Supply and Reinforcements

[Forefall]

Anyone have a detailed explanation of how supply works? Also reinforcements?

[Rood]

Off the top of my head so not to detailed.

Each unit has a limited amount of ammo, uou use 1 ammo every time you shoot, the icons in the unit will show when you are low (yellow) and out (red) of ammo. When you have zero ammo you cannot attack or shoot back. Important rule to remember is that you should never have a unit with zero ammo next to an enemy unit!

Every unit that is either motorized or has motorized transport and also all planes have a set amount of fuel. When they move they expend fuel. The amount of fuel is mostly depend on the type of terrain and the ground conditions. For exact details check the Library under 'Movement". When a unit is out of fuel it cannot move and there's another penalty involved when you get attacked (can't remember which one I think you get reduced initiative). A plane with zero fuel will drop from the sky at the end of the turn. Aircraft will always use some fuel even if they are not moving (unless next to an airfield which will resupply them)

When a ground unit is low on ammo and/or fuel you use 1 turn to resupply that unit. If there are no enemies next to it then you can the maximum amount for that unit. If there is one or two enemies then you get less, when there's 3 enemies you cannot resupply.
For aircraft you need to be next or on top of an airfield to get resupplied.

For ships you need to be in a port to get ammo.

For reinforcements you can take a turn to reinfore your units. Planes need to be on top of an airfield not next to it. Reinforcing a unit on the battlefield (as opposed to during the deployment phase when playing a campaign) will always be more expensive.
You can also choose two types of reinforcements, the cheapest is to reinforce with so called 'green' units. In that case the total experience for the unit will be reduced. So if you have a infantry unit of 5 strength and 100 experience you can take a turn to reinforce with 5 strength and if you use green units the experience will be reduced (I don't know if in this case it will be reduced by 50%). The other option is to reinforce with veteran units. These are more expensive but you will not lose experience!

Same thing as with supply, if there's enemies next to your unit you can reinforce less or not at all.

Personally at the start of a campaign I uses green reinforcements and only reinforce during the deployment phase and seldom during the battle. Later I only use veteran reinforcements.

You can also overstrength a unit, if it has 100 experience ( = 1 star) you can use a turn to overstrength that unit. So if you have a unit at 7 strength and with 100 experience then you need two turns to reinforce it to 11 strength, the first reinforcement will set the unit at 10 strength. For each star you can overstrength the unit up to a maximum of 15 strength.

There's probably more but these are the important bits I think .

[Tarrak]

Keep in mind as well if reinforcing or resupplying units with enemy units adjacent you suffer a penalty. With one enemy adjacent you get only 2/3 of the usual amount, with two units adjacent 1/3 and with three or more enemy units adjacent you can't resupply or reinforce a unit at all.

Some terrain like for example desert impose a penalty to supply as well.

[robman]

Snow imposes a deadly penalty to supply as well.

In general, there are no "supply lines" in PzC. If a unit is surrounded, its ability to resupply is limited by the number of adjacent enemy units, rather than lack of access to road or rail hexes. A unit can resupply fully (up to the amount allowed by terrain and weather) even if it is completely surrounded by a ring of enemy units, provided that none of the enemy units is actually adjacent to the unit in question. If memory serves, the presence of three or more adjacent enemy units cripples a unit's ability to reinforce or resupply. That works both ways, both for the player and the AI. This is unrealistic, of course, but it's one of the simplifications that keeps PzC from becoming overly rule-bound.

[Forefall]

Great replies. Thanks! Probably should add this thread to the FAQ.

[Molve]

This is unrealistic, of course, but it's one of the simplifications that keeps PzC from becoming overly rule-bound.

Actually, it's not only that it would require more rules or more complex coding.

Turning real supply line tracing on would completely transform the game into a very different beast. You would simply play it differently. Much differently!

I would say it is a "simplification" that keeps the game what it is. With real supply it would quickly become almost unrecognizable, and quite possible much less fun for most customers... sure it would intrigue hardcore players, but it would definitely gamble on the very core reason why Panzer Corps (and Panzer General) is so successful...

As such, it is IMHO a quite different beast than, say, rules for initiative, close terrain or the division between hard and soft attacks. All of those could concievably be switched out for some other system of similar complexity and the game would still feel much like a beer and pretzels wargame. But institute supply lines and it's a whole new ballgame, so to speak (so don't do that )

[Forefall]

So a bit of an advanced question then.

Vanilla 39-45 campaign first scenario. Slovak infantry in bottom right city advance beside Polish town with garrisoned Polish infantry and end turn. AI tactical bomber bombs the Slovaks lowering them from 10 to 9. My turn again, weather is clear and dry. On the Slovak infantry neither the normal nor elite reinforcement is available. They have not moved and I have 200 prestige.

Why can I not reinforce?

Additionally, how do reinforcements work for naval units?

[Forefall]

And sorry for double post, but it seems like reinforcements cost half as much in the deployment phase and green reinforcements can even be free. Is this true? And how does over strengthening costs change from in-game to deployment phase?

[Molve]

Vanilla 39-45 campaign first scenario. Slovak infantry in bottom right city advance beside Polish town with garrisoned Polish infantry and end turn. AI tactical bomber bombs the Slovaks lowering them from 10 to 9. My turn again, weather is clear and dry. On the Slovak infantry neither the normal nor elite reinforcement is available. They have not moved and I have 200 prestige.

Why can I not reinforce?

I did a quick scan of the FAQ questions, and indeed, this is not covered there (as far as I could see).

Each adjacent unit reduces resupply by a third, so a unit surrounded by three or more enemy units can't get fuel, ammo or reinforcements. Enemy air count too, but only in good weather, and only if directly on top of your unit.

The resupply and reinforcement buttons are only active (lit up) if the game calculates that you actually will get anything, otherwise they will be inactive. Either because you are already at full capacity, or because you lack so little that none of the shipment is getting through.

The "secret" is that reinforcements and resupply (ammo/fuel) are treated differently!

For supply, things are straightforward. A tank threatened by two enemy units with 55 fuel maximum and 25 fuel current requests resupply. 55 fuel is sent, so when two thirds is destroyed en route (by two enemy units) what you actually get is 18 fuel. Fair and square.

For reinforcements, however, it is your actual resupply needs that are reduced - rounded down! Reinforcements are not calculated from your maximum value, but from your current needs.

A unit with 10 strength maximum and 5 strength current requests reinforcements. In this game 5 strength is sent! So when two thirds is interdicted en route what you actually get is 1 point of reinforcements, not the 3 strength you might have expected.

Even though the conditions would allow 3 strength points to make the journey the game only allows this in the direst of circumstances, that is when a 10-strength unit is reduced to a single point (=requesting 9 points). There is no way in this game to ask headquarters "I only need 5000 men but send a full division of 18000 men anyway since I know most of them will be killed enroute!" in the way you always say "I only need 30 fuel but send 55 fuel anyway since I know most of it will be shot up before it gets here anyway!"

Then weather and terrain might modify this further. I do not know the exact mechanisms here, but based on my experience with Afrika Korps, I've started to treat the desert as "the first enemy"! (It does seem that desert terrain counts as one enemy, making for instance resupplies impossible with only two enemies instead of three)


So the answer to your question is: Your Slovaks send for a single point of reinforcements. This number is reduced by 1/3 because of one nearby enemy unit (the tac bomber), and the resulting two thirds of one is rounded down to zero. Thus, you can't get any reinforcements. That's why the button does not become active.

If your unit were at 8/10 strength, it would need 2 points of reinforcements. 2 reduced by 1/3 becomes 1 (by the PC math). Because you would gain something (anything at all) the buttons for green and elite reinforcements would light up. (You would be able to hover your mouse over the button before clicking it to judge for yourself if you think it's worth it) Try this yourself!

PS. Even though reinforcements also brings resupplies these calculations are made independently for the reinforcement button(s) and the resupply button. In other words, if you can get fuel and/or ammo but not new men (according to the above rules), the reinforcement button(s) will stay unlit while the resupply button would be active.




This is info I've gathered from various discussions (and then verified by testing): the info is around, it's just that I can't now find a convenient link in the FAQ (if it exists at all).

[Molve]

Additionally, how do reinforcements work for naval units?

Naval units as well as fortifications repair so slowly in real life that they effectively can't gain "reinforcements".

At least I am aware of no way to "heal" units like Strongpoints and Battleships during a scenario. Once damaged, they stay damaged.

it seems like reinforcements cost half as much in the deployment phase and green reinforcements can even be free. Is this true?

I know green reinforcements are free between scenarios. I wasn't aware you got a discount on elite reinforcements.

And how does over strengthening costs change from in-game to deployment phase?

I didn't know prestige costs change between deployment and in-game, other than the 100% discount on deployment green recruits. So sorry my answer is "don't know".

What I can say is that overstrengthing costs changed with the 1.20 ruleset, making each step over 10 increasingly more expensive.

[Horseman]

Elite reinforcements are half price in the deployment phase

[Tarrak]

At least I am aware of no way to "heal" units like Strongpoints and Battleships during a scenario. Once damaged, they stay damaged.

You can reinforce your naval units but only if they are in a city/port hex owned by you and you can only add one point of strength per turn making reinforcing naval units quite pointless.

[shawkhan]

Strongpoints are repairable in only a few scenarios, guess it depends on the scenario designer. Usually isn't worth the trouble anyway, since they aren't very useful defensively.

[Forefall]

If you place a plane beside an airport for resupply, and then on your opponents turn, he conquers the airport, does your plane still get supply? Or more to the point, at what time exactly do planes resupply?

[sn0wball]

From my experience, planes receive supply at the end of your turn, that is, in the instance the airport is conquered during the enemy turn, your plane will not crash if out of fuel. I was quite surprised when this happened to me, as it seemed somewhat counterintuitive to me.

[endur]

A couple of other supply comments:
1)If your plane is adjacent to an airport you own, but an enemy unit is below you, your plane doesn't get to resupply.
2) Strat Bombers can reduce an enemy's ammo significantly (sometimes dropping the enemy unit to one ammo)

[giantemu]

At least I am aware of no way to "heal" units like Strongpoints and Battleships during a scenario. Once damaged, they stay damaged.

You can reinforce your naval units but only if they are in a city/port hex owned by you and you can only add one point of strength per turn making reinforcing naval units quite pointless.

destroyers n PT boat, you can repair 2-3 points per turn i think.