Slitherine

So of all the mechanics and systems within Panzer Corps 2 I believe the supply one is the least utilized. It serves a relatively basic purpose of allowing encirclements but even then it's a bit barebones. Units get supply from all edges of the maps, they can trace supply pretty much in any way, and overall I think the system is just very underutilized. I think especially as we approach the late war in Axis Operations it could lead to some very interesting scenarios if the supply system was improved and expanded apon. I just wanted to toss out a variety of ideas I've had about what could maybe be done.

1. Different edges of the map provide supply. This one is hopefully pretty straightforward one. In a scenario different edges of the map will offer supply to a specific side. Being able to edit that could help create encirclement scenarios without needing to block the entire edge of the map with major rivers or mountain ranges. If you were to do something like Kiev 1941 with this you could have just a small portion of the right side offer supply and blocking that bottleneck encircles the soviet army.

2. The Supply Dump unit should offer a form of limited time supply. Essentially this unit would be made to act like a supply source for a limited amount of time. The way it would work is that each turn the supply hub would pay 1 strength per unit to supply them if nothing else could give them supply. So for example let's say you are trapped in a city like Budapest and surrounded on all sides. Instead of having a supply hex that permanently supplies the units you could have a supply hub with say 150 strength to supply 15 units. Each turn the supply hub would lose 15 strength to supply every unit trapped. That means there is 10 turns of the units being in supply before being encircled and started to suffer from lack of supply. It could create some really interesting scenarios where some force is trapped most of scenario while you drive to break them out with another force.
That is the main purpose but you could also do something like have a supply truck that could follow you during an offensive in case you get cut off (imagine like the Battle of the Bulge and you are the spearhead of the offensive and you end up getting cut off with only those supply trucks to keep you going unless you capture allied resources). A supply ship could also be done for Pacific that allows for seaborne landings without needing to always need to take supply point on like the first turn.

3. Supply Points could be made customizable. This would allow for different supply points to offer different things. Examples are like some supply hexes only supplying 1 to 2 ammo per turn, or being able to supply a certain amount of units, or only undoing say 1 suppression per turn. There would need to be a way to view what these does but it could be another option over the supply dump idea by letting you have a better middle ground during encirclements or offering interesting scenarios where late war German units might only be able to get 1 ammo per turn as everything falls apart in 45 because the only source of supply only offers that.

I think a lot of depth and interesting scenarios could be added if the supply system got some attention and love. I honestly enjoy the scenarios where you are surrounded on all sides or have to save a trapped force and an expansion of the supply system would enable way more interesting designs for scenarios like that which is gonna become more common as the late war arrives.

I have been nagging the devs about adding some modable options for the supply system for 2 years.

I remain hopeful

In the campaign I am making only certain hexes on the edge of the map generate supply, and they are specific to each side (displayed with a flag and an invincible supply dump unit.) The edges of the map is made of impassible terrain using custom terrain types so it doesn’t look weird.

This way you can block enemy supply roads as well as just generally envelop enemies without leaving a huge contingent of your force to starve them out from every side.

Also, ammo and fuel aren’t infinite. The game already has a system for this.

I also think there is much potential in the supply system.
Right now there are 2 options, that are not very realsitic.
1) You are not encircled, you have unlimited supply.
2) You are encircled, you are almost dead in 2 turns.

For me supply should be connected to prestige and you should be able to enable limited supply, like limited stock.
You get 100 supply for a scenario. If you play "ok", its enough. If you try to get all optionals, you might run out of supply. So you have to decide if you get the optionals, or if you send just a small part of your army.
If you have a lot of prestige, you can start with 150 supply. But that the maximum, since an army can never have unlimited supply.
There could also be a connection to core slots. A tiger tank needs more supply than a panzer IV.

Even if you have a unbeatable army, you will have problems to supply everything which means you have to decide which units you are using. Capturing cities could refill your supplies, to make them more important.

What about keeping supply connected with unit actions? If a unit fired and moved on the same turn, it will only get 75% supply on the next. If it did not, it will restock fully. This could reflect that it's harder to supply units directly advancing at the front line taking part in action and also would mean that there's some small price to pay for a very aggressive attack. Defenders are already mostly on a disadvantage, so this also gives the AI a tiny boost.

The supply hassle in Order of Battle may be the way to go .. especially if they have a way to turn it on or off in advanced options in addition to keeping supply like it is... I like the way you can put stuff in reserve and upgrade stuff for a more realistic upgrade cost of a few prestige rather than having to buy seemingly a completely new unit ..

FunPolice749 wrote: ↑Tue Nov 09, 2021 3:37 pm Units get supply from all edges of the maps, they can trace supply pretty much in any way...

Yeah, although I lurv PzCorps2 to bits, that "any edge" thing is a major design oversight and I'm surprised it got through all the development and playtesting.
It also means any unit snuggling up against any edge is always in supply and can't be surrounded grrr..

DefiantXYX wrote: ↑Wed Nov 24, 2021 1:10 pm 1) You are not encircled, you have unlimited supply.
2) You are encircled, you are almost dead in 2 turns.

Use the Limited Supply option in campaigns. Fire up the first scenario in AO'41 and use an all Panzer force. It won't go well... I almost always use Limited Supply, and AO'41 and AO'42 were major pains. There were quite a few scenarios where my infantry units had to abandon their trucks so that they could reach their targets in time, my tanks were moving one or two hexes at a time, and many units had only 1 or 2 rounds of ammo per turn. When the weather goes bad, it goes badly for my units!

Panzer73 wrote: ↑Mon Dec 13, 2021 2:09 pm Use the Limited Supply option in campaigns.

Maybe I should for once, but I dont like this to be random. I want to have control over my supplies (like prestige) and decide myself If I supply an unit or keep it in stock or in my base to save supply.

One way round the unrealistic 'edge supply' thing is to go into the editor and put a line of deep sea hexes along all 4 map edges like below; it looks a bit untidy but it works and units snuggled up against an edge won't get supplied unless they can trace to a friendly supply source ..