Orders Question Again

[BK6583]

I might be missing something but this is perplexing me. I have a battalion "waiting" and dug in on a defensive position at the start of a scenario. I want to max out the aggro, fire and casulaties of the battlaion. My delema: It appears I have to issue a defend order with Bn HQ to cange these settings. In doing this, when I start the game the AI very annoyingly repositions my front line infantry units thereby negating their dug in status. I then apparently as an alternative issues a defend in place order to each line infantry unit to increase the aforementioned settings. This maintains their dug in status but now they're detached from the bn hQ and lose all of the benefits of that HQ. What can I do here within the game mechanics?

[simovitch]

Have you tried giving the 'defend' in-situ command with the max toggles to the Bn HQ?

[loyalcitizen]

I'm still waiting for the In-Situ attack to return. Hate it when my troops get all tired out and disorganized needlessly trading places on the front line prior to an attack. If I have my units where I want them already, please, just let me have then leave their foxholes and march forward.
 
 

[johndoesecond]

ORIGINAL: loyalcitizen

I'm still waiting for the In-Situ attack to return. Hate it when my troops get all tired out and disorganized needlessly trading places on the front line prior to an attack. If I have my units where I want them already, please, just let me have then leave their foxholes and march forward.

I think I read somewhere in the manual that if you set the speed to "Fastest" when issuing attack order, the units will (likely) start to attack from their position, without too much of reorgising and moving into formation. It's not super clear from the manual, but I suppose you'd need to set the FUP just on top of HQ's position, to have this sorts of attack.

I haven't experimented with this, but you could give it a try.

To me, it's getting clearer and clearer that we'd need a slightly richer and maybe more order-dedicated set of options. All this having to know how combinations of settings work with different orders (also in relation to the echelon level you're issuing the order to) makes the whole thing a bit murky. Just saying ...

Cheers.

[simovitch]

Not 'fastest' but 'shortest'.

Order your assaults using Bn HQ's in line (or some other) formation set to shortest and they should B-line it into the assault without the chinese fire drill. 'Quickest' (fastest?) will make them form up and move along a road and reorg back into formation which, along with other types, would cause the effect you are seeing. Giving 'complex' orders at Regiment and above is a bit more problematic.

Also, I will sometimes change the formation during the assault approach to adapt to the situation - it will usually not cause an orders delay or a significant shuffle of units.

[johndoesecond]

ORIGINAL: simovitch

Not 'fastest' but 'shortest'.

Order your assaults using Bn HQ's in line (or some other) formation set to shortest and they should B-line it into the assault without the chinese fire drill. 'Quickest' (fastest?) will make them form up and move along a road and reorg back into formation which, along with other types, would cause the effect you are seeing. Giving 'complex' orders at Regiment and above is a bit more problematic.

Also, I will sometimes change the formation during the assault approach to adapt to the situation - it will usually not cause an orders delay or a significant shuffle of units.

Thanks for corrections, I appreciate you help. [&o]

I'll play with that a bit.

[johndoesecond]

Hi Simovitch,

I had another look at the manual, and on p. 79 it indeed says "If you need to put in a quick attack then: select Fastest move speed".

I see how this may be misunderstood. I thought it meant “to begin assaulting ASAP”, while it may also be intended as “to get to the FUP as fast as possible”, as you’re suggesting. Of course, the two are not fully equivalent.

Anyway, to come to BK6583's question, as I understand it now, “shortest” may not be the most appropriate way to start the attack ASAP. If I got all the bits of the options puzzle right, then the “Avoidance” (to avoid enemy disturbing movement to the FUP and reorg tasks) or "Quickest" route (better!, if no enemies are expected to disturb the movement to the FUP) together with the “fastest” speed (to get there ASAP) would be the best combination.

Don’t you think so?

Thanks.

[simovitch]

jds - sometimes it depends on what level you are commanding your forces at. For this discussion, assume I give commands at Bn level.

For assaults I usually use 'quickest' or 'shortest' but without 'fastest' because fatigue is such a concern (the next patch will alleviate some of this). 'Fastest' will wear out your troops because you are instructing them basically to hoof it to the objective.

I like using 'shortest' because the force tends to stay in formation all the way to the FUP and can "sweep" the area in front... not always, but usually. Using 'quickest' they will tend to seek out a road and then form up again before the assault. Good for long distances to the FUP.

Avoidance sometimes tends to send them on some roundabout routes but sometimes that is the best approach as well.

These are just general observations from my own experience over the years.