To dig or not to dig ...

[Heldenkaiser]

... I am sure this has been covered before, but in the last couple of days I read so much advice on TOAW ... manuals, these forums, articles on several website, etc., I am rather confused.

So here goes, and apologies if already discussed here before:

Is it useful to dig in my units at the end of a turn? I read somewhere that doing so they could end up having no MP left for a retreat and thus be eliminated if defeated (if I am player 1).

Also, will HQ and artillery provide support if dug in or do they need to be in Tactical Reserve mode?

Thanks!

[Heldenkaiser]

I am sorry, I mean specifically with units in the frontline which can be attacked in my opponent's turn. Should they dig, so to resist better, or preserve MP so to enable them to retreat? Thx. :rolleyes:

[Veers]

I am sorry, I mean specifically with units in the frontline which can be attacked in my opponent's turn. Should they dig, so to resist better, or preserve MP so to enable them to retreat? Thx. :rolleyes:
Dig in, dig in, dig in.
Arty and HQ qill support if they are dug-in.
I am almost positive that units without MPs will be abel to retreat, but even if not (which someone will clarify for us) you aren't player 1, so no worries. :)

[General Staff]

Veers has it dead right. Dig like your life depended on it, because it often does.

And it's worth saving a single MP to ensure you can, even for units moving up to the front, since it will reduce the effects of interdiction on these units and the trenches will remain if you need them on a retreat later- highly likely in this scenario so site them well.

[Heldenkaiser]

That's what I thought, thanks .... in the PzC games, I always did like mad.

However, I found what irritated me.

"h) Player 1 vs. Player 2 movement/combat asymmetry

One significant remaining problem with the combat model is how the model deals with retreating. If your unit has no movement points left, it is usually NOT able to retreat. Instead of retreating, it will usually simply evaporate. If this applied to both sides, it would lead to a relatively bloody combat results system. But, because all units’ movement points reset at the beginning of player 1’s turn, player 2 is never subject to this penalty. When player 2’s units are attacked at the beginning of player 1’s turn, they ALWAYS have full movement points. On the other hand, all of player 1’s units that have moved all of their movement will be attacked with no movement points left, and thus will often evaporate. If player 1 digs in units, even those which have not moved, they are still subject to the same penalty, because the fact that they dug in takes all of their remaining movement points."

This is from

http://www.wargamer.com/toaw/scenplay/strategy.htm

Right or wrong?

[Heinz57]

Just a quick note, Heldenkaiser - I think that referenced one of the earliest versions of TOAW - but it hasn't applied to ACOW v.1.04 or TOAW III - so that can be safely ignored. Occasionally units may evap, but it won't be owing to that.

[Heldenkaiser]

I see. The article was recommended here ...

http://www.strategyzoneonline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=42681

... so I thought it was still relevant. :rolleyes:

I hope that some of it still applies though? For I read all of it ... :surprise: