Lady Roxanne

Hello, you delicious delinquents! That's right, I'm out of the Oklahoma State Women's Confinement Facility. I've done my time, though I did no crime. That's what I get for letting Mr Spkr defend me. That MEANIE! Before I get down to what is really on my mind, I need to tidy up some loose ends. If I owe you a turn from before my unfortunate scrape with the law, your surrender has been pre-approved and will be accepted. If you owe me a turn, the same applies. It's not my fault the games were not completed. How was I to know the law applies to me too? Please update your records as follows: Roxy 10 wins, 0 losses vs The MBT. Now then, what have you darling devils done with my Cheery Waffle....hmmmm? I'm ashamed of you!! How could you?! C'mon now, admit it. You killed the Waffle, cheery ale and all. You meanies! Why, if I didn't have a hair appointment in 30 minutes I'd scold you until your cute little ears hurt. Why can't you play with boys and girls your own age? Do you absolutely have to pick on the little kids? Why did you ruin their sandbox? You have your own to play in. I should rally the Wafflers, and get them to post their drivel to the MBT. I could do it you know. I have no problem getting adolescent males to do my bidding. Now, where is my pedestal? Did you give it to Kitty? If so, you'll need to construct another one for me right away. Make sure it doesn't clash with my gorgeous red hair. Emma should be consulted before work begins. Ta Ta my heroes. Try to stay out of trouble until I get back. Roxanne, former shotcaller on Cellblock B, mud wrestler, vixen, siren, professional identity thief, and the woman of your dreams [ January 20, 2004, 03:33 AM: Message edited by: Lady Roxanne ]

I've ALWAYS wondered what the difference was between a regiment and a brigade. When I was in the army, our armor battalion belonged to a brigade headed by a full colonel. I believe there was an infantry battalion in our brigade and we had a self-propelled 152mm howitzer battalion too. What's a regiment? Is it similar to the cavalry having troops where we had companies (or is a troop equivalent to a platoon?)?

CrankyKris is Treeburst in case you haven't figured it out. I've been posting for awhile now. Cranky is the proud owner of some real ignorant stuff in the general forum. Shiite, I blew my cover. I'm such a dumbass. Ah well, back into deep hibernation again. [ August 01, 2003, 01:57 AM: Message edited by: CrankyKris ]

What was I supposed to do, Joe, start a thread on the outerboards with the title, "I'M BACK!!", like every other idjit who wants an instant update on all the patches and mods after months of devoting his dreary life to some FPS crapola?! Besides, I'm not back. Mr Spkr just caused me to roll over in my grave is all. I don't mind when Roxy does that to me; but that Spanker fella has to be stopped. I hope you've enjoyed this necromantic experience as much as I enjoy other necro-type activities here in the afterdeath with Roxy. Live-A-Lot NOW! I certainly don't want you down here with me. We have enough flatulent corpses around here.

That's it Sublime! One is a battalion level spotter, the other is division level. I didn't know the same type guns were available at different levels. Thanks!!

I realize that delay times displayed for spotters when given a target are estimates; but are the actual delays also widely variable? For example, in a PBEM I have two identical spotters (same guns/same experience). When I give one a target in LOS (blue line)the delay is only two minutes. The other spotter, when given a target in LOS, shows an estimated delay of six minutes. According to the manual, this means at best the guy with the six minute delay will be delivering shortly before six minutes, while the other spotter could be delivering the goods at shortly before two minutes at best. Is this correct, or have I found something? I have a file if this is a bug. Two identical spotters....four minute difference in displayed estimate of time until the fun begins, with both are targetting points within LOS. [ July 31, 2003, 04:27 PM: Message edited by: CrankyKris ]

IF the manual is correct, your 15+ turn games should never have more than 3.75 additional turns (rounding method not stated). Considering the manual is flat out wrong about flag status having an effect, it could be wrong here too. It could also be that operations are an entirely different beast. I'll stick with my formula until I see a non-operation battle go more than 10 extra turns or 25% of total specified turns (whichever is less).

I just had a variable ending game finish on the designer-specified turn! I've never seen that happen before. I watched the movie and the AAR screen popped up. Maybe at the end of the specified number of turns the program chooses a random number between zero and nine for the extra turns, rather than one to ten for a 40 turn game. Or maybe the range is 0-10. Yeah, that's it I'll bet. This would mean a 40 turn game could be 40-50 complete turns with the odds being 1/11 that the game will end at the designer-specified time.

The manual is incorrect. Experimentation shows that variable endings will always have extra turns regardless of contested flags, or flags changing hands. Flag status at any point in the game means nothing when it comes to variable endings. A 32 turn variable ending game will always be 33-40 turns. I like to think of it as 36 turns +/-4. I could be wrong about all this; but I've yet to see a variable ending game stop at the turn specified by the designer. Also, I'm 99.9% certain that flag status changes mean nothing regardless of what the manual says.

At the end of the designer chosen number of turns, the program decides how many turns to add within the limitations (10 turns or 25% of game length max, whichever is less). There is no check after each additional turn to see if the game goes for another turn. This explains the results we see. In a 40 turn variable ending game the max possible extra turns is 10. At the end of turn 40 a random number is chosen between 1 and 10 inclusive. This number is the number of extra turns applied. The reason we don't see many variable ending games going just one or two extra turns is because, in a 40 turn game, there's an 80% chance the game will go three or more additional turns. There's a 50% chance the game will go at least six more turns. If a designer wants a battle to go 45 turns +/-5 he should set the turns to 40. Contrary to the manual, flags changing hands in no way affect variable ending games. Just a realization that came to me that might interest some of you. I could be wrong, but I doubt it. [ July 28, 2003, 04:18 PM: Message edited by: CrankyKris ]

I think players can have good competitions without gamey play getting out of hand. The way you do it is with scenarios, not QBs. Another way is to use fully random QBs. One of my most memorable CM games so far was a random QB. I mean everything was random. I was trying to crush unfit conscript Finn tankette crews with green tank hunters on a foggy night. It was a blast!

Flag placement is very important to balance I think. The more spread out they are, the easier it is for the attacker to get flags. QBs tend to spread flags all over the defenders zone, especially in bigger battles with lots of flags. I like to keep the flags a little closer together. It's tougher on the attacker that way; but that can be made up for by giving the attacker plenty of turns.

This is interesting. I haven't played enough QBs to notice this. I do PBEM only, and few QBs so far because I dislike the maps. I suspect too few turns is more likely the cause for the attacker's difficulties. These options are always available. It's not wise to try to hold every flag on the map IMO. This seems to contradict what you said before, to a certain degree. How can less flags help the defender AND help the attacker? Playing without flags can lead to situations where one player chooses to take up a defensive stance and wait for his opponent. This effectively turns the battle into a 1:1 attack with no captured flags to make up for the attacker's losses. Note on the side: I like flags. If enough turns are used there will be no endgame flag rushes (the attacker won't wait it out). Attackers should be beaten back or crushed, not disqualified by a stopwatch.

QB maps have several consistent characteristics for a given battle type regardless of the size of the battle, or even the size of the map chosen. These characteristics were surely intentional. I think they should be duplicated in custom maps intended for QBs. To help make this happen I set about analyzing computer generated QB maps today. Here is what I learned. Assault Battles 1) Flag points on the map range from 100% to 120% of the defender's purchase points. The flag points you put on your map dictate the appropriate size (defender points) for battles fought on your map!! 2) Average flag placement is always very near the defender's map edge. 3) The defender's setup zone is always 40% of the total E/W dimension of the map. 4) The attacker's zone is always 20% of the total E/W dimension. NOTE: The E/W size of a map does not change much from small to huge maps. The map size option mainly affects the N/S frontage of a map. Battle type does not affect map size. Attack Battles 1) Flag points range from 70% to 90% of defender's points. 2) Flags are fairly centralized in defender's zone. 3) Like assaults, the defender's setup zone is 40% of the E/W dimension. The attacker gets 20% of the total. Probe Battles 1) Flag points range from 50% to 70% of defender's points. 2) Flags are placed in the forward portion of the defender's zone. 3) The defender's setup zone is 35% of the E/W dimension. The attacker gets 25%. Meeting Engagements are obvious. You should determine the dimensions you will use for your map by firing up a QB. Select the battle size (defender points) you wish to design your map for. Check out the different map sizes generated for the point level chosen. As mentioned earlier, the E/W dimension will not change much, but N/S frontage varies greatly with the map size chosen. To summarize: 1) The number of flag points is important. In QBs, flag points are determined by defender points and battle type. 2) Setup zone depths need to be correct for the battle type, and is a percentage of total E/W dimension. 3) Flag placement within the defender's zone needs to be correct for the battle type. I have made template maps for 1,000 pt. probes, attacks, and assaults for both sides. These are blank maps with setup zones established and flags placed. To make a map I need only load up the proper template and do the terrain and elevation work. I can make time consuming beautiful maps or quickies. In either case, they will have the proper setup zone depths, flag points, and flag placement for a 1,000 pt QB of the battle type I choose. If you would like these templates for your own custom QB maps just email me (profile). They won't save you a LOT of time; but they will save you from having to mess with setup zones, map dimensions and flags. Also, they will guarantee your map meets the official BFC standard for QB maps. I did take one liberty with the setup zones. My maps have a large frontage (N/S) with the setup zones centralized at 50% of total N/S dimension. This makes the zones slightly larger than a small map would make them. I think this discourages edge-hugging a bit, and also leaves room to maneuver on the flanks. The important thing is the E/W relationship of setup zones and flags.

Ah yes, this would be a big problem in a competitive setting. The only work-around I can think of is a third party. This person would generate the random battle, choose a side, enter a password, and immediately save the game when dropped on the map. He then sends the file and password to one of the two combatants he's doing the favor for, who then launches the saved game as a PBEM. Even the sides could be random because the 3rd party can choose either side and send the file to either player. The side decision is made by the 3rd party. Hmmm....I have an idea I need to think about. Anyway, the gamiest thing you can do in CM is buy your own forces with unrestricted force mix in a QB, especially if you are importing a map you're already familiar with.