TF Raff "Link Up" Tanks Won't Fire

[Rake]

Playing through this scenario and pulled three tanks into the bocage near the 'Flank German Tank" location. Two of the three spotted the PzIV and were given fire orders. Neither tank fired for the entire minute. During this time, I moved the third into a position where it could have a better shot.

During the next minute, with all three tanks having LOS to the PzIV, again none of the tanks fired... all crewmen were listed as "spotting" (except one driver who was "driving" except they didn't noticeably move).

I "Quick" moved one of the two remaining tanks to the gap in the hedgerow and gave it a "Hunt" order from the gap with a covered arc. Once it spotted the tank, it stopped moving and, again, did not fire for the remainder of the turn. So, now I've got four tanks with eyeballs on a German tank that's pounding away on Fauville and none of the four will shoot.

Finally, I gave the Sherman that had moved through the bocage a "Target" order and, after waiting until only about 15-20 seconds remained in this turn, they began to fire with the .50 Cal. and just before the end of the turn fired the main gun.

That is where I've stopped. The German tank has been penetrated but is not yet shown as destroyed. I have a couple of save files, just not continuous through the action... I was getting so annoyed that I just kept hitting "Go" to see if the Shermans were ever going to fire.

Admittedly, two of the three original tanks had gray LOS to the PzIV, but the third was blue when given the "Target" command. Even the tank that finally fired had blue LOS to the PzIV, but took over 40 seconds to even begin to fire.

I'm certainly hoping this is a bug. If not, it's a rather irritating feature.

[Rake]

Okay, I just went back and reviewed my earliest "Save" file. It is the turn where the fourth tank pulls up through the gap in the hedgerow. As it pulls through the gap with the "Hunt" command, it spots the tank clearly and stops. It then loses LOS ( the PzIV becomes a "?").

The three tanks in the hedgeow all have "Gray" LOS to the German tank at this point. Due to the angle that they are aligned to the bocage, I suppose it's possible that fire is blocked. But, it seems to me if they have any kind of LOS it would be able to fire the main gun because if anything is poking its head through the bocage it would be the business end of the 75.

The next turn, I gave the fourth tank additional "Hunt" commands to get back into LOS. Again with a narrow covered arc, the Sherman sighted the PzIV and declined to shoot. It wasn't until the next turn, when I gave it a "Target" command that it finally fired... after checking the times, it opened up with the MG with 9 seconds left in the turn and fired the 75 with 8 seconds left and again just before the end of the turn.

[The_Capt]

Sounds like you had bad LOS to the target. It takes a Regular crew about 12-14 seconds to engage a target after it has been spotted. If the gunner loses sight the clock gets re-set. Did it have clear LOS or was the PzIV popping in and out?

If you had a grey LOS line it ususally means the .50 can engage but the main gun/coax can't.

[Rake]

Capt. - The tank that finally shot showed a clear LOS for the entire time during the turn that he finally fired. LOS line was blue and the German marker indicated a vehicle (not a question mark) for the whole turn.

On another note, I restarted the game and encountered another glitch. After my tanks ambushed the PzIV, they failed to penetrate the tank and it boogied on down toward Fauville. I then split the AT team from a squad and plotted a move to target the tank. Unhappy with what I'd plotted, I backed the move out. When I went to replot, the AT team had recombined with the heavy weapons leaving the assault team as the separated team. Because they would not recombine into the full squad (and there are only 6 squad members due to losses from the earlier scenario), I am unable to send the AT team out by itself... it will have to drag the BAR and another guy with them.

I've had several occasions where teams will not recombine into the squad despite being in the same action spot.

[The_Capt]

Hmm, that is a little odd, unless they were supressed. Sounds like a LOS glitch to me, I have never seen a gunner take that long to load and engage. A game save on this one would be handy. Strange things start to happen when looking thru bocage on an angle, but I suppose it was tricky in RL as well.

How long did you leave them together? Sometimes it takes an extra turn for split teams. Has to do with how they are used in an attack and not wanting them to re-merge in the middle of an assault.

[Rake]

I just split them, gave them a couple of move orders (quick with a slow to the bocage) and then, not liking exactly where the waypoints were positioned, I backspaced out of the order. When i went to give a new path to the AT Team it was combined with the BAR and a Garand. The split team is the two remaining guys with Thompsons.

Now the AT team will have to drag the BAR with them. Funny thing is, several times, if I haven't given a split team an order fast enough, they will recombine immediately. If this were a game against a human opponent, I likely wouldn't have a turn to wait for them to recombine... It's broken, they're in the same action spot, they should either recombine into the entire squad or stay split into the teams that I ordered them into.