Demo

[junk2drive]

Just in case any test team members wander in here, the latest version of the demo is ready. It could be the final version so we need it looked over. Thanks.

 

[Scott Tortorice]

Not to preempt J2D, but it appears the demo is released :

headline story

Looking forward to trying it this weekend!

 

[junk2drive]

Thanks Scott. I was at work so you did well to post this. Thanks for putting the news on the front page too.

 

[BlitzCanuck]

***WARNING- SPOILERS***





I'm enjoying the demo but unfortunately the tutorial guide is nearly useless.
From viewing the forums it seems i'm not the only one that found it impossible to follow the guide as the arty barrage prevents you from moving your units in the prescribed manner. That and also the fact that the Russian ATG's get nice easy flank shots if you order your tanks to go where the guide says to. I lost four of the five panzers to the ATG's and a very early end to the scenario (decisive loss).
Next try i ordered the panzers to move fast to what i thought was some safe cover behind trees. Nope. I guess winter scenario means the trees don't cover much. Another defeat.
Third try i played on normal instead of easy but this time i didn't try to follow the guide. I moved everything directly toward the ATG's and area fired all the tanks. I still lost one and had another take a track hit for reduced mobility but took out both ATG's and ended up with a decisive victory. Winning is fun.

Also, it would've been nice if the tutorial included a few tidbits like how to find the list of hotkeys, how to toggle trees and grass as well as the size of the 3d icons.
Not a big deal. I just started pressing keys to see what effect they had so i was able to work it all out on my own.
But as it stands now, the tutorial guide isn't really worth the ink to print it out, which i did.

The other scenario is pretty good. Should be a lot of fun versus a human opponent.

 

[junk2drive]

Thanks for the feedback.

 

[Elvis]

I suppose I should probably RTFM but I'm not sure I understand what I am doing. I played around some last night but am making a more serious attempt to play now. I am in the T3 order phase and almost all my units have only a "Defend" list of options. For the first 2 turns it was all of the units. Now the infantry CO seems to have more options

(I'm playing the tutorial battle)

 

[junk2drive]

Depending on the original order your units will end their order and revert to defend status. The next time that you can give orders, you give the order to the CO and the subbies will change to that status as well. With PC you have to think more of platoon orders than squad orders. You don't click on your squads first, you click your CO first. Then if you want to adjust a squad to move here instead of there you can.

 

[Elvis]

Depending on the original order your units will end their order and revert to defend status. The next time that you can give orders, you give the order to the CO and the subbies will change to that status as well. With PC you have to think more of platoon orders than squad orders. You don't click on your squads first, you click your CO first. Then if you want to adjust a squad to move here instead of there you can.

Cool. Thanks.

 

[Scott Tortorice]

I just gave the demo a try and I have to say I am really impressed! I don't play very many wargames these days, but I could definitely see myself investing some time with this title! I particularly like the platoon-based order system.

I did see one graphics glitch: in the tutorial, a Soviet fighter-bombers swooped overhead and dropped a bomb...and then proceeded to dive into and through the ground, only to re-emerge a second or two later. Boy...those Sov fighters were built tough! Just FYI.

 

[Scott Tortorice]

I haven't had a chance to read through the entirety of the tutorial doc, so I apologize if these two questions are covered there:

1) Is there a way to fine tune the movement of a platoon's elements? For example, in the tutorial, I wanted my infantry platoon to move to a clump of trees. After plotting the movement order, the HQ element and one other unit headed to where I wanted them to go, but the unit on the far left flank wound up ending its movement in a patch of open ground...where it, of course, got slaughtered. Is there a way I could have tweaked that unit's movement path?

2) Can I issue multiple order types? For example, can I tell a unit to "advance" to the first waypoint and then "bound" to the second waypoint?

Thanks!

 

[BlitzCanuck]

Scott, don't know if this helps but i found this in the manual:

To force a movement with waypoints for the whole platoon, use
Ctrl and click to set the waypoint for the leader unit, then press Ctrl and Shift on just the final
waypoint to set this as the group’s destination.

 

[BlitzCanuck]

hmm, that actually doesn't seem to work. Maybe i'm doing it wrong but it doesn't do anything different than simply Ctrl clicking for the waypoint and then just left clicking on final destination without using ctrl or shift.

 

[junk2drive]

Scott you have to play this game from the Platoon level first, then squads second. Make sure you have all movement lines turned on with hotkey U. You could order the Commander unit to Engage>Move to a point in the trees. You should then see blue lines from the squads in the same direction as the CO. If one or more of the sub unit squads is not going to end where you want, you can then select that unit and use the same order to reposition that blue line to another point. After they finish the movement to the end of the blue line, they will assume a defensive stance. If you want them to move again, only the CO will have a line. To force the other squads to follow, hold shift while ordering the CO. There are reasons for this we can get into later.

 

[junk2drive]

You only need to use the shift when the sub squads won't follow the leader and you want them to. Also it is a bit tricky as you have to hold the shift while you click the destination.

 

[BlitzCanuck]

I can't find anything in the manual regarding waypoints other than what i posted below. Once you set a waypoint and then try to give a different order (either by right clicking or using spacebar), the first order you gave disappears.

 

[junk2drive]

These are my notes

All units which end their orders (other than Engage) will revert to Defend> Hold separate of the other units in a platoon. Engage orders will revert to Engage> Stay. If a platoon continues the same order (such as Engage> Move) only the Commander will receive the new order. Each subunit can be ordered after the Commander as desired. To force the whole platoon to follow that order, select the order, press and hold the shift key and click the destination. For orders without destinations, press and hold shift and then give the order.
This also works for Gold Orders such as Pathing and SOP. Gold orders are not global. Press and hold the shift key then click the button

Two new features are waypoints and automounting.
Automounting means you no longer have to wait for the next phase to mount. See 5.4
Waypoints are possible for Rush, Advance, Engage>Move, and Defend>Move, and Bound. (Not available for Withdraw). To place a waypoint, select an order, hold the crtl key and click the map. For more than one waypoint continue to hold the crtl key and click again. The maximum allowed waypoints is three. Automount is allowed for the last line of movement.

You cannot give a different order for the next waypoint.

 

[Mad Russian]

The PC game series has more of a chain of command that other games. The series is platoon oriented. All orders are given to the platoon leader. Then if you want to change a single squad/vehicle order you can.

If at any time you go back and change the leaders order all orders are reset. That includes the specific orders you may have given to individual squads/vehicles.

Currently, there is only a single type of order that can be given to a platoon per phase.

You can give up to 3 waypoints per platoon. You hold down the ctrl key and then left click where you want that waypoint. You can do the same for the next two. Keep the ctrl key pressed while you give the orders.

Good Hunting.

MR

 

[KG_Jag]

DEMO TUTORIAL SPOILER ALERT

The instant death and/or disruption from Soviet mortar fire at the beginning of the tutorial in "normal" mode is a real downer for someone, especially someone who is not a hard core and experience tactical wargamer, who is trying to learn the basics of the game and not be frustrated right out of the gate.

 

[Elvis]

Is what I am seeing WeGo? Or turn based? And if it is WeGo I'm not real clear on what the reaction phase is about. I understand the orders that are available, just not clear on what it represents in the space/time continuum?

 

[junk2drive]

KG we have seen enough complaints about the mortars that we are changing the demo to not have them arrive on the first turn.

Elvis think of CM 60 second turns with a chance to intervene half way through. PC turns are 80 seconds. At the 40 second mark, the action stops and you can issue limited commands to react to the current situation, then the turn continues. So the orders phase is where you give the orders to follow for 80 seconds and the reaction phase is your chance to modify those orders.