GAME MANUAL - Steam

HEARTS OF IRON DARKEST HOURcan be imported, the AI will tryto obtain it, whereas if it canbe exported the AI will be ableto give it to other countries inexchange for other resources.A resource that we want tostockpile is a resource that theAI will not export and will do itsbest to acquire from themarket. There is also acheckbox that will let the AItake care of assigning navalbrigades as soon as they areavailable.ConvoysConvoys are theessentialvessels used toferry naturalresources fromany provincesthat you controloverseas backto your nationalstockpiles, andto send suppliesand fuel to yourtroops abroad.Withoutconvoys, youwill be unable toimportresources fromyour owncolonial possessionsor tokeep your supply chains openand operational. DH’s convoysystem is somewhatabstracted, relieving you of theneed to micromanage theirspecific actions. Rather thangiving orders to individualships, you will designate aroute and then make specialconvoy and escort vesselsavailable to traffic along anddefend that route. Theirassigned route is subject toenemy interference, though,with convoy vessels beingcommon prey for enemysubmarine packs. Escorts willattempt to fight back,defending the otherwiseunarmed supply vessels, butyou would be well advised tomanufacture new convoy andescort vessels on a regularbasis if your economydepends heavily on imports orif your troops will be engagedin many overseas campaigns.In any case, convoys willattempt to transport theirgoods using the safest routepossible between the originand the destination and willadjust these routesperiodically in response toenemy activities.The convoy section of theProduction Folder allows youto quickly review your existingconvoy routes. For each oneyou will see the port of origin,port of destination, cargo type,and the number of convoyvessels and escorts currentlyassigned to the route, shownas convoys/escorts. If this textis red, the number of transportsassigned to the route istoo few to maintain it at fullefficiency. If the text is white,you have a sufficient number.Immediately below the text willbe the icons of the types ofresources that this convoy hasbeen permitted to carry (seebelow). This does notnecessarily mean that they arebeing shipped, however, sincethe depot may not have any ofthat type of resource. Theactual daily transport of goodsis displayed in a tooltip thatappears when you hover yourmouse over the route. Limitedair supply of ground forces ispossible, but this is not treatedas a regular convoy so it won’tappear in this summary. Seethe Air Combat section fordetails on air supply.At the top of the summaryarea, you will see the numberof transports and escorts inyour convoy pool that arecurrently without an assignmentand are available fornew routes or for theexpansion of existing routes.Click on the Convoys button todisplay the Convoy Managementinterface where you canadjust many common aspectsof your convoy routes. Youmay view and control evenmore details of individualconvoys’ activities using theConvoy Details interface,accessed by clicking on theroute’s listing in either themain Production Folder’ssummary or in the ConvoyManagement interface.The Convoy Managementand Convoy DetailsInterfacesThe upper portion of theConvoy Management interfaceprovides a scrollable list of allexisting convoys and anexpanding tooltip that detailsthe goods being transported.For each route, you will seethe number of convoys andescorts currently assigned tothat route, which will be red ifyou have not assigned enoughvessels to the task. There arealso small “+” and “-” buttonsbeside these that allow you tochange the quantities. Holdingdown the “Shift” key as you doso will increase or decreasethe numbers in larger steps.Each route also has aprioritise button (an arrowpointing upwards) that is usedto assign the relative prioritiesof each route if you elect tohave the route maintainedautomatically for you. Thisindicates which routes aremost important to you,ensuring that any availableconvoy vessels will beassigned to keep those goodsflowing if you have an62