Possible error with 'Set all to follow' order

[Local Yokel]

Page 147 of the manual has this to say about selection of the 'Set all to follow' order for an LCU:

"Set All to Follow – Orders all ground units in the hex to follow the current unit. No following unit will enter a new hex until the unit they were ordered to follow enters first. For example, if Unit 1 is the current unit and Unit 2 and 3 are in the same hex, and this command is selected, Unit 2 and Unit 3 will follow Unit 1. Units 2 and 3 will not enter a new hex until Unit 1 does."

I issued an order to an LCU to march to a target base one hex distant. I then issued the 'Set all to follow' order whilst still accessing the LCU I had ordered to march. As I did't want every unit in the hex to follow, I then issued fresh destination orders, cancelling some units' instructions to follow the 1st unit selected. However, at least one unit (a fairly small and weak one) retained its order to follow the first unit.

For several turns all seemed to be going well. The units subject to 'follow' orders duly marched in the direction of the target hex, along with the unit they had been ordered to follow. The small, weak 'following' unit made faster progress than the one being 'followed', but that didn't trouble me in view of the manual's description above. The small unit's description clearly indicated that it was correctly following the first unit I had ordered to march to the target.

However, the small weak unit has now entered the target hex ahead of the unit it was supposed to follow, which is lagging some 10 miles behind. Directly contrary to what the manual says, 'Unit 2' has entered the new hex before 'Unit 1' did. So I now have a weak unit exposed to attack by superior enemy forces in the target hex at a time when it should have had the support of the larger, stronger unit it was supposed to follow. That makes me pretty annoyed, because I was banking on the 'follow' instruction not leaving my small unit exposed.

What have I done wrong, or does the game not do what it is supposed to in this respect?

[rtrapasso]

OOOh - i thought one had been solved.

i encountered a similar problem, but when the faster unit entered the hex, it "dragged" the slower one with it (presumably kicking and screaming... [:D])

Again, you can send a prefinalized save (with PASSWORDS, details, etc.) to me at rtrapasso @ gmail.com (no spaces) -

be sure to give details where/when this happens, info on mods (if any), etc.

i will see if i can duplicate it.

[castor troy]

What I´m experiencing is the follow unit order isn´t doing what it should do in 95% of the cases. Worked many patches ago though. Most times the leading unit will hit the 60 miles and is then reset to defend while the following units still are marching and have displayed "following xy unit" (the unit that is reset to defend again). Then the next turn all following units enter the next hex even though the "lead unit" is sitting in the hex they started. Since I have been experiencing that I always set the unit to lead the rest of which I think I don´t need it (eg a base force).

It also can happen the other way around! The lead unit enters a hex, all following units are reset to defend. This is the time then when one of your units get butchered by the enemy...

[rtrapasso]

Re: All to follow problems - i had thought it had been fixed in prior patches, but if players are experiencing problems with it, apparently it is not TOTALLY fixed.

Unfortunately, i am unable to reproduce the problem in the saves that have been sent to me so far [:(], but i do appreciate Local Yokel and his opponent's sending me the turns...

i ran the turn under both 1.804 and 1.806 and saw no movement from either unit that i was told to look at (Lingayen).

However, if other people have problems and have the appropriate saves, let me know! i'll keep chasing the problems, and eventually we will maybe catch one and correct it.

[Local Yokel]

Many thanks for the update, Robert. Interesting that the 'following' unit in question did not move into the destination hex, as it had already reached the 59 mile mark in its journey. Even allowing for the variable effects of fatigue upon movement rate, I would have expected it to pass into the destination hex if it was going to emulate the incorrect behaviour it exhibited in our game. It appears that, instead, on your machine it has done exactly what it is supposed to do, i.e. wait for the 'followed' unit to pass into the destination hex.

Incidentally we have overcome the problem in our game by my opponent honourably agreeing not to attack my aberrant unit until the LCU it was supposed to be following joins it in the destination hex.

[rtrapasso]

Excellent!! [&o] [&o]