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If there were no retreat after combat so many of these little annoyances would be moot points. It would be up to the discretion of the commander whether to run or to stay and die (course, you'd have to keep track of progress made in marching to a destination, otherwise a perpetually attacking enemy would negate an attempt to withdraw).
< Message edited by irrelevant -- 1/31/2005 5:00:50 PM >
There's a solution to every problem; it's simply a question of how much you are willing to allow your head to hurt for said solution. Didn't we say something about drink?
Humm, I guess the problem is in the definition of contested he. The presence of enemy units in he should not make it automticlly contested. The simplest way would be to require a minimum ratio in order to contest the hex.
For exemple you could need at least 1/4 or 1/3 of the defending force to contest the hex. A more complex way would be to make a roll based on the strength of the units presents, with leadership experience supply preparation also taken into account.
Lastly maybe surrender should not be automatic. A unit might be able to retreat through a contested hex but would take additional losses in the process.
Here's a crazy idea which probably can't be done. But I'll throw it out anyway as who knows. First disallow all retreats!! The only way anyone leaves a hex is voluntarily or he is destoyed. Secondly say your the allies with no forts and your are attcaked at 3-1 odds. Now your fort level goes to negative 2. Any future combat you fight at a disadvantage of some type. You get attacked next turn at 4-1. Now your fort level goes down to negative 6. And so on. At some point your fighting at such a disadvantage that you'd be better off retreating. Or you can just wait until you are destroyed.
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quote:
ORIGINAL: moses
Here's a crazy idea which probably can't be done. But I'll throw it out anyway as who knows. First disallow all retreats!! The only way anyone leaves a hex is voluntarily or he is destoyed. Secondly say your the allies with no forts and your are attcaked at 3-1 odds. Now your fort level goes to negative 2. Any future combat you fight at a disadvantage of some type. You get attacked next turn at 4-1. Now your fort level goes down to negative 6. And so on. At some point your fighting at such a disadvantage that you'd be better off retreating. Or you can just wait until you are destroyed.
Lots of details to be worked out. Just a thought.
Then you end up with a Malay drive at the convenience of the Allied player.
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quote:
First disallow all retreats!! The only way anyone leaves a hex is voluntarily or he is destoyed. Secondly say your the allies with no forts and your are attcaked at 3-1 odds. Now your fort level goes to negative 2. Any future combat you fight at a disadvantage of some type. You get attacked next turn at 4-1. Now your fort level goes down to negative 6. And so on. At some point your fighting at such a disadvantage that you'd be better off retreating. Or you can just wait until you are destroyed.
Right there with you on the retreat issue. But I think if you are losing the combat such that you would retreat (the way it works now), your units are already suffering considerably in the way of disablements, disruption and fatigue. If you stay and fight, this will only get worse. I don't think there is any need to do anything more. But there would have to be some way to allow a defender who wants out to actually be able to move his units to a different hex. As it is now, if his opponent doesn't want him to go (i.e. would prefer he stayed so he could be crushed like a bug), he could just keep attacking him every few days and his movement progress would be reset to -0-
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Mr.Frag
quote:
No. Ron is saying it has ONE "freebie" retreat. If it can beat and retreat the enemy units in the hex to which it retreated, it gets to move freely again. If it loses again, it dies.
It still ping pongs, look at the other side ... not just the retreating unit.
Unit A fights B in hex 1
B looses and retreats to hex 2
B fights C in hex 2
C looses and retreats to hex 3
D happens to be in hex 3 and isn't happy
Now potentially, 3 hexes have had there supply chain messed with.
However, my idea was that ZOC does not block supply in/through mutually occupied hexes.
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Like I said it was just a thought. It would essentially give you the option to choose the time of retreat. If your ZOC was temporarily blocked you could hold in position a few turns before hitting the bug out button. Or perhaps it could work where when units are retreated but have no path they stay and have their forts reduced to negative levels. Then next turn if a unit with negative forts has an open path then it retreats.
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Back to basics.
Current problem: 1. Any unit can disallow retreats by forcing surrender or elimination. This can be gamey. 2. If we disallow blocking forces, any unit can retreat. This is very gamey. 3. Any currently proposed solution can allow either the former (ZOC's) or the latter (no ZOC's, retreats without "flags", AV requirements). This is gamey by both above definitions.
Desired result: Small units with pointy sticks should be unable to stop the retreat of large units with lots of big guns.
Proposed solutions: 1. No ZOC's. Already tried and not helpful. 2. ZOC's only. Already tried and not helpful. 3. Retreat "flags". Requires redefining of ZOC's and retreat paths. Possible with potential coding headaches and unforseen issues. 4. ZOC's by AV threshold. Possible with potential coding headaches and unforseen issues. *NEW* 5. Unit values. Use fatigue, disruption, and AV to generate an, as of now, nebulous value. Said nebulous value must reach a certain ration when compared to that of the enemy to block retreats. This is a good idea by virtue of being undebated and not having been beat to hell yet.
EDIT:
Objective: To arrive at an equitable solution that we can't deliberately break under current engine limitations.
< Message edited by von Murrin -- 1/31/2005 4:27:51 PM >
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quote:
ORIGINAL: von Murrin
Back to basics.
Current problem: 1. Any unit can disallow retreats by forcing surrender or elimination. This can be gamey. 2. If we disallow blocking forces, any unit can retreat. This is very gamey. 3. Any currently proposed solution can allow either the former (ZOC's) or the latter (no ZOC's, retreats without "flags", AV requirements). This is gamey by both above definitions.
Desired result: Small units with pointy sticks should be unable to stop the retreat of large units with lots of big guns.
Proposed solutions: 1. No ZOC's. Already tried and not helpful. 2. ZOC's only. Already tried and not helpful. 3. Retreat "flags". Requires redefining of ZOC's and retreat paths. Possible with potential coding headaches and unforseen issues. 4. ZOC's by AV threshold. Possible with potential coding headaches and unforseen issues. *NEW* 5. Unit values. Use fatigue, disruption, and AV to generate an, as of now, nebulous value. Said nebulous value must reach a certain ration when compared to that of the enemy to block retreats. This is a good idea by virtue of being undebated and not having been beat to hell yet.
5 is much as I suggested without the unit actually entering its hex.
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Do retreats occur immediately after combat or are all combats resolved prior to retreat. In other words is it possible for a unit to be retreated into another combat.?
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quote:
ORIGINAL: moses
Do retreats occur immediately after combat or are all combats resolved prior to retreat. In other words is it possible for a unit to be retreated into another combat.?
No. Retreat is immediate or retreat combats only happen after all others. Not sure which, but the effect is the same.
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Mr.Frag
quote:
No. Ron is saying it has ONE "freebie" retreat. If it can beat and retreat the enemy units in the hex to which it retreated, it gets to move freely again. If it loses again, it dies.
It still ping pongs, look at the other side ... not just the retreating unit.
Unit A fights B in hex 1
B looses and retreats to hex 2
B fights C in hex 2
C looses and retreats to hex 3
D happens to be in hex 3 and isn't happy
Now potentially, 3 hexes have had there supply chain messed with.
Okay. Way to break the model.
Now, does this invalidate the "flag" concept, or is there a way to prevent the "eight ball effect"? I'm thinking it breaks it, unless someone has a good solution.
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Ron Saueracker
quote:
ORIGINAL: von Murrin
Back to basics.
Current problem: 1. Any unit can disallow retreats by forcing surrender or elimination. This can be gamey. 2. If we disallow blocking forces, any unit can retreat. This is very gamey. 3. Any currently proposed solution can allow either the former (ZOC's) or the latter (no ZOC's, retreats without "flags", AV requirements). This is gamey by both above definitions.
Desired result: Small units with pointy sticks should be unable to stop the retreat of large units with lots of big guns.
Proposed solutions: 1. No ZOC's. Already tried and not helpful. 2. ZOC's only. Already tried and not helpful. 3. Retreat "flags". Requires redefining of ZOC's and retreat paths. Possible with potential coding headaches and unforseen issues. 4. ZOC's by AV threshold. Possible with potential coding headaches and unforseen issues. *NEW* 5. Unit values. Use fatigue, disruption, and AV to generate an, as of now, nebulous value. Said nebulous value must reach a certain ration when compared to that of the enemy to block retreats. This is a good idea by virtue of being undebated and not having been beat to hell yet.
5 is much as I suggested without the unit actually entering its hex.
I like it, too. Let's talk about 4 and 5, as the other methods have more or less been disposed of.
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For options 4 and 5 you still have to have a base hex to retreat to. Otherwise you get the situation where your units retreat behind the enemy lines. Enemy moves into your hex from the south but has no unit in the hex he came from so you retreat into that hex.
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Okay, I'm into this now.
4. AV threshold.
Units that are too small to block the retreat of a larger unit cannot do so. However... units that are too small to reach the threshold can't block anything. Understrength brigades chase each other all over the map. Then you have the Maylay landing to cut off Allied defenders. Player A lands a brigade which accumulates a some disabled elements, dropping the AV total one point below the requirement. Player A wins a combat one hex up the rail line and player B's units retreat through the now defunct blocking force. Player A screams bloody murder and breaks his monitor.
Can this be fixed or is the concept flawed?
5. The nebulous unit value.
I really can't see how this one doesn't work, as it's basically 4 with a few other factors thrown in. The ratio is most important, as now small units can block each other, but not a force 20 times their size. By adding fatigue and disruption the potential blocker can be battered into mission ineffectiveness. By having an AV ratio consideration, beat up units might not be able to block a larger unit.
So... what are the problems with this model aside from the establishment of the necessary ratio itself?
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Anytime a unit is allowed to retreat into a contested hex you have the potential that it will be involved in multiple combats in one turn. I guess theoretically under your option 5 a unit could be retreated 3 times in a turn and end up 180 miles from where it started.
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quote:
ORIGINAL: moses
For options 4 and 5 you still have to have a base hex to retreat to. Otherwise you get the situation where your units retreat behind the enemy lines. Enemy moves into your hex from the south but has no unit in the hex he came from so you retreat into that hex.
People are upset because one hex with enemy ZOC blocks overwhelming force in comparison with the blocker. If they could retreat one hex, they'd have a valid supply path. I've yet to see someone argue the validity of being able to create a valid supply path with a cut off unit.
The ZOC rules work. The retreat routines work. The supply routines work. The ability to block a division with a company, unfortunately, also works.
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quote:
ORIGINAL: moses
Anytime a unit is allowed to retreat into a contested hex you have the potential that it will be involved in multiple combats in one turn. I guess theoretically under your option 5 a unit could be retreated 3 times in a turn and end up 180 miles from where it started.
Okay. What if we adjust the ratios? A fights B in hex X. A is retreated to hex Y with C because C doesn't have the disruption/fatigue/morale/AV in sufficient quantity to induce the surrender of B in X. If the ratios are set correctly, C can't make B retreat, but B could make C retreat.
This is Frag's "ping-pong" effect.
Hmmm... so what if...
What if the retreat priorities are changed to make adjacent friendly units first pick? Sort of like: 1. Friendly unit. 2. Valid supply path. 3. Friendly base. Maybe even: 4. Favorable terrain. 5. Base size. 6. Friendly HQ. EDIT: The hex with the highest total from the above checklist gets the retreating unit.
You're playing a wonderful devil's advocate. Break this one, please.
< Message edited by von Murrin -- 1/31/2005 5:15:09 PM >
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Here's another dumb idea. Can't you just say that to create a contested A/J ZOC the second unit has to have a line of land line of supply. So you as allies have a unit in the hex along you're retreat route. So you have an "A' ZOC. Japan drops a parachute unit on your hex but the unit has no line of supply so the hex stays as "A" and does not change to "A/J"
Doesn't the problem go away now? What am I missing.
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You're missing amphibious landings. Are you also suggesting a landing force must capture a base or dot hex to begin creating ZOC's? If so, that's simple and elegant. Let me think it over and see if I can beat it up.
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Yes. An amphipious force to gain a ZOC would have to be either:
A: First in the hex. or B: Retreat the unit that was there before.
Same for a paratrooper.
Might make sence in many cases. Just taking the beach even if you have the greater force doesn't mean you control the whole hex. You might still be able to retreat through the inland portions of the hex. In some situations this rule might seem strange but not as bad as units being destroyed entirely.