Riboflavin Posted December 20, 1999 Share Posted December 20, 1999 OK - so I'm playing chance encounter, and I want to have some heavy weapons teams ride along on tanks for a while, then dismount when the tanks stop and let the tanks drive on from there. How can I do this, since pause commands only make the tank delay before moving? Currently I have to give the tanks movement orders that will have them stop where I want the units to debark, run through a turn, then give the units move orders, then wait until the tanks stop, then after the units are debarked give the tanks fresh move orders. It seems kind of silly that there is no way to tell vehicles to 'drive over here, drop off some troops, then drive over here'. What I'd like is a 'debark' command for vehicles that would let you give a movement order, a debark order, then further move/fire orders. The vehicle would move to where the debark order is, then wait for the infantry to dismount, then continue with its movement orders. Is there anything like this in the final version, or is there another way to give these kinds of orders that I'm not using? Thanks, ------------------ -- Kevin Allegood Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Los Posted December 20, 1999 Share Posted December 20, 1999 You can accomplish all that through the pause commands. Los Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JonS Posted December 20, 1999 Share Posted December 20, 1999 That's fine Los, except that the 'pause' command only delays the start of when an order string commences. In the version we have there is no way to insert a 'pause' in the middle of a string of orders. Has this changed in later versions (and the final version)? Reading Fionns answer to a similar thread it would appear not. Regards Jon ------------------ Quo Fas et Vino du Femme Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riboflavin Posted December 20, 1999 Author Share Posted December 20, 1999 <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>You can accomplish all that through the pause commands. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> How do I accomplish all that through the pause command? All a pause does is delay the start of my first order, it won't let me move then pause. Has this been changed in the released version? Fionn's comments led me to think not, but... ------------------ -- Kevin Allegood Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mike Posted December 20, 1999 Share Posted December 20, 1999 My understanding is that Pause will operate at any waypoint - so you can move to somewhere, pause, then select another waypoint, and the tank will move, stop and move again. I've used it like this to move up to a ridge, fire a couple of shots then back down the ridge. Mike (atwork) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Berlichtingen Posted December 20, 1999 Share Posted December 20, 1999 What I have found to work, is plot your tanks move (on turn one) to where you want them to drop off passengers. On turn two, issue a pause and the continuation of the movement. This all assumes that the tanks will not actually reach the drop point in one move. Oh, and also on the second turn, plot the riders' movement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattias Posted December 20, 1999 Share Posted December 20, 1999 As far as I can see pause only, and only, adds to the initial delay. Now, as for disembarking this is how you do it: Plot your vehicles movement to, say, right next to that building 230m away. At the same time plot the movement of your tank riders into the building. Yes, there will be a long move or run line into the building but the infantry will not execute the order until your vehicle stops. And this applies even if the movement delay of the vehicle is longer than that of the riders. No pause of any kind involved. Works fine for me. M. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johan Brittz Posted December 20, 1999 Share Posted December 20, 1999 Hi Mike You said: "My understanding is that Pause WILL operate at any waypoint..." Is this your understanding of how pause works now or do you know something that I've missed? Are you one of the testers? Is this to be included in the new (Gold) version? Hope so.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moon Posted December 20, 1999 Share Posted December 20, 1999 The pause command only works at the beginning of a turn, and I don't think this will be changed. It's a design decision really, a limit on the possibilities for the player to micromanage his troops. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest L Tankersley Posted December 20, 1999 Share Posted December 20, 1999 <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Plot your vehicles movement to, say, right next to that building 230m away. At the same time plot the movement of your tank riders into the building. Yes, there will be a long move or run line into the building but the infantry will not execute the order until your vehicle stops.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> A few words of warning: if you're plotting a long move while mounted, you might not want to issue the infantry disembark orders on the first turn. My first game of CE I had a StuG bog down in the first few seconds of movement, and the riders disembarked and started slogging on their own. The StuG freed itself almost immediately, but then raced past the former passengers. I lost a couple of turns trying to get them all mounted up again. Also, usually I don't have a problem with the infantry disembarking, but sometimes they're too slow and the vehicles drive off with the passengers still onboard. It's frustrating; I think you want to have at least a segment of slow movement - maybe a short Hunt command - for the vehicle at the disembarkation point. Leland J. Tankersley Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Pham Posted December 21, 1999 Share Posted December 21, 1999 Bogged down? That's nothing. In a currently running PBEM game, I lost all 4 halftracks to an ambush on LD. I had plotted the movement of the passengers to enter the woods at the road(this is all on the left side of the map, from German Viewpoint). Well, the ambushers popped up before I got there, knocked out my halftacks in record time, and then to add insult to injury all the passengers started marching towards the original destination I set for them, which just happened to be where the ambushers were. So due to this method of movement orders I lost a full platoon. Sigh... I'd like to see a way to have the troops exit at a specific waypoint(and have the vehicle know enough to stop for the transfer). I figure a command for the vehicle rather than the troops would work better than the current system. Sort of like an orientation order, except it's an unload passanger command. [This message has been edited by Pham (edited 12-20-99).] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moon Posted December 21, 1999 Share Posted December 21, 1999 There is a very fine balance in Combat Mission between not doing enough in a 60 seconds turn... and trying to do too much. A couple of examples (and I really shouldn't be giving them since I might play one of you sometime ) Moving in columns - try moving all of your vehicles at one time and you'll get a mess. Take your time (one turn) to get the leading vehicles a bit further forward first and add some "bumper space", and you'll have them moving neatly by turn two. Disembarking - why ordering units to disembark before the vehicles are there? Take one more turn to have them arrive where they're supposed to be and disembark on the next turn. What I do sometimes is also to plot secondary disembarking points - IF the vehicles stops or gets into an ambush unexpectedly, I'll get my passengers into safety quick. If the vehicles get through, I simply change the disembark orders next turn. Moving by bounds - often forgotten. In many beta demo PBEM games I've seen my opponents move all of them all the time. You don't need to - it's perfectly sane to have units pause for 60 seconds, you know? Moving into contact - when you come close to where you expect the enemy to be... slow down. Do not try to cover as much ground as possible in 60 seconds. When I am entering no-mand's land I usually shorten my movement orders tremendously and often spend the last 20-30 seconds without moving. That's MUCH better then running PAST an ambush Anyway, just some ideas, thought you might want to hear it (and this seemed like a good thread for it, too) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mike Posted December 21, 1999 Share Posted December 21, 1999 Johann - no I'm not a tester, just another afficionado. Moon - you are definitely wrong about pause only being available at hte start of a turn. I've used pause in the middle of a turn on many occasions. It works at the start of any move segment - eg hunt up to a ridge, pause 30 seconds (hopefully fire a shot or 2), then reverse back down. I suggest you try it. Mike (atwork) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fenris Posted December 21, 1999 Share Posted December 21, 1999 Mike is correct, I've used pauses during a turn, move...Pause....Pause...Move. Each pause is 15 secounds. Reg's Fen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moon Posted December 21, 1999 Share Posted December 21, 1999 Mike, I'm a tester, and trust me when I say that the pause command only works at the beginning of a turn Each time you hit the pause command adds 15 seconds to the unit's inherent command delay, but only at the beginning of a turn. However, what you're referring to is the command delay between waypoints - if you have plotted a move on turn 1, and add another movement order to it on turn 2, your unit will pause at the end of the first waypoint before it proceeds to the second one. How long it will pause depends solely on its command delay and the pause command has no effect on this. PS. Now, of course in the six months or so I am testing I might have completely missed something, but I am almost certain that I didn't Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JonS Posted December 21, 1999 Share Posted December 21, 1999 whoops - should read the posts a bit more closly ------------------ Quo Fas et Vino du Femme [This message has been edited by JonS (edited 12-20-99).] [This message has been edited by JonS (edited 12-20-99).] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reverendo Posted December 21, 1999 Share Posted December 21, 1999 Why not pause the troops? Tell the tank to move to its destination. Fast move is good for this. Tell the embarked troops to pause, then disembark. They won't get off the tank while it's moving, and since they have receiver the 'pause' order, they won't start thinking about getting off the tank until the tank is rolling. This way, you get the troops to get off the tank when it stops. ------------------ Regards Reverendo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moon Posted December 21, 1999 Share Posted December 21, 1999 JonS, I don't think Fionn ever said anything else. We both started testing at the same time <sigh> what seems to be an eternity ago... Oops, didn't mean to get sentimental, must be this time of year, really... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JonS Posted December 21, 1999 Share Posted December 21, 1999 Yeah, sorry 'bout that. I changed my post to an embarrased retraction . I read Fenris/Fen as Fionn. Too much caffine so far today ... Jon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fionn Posted December 21, 1999 Share Posted December 21, 1999 Hmm, looks like I missed a juicy post. Yeah, 'twas a long time ago wasn't it Martin? But it's been a great time IMO although way, way too busy. I'm really looking forward to kicking back for 10 days this xmas. ------------------ ___________ Fionn Kelly Manager of Historical Research, The Gamers Net - Gaming for Gamers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Big Time Software Posted December 21, 1999 Share Posted December 21, 1999 Moon is correct. Pauses only work for the beginning of the move. In other words, if you see 45secs of Pause they will all happen before the unit moves out. As Moon said, this was a design decision to force people to move units will less precision. In very rare circumstances would a unit move into a position for only a few seconds and then move some place out. So we decided to not cater to the rare in exchange for the norm. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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