blackknight wrote:-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!! "
![Big Grin :D](./images/smilies/biggrin.png)
).
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.