How do I stop a problem like Attrition?

[pedal2000]

Seriously I look at the supply map of my current empire and have no idea how to improve it substantially. My TC load is about 500/400, I'm the USSR and I have troops in Baghdad, fully repaired, who suffer around 4-5% attrition per day (despite a 60% infrastructure province) - how do I improve the 'supply' chain or decrease the attrition my troops suffer in AoD?

 

[walrus]

1) Make sure you've researched all the supply distance techs on the Infantry page
2) Build more IC to get a higher TC
3) Put more troops on anti-partisan duty in conquered areas to keep TC load down.

Few quick suggestions.

 

[rdudejr]

Seriously I look at the supply map of my current empire and have no idea how to improve it substantially. My TC load is about 500/400, I'm the USSR and I have troops in Baghdad, fully repaired, who suffer around 4-5% attrition per day (despite a 60% infrastructure province) - how do I improve the 'supply' chain or decrease the attrition my troops suffer in AoD?

IIRC Baghdad is desert? If so, that is a sure fire way to get lots of attrition.

Also, any TC over 100% gives you massive penalties. Get your TC down. If you hover over the TC icon it will tell you all the reasons why its so high.

 

[pedal2000]

Wait, Partisans affect TC load? Is it a significant amount? I always thought it was straight dissent...:wacko:

IC isn't really an option - it's MP so it's difficult to justify the '5 year payback' time.

I'll also take a look at techs - do you mean the +TC ones?

 

[rdudejr]

The techs are the ones in the infantry tree - "Rear area supply dumps" etc.
Partisans affect TC alot. I have seen partisan activity double and triple TC. To get your TC down:
Bring dissent to 0
Deploy garrisons on "Anti Partisan" on all your red provinces from the partisan view
Deploy all your troops waiting to be deployed, and especially bases as undeployed bases add alot to TC (like airfields)
Tech up as reasonable
If you have low infra large land masses places you conquered, puppet them (China comes to mind)

Doing those first 3 things 9 times out of 10 will fix TC issues, which will help attrition issues. I say help because, leaving troops in desert, jungle, or frozen places will always give them attrition, no matter what you do.

 

[Tuscan]

The techs are the ones in the infantry tree - "Rear area supply dumps" etc.
Partisans affect TC alot. I have seen partisan activity double and triple TC. To get your TC down:
Bring dissent to 0
Deploy garrisons on "Anti Partisan" on all your red provinces from the partisan view
Deploy all your troops waiting to be deployed, and especially bases as undeployed bases add alot to TC (like airfields)
Tech up as reasonable
If you have low infra large land masses places you conquered, puppet them (China comes to mind)

Doing those first 3 things 9 times out of 10 will fix TC issues, which will help attrition issues. I say help because, leaving troops in desert, jungle, or frozen places will always give them attrition, no matter what you do. Even then, I try to get in and out as fast as pos.

Yea, desert is a particularly bad place to leave troops. I never even enter a desert province unless I absolutely have too.

 

[unmerged(50895)]

Yeah, desert is killing. I started a thread about this too. It's just, if I garrison some Italian troops in Tobruk in 1936 while at peace, they die in droves too. This is unrealistic IMHO. Higher attrition in the desert during combat makes perfect sense, but if not in combat this should be lower than it is now. Just my 2 cents.

 

[Tuscan]

Yeah, desert is killing. I started a thread about this too. It's just, if I garrison some Italian troops in Tobruk in 1936 while at peace, they die in droves too. This is unrealistic IMHO. Higher attrition in the desert during combat makes perfect sense, but if not in combat this should be lower than it is now. Just my 2 cents.

Remember though that even during peacetime, the desert is a very inhospitable terrain. I think its perfectly realistic for them to die in droves if you send an army into the Sahara and leave them there. Realistically, I think only a desert with higher infrastructure like Tobruk should be able to sustain a small army, but start stacking them, then the attrition should kick in like hell.

 

[Balesir]

Also, in AoD, it's not just the province that the unit is in that affects supply - it's all the provinces in the chain leading to it. Building 'roads' of better Infra in chains of provinces can help.

On deserts - keep troops out of them unless you need to fight there! They aren't actually "dying" in droves - they are going down sick or getting injured*, and the equipment is taking a pounding from grit and sandstorms. The desert is a hostile place to stay (especially if it is foreign to you, and you don't know how to live there). Flies causing supplies spoilage and disease, extra work needed to bring in food and water (instead of just buying it locally), grit and extreme weather (khamsin) all cause extreme problems for large bodies of troops (like a division or more) trying to operate in a desert with WW2 technology gear.

*: the "tricleback factor" means that you only really 'pay' part of the cost of the attrition - but it still hurts in the short term.

 

[pedal2000]

Ok to update my current situation. I'm the USSR and need to currently maintain garrisons/defense in Syria, Suez, Persia, and Indian borders. So, unfortunately I need to keep at least some substantial forces in those regions.

My actually TC load is around 528/498 - so I should be able to ween that down. Does it make that huge of a difference to be over by so little? And reversed, does the lower down I am IMPROVE anything or is it simply a matter of 'all or nothing'.

Do the hospital techs do anything/make any substantial difference?

Ok - how do I improve my supply lines? Or do they auto improve as my TC does?

 

[rdudejr]

pedal..is this the Tuesday WPO game? Axis prob wont appreciate me helping you but who cares, I'm not in it.

Ok to update my current situation. I'm the USSR and need to currently maintain garrisons/defense in Syria, Suez, Persia, and Indian borders. So, unfortunately I need to keep at least some substantial forces in those regions.

I don't think all of those are desert. it may be better to leave the desert empty and let the enemy take it. Then when he does you attack him on the desert, and he loses troops both to attrition and battle. Like a trap. This would not apply to suez, as once that is taken you lose access/gain access to the med depending on gibralters ownership.

My actually TC load is around 528/498 - so I should be able to ween that down. Does it make that huge of a difference to be over by so little? And reversed, does the lower down I am IMPROVE anything or is it simply a matter of 'all or nothing'.

I believe there is an immediate severe penalty once you go over 100%. Then the penalty gets linearly worse as you go up. So the moral us, get it at 498/498 and you will notice immediate benefit. Lower than 100% doesnt mean anything.

Do the hospital techs do anything/make any substantial difference?

They help your trickleback modifier, which means that troops that leave from attrition come back right away. I think they help something else too but cant remember. I've never done testing on the degree of help, but I always research the tech if its same year or in the past. You are SU though...MP should not be an issue so it may not be a big of a deal to you as say UK or Germany.

Ok - how do I improve my supply lines? Or do they auto improve as my TC does?

Supply lines are a direct equation of quality of the province in the supply line * TC modifier. The supply line should be chosen from your capital or resource drop to the destination, and the computer should intelligently pick which provinces have better ESE in between these two locations. That being said, you cannot control the quality of the province aka terrain type and infra level in the short term. What you can control is TC, which you can lower with all the reasons I gave you before.

 

[pedal2000]

I'm peaced with the Axis these days, tis all the Allies who are my mortal enemies - and they DoW'd on me

 

[rdudejr]

I'm peaced with the Axis these days, tis all the Allies who are my mortal enemies - and they DoW'd on me

lawl sounds like our monday game.