Can you edit globally?

[jaw]

Cool, I really think with the options you've outlined, it's possible to get a decent simulation of the airlift. I have daily figures for the amount of supply which reached the pocket. They sent mostly ammunition which works reasonably well with the supply system which only accounts for fuel and ammo. The occasional vehicle unit which gets refueled from air supply is just a distortion I'll have to live with (wish Explicit Supply was broken down into separate fuel and ammo units).

One more question, is it safe to assume that 1 supply factor is equal to 1 ton of supplies? Like supply drops, I don't think this is defined anywhere in the rules.

Jim Wirth

 

[Glenn Saunders]

One more question, is it safe to assume that 1 supply factor is equal to 1 ton of supplies? Like supply drops, I don't think this is defined anywhere in the rules.

It is as you said, a pretty abstract number as it represents fuel or ammo - whatever you need - and nothing about food or medical supplies. FWIW, we consider two type (briefly) when we did Alamein as armies use Fual NOT ammo in the pursuit and AMMO, not FUEL when the battle lines are drawn.

Anyway - the unit of measure in the game is TRUCKS and you consider in WWII a truck was normally a Duce-and-a-half, you would say it is = 2.5 tons. Knock off a bit for non Fuel\Ammo and as a starting point you might try using 2 as a better number - but it is hard to say.

The problem with doing Exp Supply is if it doesn't hurt - if a player has all the supply they need, then it is pointless to include it. But if it does hurt then you open the debate over "are you using it sparely enough" or just using it like it is unlimited" - then define what is enough and what is too much.

Glenn

 

[jaw]

Glenn wrote:

Anyway - the unit of measure in the game is TRUCKS and you consider in WWII a truck was normally a Duce-and-a-half, you would say it is = 2.5 tons. Knock off a bit for non Fuel\Ammo and as a starting point you might try using 2 as a better number - but it is hard to say.

Thanks Glenn, that helps a lot and it does make the Stalingrad airlift a lot more meager (on average one 50 factor supply drop per day for the entire pocket).

As for how much supply is correct, I do agree that is hard to determine. When I played BULGE '44 with Explicit Supply it seemed I never had enough, but in MOSCOW '41, once the first supply units started reaching the front, I had about all I could use till the end of my game.

One point I should make about Explicit Supply is that, IMHO, it should never be used in games against the computer. The A/I just doesn't understand what to do with supply units and gets them captured all too frequently.

Jim Wirth

 

[Glenn Saunders]

Glenn wrote:

Thanks Glenn, that helps a lot and it does make the Stalingrad airlift a lot more meager (on average one 50 factor supply drop per day for the entire pocket).

You might want to fiddle with the SIZE vs. the RANGE of the Drop Source - that is if it is one 50 point marker, and the marker can't move, make sure it has enough Supply Range to supply the units.).[/QUOTE]

As for how much supply is correct, I do agree that is hard to determine. When I played BULGE '44 with Explicit Supply it seemed I never had enough, but in MOSCOW '41, once the first supply units started reaching the front, I had about all I could use till the end of my game.

I added the Exp Supply to the basic Bulge Scn based on a formula that John devised. However we didn't increase the amount of Supply for the EXTRA FORCE scn and I think taht may account for some people feeling like there wasn't enough.

Sturmer Smith added the Supply to the Moscow Scn and I leftit as he had it. We didn't do a lot of testing there to try and tweak it.

In Alamain, we greatly altered the formula John created on account fo the difference in requirements for Mobile vs Static fights and we tested it fairly extensively to see how good we could make it.

One point I should make about Explicit Supply is that, IMHO, it should never be used in games against the computer. The A/I just doesn't understand what to do with supply units and gets them captured all too frequently.

I wouldn't be surprised - I certainly wouldn't recommend AI Play with Exp Supply on any Scn where they are present.

Glenn

 

[jaw]

Glenn wrote:

You might want to fiddle with the SIZE vs. the RANGE of the Drop Source - that is if it is one 50 point marker, and the marker can't move, make sure it has enough Supply Range to supply the units.

I had already considered the supply range problem and plan to increase the supply range of drops to basically cover the entire historical pocket from Pitomnik. Of course this won't be exact because the pocket was irregular in shape and the supply radius is a circle, but the little benefit the Axis get from the greater supply range is offset by the small amount of supply to distribute.
The increased supply range may actually turn out to be a detriment to the Axis player as it will cause the artillery units to "eat up" the supply very quickly since they will all be in supply range. It should be fun to see how it plays.

Jim Wirth