How bad is starving?

DonCorazon · #1 November 17th, 2007, 08:19 PM

Hi, its the noob, DC here. So I am in my first MP game and just dawned on me I was looking at the resources number and not the supply number of the province where my massive army is poised to attack the foul smelling Shinuyamans (sorry, spacht). So now I am wondering how bad are the effects. The description of diseased sounds like you get afflictions every turn. How long can my force remain viable? Is having starving troops fight a bad idea or a way to cull the herd so there is more food to go around for the strong?

Also, if I get them to a province with enough supply, are they instantly back to healthy? By healthy, I don't mean cured of afflictions, as I know those are hard to get rid of, but I mean will they have that one turn cushion of being at the starving stage before the diseases kick in if they set out in low supply lands again?

Thanks, this is a great game, in spite of my stream of dumb mistakes leading to the needless deaths and suffering of many of Ulm's finest...

Lazy_Perfectionist · #2 November 17th, 2007, 08:23 PM

Starving is -4 morale instantly. Disease takes a while to kick in. When defending a fortress, starvation can be quite nasty. For both the attacker and defender. When raiding, especially with a disposable force, starvation isn't really a concern, even if its happening.

Starving troops will break and run very quickly. It's kind of hard to cull the herd in that case. But you won't be starving cause your army will be scattered around several provinces.

Endoperez · #3 November 17th, 2007, 08:44 PM

Diseased, living units never heal, and get 1 point of damager/turn. They'll also often get afflictions.

Starvation only kicks in after the unit suffers from it for the second turn. So moving in, starving, and moving out is perfectly safe.

Your own fortresses "radiate" supply lines to provinces near them, so having a fort nearby could save your troops. If you have researched Thaumaturgy 2, I suggest casting Gnome Lore on all provinces near the Shinuyama capital - you might get lucky and get a fortress from a site. Mountains and wastes have better chance of delivering, and searching empty provinces is better than ones which already have 3 of the 4 possible sites.

Lazy_Perfectionist · #4 November 17th, 2007, 08:47 PM

Can recruit enough indie shamans, you can alleviate your starvation, as well. Not the best idea, but I'll throw it out there. As well, those indie shamans can often forge bags of endless wine for fifty supply.

DonCorazon · #5 November 17th, 2007, 09:14 PM

Thanks guys, very helpful. Btw, is there a hotkey to pickout starving troops, as there is for wounded troops?

Rathar · #6 November 18th, 2007, 01:05 AM

Rasit · #7 November 20th, 2007, 06:02 PM

Quote:

[...]So now I am wondering how bad are the effects.[...]

I made the mistake of attacking a marsh with a supply lowering death site, to make matters worse I accidentally hit e instead of r, twice!

This was my small strike force before (they won this fight easily).

This was some turn later after the little swamp vacation, they were joined by the Inquisitor and the Angel after the previous battle.

Since everyone got a disease I was forced to get them in a battle every 4 turn, luckily I had a regeneration bless.

vfb · #8 November 20th, 2007, 06:47 PM

Quote:

Rasit said:
I made the mistake of attacking a marsh with a supply lowering death site,

Do you mean with a death-scale-increasing site? Which one? Are you sure it was not a disease-causing site?

Quote:

to make matters worse I accidentally hit e instead of r, twice!

Do you mean 'e' instead of 'w'?

Quote:

[...]Since everyone got a disease I was forced to get them in a battle every 4 turn, luckily I had a regeneration bless.

If you leave your army parked for 8 turns in a disease-causing site, there's a very good chance everyone will get sick. I'm not 100% sure, but I don't think your commanders will get diseased just because of supply problems. Army yes, commanders no.

Wick · #9 November 20th, 2007, 10:33 PM

No, he means he ended the turn while trying to recruit. It happens rarely but all too often.

Edratman · #10 November 21st, 2007, 12:10 PM

Quote:

Wick said:
No, he means he ended the turn while trying to recruit. It happens rarely but all too often.

I agree that it happens too often. I take a lot of care to avoid the "end turn" in error, but once in a while I still make the mistake. I again maintain that I would not be offended by "are you too stupid to hit the right button?" popup, and one more mouse click added to hundred or so per turn would not significently harm me either.