Rework Supply Train Mechanics.

[Switz//]

I have around 125 hours now in Imperator Rome and its got me hooked on the history of that time period. After many play throughs one place I think Imperator lacks noticeably in (in terms of IRL) is its military based mechanics. I think building temporary forts and better siege mechanics should be implemented, but the thing that gets me the most are the supply trains.

I believe supply trains should be a detached unit that travels back and forth from the nearest friendly province capital to the Legion/Levy its assigned to. As it enters the provincial capital it should take food out of the province storage (Maybe 50 food each Cycle) and take it directly to the Legion continuously. This would make the player have to take into consideration the protection of his supply lines and can add flavor to sieges. Also, enemies should be able to capture the supply trains which would cut off the legion supply to which it is assigned. This rework could also limit unnecessary attrition.

I would like to know your guys thoughts on the idea. (Thanks for any responses)

 

[IsaacCAT]

What if you decide to only attack the supply lines and avoid confrontation with the enemy armies? will this be a viable strategy to win wars? Without food, attacking armies will have awful attrition.

Supply is present in the game but not as units. A similar effect can be done by armies reconquering the province capital:

Food - Imperator Wiki

imperator.paradoxwikis.com

I am not sure if long supply lines beyond the province where the army was stationed were a thing of the antiquity.

 

[Bovrick]

Yeah this is kinda what I expected when they announced Supply Train units. The units already are detachable (showing at least some intent for them to work this way), and already do take food from provincial storage. On Levy it even takes large quantities instantly.

It doesnt work like the above for two reasons: units have plenty of capacity, and with a Supply Train are extremely unlikely to ever be away from a controlled province for long enough to drain it down; and secondly units cannot quickly take from Provincial stockpiles, they're forced to slowly take from (almost always full) stockpiles. For it to work, those two components would need to change.

From there, you could introduce an AI routine for Supply Trains to support an army. They would just shuttle between the nearest controlled territory, grab a bunch of food, walk back to their paired army, dump the food, and repeat. We already have a sense of "ownership" now with particular units belonging to a Region's Levy or Legion, so that could dictate who a supply shuttle works with.

As for long supply lines, given the way control works with supply, I doubt such a system would ever lead to long supply lines anyway, unless overseas.

FWIW, I also suggested ships having the largest Supply values and having their own shuttling routine back when the system was announced.

 

[IsaacCAT]

units have plenty of capacity, and with a Supply Train are extremely unlikely to ever be away from a controlled province for long enough to drain it down;

I will agree with you if an army from Macedon going straight for the capital of the Seleukid, without capturing any provincial capital, would not suffer heavy losses due to famine.

I don’t know if this is the case, because I have never tried, I always play safe and progressively capture land, providing food for the troops.

I think seasonal food should be a good addition to the system prior of adding moving supply units.

 

[goodcigar]

I actually had the same exact thought about Supply Units the other day. I think there are multiple ways you could do it too. Supply lines were most definitely a thing in the era. Alexander needed huge supply lines to do his conquests. And they established many supply depots along the way I believe.

I think an Army should be able to decide how many Supplies they want to carry with them. And how much Loot. The more you take with you the slower you go. So it's a tradeoff.

When you enter unfriendly territory a Supply Line should be created. And it could be cut off and/or raided by the enemy. You could maybe build Supply Depots and Forts to guard it. It should be possible to capture an army's baggage train if you overrun them. Or outflank them.

Sometimes an army and their baggage train took different routes I think.

Marian Reforms required soldiers to personally carry all their gear. Not sure if that means all their Supplies though. Marian reforms were done in response to the Cimbri/Teutones Germ threat I think. They really freaked out lol.

After the Marian Reforms the Roman armies built a wooden marching Fort every single day after they completed their march. So they always had a basic level of defense when they stopped moving.

Roman Legions also had more permanent stone home Forts called Castra. Their official base basically.

 

[Nominus]

I have around 125 hours now in Imperator Rome and its got me hooked on the history of that time period. After many play throughs one place I think Imperator lacks noticeably in (in terms of IRL) is its military based mechanics. I think building temporary forts and better siege mechanics should be implemented, but the thing that gets me the most are the supply trains.

I believe supply trains should be a detached unit that travels back and forth from the nearest friendly province capital to the Legion/Levy its assigned to. As it enters the provincial capital it should take food out of the province storage (Maybe 50 food each Cycle) and take it directly to the Legion continuously. This would make the player have to take into consideration the protection of his supply lines and can add flavor to sieges. Also, enemies should be able to capture the supply trains which would cut off the legion supply to which it is assigned. This rework could also limit unnecessary attrition.

I would like to know your guys thoughts on the idea. (Thanks for any responses)

Warfare was different during that time. Armies would plunder and use ressources in the region that were available. Larger armies often carried lots of families with them, who provided entertainment, possibility to settle down and of course search for food or trade.