Digging in, a TOAW III "improvement" ?

**Currahee** · (This post was last modified: 05-06-2008, 08:19 AM by Currahee.)

You certainly may want your arty dug in at the end of the round, for just that reason; or, you may not, if you're allowing the supply level to build back up, and with it, the readiness; leaving it "mobile" will keep it fresh for next turn, when you may wish to assign targets manually.

But assuming you do want it dug in to provide supporting fires, it's not necessary to manually dig in each turn, as long as it's on "D" already, because it supports on "digging in", just as well as on "entrenched" or "fortified"; what I was trying to say (and I didn't say it very well!) was that I don't make a point to dig each one in manually, if it's already on "D", to try to get it to "E" or "F"; but I do look at my arty each turn and decide what to do, but once they're on "D" I may be able to leave them for several turns; or often as not, I put them back on "mobile" to allow them to accumulate supply. Because when they accumulate supply over 33, they gain readiness as well, and you get more bang for the buck!

~~Tanker~~ · 05-06-2008, 08:56 AM,

Ah, I did not know that to accumulate supply it was better to leave it mobile. Would they still accumualte supply if they were on D and not used for defense during the opponent's turn?

**Currahee** · 05-06-2008, 11:19 AM,

Yes, they can accumulate supply while on D, if they don't actually fire. The problem is with longer-range artillery, there's almost always going to be some battle within range, maybe not an important one, and that will drag down supply, and therefore, readiness. It's worse if you have a unit with different ranged guns; even if only a few of the longest-ranged guns fire, it still drags down the supply for the whole unit; really, designers shouldn't put different ranged guns in the same units, but some do, especially in the older scenarios.

~~Tanker~~ · 05-06-2008, 01:13 PM,

That's good to know. I'm already seeing the advantages of giving them some rest in a current scenario I'm playing.

On a related subject, I've noticed that 1 unit may have 1% supply while in the next hex another unit may have 50%. Enemy zoc doesn't seem to be a factor. Have you notice anything like that? Is it possibly terrain related?

**Currahee** · (This post was last modified: 05-06-2008, 09:45 PM by Currahee.)

It could be several things; it's rare to see a drop that great within one hex, but by no means impossible. Most likely is that something is interdicting the supply, such as a super river or suez canal with no bridge; flooded marsh; and, I think, alpine; and supply is having to come around the "long way", rather than over the river, marsh or mountain, accounting for the drop. Terrain in the hex you actually occupy is also a factor, but wouldn't alone cut it to level 1. Enemy zoc also interdicts supply, altho that effect is canceled if you have a unit actually occupying the hex in question. So, for example, a combination of super river and enemy hexes may be interdicting your supply; it would be at zero, but if there is another, non-interdicted route that is much longer, that could explain the 1.

Feel free to send me a screen shot, but if you are seeing a drop from 50 to 1 in one hex, there are probably one or more of the above terrain features which, along with enemy zoc's, are interdicting supply.

Note also that major fording units, or engineers on a destroyed bridge hex, can cancel the interdiction effect of the super river/ suez canal. Or of course, repairing a bridge.