Looking for an RUS doctor

[blackknight]

This is an odd post but, for some reason I have no PM privileges. Guess it's because I am new to the forum?

If Dr.King is interested in taking a fellow Virginian under his wing, I am looking for a mentor and a potential future opponent. I am new to the game and have a lot of questions about how to play it intelligently. I am calling on you in particular because of your superb AARs which indicate a deep understanding of how to play this game effectively.

Dr. King or anyone else interested in mentoring a newbie, please fell free to PM me or respond here.


Thanks,

Brian Sherry
Vienna, VA

[Durk]

It is because you are a new member.
Reply to this post and you will hit the threshold for pm.

[blackknight]

Ah, thanks!

[Durk]

One more, I guess.

[ERISS]

restrictions are lifted as soon as a new member satisfies *both* of the following:
. Has been a registered user for at least 3 days
. Has a postcount of 10 or more

http://www.ageod-forum.com/showthread.php?t=17093

[TheDoctorKing]

Hey, I'm sorry I didn't catch your post earlier.

I am involved in the Pride of Nations beta test and I have been playing that every available moment. I'm also getting ready to teach a class. If you haven't gotten a game in a couple of weeks I might be open to starting a new one. Good luck!

Have you read the AARs (mine and Andatiep's)? I haven't seen his (of course) but we are trying to give a lesson as well as show how his mods work.

[blackknight]

Hi-

Thanks for replying. I am studying all of your AARs very carefully.

My chief problems right now are:

-Not understanding the save system as I outlined in my post in the tech support forum.
-Not really understanding supply. For example, I am not sure where to build depots and how they supply my armies. I have figured out that armies without supply vehicles don't get supply if they are not located at a depot(right?). So for example, I launched a large attack at Riga only to have my armies become totally ineffective and "flashing red" because they were out of supply.
-Not really understanding replacements. I see that I can click on chits and it takes my money, but where do the replacements go?
-Not understanding sieges. Do my besieging units simply make breaches until there is no longer any defense bonus or will the garrison actually starve and surrender, and if so when?

Anyway I have more questions but that's a good start!

I should have buffed up my post count by making these all separate posts.

Thanks,

Brian

[ZardozLord]

Hi Blackknight, I will give you a game if you want, I hve been playing Ageod games for over 2 years, I am no Manstien but I do know the game system reasonably well, are you thinking of starting a Pbem game and learning through that?

[barbu]

-Not really understanding supply. For example, I am not sure where to build depots and how they supply my armies. I have figured out that armies without supply vehicles don't get supply if they are not located at a depot(right?). So for example, I launched a large attack at Riga only to have my armies become totally ineffective and "flashing red" because they were out of supply.
-Not really understanding replacements. I see that I can click on chits and it takes my money, but where do the replacements go?
-Not understanding sieges. Do my besieging units simply make breaches until there is no longer any defense bonus or will the garrison actually starve and surrender, and if so when?

Hi. Here are some answers (not perfect, since nobody except the game designers understand these things *perfectly*), but answers that will help you win or at least play well:

Supply: You've got the main points. Supply is produced and forwarded automatically but only by depots and by cities above a certain size (I think it's 3, please check the manual, I don't have the game installed and I can't look it up). Also, supplies are forwarded only for *three* regions. So if you have a depot and then a city size 5 which is six regions away, you need to build a depot in between, or else supplies will not be forwarded.

Use supply vehicles to "load" supplies at a depot or city. At least 2 per army corps or independent command. 5-6 for bigger combat forces (think 80,000 people or more - hold CTRL while looking "inside" a stack to see how big it is). Without a supply vehicle a stack - any stack - carries only enough food and water for 2 (two) turns. Which, Russia being the map behemoth that it is, means quite nothing.

Replacements: they go to existing units which have suffered losses and which are located in depots or cities. I have a few questions myself about that, but this is really the thing. Sending replacements to/through enemy territory cannot be done (obviously). So be careful before you send that army corps to attack Moscow - it won't get any replacements until you conquer cities on the way.

Oh, and stacks that move don't receive replacements. Again it's pretty obvious ("Comrade Popov told me and my men to join the 16th Division!" "Oh, you just missed them. They're in Irkutsk right now!" "Irkutsk??? That's 120 hours from here by train!! Darn!! " ).

And please don't confuse replacements for the creation of new units, which is something else entirely. You probably don't, but just in case...

Sieges: one of two things can happen: the enemy surrenders (usually on the first turn) or not. The enemy never surrenders if they have a supply vehicle! If they don't surrender, look at the region where the siege is taking place - there is usually an icon with a pop-up text describing the state of the siege (i.e. "The defenses have been completely breached. The structure offers no more defensive benefits".) When you read something like that, it's time to put the attacking stack on the red arrow (assault) combat mode.

Very Important Note: you can't create breaches - and thus assault - without artillery. 2000 or 12 000 soldiers with no artillery guns who are besieging a city are just wasting time and food. It's not a siege, it's a picnic.

Hope that helped.

[TheDoctorKing]

On supplies: blackknight is correct. You can send wagons manually to the rear to load up on supplies and then bring them back up to your army, or maintain a chain of depots about three regions apart. Sometimes three is not enough, if the terrain is truly awful. On the other hand, supply can move farther than three along a rail line I think. In Andatiep's minimod game, light armored trains have big supply capacities and are perfect for zipping back and forth from a city to a force in the field. As long as you stick to the rail lines.

On replacements: your units will always have a chance of drawing replacements as long as they do not move (I think). This is faster if they are in defensive posture, even faster if they are passive. Units inside depots or towns are considered in passive posture unless they are attacked (thus they draw replacements the fastest). Some factions draw replacements faster (maybe Germans??? The CSA in the AACW game for sure.)

Sieges: there is a calculation that takes place every turn to determine if a besieged city surrenders. The variables are the amount of artillery and engineers in the besieging force, the presence of supply units in the besieged force, and the force ratio between the two armies and a random factor. The outcomes range from surrender, through creation of a breach, some losses for the defenders, nothing, and repair of a breach earlier created. When the besieger gets a number of breaches equal to the fortress value (one for unfortified cities and depots) then the besieger gets the report "the structure has no more defensive value". This is misleading - the battle will still take place in urban terrain, which restricts the attacker's deployment and limit the effectiveness of his artillery (I think?) and the defender's entrenchment value still applies. You need a very significant numerical advantage and full organization levels to pull off an assault even then.

You can besiege without artillery or engineers. What happens is that the defenders use up all their supplies, slowly become first disorganized and then dead. You get rolls on the siege table but I would say your chances of getting breaches are slim.

Make sure to control the surrounding regions of a place you are besieging. That way the defenders can't bring in more supplies and they also can't leave when they feel like it. Normally, you will want about 80% military control in all the surrounding regions. And don't forget if the place is on a river you need to bring up enough gunboats to blockade the port.

One more thing: forts have really powerful zones of control. That means that it is hard to move off of a fort into enemy-controlled terrain beyond or to move supplies around a fort. A line of connected forts is like World War I. Build lots of forts as the defenders.

[blackknight]

Thanks to all for the helpful answers.

As regards sieges, is there any indication in the game as to the expected length of the sieges, a la the Total War series? I have not noticed it anywhere.

[TheDoctorKing]

No, there is no certainty about this process. I remember in Rise of Prussia I would always kick things off as the Prussians by running down and besieging Prague. Sometimes I would get them in three or four turns and other times I'd sit there all winter suffering attrition and never get anything. Same attackers, same defenders (normally) and enormous range of outcomes. Same story for the French siege of that Prussian town on the Rhine.

That being said, bringing plenty of artillery and a significant numerical superiorty and closing off access to supplies all work well.

I should say that some leaders are good as attackers, defenders, or both, with special characteristics. Stalin and Voroshilov are good fortress defenders.