Kanonier Reichmann Posted March 13, 2001 Share Posted March 13, 2001 I must be having a bit of a run at the moment. Playing a reasonably large scenario as the attecker I just had my regular German 20mm armed Armoured Car (PSW whatever) storm towards a dug in but cowering US squad it was firing at directly across the path of a known AT gun position only some 60 metres away! To top it off it then stops right in front of the AT gun and doesn't shoot at anything so naturally it died very quickly. I'm wondering whether anyone else has seen Squad Leader beserk like behaviour from their AFV's in Combat Mission when no movement order was made. I mean, which AFV commander in their right mind would charge out from behind woods cover where they were protected from the AT gun yet able to fire at the intended target, right across the sights of the enemy and then stop. Green crews, maybe, Japanese crews commiting hare kare, possibly, or if the unit is being bombarded by artillery, perhaps, but neither situation applied here. (Sound of gnashing teeth trailing away).... Any feedback welcome to see if this has occurred to others. Regards Jim R. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FriendlyFire Posted March 13, 2001 Share Posted March 13, 2001 I've had similar things happen, but mostly in the dark - my impression is that events are much less predictable then... A week or so ago, in the first night battle of an operation, my Brit recon vehicles had penetrated the Axis front lines. While my main assault force got down to bunker-busting and rousting troops out of foxholes, I sent the recon force (an MMG carrier in the lead, trailed by a recon car that was out of MG ammo) further up the main road "to keep them out of trouble". Nearing a bend, the carrier suddenly explodes in a ball of flame. The recon car behind it changes its move order to a fast, ignores my stop point, and charges into the darkness, straight at what turns out to be a 75mm Pak gun. It convinces the seven German crew members to abandon their gun, and saves the day - as well as making the next battle a lot easier. I wasn't sure how it accomplished this, until I reread the manual to find that vehicle MGs can also go LOW, i.e. they can still fire a single burst of fire per turn. I can just imagine the conversation in the recon car: "Hey Sarge, I just found the end of a belt of ammo behind the driver's seat!" "Well f*cking fire it Johnson, unless you want to end up like Smith in that carrier"). The event certainly convinced me that the TacAI can sometimes make units do "desperation" moves. And I kept that recon car in reserve for the rest of the operation - in case I needed another lunatic strike force Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radar Posted March 13, 2001 Share Posted March 13, 2001 I think I've noticed this ti happen to me a few times. But it seemed to happen when there were slowdowns on my connection. I quit any program that might interfere with my connection (I'm using a 56k modem)and that seems to do the trick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kanonier Reichmann Posted March 13, 2001 Author Share Posted March 13, 2001 OK, I can see it possibly happenning in the dark but I'm playing in the middle of the day with clear skies. Oh, and it's not a TCP/IP game but a PBEM so I'm still very confused, especially since no movement orders of any kind were given for that turn so an explanation that it simply changed its movement orders midstream doesn't apply. What the TacAi did do is create it's own new set of movement orders along the lines of ...CHARGE! then ...STOP and then DO NOTHING. Regards Jim R. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vanir Posted March 13, 2001 Share Posted March 13, 2001 Weird. I've never seen anything like this. You may want to consider sending the movie file into Madmatt for review. ------------------ What a bunch of horsecrap. -Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Clark Posted March 13, 2001 Share Posted March 13, 2001 I JUST had a Sherman, running from house to house (with a known AT gun able to get a shot BETWEEN the houses) suddenly stop all movement right between the houses (even though it had a FAST MOVE order) and sit like a duck till the AT gun blew it to hell. (It was NOT bogged, etc...) I have no explanation for the behavior... but I chalk it up to AI screw up, and not actually any sort of bug. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirtweasle Posted March 13, 2001 Share Posted March 13, 2001 In a PBEM game I've just been playing I had a Sherman go and do something similar. It ignored several commands to move into a good position, and instead dashed into a nose-to-nose engagement with a Panther. The results were predictable. There is a "fanaticism" chance that the manual describes in a way that lead me to believe it only allows troops to "stay and fight" longer before breaking. Perhaps there is more too it. Perhaps if a unit is a fanatic and involved in a heavy firefight, and then is given orders that do not allow it to express it's fanaticism it goes a little nuts. In my case I had the Sherman shelling an MG position and attempted to move it FAST down a little dirt road and into what looked like a good position to engage the Panther from the side. I suspect that this Sherman was a fanatic, and for some reason the TacAI wanted to shoot at something and shoot right then and there. Losing LOS to the MG, the most probable unit to go after was the Panther. In any event, the Sherman did not comply with orders and went headlong into an attack that had a very low chance of success and was it was blown up after bouncing a shell off the Panther. Really irritating at the time, as in the turn before I had successfully popped a Tiger, and now should have had all 3 Shermans to go and deal with the Panther. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Clark Posted March 13, 2001 Share Posted March 13, 2001 I know that Veteran and better troopers will sometimes charge headlong into a firefight, despite orders to the contrary... so perhaps the same is true for tankers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bebbetufs Posted March 14, 2001 Share Posted March 14, 2001 This has happened to me on quite a few different occasions. Vehicles under threat will ignore my order, say "reverse behind that copse of trees", and charge headlong into enemy positions. The result is always the same, being smoked by a flanking shot. I've been accrediting it to crew panic, an explenation that would also cover the instances where vehicles stop between two covered positions. I don't know how to explain the "rushing out of cover when under no serious threat" situation though! ------------------ Visit http://home.c2i.net/bebenum for som tips on(flight)sim immersion hardware [This message has been edited by bebbetufs (edited 03-14-2001).] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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