how do I......

[Dutchguy]

hey, silly questions maybe, but how can I use the 'delay' action best?
And what does the 'secure bridge' action do? Does it involve removing explosives to blow it up or something? And if so, is it better to do the 'secure bridge' action with engineers?
And what's up with 'denie bridge'? Every time I order my qute cuddly germans to 'denie bridge' they just sit there and defend instead of blowing it up.

Got my *** kicked AGAIN with brits in Historical campaign:mad:

[Dutchguy]

wow, I can't say *** here?

[Mr.Frag]

Deny/Secure bridge does exactly what you would think, either prep and attempt to blow the bridge or disable the explosives.

Key to remember is that you can't just run for the bridge with Secure bridge as you'll generally end up with no bridge. Bring in other units to attack and suppress the units that are sitting there with the Deny orders so you can get one of your units in to secure it without it getting blown.

Delay seems to be like a Defend command, where you have the ability to preset the retreat locations. Never used it myself, but it probably has great value

Being a fellow "butt been kicked", absolute rule #1:

USE ALL YOUR TROOPS TO GET INTO ARNHEM ASAP!

I found that using the 3 independant groups to block units coming from the west and the rail bridge who end up running into your tail as you try and move is very effective. They will die, but thats really not the point as their sacrifice ensures that your troops make it into town.

[Fallschirmjager]

Delay is like defend

Except the Aggressivness and casulty thresholds are set to low
I think ROF is normal...but I always leave put that on high


They basicly make a unit a roadblock that will drop back when enough pressure is being exerted upon them

Useful for both sides to slow down your opponent when you dont want to lose that unit

[Arjuna]

Re Deny Crossing - essentially the force will defend the objective, prime the bridge and do so until threatened by superior enemy force. At which time they get a once only chance to blow the bridge. The chance is increased if you have engineers within 500m of the crossing. It's decreased if the closest engineer ( or if no engineers then the closest defending ) unit is suppressed. Combat effectiveness also affects the probability, with crack troops having a better chance than poorer troops. If successful, the bridge is blown and the force will send you a message. If not, they will grimly defend and await their fate.

Re Secure Crossing - again the force will defend the objective and unprime the crossing. Engineers unprime significantly faster than non-Engineer units. In RDOA you may often need to Attack the objective first to clear the enemy. This attack will not unprime the objective. So you need to organise a separate Eng unit to do a Secure Crossing task at the same time or a just a little later. In the new game ( HTTR ), you can now select a "Secure Crossing" checkbox on the Attack task data display and it will then automatically try and unprime the crossing as soon as it gets to within 500m. Unpriming is at least three times quicker than priming.

Re Delay - In RDOA a force ordered to Delay will Defend at its current location until seriously threatened or bypassed. It will then withdraw to another blocking position leaving a rearguard force if more than one unit. The rearguard will in turn withdraw a little later. In HTTR you specify waypoints and the force will Move to the first waypoint, where it will Defend until threatened. If threatened it will withdraw to the next waypoint or blocking position and repeat until it ends up at the final waypoint, where it will defend. In the future we hope to further modify this by splitting multi-unit forces into two groups and leapfrogging them back - there is always more

[Dutchguy]

aha, thanks.
I'll trie out delaying. (let's see how a glider pilot regt. holds out against half the German army;) )

And I will trie 'deny bridge' too. I'll trie out Batt. Krafft.
I guess the colour of the crossing point has something to do with the safety (red- primed for detonation, white- secure, not primed)?

[Arjuna]

Yep pink for primed, white for unprimed.

[Dutchguy]

Ok, I have some another questions.
Why is there a 'reorganize' task-button in the order screen?
It seems to me that everytime one of my units is routing/retreating/preparing for another task it's doing perfectly fine on it's own.
If I use 'reorganize' will it go faster? or can I put together two shot up companies and let them become one 'strong' new one or something?

And what's up with the 'fire' task?
when I use it against a 'current' enemy unit, the only result I get is my ammo running lower, are there rules to use it, or things to bare in mind?

(I can hear you guys mumbling......bloody noobs, with their stupid questions:D )

[coralsaw]

Hey Dutchguy,

No worries, we've been all newbies, it's not a problem.

Originally posted by Dutchguy
Why is there a 'reorganize' task-button in the order screen?
It seems to me that everytime one of my units is routing/retreating/preparing for another task it's doing perfectly fine on it's own.
If I use 'reorganize' will it go faster? or can I put together two shot up companies and let them become one 'strong' new one or something?

I'm afraid you can't combine new units from depleted ones. Units with low cohesion cannot function properly, or function with decreased effectiveness. This in reality would mean that soldiers have lost their unit, or that platoons of a Coy are not coordinated or other similar disorganisation. From time to time units will reorganise by themselves, if their leaders think it's appropriate, even if you've given them an order (which they'll get on with after the reorganisation has taken place).

I always try to use units with high cohesion/fatigue for critical tasks, since otherwise there is a high risk of failure. Giving a re-org order to a unit is a good idea if they are low on cohesion and the place and time is right (no enemies are expected), as when re-orging, a unit is susceptible more to arty and to enemy attacks. I routinely give a re-org order to Airborne troops as soon as they drop, because they regain cohesion faster this way.

And what's up with the 'fire' task?
when I use it against a 'current' enemy unit, the only result I get is my ammo running lower, are there rules to use it, or things to bare in mind?

The "fire" task, tells a unit to a) give fire priority (shoot more) to an enemy unit (among many threats for instance) or b) to "area fire", that is to fire at a particular spot, even though no unit is seen there. An enemy unit being "area fired" upon does take casualties and disruption, albeit at lower effectivenes than direct fire.

I must confess that I rarely use the first type of "fire", since the tactical AI seems to respond well to threats, but I've often used the second type of "fire" to provide a firebase while assaulting a difficult position and make the enemy keep their heads down a bit till my boys get close enough.

Be careful though not to specify a high ROF (rate of fire) while giving the "fire" order, as it will deplete your ammo, especially if you're the poor paras stuck behind enemy lines with minimal supplies.

Hope this helps.

/coralsaw

[Kevinugly]

Dutchguy, the real 'art' of playing AA is to let the AI handle most of the micromanagement. Issue basic orders (attack, defend, move etc.) at battalion or brigade level at the lowest unless it is really necessary. Think like a Corps commander and act accordingly to get the most satisfaction out of the game. The AI may not be perfect (and I have several gripes that hopefully the new game has ironed out) but its way ahead of most games of its ilk. If you have time, check out some of the older threads for more tips and use some of the links for extra info but above all ...... enjoy.