I took a close look at the train off-line and noticed an AA gun mounted on one of the cars. When will we see it activated? It would make attacking the trains just a bit more dangerous than strafing sheep (fast sheep, but sheep nonetheless). But I digress. The true nature of this post is to discuss the strategic system in AH.
While I’m delighted overall with 1.08, I’m a bit disappointed that only the form of the strategic system has changed and not the substance (field resupply notwithstanding). By that I mean destroying convoys, trains and strategic targets still only effects rebuild time, and not the actual supply situation at the base. I would like to see destroying factories and cutting LOCs (Lines-of-control, i.e. supply lines) have more direct impact on the arena.
Cutting a base’s supply lines should not only increase rebuild time, but should also reduce what’s available at the base. Not aircraft! I understand the folly of limiting either the number or types of aircraft available in the MA. No, I mean fuel, ordnance, the ability to launch resupply missions, and – perhaps – aircraft repair capability. Example: Kill the resupply convoy, and fuel limits are reduced 25 percent after five minutes and stay there until the next convoy arrives. Kill that second convoy, and fuel is reduced another step, or 25 percent. Understand, I’m not saying eliminate the convoys’ effect on rebuild times. Rather, add this secondary (though more immediate) effect as a consequence of their destruction.
Resupply drops at a field would reverse one “step” of supply reduction. I.e. if a field is down 50% in fuel/ordnance, a single C-47 drop will not only rebuild objects, but will also raise the availability of supplies to 75%. A second resupply drop will bring it back to full strength. The availability of resupply boxes (the resupply crates dropped from the Goons and M3s) would be tied to the supply situation at the base. In other words, a base needs to be “in supply” before it can resupply another base or unit.
Destroying factories, barracks, and refineries should likewise effect not only rebuild times at bases, but also the supply situation at the bases. Again using fuel as an example, destruction of 50% of a nation’s refineries should result in a max of 50% fuel available at that country’s bases. How destruction of a barracks or factory would effect troop and ordnance availability would require more thought. You wouldn’t want to allow damage to the barracks to disable troops at all your fields, but perhaps you could tie it to field size. Destroy 50% of barracks and all small fields are out of troops, for instance. Right now, and except for the HQ, there is little reason to destroy these strategic targets, since you can up a C-47 and negate the effect of their destruction through a supply drop.
Trains are a more strategic form of logistical support, and I’m not exactly clear on their effects on the arena. Do they effect rebuild time at fields, or just rebuild time of strategic targets like cities and refineries? We need to understand their effects better. Exactly how are cities, depots, stations, refineries, barracks, etc interrelated in the arena now? My impression is that trains represent the movement of raw materials for the repair/rebuilding of a country’s means of production (factories/refineries/barracks). Those factories/refineries/barracks in turn effect the rebuild times of bases. The base rebuild times are also effected by convoy survival, giving you two different ways to keep bases down. What effect the destruction of cities serves now is uncertain.
The main point is that the ability of a nation to effectively wage modern warfare is tied to many factors, with many points of vulnerability. Right now, the whole premise of the MA is field capture through direct destruction of the field. There is no way to wage true strategic warfare, where you choke off the enemy’s ability to sustain war through attacks on his infrastructure. “Amateurs talk strategy and tactics; true professional soldiers talk logistics.” By adding convoys and trains, you have added to AH the last missing element of a true strategic system. Now you just need to tie them together in a coherent way. It’s like having all the instruments for an orchestra; you simply lack the sheet music to make a symphony.
