AE Land and AI Issues [OUTDATED]

[Kereguelen]

ORIGINAL: Terminus

ORIGINAL: Dili

From what i have read is there any reason ,other than wishing Historical fidelity, to have also an Army HQ in Game, instead of only Corps HQ and the Front/Area Command?

Historical fidelity is enough. The Japs don't have corps.

Correct, the IJA did not use the term 'Corps'. But a Japanese 'Army' had (basically) the same function as a 'Corps' in US or European terms. And Japanese 'Area Armies' had (basically) the same command/leadership functions as 'Armies' in US or European armed forces.

But you'll see a new layer of command in the AE because we added 'Army-level' commands with their own command functions in the game. There are three layers of command for land forces now: Command HQ's (like India Command or Chinese Expeditionary Army), Army HQ's (like 14th British Army or 14th Area Army) and Corps HQ's (like 3rd US Corps or 25th Army).

Btw., the Soviets and Chinese are handled a little bit different.

[John Lansford]

Will it make any difference which HQ a particular LCU is assigned to?   I had both South and Central Pacific LCU's assault a base in the mid-Pacific with no penalty; will that be possible in AE too?

[m10bob]

ORIGINAL: treespider

ORIGINAL: Mike Solli

ORIGINAL: treespider
Err... I reread the thread...in reference to the Unit organization... yes...you can click on a Battalion that may be part of a division and see all of its sisters and brothers that make up the division family.

Actually, this brings up another question. You mention battalions of a division. Exactly how much can units break down? Can a division break down into it's component battalions? [X(]

Some units start the game broken down into component parts. These components can combine into a parent unit...however once this occurs the parent can only breakdown into the old WitP /A, /B and/or /C.

To combine into the parent unit all of the components need to be present.

As an example the following Battalions -I/124th, II/124th & III/124th can all be combined to form the 124th Regt. They start at Cam Ranh. All three parts need to be present in the same hex to combine and once they are combined the 124th is treated just like any other regt. and the player will no longer have access to the I/124, II/124 or III/124.

Perfect historical example of this is the Americal, (only American division which did not have a numeric identifier because it was made up of ad hoc units.)

[Dili]

But you'll see a new layer of command in the AE because we added 'Army-level' commands with their own command functions in the game. There are three layers of command for land forces now: Command HQ's (like India Command or Chinese Expeditionary Army), Army HQ's (like 14th British Army or 14th Area Army) and Corps HQ's (like 3rd US Corps or 25th Army).

 
Thank you. Can you explain if possible the diferences?

[Kereguelen]

ORIGINAL: John Lansford

Will it make any difference which HQ a particular LCU is assigned to? I had both South and Central Pacific LCU's assault a base in the mid-Pacific with no penalty; will that be possible in AE too?

LCU's will perform better when within range of the HQ they're assigned to (no penalties when not within range, but also no possibilty to receive a bonus).

[Pascal_slith]

Hey guys,

been reading a lot about AE. Have you posted a long 'features' list somewhere summarizing all these questions/answers?

[Pascal_slith]

Hi all,

is it possible for engineer units to explicitly demolish industry, resource/oil/supply points, ports, airfields etc. before a base is captured? This was indirectly taken care of up to now, I believe. But how about letting those Dutch units do it explicitly as a land combat action choice?

[John Lansford]

"LCU's will perform better when within range of the HQ they're assigned to (no penalties when not within range, but also no possibilty to receive a bonus)."

Ok, but there were strict rules irl that kept SoPac, SWPac and CenPac from operating together until they reached the Philippines.  So there's no penalty to sending LCU's from two different HQ's to attack one location?

Also, in VitP it appears Luganville is on the north end of the island, when IRL it is on the south.  Is this shown properly on the larger scale AE map?

[pad152]

1. Will there be a method (other than counting hexes) to determine of an LCU is in range to receive the command/control benefits of their parent HQ?

2. If the command chain is broken (out of range) between all of the these HQ's, how will a player know where it's broken?

3. Will LCU's receive any benefits from a non-parent HQ if it's in range?

[Dili]

How is Motorised LCU's are handled Vs Foot LCU's? I think in witp a force needed motorised support plus the icon armored to have mobility advantage over other units if i am not mistaken.

[Andy Mac]

No change for example the two light horse motor Bdes while strictly speaking are motorised infantry are set up as armoured units in game to represent the extra mobility.
 
Andy

[Dili]

Thanks.

[Dili]

Concerning above maybe a change in icon to Mechanized is warranted.*
 
More questions:
 
1-Will LCU have more device slots? if i am not mistaken only 16 were available.
 
2-* or will be possible to give a specific map icon to an unit independent from classification for mobility proposes?
 
3-Will be possible to give a specific image to an LCU in LCU Detail GUI- lets say an M4 sherman unit gets a Sherman pic and eventually its flag. An M3 gets another pic?

[Blackhorse]

ORIGINAL: Dili

Concerning above maybe a change in icon to Mechanized is warranted.*

More questions:

1-Will LCU have more device slots? if i am not mistaken only 16 were available.

Same as before. Twenty slots. Out of nearly one thousand US LCUs this limit affected only one -- "Pearl Harbor Defenses": A couple of 4" CD guns at Pearl Harbor were counted as part of the 3" gun devices because I reached the device limit. (And if you are the Japanese player trying to invade Oahu, you have bigger worries than the 4" guns.)
[;)]

3-Will be possible to give a specific image to an LCU in LCU Detail GUI- lets say an M4 sherman unit gets a Sherman pic and eventually its flag. An M3 gets another pic?

I think that's a great idea, but working the kinks out is our overriding priority right now. I'll add this to my "patch wish list."

[Blackhorse]

ORIGINAL: Andy Mac

No change for example the two light horse motor Bdes while strictly speaking are motorised infantry are set up as armoured units in game to represent the extra mobility.

Andy

The US also has some Motorized units that, for movement purposes are set up as armor units: The 7th Motorized Division*, a Motorized Infantry Regiment, and some Horse-Mechanized and Mechanized Cavalry Regiments. None of these will be a factor unless the Japanese are kind enough to invade the West Coast.

* = The War Dep't deemed the "Motorized Division" experiment a failure. A motorized division took up as much shipping space as an Armored Division, but only had the fighting strength of an infantry division. Because of shipping limits, no overseas theatre commander ever requested a motorized division. They all converted back to infantry before they deployed. The 7th Division is available to deploy in early 1943, after it converts back to infantry.

[Andy Mac]

In India the allies get 3 'Motorised' formations.
 
268th Bde which is motorised throughout its life (another Bde that dibands after 6 months)
 
AND
 
17th Indian Div which remechanises late in 45 and for game purposes I classified it as a motorised formation after the re mech
 
17th Indian Div was a total PITA actually
 
3 Bde understrength 41 Div to Light 2 Bde Jungle Div, Back to a 3 Bde Div and then another variant of the 3 Div Bde with less Brit and more Indian Squads and finally a motorised TOE
 
A lot of the complication in the Indian Army TOE is of my own making so I should not complain too much !!!
 
The fact that Indian Army formations steadily change out British Bns for Indian one throughout the war to offset low British replacements was a major thing I wanted to fix in AE and we did it but it did complicate the Indian Army TOE's
 
Andy

[Dili]

I said 16 because i once read it here that the last 4 didnt worked or were for some specific propose. I just dont remember much now and might have been just a rumour.
 
I think the unit icon on the map is more important. Having Horse Cavalry or Armored Artillery(Olympic might have all kinds of wonder units)  with the only oval Tank Icon is a bit underwhelming.
 

[Kereguelen]

ORIGINAL: Dili

I said 16 because i once read it here that the last 4 didnt worked or were for some specific propose. I just dont remember much now and might have been just a rumour.

I think the unit icon on the map is more important. Having Horse Cavalry or Armored Artillery(Olympic might have all kinds of wonder units) with the only oval Tank Icon is a bit underwhelming.

I think you'll see additional LCU icons in the AE somewhen in the future[8D].

[Dili]

Okay

[Blackhorse]

ORIGINAL: Dili

(Olympic might have all kinds of wonder units) 

It will. Wonder devices, mostly. You'll find armored artillery as part of the corps artillery LCUs coming over from Europe, 4.5" Rocket Artillery (also in corps artillery), Assault Infantry Squads added to Marine divisions, and Pershing tanks added to infantry divisions.

The "Commonwealth Corps" -- British, Canadian and Australian divisions with US equipment -- will appear.

There are also a few separate battalions of M4 Zippo Flamethrower tanks.