Morale Cost of Exiting Trucks, Jeeps, etc.

[CombinedArms]

A while back I posted a message advocating the exiting of such soft vehicles as trucks & jeeps ASAP unless there was some direct and urgent need for them on-board, since they die so easily and cost you victory points. I asked if there was any reason NOT to do this and someone suggested it would cost you global morale points. But how many points?--Nobody seemed to know.

So, when I recently played a defensive scenario with six trucks and two (non-MG) jeeps, I decided to to exit them all on turn one and check the global morale effect. It went down from 100 points to 97 points. Then I checked another, much smaller scenario where I exited two trucks & two jeeps. The morale went down to 98 points. (The first was a reinforced company sized scenarios with no on-board armor.)

My conclusion: the morale cost of exiting trucks and jeeps is minimal and is a good idea most of the time if these vehicles serve no vital transport function. I think this is consistent with real life practice, where ground commanders would generally pull the trucks out of the combat zone.

[Michael Emrys]

A more subtle strategy would be to locate them, whenever possible behind some covering terrain where they would be safe from enemy observation and fire, but still on the game map. Ideally, they should be positioned so that they can be safely and swiftly withdrawn from the map should a threat develop.

This would preserve your morale points until you absolutely had to forfeit them.

Michael

[Caesar]

I like to keep them available in case my opponent surprises me and I need to move my reserve troops a substantial distance. A couple of jeeps can provide you with quickly positioned MGs, Bazookas or mortars.