Oddity with pause-panicked troops

[poesel]

When you have a unit that panics it auto-plots itself a retreat into an assumed safety. This move can not be cancelled by the player.

But you can give the unit a pause order and it will stay put. Strange.

Even stranger is that you can leave the unit in this state and it will rally itself over time. Ok, but you still can't remove the move order!

So you have to let the now calmed down unit have its run before you can move it elsewhere.

Still, I can top that. Let this unit have a heavy weapon (MG, Pak, IG) and you have to add packup and setup and they will run away with 'normal'...

I guess panicked troops should not be allowed to be paused. That is the root of the weirdness.

[Fizou]

Nice catch!

[A co]

You could convert the movement order into 'hunt' by clicking on the end point, which should make them decide not to take a step. I've been doing this with my panicked conscripts, but haven't remembered to check the results on the subsequent turns.

Of course a PAK will not take a 'hunt' command but I did get one to permanently give up its panic move by giving it a pause and telling it to deploy weapon (while it had been packing up to move.)

To say that it should not be allowed...makes sense.

[akd]

I am not able to reproduce this consistently. I cannot issue a pause order to a panicking unit, and if a unit is paused before it panics, the pause will sometimes cancel allowing the unit to flee out of player control.

I do see however that an active pause order will prevent a unit from plotting automatic evasive moves while the unit is still under player control (i.e. not shaken or panicked). However the player can cancel or modify those orders already. I suppose it has some utility in WeGo.

[A co]

But when a unit comes back under player control it may still have a move order (self-generated while not under player control) which the player can not cancel. That's what I think the OP is referring to.

[poesel]

I am not able to reproduce this consistently. I cannot issue a pause order to a panicking unit, and if a unit is paused before it panics, the pause will sometimes cancel allowing the unit to flee out of player control.

I've not phrased that exactly. With 'panicked' I mean the state where they are still under player control but have plotted an escape path which the player cannot cancel.

I have not tested this but I think I have two savegames with that behaviour.

[A Canadian Cat]

I've not phrased that exactly. With 'panicked' I mean the state where they are still under player control but have plotted an escape path which the player cannot cancel.

Ah that is not panicked. I have several panicked tank crews running around now (Tigers are nasty) and they will not accept any suggestions from me paused or not.

What you are talking about are the automatic orders the TacAI gives units under self preservation. Those are just orders - true you cannot cancel them but you can change the way point, type add pauses etc.

[akd]

Those are just orders - true you cannot cancel them

I'm pretty sure you can cancel them by selecting the unit and hitting BACKSPACE.

[poesel]

I'm pretty sure you can cancel them by selecting the unit and hitting BACKSPACE.

Sorry, no. There are some which can not be cancelled. If this is not intentional then this is a bug.

But I never tried to move the waypoint. If that would work and it was intentional to not be able to delete the waypoint - that makes no sense.

[womble]

Sorry, no. There are some which can not be cancelled. If this is not intentional then this is a bug.

But I never tried to move the waypoint. If that would work and it was intentional to not be able to delete the waypoint - that makes no sense.

Sometimes you can delete it. Sometimes you can't. I always assumed it depended how definite the unit in question was about the need to displace... Since the "Evade" command got changed so you can alter the destination from the (almost arbitrary) point the unit chooses, I think you can adjust even "firm" auto-evades.

Generally, though, if your unit is badly enough shaken up to be evading, there's a good chance it's not going to be useful for anything that might involve it getting shot at again, so cancelling the evade is often not going to achieve anything very permanent.

[A Canadian Cat]

I think you can adjust even "firm" auto-evades.

Yes you can. I do it fairly regularly.

Generally, though, if your unit is badly enough shaken up to be evading, there's a good chance it's not going to be useful for anything that might involve it getting shot at again, so cancelling the evade is often not going to achieve anything very permanent.

That is good advice. Pretty much every time I have have canceled one of those orders I have regretted it shortly there after. Changing the destination I do regularly though to give them better cover.