The new equipment capture mechanic is a good idea, but the way I see it, has a few significant flaws. If these were fixed it would be a perfect feature. But given the importance of captured equipment in historical WWII, I believe the captured equipment mechanic deserves some tweaks.
1. Encirclement should capture a larger amount of equipment
At the moment, it appears that successful Encirclements do not give you any more equipment than a costly (and less one-sided) front-line battle. However, historical encirclements like the Battle of Bialystok-Minsk, Battle of Smolensk, and Battle of Kiev in 1941, saw large pockets of Soviet divisions overrun and thousands of tanks and artillery pieces captured. The November 1942 encirclement of the German Sixth Army also saw a lot of German equipment captured by the Soviets. Based on this, closing pockets should capture a lot of equipment.
In game, as far as I can tell, when divisions are annihilated, their equipment just disappears. Instead, it's that slow 5%/10% maintenance company equipment capture rate that is captured, and only during battle. If you act smartly, and encircle the enemy, you actually get less equipment. This seems backwards.
I think that closing pockets should be the main way to capture equipment, and should have a massive boost compared to simple frontline battle capture rates. Perhaps 30-50%... at minimum, for encirclements?
Since there is already a mechanic to check if troops are inside an encirclement, which causes them to lose organization, and be overrun and destroyed, then it should be relatively feasible to incorporate a mechanic where perhaps 50% of equipment inside of a closed pocket can be captured by the conqueror. Obviously, it's always easier said than done to implement a mechanic with testing and everything, but at least at first glance, it seems like it wouldn't require a lot of additional functionality.
2. The default capture rate should be higher to simulate the Chinese army vs. Japan
As it is now, the equipment capture rate is pretty low. The 0% default practically prevents the AI from ever capturing equipment, because the AI never selects maintenance companies. To allow for the Chinese to captured Japanese equipment during the Second Sino-Japanese War, the default capture rate should be some 1-2% at least.
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What are your thoughts? Should the equipment capture system be adjusted?
1. Encirclement should capture a larger amount of equipment
At the moment, it appears that successful Encirclements do not give you any more equipment than a costly (and less one-sided) front-line battle. However, historical encirclements like the Battle of Bialystok-Minsk, Battle of Smolensk, and Battle of Kiev in 1941, saw large pockets of Soviet divisions overrun and thousands of tanks and artillery pieces captured. The November 1942 encirclement of the German Sixth Army also saw a lot of German equipment captured by the Soviets. Based on this, closing pockets should capture a lot of equipment.
In game, as far as I can tell, when divisions are annihilated, their equipment just disappears. Instead, it's that slow 5%/10% maintenance company equipment capture rate that is captured, and only during battle. If you act smartly, and encircle the enemy, you actually get less equipment. This seems backwards.
I think that closing pockets should be the main way to capture equipment, and should have a massive boost compared to simple frontline battle capture rates. Perhaps 30-50%... at minimum, for encirclements?
Since there is already a mechanic to check if troops are inside an encirclement, which causes them to lose organization, and be overrun and destroyed, then it should be relatively feasible to incorporate a mechanic where perhaps 50% of equipment inside of a closed pocket can be captured by the conqueror. Obviously, it's always easier said than done to implement a mechanic with testing and everything, but at least at first glance, it seems like it wouldn't require a lot of additional functionality.
2. The default capture rate should be higher to simulate the Chinese army vs. Japan
As it is now, the equipment capture rate is pretty low. The 0% default practically prevents the AI from ever capturing equipment, because the AI never selects maintenance companies. To allow for the Chinese to captured Japanese equipment during the Second Sino-Japanese War, the default capture rate should be some 1-2% at least.
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What are your thoughts? Should the equipment capture system be adjusted?
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