War Supply Line

[Jon2]

I already read many books about military strategy, tactitcs and military history, and one one thing that the stellaris war system always lacked is that it doesnt have a supply line system in it war system. Supply line is akey factor in every war, if not the most important one. Mao Tse Tung won against the chinese government army in his civil war by stretching the government army supply lines and then using guerrilla tactics with it. Russia used this same tactic together with the scorched earth tactic to win against invaders.
But form some reason beyond the logic, the game doesnt have a war system for something so vital in any war that our planet already have.

Implementing a supply line system would not be difficult. Instead of creating supply line ships, that would make the game heavier and slower, it could instead decrease the fleet power according to the number o systems the fleet is away from it's owner (systems captured during war would also work as a supply line system, not just the systems, the fleet onwer already have before the war, because if not, the war would so costly that would unbalance the game mechanic).

Per examble, in the supply line system proposed above and making that the fleet power reduces by 1% per system away from owner or captured systems, if a fleet of 100 k power is currently ten system away of their supply line, than it's fleet power would be 90 k. And of course the fleet power would decrease or increase back to normal depending how far or close it it from the supply line.

I think this will make the war mechanics of the game better, because it will be more realistic and more balanced. Right now, if the invader has a bigger force than the defender, the defender will almost certainly lose, because the game mechanic doenst give a lot of room for defensive and guerilla tactics.

 

[3ishop]

Issue here becomes technology. Advances in tech can mean a unit doesn't need a supply line. We are getting to that point with some of our worlds naval units. Nuclear powered ships don't need to come in to refuel, improved preservation methods and storage mean we can fit more food on board and we've made ships more reliable so they can last at sea for long periods of time without needing to resupply.

Main issue for us comes down to the crew for these and the weapons. But we lack the robotics and energy weapons for that which are relatively early on in Stellaris and our world we are pushing towards it. New generation of war ships have more automation to cut down on the crew needed.

There is also then the modern element that even with a small amount of supply needed, that's not a huge supply line. Supply lines if anything would be more sensible for planets. We can have planets on the other side of the galaxy with billions of lives and producing no food yet no issue of starvation or issues with cost of living importing all that food.

 

[Metallichydra]

There is also then the modern element that even with a small amount of supply needed, that's not a huge supply line. Supply lines if anything would be more sensible for planets. We can have planets on the other side of the galaxy with billions of lives and producing no food yet no issue of starvation or issues with cost of living importing all that food.

Supply lines for planets would make sense, especially for hyper-specialized planets. It's also the reason why the First League Capital fell, due to their supply lines being cut.

 

[Ebrelian]

While fleets might be self reliant in supplies with technological improvements, ship health could be made a proxy for when it needs to ressuply.
Since the game already reduce ship power when the hull is damaged, all it could need is to cap starbase healing in place without logistic componants and in ennemy territories, encouring you to bring home the fleets.

A new starbase component could be created and/or shipyard and crew quarters could play the role. For exemple, having a base healing capped at 50%, friendly territory adding 20%, crew quarters adding 20%, each shipyard adding 5% and a new supply hub adding 30%.
So base shipyard with a crew quarter and two shipyards near the capital would have 100%. Starbase with a supply hub near the front would also have 100%.
Maybe also add a pop upkeep based cost to said repair to represent the crew supplies.

This would also make defensive/healing auxiliary components useful by making ships more cost/long term efficient.

 

[The5lacker]

I feel like Hull/Armor degradation is the substitute for Supplies, but I could see a "Supplies" meter that depleted as a fleet is away from a starbase or something. I wouldn't want it to be a strict distance calculation though. That makes certain things arbitrarily difficult, particularly in regards to Crises and whatnot.

 

[Wilmfe92]

Game balance should come first and adding a supply mechanic would add greatly to the strategic dept by allowing you to isolate fleets to gain an advantage. I think though the supplies should be automatic if there is a direct link between the fleet and your territory. If there isn't it should get penalties such as reduced firepower and speed but also no more armor/hull regeneration as no more spare parts can be brought.
In a system like that you would still want your supply lines short as otherwise they could be more easily cut.