Supply
From AACWWiki
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| Supply | |
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| The information in this article applies to the following games: | |
| AACW | Yes |
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Supply is a representation of all things that are consumed by units during their operations.
It is usually divided into two categories:
general supply, representing food, clothes and various items used on an everyday basis, and
ammunition, which represents ammunition and other items used during battles. Units can only carry enough general supply for 2 turns, and enough ammunition for 2 battles.
Effects of supply
Units out of general supply will lose cohesion and start taking hits, and get a moderate combat penalty. Unsupplied units will lose mapower rapidly and will be completely destroyed within a few turns.
Units out of ammo receive a severe combat penalty.
Supply production
Supply is produced at the various structures as follows:
| Structure | General supply/level | Ammunition/level |
|---|---|---|
| City | 8 | 2 |
| Depot | 4 | 1 |
| Harbor | 4 | 1 |
| Fort or stockade | 2 | 0 |
| Indian village | 1 | 0 |
Investments in industry can increase the production of cities; these increases are (of course) in addition to the above.
Supply production is further modified by Loyalty ( up to +50% at 100% loyalty), National Morale, and Blockade.
Supply distribution
Supplies are distributed at the start of each turn during the hosting phase in what is essentially a 2-step process (with sub-steps):
Step 1: "Repartition" -- Supply is distributed between structures.
Step 2: “Consumption” -- Units pull supply from adjacent structures or wagons.
Repartition is accomplished in three successive phases for land plus an additional phase for ocean transport of supplies.
Distribution Between Structures
The following structures are able to forward supplies:
- Cities of level 3 and above
- Harbors of level 5 and above
The following structures and units are able to receive supply:
- All cities
- All harbors
- Forts
- Supply wagons and transport ships
Small towns (level 1-2) and small harbors (level 1-4) can only receive a small amount of supply. Wagons can receive up to 100% of their capacity.
The game engine attmpts to guess intelligently where supplies are needed, and is constrained by the demand, or "magnet factor," of the destinations. A depot is a big magnet. A wagon is a magnet. A valid destination in a region with lots of troops is a medium-sized magnet. A small town without troops is a small magnet. Units are not magnets and will not pull supplies on their own during the repartition step. The presence of troops simply acts as a positive modifier to a supply destination's magnet factor. Troops that are outside of valid supply destination regions will not act as a magnet to pull supplies to nearby destinations.
The amount of supply that can transit a structure in a given turn is limited. The limit is related to the amount of supply produced by the structure.
Sources will not deplete themselves by forwarding supply – they will keep enough for their own needs.
Supply wagons will only distribute supply to non-supply units, not to structures or other supply wagons.
Supply Movement
In each of three phases, a source can forward supplies to meet demand up to a distance of 5 regions. How far the supplies can actually move is dependent upon terrain and weather, and is based on cost for wheeled movement. By rail and river, supplies can move the maximum distance of 5 regions per phase. Without rail, 5 regions can only realistically be reached in fair weather, on clear terrain with roads. Weather and terrain effects can prevent supply from moving at all – if a supply wagon unit could not move out of a region in one turn, supplies probably can’t either (“probably” because supply movement isn’t actually counted in days, and supply can move a bit further in a turn than a supply wagon can in 15 days).
Supply movement over land is modified by:
- Available rail and river transport
- Terrain
- Weather
- Enemy presence
- Military control (must be 25%+)
Supplies are never lost to bad weather or terrain – if supplies move, all will reach their destination.
Effects of railroad and river transport
Depending on capacity remaining after orders issued during the planning phase, supplies can also be forwarded by rail and/or river transport as follows:
| Remaining capacity | Distribution phases |
|---|---|
| None | None |
| 1/3 | First distribution phase |
| 2/3 | First and second distribution phases |
| 3/3 | All 3 distribution phases |
Railroad and river transport influences supply movement much in the same way it does regular unit movement, i.e. by increasing the speed, even in poor weather and poor terrain.
Note that a transport ship that is not in a port, i.e. at sea or on a river, will only be able to receive supply if river transport is available for that particular supply distribution phase.
River supply is completely blocked by the presence of enemy ships (even 1). River supply is also blocked by enemy forts or entrenched (4+) artillery that is capable of passing fire ("bombard" order must be selected).
Effects of ocean transport
Supply by sea is quite different form the above, and takes place in its own phase. Your capacity will be 10 times the transport capacity you have in the Atlantic shipping box. Supply will be moved from ports with lots to ports that don't have that much. Range is generally not an issue for supply distributed in this manner.
To distribute supplies via the Shipping Box, the game engine will try to equalize the ratio of supplies to harbor size for each port. A port or coastal depot will receive supply based on the ratio of current stocks to harbor level compared with the same ratio in the source city, with the ideal ratio of 100 supply points per harbor level: e.g., you have 100 supply points in a level 10 harbor. NYC is a level 20 harbor with 2900 supply. So NYC will send 900 supply to your level 10 harbor, bringing them both to a ratio of 100/1. Supply by sea is much simpler than overland supply, and does not take into account the “magnet” factors for land supply, such as the presence of depots or troops, or city size. All that matters is the level of supply stocks relative size of the harbor, after supplies have been distributed overland. Although it seems simple, Pocus has commented that the process “is not perfect.”
Supply consumption
After supply has been distributed between structures (repartition), units will consume supplies and attempt to refill to their maximum carrying capacity.
Units can recieve supplies from:
- Any structure, supply wagon or transport ship in the same or adjacent region.
- Other units within the same stack.
Normal consumption is 50% of a unit's carrying capacity. Ammunition is only consumed when a unit takes part in battle. Units that start the turn with less than 50% supply and are unable to pull supplies from a valid source in the same or adjacent region will take damage from being unsupplied.
Supplies that are not consumed will remain in the structure and accumulate until used or forwarded in future turns. There is no upper limit to how much supply can accumulate in a structure, but beyond a certain level (hundreds of supply points) it will start to decay, with general supply degrading more than ammunition. Depots lessen the problem.
Naval units can replenish general supply from any adjacent land region, but can only replenish ammunition in a port.
See also
References
- Forum threads and posts by lead developer Philippe Malacher ("Pocus") --
