Prisoners (guarding, moving, executing...)

[Guest R Cunningham]

Well, I had some interesting experiences with prisoners last night while playing the Last Defense as the Germans. As I posted in another thread this was part of an extremely gamey experiment to get my armor to the "transporter room" to kill the Hellcats when they beamed in. Before I was unsuccessful for a variety of reasons but last night the Hellcat Welcome Party Ambush worked great.

Anyway I ended up capturing most of the infantry that came with the Hellcats. One squad had 9 guys, one had 7 and I don't remember what the third one had. But, as they were way behind their own lines, I had to march them back towards the town with the hopes of getting them to cross the river at a ford and go around the town to the left (as viewed from Hellcat Hill). I gave them long movement orders. A few turn later, I noticed that two of the squads had simply disappeared. I hadn't paid them much attention so anything could have happened. No arty fell on them, no one would shoot at them. I think that maybe they got far enough away from my troops that they turned around and hightailed it off the map. I don't think they were recaptured since the only GIs on that side of the river were two mortar teams way on the other side of the road. Anyway, one squad followed orders and went across the river and into the first building where I had part of an SS squad and the platoon HQ. I then sent them to the left to the the wooden one-story building by the river that contained only the 81mm FO. When the GIs got there they became somehow uncaptured. I ran the platoon HQ (down to three men) over there because I thought my FO was going to get killed. The HQ got there and started fighting the GIs. The GI squad still had 7 guys so the next turn I ran another SS squad over there to save the HQ. By the time they got there, the HQ had basically executed all the GIs who were prisoners who were, I guess, trying to flee.

This jives with the Geneva Convention and all (not a warcrime) but was this intentionally modeled this way? I never gave a fire order to the HQ or Squad. I was going to do it for the FO, but that team has no weapons. I kept expecting the GIs to be recaptured but they just stood there and were killed.

Comments? Insights?

[krm]

First of all, how did you manage to get squads up to great the M-18s in time? Quite an achievement in my view.

I also had a very similar thing happen. I was also playing as the Germans in Last Defense when I took a 3 man MMG pow. About thirty seconds after surrendering, they "liberated" themselves, and made a run for the Platoon HQ (situated about 20 metres behind them). They didn't make it because the squad I moved into watch them mowed them down.

I was happy with this, sneaky buggers trying to pull the wool over my eyes! Anyway, I think that pow's can "revert" in favourable situations, but I'm not sure if they have their weapons or not.

Still funny to watch them surrender and then try and do a runner!

[Guest R Cunningham]

I didn't actually get any infantry on the Hellcat Hill. I got both StuGs and the Tier up there. The mech platoon was in the twon on the side with the wheatfield in those single-story buildings (one stone, one wood)closest to the river.

In previous attempts I did get one squad on the hill but not all the way to the top. That time I lost several halftracks to the .50cal on the way in. In last night's test, the .50 cal didn't accomplish anything because with 4 HT's and tiger shooting at it it was quickly reduced to 1 man who surrendered.

The other two platoons were in the woods waiting to rush the first VL house by the dirt road.

But back to the original point, the GIs didn't seem to be running away. I though they'd try to kill my FO. I expected them to immediately surrender again when my HQ got there but they didn't. So I sent in the squad and they still preferred to get shot.

[Fionn]

Prisoners can revert to uncaptured status if you don't have any combat-capable units guarding them (FOs don't hack it usually).

Basically they have no weapons and should run for it.. Sometimes though they simply panic and then they sit still and die.

I've had a US unit become uncaptured twice and run only to be shot at and captured again...

Your troops WILL shoot at enemy POWs who try to escape (that's legal).

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Fionn Kelly

Manager of Historical Research,

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