Getting Trucks to units and Air HQ command limit

Gary Grigsby’s War in the West 1943-45 is the most ambitious and detailed computer wargame on the Western Front of World War II ever made. Starting with the Summer 1943 invasions of Sicily and Italy and proceeding through the invasions of France and the drive into Germany, War in the West brings you all the Allied campaigns in Western Europe and the capability to re-fight the Western Front according to your plan.

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fab168
Posts: 11
Joined: Sat Mar 10, 2018 3:54 am

Getting Trucks to units and Air HQ command limit

Post by fab168 »

Hello,

I understand trucks are important for armoured units to make sure they get to the battle.

What is the easiest way to replenish trucks in unit ?

It doesn't seem refit has much effect.

Have you got any tricks in order to save trucks, especially playing as axis ?


Also, is there a command limit for Air HQ ? Is it the same as Land HQ ?

Thanks !

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loki100
Posts: 11699
Joined: Sat Oct 20, 2012 12:38 pm
Location: Utlima Thule

RE: Getting Trucks to units and Air HQ command limit

Post by loki100 »

ORIGINAL: fab168

Hello,

I understand trucks are important for armoured units to make sure they get to the battle.

What is the easiest way to replenish trucks in unit ?

It doesn't seem refit has much effect.

Have you got any tricks in order to save trucks, especially playing as axis ?


Also, is there a command limit for Air HQ ? Is it the same as Land HQ ?

Thanks !


You have a shortage so its a case of setting your priorities. By default the game will try to use trucks for your logistics system.

To refit, make sure the unit is in command, on or near a depot, in refit mode and ideally well to the rear. Check your rail lines/depots - there is little point trying to refit if you are in a region where you are already struggling for supplies etc.

So the key in a way is to minimise your truck usage in the logistics system. Try to keep depots close to the units (you have a couple of hex range where the unit can use horses etc to get supplies), try not to be fighting at the end of a long distance to a depot (remember its motorised MPs that count here not the number of hexes).

If you really want to divert trucks from logistics to units you may have to starve down your supply system. Set the depots to #1 or #2 and HQs to much the same ... that will trigger less supply movement (and, of course, less supply in your units) but will also use up much less trucks.

Air HQs have a 90 hex range, this matters for the allocation of support squads and (if I remember correctly) AA units attached to the HQ. They don't have a command limit as such but each can only support a fixed number of Air Directives
fab168
Posts: 11
Joined: Sat Mar 10, 2018 3:54 am

RE: Getting Trucks to units and Air HQ command limit

Post by fab168 »

Thanks Loki. Reading you, I understand the clever thing is to let supplies reach units. I'll try to optimize the truck use.

Regarding air combat, considering the 90 hex range, that means one can attach all of it's aircraft, or nearly, to say Luftflotte 2 (which has a good leader) ?

I guess you lose some advantages, such as more checks if you have a complete line of command. Is Air HQ being close to its airbases brings any benefits ?
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loki100
Posts: 11699
Joined: Sat Oct 20, 2012 12:38 pm
Location: Utlima Thule

RE: Getting Trucks to units and Air HQ command limit

Post by loki100 »

ORIGINAL: fab168

...

Regarding air combat, considering the 90 hex range, that means one can attach all of it's aircraft, or nearly, to say Luftflotte 2 (which has a good leader) ?

I guess you lose some advantages, such as more checks if you have a complete line of command. Is Air HQ being close to its airbases brings any benefits ?

With the axis you could more or less just use one or two of the air commands. I tend to do a day/night split for the fighters in Germany (really just so I can see at a glance which is based where) and then use one of the other commands. If I recall its the Italian command that has a good leader so once I've given up in Italy and gone to a purely defensive/attrition approach I move that HQ to France and attach the French based planes to it.

You tend not to set many ADs with the Axis so that limit is not too critical. I shift between using AS directives for the day fighters in Germany and simply relying on basing them as needed and using auto-intercept. I *think* the AS approach is better but its not really clear-cut.

The only advantage to using a number of the Air HQs is that each has its own batch of support squads and those only go out to help airbases in that command. I'm (again) not really sure this matters as I tend to cluster the Luftwaffe on as few a number of airbases as I can (and sometimes stack a corps HQ with AA guns on that base for additional protection).

Yes the chain of command helps, so if the controlling HQ fails a test (the most important will be around the speed of repair of damaged planes and the allocation of planes to missions), then the higher HQ can step in.

The command range is binary. 0-90 it works (with no range factor), 91 it fails. So this is very different to how land HQs operate where there are penalties for range (both physical and up the command chain).
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