New to the game - couple of questions

[DarthFreddy]

I played a good deal of SC1 and did a lot of reading, still have a couple of questions. Fun game!

1. How should the Axis deal with Yugo? They're sitting at 82% allied mobilization after the coup, but it doesn't look like it's increasing anymore. I'd rather not declare war on them yet because of Russia. Will they eventually join the Allies outright like in SC1, or will I have to declare war myself?

Date is late '41 and Greece has been taken by Italy.

2. What exactly is the effect of the US Oil Embargo on Japan? So far it seems only a turn by turn morale hit, anything else? On that subject, why does Japan start with so much IC? Seems ahistorical and a bit too easy. Again, late '41 and no war with the US.

3. Does HQ supply degrade over distance like other supply sources? Therefore should I always have the HQ as close to the front as possible?

4. About conquered resource tiles. I've taken Norway and now there is a supply convoy running from Oslo to Kiel, how come? Aren't those just my resources? If I were to take Sweden, Finland, Leningrad would those convoys cease because of the established land bridge?

5. Do convoys send all resources of a territory to the owner, a percentage?

6. Syria and Iraq have both joined the Axis, but I have no land connection with them and there isn't any convoy route that sprung up, does this mean I get no resources from those territories?

Those are all the ones I can remember off the top of my head, but there were more xD

Anyway, fantastic game, just ordered AoD as well!

[Bill101]

Hi DarthFreddy

Welcome to the forum!

1. Yugoslavia won't necessarily join the Allies, but they might invest in diplomacy and therefore get it to join at a time that isn't ideal for you. So you can either invade it when it suits you, or leave a few screening forces and just head for Moscow.

2. The oil embargo will severely reduce Japan's income, while the USA will be steadily mobilizing, so while you're suffering from the embargo, prepare for war and ideally to start your offensives before the USA actually enters the war. Otherwise they will be able to redeploy some units you could have caught by surprise, e.g. ships at Pearl Harbor.

I'm not sure what you meant by IC?

3. Yes it does, so keep the HQs close to the front line, but watch out for enemy breakthroughs and air attacks on them.

4. The convoy represents the shipment of resources to Germany, and will continue irrespective of the status of Finland, Sweden and the USSR. This offers the Allies an opportunity to interdict your shipping.

5. The convoys can be set to either send a % or the full amount. I think it will generally be a % when the country supplying the convoy is a neutral, but without checking all the scripts I can't really say that this is 100% correct all of the time.

6. Yes, you will be getting some income from them.

I don't know if you've seen the Manuals folder that comes with the game, but you may find it worth a look. It's great to hear you're enjoying playing!

Bill

[DarthFreddy]

Thx for your answers Bill

I actually have read the manual, start to finish, plus the other two docs in the folder, plus some inet reading. All in one go, so it was a bit much to take in and likely not everything has stuck

By IC I meant MPPs, it just felt like Japan had access to too many MPPs at game start, they also have those eight oil wells in the corner of the map; why? Just curious.

My question about convoys boils down to this: If I establish a land/rail connection to Sweden and Norway, will I essentially get "bonus" resources? i.e will the Scandi resources factor in my regular MPP calculations plus the now seemingly superfluous convoy resources on top?

About the Oil Embargo, exactly how does it reduce Japan's income? As far as I can tell the only thing that changed is that the 90 MPP convoy from DEI stopped, is there any other effect on MPP. My reading of the situation is that when I take DEI I will essentially gain direct control over those resources, making up for the lost convoys and then hopefully the morale drop from the oil embargo will end. That about right?

About infrastructure: The benefit from roads is faster movement, do they also push supplies further?

Is the benefit the same for rail? I understand that a unit needs to be on a tile connected to the rail network to use "operate". Is there anything else rail does? For example does it affect MPP income?

Thx for your patience

Edit: Does it matter who declares war? What's the difference between GER or ITA declaring war on Yugo? Will it affect readiness of other countries differently? Does it affect who gets what when they surrender?

Thx

[Bill101]

Hi

Japan's MPPs early in the war need to be spent both preparing for war with the UK and USA, and also in fighting China, so while they are good, they do need to be used wisely because income drops once the Oil Embargo is enforced, and won't rise again until Japan has conquered lots of places in the Pacific and South East Asia.

The Oil Wells in the corner map are turned on or off by in-game events, including the Oil Embargo. So at the moment you should see some that are at zero strength.

By establishing a rail connection with Norway and Sweden it will increase the value of those resources, but the value still has to be shipped to Germany so protection of the convoy routes remains important.

Roads negate the effect both terrain and weather would have on both movement and supplies, so over clear tiles in good weather they make no difference, but over hills, forests, mountains etc, or in muddy areas, they do effectively push the supplies further (i.e. as if the supplies were passing through clear terrain in good weather).

Rail does not have the same effect on supplies, but connecting resources does, providing they are linked to a friendly Major's capital or Industrial or Primary Centre, increase the supply value and income from holding that resource. So in a way it does, but differently from how the roads work.

The penalties for declaring war will be the same, i.e. the USA will be annoyed whether or not Germany or Italy declare war. It's best to declare war with the country you want to seize Yugoslavia, and to ensure they take the country make sure it is one of their units that marches into the enemy's capital.

I hope I've covered everything but if not, or if any more questions arise please just fire away!

Bill

[DarthFreddy]

Hi Bill, thx for your answers.

From the effect roads have on supplies I take it it's a good strategy to station your commanders on roads, as well as close to the front.

Another question that's come up for me is: What determines experience loss from reinforcing? It seems to me it varies, but on based on what? Apart from total strength to be reinforced of course.

I'm currently running a late game Barbarossa and it seems to me that my units have a lot less experience than in my SC1 games at this stage.

[Hubert Cater]

Hi DarthFreddy,

The reinforcement experience re-calculation is as follows:

unit experience = unit experience - reinforcement points * unit experience / 10

Hope this helps

Hubert

[Bill101]

You're right with the HQs on the roads. Their supplying ability is also dependent on their proximity to resources, so bear that in mind too. Also keep them safe from the enemy wherever possible, as their loss can be very painful indeed.

[SeaMonkey]

As Bill stated the supply giving level is dependent on the HQ proximity to resources noting that an HQ within a supply giving (6 or greater)range will have the full 10 supply level to impart to combat units.

As the resource rendering supply drops to 5 or less range the HQ supply giving level will be reduced to eight and of course if the resource is not within range(0 level) the HQ will only have a 5 supply level to give to combat units.

It goes without saying that the higher supply your combat units have access to, the greater their effectiveness. Keeping them at maximum supply and max strength allows greatest efficiency and if one is exclusive from the other make sure the one that the combat unit has access to is maxed or its effectiveness will erode turn after turn.