Having a problem editing a unit

[tracer]

I'm using the MG-Car (railroad) in a scenario and can't find a 'fix' for a problem. The unit (classed as a halftrack) has a movement speed of 40, unlike the other railroad units which are immobile. I edited its speed to zero, but during the scenario it 'repaired' itself and was no longer immobilized.

Another problem affects several of the turreted railroad units: they are unable to fire at certain targets/hexes that are within their LOS but out of their visibilty arc (facing).

Any ideas or fixes?

[Irinami]

I have never known a player-purchasable Rail Car (eg, Japanese Type 91 Rail Car) to be unable to move off of railroad tracks. Are you sure you're using a developer-only railroad vehicle?

[Bing]

I think he means he wants the equivalent of a bunker, but due to the railroad car's class identification as a vehicle, it keeps repairing itself. This doesn't necessarily mean it would leave the tracks, though. I would try changing the class of the unit to something that is inherently immobile and see what happens.

The other problem is one which cannot be avoided, due to limitations of the game: Immobile infantry units will initially fire ONLY in the direction of their facing arc and you can walk right up to them, as long as you are not within their initial arc. I discovered this when creating a Russians vs. Germans scenario. I wanted German squads - emplaced in houses and other structures in a town - to stay and fight, not fight and retreat, which even SS squads will do if vigorously attacked. In order to get them to "sit and stay", I had to remove their ability to move completely, viz zero movement.

That's when I discovered that whatever way they were facing when I saved the scen, that is the way they would fire UNLESS attacked from an adjacent hex. I could walk the Russian squads right up to the house, as long as they were outside the initial arc of fire. Since an infantry unit is not a bunker, however, once I started firing AT them, they would fire back.

You can't do anything about it, because AFAIK the above behavior is hardwired into the game engine. The only out I had was to back up each squad with another squad facing the opposite direction.

To make it more confusing, I am not at all sure the above is true of ALL classes of units: You could try changing the MG car to a tank class and see what happens. I know the above is true for infantry units, but it seems to me immobile AFV's will fire outside their initial arc.

If you want, send me the scenario and I can tinker with it.

Bing

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Originally posted by Irinami
I have never known a player-purchasable Rail Car (eg, Japanese Type 91 Rail Car) to be unable to move off of railroad tracks. Are you sure you're using a developer-only railroad vehicle?

I'm using the railroad units that have been in SP for as long as I can remember. To access them, start a battle and change the date to 12/49...now use the 'nation' button and move to Norway: the cars are in the 'misc' section. Buy some and you'll see what I mean (after changing back to your original country, reset the battle date to whatever you had selected initially).

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Bing,
You may have a point in changing the MG car to a different 'class'. As a 'halftrack' it can only fire in its arc when immobilized, and like I mentioned above the others are listed as 'cruiser tanks'. I'll give it a try and see what happens.

[RockinHarry]

I´m a bit late here.

tracer, what you can do too, is to re-arm one of the other railcar units with weapons of your choice if the MG Car does not work! Changing the OOB for this purpose wouldn´t be the best option IMHO. Try rearming the R35 railcar!:)

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Harry, my mind must be getting soft from too much icon editing!
That's idea works out better than fixing the original problem. Thanks.