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Josey Wales

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    Josey Wales got a reaction from M.Herm in The Relationship between Soft Factors, Morale & Fatigue   
    The Relationship between Soft Factors, Morale & Fatigue 
     
    Preface
    Hi all, I'm pretty new to the BFC forums but I've been milling about over at the FGM for a little over a year. I recently created the below post and it received a lot of positive feedback to the point that it has now become one of the sitcky threads over there.
    I have been prompted to post the thread here and after a conversation I had in another thread on this forum, I thought that by placing it here, then non-FGM members can have a read through without me having to copy and paste snippets from the original post at the FGM.

    Introduction

    Whether selecting unit attributes in a quick battle or whether in game wondering if you should use your +1 Leadership squad or +2 Motivation squad to assault a farmhouse. it can be difficult to make an informed decision due to the fact that there is not a lot of information in the manual which explains how the attributes of Experience, Leadership, Motivation and Fitness (hereby collectively known as the 'Soft Factors') affect certain game concepts such as Morale, Suppression, Firepower and Fatigue.

    The forums can be slightly misleading as some posts describe exactly how something works whilst others are more how people feel something is working and it can be difficult to separate the wheat from the chaff.

    The information below is based on a painstaking process using the editor to separate out the impact of different factors by isolating them and testing them under different conditions. By isolating and testing these factors, the mechanics behind the concepts of Morale, Suppression, Accuracy, C2 and Fatigue start to reveal themselves and after several red herrings, dead ends and lots of repetition the information below has been teased out from the game.
    2 videos accompany this post to explain some of the findings, however all of the findings can be backed up by video evidence.

    The editor used was the one for Fortress Italy v2.00 Engine 4.0.

    SPOILER ALERT - if you prefer the murkiness of not knowing how the Soft Factors affect gameplay then please stop reading.

    Having said that the following information does not quantify the game concepts affected by the soft factors but instead generalises as what is likely to happen within a certain concept under certain conditions to units with high and low values for the soft factors.


    Morale

    Before being able to explain the characteristics of the 'Soft Factors', it is imperative to understand how Morale works in the game.

    Morale reflects the psychological state of a unit and determines its ability to respond to orders and fight.

    Morale states from highest to lowest are;
     
    Ok > Cautious > Nervous > Rattled > (Shaken) > (Panic) > Broken
    States shown in brackets () are temporary states.

    The states Ok through to Nervous are simple gradations and a Nervous unit will not behave differently from an Ok one.

    Rattled troops which become Pinned (or highly suppressed) will dash for safety, even if they are stationary when they become Pinned (or highly suppressed).

    Shaken troops will cower in their current position in the hope that the pressure will ease. They will not respond to orders or fire their weapons.

    Note: Shaken troops observed running for cover have been Pinned (or highly suppressed) in the Rattled state prior to becoming Shaken.

    Panicked troops will try and run away from the perceived threat to save their own hides. They will not respond to orders or fire their weapons.

    Shaken and Panicked states are temporary and will eventually revert back to one of the other persistent states depending on the situation and the Experience, Leadership and Motivation of the unit.

    Broken troops will respond to orders but are 'Brittle' and will quickly become Shaken or Panicked if fired upon. Broken troops will remain Brittle for the remainder of the battle irrespective of their Experience, Leadership, Motivation and Fitness.

    Morale is affected by 2 conditions of the battlefield and each of these conditions impact on Morale in different ways.
     
    1. Combat Stress

    Combat Stress has a persistent impact on Morale and is caused by casualty build up.

    Casualties sustained reduce the Morale of the unit for the remainder of the game and is therefore known as a persistent effect.

    Morale affected in this way cannot be regained (except under one specific condition - see Leadership). The impact of Combat Stress depends on the number of casualties sustained over time and the Experience, Leadership and Motivation of the unit.

    Not only does taking casualties effect the Morale of the unit directly impacted, other units organisationally closely connected are also affected in the same way but to a lesser extent. The persistent Morale effect of casualty build up only effects other units via organisational connection regardless of geographical proximity.

    Example 1 - 1st and 2nd Sqd of 1st Plt are separated by 500m. As 1st squad sustains casualties and suffers a persistent Morale impact, 2nd Sqd will also suffer a persistent Morale impact even though it is 500m away and has no LOS to 1st Sqd.

    Example 2 - 1st Sqd of 1st Plt is within 10m of 3rdSqd of 2nd Plt. 3rd Sqd of 2nd Plt receives incoming fire and half of the unit is wiped out and the Sqd is instantly Shaken. 1st Sqd of 1st Plt receives no impact to their persistent Morale state due to the fact that they are in a different Platoon. 2nd Plt would have to take far more casualties before any of 1st Plt become affected.

    The way that Combat Stress is distributed to other units is vertical between different platoons and companies although it is horizontal between units of the same platoon.


    2. Combat Shock

    Combat Shock has a temporary impact on Morale and is caused by suppression.          Suppression has a temporary impact on Morale and the affect is removed once the suppression is lifted.

             The duration the unit remains suppressed for depends on the amount of incoming Firepower, the immediate casualties sustained, Experience & Leadership of the unit.

             The temporary impact on Morale of being suppressed depends on the amount of incoming Firepower, the immediate casualties sustained and the Experience, Leadership & Motivation of the unit.


    Suppression Indicator

    The Suppression Indicator is not merely a measure of incoming fire, more accurately it represents the units perception as to how much danger it is in based on the incoming Firepower, the immediate casualties sustained, and the Experience, Leadership & Motivation of the unit.

    Inexperienced, poorly led and unmotivated units suffer the greatest Morale impact from being suppressed whilst inexperienced and poorly led units can remain suppressed for sometime after the last shot was fired in their direction.
     
    Pinned

    If the Suppression Indicator becomes full the unit becomes Pinned. Stationary Pinned (or highly suppressed) troops will return fire but will not respond to movement orders until the suppression has reduced.

    Troops which become Pinned (or highly suppressed) whilst moving to a waypoint will attempt to dash for cover. If no cover is nearby, they will hit the deck.

    Rattled troops which become Pinned (or highly suppressed) will dash for safety, even if they are stationary when they become Pinned.

    Experienced and well led troops recover from being Pinned quicker than inexperienced or poorly led troops.
      C2 - Command & Control

    C2, or Command and Control, reflects the effect of having a unit being able to receive orders from and deliver information to its HQ team.

    Being within a C2 link does not provide resistance to the persistent impact on Morale caused by Combat Stress.

    Being within a close C2 link (Close Visual/Voice) does provide resistance to the impact on Morale caused by Combat Shock - troops within C2 range of their HQ unit are less affected by the temporary impact of suppression upon Morale as they are less stressed by being shot at and the immediate impact of seeing team/squadmates killed & wounded is reduced.

    More experienced units pass on information to their buddies and superiors quicker than less experienced units. This includes verbal, visual and radio communications.

    The range of visual and audio C2 is fixed for all Soft Factors, Morale and Fatigue states but will vary by terrain. In open ground;
    : Voice range < 50m (unless the HQ is hiding in which case voice range drops to <25m)
    : Close visual range <100m

      Experience

    Experience reflects the amount of training and combat experience the unit has.

    Experience levels from least experience/training to most experience are;
     
    Conscript > Green > Regular > Veteran > Crack > Elite
    Experience has 6 characteristics which impact on the unit;
     
    1. Spotting - troops with higher experience are able to spot enemy contacts sooner than less experienced troops.

    2. Firepower - higher experienced troops will engage at longer ranges and have greater accuracy than less experienced troops. They therefore tend to cause more casualties to the enemy than their less experienced counterparts during a firefight.

    3. Resistance to Combat Stress - more experienced troops are less affected by the psychological impact of losing team/squadmates.

    This characteristic is cumulative with Leadership and Motivation. 

    4. Resistance to Combat Shock - experienced troops are less affected by the temporary impact of suppression upon Morale. They are more used to being shot at and better desensitised to the immediate impact of seeing team/squadmates killed & wounded than less experienced troops.

    This characteristic is cumulative with Leadership and Motivation. 

    5. Suppression Recovery - experienced troops recover quicker from being suppressed (including being Pinned), they realise when the incoming fire has shifted away from them sooner than less experienced troops do.

    This characteristic is cumulative with Leadership.

    6. More experienced units pass on information to their buddies and superiors quicker than less experienced units. This includes verbal, visual and radio communications.

    Leadership

    Leadership reflects the quality of NCO's or other team leaders in the team or squad to organise and support the troops. Leaders can be of varying quality.

    Leadership is shown as a simple modifier ranging from;
     
    -2 > -1 > 0 > +1 > +2 Note: A Leadership modifier only applies to the unit with the Modifier (like all other modifiers). In other words it does not filter down to sub-ordinate units (see HQ Leadership Modifier Example).

    Leadership has 3 characteristics which effect unit behaviour under duress;
     
    1. Resistance to Combat Stress - better led troops are less affected by the psychological impact of losing team/squadmates.

    This characteristic is cumulative with Experience and Motivation.

    2. Resistance to Combat Shock - well led troops are less affected by the temporary impact of suppression upon Morale. The NCO's are better at encouraging the troops under fire and getting them to remember their training when faced with the immediate impact of seeing team/squadmates killed & wounded.

    This characteristic is cumulative with Experience and Motivation.

    3. Suppression Recovery - well led troops recover quicker from being suppressed (including being Pinned), they realise when the incoming fire has shifted away from them sooner than poorly led troops do.

    This characteristic is cumulative with Experience.  Unlike the characteristics denoted by Experience, if the Leader of a team or squad is incapacitated, the Leadership value of the unit will change to that of the next most senior member who steps up as the Leader. This value can go up as well as down, for example, a unit with a +1 Leader incapacitated and replaced by a -1 Leader will suffer a hit on Morale which may be enough to cause a persistent drop in the unit's Morale state. Similarly however, if a -2 Leader is incapacitated and replaced with a 0 Leader, the unit will receive a boost in Morale which may be enough to cause a persistent increase in the unit's Morale state.

    Note: In Engine v4.0 manual page 68 it states that a Leadership bonus will help "direct fire to be more effective". However, this has not been possible to reproduce using various tests. Whereas the difference in accuracy between Crack units and Green units is repeatable and obvious, the effect of Leadership on accuracy is not apparent.

      HQ Leadership Modifier Example

    Reading some posts, there is a lot of confusion over how this Modifier works with HQ units. So I will clarify it here.

    The Leadership (Ldrshp) modifier for all units (from Btn Hqs through to Plt Hqs down to squads and teams) only effects the unit that the modifier is for, in the same way that a -2 Fitness modifier only effects the fitness of the unit that the modifier is for.

    In fact, it helps to think of the Leadership modifier in the same was as the Fitness modifier. An unfit Plt HQ does not make all of the squads in that platoon unfit aswell.

    So a squad with a -1 Ldrshp modifier is not offset by the +1 Ldrshp modifier of its Plt HQ. The squad will still suffer the penalties of having -1 Ldrshp.

    So how does having a Plt HQ with a poor leader affect the performance of the Platoon?

    This is best illustrated with an example;
      Lt Bike is the Plt Leader of 1st Plt. He has a Leadership modifier of -2. All 3 of the squads in 1st Plt are Regulars with average ability NCO's so no Ldrshp modifiers for the squads. For reference 1st Plt HQ is also Regular.

    1st Plt are on a patrol and 1st Squad makes contact with an enemy force. After a couple of minutes, the casualties from 1st Sqd begin to mount. Not only does this have a persistent Morale affect on 1st Sqd, it also has a persistent Morale affect on the other 2 Squads and the Plt HQ because of their close organisational link.

    However, because the Plt HQ has Lt Bike with his -2 Ldrshp modifier, it suffers a greater impact on Morale than 2nd or 3rd Sqd does from the build up of 1st Sqds casualties.

    After another minute of combat, the persistent morale states of the Platoon are;
      Plt HQ - Rattled
    1st Squad - Rattled
    2nd Squad - Nervous
    3rd Squad - Nervous As the combatants manoeuvre for position, the Plt HQ comes under fire. As the HQ team is already Rattled, it doesn't take much suppression to drop their Morale state temporarily into Shaken.

    Now that the HQ unit is Shaken, the C2 link between the HQ and the 3 squads is cut. This makes the squads more vulnerable to the Morale effects of suppression (see C2 - Command & Control).

    As 1st Squad is already under suppressive fire, its Morale state instanteously drops from Rattled to Shaken because of the loss of the C2 link (see C2 - Command & Control).

    The HQ will take longer to recover from the supression than it normally would for a Regular unit because of its -2 Ldrshp modifier, meaning that as a consequence, the C2 link is broken for longer.

    So we now have the following situation after 5 minutes;
      Plt HQ - Shaken
    1st Squad - Shaken
    2nd Squad - Nervous
    3rd Squad - Nervous If we rewind the clock and give Lt Bike +2 Ldrshp modifier, then re-run under exactly the same circumstances the situation would have been after 5 minutes;
      Plt HQ - Nervous
    1st Squad - Rattled
    2nd Squad - Nervous
    3rd Squad - Nervous This is because the Plt HQ would not have been so affected by the casualty build up of 1st Sqd so that when the HQ came under some suppressive fire, it was still in a high enough Morale state not to become Shaken by it and therefore the C2 link between the HQ and the Squads and the benefits it brings (see C2 - Command & Control) would still be intact.



    Motivation

    Motivation reflects the units dedication to the cause and their willingness to sacrifice themselves for their squad mates and commanders.

    Motivation from best to worst ranges as;
     
    Poor > Low > Normal > High > Extreme > Fanatic Motivation has 3 characteristics which effect unit behaviour under duress;
     
    1. Resistance to Combat Stress - better motivated troops are less affected by the psychological impact of losing team/squadmates.

    This characteristic is cumulative with Experience and Leadership.

    2. Resistance to Combat Shock - highly motivated troops are less affected by the temporary impact of suppression upon Morale. They are less psychologically affected by being shot at and better desensitised to the immediate impact of seeing team/squadmates killed & wounded than their less motivated counterparts.

    This characteristic is cumulative with Experience and Leadership.

    3. Resistance to Panic and Breaking - highly motivated troops can be Shaken but are less likely to Panic and try to run from the fight to save themselves. They are also more likely to recover to a positive morale state after being Shaken than less motivated troops and are less likely to become Broken and Brittle.

    Fanatic units will not surrender.
    Fatigue

    Fatigue is the physical effect of running around and using up energy.

    Fatigue states best to worst are;
     
    Rested > Ready > Tiring > Tired > Fatigued > Exhausted
    Tired troops cannot Fast Move.

    Fatigued troops cannot Fast, Assault or Hunt Move.

    Exhausted troops cannot Fast, Assault, Hunt or Quick Move.

    More tired troops do not move slower than less tired troops moving at the same movement command, ie Unfit troops moving at Fast Move, cover distance at the same rate as Fit troops moving at Fast Move, they just won't be able to keep up that pace for as long.

    Keeping troops stationary recovers their fatigue relatively quickly. Hiding troops has no additional benefit.

    Troops will recover fatigue whilst at the Move but it is at a slower rate.

    Experience, Leadership and Motivation do not effect Fatigue states or recovery times.

    Fatigue has no effect on Morale either from Combat Stress or Combat Shock.

    Fatigue has no effect on accuracy nor the range at which targets are engaged at.


    Fitness

    Fitness represents a units physical resistance to Fatigue.

    Fitness states from best to worst are;
     
    Fit > Weakened > Unfit  
    Fitness has 3 characteristics which effect unit behaviour under physical exertion;

    1. Fitter troops tire less quickly from Fast Move (sprinting), Slow Move (crawling) and Quick Move (jogging).

    2. Fitter troops recover from tired states sooner than less fit troops.

    3. Weakened and Unfit troops recover fatigue on the Move extremely slowly.  
    Closing

    All of the conclusions made above have been arrived at through thorough isolation and testing procedures which can be backed up by video evidence.

    There is more stuff in the CMx2 engine to dig up than what has been uncovered here but for now I'm unable to go further into this rabbit hole.

    Hopefully the information presented here clears up some of the historical confusions that have been around on the various forums. It may also affect the way in which unit purchases are thought about, and hopefully it allows players to make better informed tactical decisions and enhance the way their game is played.

    Josey Wales updated 24/09/17
  2. Upvote
    Josey Wales got a reaction from IdontknowhowtodoX in The Relationship between Soft Factors, Morale & Fatigue   
    The Relationship between Soft Factors, Morale & Fatigue 
     
    Preface
    Hi all, I'm pretty new to the BFC forums but I've been milling about over at the FGM for a little over a year. I recently created the below post and it received a lot of positive feedback to the point that it has now become one of the sitcky threads over there.
    I have been prompted to post the thread here and after a conversation I had in another thread on this forum, I thought that by placing it here, then non-FGM members can have a read through without me having to copy and paste snippets from the original post at the FGM.

    Introduction

    Whether selecting unit attributes in a quick battle or whether in game wondering if you should use your +1 Leadership squad or +2 Motivation squad to assault a farmhouse. it can be difficult to make an informed decision due to the fact that there is not a lot of information in the manual which explains how the attributes of Experience, Leadership, Motivation and Fitness (hereby collectively known as the 'Soft Factors') affect certain game concepts such as Morale, Suppression, Firepower and Fatigue.

    The forums can be slightly misleading as some posts describe exactly how something works whilst others are more how people feel something is working and it can be difficult to separate the wheat from the chaff.

    The information below is based on a painstaking process using the editor to separate out the impact of different factors by isolating them and testing them under different conditions. By isolating and testing these factors, the mechanics behind the concepts of Morale, Suppression, Accuracy, C2 and Fatigue start to reveal themselves and after several red herrings, dead ends and lots of repetition the information below has been teased out from the game.
    2 videos accompany this post to explain some of the findings, however all of the findings can be backed up by video evidence.

    The editor used was the one for Fortress Italy v2.00 Engine 4.0.

    SPOILER ALERT - if you prefer the murkiness of not knowing how the Soft Factors affect gameplay then please stop reading.

    Having said that the following information does not quantify the game concepts affected by the soft factors but instead generalises as what is likely to happen within a certain concept under certain conditions to units with high and low values for the soft factors.


    Morale

    Before being able to explain the characteristics of the 'Soft Factors', it is imperative to understand how Morale works in the game.

    Morale reflects the psychological state of a unit and determines its ability to respond to orders and fight.

    Morale states from highest to lowest are;
     
    Ok > Cautious > Nervous > Rattled > (Shaken) > (Panic) > Broken
    States shown in brackets () are temporary states.

    The states Ok through to Nervous are simple gradations and a Nervous unit will not behave differently from an Ok one.

    Rattled troops which become Pinned (or highly suppressed) will dash for safety, even if they are stationary when they become Pinned (or highly suppressed).

    Shaken troops will cower in their current position in the hope that the pressure will ease. They will not respond to orders or fire their weapons.

    Note: Shaken troops observed running for cover have been Pinned (or highly suppressed) in the Rattled state prior to becoming Shaken.

    Panicked troops will try and run away from the perceived threat to save their own hides. They will not respond to orders or fire their weapons.

    Shaken and Panicked states are temporary and will eventually revert back to one of the other persistent states depending on the situation and the Experience, Leadership and Motivation of the unit.

    Broken troops will respond to orders but are 'Brittle' and will quickly become Shaken or Panicked if fired upon. Broken troops will remain Brittle for the remainder of the battle irrespective of their Experience, Leadership, Motivation and Fitness.

    Morale is affected by 2 conditions of the battlefield and each of these conditions impact on Morale in different ways.
     
    1. Combat Stress

    Combat Stress has a persistent impact on Morale and is caused by casualty build up.

    Casualties sustained reduce the Morale of the unit for the remainder of the game and is therefore known as a persistent effect.

    Morale affected in this way cannot be regained (except under one specific condition - see Leadership). The impact of Combat Stress depends on the number of casualties sustained over time and the Experience, Leadership and Motivation of the unit.

    Not only does taking casualties effect the Morale of the unit directly impacted, other units organisationally closely connected are also affected in the same way but to a lesser extent. The persistent Morale effect of casualty build up only effects other units via organisational connection regardless of geographical proximity.

    Example 1 - 1st and 2nd Sqd of 1st Plt are separated by 500m. As 1st squad sustains casualties and suffers a persistent Morale impact, 2nd Sqd will also suffer a persistent Morale impact even though it is 500m away and has no LOS to 1st Sqd.

    Example 2 - 1st Sqd of 1st Plt is within 10m of 3rdSqd of 2nd Plt. 3rd Sqd of 2nd Plt receives incoming fire and half of the unit is wiped out and the Sqd is instantly Shaken. 1st Sqd of 1st Plt receives no impact to their persistent Morale state due to the fact that they are in a different Platoon. 2nd Plt would have to take far more casualties before any of 1st Plt become affected.

    The way that Combat Stress is distributed to other units is vertical between different platoons and companies although it is horizontal between units of the same platoon.


    2. Combat Shock

    Combat Shock has a temporary impact on Morale and is caused by suppression.          Suppression has a temporary impact on Morale and the affect is removed once the suppression is lifted.

             The duration the unit remains suppressed for depends on the amount of incoming Firepower, the immediate casualties sustained, Experience & Leadership of the unit.

             The temporary impact on Morale of being suppressed depends on the amount of incoming Firepower, the immediate casualties sustained and the Experience, Leadership & Motivation of the unit.


    Suppression Indicator

    The Suppression Indicator is not merely a measure of incoming fire, more accurately it represents the units perception as to how much danger it is in based on the incoming Firepower, the immediate casualties sustained, and the Experience, Leadership & Motivation of the unit.

    Inexperienced, poorly led and unmotivated units suffer the greatest Morale impact from being suppressed whilst inexperienced and poorly led units can remain suppressed for sometime after the last shot was fired in their direction.
     
    Pinned

    If the Suppression Indicator becomes full the unit becomes Pinned. Stationary Pinned (or highly suppressed) troops will return fire but will not respond to movement orders until the suppression has reduced.

    Troops which become Pinned (or highly suppressed) whilst moving to a waypoint will attempt to dash for cover. If no cover is nearby, they will hit the deck.

    Rattled troops which become Pinned (or highly suppressed) will dash for safety, even if they are stationary when they become Pinned.

    Experienced and well led troops recover from being Pinned quicker than inexperienced or poorly led troops.
      C2 - Command & Control

    C2, or Command and Control, reflects the effect of having a unit being able to receive orders from and deliver information to its HQ team.

    Being within a C2 link does not provide resistance to the persistent impact on Morale caused by Combat Stress.

    Being within a close C2 link (Close Visual/Voice) does provide resistance to the impact on Morale caused by Combat Shock - troops within C2 range of their HQ unit are less affected by the temporary impact of suppression upon Morale as they are less stressed by being shot at and the immediate impact of seeing team/squadmates killed & wounded is reduced.

    More experienced units pass on information to their buddies and superiors quicker than less experienced units. This includes verbal, visual and radio communications.

    The range of visual and audio C2 is fixed for all Soft Factors, Morale and Fatigue states but will vary by terrain. In open ground;
    : Voice range < 50m (unless the HQ is hiding in which case voice range drops to <25m)
    : Close visual range <100m

      Experience

    Experience reflects the amount of training and combat experience the unit has.

    Experience levels from least experience/training to most experience are;
     
    Conscript > Green > Regular > Veteran > Crack > Elite
    Experience has 6 characteristics which impact on the unit;
     
    1. Spotting - troops with higher experience are able to spot enemy contacts sooner than less experienced troops.

    2. Firepower - higher experienced troops will engage at longer ranges and have greater accuracy than less experienced troops. They therefore tend to cause more casualties to the enemy than their less experienced counterparts during a firefight.

    3. Resistance to Combat Stress - more experienced troops are less affected by the psychological impact of losing team/squadmates.

    This characteristic is cumulative with Leadership and Motivation. 

    4. Resistance to Combat Shock - experienced troops are less affected by the temporary impact of suppression upon Morale. They are more used to being shot at and better desensitised to the immediate impact of seeing team/squadmates killed & wounded than less experienced troops.

    This characteristic is cumulative with Leadership and Motivation. 

    5. Suppression Recovery - experienced troops recover quicker from being suppressed (including being Pinned), they realise when the incoming fire has shifted away from them sooner than less experienced troops do.

    This characteristic is cumulative with Leadership.

    6. More experienced units pass on information to their buddies and superiors quicker than less experienced units. This includes verbal, visual and radio communications.

    Leadership

    Leadership reflects the quality of NCO's or other team leaders in the team or squad to organise and support the troops. Leaders can be of varying quality.

    Leadership is shown as a simple modifier ranging from;
     
    -2 > -1 > 0 > +1 > +2 Note: A Leadership modifier only applies to the unit with the Modifier (like all other modifiers). In other words it does not filter down to sub-ordinate units (see HQ Leadership Modifier Example).

    Leadership has 3 characteristics which effect unit behaviour under duress;
     
    1. Resistance to Combat Stress - better led troops are less affected by the psychological impact of losing team/squadmates.

    This characteristic is cumulative with Experience and Motivation.

    2. Resistance to Combat Shock - well led troops are less affected by the temporary impact of suppression upon Morale. The NCO's are better at encouraging the troops under fire and getting them to remember their training when faced with the immediate impact of seeing team/squadmates killed & wounded.

    This characteristic is cumulative with Experience and Motivation.

    3. Suppression Recovery - well led troops recover quicker from being suppressed (including being Pinned), they realise when the incoming fire has shifted away from them sooner than poorly led troops do.

    This characteristic is cumulative with Experience.  Unlike the characteristics denoted by Experience, if the Leader of a team or squad is incapacitated, the Leadership value of the unit will change to that of the next most senior member who steps up as the Leader. This value can go up as well as down, for example, a unit with a +1 Leader incapacitated and replaced by a -1 Leader will suffer a hit on Morale which may be enough to cause a persistent drop in the unit's Morale state. Similarly however, if a -2 Leader is incapacitated and replaced with a 0 Leader, the unit will receive a boost in Morale which may be enough to cause a persistent increase in the unit's Morale state.

    Note: In Engine v4.0 manual page 68 it states that a Leadership bonus will help "direct fire to be more effective". However, this has not been possible to reproduce using various tests. Whereas the difference in accuracy between Crack units and Green units is repeatable and obvious, the effect of Leadership on accuracy is not apparent.

      HQ Leadership Modifier Example

    Reading some posts, there is a lot of confusion over how this Modifier works with HQ units. So I will clarify it here.

    The Leadership (Ldrshp) modifier for all units (from Btn Hqs through to Plt Hqs down to squads and teams) only effects the unit that the modifier is for, in the same way that a -2 Fitness modifier only effects the fitness of the unit that the modifier is for.

    In fact, it helps to think of the Leadership modifier in the same was as the Fitness modifier. An unfit Plt HQ does not make all of the squads in that platoon unfit aswell.

    So a squad with a -1 Ldrshp modifier is not offset by the +1 Ldrshp modifier of its Plt HQ. The squad will still suffer the penalties of having -1 Ldrshp.

    So how does having a Plt HQ with a poor leader affect the performance of the Platoon?

    This is best illustrated with an example;
      Lt Bike is the Plt Leader of 1st Plt. He has a Leadership modifier of -2. All 3 of the squads in 1st Plt are Regulars with average ability NCO's so no Ldrshp modifiers for the squads. For reference 1st Plt HQ is also Regular.

    1st Plt are on a patrol and 1st Squad makes contact with an enemy force. After a couple of minutes, the casualties from 1st Sqd begin to mount. Not only does this have a persistent Morale affect on 1st Sqd, it also has a persistent Morale affect on the other 2 Squads and the Plt HQ because of their close organisational link.

    However, because the Plt HQ has Lt Bike with his -2 Ldrshp modifier, it suffers a greater impact on Morale than 2nd or 3rd Sqd does from the build up of 1st Sqds casualties.

    After another minute of combat, the persistent morale states of the Platoon are;
      Plt HQ - Rattled
    1st Squad - Rattled
    2nd Squad - Nervous
    3rd Squad - Nervous As the combatants manoeuvre for position, the Plt HQ comes under fire. As the HQ team is already Rattled, it doesn't take much suppression to drop their Morale state temporarily into Shaken.

    Now that the HQ unit is Shaken, the C2 link between the HQ and the 3 squads is cut. This makes the squads more vulnerable to the Morale effects of suppression (see C2 - Command & Control).

    As 1st Squad is already under suppressive fire, its Morale state instanteously drops from Rattled to Shaken because of the loss of the C2 link (see C2 - Command & Control).

    The HQ will take longer to recover from the supression than it normally would for a Regular unit because of its -2 Ldrshp modifier, meaning that as a consequence, the C2 link is broken for longer.

    So we now have the following situation after 5 minutes;
      Plt HQ - Shaken
    1st Squad - Shaken
    2nd Squad - Nervous
    3rd Squad - Nervous If we rewind the clock and give Lt Bike +2 Ldrshp modifier, then re-run under exactly the same circumstances the situation would have been after 5 minutes;
      Plt HQ - Nervous
    1st Squad - Rattled
    2nd Squad - Nervous
    3rd Squad - Nervous This is because the Plt HQ would not have been so affected by the casualty build up of 1st Sqd so that when the HQ came under some suppressive fire, it was still in a high enough Morale state not to become Shaken by it and therefore the C2 link between the HQ and the Squads and the benefits it brings (see C2 - Command & Control) would still be intact.



    Motivation

    Motivation reflects the units dedication to the cause and their willingness to sacrifice themselves for their squad mates and commanders.

    Motivation from best to worst ranges as;
     
    Poor > Low > Normal > High > Extreme > Fanatic Motivation has 3 characteristics which effect unit behaviour under duress;
     
    1. Resistance to Combat Stress - better motivated troops are less affected by the psychological impact of losing team/squadmates.

    This characteristic is cumulative with Experience and Leadership.

    2. Resistance to Combat Shock - highly motivated troops are less affected by the temporary impact of suppression upon Morale. They are less psychologically affected by being shot at and better desensitised to the immediate impact of seeing team/squadmates killed & wounded than their less motivated counterparts.

    This characteristic is cumulative with Experience and Leadership.

    3. Resistance to Panic and Breaking - highly motivated troops can be Shaken but are less likely to Panic and try to run from the fight to save themselves. They are also more likely to recover to a positive morale state after being Shaken than less motivated troops and are less likely to become Broken and Brittle.

    Fanatic units will not surrender.
    Fatigue

    Fatigue is the physical effect of running around and using up energy.

    Fatigue states best to worst are;
     
    Rested > Ready > Tiring > Tired > Fatigued > Exhausted
    Tired troops cannot Fast Move.

    Fatigued troops cannot Fast, Assault or Hunt Move.

    Exhausted troops cannot Fast, Assault, Hunt or Quick Move.

    More tired troops do not move slower than less tired troops moving at the same movement command, ie Unfit troops moving at Fast Move, cover distance at the same rate as Fit troops moving at Fast Move, they just won't be able to keep up that pace for as long.

    Keeping troops stationary recovers their fatigue relatively quickly. Hiding troops has no additional benefit.

    Troops will recover fatigue whilst at the Move but it is at a slower rate.

    Experience, Leadership and Motivation do not effect Fatigue states or recovery times.

    Fatigue has no effect on Morale either from Combat Stress or Combat Shock.

    Fatigue has no effect on accuracy nor the range at which targets are engaged at.


    Fitness

    Fitness represents a units physical resistance to Fatigue.

    Fitness states from best to worst are;
     
    Fit > Weakened > Unfit  
    Fitness has 3 characteristics which effect unit behaviour under physical exertion;

    1. Fitter troops tire less quickly from Fast Move (sprinting), Slow Move (crawling) and Quick Move (jogging).

    2. Fitter troops recover from tired states sooner than less fit troops.

    3. Weakened and Unfit troops recover fatigue on the Move extremely slowly.  
    Closing

    All of the conclusions made above have been arrived at through thorough isolation and testing procedures which can be backed up by video evidence.

    There is more stuff in the CMx2 engine to dig up than what has been uncovered here but for now I'm unable to go further into this rabbit hole.

    Hopefully the information presented here clears up some of the historical confusions that have been around on the various forums. It may also affect the way in which unit purchases are thought about, and hopefully it allows players to make better informed tactical decisions and enhance the way their game is played.

    Josey Wales updated 24/09/17
  3. Like
    Josey Wales got a reaction from fry30 in The Relationship between Soft Factors, Morale & Fatigue   
    The Relationship between Soft Factors, Morale & Fatigue 
     
    Preface
    Hi all, I'm pretty new to the BFC forums but I've been milling about over at the FGM for a little over a year. I recently created the below post and it received a lot of positive feedback to the point that it has now become one of the sitcky threads over there.
    I have been prompted to post the thread here and after a conversation I had in another thread on this forum, I thought that by placing it here, then non-FGM members can have a read through without me having to copy and paste snippets from the original post at the FGM.

    Introduction

    Whether selecting unit attributes in a quick battle or whether in game wondering if you should use your +1 Leadership squad or +2 Motivation squad to assault a farmhouse. it can be difficult to make an informed decision due to the fact that there is not a lot of information in the manual which explains how the attributes of Experience, Leadership, Motivation and Fitness (hereby collectively known as the 'Soft Factors') affect certain game concepts such as Morale, Suppression, Firepower and Fatigue.

    The forums can be slightly misleading as some posts describe exactly how something works whilst others are more how people feel something is working and it can be difficult to separate the wheat from the chaff.

    The information below is based on a painstaking process using the editor to separate out the impact of different factors by isolating them and testing them under different conditions. By isolating and testing these factors, the mechanics behind the concepts of Morale, Suppression, Accuracy, C2 and Fatigue start to reveal themselves and after several red herrings, dead ends and lots of repetition the information below has been teased out from the game.
    2 videos accompany this post to explain some of the findings, however all of the findings can be backed up by video evidence.

    The editor used was the one for Fortress Italy v2.00 Engine 4.0.

    SPOILER ALERT - if you prefer the murkiness of not knowing how the Soft Factors affect gameplay then please stop reading.

    Having said that the following information does not quantify the game concepts affected by the soft factors but instead generalises as what is likely to happen within a certain concept under certain conditions to units with high and low values for the soft factors.


    Morale

    Before being able to explain the characteristics of the 'Soft Factors', it is imperative to understand how Morale works in the game.

    Morale reflects the psychological state of a unit and determines its ability to respond to orders and fight.

    Morale states from highest to lowest are;
     
    Ok > Cautious > Nervous > Rattled > (Shaken) > (Panic) > Broken
    States shown in brackets () are temporary states.

    The states Ok through to Nervous are simple gradations and a Nervous unit will not behave differently from an Ok one.

    Rattled troops which become Pinned (or highly suppressed) will dash for safety, even if they are stationary when they become Pinned (or highly suppressed).

    Shaken troops will cower in their current position in the hope that the pressure will ease. They will not respond to orders or fire their weapons.

    Note: Shaken troops observed running for cover have been Pinned (or highly suppressed) in the Rattled state prior to becoming Shaken.

    Panicked troops will try and run away from the perceived threat to save their own hides. They will not respond to orders or fire their weapons.

    Shaken and Panicked states are temporary and will eventually revert back to one of the other persistent states depending on the situation and the Experience, Leadership and Motivation of the unit.

    Broken troops will respond to orders but are 'Brittle' and will quickly become Shaken or Panicked if fired upon. Broken troops will remain Brittle for the remainder of the battle irrespective of their Experience, Leadership, Motivation and Fitness.

    Morale is affected by 2 conditions of the battlefield and each of these conditions impact on Morale in different ways.
     
    1. Combat Stress

    Combat Stress has a persistent impact on Morale and is caused by casualty build up.

    Casualties sustained reduce the Morale of the unit for the remainder of the game and is therefore known as a persistent effect.

    Morale affected in this way cannot be regained (except under one specific condition - see Leadership). The impact of Combat Stress depends on the number of casualties sustained over time and the Experience, Leadership and Motivation of the unit.

    Not only does taking casualties effect the Morale of the unit directly impacted, other units organisationally closely connected are also affected in the same way but to a lesser extent. The persistent Morale effect of casualty build up only effects other units via organisational connection regardless of geographical proximity.

    Example 1 - 1st and 2nd Sqd of 1st Plt are separated by 500m. As 1st squad sustains casualties and suffers a persistent Morale impact, 2nd Sqd will also suffer a persistent Morale impact even though it is 500m away and has no LOS to 1st Sqd.

    Example 2 - 1st Sqd of 1st Plt is within 10m of 3rdSqd of 2nd Plt. 3rd Sqd of 2nd Plt receives incoming fire and half of the unit is wiped out and the Sqd is instantly Shaken. 1st Sqd of 1st Plt receives no impact to their persistent Morale state due to the fact that they are in a different Platoon. 2nd Plt would have to take far more casualties before any of 1st Plt become affected.

    The way that Combat Stress is distributed to other units is vertical between different platoons and companies although it is horizontal between units of the same platoon.


    2. Combat Shock

    Combat Shock has a temporary impact on Morale and is caused by suppression.          Suppression has a temporary impact on Morale and the affect is removed once the suppression is lifted.

             The duration the unit remains suppressed for depends on the amount of incoming Firepower, the immediate casualties sustained, Experience & Leadership of the unit.

             The temporary impact on Morale of being suppressed depends on the amount of incoming Firepower, the immediate casualties sustained and the Experience, Leadership & Motivation of the unit.


    Suppression Indicator

    The Suppression Indicator is not merely a measure of incoming fire, more accurately it represents the units perception as to how much danger it is in based on the incoming Firepower, the immediate casualties sustained, and the Experience, Leadership & Motivation of the unit.

    Inexperienced, poorly led and unmotivated units suffer the greatest Morale impact from being suppressed whilst inexperienced and poorly led units can remain suppressed for sometime after the last shot was fired in their direction.
     
    Pinned

    If the Suppression Indicator becomes full the unit becomes Pinned. Stationary Pinned (or highly suppressed) troops will return fire but will not respond to movement orders until the suppression has reduced.

    Troops which become Pinned (or highly suppressed) whilst moving to a waypoint will attempt to dash for cover. If no cover is nearby, they will hit the deck.

    Rattled troops which become Pinned (or highly suppressed) will dash for safety, even if they are stationary when they become Pinned.

    Experienced and well led troops recover from being Pinned quicker than inexperienced or poorly led troops.
      C2 - Command & Control

    C2, or Command and Control, reflects the effect of having a unit being able to receive orders from and deliver information to its HQ team.

    Being within a C2 link does not provide resistance to the persistent impact on Morale caused by Combat Stress.

    Being within a close C2 link (Close Visual/Voice) does provide resistance to the impact on Morale caused by Combat Shock - troops within C2 range of their HQ unit are less affected by the temporary impact of suppression upon Morale as they are less stressed by being shot at and the immediate impact of seeing team/squadmates killed & wounded is reduced.

    More experienced units pass on information to their buddies and superiors quicker than less experienced units. This includes verbal, visual and radio communications.

    The range of visual and audio C2 is fixed for all Soft Factors, Morale and Fatigue states but will vary by terrain. In open ground;
    : Voice range < 50m (unless the HQ is hiding in which case voice range drops to <25m)
    : Close visual range <100m

      Experience

    Experience reflects the amount of training and combat experience the unit has.

    Experience levels from least experience/training to most experience are;
     
    Conscript > Green > Regular > Veteran > Crack > Elite
    Experience has 6 characteristics which impact on the unit;
     
    1. Spotting - troops with higher experience are able to spot enemy contacts sooner than less experienced troops.

    2. Firepower - higher experienced troops will engage at longer ranges and have greater accuracy than less experienced troops. They therefore tend to cause more casualties to the enemy than their less experienced counterparts during a firefight.

    3. Resistance to Combat Stress - more experienced troops are less affected by the psychological impact of losing team/squadmates.

    This characteristic is cumulative with Leadership and Motivation. 

    4. Resistance to Combat Shock - experienced troops are less affected by the temporary impact of suppression upon Morale. They are more used to being shot at and better desensitised to the immediate impact of seeing team/squadmates killed & wounded than less experienced troops.

    This characteristic is cumulative with Leadership and Motivation. 

    5. Suppression Recovery - experienced troops recover quicker from being suppressed (including being Pinned), they realise when the incoming fire has shifted away from them sooner than less experienced troops do.

    This characteristic is cumulative with Leadership.

    6. More experienced units pass on information to their buddies and superiors quicker than less experienced units. This includes verbal, visual and radio communications.

    Leadership

    Leadership reflects the quality of NCO's or other team leaders in the team or squad to organise and support the troops. Leaders can be of varying quality.

    Leadership is shown as a simple modifier ranging from;
     
    -2 > -1 > 0 > +1 > +2 Note: A Leadership modifier only applies to the unit with the Modifier (like all other modifiers). In other words it does not filter down to sub-ordinate units (see HQ Leadership Modifier Example).

    Leadership has 3 characteristics which effect unit behaviour under duress;
     
    1. Resistance to Combat Stress - better led troops are less affected by the psychological impact of losing team/squadmates.

    This characteristic is cumulative with Experience and Motivation.

    2. Resistance to Combat Shock - well led troops are less affected by the temporary impact of suppression upon Morale. The NCO's are better at encouraging the troops under fire and getting them to remember their training when faced with the immediate impact of seeing team/squadmates killed & wounded.

    This characteristic is cumulative with Experience and Motivation.

    3. Suppression Recovery - well led troops recover quicker from being suppressed (including being Pinned), they realise when the incoming fire has shifted away from them sooner than poorly led troops do.

    This characteristic is cumulative with Experience.  Unlike the characteristics denoted by Experience, if the Leader of a team or squad is incapacitated, the Leadership value of the unit will change to that of the next most senior member who steps up as the Leader. This value can go up as well as down, for example, a unit with a +1 Leader incapacitated and replaced by a -1 Leader will suffer a hit on Morale which may be enough to cause a persistent drop in the unit's Morale state. Similarly however, if a -2 Leader is incapacitated and replaced with a 0 Leader, the unit will receive a boost in Morale which may be enough to cause a persistent increase in the unit's Morale state.

    Note: In Engine v4.0 manual page 68 it states that a Leadership bonus will help "direct fire to be more effective". However, this has not been possible to reproduce using various tests. Whereas the difference in accuracy between Crack units and Green units is repeatable and obvious, the effect of Leadership on accuracy is not apparent.

      HQ Leadership Modifier Example

    Reading some posts, there is a lot of confusion over how this Modifier works with HQ units. So I will clarify it here.

    The Leadership (Ldrshp) modifier for all units (from Btn Hqs through to Plt Hqs down to squads and teams) only effects the unit that the modifier is for, in the same way that a -2 Fitness modifier only effects the fitness of the unit that the modifier is for.

    In fact, it helps to think of the Leadership modifier in the same was as the Fitness modifier. An unfit Plt HQ does not make all of the squads in that platoon unfit aswell.

    So a squad with a -1 Ldrshp modifier is not offset by the +1 Ldrshp modifier of its Plt HQ. The squad will still suffer the penalties of having -1 Ldrshp.

    So how does having a Plt HQ with a poor leader affect the performance of the Platoon?

    This is best illustrated with an example;
      Lt Bike is the Plt Leader of 1st Plt. He has a Leadership modifier of -2. All 3 of the squads in 1st Plt are Regulars with average ability NCO's so no Ldrshp modifiers for the squads. For reference 1st Plt HQ is also Regular.

    1st Plt are on a patrol and 1st Squad makes contact with an enemy force. After a couple of minutes, the casualties from 1st Sqd begin to mount. Not only does this have a persistent Morale affect on 1st Sqd, it also has a persistent Morale affect on the other 2 Squads and the Plt HQ because of their close organisational link.

    However, because the Plt HQ has Lt Bike with his -2 Ldrshp modifier, it suffers a greater impact on Morale than 2nd or 3rd Sqd does from the build up of 1st Sqds casualties.

    After another minute of combat, the persistent morale states of the Platoon are;
      Plt HQ - Rattled
    1st Squad - Rattled
    2nd Squad - Nervous
    3rd Squad - Nervous As the combatants manoeuvre for position, the Plt HQ comes under fire. As the HQ team is already Rattled, it doesn't take much suppression to drop their Morale state temporarily into Shaken.

    Now that the HQ unit is Shaken, the C2 link between the HQ and the 3 squads is cut. This makes the squads more vulnerable to the Morale effects of suppression (see C2 - Command & Control).

    As 1st Squad is already under suppressive fire, its Morale state instanteously drops from Rattled to Shaken because of the loss of the C2 link (see C2 - Command & Control).

    The HQ will take longer to recover from the supression than it normally would for a Regular unit because of its -2 Ldrshp modifier, meaning that as a consequence, the C2 link is broken for longer.

    So we now have the following situation after 5 minutes;
      Plt HQ - Shaken
    1st Squad - Shaken
    2nd Squad - Nervous
    3rd Squad - Nervous If we rewind the clock and give Lt Bike +2 Ldrshp modifier, then re-run under exactly the same circumstances the situation would have been after 5 minutes;
      Plt HQ - Nervous
    1st Squad - Rattled
    2nd Squad - Nervous
    3rd Squad - Nervous This is because the Plt HQ would not have been so affected by the casualty build up of 1st Sqd so that when the HQ came under some suppressive fire, it was still in a high enough Morale state not to become Shaken by it and therefore the C2 link between the HQ and the Squads and the benefits it brings (see C2 - Command & Control) would still be intact.



    Motivation

    Motivation reflects the units dedication to the cause and their willingness to sacrifice themselves for their squad mates and commanders.

    Motivation from best to worst ranges as;
     
    Poor > Low > Normal > High > Extreme > Fanatic Motivation has 3 characteristics which effect unit behaviour under duress;
     
    1. Resistance to Combat Stress - better motivated troops are less affected by the psychological impact of losing team/squadmates.

    This characteristic is cumulative with Experience and Leadership.

    2. Resistance to Combat Shock - highly motivated troops are less affected by the temporary impact of suppression upon Morale. They are less psychologically affected by being shot at and better desensitised to the immediate impact of seeing team/squadmates killed & wounded than their less motivated counterparts.

    This characteristic is cumulative with Experience and Leadership.

    3. Resistance to Panic and Breaking - highly motivated troops can be Shaken but are less likely to Panic and try to run from the fight to save themselves. They are also more likely to recover to a positive morale state after being Shaken than less motivated troops and are less likely to become Broken and Brittle.

    Fanatic units will not surrender.
    Fatigue

    Fatigue is the physical effect of running around and using up energy.

    Fatigue states best to worst are;
     
    Rested > Ready > Tiring > Tired > Fatigued > Exhausted
    Tired troops cannot Fast Move.

    Fatigued troops cannot Fast, Assault or Hunt Move.

    Exhausted troops cannot Fast, Assault, Hunt or Quick Move.

    More tired troops do not move slower than less tired troops moving at the same movement command, ie Unfit troops moving at Fast Move, cover distance at the same rate as Fit troops moving at Fast Move, they just won't be able to keep up that pace for as long.

    Keeping troops stationary recovers their fatigue relatively quickly. Hiding troops has no additional benefit.

    Troops will recover fatigue whilst at the Move but it is at a slower rate.

    Experience, Leadership and Motivation do not effect Fatigue states or recovery times.

    Fatigue has no effect on Morale either from Combat Stress or Combat Shock.

    Fatigue has no effect on accuracy nor the range at which targets are engaged at.


    Fitness

    Fitness represents a units physical resistance to Fatigue.

    Fitness states from best to worst are;
     
    Fit > Weakened > Unfit  
    Fitness has 3 characteristics which effect unit behaviour under physical exertion;

    1. Fitter troops tire less quickly from Fast Move (sprinting), Slow Move (crawling) and Quick Move (jogging).

    2. Fitter troops recover from tired states sooner than less fit troops.

    3. Weakened and Unfit troops recover fatigue on the Move extremely slowly.  
    Closing

    All of the conclusions made above have been arrived at through thorough isolation and testing procedures which can be backed up by video evidence.

    There is more stuff in the CMx2 engine to dig up than what has been uncovered here but for now I'm unable to go further into this rabbit hole.

    Hopefully the information presented here clears up some of the historical confusions that have been around on the various forums. It may also affect the way in which unit purchases are thought about, and hopefully it allows players to make better informed tactical decisions and enhance the way their game is played.

    Josey Wales updated 24/09/17
  4. Like
    Josey Wales got a reaction from chuckdyke in The Relationship between Soft Factors, Morale & Fatigue   
    The Relationship between Soft Factors, Morale & Fatigue 
     
    Preface
    Hi all, I'm pretty new to the BFC forums but I've been milling about over at the FGM for a little over a year. I recently created the below post and it received a lot of positive feedback to the point that it has now become one of the sitcky threads over there.
    I have been prompted to post the thread here and after a conversation I had in another thread on this forum, I thought that by placing it here, then non-FGM members can have a read through without me having to copy and paste snippets from the original post at the FGM.

    Introduction

    Whether selecting unit attributes in a quick battle or whether in game wondering if you should use your +1 Leadership squad or +2 Motivation squad to assault a farmhouse. it can be difficult to make an informed decision due to the fact that there is not a lot of information in the manual which explains how the attributes of Experience, Leadership, Motivation and Fitness (hereby collectively known as the 'Soft Factors') affect certain game concepts such as Morale, Suppression, Firepower and Fatigue.

    The forums can be slightly misleading as some posts describe exactly how something works whilst others are more how people feel something is working and it can be difficult to separate the wheat from the chaff.

    The information below is based on a painstaking process using the editor to separate out the impact of different factors by isolating them and testing them under different conditions. By isolating and testing these factors, the mechanics behind the concepts of Morale, Suppression, Accuracy, C2 and Fatigue start to reveal themselves and after several red herrings, dead ends and lots of repetition the information below has been teased out from the game.
    2 videos accompany this post to explain some of the findings, however all of the findings can be backed up by video evidence.

    The editor used was the one for Fortress Italy v2.00 Engine 4.0.

    SPOILER ALERT - if you prefer the murkiness of not knowing how the Soft Factors affect gameplay then please stop reading.

    Having said that the following information does not quantify the game concepts affected by the soft factors but instead generalises as what is likely to happen within a certain concept under certain conditions to units with high and low values for the soft factors.


    Morale

    Before being able to explain the characteristics of the 'Soft Factors', it is imperative to understand how Morale works in the game.

    Morale reflects the psychological state of a unit and determines its ability to respond to orders and fight.

    Morale states from highest to lowest are;
     
    Ok > Cautious > Nervous > Rattled > (Shaken) > (Panic) > Broken
    States shown in brackets () are temporary states.

    The states Ok through to Nervous are simple gradations and a Nervous unit will not behave differently from an Ok one.

    Rattled troops which become Pinned (or highly suppressed) will dash for safety, even if they are stationary when they become Pinned (or highly suppressed).

    Shaken troops will cower in their current position in the hope that the pressure will ease. They will not respond to orders or fire their weapons.

    Note: Shaken troops observed running for cover have been Pinned (or highly suppressed) in the Rattled state prior to becoming Shaken.

    Panicked troops will try and run away from the perceived threat to save their own hides. They will not respond to orders or fire their weapons.

    Shaken and Panicked states are temporary and will eventually revert back to one of the other persistent states depending on the situation and the Experience, Leadership and Motivation of the unit.

    Broken troops will respond to orders but are 'Brittle' and will quickly become Shaken or Panicked if fired upon. Broken troops will remain Brittle for the remainder of the battle irrespective of their Experience, Leadership, Motivation and Fitness.

    Morale is affected by 2 conditions of the battlefield and each of these conditions impact on Morale in different ways.
     
    1. Combat Stress

    Combat Stress has a persistent impact on Morale and is caused by casualty build up.

    Casualties sustained reduce the Morale of the unit for the remainder of the game and is therefore known as a persistent effect.

    Morale affected in this way cannot be regained (except under one specific condition - see Leadership). The impact of Combat Stress depends on the number of casualties sustained over time and the Experience, Leadership and Motivation of the unit.

    Not only does taking casualties effect the Morale of the unit directly impacted, other units organisationally closely connected are also affected in the same way but to a lesser extent. The persistent Morale effect of casualty build up only effects other units via organisational connection regardless of geographical proximity.

    Example 1 - 1st and 2nd Sqd of 1st Plt are separated by 500m. As 1st squad sustains casualties and suffers a persistent Morale impact, 2nd Sqd will also suffer a persistent Morale impact even though it is 500m away and has no LOS to 1st Sqd.

    Example 2 - 1st Sqd of 1st Plt is within 10m of 3rdSqd of 2nd Plt. 3rd Sqd of 2nd Plt receives incoming fire and half of the unit is wiped out and the Sqd is instantly Shaken. 1st Sqd of 1st Plt receives no impact to their persistent Morale state due to the fact that they are in a different Platoon. 2nd Plt would have to take far more casualties before any of 1st Plt become affected.

    The way that Combat Stress is distributed to other units is vertical between different platoons and companies although it is horizontal between units of the same platoon.


    2. Combat Shock

    Combat Shock has a temporary impact on Morale and is caused by suppression.          Suppression has a temporary impact on Morale and the affect is removed once the suppression is lifted.

             The duration the unit remains suppressed for depends on the amount of incoming Firepower, the immediate casualties sustained, Experience & Leadership of the unit.

             The temporary impact on Morale of being suppressed depends on the amount of incoming Firepower, the immediate casualties sustained and the Experience, Leadership & Motivation of the unit.


    Suppression Indicator

    The Suppression Indicator is not merely a measure of incoming fire, more accurately it represents the units perception as to how much danger it is in based on the incoming Firepower, the immediate casualties sustained, and the Experience, Leadership & Motivation of the unit.

    Inexperienced, poorly led and unmotivated units suffer the greatest Morale impact from being suppressed whilst inexperienced and poorly led units can remain suppressed for sometime after the last shot was fired in their direction.
     
    Pinned

    If the Suppression Indicator becomes full the unit becomes Pinned. Stationary Pinned (or highly suppressed) troops will return fire but will not respond to movement orders until the suppression has reduced.

    Troops which become Pinned (or highly suppressed) whilst moving to a waypoint will attempt to dash for cover. If no cover is nearby, they will hit the deck.

    Rattled troops which become Pinned (or highly suppressed) will dash for safety, even if they are stationary when they become Pinned.

    Experienced and well led troops recover from being Pinned quicker than inexperienced or poorly led troops.
      C2 - Command & Control

    C2, or Command and Control, reflects the effect of having a unit being able to receive orders from and deliver information to its HQ team.

    Being within a C2 link does not provide resistance to the persistent impact on Morale caused by Combat Stress.

    Being within a close C2 link (Close Visual/Voice) does provide resistance to the impact on Morale caused by Combat Shock - troops within C2 range of their HQ unit are less affected by the temporary impact of suppression upon Morale as they are less stressed by being shot at and the immediate impact of seeing team/squadmates killed & wounded is reduced.

    More experienced units pass on information to their buddies and superiors quicker than less experienced units. This includes verbal, visual and radio communications.

    The range of visual and audio C2 is fixed for all Soft Factors, Morale and Fatigue states but will vary by terrain. In open ground;
    : Voice range < 50m (unless the HQ is hiding in which case voice range drops to <25m)
    : Close visual range <100m

      Experience

    Experience reflects the amount of training and combat experience the unit has.

    Experience levels from least experience/training to most experience are;
     
    Conscript > Green > Regular > Veteran > Crack > Elite
    Experience has 6 characteristics which impact on the unit;
     
    1. Spotting - troops with higher experience are able to spot enemy contacts sooner than less experienced troops.

    2. Firepower - higher experienced troops will engage at longer ranges and have greater accuracy than less experienced troops. They therefore tend to cause more casualties to the enemy than their less experienced counterparts during a firefight.

    3. Resistance to Combat Stress - more experienced troops are less affected by the psychological impact of losing team/squadmates.

    This characteristic is cumulative with Leadership and Motivation. 

    4. Resistance to Combat Shock - experienced troops are less affected by the temporary impact of suppression upon Morale. They are more used to being shot at and better desensitised to the immediate impact of seeing team/squadmates killed & wounded than less experienced troops.

    This characteristic is cumulative with Leadership and Motivation. 

    5. Suppression Recovery - experienced troops recover quicker from being suppressed (including being Pinned), they realise when the incoming fire has shifted away from them sooner than less experienced troops do.

    This characteristic is cumulative with Leadership.

    6. More experienced units pass on information to their buddies and superiors quicker than less experienced units. This includes verbal, visual and radio communications.

    Leadership

    Leadership reflects the quality of NCO's or other team leaders in the team or squad to organise and support the troops. Leaders can be of varying quality.

    Leadership is shown as a simple modifier ranging from;
     
    -2 > -1 > 0 > +1 > +2 Note: A Leadership modifier only applies to the unit with the Modifier (like all other modifiers). In other words it does not filter down to sub-ordinate units (see HQ Leadership Modifier Example).

    Leadership has 3 characteristics which effect unit behaviour under duress;
     
    1. Resistance to Combat Stress - better led troops are less affected by the psychological impact of losing team/squadmates.

    This characteristic is cumulative with Experience and Motivation.

    2. Resistance to Combat Shock - well led troops are less affected by the temporary impact of suppression upon Morale. The NCO's are better at encouraging the troops under fire and getting them to remember their training when faced with the immediate impact of seeing team/squadmates killed & wounded.

    This characteristic is cumulative with Experience and Motivation.

    3. Suppression Recovery - well led troops recover quicker from being suppressed (including being Pinned), they realise when the incoming fire has shifted away from them sooner than poorly led troops do.

    This characteristic is cumulative with Experience.  Unlike the characteristics denoted by Experience, if the Leader of a team or squad is incapacitated, the Leadership value of the unit will change to that of the next most senior member who steps up as the Leader. This value can go up as well as down, for example, a unit with a +1 Leader incapacitated and replaced by a -1 Leader will suffer a hit on Morale which may be enough to cause a persistent drop in the unit's Morale state. Similarly however, if a -2 Leader is incapacitated and replaced with a 0 Leader, the unit will receive a boost in Morale which may be enough to cause a persistent increase in the unit's Morale state.

    Note: In Engine v4.0 manual page 68 it states that a Leadership bonus will help "direct fire to be more effective". However, this has not been possible to reproduce using various tests. Whereas the difference in accuracy between Crack units and Green units is repeatable and obvious, the effect of Leadership on accuracy is not apparent.

      HQ Leadership Modifier Example

    Reading some posts, there is a lot of confusion over how this Modifier works with HQ units. So I will clarify it here.

    The Leadership (Ldrshp) modifier for all units (from Btn Hqs through to Plt Hqs down to squads and teams) only effects the unit that the modifier is for, in the same way that a -2 Fitness modifier only effects the fitness of the unit that the modifier is for.

    In fact, it helps to think of the Leadership modifier in the same was as the Fitness modifier. An unfit Plt HQ does not make all of the squads in that platoon unfit aswell.

    So a squad with a -1 Ldrshp modifier is not offset by the +1 Ldrshp modifier of its Plt HQ. The squad will still suffer the penalties of having -1 Ldrshp.

    So how does having a Plt HQ with a poor leader affect the performance of the Platoon?

    This is best illustrated with an example;
      Lt Bike is the Plt Leader of 1st Plt. He has a Leadership modifier of -2. All 3 of the squads in 1st Plt are Regulars with average ability NCO's so no Ldrshp modifiers for the squads. For reference 1st Plt HQ is also Regular.

    1st Plt are on a patrol and 1st Squad makes contact with an enemy force. After a couple of minutes, the casualties from 1st Sqd begin to mount. Not only does this have a persistent Morale affect on 1st Sqd, it also has a persistent Morale affect on the other 2 Squads and the Plt HQ because of their close organisational link.

    However, because the Plt HQ has Lt Bike with his -2 Ldrshp modifier, it suffers a greater impact on Morale than 2nd or 3rd Sqd does from the build up of 1st Sqds casualties.

    After another minute of combat, the persistent morale states of the Platoon are;
      Plt HQ - Rattled
    1st Squad - Rattled
    2nd Squad - Nervous
    3rd Squad - Nervous As the combatants manoeuvre for position, the Plt HQ comes under fire. As the HQ team is already Rattled, it doesn't take much suppression to drop their Morale state temporarily into Shaken.

    Now that the HQ unit is Shaken, the C2 link between the HQ and the 3 squads is cut. This makes the squads more vulnerable to the Morale effects of suppression (see C2 - Command & Control).

    As 1st Squad is already under suppressive fire, its Morale state instanteously drops from Rattled to Shaken because of the loss of the C2 link (see C2 - Command & Control).

    The HQ will take longer to recover from the supression than it normally would for a Regular unit because of its -2 Ldrshp modifier, meaning that as a consequence, the C2 link is broken for longer.

    So we now have the following situation after 5 minutes;
      Plt HQ - Shaken
    1st Squad - Shaken
    2nd Squad - Nervous
    3rd Squad - Nervous If we rewind the clock and give Lt Bike +2 Ldrshp modifier, then re-run under exactly the same circumstances the situation would have been after 5 minutes;
      Plt HQ - Nervous
    1st Squad - Rattled
    2nd Squad - Nervous
    3rd Squad - Nervous This is because the Plt HQ would not have been so affected by the casualty build up of 1st Sqd so that when the HQ came under some suppressive fire, it was still in a high enough Morale state not to become Shaken by it and therefore the C2 link between the HQ and the Squads and the benefits it brings (see C2 - Command & Control) would still be intact.



    Motivation

    Motivation reflects the units dedication to the cause and their willingness to sacrifice themselves for their squad mates and commanders.

    Motivation from best to worst ranges as;
     
    Poor > Low > Normal > High > Extreme > Fanatic Motivation has 3 characteristics which effect unit behaviour under duress;
     
    1. Resistance to Combat Stress - better motivated troops are less affected by the psychological impact of losing team/squadmates.

    This characteristic is cumulative with Experience and Leadership.

    2. Resistance to Combat Shock - highly motivated troops are less affected by the temporary impact of suppression upon Morale. They are less psychologically affected by being shot at and better desensitised to the immediate impact of seeing team/squadmates killed & wounded than their less motivated counterparts.

    This characteristic is cumulative with Experience and Leadership.

    3. Resistance to Panic and Breaking - highly motivated troops can be Shaken but are less likely to Panic and try to run from the fight to save themselves. They are also more likely to recover to a positive morale state after being Shaken than less motivated troops and are less likely to become Broken and Brittle.

    Fanatic units will not surrender.
    Fatigue

    Fatigue is the physical effect of running around and using up energy.

    Fatigue states best to worst are;
     
    Rested > Ready > Tiring > Tired > Fatigued > Exhausted
    Tired troops cannot Fast Move.

    Fatigued troops cannot Fast, Assault or Hunt Move.

    Exhausted troops cannot Fast, Assault, Hunt or Quick Move.

    More tired troops do not move slower than less tired troops moving at the same movement command, ie Unfit troops moving at Fast Move, cover distance at the same rate as Fit troops moving at Fast Move, they just won't be able to keep up that pace for as long.

    Keeping troops stationary recovers their fatigue relatively quickly. Hiding troops has no additional benefit.

    Troops will recover fatigue whilst at the Move but it is at a slower rate.

    Experience, Leadership and Motivation do not effect Fatigue states or recovery times.

    Fatigue has no effect on Morale either from Combat Stress or Combat Shock.

    Fatigue has no effect on accuracy nor the range at which targets are engaged at.


    Fitness

    Fitness represents a units physical resistance to Fatigue.

    Fitness states from best to worst are;
     
    Fit > Weakened > Unfit  
    Fitness has 3 characteristics which effect unit behaviour under physical exertion;

    1. Fitter troops tire less quickly from Fast Move (sprinting), Slow Move (crawling) and Quick Move (jogging).

    2. Fitter troops recover from tired states sooner than less fit troops.

    3. Weakened and Unfit troops recover fatigue on the Move extremely slowly.  
    Closing

    All of the conclusions made above have been arrived at through thorough isolation and testing procedures which can be backed up by video evidence.

    There is more stuff in the CMx2 engine to dig up than what has been uncovered here but for now I'm unable to go further into this rabbit hole.

    Hopefully the information presented here clears up some of the historical confusions that have been around on the various forums. It may also affect the way in which unit purchases are thought about, and hopefully it allows players to make better informed tactical decisions and enhance the way their game is played.

    Josey Wales updated 24/09/17
  5. Upvote
    Josey Wales got a reaction from George MC in The Relationship between Soft Factors, Morale & Fatigue   
    The Relationship between Soft Factors, Morale & Fatigue 
     
    Preface
    Hi all, I'm pretty new to the BFC forums but I've been milling about over at the FGM for a little over a year. I recently created the below post and it received a lot of positive feedback to the point that it has now become one of the sitcky threads over there.
    I have been prompted to post the thread here and after a conversation I had in another thread on this forum, I thought that by placing it here, then non-FGM members can have a read through without me having to copy and paste snippets from the original post at the FGM.

    Introduction

    Whether selecting unit attributes in a quick battle or whether in game wondering if you should use your +1 Leadership squad or +2 Motivation squad to assault a farmhouse. it can be difficult to make an informed decision due to the fact that there is not a lot of information in the manual which explains how the attributes of Experience, Leadership, Motivation and Fitness (hereby collectively known as the 'Soft Factors') affect certain game concepts such as Morale, Suppression, Firepower and Fatigue.

    The forums can be slightly misleading as some posts describe exactly how something works whilst others are more how people feel something is working and it can be difficult to separate the wheat from the chaff.

    The information below is based on a painstaking process using the editor to separate out the impact of different factors by isolating them and testing them under different conditions. By isolating and testing these factors, the mechanics behind the concepts of Morale, Suppression, Accuracy, C2 and Fatigue start to reveal themselves and after several red herrings, dead ends and lots of repetition the information below has been teased out from the game.
    2 videos accompany this post to explain some of the findings, however all of the findings can be backed up by video evidence.

    The editor used was the one for Fortress Italy v2.00 Engine 4.0.

    SPOILER ALERT - if you prefer the murkiness of not knowing how the Soft Factors affect gameplay then please stop reading.

    Having said that the following information does not quantify the game concepts affected by the soft factors but instead generalises as what is likely to happen within a certain concept under certain conditions to units with high and low values for the soft factors.


    Morale

    Before being able to explain the characteristics of the 'Soft Factors', it is imperative to understand how Morale works in the game.

    Morale reflects the psychological state of a unit and determines its ability to respond to orders and fight.

    Morale states from highest to lowest are;
     
    Ok > Cautious > Nervous > Rattled > (Shaken) > (Panic) > Broken
    States shown in brackets () are temporary states.

    The states Ok through to Nervous are simple gradations and a Nervous unit will not behave differently from an Ok one.

    Rattled troops which become Pinned (or highly suppressed) will dash for safety, even if they are stationary when they become Pinned (or highly suppressed).

    Shaken troops will cower in their current position in the hope that the pressure will ease. They will not respond to orders or fire their weapons.

    Note: Shaken troops observed running for cover have been Pinned (or highly suppressed) in the Rattled state prior to becoming Shaken.

    Panicked troops will try and run away from the perceived threat to save their own hides. They will not respond to orders or fire their weapons.

    Shaken and Panicked states are temporary and will eventually revert back to one of the other persistent states depending on the situation and the Experience, Leadership and Motivation of the unit.

    Broken troops will respond to orders but are 'Brittle' and will quickly become Shaken or Panicked if fired upon. Broken troops will remain Brittle for the remainder of the battle irrespective of their Experience, Leadership, Motivation and Fitness.

    Morale is affected by 2 conditions of the battlefield and each of these conditions impact on Morale in different ways.
     
    1. Combat Stress

    Combat Stress has a persistent impact on Morale and is caused by casualty build up.

    Casualties sustained reduce the Morale of the unit for the remainder of the game and is therefore known as a persistent effect.

    Morale affected in this way cannot be regained (except under one specific condition - see Leadership). The impact of Combat Stress depends on the number of casualties sustained over time and the Experience, Leadership and Motivation of the unit.

    Not only does taking casualties effect the Morale of the unit directly impacted, other units organisationally closely connected are also affected in the same way but to a lesser extent. The persistent Morale effect of casualty build up only effects other units via organisational connection regardless of geographical proximity.

    Example 1 - 1st and 2nd Sqd of 1st Plt are separated by 500m. As 1st squad sustains casualties and suffers a persistent Morale impact, 2nd Sqd will also suffer a persistent Morale impact even though it is 500m away and has no LOS to 1st Sqd.

    Example 2 - 1st Sqd of 1st Plt is within 10m of 3rdSqd of 2nd Plt. 3rd Sqd of 2nd Plt receives incoming fire and half of the unit is wiped out and the Sqd is instantly Shaken. 1st Sqd of 1st Plt receives no impact to their persistent Morale state due to the fact that they are in a different Platoon. 2nd Plt would have to take far more casualties before any of 1st Plt become affected.

    The way that Combat Stress is distributed to other units is vertical between different platoons and companies although it is horizontal between units of the same platoon.


    2. Combat Shock

    Combat Shock has a temporary impact on Morale and is caused by suppression.          Suppression has a temporary impact on Morale and the affect is removed once the suppression is lifted.

             The duration the unit remains suppressed for depends on the amount of incoming Firepower, the immediate casualties sustained, Experience & Leadership of the unit.

             The temporary impact on Morale of being suppressed depends on the amount of incoming Firepower, the immediate casualties sustained and the Experience, Leadership & Motivation of the unit.


    Suppression Indicator

    The Suppression Indicator is not merely a measure of incoming fire, more accurately it represents the units perception as to how much danger it is in based on the incoming Firepower, the immediate casualties sustained, and the Experience, Leadership & Motivation of the unit.

    Inexperienced, poorly led and unmotivated units suffer the greatest Morale impact from being suppressed whilst inexperienced and poorly led units can remain suppressed for sometime after the last shot was fired in their direction.
     
    Pinned

    If the Suppression Indicator becomes full the unit becomes Pinned. Stationary Pinned (or highly suppressed) troops will return fire but will not respond to movement orders until the suppression has reduced.

    Troops which become Pinned (or highly suppressed) whilst moving to a waypoint will attempt to dash for cover. If no cover is nearby, they will hit the deck.

    Rattled troops which become Pinned (or highly suppressed) will dash for safety, even if they are stationary when they become Pinned.

    Experienced and well led troops recover from being Pinned quicker than inexperienced or poorly led troops.
      C2 - Command & Control

    C2, or Command and Control, reflects the effect of having a unit being able to receive orders from and deliver information to its HQ team.

    Being within a C2 link does not provide resistance to the persistent impact on Morale caused by Combat Stress.

    Being within a close C2 link (Close Visual/Voice) does provide resistance to the impact on Morale caused by Combat Shock - troops within C2 range of their HQ unit are less affected by the temporary impact of suppression upon Morale as they are less stressed by being shot at and the immediate impact of seeing team/squadmates killed & wounded is reduced.

    More experienced units pass on information to their buddies and superiors quicker than less experienced units. This includes verbal, visual and radio communications.

    The range of visual and audio C2 is fixed for all Soft Factors, Morale and Fatigue states but will vary by terrain. In open ground;
    : Voice range < 50m (unless the HQ is hiding in which case voice range drops to <25m)
    : Close visual range <100m

      Experience

    Experience reflects the amount of training and combat experience the unit has.

    Experience levels from least experience/training to most experience are;
     
    Conscript > Green > Regular > Veteran > Crack > Elite
    Experience has 6 characteristics which impact on the unit;
     
    1. Spotting - troops with higher experience are able to spot enemy contacts sooner than less experienced troops.

    2. Firepower - higher experienced troops will engage at longer ranges and have greater accuracy than less experienced troops. They therefore tend to cause more casualties to the enemy than their less experienced counterparts during a firefight.

    3. Resistance to Combat Stress - more experienced troops are less affected by the psychological impact of losing team/squadmates.

    This characteristic is cumulative with Leadership and Motivation. 

    4. Resistance to Combat Shock - experienced troops are less affected by the temporary impact of suppression upon Morale. They are more used to being shot at and better desensitised to the immediate impact of seeing team/squadmates killed & wounded than less experienced troops.

    This characteristic is cumulative with Leadership and Motivation. 

    5. Suppression Recovery - experienced troops recover quicker from being suppressed (including being Pinned), they realise when the incoming fire has shifted away from them sooner than less experienced troops do.

    This characteristic is cumulative with Leadership.

    6. More experienced units pass on information to their buddies and superiors quicker than less experienced units. This includes verbal, visual and radio communications.

    Leadership

    Leadership reflects the quality of NCO's or other team leaders in the team or squad to organise and support the troops. Leaders can be of varying quality.

    Leadership is shown as a simple modifier ranging from;
     
    -2 > -1 > 0 > +1 > +2 Note: A Leadership modifier only applies to the unit with the Modifier (like all other modifiers). In other words it does not filter down to sub-ordinate units (see HQ Leadership Modifier Example).

    Leadership has 3 characteristics which effect unit behaviour under duress;
     
    1. Resistance to Combat Stress - better led troops are less affected by the psychological impact of losing team/squadmates.

    This characteristic is cumulative with Experience and Motivation.

    2. Resistance to Combat Shock - well led troops are less affected by the temporary impact of suppression upon Morale. The NCO's are better at encouraging the troops under fire and getting them to remember their training when faced with the immediate impact of seeing team/squadmates killed & wounded.

    This characteristic is cumulative with Experience and Motivation.

    3. Suppression Recovery - well led troops recover quicker from being suppressed (including being Pinned), they realise when the incoming fire has shifted away from them sooner than poorly led troops do.

    This characteristic is cumulative with Experience.  Unlike the characteristics denoted by Experience, if the Leader of a team or squad is incapacitated, the Leadership value of the unit will change to that of the next most senior member who steps up as the Leader. This value can go up as well as down, for example, a unit with a +1 Leader incapacitated and replaced by a -1 Leader will suffer a hit on Morale which may be enough to cause a persistent drop in the unit's Morale state. Similarly however, if a -2 Leader is incapacitated and replaced with a 0 Leader, the unit will receive a boost in Morale which may be enough to cause a persistent increase in the unit's Morale state.

    Note: In Engine v4.0 manual page 68 it states that a Leadership bonus will help "direct fire to be more effective". However, this has not been possible to reproduce using various tests. Whereas the difference in accuracy between Crack units and Green units is repeatable and obvious, the effect of Leadership on accuracy is not apparent.

      HQ Leadership Modifier Example

    Reading some posts, there is a lot of confusion over how this Modifier works with HQ units. So I will clarify it here.

    The Leadership (Ldrshp) modifier for all units (from Btn Hqs through to Plt Hqs down to squads and teams) only effects the unit that the modifier is for, in the same way that a -2 Fitness modifier only effects the fitness of the unit that the modifier is for.

    In fact, it helps to think of the Leadership modifier in the same was as the Fitness modifier. An unfit Plt HQ does not make all of the squads in that platoon unfit aswell.

    So a squad with a -1 Ldrshp modifier is not offset by the +1 Ldrshp modifier of its Plt HQ. The squad will still suffer the penalties of having -1 Ldrshp.

    So how does having a Plt HQ with a poor leader affect the performance of the Platoon?

    This is best illustrated with an example;
      Lt Bike is the Plt Leader of 1st Plt. He has a Leadership modifier of -2. All 3 of the squads in 1st Plt are Regulars with average ability NCO's so no Ldrshp modifiers for the squads. For reference 1st Plt HQ is also Regular.

    1st Plt are on a patrol and 1st Squad makes contact with an enemy force. After a couple of minutes, the casualties from 1st Sqd begin to mount. Not only does this have a persistent Morale affect on 1st Sqd, it also has a persistent Morale affect on the other 2 Squads and the Plt HQ because of their close organisational link.

    However, because the Plt HQ has Lt Bike with his -2 Ldrshp modifier, it suffers a greater impact on Morale than 2nd or 3rd Sqd does from the build up of 1st Sqds casualties.

    After another minute of combat, the persistent morale states of the Platoon are;
      Plt HQ - Rattled
    1st Squad - Rattled
    2nd Squad - Nervous
    3rd Squad - Nervous As the combatants manoeuvre for position, the Plt HQ comes under fire. As the HQ team is already Rattled, it doesn't take much suppression to drop their Morale state temporarily into Shaken.

    Now that the HQ unit is Shaken, the C2 link between the HQ and the 3 squads is cut. This makes the squads more vulnerable to the Morale effects of suppression (see C2 - Command & Control).

    As 1st Squad is already under suppressive fire, its Morale state instanteously drops from Rattled to Shaken because of the loss of the C2 link (see C2 - Command & Control).

    The HQ will take longer to recover from the supression than it normally would for a Regular unit because of its -2 Ldrshp modifier, meaning that as a consequence, the C2 link is broken for longer.

    So we now have the following situation after 5 minutes;
      Plt HQ - Shaken
    1st Squad - Shaken
    2nd Squad - Nervous
    3rd Squad - Nervous If we rewind the clock and give Lt Bike +2 Ldrshp modifier, then re-run under exactly the same circumstances the situation would have been after 5 minutes;
      Plt HQ - Nervous
    1st Squad - Rattled
    2nd Squad - Nervous
    3rd Squad - Nervous This is because the Plt HQ would not have been so affected by the casualty build up of 1st Sqd so that when the HQ came under some suppressive fire, it was still in a high enough Morale state not to become Shaken by it and therefore the C2 link between the HQ and the Squads and the benefits it brings (see C2 - Command & Control) would still be intact.



    Motivation

    Motivation reflects the units dedication to the cause and their willingness to sacrifice themselves for their squad mates and commanders.

    Motivation from best to worst ranges as;
     
    Poor > Low > Normal > High > Extreme > Fanatic Motivation has 3 characteristics which effect unit behaviour under duress;
     
    1. Resistance to Combat Stress - better motivated troops are less affected by the psychological impact of losing team/squadmates.

    This characteristic is cumulative with Experience and Leadership.

    2. Resistance to Combat Shock - highly motivated troops are less affected by the temporary impact of suppression upon Morale. They are less psychologically affected by being shot at and better desensitised to the immediate impact of seeing team/squadmates killed & wounded than their less motivated counterparts.

    This characteristic is cumulative with Experience and Leadership.

    3. Resistance to Panic and Breaking - highly motivated troops can be Shaken but are less likely to Panic and try to run from the fight to save themselves. They are also more likely to recover to a positive morale state after being Shaken than less motivated troops and are less likely to become Broken and Brittle.

    Fanatic units will not surrender.
    Fatigue

    Fatigue is the physical effect of running around and using up energy.

    Fatigue states best to worst are;
     
    Rested > Ready > Tiring > Tired > Fatigued > Exhausted
    Tired troops cannot Fast Move.

    Fatigued troops cannot Fast, Assault or Hunt Move.

    Exhausted troops cannot Fast, Assault, Hunt or Quick Move.

    More tired troops do not move slower than less tired troops moving at the same movement command, ie Unfit troops moving at Fast Move, cover distance at the same rate as Fit troops moving at Fast Move, they just won't be able to keep up that pace for as long.

    Keeping troops stationary recovers their fatigue relatively quickly. Hiding troops has no additional benefit.

    Troops will recover fatigue whilst at the Move but it is at a slower rate.

    Experience, Leadership and Motivation do not effect Fatigue states or recovery times.

    Fatigue has no effect on Morale either from Combat Stress or Combat Shock.

    Fatigue has no effect on accuracy nor the range at which targets are engaged at.


    Fitness

    Fitness represents a units physical resistance to Fatigue.

    Fitness states from best to worst are;
     
    Fit > Weakened > Unfit  
    Fitness has 3 characteristics which effect unit behaviour under physical exertion;

    1. Fitter troops tire less quickly from Fast Move (sprinting), Slow Move (crawling) and Quick Move (jogging).

    2. Fitter troops recover from tired states sooner than less fit troops.

    3. Weakened and Unfit troops recover fatigue on the Move extremely slowly.  
    Closing

    All of the conclusions made above have been arrived at through thorough isolation and testing procedures which can be backed up by video evidence.

    There is more stuff in the CMx2 engine to dig up than what has been uncovered here but for now I'm unable to go further into this rabbit hole.

    Hopefully the information presented here clears up some of the historical confusions that have been around on the various forums. It may also affect the way in which unit purchases are thought about, and hopefully it allows players to make better informed tactical decisions and enhance the way their game is played.

    Josey Wales updated 24/09/17
  6. Like
    Josey Wales reacted to markshot in Looking for feedback on my WIP CMx1 course   
    Nathan,
    I created a lot of tutorial materials for games back in the day.  I don't think there is much of a chance in selling training videos.  Why?
    * Niche market
    * Outdated game
    * People still regard knowledge via the Internet as free unless it has been produced by a real production company with qualified instructors
    * CM never was mass market or held the global and historical stature of chess
    * Bad economy
    Chess is about the only game people will spend lots of money on learning, and even those who create and sell courses must be highly ranked and known.  So ...
    * I would just focus on the pleasure of promoting your favorite game
    or
    * If it is money you want, then pick a mass market game like a few of the Paradox titles or TW titles.  Then, you should spend time learning about marketing and promotion via social media.  Also, how you can make money?  YouTube affiliate, sponsors, selling merchandise, being and influencer.
    ---
    Back to CMx1.  I think there are 2 distinct learning curves.  Ground combat concepts and game UI and mechanics.  I think it might be best to do 30 minute episodes and split them at the 15 minute mark; so people could focus and what they want.  The first 15 minutes should cover what combat tactics or strategy is to be illustrated in todays episode.  Then, you break at the 15 minute mark (or you could do 10&20 minutes) and the remainder you illustrate via the game teaching the UI and control.
    Lastly, I think your pitch regarding the fictional Miller and the real Winters misses the mark.  Both characters are memorable for who they were, and only in part due to their expertise.  I have forgotten Band of Brothers, but Miller has a nutty mission, is overqualified, and loses half of his men.  Both might be good characters for an RPG, but their personas are totally irrelevant with regards to CM proficiency or most war games.  And after making the pitch, you don't really plan to teach the psychology of team management and command.  Your pitch should align with your product or content.
    ---
    No offense regarding my comments, but I thought you wanted critical feedback.  I don't regret not charging for any of my game materials I circulated.  I became a better player for it.  Teaching always forces your skills to improve; and that is worth your time especially if you MP, because you will have more fun.  First, you must break it down, and then put it back together so that it can be analyzed and improved.  So, I gained by giving away freely, and I had fun interacting with those who were interested.
    Money and having fun are two different things.  There are plenty of cases of YouTuber's who enjoyed something like a game, but became a slave to it, and stopped enjoying it or worse went into a panic as the community moved on to the next hot title and new content producers.  Some really crashed and burned, others just felt burned out.  Read up on the case of Arumba, CK2 and EU4 and his history with Paradox.  Whenever, you listen career YouTubers, they live in constant anxiety about THE ALGORITHM and being demonitized.  Make the wrong observation about COVID or Ukraine, and you too will be history.
    Good luck.
  7. Like
    Josey Wales reacted to kohlenklau in Looking for feedback on my WIP CMx1 course   
    I don't think I would ever "pay" for a course for a game. If you are hurting for some spare change, no offence intended, focus fully on the current system where you make youtube videos and if you kick butt with a watchable product then the money slides in by sponsors and ads. Right? The entire tracking of who payed and they have a password or get the link? That sounds like a hassle to me. Word of mouth will spread here easily for maybe tons of free views of your girlfriend or other female actor hotty reading her CM tips. Trying to get forumites to spread your message of "pay me $2 and I will teach you..." I think people will not be motivated to spread that message. If you follow me. 
    again, best wishes to you and your interesting project.
  8. Like
    Josey Wales reacted to BornGinger in Looking for feedback on my WIP CMx1 course   
    Isn't the best CMx1 (and CMx2) course to just play the games and to watch a few youtube videos and sometimes to ask questions in the thread for the game one is playing? And doing that is something you get for free, except for the cost of the game.
    So a non-free course seems unnecessary.
  9. Like
    Josey Wales got a reaction from Jambo in Thanks Josey Wales & Usually Hapless   
    Hi guys, I've just come across this thread as I don't frequent this forum very much these days.
    Firstly I'd like to say that I am very much still alive, the Union soldiers haven't caught up to me just yet!
    Thank you for the appreciation of my AAR video's, it's really nice to hear how people have enjoyed them over the years. There are others out there producing great content, Usually Hapless has to be really commended for his commitment to the game and the high quality of his videos. I also enjoy the content of others, particularly Double's and some of the older channels like Rinald's, Ithikial's and his1ojd's.
    So to give a bit of context to me, I started my own business in 2014 and it was a slow start which allowed me time to make AAR's of this amazing game. As you can probably guess it's a very time consuming process that took me around 2 months to play and edit each video. As time has gone on my business has taken off and in early 2020 it really started to take up more of my time to the point where I couldn't really commit to making vids. I've always really enjoyed war films ever since I was a kid, the main reason I played the game was to make the vids and recreate the battles from movies like A Bridge Too Far and The Longest Day. So as a result of not making the AAR's, I've also not played the game for 2 years.
    I still believe that CM is one of the best games that has ever existed and I still follow it. I am still a member over at the Few Good Men but mostly play Field of Glory II & Medieval with some of the other members. The FOG games resolve much quicker than a CM battle and suit my current lifestyle better.
    It's unlikely that I'll be able to make any more AAR's for the foreseeable future, maybe one day when retirement rolls around! (CM3 perhaps?)
    So just wanted to say thank you and remove the mystery of what happened to me.
    Have fun, and don't forget...War is Hell!!
     
     
     
  10. Upvote
    Josey Wales got a reaction from AlexUK in Thanks Josey Wales & Usually Hapless   
    Hi guys, I've just come across this thread as I don't frequent this forum very much these days.
    Firstly I'd like to say that I am very much still alive, the Union soldiers haven't caught up to me just yet!
    Thank you for the appreciation of my AAR video's, it's really nice to hear how people have enjoyed them over the years. There are others out there producing great content, Usually Hapless has to be really commended for his commitment to the game and the high quality of his videos. I also enjoy the content of others, particularly Double's and some of the older channels like Rinald's, Ithikial's and his1ojd's.
    So to give a bit of context to me, I started my own business in 2014 and it was a slow start which allowed me time to make AAR's of this amazing game. As you can probably guess it's a very time consuming process that took me around 2 months to play and edit each video. As time has gone on my business has taken off and in early 2020 it really started to take up more of my time to the point where I couldn't really commit to making vids. I've always really enjoyed war films ever since I was a kid, the main reason I played the game was to make the vids and recreate the battles from movies like A Bridge Too Far and The Longest Day. So as a result of not making the AAR's, I've also not played the game for 2 years.
    I still believe that CM is one of the best games that has ever existed and I still follow it. I am still a member over at the Few Good Men but mostly play Field of Glory II & Medieval with some of the other members. The FOG games resolve much quicker than a CM battle and suit my current lifestyle better.
    It's unlikely that I'll be able to make any more AAR's for the foreseeable future, maybe one day when retirement rolls around! (CM3 perhaps?)
    So just wanted to say thank you and remove the mystery of what happened to me.
    Have fun, and don't forget...War is Hell!!
     
     
     
  11. Like
    Josey Wales got a reaction from Monty's Mighty Moustache in Thanks Josey Wales & Usually Hapless   
    Hi guys, I've just come across this thread as I don't frequent this forum very much these days.
    Firstly I'd like to say that I am very much still alive, the Union soldiers haven't caught up to me just yet!
    Thank you for the appreciation of my AAR video's, it's really nice to hear how people have enjoyed them over the years. There are others out there producing great content, Usually Hapless has to be really commended for his commitment to the game and the high quality of his videos. I also enjoy the content of others, particularly Double's and some of the older channels like Rinald's, Ithikial's and his1ojd's.
    So to give a bit of context to me, I started my own business in 2014 and it was a slow start which allowed me time to make AAR's of this amazing game. As you can probably guess it's a very time consuming process that took me around 2 months to play and edit each video. As time has gone on my business has taken off and in early 2020 it really started to take up more of my time to the point where I couldn't really commit to making vids. I've always really enjoyed war films ever since I was a kid, the main reason I played the game was to make the vids and recreate the battles from movies like A Bridge Too Far and The Longest Day. So as a result of not making the AAR's, I've also not played the game for 2 years.
    I still believe that CM is one of the best games that has ever existed and I still follow it. I am still a member over at the Few Good Men but mostly play Field of Glory II & Medieval with some of the other members. The FOG games resolve much quicker than a CM battle and suit my current lifestyle better.
    It's unlikely that I'll be able to make any more AAR's for the foreseeable future, maybe one day when retirement rolls around! (CM3 perhaps?)
    So just wanted to say thank you and remove the mystery of what happened to me.
    Have fun, and don't forget...War is Hell!!
     
     
     
  12. Like
    Josey Wales reacted to keas66 in How Hot is Ukraine Gonna Get?   
    At this point in time I really don't know what to think about Putin and his Delusions / Ability to carry out actions we all deem nonsensical . He seems like a real Colonel Kurtz type to me right now .
  13. Like
    Josey Wales reacted to Haiduk in How Hot is Ukraine Gonna Get?   
    UKR soldiers destroyed Russian command center and seized situation maps for 10th of March in Kherson - Mykolaiv direction. Probably this happened around this data and was allowed to issue just now.


     
    From the map Russian OOB here is next:
    - 49 CAA (Southern Miliatary district, Stavropol)
    ---- 2 x BTG of 205th motor-rifle brigade
    --- 2 x BTG of 34th motor-rifle brigade (mouyntain)
    --- 2 x BTG of 108th air-assault regiment
    --- 10th Spetsnaz brigade
    --- 1st missile brigade
    --- 90th SAM brigade
    --- 227th artillery brigade
    --- 66th control brigade
    --- 32nd engineer-sapper regiment
    --- 17th NBC-protection regiment
    --- 512th separeate EW battalion
     
    - 22nd Army Corps (Crimea)
    --- 126th Coastal defense brigade (with 8th artillery regiment, 1096th SAM regiment)
    --- 20th motor-rifle division (33th, 255th motor-rifle regiments, 944 SP-artillery regiment, 358th SAM regiment )
    --- 127th separate recon brigade (recon batatlion + ELINT/EW battalion)
    --- 11th air-assault brigade
    --- 25th Spetsnaz regiment
    --- 291st artillery brigade
    --- 439th reactive artilelry brigade
    --- 20th SAM regiment
    --- 11th engineer brigade
    --- 4th NBC-protection regiment
     
    VDV forces of 7th air-assault division (mountain)
    --- 2 x BTG of 56th air-assaulr regiment
    --- 2 x BTG of 247th air-assault regiment
    --- 1141st artilelry regiment
     
     
  14. Upvote
    Josey Wales got a reaction from zmoney in Thanks Josey Wales & Usually Hapless   
    Hi guys, I've just come across this thread as I don't frequent this forum very much these days.
    Firstly I'd like to say that I am very much still alive, the Union soldiers haven't caught up to me just yet!
    Thank you for the appreciation of my AAR video's, it's really nice to hear how people have enjoyed them over the years. There are others out there producing great content, Usually Hapless has to be really commended for his commitment to the game and the high quality of his videos. I also enjoy the content of others, particularly Double's and some of the older channels like Rinald's, Ithikial's and his1ojd's.
    So to give a bit of context to me, I started my own business in 2014 and it was a slow start which allowed me time to make AAR's of this amazing game. As you can probably guess it's a very time consuming process that took me around 2 months to play and edit each video. As time has gone on my business has taken off and in early 2020 it really started to take up more of my time to the point where I couldn't really commit to making vids. I've always really enjoyed war films ever since I was a kid, the main reason I played the game was to make the vids and recreate the battles from movies like A Bridge Too Far and The Longest Day. So as a result of not making the AAR's, I've also not played the game for 2 years.
    I still believe that CM is one of the best games that has ever existed and I still follow it. I am still a member over at the Few Good Men but mostly play Field of Glory II & Medieval with some of the other members. The FOG games resolve much quicker than a CM battle and suit my current lifestyle better.
    It's unlikely that I'll be able to make any more AAR's for the foreseeable future, maybe one day when retirement rolls around! (CM3 perhaps?)
    So just wanted to say thank you and remove the mystery of what happened to me.
    Have fun, and don't forget...War is Hell!!
     
     
     
  15. Upvote
    Josey Wales got a reaction from A Canadian Cat - was IanL in Thanks Josey Wales & Usually Hapless   
    Hi guys, I've just come across this thread as I don't frequent this forum very much these days.
    Firstly I'd like to say that I am very much still alive, the Union soldiers haven't caught up to me just yet!
    Thank you for the appreciation of my AAR video's, it's really nice to hear how people have enjoyed them over the years. There are others out there producing great content, Usually Hapless has to be really commended for his commitment to the game and the high quality of his videos. I also enjoy the content of others, particularly Double's and some of the older channels like Rinald's, Ithikial's and his1ojd's.
    So to give a bit of context to me, I started my own business in 2014 and it was a slow start which allowed me time to make AAR's of this amazing game. As you can probably guess it's a very time consuming process that took me around 2 months to play and edit each video. As time has gone on my business has taken off and in early 2020 it really started to take up more of my time to the point where I couldn't really commit to making vids. I've always really enjoyed war films ever since I was a kid, the main reason I played the game was to make the vids and recreate the battles from movies like A Bridge Too Far and The Longest Day. So as a result of not making the AAR's, I've also not played the game for 2 years.
    I still believe that CM is one of the best games that has ever existed and I still follow it. I am still a member over at the Few Good Men but mostly play Field of Glory II & Medieval with some of the other members. The FOG games resolve much quicker than a CM battle and suit my current lifestyle better.
    It's unlikely that I'll be able to make any more AAR's for the foreseeable future, maybe one day when retirement rolls around! (CM3 perhaps?)
    So just wanted to say thank you and remove the mystery of what happened to me.
    Have fun, and don't forget...War is Hell!!
     
     
     
  16. Like
    Josey Wales got a reaction from Strykr45 in Thanks Josey Wales & Usually Hapless   
    Hi guys, I've just come across this thread as I don't frequent this forum very much these days.
    Firstly I'd like to say that I am very much still alive, the Union soldiers haven't caught up to me just yet!
    Thank you for the appreciation of my AAR video's, it's really nice to hear how people have enjoyed them over the years. There are others out there producing great content, Usually Hapless has to be really commended for his commitment to the game and the high quality of his videos. I also enjoy the content of others, particularly Double's and some of the older channels like Rinald's, Ithikial's and his1ojd's.
    So to give a bit of context to me, I started my own business in 2014 and it was a slow start which allowed me time to make AAR's of this amazing game. As you can probably guess it's a very time consuming process that took me around 2 months to play and edit each video. As time has gone on my business has taken off and in early 2020 it really started to take up more of my time to the point where I couldn't really commit to making vids. I've always really enjoyed war films ever since I was a kid, the main reason I played the game was to make the vids and recreate the battles from movies like A Bridge Too Far and The Longest Day. So as a result of not making the AAR's, I've also not played the game for 2 years.
    I still believe that CM is one of the best games that has ever existed and I still follow it. I am still a member over at the Few Good Men but mostly play Field of Glory II & Medieval with some of the other members. The FOG games resolve much quicker than a CM battle and suit my current lifestyle better.
    It's unlikely that I'll be able to make any more AAR's for the foreseeable future, maybe one day when retirement rolls around! (CM3 perhaps?)
    So just wanted to say thank you and remove the mystery of what happened to me.
    Have fun, and don't forget...War is Hell!!
     
     
     
  17. Like
    Josey Wales reacted to Combatintman in How Hot is Ukraine Gonna Get?   
    About 7 degrees is the best you can hope for ...

  18. Like
    Josey Wales reacted to Erwin in Thanks Josey Wales & Usually Hapless   
    Yes, nice to see you back here.
  19. Like
    Josey Wales reacted to Vacillator in Thanks Josey Wales & Usually Hapless   
    Nice to have your update and glad the business is going well 👍.
    Too right.
  20. Like
    Josey Wales got a reaction from Vacillator in Thanks Josey Wales & Usually Hapless   
    Hi guys, I've just come across this thread as I don't frequent this forum very much these days.
    Firstly I'd like to say that I am very much still alive, the Union soldiers haven't caught up to me just yet!
    Thank you for the appreciation of my AAR video's, it's really nice to hear how people have enjoyed them over the years. There are others out there producing great content, Usually Hapless has to be really commended for his commitment to the game and the high quality of his videos. I also enjoy the content of others, particularly Double's and some of the older channels like Rinald's, Ithikial's and his1ojd's.
    So to give a bit of context to me, I started my own business in 2014 and it was a slow start which allowed me time to make AAR's of this amazing game. As you can probably guess it's a very time consuming process that took me around 2 months to play and edit each video. As time has gone on my business has taken off and in early 2020 it really started to take up more of my time to the point where I couldn't really commit to making vids. I've always really enjoyed war films ever since I was a kid, the main reason I played the game was to make the vids and recreate the battles from movies like A Bridge Too Far and The Longest Day. So as a result of not making the AAR's, I've also not played the game for 2 years.
    I still believe that CM is one of the best games that has ever existed and I still follow it. I am still a member over at the Few Good Men but mostly play Field of Glory II & Medieval with some of the other members. The FOG games resolve much quicker than a CM battle and suit my current lifestyle better.
    It's unlikely that I'll be able to make any more AAR's for the foreseeable future, maybe one day when retirement rolls around! (CM3 perhaps?)
    So just wanted to say thank you and remove the mystery of what happened to me.
    Have fun, and don't forget...War is Hell!!
     
     
     
  21. Upvote
    Josey Wales got a reaction from MOS:96B2P in Thanks Josey Wales & Usually Hapless   
    Hi guys, I've just come across this thread as I don't frequent this forum very much these days.
    Firstly I'd like to say that I am very much still alive, the Union soldiers haven't caught up to me just yet!
    Thank you for the appreciation of my AAR video's, it's really nice to hear how people have enjoyed them over the years. There are others out there producing great content, Usually Hapless has to be really commended for his commitment to the game and the high quality of his videos. I also enjoy the content of others, particularly Double's and some of the older channels like Rinald's, Ithikial's and his1ojd's.
    So to give a bit of context to me, I started my own business in 2014 and it was a slow start which allowed me time to make AAR's of this amazing game. As you can probably guess it's a very time consuming process that took me around 2 months to play and edit each video. As time has gone on my business has taken off and in early 2020 it really started to take up more of my time to the point where I couldn't really commit to making vids. I've always really enjoyed war films ever since I was a kid, the main reason I played the game was to make the vids and recreate the battles from movies like A Bridge Too Far and The Longest Day. So as a result of not making the AAR's, I've also not played the game for 2 years.
    I still believe that CM is one of the best games that has ever existed and I still follow it. I am still a member over at the Few Good Men but mostly play Field of Glory II & Medieval with some of the other members. The FOG games resolve much quicker than a CM battle and suit my current lifestyle better.
    It's unlikely that I'll be able to make any more AAR's for the foreseeable future, maybe one day when retirement rolls around! (CM3 perhaps?)
    So just wanted to say thank you and remove the mystery of what happened to me.
    Have fun, and don't forget...War is Hell!!
     
     
     
  22. Like
    Josey Wales reacted to kraze in How Hot is Ukraine Gonna Get?   
    Putin (and russians as a whole) thinks no such thing. He is perfectly aware of what NATO is. And he is perfectly aware that it's impossible to drag NATO into aggressive wars of any kind because of all the safeguards.
    Furthermore russians are fully aware that no NATO country is interested in expansion because civilized world is all about trying to outrun other countries in money and money loves peace.
    This all has to do with the fascist ideology of russians as a whole. Their ideology is that Russia is "a third Rome" (which is highly delusional in itself for oh so many reason), that their empire should spread to former USSR borders in the middle of Germany once again.
    Likewise "Warsaw pact" was never any pact - USSR just couldn't say "this all belongs to us now" so soon after 1945 because they would look like an occupier, not unlike Nazi Germany, to the rest of the world and that's a bad idea in the aftermath of WW2. But make no mistake - all those countries were fully occupied.
    So naturally NATO prevents the restoration of "former glory" (aka occupying half of Europe) and that's the only reason Russia opposes NATO. And that's why they wage wars since as early 1992, occupying parts of countries to use NATO safeguard about "countries with ongoing wars not able to join" against those countries.
    And that's why they can't invade Baltic countries because those got protection.
    With Ukraine it's an even more hardcore story, totally tied into faux russian greatness mythology, that was already discussed.
     
  23. Like
    Josey Wales reacted to CHEqTRO in How Hot is Ukraine Gonna Get?   
    Somewhat graphic content (I think no dead bodies are shown, but still just in case):
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    I have until now avoided to post any combat videos or the aftermath of such actions, but I decided to make an exception with this one, due to the impressive nature of the footage. A russian armored column ambushed and destroyed by Ukranian forces. You can see that guy carrying a NLAW, and some russian vehicles burning.
  24. Like
    Josey Wales got a reaction from Hapless in Thanks Josey Wales & Usually Hapless   
    Hi guys, I've just come across this thread as I don't frequent this forum very much these days.
    Firstly I'd like to say that I am very much still alive, the Union soldiers haven't caught up to me just yet!
    Thank you for the appreciation of my AAR video's, it's really nice to hear how people have enjoyed them over the years. There are others out there producing great content, Usually Hapless has to be really commended for his commitment to the game and the high quality of his videos. I also enjoy the content of others, particularly Double's and some of the older channels like Rinald's, Ithikial's and his1ojd's.
    So to give a bit of context to me, I started my own business in 2014 and it was a slow start which allowed me time to make AAR's of this amazing game. As you can probably guess it's a very time consuming process that took me around 2 months to play and edit each video. As time has gone on my business has taken off and in early 2020 it really started to take up more of my time to the point where I couldn't really commit to making vids. I've always really enjoyed war films ever since I was a kid, the main reason I played the game was to make the vids and recreate the battles from movies like A Bridge Too Far and The Longest Day. So as a result of not making the AAR's, I've also not played the game for 2 years.
    I still believe that CM is one of the best games that has ever existed and I still follow it. I am still a member over at the Few Good Men but mostly play Field of Glory II & Medieval with some of the other members. The FOG games resolve much quicker than a CM battle and suit my current lifestyle better.
    It's unlikely that I'll be able to make any more AAR's for the foreseeable future, maybe one day when retirement rolls around! (CM3 perhaps?)
    So just wanted to say thank you and remove the mystery of what happened to me.
    Have fun, and don't forget...War is Hell!!
     
     
     
  25. Like
    Josey Wales reacted to chuckdyke in Withdraw Order   
    If something doesn't work, you try something different. It depends or you play the AI or a human player. The real bingo moment is when your recon hits an AI trigger. It is obvious when all of a sudden things start to happen.  Hunting is not really for scouting vehicles; I gave up hunting with them a long time ago. One on overwatch the other dashing across it takes the TacAI some time to react. Experiment with tactics. Suggestions take a long time to process with the testers. Just sharing my experiences, take notice of YT videos experienced players make some good stuff. @Josey Wales and Armchair General presents Combat Mission Normandy Tactics Episode V - YouTube 
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