Halting!!!!!!!! ARGH!!!!!!!

[Phoenix100]

Dave - I know you've already looked at my saves about this - some time ago - but when will it be fixed, please - assuming it's a fault. In the example below - RED DEVILS - I'm for once doing quite well, but the group of units - of which B sqn GPR is the highlighted example - has just got stuck!! Earlier on they dealt with the KG Krafft units and knocked them off their perch. many units flooded through, took the rail bridge and moved on. But what are this lot doing? Halting, halting, halting. What on earth is going on? Please? I have the save at this point, if you want it. But it's the same thing as before. Thanks.

[Arjuna]

I believe I have fixed this issue. But please email me the save you have and I will run it to make sure.

I plan to release a new patch very soon. I want to finish off some work on the ScenMaker and fix a couple of other problems that appear in the converted COTA scenarios. Once they are done we will release a new patch.

[Phoenix100]

Thanks, Dave. Save sent through. I'm afraid I'll have to wait for that patch before attempting to play the game again, because it's just too frustrating when parts of your force get hung up like that. Makes a mockery of your planning, which is most of the fun of the game....

[Phoenix100]

Did you get to look at the save, Dave? Is the fix for this on the list you've just put out? And when does that beta get released to us all? Thanks.

[Arjuna]

phoenix,

I checked out your save and stepped through it once but ran out of time before I could clearly say what was causing the halting. I need to have another go through next week. I will get to the bottom of it. [:)]

[Arjuna]

OK I stepped through again focussing on why the 1st Abn Div HQ is not moving. It has a Move task for itself and B Coy Glider pIlots unit. At the save the Glider Pilots (GPs) are halted almost in direct contact with the 2nd Kraft coy. The GP coy is a lot weaker than the 2nd Kraft coy. The only options you have authorised for the Move task assigned to the 1st Abn Div HQ is to attack. But its force is too weak to take on 2 Kraft so it passes on that option. If you had authorise it to Bypass then it might have had a a viable option. As it is it stays there for quite a while. Eventually 2 Kraft moves a little and the GPs get to head off again. But this takes a while.

So please remember that if you do not give your forces the authority top Bypass then they won't. It will be up to you to manually order that.

Alright I'm now going to take a look at the nearby7th Kings Own Border Bn and work out why it has not launched an attack. It oo is held up by the pesky 2ndd Kraft Bn. But it should have enpough strength to luanch a viable attack. I will be backl.

[Phoenix100]

Thanks so much Dave. Very helpful. I hadn't realised that not checking the box limited their options so much, to be honest (though perhaps this was very stupid of me). I'd assumed that if you give them a Move task then they will try all ways to complete that. I'd assumed somehow that checking 'attack' didn't mean that you were authorising them to do something that they wouldn't otherwise do, but somehow giving them an extra option and telling them to consider it, perhaps even as a priority. Ditto 'bypass' - I had assumed that if you didn't check this they would STILL bypass if they needed to in order to complete the main order (Move), but maybe if you checked it they would rank this option higher in the range of options. And - that IS the case, no? Because you've said that they do eventually move on, they do eventually bypass, without having that checked - am I right? So - to be absolutely clear - when you say So please remember that if you do not give your forces the authority to Bypass then they won't. It will be up to you to manually order that. what exactly do you mean (given that, in the example above, they do actually, eventually bypass, without being given an order)? Am I being stupid/missing something? Are you saying that if you give a Move order then if the unit encounters an obstruction it will simply halt UNLESS you've given a bypass instruction? Halt until the obstruction moves? Or what? And if you check 'avoidance', for example, for the planning phase, does that affect this behaviour?

[Arjuna]

I found a bug in the code that tries to initiate attacks. There is a spot where it modifies down the initation probability if the subject has to cross a river to get to the objective. Trouble was that I had made a change to the default value that says whether you are across the river or not but had failed to change the actual test code to accomoate this change. As a result whenever you tried to initiate an attack it would say you are across the river and drastically reduce the prob of launching the attack. My bad. I have fixed this and will test to see if there is anything else amiss.

[Arjuna]

I let it play on a bit and noticed that the Bn did not launch an attack but it did change formation, which brought more units forwards to engage with the enemy. But then half an hour later it launched a probe. So it looks like it has freed up the log jam. [:)]

[Phoenix100]

My God, how complicated it is. The changes will be in the next patch? Do you have an idea of when I can get that? Thanks.

[Arjuna]

As always that depends on how soon we can wrap things up here on the COTA Ex Pack. We're very close but I's say it will be another fortnight or so before we sign off and then another few weeks for the installers to be worked up, tested and approved.

[Arjuna]

I took another look at this issue and have tweaked the reassessment code to make it more likely that an attack will be put in. Replaying this saved game with the new code the KOSB Bn HQ starts a probe within half an hour of the saved game commencing. I'm pretty happy with that now.

BTW we are hoping to wrap up the data changes to the COTA Ex Pack by the end of the weekend. So hopefully we can then put out a new build, test it and if all goes OK put out a patch after that. So not long now.

[Phoenix100]

Sounds great. Thanks, Dave. Look forward to playing it with the patch - sometime this month, or next month, I guess.

[Arjuna]

Probably. We have a few issues to resolve before we can wrap up the patch. But we'e working on them. [:)]

[qdm]

Is this the reason why in the tutorial of BftB, I take 2 or 3 more times to do anything than explained in the videos ? I took Lommersweiler during the evening of day 1 and a whole battalion was stopped for most of day 2 by an HQ and a mortar platoon on the road to Breitfeld.

[Lieste]

Possibly, though I'd note that as routine I have significant numbers of troops from CCB in St Vith ahead of the German Morning Day 2 reinforcements... if you are still stuck in the south it isn't purely a 'code' thing.

[Txema]

Arjuna,

Any news on the patch ?

How is it progressing ?

Txema

[Arjuna]

The critical path is with Paul at the moment. I'm waiting on him to fix a number of issues.

[qdm]

ORIGINAL: Lieste

Possibly, though I'd note that as routine I have significant numbers of troops from CCB in St Vith ahead of the German Morning Day 2 reinforcements... if you are still stuck in the south it isn't purely a 'code' thing.

Which means your are in St Vith by the end of Day 2 ? I'm relatively new to CO (in fact it is the first time I play), so maybe I am missing something, but I guess most of my delay (for the jump between the south and Breitfeld) is due to being stuck by this HQ for several hours before the CCB try to attack it.

[Lieste]

No, that means I am in St Vith by Dawn of Day 2 ~ usually getting there with just under 2 Bn from CCB prior to the entry of the German reinforcing Bn, which is promptly shattered while still north of the town. I'd say that is about 95% reliable although a delay at Steinbruck or Lommersweiler can tie up the introduction of the reinforcements and delay the exploitation in exceptional circumstances.

Note that CCB is not committed to the fight for Lommersweiler unless Steinbruck is threatened (almost unheard of), and the reduction of and securing of the two southern objectives (and usually Beitfeld) is left to CCA. CCB gets the mission to secure St Vith, and to screen to the East and West, CCR positions in the South West and drives North into the rear flank of Peiper while he is busy deploying to attack NE.

My initial attack differs somewhat from the tutorial (from my memory) - I send 318 Inf to attack across the river on the low ground parallel to the road, screened from the bridge site and Lommersweiler in the early stages by darkness, then the shoulder of the ridge. 35th Armour attacks down the road, while 51st AI deploys on the ridge they start near and performs an Attack By Fire mission in support of the advance - they should prevent any organised reinforcement of the bridge site, neutralise the Infantry Coy on the reverse of the hill directly in front of their position, and support the advance of the 35th.

The artillery concentrates fires on enemy heavy weapons - mortars, infantry guns, anti-tank guns and FlaK, while the mortars suppress the closest enemy unit to the tip of the attack.

The reason that I organise the attack this way, is that the lighter armour in 51st Infantry is too vulnerable to fire from all three enemy anti-armour groups - FlaK, StuG, PaK, all of which can fire on it between the ridge and the crossing. Deploying at longer range and attacking with the heavier 35th Armour (which is also further to the East and less vulnerable to the FlaK and StuG units at Lommersweiler) gives better overall survivability for the same commitment of ENY firepower, have a more effective presence from 51st Infantry also secures the Western approach to the crossing, denying the enemy the ability to reinforce the critical point - the crossing itself is in dead ground to the forces at Lommersweiler, and to reinforce the enemy must march a long way to the north or risk moving in the open in front of a strong force equipped with many heavy weapons, and supported by 2 Bn of artillery. Steinbruck usually falls to the first assault, by around 9-10am, and attacks by 35th Armour and 51st Infantry towards Lommersweiler during the afternoon usually lead to at least contesting this objective by early afternoon - though actually securing it may take until evening. CCB on arrival gets tasked with bypassing ENY presence and securing St Vith (and later Beitfeld if still unsecured by CCA). Sufficient elements are detached to sweep &/or secure all cross roads in the flank/rear of the advances to permit uninterrupted delivery of supplies - otherwise ENY remnants or support troops will tend to infiltrate onto supply routes. Also routes occupied by Friendly forces cannot be used for delivery of ENY supply.