"Mysterious Activity" on Road to Scenario Flanks (Full Version)

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Russell Osterlund -> "Mysterious Activity" on Road to Scenario Flanks (12/8/2018 4:45:46 PM)

I recently finished a Road to Moscow scenario where my German forces were able to completely breakthrough the Soviet defenses during the latter stages of the campaign in the north and the south. I noticed during the AI phase mysterious activity in continuous air-drop of supplies around Leningrad and Pskov (with some aircraft losses to the Soviets) as well as the appearance of Soviet railroad repair units in the Baltic countries. Also, a few Soviet combat units made guest appearances or disappeared well behind the current front-line.

What is going on here (since the activity was well outside the current situation in the main battle)? In general, how does the AI account for other major campaigns, i.e., the offensive operations against Leningrad and Kiev, in regards to events and progress in the main Road to Moscow scenario? For example, does the rate and entry-hexes of reinforcements change if, for example, the German forces achieve a major breakthrough and have a clear road to Moscow (like that would ever happen)? Does one need to "garrison" the edge of the map in order to prevent a surprise counterattack by a Soviet Front appearing in the south? Or, are "external" events fixed regardless of what is happening during the main scenario?

BTW - I have not yet played the Soviet side, so the mechanics of play from that perspective are still a bit of a mystery to me.



Zug -> RE: "Mysterious Activity" on Road to Scenario Flanks (12/8/2018 6:52:18 PM)

I think what you're seeing is partisan supply (the air supply missions), and perhaps the rail repair in the Baltic are the partisan cadres. They seem to 'disappear' since the cadres show during the enemy turn, but if they don't become active it seems they have disappeared. Did these counters have a "P" on them?



Russell Osterlund -> RE: "Mysterious Activity" on Road to Scenario Flanks (12/8/2018 7:45:46 PM)

Thanks for the reply.

No, the air activity over Leningrad is air-drops (and the indicators and battles take place off the main map, over Leningrad). I recognize the partisan counters already, since I hunt them at the beginning of the turn [;)]. No, the units that appear and disappear have been the occasional Soviet tank division/brigade, or an anti-tank brigade, or, even, a Soviet headquarters unit - quite distinctive. Also, in the section of the map that are off-limits, one will occasionally see a lonely Soviet headquarters unit. Since I am not playing the game with "fog of war" enabled, these might be a side-effect of the game code.

My question is more in the nature of wondering what the AI is doing "under the hood" - is it fixed according to a pre-set script or does it change and respond to progress in the game (which would be more realistic).



Chris21wen -> RE: "Mysterious Activity" on Road to Scenario Flanks (12/9/2018 8:02:45 AM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: Russell Osterlund

Thanks for the reply.

No, the air activity over Leningrad is air-drops (and the indicators and battles take place off the main map, over Leningrad). I recognize the partisan counters already, since I hunt them at the beginning of the turn [;)]. No, the units that appear and disappear have been the occasional Soviet tank division/brigade, or an anti-tank brigade, or, even, a Soviet headquarters unit - quite distinctive. Also, in the section of the map that are off-limits, one will occasionally see a lonely Soviet headquarters unit. Since I am not playing the game with "fog of war" enabled, these might be a side-effect of the game code.

My question is more in the nature of wondering what the AI is doing "under the hood" - is it fixed according to a pre-set script or does it change and respond to progress in the game (which would be more realistic).


Nothing that happens in the dark areas of the map will ever affect the scenario playing area or at lesat I've never seen it happen.

As to why there should even be activity, I don't really know but if you look at the editor there's only one set of generic data. All of it's used for full map, while for small maps units are disabled by given an impossible delay times (250 as it happens) and no location. Cities are never disabled. All that's observable in the editor but what isn't is how the AI handles it and I think it treats everything as if it was a large map which means lots of auto stuff like fort building happens no matter what.



Russell Osterlund -> RE: "Mysterious Activity" on Road to Scenario Flanks (1/9/2019 2:09:33 PM)

I am currently playing the "Road to Dnepropetrovsk" scenario - definitely the hardest of the "Road to..." series to play! So many units, so much open space, a bunch of things to keep track off.

I am still seeing "mysterious activity" almost constantly around Leningrad and Pskov during the Soviet's turn; the nature of the activity is supply drops with the occasional loss of planes. One explanation that I should ignore this since it does not impact play in the active section of the map somehow does not sound correct. As a retired software developer I would view this as a "bug" with the philosophy that if something happens in the program without a direct connection to the the user's input and commands, it should be investigated. In any case, this is a very small nit in a wonderful game.



JTP -> RE: "Mysterious Activity" on Road to Scenario Flanks (1/10/2019 1:11:20 AM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: Russell Osterlund

I am currently playing the "Road to Dnepropetrovsk" scenario - definitely the hardest of the "Road to..." series to play! So many units, so much open space, a bunch of things to keep track off.

I am still seeing "mysterious activity" almost constantly around Leningrad and Pskov during the Soviet's turn; the nature of the activity is supply drops with the occasional loss of planes. One explanation that I should ignore this since it does not impact play in the active section of the map somehow does not sound correct. As a retired software developer I would view this as a "bug" with the philosophy that if something happens in the program without a direct connection to the the user's input and commands, it should be investigated. In any case, this is a very small nit in a wonderful game.



I thought this was strange too. I also get event logs saying a stug unit arrived at such and such hex, but no unit to be found.



thedoctorking -> RE: "Mysterious Activity" on Road to Scenario Flanks (1/10/2019 9:05:07 PM)

The units appearing are often support units, that is, they are attached to a headquarters that is in that hex. If you look at the unit detail pane you can see the support units attached.

Mysterious air drops are going to Soviet partisan units behind Axis lines. Presumably, the system is conducting the partisan activity across the entire map even though only a portion is in play in the scenario you are playing.



JTP -> RE: "Mysterious Activity" on Road to Scenario Flanks (1/10/2019 11:07:23 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: thedoctorking

The units appearing are often support units, that is, they are attached to a headquarters that is in that hex. If you look at the unit detail pane you can see the support units attached.

Mysterious air drops are going to Soviet partisan units behind Axis lines. Presumably, the system is conducting the partisan activity across the entire map even though only a portion is in play in the scenario you are playing.



No hq within a couple dozen hexes in my stug example, fwiw.



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