Supply Primer
Posted: Tue Jul 21, 2009 4:12 am
Here's a synopsis of the supply system as posted by Pocus in one of the beta threads. (Reposted here to allow everyone access to the design information).
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Originally Posted by Pocus
Supply System
I - Supply points.
In ACW all usages and stocks are expressed in supply points (no chips as in BoA). There is 2 kinds of supply: General Supply (genSpl) and Ammo Supply (Ammo).
Many units have just the stock to be supplied for 2 turns (genSpl) or 2 battles (ammo). Some units are supply wagons, generally with a stock of 20/20 for each element (giving 80/80 as a unit). A fighting element will be more toward a stock of 4/4, meaning 16/16 for the whole unit (considering a unit with 4 elements, which won't be the rule in ACW, units will vary between 1 and 12 elements).
II - Generating Supply
Supply is generated in structures, either with their innate capacity, which is low (can be tweaked to any value in fact, these are parameters in the structures files), as the primary source of supplies will be given by the scripting engine, in order to modelize correctly the variety of situation (factories and such). For example Washington will perhaps receive 500 genSpl each turn from the scripting engine.
Supply generation occurs at the start of hosting for the innate capacity, and at the end of hosting for the scripted one (the SE triggers at the end of hosting).
Each region which have a structure you own and a stock of supply (in genSpl or ammo) will acts as a supply source for the incoming supply phase. If you don't have a structure in a region, you can't have stock (but you can have supply wagons...).
III - Supply distribution
The distribution is made from sources to destinations, it occurs at the begining of hosting. A valid source is a structure with enough supply (enough meaning based on a computation taking into account how much the structure want to keep for itself).
A valid destination is a structure without enough supply OR a supply unit (Supply wagon). => A supply wagon receive supply, but don't give it back during this distribution process.
Coefficients:
The basic idea is that each structure want some supplies, at this stage, based on some coefficients time the structure level. This is tweakable in the structures file. For example one can say that cities want 3 genSpl for each of their level and 2 ammos points, whereas forts will want 10 genSpl and 30 ammos for each of their level.
Supply units (wagons) want also, their coefficient is half their maximal supply storage (its a variable too). So basically a unit with 4 wagons will have a coefficient of 40/40 in both supply.
Iterations and type of movements:
This is where the pools kick in. There is 3 pools used for resupplying purpose: Railroad, riverine and naval (oceanic).
Railroad and riverine can either be used as a tool to transport units, or to transport supply (so the 0 to 3/3 tick shown on the sample image). Depending on how much you have in your pool, how much supply you have on the map and what usage you want to commit, this will cost you more and more of your pool.
What is not used in the supply transportation phase is what is left to move your units with the 2 privileged movement mode: rails and rivers.
Back to 1/3, 2/3 and 3/3 commitment: If you can afford the spending, you can have your supply use rails and/or rivers during 0 (zero, you can't afford anything or you want to keep your meager pool for your units) to 3 iterations.
An iteration is a partial distribution (a spreading) of supply from sources toward destinations. There is 3 distributions (iterations each turn).
At most during one iteration, a supply point can travel 5 regions or 40 ticks, what ever is lower. A tick is the distance travelled in one day by the supply distribution unit, a special unit only used by the hosting module (basically a virtual wheeled wagon that is moved around to check distances).
It can appears strange to allow a unit to travel up to 120 ticks (120 days) during a turn of 15 days, but its just a mean to calculate how far a supply point can travel during a turn, thats' why its better to speak of a 'tick' and not a 'day' of travel (or alternatively we can speed up to 300% the speed of the virtual unit... this is tweaked to allow a fair but not too large spreading of supplies). Basically, if you can't use rails or rivers, your supply will spread slowly, from your sources toward your depots and stocks, travelling at most 2-3 regions for each iteration.
So the benefit of having enough rails and rivers points is clear: it allow a faster and more efficient spreading of your supply points.
When a supply point is given to a supply stock which is also a source during one iteration, it can be send forward further, in iterations #2 and #3.
Ideally, you will want to establish supply depots (suppy lane) so that your supply points can spread smoothly and intelligently, without bottlenecks.
For example, if you have a big depot in area A, a gap in area B (nothing to transmit supply , or just a small town without depot) and several supply wagons in area C, if the gap in B is too wide, you won't be supplied correctly. You will need to put a depot, as a relay in B, so that supply can be transmitted from A to B then to C. If you can use railroad, you will be able to augment the distance between each depot, or even pass mountains and bad terrains easily.
IV - Supply wagons
Supply wagons are special units. They are stocks but not sources. So they can query/call for supply points, but won't give them back when needed by other supply wagons or structures. The side effects of this rule are:
a) Supply wagon can't establish by themselves a supply lane.
b) You are assured that the supply in it won't be 'stolen' by a distant & 'hungry' stock in need.
c) You can use them as a manually handled supply system. Just move them toward a strong source, have them resplenish, and then move them back where you need supply in quantity.
Aside that, supply wagons can still transform in supply depot, thus enabling a new supply chain.
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Naval Supply is provided by placing naval transport units in the Shipping Boxes which can now be done by either side, but is most advanteous to the CSA when/if Foreign Intervention is triggered
Have fun digesting this info. As you can tell after reading this, supply distribution is a whole separate sub-system separate but coexisting with the game movement design itself.
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Originally Posted by Pocus
Supply System
I - Supply points.
In ACW all usages and stocks are expressed in supply points (no chips as in BoA). There is 2 kinds of supply: General Supply (genSpl) and Ammo Supply (Ammo).
Many units have just the stock to be supplied for 2 turns (genSpl) or 2 battles (ammo). Some units are supply wagons, generally with a stock of 20/20 for each element (giving 80/80 as a unit). A fighting element will be more toward a stock of 4/4, meaning 16/16 for the whole unit (considering a unit with 4 elements, which won't be the rule in ACW, units will vary between 1 and 12 elements).
II - Generating Supply
Supply is generated in structures, either with their innate capacity, which is low (can be tweaked to any value in fact, these are parameters in the structures files), as the primary source of supplies will be given by the scripting engine, in order to modelize correctly the variety of situation (factories and such). For example Washington will perhaps receive 500 genSpl each turn from the scripting engine.
Supply generation occurs at the start of hosting for the innate capacity, and at the end of hosting for the scripted one (the SE triggers at the end of hosting).
Each region which have a structure you own and a stock of supply (in genSpl or ammo) will acts as a supply source for the incoming supply phase. If you don't have a structure in a region, you can't have stock (but you can have supply wagons...).
III - Supply distribution
The distribution is made from sources to destinations, it occurs at the begining of hosting. A valid source is a structure with enough supply (enough meaning based on a computation taking into account how much the structure want to keep for itself).
A valid destination is a structure without enough supply OR a supply unit (Supply wagon). => A supply wagon receive supply, but don't give it back during this distribution process.
Coefficients:
The basic idea is that each structure want some supplies, at this stage, based on some coefficients time the structure level. This is tweakable in the structures file. For example one can say that cities want 3 genSpl for each of their level and 2 ammos points, whereas forts will want 10 genSpl and 30 ammos for each of their level.
Supply units (wagons) want also, their coefficient is half their maximal supply storage (its a variable too). So basically a unit with 4 wagons will have a coefficient of 40/40 in both supply.
Iterations and type of movements:
This is where the pools kick in. There is 3 pools used for resupplying purpose: Railroad, riverine and naval (oceanic).
Railroad and riverine can either be used as a tool to transport units, or to transport supply (so the 0 to 3/3 tick shown on the sample image). Depending on how much you have in your pool, how much supply you have on the map and what usage you want to commit, this will cost you more and more of your pool.
What is not used in the supply transportation phase is what is left to move your units with the 2 privileged movement mode: rails and rivers.
Back to 1/3, 2/3 and 3/3 commitment: If you can afford the spending, you can have your supply use rails and/or rivers during 0 (zero, you can't afford anything or you want to keep your meager pool for your units) to 3 iterations.
An iteration is a partial distribution (a spreading) of supply from sources toward destinations. There is 3 distributions (iterations each turn).
At most during one iteration, a supply point can travel 5 regions or 40 ticks, what ever is lower. A tick is the distance travelled in one day by the supply distribution unit, a special unit only used by the hosting module (basically a virtual wheeled wagon that is moved around to check distances).
It can appears strange to allow a unit to travel up to 120 ticks (120 days) during a turn of 15 days, but its just a mean to calculate how far a supply point can travel during a turn, thats' why its better to speak of a 'tick' and not a 'day' of travel (or alternatively we can speed up to 300% the speed of the virtual unit... this is tweaked to allow a fair but not too large spreading of supplies). Basically, if you can't use rails or rivers, your supply will spread slowly, from your sources toward your depots and stocks, travelling at most 2-3 regions for each iteration.
So the benefit of having enough rails and rivers points is clear: it allow a faster and more efficient spreading of your supply points.
When a supply point is given to a supply stock which is also a source during one iteration, it can be send forward further, in iterations #2 and #3.
Ideally, you will want to establish supply depots (suppy lane) so that your supply points can spread smoothly and intelligently, without bottlenecks.
For example, if you have a big depot in area A, a gap in area B (nothing to transmit supply , or just a small town without depot) and several supply wagons in area C, if the gap in B is too wide, you won't be supplied correctly. You will need to put a depot, as a relay in B, so that supply can be transmitted from A to B then to C. If you can use railroad, you will be able to augment the distance between each depot, or even pass mountains and bad terrains easily.
IV - Supply wagons
Supply wagons are special units. They are stocks but not sources. So they can query/call for supply points, but won't give them back when needed by other supply wagons or structures. The side effects of this rule are:
a) Supply wagon can't establish by themselves a supply lane.
b) You are assured that the supply in it won't be 'stolen' by a distant & 'hungry' stock in need.
c) You can use them as a manually handled supply system. Just move them toward a strong source, have them resplenish, and then move them back where you need supply in quantity.
Aside that, supply wagons can still transform in supply depot, thus enabling a new supply chain.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Naval Supply is provided by placing naval transport units in the Shipping Boxes which can now be done by either side, but is most advanteous to the CSA when/if Foreign Intervention is triggered
Have fun digesting this info. As you can tell after reading this, supply distribution is a whole separate sub-system separate but coexisting with the game movement design itself.