How about a new unit?- Supply lines!

[SirViktorRaj]

This could be interesting...
Hi y'all! I've been a long time total war fan, but only recently joined this awesome site where I've been a lurker...for too long....and i regret that...

Anyway, about my idea, please tell me what you think...

For the sake of authenticity and historical accuracy, generals in ancient times always had to establish supply lines for refreshments and reinforcements, and they generally came from specific places like big cities authorized by the senate, it could be a different scenario for other factions. I am talking about implementing this in the actual game. For example, in order to march your legion to a new area, the general would have to setup or simply buy a supply line unit from whichever city or settlement he's leaving. Interesting scenarios like the enemy sabotaging the supply train using spies or his army itself and thus outflanking a large army would be quite practical. This situation could be alleviated by a reinforcement arriving on that line and saving the generals army. I've done my reading and Caesar mentions more than once being hampered by lack of supplies in his Gallic wars and having had to rely on surroundings for food which could lead to real men and morale attrition and desertion.
In RTW, we could march off any army to any corner of the then ancient world without fear of losing the army to such and that lead to meaningless blitzing.
Ancient times saw the use of navy as a primary auxiliary unit for supplying land armies which enabled Rome to establish such a sprawling vast Mediterranean empire in the first place. It is clear from the Carthage game-play footage that CA have taken care of one aspect of blitzing cities on the battle map. Implementing the 'supply line' concept would guarantee satisfaction on the campaign map as well and lead to a lot more involving game-play.It is one of the reasons why mods like Europa Barbarorum existed but couldn't do much due to game engine limitations...
Whaddaya think people? If i get enough response, we could petition for the same :

[XxAndrewxX2525]

Turn-based strategy seriously hampers this idea. You have a supply line, you move your army from A to B, end your turn. Enemy army moves in between A and B to cut off the line, end their turn. You see they cut off your line, move backwards, fight them off, move back to B, end your turn. Another army comes and once again cuts off your line. I hope you can see how this could be very frustrating ;P.

+ I'm very neat, and I like going on campaigns with the maximum number of troops in an army. I wouldn't like to see ugly #'s in my units such as '75', '68' due to desertion.

TL, DR: Games like this you really have to draw the line between realism, and fun. Afraid to say I believe you stepped over it .

[HappyGoodVibes]

Supply lines can be a very interesting mechanic. Just because the game is turn based does not mean that it can't exist. I just played a game "Unity of Command" that is turn-based and used the supply line mechanic extensively. CA just needs to work out how it would work. One of the problems with Total War is that the transition from campaign map to battle map is huge. When we move an army on the map, it ends up sitting somewhere for half a year or some such while everyone else moves their army, then waits half a year for us to move. I think that the solution is to make some kind of "mini game" or "transition phase" when armies get within a certain distance of each other. Battles are the culmination of weeks or even months of maneuvering the army without ever coming in contact beyond skirmishes and scouting parties. Much of the battle is decided based on where units are positioned after the two armies are finally forced together by the circumstances. I outlined this idea before in another thread:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

There should also be an *army maneuvers* mini-game that decides the placement of armies before a battle. Half of the battle (in real life) was decided by where the armies were positioned and how they deployed on the terrain. This would be a type of transition between campaign-map mechanics (building and sending armies to fronts) and the actual battle phase. Two armies could get in range of each other and depending on different factors, would have a certain set of turns to move their forces into position on the battlefield, occupying certain areas for a "unit position cost" that each general would have. This would also include where reinforcements come in, general attack plans for AI, stuff like that. It could all be managed through a paper-map mechanic with different unit *cards* or perhaps *pieces* placed in certain positions on the map. I think this would allow for a deeper level of thought for the player and perhaps an easier way to manage proper AI formations and unit placement. It could also serve as a more in-depth auto-resolve mechanic that does not require the play to actually fight the battle, but still allows some level of tactical control that can influence the outcome.

I believe you could properly work a supply line mechanic into this "transition phase" between the campaign map and the battle map.

[Kinjo]

I think it would be cool if an army had supplies, it would always be full when in your own or allies territory but would start to drain when you operate in the enemies lands. You could replenish your supplies by raiding farms, towns, etc or of course returning to your own region. This would allows for scorched earth tactics because if you burned your farms or ways for the enemy to replenish supplies they would start to take losses through attrition once their supplies runs out.

Maybe there could be things that improve the amount of supplies an army has like tech tree improvements or character traits but this method is very doable in the TW series turn base system an in fact was done by a mod for M2TW.

[Challis89]

very interesting idea and one that could work imho, after all cutting supply lines was a major tactic back then. It would also create another dimention for the player i would like but I can tell many others wouldn't.

What could be a good compramise is supply wagons as a 21st unit that slowly depete over time unless restocked at another city/town/port or farms etc and during battle allow for archers to me re armed but also be destroyed.

[Augustus Scipius]

In my opinion, yes. But only as a graphical piece of scenery in a battle. Buying one every single time your army poked its head out of a city would be ridiculous if you had to actually build one.

[Evillemon325]

~Shameless reposting of previous Supply suggestion~

Kudos to Archimonday for the idea of supply fields- I've taken his idea, added some stuff to it, and created a mock up of how it would work in Paint.NET.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

This image depicts the fields of supply from the Roman viewpoint of a campaign into the northern enemy Gaul province.

Certain terrain features, buildings, and other factors generate supply factors. These supply factors are then added together to create a 100 point percentage scale of the supply situation of a certain province. 100% supply is shown as bright green, and 0% supply is shown as bright red (not pictured). Colors in between show a variety of intermediate supply situations. Note that fields of supply generated by certain features intersect and create areas of greater supply within those intersections.

At 50% supply, an army suffers neither attrition nor replenishment. As the supply increases above 50%, armies gradually replenish faster and faster, as well as gaining small incremental morale and ammunition bonuses up to 100%. As supply goes below 50%, they suffer attrition faster and faster while suffering small incremental morale and ammunition penalties. Due to uneven supply situation, an army in an undeveloped hinterland in friendly territory might still suffer attrition, and an army campaigning in enemy territory with excellent supply infrastructure might replenish in enemy territory! However, bonuses make supply situation naturally most-of-the-time, better in your own lands.

Factors that generate or govern fields of supply:

Natural provincial forage bonus: Ever since empire the farmlands of a province have been rated based on their fertility. The fertility of the farmlands gives a 0% (barren desert or steppe) to +25% (lush fertile lands) bonus province-wide to supply.

Friendly/Enemy Lands: Friendly lands naturally generate +15% provincial supply- enemy lands the opposite, -15% provincial supply.

Ports/Towns/Cities: These features generate supply in proportion to their supply, with superior ports and supply buildings creating larger and more powerful fields of supply. Naturally your enemies cannot benefit from these supply fields without capturing the city or town.

Coastal/River Bonus: +10% bonus in a small area around coasts and navigable rivers. Offshore enemy fleets can eliminate this area by using their zone of control to blockade the coast or river.

Supply Depots: For a fee and the cost of movement points, a general can create a supply depot (even in enemy territory) which generates fields of supply. They may also be upgraded and placed near each other to provide more supply. If an area is not properly secured, however, or a garrison not stationed to protect them, they are extremely vulnerable to enemy raid.

Fortified Camp: Created using the entire turns movement points and a hefty fee, a general can created a fortified camp, which acts like a large supply depot, as well as being able to place defenses on the battle map if attacked in that area.

Extreme Heat: 0% (most areas of the map) to -50% in the Sahara and other super-arid regions of the map in summer, quickly falling with the changing of seasons and moving out of the desert. While not represent of actual supply, the -% does represent attrition.

Extreme Cold: 0% (Desert Areas, Middle east) to -50% in Scotland and Scandinavia during winter. Unlike extreme heat, harsh winters are more prevalent throughout the map, though around the middle of Europe the winter penalty might only be around -25%. Falls off quickly with the changes of seasons. While not represent of actual supply, the -% does represent attrition.

Logistics Units within Armies themselves: Units such as supply wagons (+10%) and units of pack animals (+5%, but more mobile in a battlemap or serving with cavalry raiders) may be recruited from cities with high level supply buildings. They would have a (potentially very) heavy upkeep, but can provide supply for any army regardless of where they may campaign. They would need not be deployed and risked on the battlemap, and can stay behind the battle, but may be brought in as reinforcements and withdrawn as needed to resupply missile troops. However, during ambush battles, the logistics units would HAVE to be on the battle map, making them vulnerable to destruction or capture. This also makes ambush battles more important as well.

[roarer]

I do not agree on the idea of representing supply lines with a unit. I like the idea of a supply line system but it has to be linked to the cities and fort. If a system can be made to simulate the supply problems and solutions in the era, it would be great for me. However, it may be in conflict of CA's goal to have less battles and make battles more meaningful/decisive. It is because the supply line system promote skirmishing and more harassment which greatly increase the number of non-decisive battles.

[Rijul.J.Ballal]

How about this- your army while moving in your territory has normal upkeep costs. As it moves further away the supply line gets more stretched. So the upkeep costs go up. An enemy cuts off the supply line, food supplies are limited and you still have to keep your army, fed so upkeep keeps rising and troop moral, combat ability, decrease slightly. The devastation in the area around your army increases as they are living off the land and the people living there. If you conquer the area you face some civil discontent or a little while after you have conquered it a rebel army may spring up there.[if there is discontent] if your army is not able to escape after a few turns slowly a few begin to die off this goes on for a while until eventually your troops are forced to surrender.