Raid Depot Card

[Ace]

Even stranger is you can destroy enemy lvl 4 depot, while you can't destroy your own?

[ajarnlance]

Even stranger is you can destroy enemy lvl 4 depot, while you can't destroy your own?

So I can only destroy my own depot if it is level one? That is very peculiar... I should be able to deprive the enemy of my supplies. Trying to remember what the "scorched earth" decison card does... Does it destroy depots?
Some people are commenting that the level of the depot doesn't concern tnem... I wonder if this is a consequence of an over abundance of general supply? If GS was tightened up then maybe the larger depots would be see as more valuable.

[ohms_law]

I'm nearly positive that the "drive by" thing doesn't work.
The destroy depot special order takes 5 days too, just like the card does. I think. I'm nearly positive.

[Captain_Orso]

I'm nearly positive that the "drive by" thing doesn't work.
The destroy depot special order takes 5 days too, just like the card does. I think. I'm nearly positive.

Find a town with a depot or other structure which is ungarrisoned. Take a unit which cannot capture that location (early war cav., raider, etc.), set it to Evade Combat. Move it through the region with the town you picked and watch the fireworks.

[Merlin]

Yes, but considering how much a level four depot is worth and how few of them there are it is a big hit. I guess I have to protect them better While we are on the subject of depots is it possible to build back up to a level four e.g. every couple of turns I 'add' another supply unit. Does anyone know if these can 'build up' above a level one depot?

I didn't see this earlier. You can build depots larger than level 1 by this very method, and level 4 is the maximum. Big depots accumulate a lot of supply, and I use them to influence where my supply gets stockpiled as the CSA. If you meticulously plan a robust depot network as the CSA and properly build level 2-4 depots in the necessary intermediate regions, you can almost completely ignore river/rail supply transport and use the pools to move units instead. Union players get really frustrated when you can shift multiple corps from Virginia to Middle Tennessee to Western Tennessee to the seaboards at will. Best of all, it only involves a one-time expenditure of resources equivalent to about one and a half divisions.

[ajarnlance]

I didn't see this earlier. You can build depots larger than level 1 by this very method, and level 4 is the maximum. Big depots accumulate a lot of supply, and I use them to influence where my supply gets stockpiled as the CSA. If you meticulously plan a robust depot network as the CSA and properly build level 2-4 depots in the necessary intermediate regions, you can almost completely ignore river/rail supply transport and use the pools to move units instead. Union players get really frustrated when you can shift multiple corps from Virginia to Middle Tennessee to Western Tennessee to the seaboards at will. Best of all, it only involves a one-time expenditure of resources equivalent to about one and a half divisions.

Thanks, that's a good tip!

[ohms_law]

Huh, I've never even tried that. Good tip!
(although, I'm really not sure if it'd be worth it, especially for the Confederates. I'd rather have a more "complete" network, than larger depots, currently.)

To Orso: ok, if that's the definition of "drive by" then yea. That's not what they were saying earlier, though (especially the "ungarrisoned" part).

[Merlin]

The CSA already has a number of large depots, so it's normally a matter of adding a level or two to existing level 1 depots to convert them to regional stockpile locations. The big project is creating level 1 depots in TX, LA, AR, TN, AL, MS, GA, SC and NC. Most of that can be done by flatboat, and I average about 3 wagons used over time.

[ajarnlance]

The CSA already has a number of large depots, so it's normally a matter of adding a level or two to existing level 1 depots to convert them to regional stockpile locations. The big project is creating level 1 depots in TX, LA, AR, TN, AL, MS, GA, SC and NC. Most of that can be done by flatboat, and I average about 3 wagons used over time.

Flatboats can make depots?

[Merlin]

Yes, and you can build them pretty much anywhere you have a harbor.

[ohms_law]

Yea... the flatboats are a bit more unbalancing than the (very limited) Raid cards, in my opinion.
I can set up a nationwide depot network as the CSA before the end of 1861 with flatboats.

I'm just uncertain what adding levels would give, for the Confederates. As far as I'm concerned, the main deal with depots is freeing up my transport resources for the Army's use. That seems to be quite effective, for me, in and of itself.

[Merlin]

As I'm sure you know, when you tank your rail/river pools supply has to leg it. Having the bigger depots in your rear ensures there's enough supply amassed to allow the mechanics to push/pull it all around without the help of the pools. Each level tends to accumulate roughly 500-1,000 GS, so having the larger depots allows your armies to operate within a limited area without supply interruptions when you're conducting large scale multi-turn redeployments. Think of the bigger ones as departmental supply dumps and it gives a pretty good picture of how many you might need. I rarely upgrade more than two depots over the course of a game.

[grimjaw]

I have never upgraded any of my depots.

[ohms_law]

I don't get what advantage going beyond level 1 has, though. Here's a screenshot of the supply map from my confed victory in a recent game:
[ATTACH]31997[/ATTACH]

I built the depot, and then a stockade, in Franklin, WV over the Winter and Spring of 1861 - 1862. It's level 1, as you can see, and there was more than enough supply to feed my invasion of WV. Lewisburg and Christianburg, further south, each have around 100/100 supply in them, as well. All of the pushing and pulling seems to be working great, all throughout my Confederacy, despite my heavy (albeit intermittent) use of the rail and river pools, which I never expanded.

[pgr]

Flatboats can make depots?

Oh yes my friend.... And thank god they do!

[ajarnlance]

That looks like a very health supply chain Ohms. That is a huge supply in Franklin. Is that because of the stockade?? Was this PBEM?

[ohms_law]

Single player game.

I don't think that the stockade has anything to do with it, it's just because of the push/pull effects. There are armies and Corps all around being fed from nearby depots.

[Merlin]

It's mainly a Deep South or Trans-Mississippi thing in PBEM, where most of your depots are level 1, and after you lose the big ones in Tennessee. Sometimes you'll find the smaller depot network doesn't distribute as well, so a few flatboats tends to correct the problem.