking an army out into its units is a gamble, but if you are in full scale retreat its the way to save the best formations. Instances are if you lose Prag in the first autumn/winter and need to get as much as you can back to Wien or if you do get the Saxons out.

In my PBEM's with Narwahl we came up with a house rule or otherwise it is very easy for an Austrian player to overrun all Prussia. No taking military control (the key stance is red-green) unless a commander is present. You do need to use Hussars etc for patrolling (rely on green-green) as both sides gain from a turn or two warning if your opponent is shifting formations. Beyond that, a problem with the light infantry in the game is there really isn't much of a sector where they are very useful - maybe around Kassel, so I tend to find they get used in the main combat corps instead.

Even so, with the Prussians you can pull a very nasty stunt of creating a raiding force out of a couple of cavalry brigades. In S Germany/Austria, there are a mass of unprotected cities and you can lead your opponent a merry dance - and it costs them hard to gain cash even if you only control a city for a turn or two (use the supply mode to check)

[Die Zieten]

breaking an army out into its units is a gamble, but if you are in full scale retreat its the way to save the best formations. Instances are if you lose Prag in the first autumn/winter and need to get as much as you can back to Wien or if you do get the Saxons out.

In my PBEM's with Narwahl we came up with a house rule or otherwise it is very easy for an Austrian player to overrun all Prussia. No taking military control (the key stance is red-green) unless a commander is present. You do need to use Hussars etc for patrolling (rely on green-green) as both sides gain from a turn or two warning if your opponent is shifting formations. Beyond that, a problem with the light infantry in the game is there really isn't much of a sector where they are very useful - maybe around Kassel, so I tend to find they get used in the main combat corps instead.

Even so, with the Prussians you can pull a very nasty stunt of creating a raiding force out of a couple of cavalry brigades. In S Germany/Austria, there are a mass of unprotected cities and you can lead your opponent a merry dance - and it costs them hard to gain cash even if you only control a city for a turn or two (use the supply mode to check)

I envy the light troops that the Austrians have, they can patrol and ambush all their borders with them.
Fredrick wrote himself that they make close recon in to the Austrian main force impossible, that is very important if they prevent the only intelligence source in the game. We cant hire spies..

So the light troops should be on constant patrol catching Hussars and clashing with Freikorps. Raiding is also true but i think the house rules about leaders is a must untill something like the out of command rule i suggested above is forced by the game.

[Erik Springelkamp]

More questions, as I am experiencing my first campaign.

Replacements and reinforcements.
I lost some strength-points in a couple of battles, but although those units are now in a city in full supply for a number of turns, and I do have replacement chits in stock, I don't see them grow up to strength again. What can be the reason for this? Are there any factors that I am not aware of?

And I bought some new units; while they are building, they are shown with hardly any strength points, but I also see some units which seem finished (there is no longer an 'available in x turns' in the tooltip), but that are still missing more than half their strength. Are these units still growing?

I also tried to merge some heavily depleted units, but I didn't succeed (I think I read somewhere that this should be possible in principle). Is this supposed to be possible, or will there in practice always be a mismatch between what is left in the units.

And that brings me to the global question: how do people deal with their losses, when in general there will be a shortage in replacement chits: will all armies degenerate into collections of heavily depleted units, which hampers command efficiency and frontage firepower, or are there tricks that I am not aware of?

[Die Zieten]

To get back destroyed elements you have take them out of the brigades and if you have historical attrition checked you need to be in a depot to receive replacements.

[loki100]

More questions, as I am experiencing my first campaign.

Replacements and reinforcements.
I lost some strength-points in a couple of battles, but although those units are now in a city in full supply for a number of turns, and I do have replacement chits in stock, I don't see them grow up to strength again. What can be the reason for this? Are there any factors that I am not aware of?

the allocation of replacements is a little random. To prioritise units they should be in the green (passive) stance and a depot - then they will be the priority (this can be important for hard to find replacement chits such as heavy cavalry), next best is defense stance. They also need to be in full supply.

And I bought some new units; while they are building, they are shown with hardly any strength points, but I also see some units which seem finished (there is no longer an 'available in x turns' in the tooltip), but that are still missing more than half their strength. Are these units still growing?

Most units don't reach full strength till they have finished their training, so yes there is a gradual improvement in their strength over time. Watch out for HRE/Bavarian units at the game start, they are understrength and you need to build new depot battalions if you want them at full strength once they activate.

I also tried to merge some heavily depleted units, but I didn't succeed (I think I read somewhere that this should be possible in principle). Is this supposed to be possible, or will there in practice always be a mismatch between what is left in the units.

the rules are quite strict, they must be exactly the same type and nationality, so its easy enough with the regular infantry battalions but hard with the more exotic units

And that brings me to the global question: how do people deal with their losses, when in general there will be a shortage in replacement chits: will all armies degenerate into collections of heavily depleted units, which hampers command efficiency and frontage firepower, or are there tricks that I am not aware of?

Yes, basically. You'll see battles in 56-58 with horrendous losses but few destroyed elements. On the other hand, once the armies are hollowed out a small number of losses can trigger lots of lost elements. Especially vulnerable are cavalry as you are dependent on the rare chance to use EPs to buy replacements, you can usually manage things ok for your line and elite infantry if you keep on churning out the depot battalions. Its one way the game engine models the loss of quality as the war went on.

Prussian line infantry retain their core advantage (frontage and rate of fire) all game.

[Erik Springelkamp]

the allocation of replacements is a little random. To prioritise units they should be in the green (passive) stance and a depot - then they will be the priority (this can be important for hard to find replacement chits such as heavy cavalry), next best is defense stance. They also need to be in full supply.

But even when I still have chits in stock, they will not always be assigned?

Most units don't reach full strength till they have finished their training, so yes there is a gradual improvement in their strength over time. Watch out for HRE/Bavarian units at the game start, they are understrength and you need to build new depot battalions if you want them at full strength once they activate.

So can I see if a unit is still training, or that it needs replacements, or do training units absorb replacements as well? In which case I wouldn't be too keen on building new units when replacement chits are rare.

I never noticed Bavarian Depot units, but I didn't especially look for them.
I did look for French depots units, but I didn't find any.

the rules are quite strict, they must be exactly the same type and nationality, so its easy enough with the regular infantry battalions but hard with the more exotic units

Will the game merge half filled elements, or will merge only take place when both sides miss full elements?

[loki100]

But even when I still have chits in stock, they will not always be assigned?

So can I see if a unit is still training, or that it needs replacements, or do training units absorb replacements as well? In which case I wouldn't be too keen on building new units when replacement chits are rare.

I never noticed Bavarian Depot units, but I didn't especially look for them.
I did look for French depots units, but I didn't find any.

Will the game merge half filled elements, or will merge only take place when both sides miss full elements?

In the end, any chits will be used up, but the game works on a priority system from green/depot to defend/not depot so you have a, crude, tool to control which units gain first

No training units build up without drawing on replacements.

If I recall (& its a while since I played the Austrian side), you need to scroll quite a long way through the list of available units to find their depot battalions, but there are there.

You can't build a unit with more than 4 elements. I've only ever done it once or twice and can't remember if it has to be element-element that match, or if it will work as long as there is spare space (either lost elements or enough lost men) to absorb the combination within the original strength limit. You definitely can't merge to create a stronger unit than the 2 originals (which may be one reason why you found the option blocked?)

[Erik Springelkamp]

I envy the light troops that the Austrians have, they can patrol and ambush all their borders with them.
Fredrick wrote himself that they make close recon in to the Austrian main force impossible, that is very important if they prevent the only intelligence source in the game. We cant hire spies..

So the light troops should be on constant patrol catching Hussars and clashing with Freikorps. Raiding is also true but i think the house rules about leaders is a must untill something like the out of command rule i suggested above is forced by the game.

Where can I find some instructions on the use of light troops?

Should I start moving them back and forth along the borders, and/or into enemy country?

In the AAR's their use is mostly hinted at.

Anyway, I have started to just move them around, and I will see what comes of it.

[Die Zieten]

Where can I find some instructions on the use of light troops?

Should I start moving them back and forth along the borders, and/or into enemy country?

In the AAR's their use is mostly hinted at.

Anyway, I have started to just move them around, and I will see what comes of it.

It could be people use them in very different ways or they are keeping quiet about their use.

You can use them for intelligence/recon, raiding and catching the enemys light troops doing the same.

Get information of the enemy organisation and plans so that your main armies don have to move back and forth.

Hit the enemy supply depots, towns and anything you can.

Try to catch his raiders/border patrol or some weak garrison/militia to destroy them.


Those border areas are best left to these troops, no reason to tie up too much of your line troops in the mountains and forests.

You can have a few detachments under a leader that are brigaded combining different types of troops, cavalry and infantry types, special forces for special missions.


Still you should use them in you main army also, they give you screening and detection for the main force.
You can patrol around it so that your enemy cant get a close look of your main force.

It takes time to micromanage them but if you want to win im sure you need atleast a minimal effort in using them.

http://www.kronoskaf.com/syw/index.php?title=Armies


In SYW project you can find stories of the historical light troops of different countries and you will get ideas for yourself.

[Erik Springelkamp]

A few questions on supply. I don't find the manual very clear on tiny details.

When a force is next to a structure, I understand that wagons draw supply from that structure, so it is also available for all units in the force.
Do forces without a wagon draw supply from an adjacent structure, or only from a structure in their region?
Do units draw supply from wagons in another force in the same region?

At the moment I have a huge mob of independent units and brigades marching toward an army they are going to reinforce.
Each of them has a slightly different movement rate, depending on the activity status of the brigadier, or on the composition of the force.
Does it make sense to build a depot half way, just to resupply them, and should I order them to end a move there in order to profit from the depot?
Or should I scatter some supply wagons along the route so they can take what they need from them?

Questions, questions, but it is the first time I have to manage all those Austrian and French troop and march them to the front.

I seem to need most of my replacements just to replenish the attrition of those troops marching to the front.
I wonder what will happen when the fighting starts for real.

[Die Zieten]

A few questions on supply. I don't find the manual very clear on tiny details.

When a force is next to a structure, I understand that wagons draw supply from that structure, so it is also available for all units in the force.
Do forces without a wagon draw supply from an adjacent structure, or only from a structure in their region?
Do units draw supply from wagons in another force in the same region?

At the moment I have a huge mob of independent units and brigades marching toward an army they are going to reinforce.
Each of them has a slightly different movement rate, depending on the activity status of the brigadier, or on the composition of the force.
Does it make sense to build a depot half way, just to resupply them, and should I order them to end a move there in order to profit from the depot?
Or should I scatter some supply wagons along the route so they can take what they need from them?

Questions, questions, but it is the first time I have to manage all those Austrian and French troop and march them to the front.

I seem to need most of my replacements just to replenish the attrition of those troops marching to the front.
I wonder what will happen when the fighting starts for real.

I think all forces in the same region can use the supply form the supply trains.
The way i read the manual forces can draw supply from adjacent depots atleast, i just dont use forces outside structures too much without supply trains as i hate attrition hits..

Depots are expensive so using the wagon trains as depots is a good tactic but remember to give them a good escort so the enemy dont catch them, the light troops are good for this also as they dont use that much of the supply and have good evasion/detection.

You better secure your supply lines with depots when you have taken and hold your objectives because when the winter comes and the enemy cuts you off from supply whole armies can be destroyed in a few turns.

[loki100]

Where can I find some instructions on the use of light troops?

Should I start moving them back and forth along the borders, and/or into enemy country?

In the AAR's their use is mostly hinted at.

Anyway, I have started to just move them around, and I will see what comes of it.

For the Austrian side, you have 2 types of light unit - the grenzler (light inf battalions) and the Hussars/Cossacks.

Some people (viz me) say put the former into your line brigades, they give you a +1 on the chance to avoid a hit so reduce losses (useful as the Prussians have a fire advantage), the purists will say that is Napoleonic and they should be as separate battalions in the commander stack. Adopt to suit your tastes or house rules you agree with your opponent. In either case, they tend to end up in the line of battle, as unlike WiA, RoP lacks the sort of terrain that suits petit guerre.

Your Hussars/Cossacks are one of your key assets. Esp with the Cossacks keep them out of battle and in separate brigades or as battalions on their own (they die horribly and quickly in a big battle). Use them to take MC around your advance, spy and disrupt (but also add 1 battalion to each corps - they have a useful foraging bonus). The Hussars are a bit more use in combat brigades but for both Austria and France you have a few commanders who specialise in recon. Use them, send them out 1 turn, 1 turn to spy, 1 turn back for supply (the Cossacks have 3 turns of supply so can spend longer out there). Rotate and you should have pretty good intelligence on what the Prussians are up to. In particular, you want to know if they are shifting large numbers between the various fronts.

For Prussia its similar but you have less. The Light Inf, I'd treat as combat brigades, you only have a couple of Hussar brigades (& no or few replacements), so love and cherish them. You can use them aggressively - scouting as above or defensively - they have the detect values to find and drive in Russian/Austrian scouts.

Its a fun part of the game - you can send your opponent nuts chasing small units around, there is one Prussian Hussar commander (Zietler?) who I simply hate.

A few questions on supply. I don't find the manual very clear on tiny details.

When a force is next to a structure, I understand that wagons draw supply from that structure, so it is also available for all units in the force.
Do forces without a wagon draw supply from an adjacent structure, or only from a structure in their region?
Do units draw supply from wagons in another force in the same region?

At the moment I have a huge mob of independent units and brigades marching toward an army they are going to reinforce.
Each of them has a slightly different movement rate, depending on the activity status of the brigadier, or on the composition of the force.
Does it make sense to build a depot half way, just to resupply them, and should I order them to end a move there in order to profit from the depot?
Or should I scatter some supply wagons along the route so they can take what they need from them?

Questions, questions, but it is the first time I have to manage all those Austrian and French troop and march them to the front.

I seem to need most of my replacements just to replenish the attrition of those troops marching to the front.
I wonder what will happen when the fighting starts for real.

Units only take supply if they are in a province with a supply producing structure, so being next to one is akin to being 10 provinces away (if you lack supply wagons), also units only draw on supply wagons in the same stack as them (so sometimes you may need to juggle your wagons between corps). If you are sending wagons back and forth - say to sustain a siege - protect them with cavalry (one great use for light cavalry is to snaffle unescorted supply wagons)

Getting the French and Austrians to the front takes a bit of care.

For the Austrians, once Daun is available and has replaced Browne, send Charles and at least 1, pref 2 corps commanders to Wien/Pressburg. Start organising the arrivals into brigades as soon as they unlock and send them to the front. You should also get Nadasdy about this time and he is good for this role. Its likely that Prag is a battlefield, so you want to arrive ready for war, not as isolated brigades or columns with huge command maluses.

The French is a bit easier as they tend to unlock with a command structure. Just set them off to where you want them to be. Usually by the time the first big French army unlocks at Paris you should have Wesel and perhaps more of the Rhineland, so they can approach the front assuming peaceful passage.

They should get to their respective fronts using a combination of their 2 turn organic supply and supply wagons. With the French, aim to rest them on the Rhine (lots of suitable forts there). In truth, I find making sure they arrive with near full cohesion is the goal, not worry about keeping them in supply, so don't march them 3 turns and run the risk of a battle at the end. In truth, unless utterly pushed to it, rest any unit after 2 turns of marching, esp in winter or mud. You need to take breaks or cohesion and attrition will harm you.

[Erik Springelkamp]

Thanks for all the advise.

I am slowly discovering what I should have done :-)

But that is one of the nicest phases in any wargame, I think.

[Erik Springelkamp]

We have arrived at the next phase of the campaign: the Russians have arrived!

So in order to plan my strategy, I discover I am missing some information, like about Poland.

I know both sides can march through Poland, but what about supply?
Will their cities provide supply for my Russians?
If yes, what is the importance of the Danzig option?
If no, how will I build all the depots for my advance?

I already saw that the Cossacks are plundering every Prussian province they cross. Isn't this counter productive for the Russian advance? Scorched Earth when you retreat, I understand, but when you advance? Or is it their way to supply themselves?

Of course I can just try everything to learn by experience, but my opponent and I already invested quite some effort in this campaign, and it would be a pity if I spoil everything through technical faults.

But maybe in reality wars were decided that way as well :-)

Another little question: the HRE forces seem to be very short on 1* generals. Can I expect to see an improvement in this situation, or is this just a histoical limitation I have to live with?

And what is exactly the relation between the forces of the HRE, Bavaria and other minor countries, and Saxony. Do they all work together, or is there a certain preferred grouping?

[loki100]

the coastal cities in Poland give pretty much unlimited supply for both, the inland cities give some supply to host smaller forces. You can't build depots in Poland. So the natural place is the first province in Pommerania, build a Russian depot there, then maybe 1 more before Kolberg - depends if you can gamble on a quick siege or not

Danzig, if the Austrian pays and the Prussian doesn't you get control, if you both pay it stays neutral (ie as above), if you are the Austrian, save your money.

With HRE, yep, you can't really use them all. I tend to pick the best units and use the rest for rear area security etc and to rotate battered battalions in/out. Some commanders have the HRE trait (so can command a bit of a mix), otherwise its best not to mix HRE and other formations.

The Cossacks just do that - on the plus side they give a bonus for supply extraction so it sort of cancels out for the Russians.

[Krot]

1. Some detailed answers to Russion supply question here:

http://www.ageod-forum.com/showthread.php?24651-Russian-Supply-and-Super-Long-Battle-Questions

Danzig is very important for Russian supply line between East Prussia and East Pommern and/or Branderburg. It is the only Polish city where Russian depot can be founded via appropriate option in 1756 campaign. It has a harbour = supplied by sea.
In RL SYW Danzig never opened its gates to Russians (due to grim memories of Polish succession war when the city was besiged, stormed and capitulated to Russians) and it was one of many reasons of their logistical problems.

2. About HRE generals: as far as I remember there is a couple of "multinational" trait Austrian generals who can command HRE contingents.

3. To avoid command penalties for mixing different nationalties units in one stack for any unit present in the stack you shoul have at least one general of the same nationality.

PS When finished my writing I saw all questions already answered by loki100.

[Erik Springelkamp]

Is it true that supply resources are pushed throughout your territory between all structures that are within 3 or less regions distance?

Or do structures only produce their own resources, and is the pushing only working towards wagons?

If the national supply is a system of connected vessels, how does the game decide where to store large stocks?

In the manual it is said that the 3 region distance is dependent on the presence of roads and terrain. Is there a way to read which structures (or a structure and a wagon in a region) do connect for the purpose of supply pushing?

[loki100]

You are right in the first part, so Wien produces supply and this is pushed up the chain of forts and depots so where there is need - but watch out for enemy MC/units breaking key parts of the chain. Should stress wagons are not in the chain. They work to extend it and to some extent re-order it. In other words if you send a group of empty wagons to one city, they will clear that out of normal arriving supply and take that supply to somewhere else - where that supply could not arrive naturally.

Your last two questions, I believe, lie in the realm of the underlying code. I think that blocked passes for eg, stop supply moving (try occupying Koenigratz as the Prussians over winter - the only supply you have is local production). I tend to common sense rather than real understanding. Assume that roads are the main connecting link, in the main the game engine does a good job of taking supply from the rear and delivering it to as near the front as it can manage. Look at the supply tooltip and supply mode for say Wien over a couple of turns and you get some feel for this going on.

[Erik Springelkamp]

The game is marching on, although a bit slow over the last week on my part.

My opponent Prussia made a major strategic move by marching his main force under Frederick over from the Bohemian front to the East and the road to Vienna, leaving the Austrians and their reinforcing Germans behind (leaving the road to Saxony pretty much open, but I doubt I can exploit this with winter coming and Vienna under threat).

My French army at Wesel doesn't seem able to really hurt the Hanoverians around Munster.

The Swedish are under siege, and pretty much unable to pose any serious resistance.

The Russians have succeeded in taking Koenigsberg.
Now I have hordes of Russian light cavalry. Should I use them to swarm Prussia with plunder, or is that not done, as I read about house rules that cavalry without leader units should not go on the rampage?

[Erik Springelkamp]

Some more questions about things that still escape my understanding, even after playing for a while:

- In the tooltip of a force, you can see numbers behind every identified force, like
Rudolph Gaisruck (Gaisruck's Brigade) x (3-0-0) (151/151)
The 151 is evidently hits/steps (just discovered this, was meaning to ask what it meant :-))
The Power is not displayed, though for other less identified forces the power is being displayed.
I think this makes this tooltip info kind of obscure and hard to read (have to add a whole lot of numbers in your head)

- I see sometimes artillery and light forces are combined into a brigade, and then they cost 4 Command Points, while if you break up the brigade, they cost 0 Command Points. If the officer is a 3-0-0 leader, I don't see the point of combining them. Or do I miss something.
Same question for artillery - although there is a case where the officer has an artillery bonus, so there I can see a reason.

- What is the approximate size of a force that will be committed in battle, so extra forces are only used as reinforcements?
So how many corps do you concentrate in a battle, instead of using them separately?
I know this can be very much depending on the geography, but I don't even have a rough clue.

- If I build a level one depot, what kind of army can it serve through the supply chain?
For instance, is a level one depot chain enough to feed the Russian invasion army?

- The tooltip tells me it will cost me 10 thalers to enable brigade command for a leader.
Yet I don't see the money subtracted from my resources when I do this.
Because I noticed that you cannot enable brigade command for an inactive leader, I have enabled brigade command for idle French officers when they happened to be active (even when I didn't need them yet).
But they seem to lose the brigade ability when they are not used as such. Can anybody confirm this?

[Krot]

Some more questions about things that still escape my understanding, even after playing for a while:

- In the tooltip of a force, you can see numbers behind every identified force, like
Rudolph Gaisruck (Gaisruck's Brigade) x (3-0-0) (151/151)
The 151 is evidently hits/steps (just discovered this, was meaning to ask what it meant :-))
The Power is not displayed, though for other less identified forces the power is being displayed.
I think this makes this tooltip info kind of obscure and hard to read (have to add a whole lot of numbers in your head)

- I see sometimes artillery and light forces are combined into a brigade, and then they cost 4 Command Points, while if you break up the brigade, they cost 0 Command Points. If the officer is a 3-0-0 leader, I don't see the point of combining them. Or do I miss something.
Same question for artillery - although there is a case where the officer has an artillery bonus, so there I can see a reason.

- What is the approximate size of a force that will be committed in battle, so extra forces are only used as reinforcements?
So how many corps do you concentrate in a battle, instead of using them separately?
I know this can be very much depending on the geography, but I don't even have a rough clue.

- If I build a level one depot, what kind of army can it serve through the supply chain?
For instance, is a level one depot chain enough to feed the Russian invasion army?

- The tooltip tells me it will cost me 10 thalers to enable brigade command for a leader.
Yet I don't see the money subtracted from my resources when I do this.
Because I noticed that you cannot enable brigade command for an inactive leader, I have enabled brigade command for idle French officers when they happened to be active (even when I didn't need them yet).
But they seem to lose the brigade ability when they are not used as such. Can anybody confirm this?

Some answers on the questions above:

1. Numbers means actual/maximum strength of brigade or unit. If your units are understrengh (due to lost elements) your nominal strength is less than maximum.
2. Each brigade costs 4 CP notwithstanding how many CPs costs any unit inside a brigade. So if you combine 4 units with total cost of 12 CP (3 CPs each, like Saxon battalions in Prussian service) or 0 CP (for example Croatian grenzers with 0 CP each) into a brigade their command costs as brigades are the very same ie 4.
As for leaders, even 1-0-0 commander will improve your units stats (you can compare battle strengh of some cavalry or light infantry unit with embeded leader and without) and reduce command penalties of units inside a brigade.

3. This question was discussed on Ageod forum (different games sections) in great detail. In short: the number depends on terrain, weather and your leader stats. I never try to calculate precisely the optimum number and mostly rely on my battle experience. The detailed battle results which you can see after your turn ends, show you the number of units/brigades engaged each round/hour of the battle.

4. Depots per se (especially level 1) can not feed the armies. They are just supply relays and should be based in places with good road, riverine or naval connection with big depots, cities and ports. As far as I remember there is no limits on supply which level 1 depot can receive/send to your hungry armies. Main limitation is the sources of this supply.

5. All the expences are deducted from your treasury next turn IMO. If you assigned a brigade commander but did not actually form appropriate brigade the very same turn, you lose 10 thalers and 1 recruit company for nothing.

[loki100]

There is a small difference if you embed your artillery in brigades with infantry or leave it as unassigned in the overall stack. Its well explained here but in a brigade artillery will fire at the target selected by your infantry, by itself it will tend to select other support units (usually of course the enemy artillery).

[Erik Springelkamp]

I am puzzled.

My Russians are besieging Stettin, and I built a depot in Greifenhagen to keep them supplied.

Kolberg has plenty supply, there are two regions with roads between Kolberg and the depot in Greifenhagen (100% Austrian control), yet Greifenhagen is receiving/sending 0/4 supply, so my beseiging forces are getting low on supply.



Last turn the depot was receiving a little supply (69/0) and even sending Ammo (56/57).

But Swedt (city directly South of the depot, also besieged by my forces) received 134 supply; where is that supply coming from if not from my depot?

My military control of region Greifenhagen was lowered from 94% to 89% during this turn. Is there a hidden Prussian unit in the region that gains control?

This turn Stetting and Swedt received zero supply.

[Erik Springelkamp]

Bump. Studied the situation a bit more.

I wonder if I wasted good wagons on my depots on my march along the coast?

I see shipping delivers a lot of supply, so could I have marched my Russians all the way to Stettin and siege it without building a supply chain back to Poland? But then, why didn't they receive any supply during the last turn?

I did a lot of reading of old posts on this forum lately, but this whole supply situation of the Russians is still a mystery to me.

[Baris]

I think it is always better supply flow from multiple regions. In this case maybe controlling Naugard and Massow will help. 20-25 % MC is sufficient.
Not sure about sea supply but maybe it is performed every 2 turns.