Defensive Fire

[Chris Smith]

Perhaps I missed this in the FAQ or at some other point on your site. Will you be able to designate units as defesive fire that will fire while the other player moves as in ASL? If so what restrictions would exsist? Will firing during enemy movement limit that units actions in the up coming turn?

Thanks!

[Guest Big Time Software]

This isn't covered specifically in the FAQ, but there is a section on the manual and AI assisted targeting. Basically, if you leave a unit without a specific target it will attack the best available enemy target when at the best range. This is how you do defensive fire.

For example, take your covering squad and give them no fire orders. Then move up your other two squads. If an enemy unit pops up during this time, the covering squad will jump into action right away. You can also tell the covering squad to do "area fire" to keep multiple enemy unit's heads down in a sepcified area (roughly 25 meter arc from designated aim point).

Firing at a unit will do any number of things to it depending on the circumstances. Since CM's turns are 60 seconds of simulated time, there is no hard and fast "fired at on turn x = restricted movement until turn y" sorts of things happening. Instead, if you shot at an enemy unit, and it goes down to the ground pinned, it will probably stay there for a while if you keep pumping lead at it. Or it might crawl away, or run away, or try and crack off some shots back your way, or... lots of different possibilites

Units at the beginning of the next turn start out exactly as they where at the end of the previous turn. So if a unit became pinned on the 60th sec of turn 3, on the 1st sec of turn 4 it would still be pinned. After that its state will change depending on normal turn game events (i.e. still getting fired at, still pinned. No longer fired at, recovers, etc.)

This system is far easier and more flexible than ASL's would be in a computer form.

Steve

[Guest John Maragoudakis]

Chris, do you understand that CM has simultanious turns? It's not you go, I go. Both sides resolve thier orders simultaneously.

[Guest Big Time Software]

I saw Chris' "while the other player moves" as being a realtime time question (i.e. while an enemy unit is moving can I tell my guy to shoot at it). But I think you are correct that Chris might have missed the bit about simultaneous turns? If so, Chris, CM uses simultaneous turns of 60 seconds of simulated realtime action. Both people plot, then all is executed for 60 seconds without player interaction.

That info is, I think, burried waaaaaaaay down at the bottom of the FAQ, so Chris might have missed it

Steve

[This message has been edited by Big Time Software (edited 03-26-99).]

[Chris Smith]

Yes, I understand that turns are simultaneous. I was just unclear on defensive / covering fire techniques in CM. After reviewing my question I understand why you asked though. Thanks for keeping me straight!

[Guest Big Time Software]

Geeze, maybe we should offer realtime chat boards

I think we're all straight now!

Steve

[Moon]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>You can also tell the covering squad to do "area fire" to keep multiple enemy unit's heads down in a sepcified area (roughly 25 meter arc from designated aim point).<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Hear! Hear! Is this something new? I can't recall area fire from the "grazing MG" thread... but probably it's just me and my ole' brain...

[Fionn]

No, Moon. I don't remember the term grazing fire either. I remember a kind of work-around in which we could target just behind the enemy and thus keep their heads down but no such thing as covering fire.

This brings a thought to mind (and I accept it might be impossible but.. here goes anyway) in the spirit of throwing out ideas which may be applicable and neat.

One thing I have missed in a lot of games is the ability to specify an area to be covered by my "grazing fire-capable weapons". E.g. in CM I think it would be useful to be able to click and drag while on the overhead map and thus designate a target for grazing fire from one of your units.

E.g. An MG 42 team and a Panzergrenadier section are lieing side by side. One enemy time is pinned down in walls to your front (at 100 metres range) but lots of other enemy units are massing in a little village to your right.

Rather than having the MG fire on the pinned enemy I would probably like to have them lie in wait of any enemy who leave the village BUT I only want them to open fire when the enemy is totally in the open and thus I can cause maximum casualties.

What I would like to be able to do is designate the Panzergrenadier squad to fire on the nearby enemy squad which is visible BUT tell the MG42 unit to ONLY fire on enemy units in a selected area of ground (selected by clicking and dragging the mouse)

This would allow one to designate the following:

1. An area to be subjected to grazing fire.

2. A trip-line (I forget the english word right now) which, when the enemy crosses it, causes your forces to open fire.

By combining a trip-line in the open with an adjoining grazing fire zone you could, in effect tell the MG team to fire on an enemy team which crosses that line AND then to continue pouring suppressive, grazing fire into the entire area around that team. THIS, I feel would make ambushes much more realistic (and player-controlled) than any current game allows.

Of course the AI would play a role. A panicky MG team might open fire the instant the enemy become visible, well before the cross the trip line thus causing them to seek cover and avoiding their ambush.

It would also allow you to simulate the sort of "Fire when they get within 50 feet and then keep them pinned" orders which were often given.

Otherwise, I think there might be a large problem, due to the interface etc whereby

1. your units fire at enemy units the instant they appear (which might not be what you want) or

2. your MG 42 would be unable to be told to fire at units appearing from the houses since no enemy units are spotted there (although you know they are present). I don't know how CM would handle this situation BUT if one was not able to designate an area and say (fire on the enemy if they cross this line) it might be impossible to tell an MG team to set up a proper ambush. By doing this in a graphical manner (e.g. drawing lines on the map) we are avoiding the horrible accuracy in hex-based games in which ur units open fire at exactly 56 feet .

Fionn

[Guest Big Time Software]

I'll answer these two points from Fionn now, more later...

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>1. An area to be subjected to grazing fire.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

This will happen automatically. If you leave your MG without orders, it will try and wail on any unit that comes within range, so long as it feels it has a decent chance of hitting. If someone gets in the way, then they get shot at as well.

If you want covering fire, select the unit to do "Area Fire" at a given point. This makes a cone of fire on any and all units in that cone. I'm checking with Charles about the specifics, but it basically is a 25m arc. Your FP will be drastically reduced to simulate spraying (a dispersal of rounds with less aiming), but should be enough to cause units in cover to keep heads down and units in the open to take losses.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>2. A trip-line (I forget the english word right now) which, when the enemy crosses it, causes your forces to open fire.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

There will be no "trip-line" stuff for any unit (this argument can be made for all units, not just an MG). In the first place your units are pretty smart already, and generally won't waste much ammo (unless you order them to) on units that are really hard to hit, especially if they are not close enough. Units that aren't currently visible won't be targeted at all. You can also tell your units to "Hide" and that means they will hold their fire until the best possible target presents itself. You can also designate a target to shoot at that you can't currently hit (if the unit is visible, that is) so that when it comes into LOS you will open up. Otherwise a unit without a targeting order will shoot at whatever seems like a good target. And don't forget that the 60 second turns give you plenty of situations where enemy units will be exposed at the end of the turn.

All in all, I think you will find that these various options give you the kind of flexibility you are looking for without yet another order to muck up the interface

Steve

[Fionn]

Sounds good to me. Seems you have what I was talking about in, just in a slightly different way.

BTW, talking about the interface. Just how many orders are there in the interface now? It looks REALLY simple which is always good. and not cluttered.