VASL6.6.7 now available

[PresterJohn]

Everyone playing a game should be using the same version of Vassal and the module.

One world, all on the same VASL/VASSAL version, with no compatibility problems and uninterrupted glitch-free game play.
Nope, can't see it happening.

 

[Philippe D.]

This might be the video corruption reported in another thread and you can try the Directx disabling in VASSAL compatibility settings.

I would be happy to try this, but the Preferences on Linux don't seem to have that many options. Problem remains; I checked with an earlier version of VASL and it doesn't seem to appear even with the newer VASSAL version.

 

[Philippe D.]

Is this the right place to report what seems to be bugs in v6.6.7?

I doubt I'm the first to notice this, but the German Sturm 5-3-7 from the Sainte-Mère HASL don't have an ELR option. The SM rules don't say anything about it, but they don't have underscored Morale and should ELR down to Conscripts (4-3-6 and 2-2-6).

 

[apbills]

Is this the right place to report what seems to be bugs in v6.6.7?

I doubt I'm the first to notice this, but the German Sturm 5-3-7 from the Sainte-Mère HASL don't have an ELR option. The SM rules don't say anything about it, but they don't have underscored Morale and should ELR down to Conscripts (4-3-6 and 2-2-6).

That was a feature when I made them due to this statement: "Neither Heat of Battle nor ELR Replacement can transform a non-Sturm MMC into a Sturm MMC " You are currently forced to perform a manual replacement with a normal German squad so that you can never BH/ELR back to a 537.

A 537 that ELRs to a normal conscript needs to be a normal German squad, so that it can BH to a 447, etc.. Having 4 separate image paths (one each for Sturm and Normal squad, each of those good order and broken) is currently beyond my skills. In addition, I have been a bit wary using the "Replace with Other" counter trait as VASSAL has some issues I keep finding. For instance, even though you tell it to keep the current state data, and the user guide says it will keep the level information the same, that is not happening when I use that trait in some cases. Instead it replaces the counter with the new counter at level 0 (or 1) regardless of the level the original counter was at. I will say I have not reported that bug to VASSAL as I am not convinced if it is VASSAL or just me that is the problem.

I suspect I will be helping Doug with some of the counter bugs in 668 (it is planned as a bug fix release) since that seems to be my current level of skill. I will have some time to look into it further, and have gained significant knowledge since I made those counters. We shall see, although if anyone else has ideas, feel free to update even though I made the original.

 

[DougRim]

@Philippe D.:

I agree with @apbills' logic and rules reference. We do the same thing with some of the Russian squads for the same reason: managing multiple BH and ELR paths for the same squad type is just too convoluted. There is less chance of an erroneous change is the user is forced to do it manually.

We keep the Russian problem on our issue list and look at it every once in a while to see if we can find a solution that won't cause more problems than it solves. I will add a reference to the Sturm 5-3-7 to that issue so we keep track of it as well. Thanks for flagging it.

 

[apbills]

So at least you got me curious as to what I actually did. I see that I used the "Replace with Other" trait for the BH action since when you do that the 548 counter has a 548 as its highest level counter before it goes fanatic, so in that case the trait works and you get the correct counter.

Also, I went into the module and added a replace with other trait for the ELR and even though you pick the counter that shows as a 436 in the tray, when you replace it the level 1 image (468) not the level 4 image (436) is what you get. IMO manually picking the counter is better than getting confused when a 468 shows up on the board. In this case you can not match image 4 with image 4 even if it worked in VASSAL since there is no image 4 for the 537 counter.

We have 2 counters in VASL with conscript levels. One is the 436-447-548 path counter and the other is the 436-447-467-468 path counter. Per A15.3 "When substituting a unit of the next higher quality, none of the numbers of its Strength Factor can decrease and, if given a choice between two different unit types of the next higher class, must use the one which gains the least"

Unless an SSR states otherwise, a 436-447-467-468 path is the correct path since you should not skip the 1st line quality squad.

 

[Philippe D.]

Isn't it a general rule that BH always has a single path (up), just as ELR has a single path (down)? There is an exception with the Russian 426 that normally BH to 527 but sometimes to 447.

But then, I don't know how it's implemented in VASL. Does each counter specify what BH/ELR does to it?

 

[DougRim]

Isn't it a general rule that BH always has a single path (up), just as ELR has a single path (down)? There is an exception with the Russian 426 that normally BH to 527 but sometimes to 447.

Yes, which is what I said. And now we have a second exception with the Sturm 5-3-7. And where there is one and two, there will be a third.

But then, I don't know how it's implemented in VASL. Does each counter specify what BH/ELR does to it?

Yes, each counter specifies what BH/ELR action it takes. So for the Russian 426, we would have to be able to determine which BH option it should take or offer the player a choice. It would likely be possible to do but no one has come up with the energy or enthusiasm to figure it out. Especially when it is very simple for players to drag out a new counter and when there are more significant bugs to fix. It's on our list but not high on our list.

 

[Philippe D.]

OK but the Sturm are no exception, right? They ELR down to 436, which BH to 447. It's only the Russians that have an exception.

 

[zgrose]

PiF has a similar asymmetry with leader, IIRC.

 

[Philippe D.]

Yes but it is a similar situation: several leaders ELR down to the same lower quality leader, but a leader has only one path up by BH (e.g. a 7-1 ELRs down to 7-0, but will later BH to 8-0). So there is no problem to define what a given counter ELRs down to.

 

[zgrose]

Yes but it is a similar situation: several leaders ELR down to the same lower quality leader, but a leader has only one path up by BH (e.g. a 7-1 ELRs down to 7-0, but will later BH to 8-0). So there is no problem to define what a given counter ELRs down to.

When you use Layers, as many counters do, there is an "automagic" way to skip 7-1 when you BH, unless something got added. Anywho, just wanted to mention it.

 

[apbills]

So looking into this topic I have tested a method to get the ELR to work, however, as with other replace with other traits, I found another bug. That bug is that a 237[2] halfsquad that either BHs or ELRs gets replaced with a full squad counter. I have figured out and tested a solution to that as well.

 

[von Marwitz]

Yes, which is what I said. And now we have a second exception with the Sturm 5-3-7. And where there is one and two, there will be a third.

Maybe this could be addressed by a "switch" for the appropriate HoB/ELR path in the context menu of the given counters?

von Marwitz

 

[DougRim]

@apbills has come up with a fix for this. It will be in the next 6.6.8-beta release.