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I don't get it! - 3/7/2003 10:47:16 AM   
werderwayne

 

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A few things I noticed that are driving me nuts:

Have any of you ever seen an airplane shot down? I have played maybe 75 games and have not seen a single airplane shot down. Ground support was extremely dangerous. Percentage of losses of ground support pilots were second only to daylight bombing pilots;

Can AI’s planes miss? I have seen planes successfully attack tanks in woods AND smoke, in fact, I've never seen them miss. My planes (including Rudel) miss all the time;

Why can’t tanks back up? Or can they and I don’t know how to do it?

Why doesn’t infantry with Panzerfausts attack tanks with them FIRST, before they fire their rifles and get plastered by tank guns?

-WW
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Re: I don't get it! - 3/7/2003 8:53:05 PM   
Irinami

 

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[QUOTE]Originally posted by werderwayne
[B]A few things I noticed that are driving me nuts:

Have any of you ever seen an airplane shot down? I have played maybe 75 games and have not seen a single airplane shot down. Ground support was extremely dangerous. Percentage of losses of ground support pilots were second only to daylight bombing pilots;
[/QUOTE][/B]

Yes. One of my first was the FFL vs. the Italians in N. Africa. The jeeps' MG's didn't do it, the squad LMG's and rifles didn't do it... nope, what got them in the end was a VERY lucky shot by an SMG. Of course, the fact that the plane flew over and was shot at by nearly every single unit of mine was also helpful, I'm sure.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by werderwayne
[B]
Can AI’s planes miss? I have seen planes successfully attack tanks in woods AND smoke, in fact, I've never seen them miss. My planes (including Rudel) miss all the time;
[/B][/QUOTE]

I've seen it, but I can't recall when. It's very rare that I see an airstrike from anyone in my games.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by werderwayne
[B]

Why can’t tanks back up? Or can they and I don’t know how to do it?

[/B][/QUOTE]

Limitation of the game engine. There is no concept of "reverse." Sorry.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by werderwayne
[B]

Why doesn’t infantry with Panzerfausts attack tanks with them FIRST, before they fire their rifles and get plastered by tank guns?

-WW [/B][/QUOTE]

I'm not sure what your problem is here. You can always turn off other weapons. (In fact, if the squad is hidden, I suggest you do--The fewer weapons fire, the lower your chances of being spotted.) But if you want to fire with everything you've got, then the order is irrelevant... SORT OF. If you're firing at one target with a squad that has a Panzerfaust, they'll fire the rifle, the LMG, the Panzerfaust, and possibly a grenade if close enough.

BUT... if there are infantry in that hex and they lose a man before you've fired all your weapons and they flee, you may not be allowed to fire the rest... WTF is that?? :(

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- 3/7/2003 9:33:03 PM   
Charles2222


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There's a number of possible issues on the Panzerfaust front.

One question is, is the target within faust range? Another is the general scheme of how orders are used. For instance, a typical unsuppressed unit might have 6 fire opportunities with each weapon (difficult to explain, but it would look like 6-6-6-6). If you faust is the last weapon in the line, and it had a maximum of 3 rounds, then it would say 6-6-6-3. What happens a number of times, is that if that unit becomes suppressed, or the first number in the line, possibly rifles, had dropped to say 3, then it's VERY rare that a weapon with the maximum of three shots would be able to fire anymore. Typically, assuming there's nothing dropping your fire opportunities other than your own firing, it might look like this over the course of the firing (starting with 6-6-6-3).

After 1st fire: 5-5-5-3
After 2nd fire: 4-4-4-2
After 3rd fire: 3-3-3-1

etc.

That's not an exact science, but roughly accurate. Typically, your 1st and 2nd weapon will keep it's maximum, assuming they're faster firing weapons as most 1st and 2nd weapons are throughout, but the 3rd and 4th weapons are often very subject to additional loss in opportunities due to however suppression comes to it.

Now, that's just a general overview. The fact of the matter is that not only does the faust have a slower loading speed to fire again, but it also is limited in ammo. I'm thinking it probably had more than 3 rounds, but it's not much more.

There's also another factor involved in whether it fires, but I'm not sure I have it right. On tanks, anyway, the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th weapons will not fire unless they unit passes an experience and/or morale check, whether it has a number left over in the 6-6-6-3 lineup or not. I'm not sure how much that affects fausts, if at all, but IF the faust is in weapon slot number one, then certainly that gun should fire despite any latter weapon checks that may go on.

Someone else also alluded to the retreat factor. It's always possible that ANY secondary weapon won't fire do the target retreating from weapon number one firing. Anytime a target retreats from any weapon fired at it, the subsequent weapons will not fire.

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- 3/7/2003 9:38:07 PM   
Irinami

 

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Great data again, Charles_22. I only have one clarification:

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Charles_22
[B]Someone else also alluded to the retreat factor. It's always possible that ANY secondary weapon won't fire do the target retreating from weapon number one firing. Anytime a target retreats from any weapon fired at it, the subsequent weapons will not fire. [/B][/QUOTE]
(emphasis added on last line)

That's not entirely true. ISTR about... 1/3 of the time my unit will continue to fire. Perhaps it's more, "Anytime a target retreats from any weapon fired at it, the unit must make an experience check to fire each subsequent weapon?"

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- 3/7/2003 11:38:37 PM   
Grenadier


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I have just finished a scenario for the SP Arsenal and in it out of about a dozen plays I have seen airplanes shot down about 3 out of 4 times. I also saw the AI planes miss targets i assigned during the design and instead attack their own T-34's.

In another featuring Rudel in an upcoming Cross of Iron series scenario, he hits his tanks every time. In Debacle at Dompaire which is on the last Raiders SP Arsenal release(shameless plug):D , the AI shot down Thunderbolts in almost every play of the scenario

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- 3/8/2003 12:26:45 AM   
Les_the_Sarge_9_1

 

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Some stuff just looks silly but can be fun. Whittmanns Gamble, seems like he almost never misses.

But then 1 out of 4 games return fire gets his Tiger and the scenario is effectively over.

I just finished a battle in Desert Fox.

Air support lost one of my planes to the Tommy's. Next turn I got one of theirs. Up yours baby.

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Re: Re: I don't get it! - 3/8/2003 2:45:08 AM   
werderwayne

 

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[QUOTE]Originally posted by Irinami
[B][/B]

I'm not sure what your problem is here. You can always turn off other weapons. (In fact, if the squad is hidden, I suggest you do--The fewer weapons fire, the lower your chances of being spotted.) But if you want to fire with everything you've got, then the order is irrelevant... SORT OF. If you're firing at one target with a squad that has a Panzerfaust, they'll fire the rifle, the LMG, the Panzerfaust, and possibly a grenade if close enough.
[End Quote]

I guess I should elaborate:
The situation occurs frequently. I have an unsurpressed squad that sneaks behind a tank in woods. It has not fired and has 3 or 4 PF rounds left. It gets one hex away and fires. Instead of firing the PF, it fires its rifles. When it does, the tank turns around and blasts it, forcing it to retreat.

How do you turn off weapons?...I tried to get only a certain weapon to fire, but I have a tough time getting only that weapon to fire. Sometimes I get the procedure correct :) and sometimes I don't :(.

Similarly, when a tank rolls up next to my squad, they try a close assault instead of firing their PF's.

-WW

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- 3/8/2003 2:55:07 AM   
Warhorse


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You turn off a weapon by right-clicking on a unit, then leftclick on the green weapon script, it will turn red. Also, the PF, do they in fact have HEAT rounds, or just HE rounds left? You can also target the tank, with the 't' button, then hit 'c' and select to fire just the PF, IF it has a high percentage chance of a hit! Hope this helps?!

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- 3/8/2003 3:09:20 AM   
Charles2222


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Irinami:
quote:

That's not entirely true. ISTR about... 1/3 of the time my unit will continue to fire. Perhaps it's more, "Anytime a target retreats from any weapon fired at it, the unit must make an experience check to fire each subsequent weapon?"


Can't say I've ever seen this happen. I'm talking about during the player turn, not during the enemy turn with opfire. Actually I can't recall ever seeing it in opfire, but it has beena while since I've been in SPWAW opfire.

From what I've always seen the retreat automatically cancels any possibly continuing fire, unless, that is, the user then hits fire again, which of course is another thing altogether, and which of course will start with the main gun firing again.

If you're talking SPWW2 in the enemy phase, or even plain SP, I think it is common for retreating units to draw fire perhaps immediately afterwards, even from the same unit that caused the retreat, but which case I think also results in that main gun firing again first. Of course if the main gun is 128mm then it may not typically have as high a fire opportunity and when in combination with a high ROF MG would result in that MG firing, "looking" as though the MG followed up the main gun on the same round, but would actually be a different trigger.

The way I'm looking at it, the designers might consider the firing units to have to make adjustments to fire on a unit that goes from one hex to another, in this case retreat, so that cancels all possible continuing fire. IOW, if Tiger fires on US Inf with the complete 6-6-6-6 score, and the 88L56 fires, with the inf. retreating, all the weapons when that one fire key was hit, were trained on that inf unit being in that one hex. When the inf moved, therefore, the subsequent guns couldn't fire, even if they passed the checks, because the unit wasn't in the same place anymore. The retreating unit doesn't 'wait' till the Tiger has expired all of it's fire opportunities, but it makes a decision with every round fired whether it would like to retreat, such that you could say the retreaters are often retreating in the middle of the firing units one fire attempt, which of course could go as high as 1 round per gun, or 4 times total.

I could be wrong, but that's my little theory.

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- 3/8/2003 3:48:30 AM   
Charles2222


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Irinami: You know somethign that's hilarious? I've never once played either SPWAW or SPWW2 where I fired a faust!

That aside, I know the situation you speak of where it looks like the target cuts off your fire opportunities from going the full possible 4 guns, and reacts. SO what is the deal? I've NEVER used that one weapon selection method, because I figured it a waste; maybe I'm wrong.

The way I always figured that sort of situation, was that the attacking infantry failed their check, and so the faust didn't fire (Is every secondary weapon go through individual checks? I know I've never seen the 2nd weapon not fire and then see the 3rd or 4th fire - which would lead one to conclude that any weapon failing a check discontinues any possiblity of the latter ones firing). If I'm wrong, then that means that not only is fire discontinuing on a unit's retreat and decides to do so off every attacker fire individually, but that when assaulting the defender can also counter from each individual gun alloted from one keystroke. IOW, US inf assaults by starting off with the rifles. Tiger fails check and therefore inf goes to weapon 2. LMG's fire and Tiger passes check, thereby reacts and fires back.

The result is of course the same, whether the defender is checking or the attacker, in that if the attacker is checked, and fails, then the secondary weapons don't fire. Hmmm, I am a bit mystified about that, because obviously the defender is going through checks when it retreats and the attackers guns are cancelled, but faust not firing is another thing. Does the unit that is attacked with an assault, possibly react to each individual gun as the retreaters do, or not, or do the checks rely entirely on the assaulter and once completed the target reacts?

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- 3/8/2003 4:56:23 AM   
TheChin


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I've always used the single weapon 'c' keystroke for AFV's, or the spacebar. It's handy for using machine guns to suppress infantry (or pesky crew members) when you don't want waste main gun ammo, but I never considered using it on an infantry squad to make sure the AT get's the first shot. I'm going to have to check that out.

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Thanks, I've learned a lot - 3/8/2003 5:20:53 AM   
werderwayne

 

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Thanks for the tips!

-WW

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Re: Re: Re: I don't get it! - 3/8/2003 5:54:35 AM   
Irinami

 

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[QUOTE]Originally posted by werderwayne
I guess I should elaborate:
The situation occurs frequently. I have an unsurpressed squad that sneaks behind a tank in woods. It has not fired and has 3 or 4 PF rounds left. It gets one hex away and fires. Instead of firing the PF, it fires its rifles. When it does, the tank turns around and blasts it, forcing it to retreat.
[/B][/QUOTE]

That's REALLY weird. I have absolutely positively never failed to have every single one of my squads weapons fire at a vehicle which was within it's range unless the weapon failed or infantry cohabiting the hex took a casualty and skedaddled. (Or if I had no ammo or the wrong kind, but that's a given. ;))

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Charles_22
[B]Irinami:

Can't say I've ever seen this happen. I'm talking about during the player turn, not during the enemy turn with opfire.[/quote]

I'm talking about SP:WAW too, and during the player turn--not opfire.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Charles_22
[B]From what I've always seen the retreat automatically cancels any possibly continuing fire, unless, that is, the user then hits fire again, which of course is another thing altogether, and which of course will start with the main gun firing again. [/quote]

Yes, same here. My problem is that it seems enemy units cohabiting the hex are causing a break in the firing order. Now that we narrow it down, I can't pinpoint an exact memory where I know without a doubt this has happened... all "PO Infantry Squad"s look alike. ^^; But I'm still sure it's happened.

I'll try to positively reproduce it.

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- 3/8/2003 9:28:04 AM   
Charles2222


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Irinami:
quote:

Yes, same here. My problem is that it seems enemy units cohabiting the hex are causing a break in the firing order.


Cohabiting the same hex as what? The player attacking unit or the defender's hex (IOW, more than one defender in the hex attacked into)?

Causing a break in what unit's firing order, the attacking player unit?

Perhaps you're playing SPWAW but you're recalling something from another variant of SP. For example, in SPWW2, and I think SP too, there's reaction fire, but not in SPWAW. With reaction fire, your Tiger fires 88L56 and the enemy retreats. This retreat being an action, causes, beyond your control, for a number of your units to respond, which I'm not sure about this, might even include the unit originally firing on it. I've played SPWW2 recently and it's not uncommon for retreating units, to spur off four or five of my units firing back in reaction to them.

from werderwayne's quote again: [QUOTE]The situation occurs frequently. I have an unsurpressed squad that sneaks behind a tank in woods. It has not fired and has 3 or 4 PF rounds left. It gets one hex away and fires. Instead of firing the PF, it fires its rifles. When it does, the tank turns around and blasts it, forcing it to retreat.[/QUOTE]

I'm not sure what he speaks about when he says "3 or 4" rounds. While taking it strictly as he wrote it, 3 or 4 rounds in ammo don't matter if there no more orders remaining for that weapon slot. Seems I recall that the act of moving an infantry unit, usually coincides with it's orders being able to fire often going dramatically down. For example, what was perhaps a 6-6-4-3 infantry unit, upon moving, might become 3-3-1-0. If that PF is the empty slot, that weapon, with that particular squad, will pretty likely only have sufficient orders to fire that weapon when it "hasn't moved first". What I mean by "particular unit" is that more highly rated units will typically have more fire orders from the start, and suffer perhaps fewer order loss on suppression or movement. IOW, the '41 Wehrmacht, might, on movement, have at least an order left to fire a flamethrower (I use flamethrower as an example because PF's are only available late into the war), or comparable anti-tank weapon, but in '44 a lot of their units may be so poorly rated that moving and firing flamethrowers or other such weapons is problematic. I'm not saying this is absolutely the case, but what I am trying to emphasize is that units which have lower experience/morale have less capability in even just a simple task of firing a round irrespective of the mechanics behind passing checks to fire them. You need not only the ammo, but the orders to fire them. If your unit moves, and whether you notice it or not, it's PF weapon slot hits zero, that weapon won't fire. As I think we realize, even if it still does have an order, and that unit fails it's check for that weapon (a different thing from having an order to fire it), it won't fire. The unit gets fire orders subtracted for not terribly good experience/morale (as opposed to what it could've been from the start) subtracted for moving, and all that is all for naught if it still doesn't pass that hidden check for the weapon, which in itself is subject to experience/morale. Understand, when I say "experience/morale" it may be one or the other, or both, I just don't recall.

Understand one last factor which comes to mind, though I'm not sure it could ever make that big a difference. You ever see how an unsuppressed, "unspotted" unit loses movement when spotted? The same could be happening to the fire, but often not showing up to where it's obvious. If infantry move in the manner from an unspotted position, to being able to spot it's target, I think the program automatically considers that infantry unit then spotted, though the target may or may not be able to opfire it. What I'm trying to say, is that if you took the exact same infantry unit and checked it's orders when stationary, say 6-6-4-3, it may move full or partially and look 4-4-1-1, BUT, if you applied the same test to a unit whose movement went from spotted to unspotted, it's post-movement figures might look like 3-3-0-0.

Another key, if we can get really technica to the quote, is he says "sneaks behind a tank in the woods". In the woods, huh? Woods take a MAJOR hit to move in, such that having multiple orders taken from the previously stationary unspotted unit, would be none too unusual. I don't think it's all that uncommon for us to lose track of whether those weapons we hardly ever fire, the PF's and flamethrowers, et al, are that readily available for use when moving. We probably just watch the rifles and assume, for example, that if there were even a 6-6-3-3 lineup for the unit unspotted and unsuppressed, that when those rifles go down to 3, therefore losing 50% of it's orders, that the secondary weapons lose 50%, but what they may be doing is losing the same thing the rifles do, IOW, 6 rifle orders going down to 3 is a loss of 3. Apply a loss of 3 to weapon slot 4, and what do you get? Zero.

Maybe, anyway. I'm just not all that convinced that there are that many of us that having a real thorough careful knowledge of what's happening to secondary infantry weapons upon moving, and still complicating matters more when they're going through unclear terrain, and still more from being unspotted to spotted.

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- 3/8/2003 10:30:30 AM   
werderwayne

 

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[QUOTE]Originally posted by Charles_22
[B]Irinami:


Maybe, anyway. I'm just not all that convinced that there are that many of us that having a real thorough careful knowledge of what's happening to secondary infantry weapons upon moving, and still complicating matters more when they're going through unclear terrain, and still more from being unspotted to spotted. [/B][/QUOTE]

If I knew all about what's going on in the game, I wouldn't be on this message board! :D

As it is, I have learned a few things and that's why I'm here.

-WW

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- 3/8/2003 10:39:07 AM   
Irinami

 

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quote:

Irinami:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yes, same here. My problem is that it seems enemy units cohabiting the hex are causing a break in the firing order.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Cohabiting the same hex as what? The player attacking unit or the defender's hex (IOW, more than one defender in the hex attacked into)?

Causing a break in what unit's firing order, the attacking player unit?


Enemy units in the same hex as the enemy unit being fired upon cause a break in the attacking (your) unit's fire order.

That is, let's my Japanese SNLF Squad is firing at a KV-1 in an adjacent hex. In the same hex as the KV-1 is a Guards Infantry unit and a regular Russian infantry unit.

My SNLF has full ammo for all of their weapons and still has firing orders and ammunition for every weapon left. They are at 11 suppression, and so cannot assault. The SNLF fires their rifles at the KV-1. They miss that, but the regular Russian infantry takes a casualty and, since they (the USSR Inf)'ve taken losses earlier in the game, they flee. My SNLF do not fire their LMG, their 50mm Knee Mortar, nor their hand grenades. Instead, the KV-1 unleashes an HE round and all the MG's it has on my poor Japanese troops, who just might stand around waiting for the Guards to opfire on them. (Though their standing around means if I happen to move their Co. commander up, they might assault that KV-1 if I can rally them again. ;))

That's not supposed to happen. They should fire the rifles on the KV-1, the LMG on the KV-1, the Knee Mortar on the KV-1, and the grenades on the KV-1, and ignore the units in the same hex as the KV-1.

quote:


Perhaps you're playing SPWAW but you're recalling something from another variant of SP. For example, in SPWW2, and I think SP too, there's reaction fire, but not in SPWAW. With reaction fire, your Tiger fires 88L56 and the enemy retreats. This retreat being an action, causes, beyond your control, for a number of your units to respond, which I'm not sure about this, might even include the unit originally firing on it. I've played SPWW2 recently and it's not uncommon for retreating units, to spur off four or five of my units firing back in reaction to them.


****... I WANT this in SP:WAW, but I have to say that I'm not thinking of another game; SP:WAW is the only SP I have ever played. (And **** worth the time, too.)

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- 3/8/2003 9:34:47 PM   
Charles2222


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wnederwayne: [QUOTE]If I knew all about what's going on in the game, I wouldn't be on this message board! [/QUOTE]

Well that's funny, because I'm here for the opposite reason, because I think I do have a bit of insight:D . Only thing is, as thorough as I may be think through the possibilities, I still have many areas where my "feel" just doesn't answer the questions with precision, and that can be aggravating. I'm hoping most I've wrote makes some sense. Sometimes I think I confuse more than I explain.

Irinami: [QUOTE]They miss that, but the regular Russian infantry takes a casualty and, since they (the USSR Inf)'ve taken losses earlier in the game, they flee. My SNLF do not fire their LMG, their 50mm Knee Mortar, nor their hand grenades.[/QUOTE]

That's hilarious! Have you figured out what's happening? If it's true, and I think it is, that your TARGET retreats from the main gun, the remaining guns won't fire from the one fire command entered, BUT, apparently, if any of the guns cause ANY units to retreat, even though it wasn't the target, that will cause your target to be lost. That's what I think is happening, retreats cancel ALL fire irrespective of target. I suppose for realism's sake, your aim was so bad to hit that other unit, it's therefore considered that hitting your original target is such a laugh that you have to hit fire again. Now I would say what happens if this happens, just for the sake of argument: Rifle hits KV1, LMG misses and hits Inf. and they retreat resulting in end of your unit's fire. Was your aim so bad since it hit the KV1 first? Yes, because each gun is targeted individually. The rifle guys were johnny-on-the-spot, but the LMG guys, good aim or otherwise, decided to fire at something else in the hex. Maybe the enemy Inf started taunting them at the last second and drew fire.

[QUOTE]****... I WANT this in SP:WAW, but I have to say that I'm not thinking of another game; SP:WAW is the only SP I have ever played. (And **** worth the time, too.)[/QUOTE]

Yeah, it is pretty fun at times. Here you are just cruising along firing each units guns, and then all of the sudden a retreat or counterfire will occur that will get soem of your own guys to fire on their own. I've had some very dramatic encounters due to that very thing. I think he that cannot play both SPWAW and SPWW2 is really missing out. Both games have opfire, but only SPWAW has it as user commandable. SPWAW, however, doesn't have the reaction fire from some of your own troops. SO while the reaction fire can be a hassle, because you might not have wanted them to lose their original target and react to somethign else, it does give you that feeling that those guys are somewhat alive out there and that they can act on their own initiative. I guess what might be the perfect balance between both games, would be if you could designate units that would react fire, adn ones that would not; sort of a lock. Same thing for opfire, make some that can lock between both modes. It would at least save from keystrokes of cutting ranges down to nothing, and so on, when going over to the enemy phase.

SPWAW's opfire, is both a blessing and a curse. Every single movement or fire, can be reacted to, firewise, by two of your units at your command. While it's swell to be able to command them, sometimes, you just want to sit back and let them "have their phase" where they're free of your commands during the enemy turn. Too bad neither game will let you toggle between AI reaction for your opfire entirely, or your input as in SPWAW. Sometimes my hands get so worn out from playing the SPWAW opfire, it's a real relief to go to SPWW2 hands off. The SPWAW opfire is more intense, but the flip side is the SPWW2 opfire which is like watching a movie and is relaxing in comparison. There's just times where I want to watch a fight and get the sense that the guys are fighting on their own, and then other times when I want to be Ubercommander.

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- 3/9/2003 9:05:06 PM   
Irinami

 

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[QUOTE]Originally posted by Charles_22
[B]
Irinami:

That's hilarious! Have you figured out what's happening?
[/Quote][/B]

Are you kidding? Murphy's law, man, it'll be a month before it happens again. ;)

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Charles_22
[B]Now I would say what happens if this happens, just for the sake of argument: Rifle hits KV1, LMG misses and hits Inf. and they retreat resulting in end of your unit's fire. Was your aim so bad since it hit the KV1 first? Yes, because each gun is targeted individually. The rifle guys were johnny-on-the-spot, but the LMG guys, good aim or otherwise, decided to fire at something else in the hex. Maybe the enemy Inf started taunting them at the last second and drew fire.
[/quote]

Just for the sake of argument, I'll agree. But actually what happens (aside from the fire order break) appears to be more like this--and I'm sure others' experiences will bear me out:

When you fire on a hex, you're doing two things. You're targetting a unit, and you're Z-firing on the hex as well. Thus if there are 2 squads in the same hex and you're firing at one, any shots that miss the unit you targetted have the same chance to hit the other squad in the same hex as a Z-fire would.

I guess you could say that your men get confused with all the action going on and... hold their fire? :rolleyes: More as I experience more.

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Post #: 18
- 3/10/2003 7:55:16 AM   
Charles2222


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Irinami: Ah, would you believe a Z-fire counter theory?
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Too bad, I don't have one.

I think you Z-fire theory, at best, is actually an artillery fire continuum :D.

(in reply to werderwayne)
Post #: 19
- 3/10/2003 9:41:54 PM   
Irinami

 

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:D :D <=- All proud of himself. ;)

It makes some sense both internally and externally. Internally it follows other attacks' routines. Externally, it makes sense that if there are a bunch of people in a small area and you miss who you're shooting at, odds are you'll hit somebody.

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Post #: 20
Z fire behaviour - 3/11/2003 12:21:27 AM   
Capt. Pixel

 

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I've noticed, (at least I think I have), that if I 'Z fire' into a hex, the enemy doesn't retreat as readily as if I fire directly at a target.

The 'Z fire' results might not be as dramatic, but keeping the enemy from retreating after a single shot isn't that great a result either.

Can anyone out there confirm my experiences with 'Z fire'? :cool:

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Post #: 21
Re: Z fire behaviour - 3/11/2003 6:13:10 AM   
Buzzard45


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[QUOTE]Originally posted by Capt. Pixel
[B]I've noticed, (at least I think I have), that if I 'Z fire' into a hex, the enemy doesn't retreat as readily as if I fire directly at a target.

The 'Z fire' results might not be as dramatic, but keeping the enemy from retreating after a single shot isn't that great a result either.

Can anyone out there confirm my experiences with 'Z fire'? :cool: [/B][/QUOTE]
I always thought Z-fire was a crap-shoot. If you got lucky, got lucky, if not. Tough darts, farmer. Aimed fire has a percentage hit that increases or decreases depending on a number of factors. I think you know most of those. Repeat z-fire does not increase your chances of hitting. I use z-fire instead of close assault with engineers, a miss still hurts(or kills) but a miss does not increase the attackers suppression. Sometimes I turn off all but the flamethrower and/or satchel cjharge.
:eek: :eek:
I don't understand why you would want to z-fire when you can aim-fire.:confused:

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Post #: 22
Re: Re: Z fire behaviour - 3/13/2003 2:37:35 AM   
Capt. Pixel

 

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[QUOTE]Originally posted by Buzzard45
[B]...
I don't understand why you would want to z-fire when you can aim-fire.:confused: [/B][/QUOTE]


Ahhh. It's particularly useful against the quick-to-retreat US forces. Using Z-fire doesn't seem to cause the targets to retreat as often. (or so it seems to me) Granted it's less effective per hit, but if you can keep the target IN your sights for 3-4 hits, overall it can be more effective. This is as opposed to 'hit-'em-once, they-run-away, you-gotta-follow-their-butts, do-it-again' procedure.

Also, with large warhead ordinance (105+), Z-fire is a good way to spread splash damage onto adjacent targets that you can't see directly. It allows you to fire around buildings. :D

I've also noticed a tendency for the direct damage hit to do less overall damage to the primary target than to those adjacent units that are 'splashed'. So much so that I've started deliberately z-firing firing indirect near a target. Even if I could have direct-fired on them. :) I usually only do this if I can affect additional nearby infantry targets in a single shot, and I'm firing 150mm or more. :eek:

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Post #: 23
Re: Re: Z fire behaviour - 3/13/2003 3:23:42 AM   
Irinami

 

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[QUOTE]Originally posted by Buzzard45
[B]I don't understand why you would want to z-fire when you can aim-fire.:confused: [/B][/QUOTE]

I wondered too, so I thought about it, then I posted this thread:

[URL=http://www.matrixgames.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=34437]Z Firing Line[/URL] :)

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Post #: 24
- 3/13/2003 12:55:32 PM   
chief


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If the target disappears from screen due to fog of war, or for some other reason then the only way IMO of suppressing that (empty) hex is by Z firing since aim firing will not fire into a blank/empty hex. You can off course fire using the "B" button into said hex. You'll notice this quite often in H2H against Nipponese troops. My two bits worth.

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Post #: 25
- 3/15/2003 2:46:52 AM   
Wild Bill

 

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Backing up tanks has always been talked about, during the nine years I've been involved with the SP series.

Programmers have always had a problem with it. I've heard arguments on both sides.

About the closest the human player can do is back up one hex, reface the tank, do it again, and so forth. That is about as close as you will get.

Luck is as important as good shooting when downing aircraft. If the aircraft skill is low and the gunner's is high, you'll see a few go down in flames. I'll still never forget the first time I say it happen. Spectacular. Caught me by total surprise. Longer ago than I care to remember..WB

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