Gooney Bird Posted September 3, 2002 Share Posted September 3, 2002 So far I've only played the tutorial. (Saving the others for when my PBEM buddies are ready to start) Anyhow, I have to say that so far the move to contact command is my favorite new feature. I gave the whole platoon this command approaching the flag from the flank and they stopped in unison and began fighting the enemy. The platoon leader kept his location relative to the rest of the platoon, thus not increasing his danger unduly. This is beautiful. My experience with cover arc is a little mixed. Used it to great effect to take out the two T34s from the German perspective, but noticed that this command can make you very vulnerable if used incorrectly. ( A soviet squad came up and sat right nex to me and the men fired at another unit much further away that was in the arc) I believe this is exactly how the command is supposed to work, but it caused me a few problems. The tanks C&C seems very real, although quite annoying as a Soviet. (I need that tank to move now, and it's not going to for 145 seconds because the command tank is buttoned up in a firefight with an AT gun.) :cool: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kwazydog Posted September 3, 2002 Share Posted September 3, 2002 Just in case you didnt notice guys... Make sure you all experiement with the CTRL and SHIFT keys with the cover arc command. It will help you set up different arcs automatically. Hopefull this should help if you werent aware of it Gooney Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derb Posted September 3, 2002 Share Posted September 3, 2002 My question is will units with this command stop just short of some good cover if fired on? If so, that would be v irritating because you'd have to "get them started" again just in order to move another couple of metres and meanwhile they'd be trapped in no man's land... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cameroon Posted September 3, 2002 Share Posted September 3, 2002 Originally posted by derb: My question is will units with this command stop just short of some good cover if fired on? If so, that would be v irritating because you'd have to "get them started" again just in order to move another couple of metres and meanwhile they'd be trapped in no man's land...Not to be harsh, but I'd say that's the CO's fault Don't use Move to Contact in bad cover (such as open ground)! Plot your move into good cover with some other type of movement, then add a Move to Contact waypoint once in good cover. That way your troops will make their best effort to get to cover before stopping to return fire. Hopefully Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JAT Posted October 4, 2002 Share Posted October 4, 2002 Hmmm...I have read in other threads about people saying that when one squad has contact, then all squads stop. I'm playing a PBEM against a veteran player and he too has this impression. I don't have this problem. If a squad has contact, it stops and the others continue until they have contact. Maybe I have a buggy CD, if so, I'll keep it. But I do know that the belief that all squads stop when one squad comes into contact is totally bogus. (Forgot to mention that these squads are in the same platoon) [ October 03, 2002, 10:18 PM: Message edited by: JAT ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juju Posted October 4, 2002 Share Posted October 4, 2002 Just finished a scenario where I made extensive use of the MTC command on a pioneer platoon (6 squads) in heavy woods. In all cases only single squads stopped at contact. All other squads always continued executing their command. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Emrys Posted October 4, 2002 Share Posted October 4, 2002 I think the "all squads stop" thing may only occur if the order was given as a group command. Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SenorBeef Posted October 4, 2002 Share Posted October 4, 2002 I believe the manual says that the whole platoon stops as soon as one squad comes into contact - and that has been my experience. I was playing in a game where I was trying to attack an enemy position in the woods. I couldn't see them directly, but I knew they were in there - so I gave all of my squads independent move to contact commands through the woods. Well, the lead squad spotted the enemy platoon - and the whole platoon stopped. Only the lead squad was in LOS of the enemy troops - the others stopped out of LOS. Which meant the whole enemy platoon could concentrate fire on that one squad. Very unpleasant. Anyway, I think this removes the usefulness of the command. The idea behind the command is that you want to move your squads into position where they can attack enemy that they don't yet see - typically through woods and such - but the whole platoon stops as soon as anyone is spotted, typically leaving one of your squads to fend for itself. It would seem much more logical to have the contact command evaluated on a per-squad/unit basis - that way, your men would move until they all made contact with the enemy, and you could bring the appropriate force to bear. It makes more sense. Perhaps when they're given a move to contact/hide command, where they want to maintain stealth, in that case, the whole platoon can stop when one squad makes contact - but the current setup makes move to contact entirely useless for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JAT Posted October 4, 2002 Share Posted October 4, 2002 SenorBeef, It would seem much more logical to have the contact command evaluated on a per-squad/unit basis - Right, the manual says on page 74... Move to Contact - orders the unit to advance cautiously and keep eyes open for enemy contacts. Notice that it specifically says unit And the lowest unit of infantry (outside of support) is a squad. If you like, I'll send you a file that you can watch to see that it is by squad. I tried in vain to get them to all stop at one time and the only way is by a miracle. On a side note...Here's a question for you. Is the squad the smallest unit of infantry? Technically, yes, however; take a look at this pic. I can't remember if I read it in the manual or on the forum that individual soldiers shown in the 3 or 2 man icon now make moves independently to some extent. Michael E., Nope, it's by individual squad no matter how you give them orders. I've tested and tested. Tested with the Platoon HQ and a Co HQ. Tested group command, individual command, tested 2 at a time, tested only the HQ is in LOS, tested only the HQ not going into LOS. It just doesn't matter. It is by unit as the manual says. [ October 04, 2002, 09:23 AM: Message edited by: JAT ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frunze Posted October 4, 2002 Share Posted October 4, 2002 If you give the "Move to Contact" order to the whole platoon at once (highlight the whole platoon, then give the order), then the whole platoon will stop at once. If you give it to each squad individually, each will stop individually. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JAT Posted October 4, 2002 Share Posted October 4, 2002 Frunze, That's not my experience. I'll be glad to send you a file that specifically shows those orders. Double clicking the HQ and giving a MTC command still allows each squad to act indepedently on each squads contact. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TSword Posted October 4, 2002 Share Posted October 4, 2002 Yes it's very dangerous to use move to contact in the open (Very bad when enemy has elevated position), may easily disrupt the formation. I use move, run and advance in the open. Advance being the best when enemy fire is likely and a dream with highly experienced units (seeing a platoon leaving their HT's and storming a position is just awesome..). Greets Daniel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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