Supply In Toaw

Supply in TOAW By Ed Morris Supply in TOAW is extremely important to effective gameplay. It has a significant effect on Unit Quality, and a critical effect on Unit Combat Strength. Unit Quality Unit Quality has to do with a unit’s ability to continue in the attack, or hold ground without retreating. However, it also affects reorganization on a formation basis. The formula for Unit Quality is run for each individual unit. It’s a weighted average of proficiency and readiness, with proficiency counting twice as much as readiness. Thus, proficiency is more important than readiness in determining Unit Quality, but readiness is still important (1/3 of the total). But how does supply affect readiness (and in turn, Unit Quality)? Readiness never drops below 33%; however, it never rises above the unit’s current supply (not the supply value of the hex on which the unit resides, but the actual, “on-board” supply of the unit). Thus, if supply is 50%, readiness can increase to 50%, but no further. Supply, then, constitutes the glass ceiling beyond which readiness cannot increase! Many players have complained about readiness in TOAW, not realizing that it is failing to increase because the units involved are in low supply! And low readiness reduces Unit Quality, making it more likely your units will retreat, or break off their assault, or even reorganize! See COW Manual, pgs 17, 38, and 122 (or TWOTY Manual, pgs 17, 38 & 124). At pg 38, under "Unit Reorganization", combat disorganization is explained, but the color-bar explanation is incorrect. In the later patches, orange means reorganizing, red means routed, and yellow means reserve, awaiting release. Also, as the text says, these units can't move. Unit Combat Strength While the effect of supply on Unit Quality is important, its effect on Unit Combat Strength is much greater, even critical. Failure to understand the importance of supply in TOAW is probably the single greatest factor that separates the novice from the intermediate gamer. Begin by looking at the formula for Unit Combat Strength on pg 122 (COW) or 124 (TWOTY). Unit strength, in combat calculations, is directly modified by proficiency, readiness and supply, with proficiency counting for 50%, and readiness and supply counting for 25% each. Consider, though, that readiness can’t increase above 33%, unless supply is also higher than that amount; ie, readiness can never increase higher than supply. Thus, for any unit supplied at at least 33%, every percentage point increase in supply results in an equivalent increase in readiness. Therefore, supply increases above 33% are worth twice as much as equivalent supply increases between 1% and 33%, and above 33%, each 1% of supply becomes as important to combat strength, as 1% of proficiency. This has remarkable (and, I think, beneficial) implications for gaming strategy in TOAW. In most strategy wargames (War in Russia, etc) the effect of increase in supply is linear; thus, we tend to fight our units until they are somewhat (or seriously) run-down, and then we rest them for a while, maybe letting their supply get up to 30% to 40%, and then we throw them back into the fight, thinking that the first turns rested are more important that later turns rested; ie, 33% is infinitely higher than zero, and 50% is only a little higher than 30%, and 70% only little better than 50%, etc. This makes perfect sense when the effect of increasing supply is linear, and it’s why in those games we rarely let our units sit around long enough for supply to reach 100%.

But that way of thinking will get you into trouble in TOAW. TOAW models supply and readiness more realistically. The first couple of turns at rest are not as important or as beneficial to combat strength, as resting turns after supply is at or over 33%, for at that higher level, not only supply, but also readiness, is increasing! This effect is exacerbated by the fact that there’s a supply-gain bonus for units which haven’t moved the previous turn, and for units lagered close to their HQ. It’s fair to say that in TOAW the first move out of the fray is the LEAST important. All of this is quite realistic, when you consider it. The first days out of combat are sufficient for the men to rest up physically, but not for vehicles and weapons to be repaired and replaced, for critical maintenance functions to be carried out, and for new replacements to be integrated into the unit. The higher the organizational level, the more time is required for refitting. So, the game formula works well for battalions with one-day turns, as well as for divisions with one-week turns. We are, of course, dependent to a great degree on intelligent scenario design. If a scenario has so few turns, and such distant objectives, that you are forced to work your exhausted units to destruction, it is poorly designed, and certainly doesn’t take best advantage of the game engine’s strengths. Rarely in combat is the valiant effort of an exhausted unit as important as sustained performance over the long haul; one exception would be the pursuit of equally or more exhausted enemy units, but as soon as the pursuer runs up against well-supplied and rested defenders, the pursuit must transition to consolidation. So What Can I Do? Given that supply is so important to unit performance in so many ways, what can be done to insure you get the most out of your units? 1. Try, wherever possible, to initiate assaults only with units in high supply/readiness. Supply of 66% is not worth twice supply of 33%, but three times, since it has also increased readiness as it’s grown. The exception to this advice would be an assault against an enemy unit known to be out-of-supply or exhausted; ie, if the enemy’s going to gain as much as you by the delay, why wait? 2. On defense, try to replace exhausted units in the line with reserves, so your exhausted units can regain supply. 3. Pull resting units out of the line, into proximity of their HQ (ie, on the same hex, or adjacent). 4. Put a resting unit on a hex with better supply level. To do this, you will have to play with supply levels turned on, at least for a while until you get used to the scenario’s supply environment. 5. Don’t move resting units frivolously. Let them be. (Real troops also hate to be moved while they’re trying to rest up, train new replacements, and maintain their equipment.) 6. Think twice before dropping airborne units, or launching amphibious assaults behind enemy lines, where the scenario designer hasn’t placed one or more friendly supply sources. It can sometimes work, but only where you expect an early link-up, or where you know your forces will be able to trace an overland supply route of some length, and where your force supply level is high enough to maintain your advanced units over that long route. This is required in some scenarios, such as Vietnam Invasion 1969, where the designer didn’t place any US supply points in North Vietnam; it works pretty well against the Programmed Opponent, as hexes receive overland supply at about 16%, even in the farthest reaches of North Vietnam; this could be thought unrealistic, but I’m not offended, as it nicely simulates some limited supply „over the beach“. But beware against a human NVA opponent: if he cuts off supply anywhere south of your incursion, your supply will dry up, and you’ll be in deep kiemchi. Of course, the scenario could be modified by placing some US supply sources in major North Vietnamese port cities.

7. Don’t get major forces strung out where supply levels are too low; if it takes 25 turns for a unit to get from 33% to 100% supply, and the scenario is only 20 turns long, you’ve got a problem. A less extreme version of this dilemma is what befalls the German player in African Campaign 1942, where German supply east of Tobruk becomes increasingly sparse, even along the coast road. That was done intentionally by the designer, but don’t inflict that on yourself if you have a choice. Let’s say there’s a well supplied avenue, and a poorly supplied avenue; units with 80% proficiency attacking on the well supplied avenue, with 80% supply, will be 1.33x as effective as units attacking on the other avenue, with 40% supply. For units with only 60% proficiency, this factor increases to 1.4x. This is because combat strength is heavily influenced by proficiency, with the result that lower-proficiency units are even more dependent on supply, than higher-proficiency units. This would suggest that in a scenario like African Campaign, you might want to use your high-proficiency units for flanking maneuvers through the wastelands, and keep your lower-proficiency units nearer the coast road, although at some point east of Mersa Matruh even the coastal route runs way down on supply. Incidentally, your proficiency will stay higher over time if your units avoid catastrophic losses (because lots of replacements drag down proficiency). And you avoid catastrophic losses by (you guessed it!) keeping your combat units in high supply! 8. When you begin a scenario, consider the force supply level, the location of your supply sources, the supply radius, and the location of supply routes, such as railroads and roads, and plan your attack/defense accordingly. Also, if you are the attacker, or even a defender with an opportunity to counterattack, you absolutely must know if you have some supply sources behind enemy lines, just waiting to be activated. (You must occupy them, to activate them). Hopefully, the scenario designer has informed you; if he hasn’t, you can check by opening the scenario editor, loading that scenario, and choosing „edit deployment“ from the drop-down menu. You can then check the location and ownership of all the supply sources for each side (a totally white dot means each side has a supply source in that hex). Don’t look at any other scenario data unless you and your opponent have agreed that that’s ok. You wouldn’t probably know all your enemy’s unit locations, for example, but you would almost certainly know if you could bring major supplies through a given port. This is where good scenario briefings can save a lot of heartache! Well, that’s it on supply. Good gaming! Ed Morris