Supply trucks go very slowly in convoy?

[Wisq]

So I've been having some issues with the movement speed of supply trucks when they're in a convoy. It's been hard to put my finger on, but I think I may have figured out the issue.

I created a convoy with a Husky followed by five supply trucks. (This wasn't to reproduce the bug, I just happened to do so.) What I noticed was, as usual, the convoy would move fairly slowly, and the Husky would have movement points left over. That makes sense -- it has 5 points, the trucks have 3, so of course it's going to have 2 left over.

What makes less sense is that the convoy was still slow once I detached the Husky and let it run ahead. In fact, the convoy was still slow even once I completely disbanded it (by stopping it at an FOB and not reforming it) and sent all the trucks on their way independently! They were halfway to a faraway base, and it was saying it would take them 5 turns to get there. Yet, I could recruit a brand new truck at HQ, and it would tell me the entire trip would only take four turns!

And indeed, the supply trucks from HQ could make it there that quickly, while I had to redirect the (ex-)convoy to a different FOB because they didn't have enough fuel. It would take them longer to make half the trip than it took a fresh supply truck to make the whole trip.

I think what's going on is, although the supply trucks have a low number of actions, they move very efficiently on roads -- as per their unit description, "big road movement bonus" -- and that bonus is somehow stripped from them when they become part of a convoy. And that stripped bonus persists if (as I did) you let the convoy stop at a base and split it up (by not reforming it).

Is this a known issue? Am I doing something wrong?

[Wisq]

Okay, I've managed to easily reproduce this in a sandbox game and get some hard numbers. There's actually two bugs in play here.

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Bug #1: Trucks lose their bonus (permanently?) when they join a convoy with a non-supply-truck unit

I recruited a Husky and some supply trucks. Initially, the supply trucks have a very good range on the highway, with 1 action point getting them 10 spaces: https://i.wisq.net/Image-20180104-161615.jpg

Once I make a convoy, that range drops dramatically: https://i.wisq.net/Image-20180104-162135.jpg

The entire convoy can only move 5 spaces even though each one of those supply trucks (with 1 action point apiece) should be able to move 10 and the Husky (with 5 action points) should be able to move 25.

(It also claims the convoy will only move 5 spaces per turn on future turns, but that's due to the other bug, below.)

What's weird is, that issue persists even once I remove the trucks from a convoy. Here's the lead supply truck after it leaves the convoy: https://i.wisq.net/Image-20180104-163400.jpg

Note that it can only go 5 spaces on 1 point, not 10.

To make sure, I pulled everything back to HQ (to empty the road) and put just that same truck out on the road. The "no road bonus" issue persists, since he only gets 5 road moves per 1 point: https://i.wisq.net/Image-20180104-163600.jpg

Whereas a truck who has never been part of a convoy still gets 10 road moves per 1 point: https://i.wisq.net/Image-20180104-163806.jpg

I've done additional testing, and this only happens when joining a convoy with a vehicle that is not a supply truck. If a convoy is 100% supply trucks, then they keep their road bonus.

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Bug #2: Convoy movement distance on future turns is based on the current movement points, not maximum

This is easily demonstrated using MRAPs in a sandbox game. I created a convoy and checked how far they could go in 1 turn using 6 movement points: https://i.wisq.net/Image-20180104-165312.jpg

Then, I reduced one of them to 1 movement point, and suddenly that same trip would supposedly take 6 (!) turns: https://i.wisq.net/Image-20180104-165420.jpg

Just to make sure this was purely a bug in the estimator and not an actual gameplay bug, I sent them on that trip. Sure enough, after their first (short) movement, they were able to make the rest of the trip in 1 turn: https://i.wisq.net/Image-20180104-165551.jpg

So, the convoy "number of turns to destination" system seems to take your current action points and assume that's how far you'll move per future turn. Whereas, with regular units, it uses your current action points to determine how far you'll move on your current turn, and then your maximum action points to determine how far you'll move on future turns.

[Tay67]

I would say unless you have enough overwatch to spot ambushes along the road I would use a husky/MRAP (with infantry of course) convoy to clear the road first, then I would just send out the trucks on their own to the villages.

[Wisq]

Oh yeah, absolutely, I can work around it. Mainly, I just wanted to figure out WTF was going on, and get this bug reported.

My ideal convoy would've been Husky + MRAP escorting several supply trucks, but that's not reasonable under the current system, plus it has permanent effects on the supply trucks.

[Tay67]

The devs tend to fix any bugs brought up to them in the occasional patches that they do. They might have it fixed when the british update comes.

[Bachelor_Chow]

I feel you dude. The convoys crawl like the ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ human centipede. Where possible, I always structure my convoys like this (assuming 6 vehicles, and where possible) in the early game/when ♥♥♥♥ is dangerous:

Husky
Protection (MRAP w/ Spec Ops or Infantry, OR Stryker MGS)
Transport
Transport
Transport
Protection (MRAP w/ Infantry)

+ QRF (infantry) in blackhawk available to fly cover or respond to threats as needed. If I can afford it, sometimes I'll throw in an extra Stryker to cover the rear of the column. Both Strykers move to FOB protection in late game versus the angry Taliban & technicals. At this point, the convoy reverts to Husky + Transports.

[EliteForceQc]

The Husky have 2 detection range for ied. , so put it second and the Mrap first to manage encounters.