Ferrying or Bridging ?

[matxer]

In M44, I'm playing a small scenario with a river to cross.

Ferrying is nice, but when the units cross and move 1 or 2 hex away from the river, they become isolated (virtual trucks rule). Why ?

Is it better to build a bridge ? How long does it take ?

[FLG]

The rule is that engineers can ferry supplies to units adjacent to them over a river, assuming the engineers haven't moved and aren't in travel mode and aren't disrupted.

To extend operations further than the immediate hex adjacent to an Eng unit a bridge needs to be built to allow supplies to flow across the river.

[Mr Grumpy]

Is the river you are talking about a one hex wide river or a hexside river?

I suspect the reason your units become isolated is because the ferring enginneers can only supply the river bank hex, this has nothing to do with VST.

If you build a bridge then supply will flow as normal, the time it will take will depend on the river type and the quality of the enginneers.

*FLG beat me to it* :)

[matxer]

The river is an hexside only.

So ferrying cuts supply ? Then the interest of ferry is very limited because a isolated unit can't do much.

[Engelbrekt]

So ferrying cuts supply ? Then the interest of ferry is very limited because a isolated unit can't do much.

The interest is great, you can ferry across a couple of battalions to hold the terrain on the other side of the river while your bridge engineers construct a bridge so that tanks and artillery can follow.

[matxer]

I see. But in a 7 turns scenarios, you don't have time to build a bridge, do you ?

And can you ferry HQ ?

[Engelbrekt]

I see. But in a 7 turns scenarios, you don't have time to build a bridge, do you ?

Depends on the Bridge value which can be found in the PDT (press F4) but 7 turns is a bit short maybe, especially for the Russian with their low morale engineers. But it could work if you are lucky.

And can you ferry HQ ?

No, only Foot units can be ferried by engineers. HQ:s are most often motorized.

[FLG]

So ferrying cuts supply ? Then the interest of ferry is very limited because a isolated unit can't do much.

It is also useful for transfering lots of units over a river to an area already in supply. Useful for keeping things moving while you are waiting for a bridge to be built. As only motorised units can't be transported these can catch up fairly rapidly once a bridge is built.

[Mr Grumpy]

Also remember that most motorised Inf units can be changed to "go on foot" and so would be able to be ferried across as well! :) The cost is that they lose their extra mobility until they later stack in the same hex as their HQ.

The quickest bridge attempt i have seen was two moves with a A quality unit.

[matxer]

These tips are pretty interesting.

If I combine 2 Engineer Battallions, will the combined unit build the bridge faster ?

Also, does it make sense to start attacking with isolated units or is it too life costly ?

It take around 4 turns for my Soviet Battallion 'Bridgers' to build a bridge and that's lenghty...