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Guest Big Time Software

Actually, the ratio of wounded to killed was just shy of 4:1. If you were hit you had an initial 75% chance of surviving the hit, and about a 80% chance later on. This ultimate survival rate changed dramatically (to 98%) by the time Vietnam rolled around.

About 20% of the casualties were from small arms, 60% from shell fragments.

Roughly one in every 10 casualties was an officer. Seeing as enlisted men greatly out numbered officers, this is pretty high (ex: ratio of officer to men in a platoon is 1:30, company is 1:130, etc). Officer turnover due to WIA/KIA was about 200% for 2nd Lts, 100% for 1st Lts, 50% for Captains, and 35% for higher ranks combined. Sucks to be a 2nd Lt!

Combat Mission does not differentiate between WIA and KIAs. Rather, any man that is incapacitated enough to be "Ineffective" is subtracted from the squad. This can be through wounding, death, or total panic. In a campaign game you will probably get a tiny percentage of your Ineffectives back after a battle.

Steve

[This message has been edited by Big Time Software (edited 03-18-99).]

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Guest Lokesa

Sorry if this is old news.

Do dead and wounded affect the morale of nearby units? As dead are not shown on the field, how can we know where not to position units (in relation to the above)? are morale hits taken only as the losses are incurred rather than a culmulative effect of being in an area surrounded by your dead?

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Guest Big Time Software

The easy answer is that we are NOT tracking the placement of dead, so there can be no morale hit.

Yes, it certainly is very upsetting to see a bunch of your buddies piled up, but this is not easy to simulate. I mean, maybe you see your dead, maybe you don't. Perhaps a unit only sees one of the bodies (not upsetting), while another sees that it is in fact an entire platoon (very upsetting). Maybe a unit that has been by the area before, and knows dead are there, doesn't get phased the second time. Perhaps looking at a lot of enemy dead enemy makes Green guys puke and panic as much as if they were friendly. And maybe some units are too hardcore to care. In short, this "feature" could be as complex, or even MORE complex, than the morale system itself. Ah, but it gest worse...

This would also mean we would have to track where casualties (dead as opposed to wounded) are laid out. And worse, each unit will have to be "aware" of this, and that means a whole lot of CPU cycles for checks. Finally, this would me that we would have to lay a "body" graphic down wherever someone died, which would quickly clutter the screen and, even worse, kill framerate down to nothing. If we didn't do the visuals, then how would you know what to avoid? Answer is you wouldn't, which is a VERY bad thing from a game play standpoint. So it isn't practical.

Since there is no other reason to track dead (except for morbid fascination), and it is a whole lot of work, we aren't going to be doing morale checks for nearby dead.

Steve

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I was just thinking - maybe it would be a good idea to simulate the rising morale pressure that one encounters in battle (by seeing more and more dead and wounded as combat goes on) by lowering the morale numbers for squads by a few points per turn? The longer combat goes on, the more likely squads would to panic and run away or just disobey orders... this would apply to all squads, which is a very general approach, but it eliminates the need to track casualties - at the same time it prohibits unrealistic situations, like a green unit happily entering a house which has been hit by a howitzer shell and annihilated a whole platoon inside...

Anyway, just an idea.

I have one question as well - when units panic and start retreating, will they recover? And if yes, how fast will this happen? Will demoralized teams also flee the map (and if they do, will they be available for the next game in a campaign?)

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Guest Big Time Software

Moon, thanks for reminding me! Combat Mission does have a "Global Morale" level (I *think* the FAQ mentions this?). Basically it does what you suggested, and therefore does simulate (in a general sense) the "piles of comrades" effect on morale.

As the battle goes on the Global Morale level changes, plus or minus, to simulate the overall feeling each side has about the battle's likely outcome. If both sides have bled themselves white, neither is going to be too hot for dangerous stuff any more. Conversely, the side that is winning a good fight will likely get a morale boost, while the enemy might get a deduction. All depends :)

We will NOT just use casualties either (though they will be a part of it). Other stuff, like average unit morale and cumulative "panics" will be included as well. Pretty much any factor that is lying about that should have an impact will be included :)

When a unit moves on its own initiative due to enemy activity, it can be done in one of three ways:

1. In control - think of this as the Sarge saying, "this sucks men! Fall back to that group of trees NOW!".

2. In panic - think of this as, "#*$, let's get out of here!!"

3. Broken - "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA mommy"

Obviously method #1 is the best. Your men might be a little rattled, but are otherwise functional. #2 means you will likely lose control for a couple of turns, then have to be a little careful of them for a few more. #3, well... #3 isn't good smile.gif If this happens you probably won't be using that unit, or even controlling it, for the rest of the game.

Because of the scale, in a Campaign you will get all surviving units (regardless of condition) back for the next battle. Very rarely did a portion of a small unit run clear out of the combat sector. And if it did, rear services would likely collect them and sent back to the front.

Steve

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