phoenix
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what to do with supply wagons

Sun Jul 02, 2017 6:34 pm

Do I just leave them stacked with the armies I want supplied? Does that happen automatically - that they re-supply units they're stacked with? Is that the only way they will re-supply those units? Can they re-supply units they're not stacked with, if so how? Do they need to be in the same region as the target unit? Or can they do it from a distance?

When they run low, do I need to move them into other regions to stock up (when they run low), and does that happen automatically? Then what? Move them back into the stack with the units to be resupplied?

The manual is sketchy, I think. Any help appreciated.

Thanks.

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Ripster8
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Re: what to do with supply wagons

Sun Jul 02, 2017 8:46 pm

Supply Wagons are critical for conducting offensive operations in enemy territory. When besieging an enemy city you will indeed shuttle them back and forth from your army to the nearest friendly supply point, normally a large city with a large depot. Additionally, supply wagons are used to build new depots in cities you control. Wagons and depots are vital to your success, as your major field armies will consume supply at a prodigious rate and will evaporate if not resupplied (especially in winter)!

Supply wagons are automatically 'refilled' each turn from the supply generated in the province they are located and from adjacent provinces only. This leads to one other important point: supply wagons have priority when the supplies are allocated by the game engine. In other words if your army is low on supply and it has supply wagons in the same province that are empty the supply wagons will receive the available supply first before your army does. This has led to situations in TYW games I have played where at the beginning of a turn an army's supply wagons are nice and full, but the troops are unsupplied and and have taken attrition damage. Ouch!

Hope this helps and smite the heretics!

phoenix
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Re: what to do with supply wagons

Sun Jul 02, 2017 10:06 pm

Thanks. Very helpful. So if the wagons drain the province of supply it's the next turn before they pass it on to your troops there?

Depots I asked about in the other thread you've responded to - but I'm guessing they just act as stores, of course. If a depot is full you can shuttle a supply wagon to it and it will refill from the depot? How does that work - over 4 turns? (4 months!!!!) Turn 1 supply wagon leaves army and moves to depot (or city etc). Turn 2 you leave it there to refill? ?? Turn 3 back to the army. Turn 4 it resupplies the army??? 4 months?

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Ripster8
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Re: what to do with supply wagons

Sun Jul 02, 2017 10:40 pm

My understanding is that when you hit the 'next turn' button part of the turn resolution is the supply production and allocation phase. Cities and depots produce supplies and it is given to units and supply wagons that are in the same province or an adjacent one automatically. Supplies are allocated until every unit/wagon is full or there are no more supplies left in that province.

When the turn resolution is complete the supply situation you have at the start of that new turn will not change until the next time you hit the 'next turn' button and a new supply production and allocation phase is executed. That is why it is important to have your armies - as much as possible given the tactical situation - positioned for maximum supply allocation before you hit the next turn button. This includes moving all empty supply wagons back to friendly cities/depots in order to be refilled.

So, yes, in theory it could take four months to move an empty supply wagon back and forth from army to resupply city and then back to the army. With a large army I often have four wagons operating in sets of 2 moving back and forth to keep the troops in supply. Supply is much easier on the defense, but when on the offense you must have plenty of supply wagons!

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Durk
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Re: what to do with supply wagons

Mon Jul 03, 2017 1:01 am

In thinking about supply wagons and supply you need to think at the element level in the game. Elements are the sub-units in the game. If you click on a unit the display on the bottom right should show one to four elements.
Supply wagons can hold up to four elements. Each element can hold up to 80 points. Each point can roughly supply one element of troops. So a normal army can live two months off of Inherent Supply the troops carry, and then, extend this by the supply wagons.
A small army will have around 50 elements, a medium army around 100 elements. So a couple of wagons shuttling back and forth ought to be able to keep these forces in supply.

When you think about depots, these are not just storage. They create supply each turn which wagons can then collect, just as many cities do.

Elements are also a way of thinking about defending inside fortresses. Counting elements and supply, remember the fortress is not generating supply is besieged, you can determine if a supply wagon would be useful in extending the defense of the city.

phoenix
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Re: what to do with supply wagons

Mon Jul 03, 2017 8:47 am

Thanks both. Very useful.

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