rail gauge conversion bug

[Morris]

In one of my present mirror pbem on the latest version , I met an unusual situation of rail gauge conversion : The Red army liberate Minsk in autumn 1943 , & the USSR rail extend to the hex west next to Minsk in Oct 1943 . But until Apr 1944 , when red army does already conquered Warsaw for several turns , the USSR rail gauge still at the same hex west next to Minsk , not move forward even one hex ! All red army in Poland only have half supply (supply lvl 3), The rail workers are on strike for almost six months Meanwhile the other pbem in this mirror pbem ,everthing going well , the red army arrive the east Germany & have supply lvl 4 & rail gauge in Poland ,it looks no problem .

PS : In the first pbem , Axis conquer Moscow in 1942 & Red army take it back in Nov 1943 . I don't know whether it effect it .

I will provide the file if team need it to fix this .

[Peter Stauffenberg]

I don't think this is a bug. Remember that rail conversion only takes place if the weather is fair in the hex. Not easy to convert rail lines in muddy or snowy conditions.

You said you captured Minsk in October 1943 then mud or winter probably happened the following turn and it lasted till May. Since the Russian rail heads were still in the Russian weather zone they didn't start advancing until the heads could convert. Fair weather starts in Russia in May most of the time.

If you had managed to get the rail heads to the central European weather zone before the winter then they would advance much earlier the next year since fair weather can happen as early as February.

How did you manage to move from Minsk to Warsaw during the winter turns? The movement allowance isn't good in winter or mud conditions. A retreating Axis force can make sure they stay 2 hexes away from the front line and that means the Soviet units can only move 1 hex per turn. If they decide to stand and get crushed then you get a hole where you can move 2 (or 3 in the winter for armor) hexes per turn.

Usually the rail heads are within 5 hexes of the front line when the Spring offensive begins. In your situation you moved so fast that you ended up in half supply. A little nuisance, but not enough to stop the Russian steamroller. If you are at Warsaw in the Spring of 1944 you will be in Berlin way before May 1945.

[Morris]

Rail Gauge Conversion Rate Rail gauge conversion: ◆ Fair weather in target area: 2 hexes per turn ◆ Mud/winter/severe winter in target area: 1 hex per turn


the above is the words in the Mannual . Is it changed ? What is the latest change ?

[Morris]

I found this at page 250 of the latest GS 4.0 manual .

BTW ,the other pbem of this mirror pbem , the rail does convert in winter or mud weather in Nov 1943 to Feb 1944 one hex a turn in same area . I double confirm about it !

If you need any file , please advise ! Thank you !

[Morris]

I don't think this is a bug. Remember that rail conversion only takes place if the weather is fair in the hex. Not easy to convert rail lines in muddy or snowy conditions.

You said you captured Minsk in October 1943 then mud or winter probably happened the following turn and it lasted till May. Since the Russian rail heads were still in the Russian weather zone they didn't start advancing until the heads could convert. Fair weather starts in Russia in May most of the time.

If you had managed to get the rail heads to the central European weather zone before the winter then they would advance much earlier the next year since fair weather can happen as early as February.

How did you manage to move from Minsk to Warsaw during the winter turns? The movement allowance isn't good in winter or mud conditions. A retreating Axis force can make sure they stay 2 hexes away from the front line and that means the Soviet units can only move 1 hex per turn. If they decide to stand and get crushed then you get a hole where you can move 2 (or 3 in the winter for armor) hexes per turn.

Usually the rail heads are within 5 hexes of the front line when the Spring offensive begins. In your situation you moved so fast that you ended up in half supply. A little nuisance, but not enough to stop the Russian steamroller. If you are at Warsaw in the Spring of 1944 you will be in Berlin way before May 1945.

Rail Gauge Conversion Rate Rail gauge conversion: ◆ Fair weather in target area: 2 hexes per turn ◆ Mud/winter/severe winter in target area: 1 hex per turn


the above is the words in the Mannual . Is it changed ? What is the latest change ?

[Morris]

I don't think this is a bug. Remember that rail conversion only takes place if the weather is fair in the hex. Not easy to convert rail lines in muddy or snowy conditions.

You said you captured Minsk in October 1943 then mud or winter probably happened the following turn and it lasted till May. Since the Russian rail heads were still in the Russian weather zone they didn't start advancing until the heads could convert. Fair weather starts in Russia in May most of the time.

If you had managed to get the rail heads to the central European weather zone before the winter then they would advance much earlier the next year since fair weather can happen as early as February.

How did you manage to move from Minsk to Warsaw during the winter turns? The movement allowance isn't good in winter or mud conditions. A retreating Axis force can make sure they stay 2 hexes away from the front line and that means the Soviet units can only move 1 hex per turn. If they decide to stand and get crushed then you get a hole where you can move 2 (or 3 in the winter for armor) hexes per turn.

Usually the rail heads are within 5 hexes of the front line when the Spring offensive begins. In your situation you moved so fast that you ended up in half supply. A little nuisance, but not enough to stop the Russian steamroller. If you are at Warsaw in the Spring of 1944 you will be in Berlin way before May 1945.

Rail Gauge Conversion Rate Rail gauge conversion: ◆ Fair weather in target area: 2 hexes per turn ◆ Mud/winter/severe winter in target area: 1 hex per turn


the above is the words in the Mannual . Is it changed ? What is the latest change ?

I found this at page 250 of the latest GS 4.0 manual .

BTW ,the other pbem of this mirror pbem , the rail does convert in winter or mud weather in Nov 1943 to Feb 1944 one hex a turn in same area . I double confirm about it !

If you need any file , please advise ! Thank you !

[Peter Stauffenberg]

That is old rules and not referenced by the current code.

This is what we have:
if (notFairWeather && ownerSide == Global.AXIS && whosTurn() == Global.ALLIES)
canConvert = false;

RAIL_HEAD_ADVANCE_FAIR 2 /* Number of hexes the rail heads advance each turn in fair weather */
RAIL_HEAD_ADVANCE_MUD_WINTER 1 /* Number of hexes the rail heads advance each turn in mud or winter weather */

These are not used by any code.

Now we have code to advance rail heads that will work both on the Axis and Allied turn so in fair weather we advance rail heads 2 hexes per full turn.

We could add an if statement to the code above that if happens if rail_head_advance_mud_winter = 0.

When we test for running advance rail heads we could add code about canConvert when it's set to true regardless if the rail_head_advance_fair = 2. Set to advance on axis turns if rail_head_advance_fair = 1 or rail_head_advance_mud_winter = 1.

That will in effect give 1 hex advance per full turn in mud / winter and 2 hexes per full turn in clear weather. At least one can control the behavior from general.txt.

Now you can't because it's hardcoded and the variables are not used for anything.

What do you think?

Could the Germans or Russians convert rail lines during bad weather, although at reduced rate.

[Morris]

That is old rules and not referenced by the current code.

This is what we have:
if (notFairWeather && ownerSide == Global.AXIS && whosTurn() == Global.ALLIES)
canConvert = false;

RAIL_HEAD_ADVANCE_FAIR 2 /* Number of hexes the rail heads advance each turn in fair weather */
RAIL_HEAD_ADVANCE_MUD_WINTER 1 /* Number of hexes the rail heads advance each turn in mud or winter weather */

These are not used by any code.

Now we have code to advance rail heads that will work both on the Axis and Allied turn so in fair weather we advance rail heads 2 hexes per full turn.

We could add an if statement to the code above that if happens if rail_head_advance_mud_winter = 0.



When we test for running advance rail heads we could add code about canConvert when it's set to true regardless if the rail_head_advance_fair = 2. Set to advance on axis turns if rail_head_advance_fair = 1 or rail_head_advance_mud_winter = 1.

That will in effect give 1 hex advance per full turn in mud / winter and 2 hexes per full turn in clear weather. At least one can control the behavior from general.txt.

Now you can't because it's hardcoded and the variables are not used for anything.

What do you think?

Could the Germans or Russians convert rail lines during bad weather, although at reduced rate.

Thanks for your explaination !

1 We do agree to make the rail convert one hex per turn in mud or winter ( maybe USSR has one hex in severe winter , Axis has 0 hex in severe winter )

2 Since the above problem happened in a mirror game at the same version （ latest GS 4.0 official) , both pbem walk the same path , one pbem did not have the problem , the rail convert 1 hex in 1943-1944 at the same area !

The only main difference of these two pbem is the one with the problem : lost Moscow in 1942 & take it back in Nov 1943 . I just wonder whether this activate this problem ?

I have already sent the file to your mail box , would you please check it out ? thanks !