Headquarters

[Hartmann]

Hmm ... even though I have a quite good grasp of the game mechanics by now, some things still are only "intuitively" clear to me. In the manual, 5.12, we are told that headquarters not only secure supply (and thus indirectly morale and readiness), but that they also give additional combat bonuses to fighting units. But we aren't told which bonuses exactly. I also don't know how exactly the headquarter's rating would influence these variables.

Could anyone bring a bit more light into this, please?

[CapitaineHaddock]

What is not entirely Clear to me is how to link up HQs so as to form a Chain and get 10 supply HQs at the frontline in the Soviet Union. I believe this should be possible, but I don't seem to manage.
I have tried setting up some mediocre minor or italian HQ in the last occupied city which offers supply 6 on the way to Moscow (I believe it is Smolensk)so as to form a link With HQs in front, but there is something I don't seem to get right.

Does anyone have a good grasp of this?

[Yogol]

Your HQ does two things: offer supply and offer support.

- A HQ offers supply to everything around it, much like a city does.
If the HQ itself is supplied for 6 or more, it offers the same supply as a city of 10, meaning it offers 9 to troops next to it, 8 to troops that are 2 hexes away and so on.
If the HQ itself is supplied for 1-5, it offers the same supply as a city of 8, meaning 7 to troops next to it, 6 to troops that are 2 hexes away and so on.
If the HQ itself is not supplied, it offers the same supply as a city of 5, meaning 4 to troops next to it, 3 to troops that are 2 hexes away and so on.

A HQ offers supply to other HQs. So, in Russia, you can "chain HQs": put a HQ near a city (so it has supply 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5, giving 7-6 supply around it) and place another HQ near it. That second HQ will give 10 supply.

Supply does not change with the HQ's experience or the HQ rating.
The Italian HQ offers supply to Germans troops and vica-versa.



- A HQ also offers supportto troops that are assigned to it. Depending on your technology, this can be up to 8 troops. IT isbest to manually assign your attack troops to a HQ (armies, tanks, artillery & bombers) because else the AI picks units and may give support to a garrison in the back and not give support to the tank in front.

A troop that is under HQ support has a higher readiness then other troops and thus fights alot better than other troops.

Support does change with the HQ experience, HQ rating and HQ research.
The Italian HQ does not offers support to Germans troops nor vica-versa.

[Hartmann]

In general and in principle, this is all already quite clear to me, but the manual doesn't explain the combat bonuses and also not their dependence on HQ rating (e.g. is it linear or asymptotic etc). Even though I too would assume that the combat bonus is somehow an additional readiness boost (additional to what increased supply will already do), the manual doesn't say anything about what the combat bonuses actually consist of. Finally, the manual als uses the plural ("combat bonuses") as if there was more to it than just an effect on readiness ...

[BillRunacre]

Hi

The impact of a HQ and its rating is on Unit Readiness, and there are some formulae showing how it's calculated on pages 85086 of the Manual in section 7.29.4 UNIT READINESS AND ITS EFFECT ON COMBAT

Simply put, HQ's commanding units is a very important factor in combat, especially vital on the offensive, and the higher their rating, the greater they benefit the units under their command.

[James Taylor]

So, what I'm reading here is an HQ that provides a supply of 8(from a resource of 1 or more)can make an adjacent HQ(within a hex)have a supply value of 10?

If so, I'm building all the HQs possible and investing the absolute maximum in Logistics.

[Hartmann]

ORIGINAL: Bill Runacre

Hi

The impact of a HQ and its rating is on Unit Readiness, and there are some formulae showing how it's calculated on pages 85086 of the Manual in section 7.29.4 UNIT READINESS AND ITS EFFECT ON COMBAT

Simply put, HQ's commanding units is a very important factor in combat, especially vital on the offensive, and the higher their rating, the greater they benefit the units under their command.

Page 85086!!!! [X(] Found it, thanks. [:D] Maybe some reference to that in the section about HQs would be helpful.

[James Taylor]

I guess that means a third(4th, 5th etc) linked HQ at 4 hexes(AP) away from a 10 supply HQ will have 10 supply and all linked to an 8 supply HQ on a 1 supply resource.

[Yogol]

Yes, you can get HQ to give 10 supply, when they themselves are supplied to 6 or more.


You can see how much supply you will have next turn, if you press "S" twice.
The first time you press "S", it will show you the supply that you have now.
If you press "S" again, it will show you the supply you will have next turn, if you leave your units the way they are now.

This is a great way to learn the supply rules.

Note that supply always goes down with 1 per hex, but with 2 when it's a forest.
Rivers and roads do not have an effect on supply, nor does enemy's ZOCs.

[Hartmann]

ORIGINAL: Yogol


Note that supply always goes down with 1 per hex, but with 2 when it's a forest.
Rivers and roads do not have an effect on supply, nor does enemy's ZOCs.

Didn't know about forests decreasing supply at double rate - thanks for pointing that out.

[James Taylor]

I've been modeling this supply chain configuration for awhile now and there is something about it that is inconsistent.

Go ahead move your HQs around and then check the future supply level, experiment.

Its almost like there's a certain order to connection to the resource that has to be abided by. Once that first HQ that supplied the 6 to the 10 supplier is moved a certain distance the connection is lost, even though the 6 supplier is still at 8 the previous 10 becomes 8 and it is still within one hex of the of the 6 supplier(no trees, no mud, etc).

And around Bryansk and Orel, both 5 supply resources, the connection to a 6 supply resource hypothesis goes out the window, as two HQs, depending upon the sequence of connection, sometimes will supply 8 or 10, depending on what?

I don't get it yet! But I'm going to figure it out if there is indeed a set rule that is consistent.

[Goodmongo]

As a good general rule of thumb always move your HQ's to a city/town or supply source. Yes you can min/max things but I found it easier to just end their movement in a city instead of trying to guess the absolute best spot. I also try to keep my HQ's very close to the units under their command and no more than 3 hexes away if possible.

[Hartmann]

ORIGINAL: Goodmongo

As a good general rule of thumb always move your HQ's to a city/town or supply source. Yes you can min/max things but I found it easier to just end their movement in a city instead of trying to guess the absolute best spot. I also try to keep my HQ's very close to the units under their command and no more than 3 hexes away if possible.

I do the same - "minmaxing" is not my thing, I play intuitively and only look up mechanics when things seem unclear to me and questions arise (like it was with the "combat bonuses" here).

However, I began looking at the supply window a bit more often recently, mainly because I don't like to place my airplanes at a spot where I cannot fully repair them every turn.