Sneak Peeks, Coming Attractions, Works-In-Progress

[Jason Petho]

Campaign Series Vietnam: ALPHA Graphics: SCENARIO DESIGN
New scenario:

Air, Land and Sea - Operation DRAGON FIRE
6 September, 1967
[Batangan Peninsula, Quang Ngai Province, South Vietnam]: [SIDE A][HIS][CSL]: In the province of Quang Ngai, the Batangan Peninsula was a well-known Viet Cong stronghold and had been the scene of several previous Allied operations, including Operation Piranha in 1965. In 1966 the peninsula became part of the Tactical Area of Responsibility of the South Korean 2nd Marine Brigade. The effectiveness of the South Korean 2nd Marine Brigade remained a question mark as since arriving in Vietnam, the Koreans had stayed near their bases. When they did venture out, it was rarely for more than ten days at a time. One of the exceptions was Operation Dragon Fire conducted against the Batangan Peninsula. After receiving intelligence that the Viet Cong 48th Battalion was refitting on the peninsula, a combined arms operation was developed to secure the peninsula and go one step further to create a tactical base on the southern end of the peninsula to wrestle control from the Viet Cong in the area. Operation Dragon Fire would involve the 1st, 2nd and 5th R.O.K. Marine battalions, one advancing from the west towards the peninsula over land, one combat assaulting on the western side of the peninsula and the last performing an amphibious landing on the northern beaches of the peninsula. Support would be made available from U.S. Marine gunships as the operation progressed. As with previous operations, the terrain and villages surrounded by dense hedgerows favoured the defending Viet Cong, making the task long and tedious. The operation generated a large number of refugees as they fled the fighting or abandoned their villages in the peninsula. [ALL][CSEE, Variable Objectives][1.00]

[Jason Petho]

Campaign Series Vietnam: ALPHA Graphics: SCENARIO DESIGN
New scenario:

Into the Mountains - Battle of Dak To - Phase 1
4 November, 1967
[Dak To, Kontum Province, South Vietnam]: [SIDE A][HIS][CSL]: By early October, U.S. intelligence reported that the Peoples Army of North Vietnam were withdrawing regiments from the Pleiku area to join those in Kontum Province, thereby dramatically increasing the strength of local forces to that of a full division. The goal of operations in the area, according to a captured document from the B-3 Front Command, was to annihilate a major U.S. element in order to force the enemy to deploy as many additional troops to the Central Highlands as possible. The area around Dak To had been well prepared by the PAVN. Nearly every key terrain feature was heavily fortified with elaborate bunker and trench complexes. With ample supplies and ammunition moved into the area, the three PAVN Regiments south of Dak To were ready for a fight. In response, the U.S. 4th Infantry began moving the 3rd Battalion, 12th Infantry and the 3rd Battalion, 8th Infantry into Dak To to launch Operation MacArthur. On October 29th, the 4th/503rd Airborne returned to the area as a reinforcement being sent to the Ben Het CIDG Camp. The U.S. Operation started with elements of the 3rd/12th Infantry combat assaulting north of Hill 1338, where they would work their way south and clear the ridge. 3rd/8th would establish a firebase on Hill 1001 while the rest of the battalion would combat assault near Hill 865 and advance west. Most of the 4th/503rd would advance south on foot from Ben Het and later establish a firebase on Hill 823. Fighting soon erupted for all three battalions as they ran into the PAVN defensive positions. These battles that erupted on the hill masses south and southeast of Dak To became some of the hardest-fought and bloodiest battles of the Vietnam War. [ALL][CSEE, Variable Objectives][1.00]

[Jason Petho]

Campaign Series Vietnam: ALPHA Graphics: SCENARIO DESIGN
New scenario:

Stirring the Nest - Battle of Hill 823
6 November, 1967
[Dak To, Kontum Province, South Vietnam]: [SIDE A][HIS][CSL]: Reacting to 4th Division intelligence that the headquarters of the NVA 40th Artillery Regiment was then located five kilometers southeast of Ben Het, the 4th/503rd Airborne was ordered to search the suspected area. A, C and D companies/4th/503rd had spent the day finding abandoned foxholes and entrenchments, but generally it was another day without incident. Thus far the only enemy force threatening Dak To was engaged with the two battalions of the 4th Infantry Division, south and southwest of the camp. On the morning of November 5th, still finding no trace of the enemy, Company A was now to trail Company D, allowing it to be readily available as a reserve as Company D advanced towards the Ngok Kom Leat ridge north of Hill 823. Company C advancing towards the high ground on the northern edge of the ridge along the trail network to the north, discovered some unoccupied enemy foxholes. As the distance between the companies and their Ben Het base was lengthening. It was decided that the 4th/503rd would establish a new fire support base closer to the anticipated area of combat. After making an aerial reconnaissance together, they selected Hill 823 because it dominated the terrain and would be mutually supporting with Ben Het. Relieved of the mission of providing security for Ben Het, Company B was to conduct combat assault onto the hill at 0900 on November 6th. After B Company secured Hill 823, Chinooks would transfer Battery B, 3rd/319th Artillery on the hilltop. As the companies of the battalion reached their objectives, and B Company's combat assault into a cold Landing Zone, the appearance of fresh prints of bare feet in the soft ground, a bamboo reel for wire, newly dropped human feces, all pointed to the nearness of the enemy. Advanced parties were sent out to recon the areas immediately around the hilltops seemed to have stirred the nest. Elements of the PAVN 174th Regiment sprang into action and swarmed around the Airborne companies, starting a fierce engagement that would last throughout the day. [ALL][CSEE, Variable Objectives][1.00]

[ringoblood]

Looks awesome Jason, You keeping me up and Happy though my depression of lost of my grandmother and cancer now giving me hope for this game, keep the screenshots coming, brother, Vietnam one of my favorite wars, had 4 family members served in that conflict, hits home. [:)]

[Jason Petho]

Very happy to help!! Stay tuned, there are more goodies coming for sure!

Positive vibes for you and yours.

[Jason Petho]

Campaign Series Vietnam: ALPHA Graphics: SCENARIO DESIGN
New scenario:

Cumulation of Violence - Battle of Hill 875
November 19, 1967
[Dak To, Kontum Province, South Vietnam]: [SIDE A][HIS][CSL]: Intense fighting in the notoriously difficult terrain of the Dak To area had been going on for a few weeks already. During the previous two weeks, U.S. and ARVN forces found the PAVN troops and repeatedly made bloody assaults in the attempt to dig him out of his bunkers and trenches. Casualties mounted reducing companies in some Free World battalions to 50 and 60 percent, especially the U.S. 173rd Airborne Brigade's three battalions. On the November 11th the 1st Battalion/503rd engaged in a battle that decimated two of their companies that were formed into a task force at Hill 823. U.S. intelligence indicated that the PAVN troops in the area were the fresh 174th Regiment that had slipped westward past Ben Het and had taken up positions on an 875-metre-high hill just six kilometres from the border. The 174th Regiment had done so in order to cover the withdrawal of the 66th and 32nd Regiments, which were moving toward their sanctuaries across the Cambodian frontier. The Hill 875 complex consisting of three lines of mutually supporting bunkers all dug into the side of hill and interconnected with deep bombproof tunnels. A series of trench lines ran around the crest of hill from which grenades could be thrown and rocket propelled grenades fired. Mortar crews were positioned on the ridges behind the hill and were to provide indirect fire support. A Special Forces mobile strike force had been advancing up Hill 875 and had been taken under fire by PAVN in bunkers. Knowing the PAVN were there, the depleted 2nd/503rd was tasked with taking Hill 875. Moving across the mountainous terrain, A/2nd/503rd was the lead company and found a small hospital complex at the base of Hill 875. After laagering for the night, and artillery from 319th Artillery and airstrikes had spent hours bombarding the hilltop, Companies C and D would begin the climb to the crest of Hill 875. The culminating battle of Operation MACARTHER started on this day would result in the hardest fought victory of 1967. [ALL][CSEE, Variable Objectives][1.00]

[demyansk]

Jason, coming out soon?????

[Jason Petho]

Q2 2020ish, demyansk. As you can see, we're only creating scenarios for 1967 at the moment, but they are almost done. Still a ways to go yet!

[demyansk]

Thanks Jason for the info and keep up the good work. I had a coupon and was wondering. I'll buy it anyway to support you guys. Been buying a lot of solitaire board games but still not played. Fire in the Lake is arriving soon and have Tank Duel on the table, ready to be opened.

[Jason Petho]

Campaign Series Vietnam: ALPHA Graphics: SCENARIO DESIGN
New scenario:

The Shaping - Battle of Route 606
29 July, 1967
[Con Thien, Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam]: [SIDE A][HIS][CSL]: Operation BUFFALO and HICKORY II were sweeping operations of the southern half of the Demilitarized Zone with the intention of destroying PAVN fortifications, mortar and artillery positions south of the border. At the close of HICKORY II, a new operation was started under the guise of Operation KINGFISHER with much the same mission as before. On July 28th a Marine Task Force consisting of 2nd/9th Marines reinforced with a platoon of tanks, three Ontos, three LTVE's and engineers conducted a spoiling attack to the northwest of Con Thien along Provincial Route 606, which skirted along the border, clearing the southern half of the DMZ. The Task Force advanced up Route 606 with little contact, but the terrain made movement difficult for the flanking companies. The terrain also canalized the advance into a relatively narrows "V" as the end of the route came to the junction of the Ben Hai River and a tributary, which was unable to be crossed, meaning the Task Force would have to take the same route back. At the end of the day, the Task Force set up Night Defensive Positions at various positions along the route to head out the next morning. The PAVN were aware of what the Marine Task Force was doing and while they did not attack the Night Defensive Positions during the night, they were maneuvering around the Marines using the difficult terrain and darkness to their advantage. As dawn broke and the Marines started their trek back to Con Thien, the valuable lessons of Sun Tzu were about to be brutally reminded, "Avoid being Shaped". [ALL][CSEE, Variable Objectives][1.00]

[bootlegger267]

Looking really nice!

[Jason Petho]

Thank you, bootlegger!

[Jason Petho]

Campaign Series Vietnam: ALPHA Graphics: SCENARIO DESIGN
New scenario:

High Price at the Market - Battle of Gia Binh
2 July, 1967
[Gia Binh, Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam]: [SIDE A][HIS][CSL]: Since late 1966, Marines had been fighting the People's Army of North Vietnam in the area around Con Thien (translated as "Hill of Angels"). Prior to May 1st, 1967, the hill was defended by ARVN troops, later being taken over by the U.S. 9th Marines. The Marines along the DMZ began construction of the strongpoint obstacle system south of the border in the spring and fall of 1967 in compliance with orders from MACV and Washington. The system, called the "McNamara Line" by the Marines, proved to be a major burden to the 3rd Marine Division. Security of the troops building the line, coupled with the demands on Marine units to fill sandbags, creosote bunker timbers, install wire, and other associated tasks, severely restricted the division's combat activities. The Marines' combined-arms fire power from strong points would then confront the anticipated PAVN attacks. Smaller patrols and infiltration groups would face the challenge of the extensive obstacle system. The PAVN, however, chose to attack before the system became too strong. The PAVN decided to concentrate on the Marine strong point at Con Thien, located 22 kilometres inland and three kilometres south of the DMZ. This outpost was crucial to Marine efforts in the area, as it occupied the northwest corner of the strong point obstacle system, which enclosed an area known as "Leatherneck Square." Con Thien also overlooked one of the principal enemy routes into South Vietnam. The capture of the outpost would open the way for a major enemy invasion of Quang Tri Province by 35,000 PAVN troops massed north of the DMZ, a victory of immense propaganda value. The first offensive aimed at Con Thien, the largest in terms of troops committed, occurred in July. For the first time the PAVN employed extensive artillery to support its infantry, but the Marine counterattack, Operation Buffalo, beat them back with excessive casualties Operation Buffalo began on July 2nd utilizing the 1st Battalion, 9th Marines in and around Con Thien. Companies A and B operated north and northeast of the strongpoint near a former market place on Route 561, while Company D and the battalion command group remained within the outpost perimeter. On the morning of 2 July, Alpha and Bravo Companies, 1st Battalion, 9th Marines made their way up north on Highway 561 and secured a crossroad as their first objective. As they advanced further north between Gia Binh and An Xa, near a marketplace, they made contact with advance elements of two battalions of the PAVN 90th Regiment when sniper fire began to break out, enemy fire intensified as efforts were made by the 3rd Platoon to suppress it. Tri-directional ambushes caught B/1st/9th in a quagmire of fire. The battle that followed is where the 1st/9th Marines would acquire their nickname, "The Walking Dead". [ALL][CSEE, Variable Objectives][1.00]

[Jason Petho]

Campaign Series Vietnam: ALPHA Graphics: SCENARIO DESIGN
New scenario:

Into the DMZ - Operation Hickory
18 May, 1967
[Con Thien, Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam]: [SIDE A][HIS][CSL]: Following the May 8th attack on Con Thien, recognizing that the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) were using the DMZ as a sanctuary for attacks into I Corps, Washington lifted the prohibition on US forces entering the DMZ and MACV authorized the III Marine Amphibious Force (III MAF) to conduct combat operations into the southern half of the Demilitarized Zone. During the period 13-16 May, while clearing Route 561 from Cam Lo to Con Thien, the 1st Battalion, 9th Marines made heavy contact with a large PAVN force in well prepared positions just south of Con Thien. The PAVN subsequently withdrew into the DMZ. Following this action, III MAF developed a plan for a series of combined operations to sweep and clear the southern DMZ that involved the 3rd Marine Division and elements of the 1st ARVN Division. Operation HICKORY would see a Marine blocking force combat assaulted along the Ben Hai River while two battalions would advance north from Con Thien to meet it. Operation LAM SON 54 would advance along Route 1 to the DMZ and then turn south. As these two operations were under way, Operation BEAU CHARGER would have the Marine Special Landing Force Bravo combat assault into the area northwest of Gio Linh and under Operation BELT TIGHT the Special Landing Force Alpha would conduct an amphibious assault on the beaches northeast of Gio Linh south of the Ben Hai River. On the morning of May 18th, the U.S. 2nd Battalion, 26th Marines and the U.S. 2nd Battalion, 9th Marines, supported by tanks and Ontos, advanced north from Con Thien to press any PAVN against a blocking force from the 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines landed by helicopters on the B?n H?i River. At 10:00, 2nd/26th Marines made contact with 2 PAVN Battalions in bunkers and trenches. To the east, the ARVN Parachute battalions sweeping south from the DMZ on the western side of Route 1 were fairing no better. The PAVN were well dug in with the elements of the 31st and 812th Regiments and were willing to fight. [ALL][CSEE, Variable Objectives][NOTE: This scenario only covers the actions that happened west of Route 1][1.00]

[Jason Petho]

Here are the 1967 scenarios

[Jason Petho]

Campaign Series Vietnam: ALPHA Graphics: Mapping.

I've been spending the last week working on the III Corps Master map that will be included in the game and will be the map I have been creating the III Corps scenarios from. The area to the southwest of Saigon has been the primary focus as of late, but it is quite tedious with the plethora of canals. Here is a shot of Duc Hoa, which was attack during Tet 1968.

[Jason Petho]

Campaign Series Vietnam: ALPHA Graphics: SCENARIO DESIGN
New scenario:

The Sun Or the Moon - Battle of Ban Me Thuot

30 January, 1968
[Ban Me Thuot, Darlac Province, Vietnam]: [Side A][HIS][CSL]: During the Year of the Monkey, the celebration of the new lunar year was celebrated between January 27th and February 3rd , 1968. It was during this Tet Holiday truce that the General Offensive and Uprising by Peoples Army of North Vietnam and Viet Cong troops would conduct a massive coordinated attack on various district capitals and military installations throughout South Vietnam. While the offensive was intended to start at midnight on January 31st, a disconnect between the usage of the lunar and solar calendars between some units meant that some cities and installations were attacked one day early. One of those cities was Ban Me Thuot in the southern Central Highlands, defended by elements of the ARVN 45th Infantry Regiment and the ARVN 8th Cavalry Squadron. The only U.S. unit in the area was the 155th Assault Helicopter Company. As officials had not received any intelligence about an attack during the Tet holiday, the battalions operating in the field were left there and units in the city were granted leave to two-thirds of their strength. Beginning at 0130 on January 30th, battalions from the 33rd PAVN Regiment and the 301st Viet Cong Local Force Battalion assaulted Ban Me Thuot from the south, with their primary targets being the 23rd Division Headquarters, the ARVN artillery base to the west of the city, the National Police Station and the radio station on the south end of town. First to arrive on the scene was elements of the 8th Cavalry Squadron, as it raced back and forth in an attempt to break up the PAVN attacks and keeping them off balance until reinforcements could arrive. Seemingly well armed and supplied, the PAVN forces would fight for four days before being finally routed and retreat to the hills. [ALL][CSEE and Variable Objectives][1.00]

[berto]

Some recent (private) Dev Team Forum posts:

ORIGINAL: berto

I am currently working on this problem:



C.1000 would be

---

_C1000_30 = {30} -- [P] [28,38] VC Commander 2

---

That is, I am working on the problem where the LAI has a strong tendency to send leaders forward out ahead of the combat units, thereby putting the leaders first in the line of opfire. And/or, after all units have moved, the faster moving leaders are out front, by themselves, making them juicy standalone targets for the next side's direct fire phase.

To avoid this problem, I have been forced to write special SAI orders keeping leaders in the rear, which basically takes them out of the fight altogether. Unacceptable. The LAI should be smart enough not to expose leaders in these ways.

(Oh, and I have implemented a bunch of new CSEE functions. I will announce/release them in due course.)

ORIGINAL: berto

Okay, listen up. This is pretty important.

ORIGINAL: berto

That is, I am working on the problem where the LAI has a strong tendency to send leaders forward out ahead of the combat units, thereby putting the leaders first in the line of opfire. And/or, after all units have moved, the faster moving leaders are out front, by themselves, making them juicy standalone targets for the next side's direct fire phase.

I have implemented a new AI phase (highlighted):

---

// AI phases.
enum AIPhaseValue {XAIPrepFire, XAIActivity,
XAIMove, XAISecondaryMove,
XAIOffFire, XAIAssault,
XAIMechMove,
XAIAir, XAIIndFire};

---

The idea is to have combatant units move first, in the XAIMove phase; then support elements move second, in the XAISecondaryMove phase.

In aimove.cpp, I have implemented this:



[*]We determine if the current unit is a so-called "secondary".
[*]If the unit is not a secondary -- i.e., is a forward combatant -- and if it is now the XAIMove phase, then check to see if movement is triggered.
[*]Or if the unit is a secondary -- e.g., a leader, or HQ, or transport, or civilian -- and if it is now the XAISecondaryMove phase (immediately follows the XAIMove phase), for this secondary class of units, check to see if their movement is triggered.

I have tried this out, and what do you know? It works!

For both the LAI and the SAI, we will no longer see leaders or HQs or trucks etc. leading the movement or attack, getting out in front of the combatant units and thereby drawing enemy opfire. No, instead the combatant units will lead, with the secondary support units following.

A pretty major AI improvement, IMHO.

Question: Beyond the listed unit categories, can you suggest any additions? Would we for example want indirect fire units (yes!) to follow rather than lead? How about ... ?

I still haven't solved the problem of: Leaders move second, following the advanced infantry elements; but because the leaders can move faster, even though they move second, at the end of all movement they still end up out ahead of the units they are commanding. Yes, because they move second, they don't tend to draw opfire; the first moving combatant units draw the opfire. But in the next side phase, they are sitting ducks when the enemy direct fires, because they are out ahead.

I still need to solve that problem. But it's a big win to have the combatant units generally move first, and the support elements move generally second. No more trucks leading a charge!

ORIGINAL: berto

Still more changes:



Note all the highlighted counter flags. Counters (units) in any of those states should not be leading attacks/movements. They should be secondary follow-ups only.

That just about exhausts the secondary (attacker/mover) checks I can think of.

I am pumped about these changes, about this new capability to order attacks/movements in this way, because these are fundamental improvements in the LAI. Remember that even with the SAI, that still depends on the underlying LAI to micromanage the hex-to-hex movements etc. Any way I can figure out how to improve the LAI -- it makes me happy. [:)]

ORIGINAL: berto

ORIGINAL: berto

I am making very good progress at improving the leader ops LAI. Not quite there yet.

It's there. Leaders generally

[*]follow the combat troops, don't get out ahead of them
[*]don't draw opfire; the forward combat troops do
[*]safely advance to the front lines, there to enhance combat units' morale and attack strengths

Before, leaders were easy kills and/or were entirely out of the fight. Now, they are much safer, are actively engaged and important to the fight, critical even.

In combination with the new XAIMoveSecondary phase (and following), these are major LAI/SAI enhancements. There is still much to do; and the latest implementations may not be perfect (there will always be oddball situations that the code won't handle well); but the LAI/SAI are now much better than they were a week or two ago. Well worth the time and effort devoted to improving them.

Back to regular scripting ...

[berto]

Another several recent (private) Dev Team Forum posts:

ORIGINAL: berto

A common refrain:

ORIGINAL: berto

This is another of those times when I smack my forehead and say: "Why didn't I think of this before?"

The specialty CSEE functions: when you need them, you need them.

A slew of new CSEE functions.

Akin to owned(), for objectives; and occupied(), for non objective hexes; we now also have

function not_owned (objectives, side)
function not_occupied (hcs, side)

Wait a minute. We already have owned(), right? How is

not_owned(objectives, side) [underscore]

not equivalent to

not owned(objectives, side) [space]

?

It's because, quoting from the function description (in LUA_FUNCTIONS_REFERENCE.txt) for owned():

For the given objectives list, returns whether every objective in the list is owned by the given side (ground units only).

What if we want to determine if

For the given objectives list, returns whether every objective in the list is not owned by the given side (ground units only).

We can't use

not owned(objectives, side) [space]

because in addition to that meaning "every objective is not owned", it can also mean "some of the objectives are not owned".

Verstehen?

Similarly, if we want to determine if every non-objective hex is not occupied, we cannot use

not occupied() [space]

We need to use

not_occupied() [underscore]

Again, I hope you understand the distinction.

More functions.

We already have

in_box (trackids, hc_upleft, hc_lowright, verified_only)
within (trackids, hc, extent, verified_only)

to determine if the given trackids are inside the given hex box, or within a (circular) range of hexes. But what about arbitrary, irregular, non-box and non-circular hex lists? For that, we now have

in_area (trackids, hcs, verified_only)

For example, if KONTUM has been defined (in init_constants()) as a list of hexes, we can now have, for example

in_area (_2ND_COY, KONTUM, true)

Akin to units_in_box (), units_in_box_count(), units_within(), and units_within_count(), we now also have

units_in_area (hcs, side, verified_only)
units_in_area_count (hcs, side, verified_only)

to apply to arbitary, irregular, non-box and non-circular hex lists (such as the exampled KONTUM).

Oh, are you guessing we now also have not_ versions of these functions? You are right! We now also have

function not_in_area (trackids, hcs, verified_only)
function not_in_box (trackids, hc_upleft, hc_lowright, verified_only)

(Where is not_withn()? We already have that in beyond(), which is now just a synonym for not_within().)

So what? Well, for example we can now do things like

units_in_area(hexes_fortification(KONTUM), ARVN_SIDE)

to get a list of all ARVN units in fortified hexes in KONTUM.

How about

units_in_area (difference(hexes_all(), KONTUM), ARVN_SIDE)

to get a list of all ARVN units outside of KONTUM.

And so on and so forth. There is amazing power and potential in these combinations!

Almost without exception, each new scenario presents new challenges, and inspirations for new CSEE functions. There's almost no stopping them!

ORIGINAL: berto

So what inspired implementation of the new in_area() family of functions is this:



In Jason's battle plan for this scenario -- VN_651114_Chu_Pong_Massif, day one of the famous (subject of the Mel Gibson film, "We Were Soldiers [Once, and Young]") battle from the 7th AirCav's 1965 Ia Drang Valley Campaign -- in that battle plan, there is this:

When the recon unit (320) at 33,36 sees that the Americans are in the Landing Zone (they have a clear view to the entire landing zone):

C1/D9 (82) is released on the following turn.
[etc.]

A problem here is that "the entire Landing Zone" is an irregularly shaped area, is not a box or circular extent. Hence the need for in_area().

Actually, units_in_area_count(), as in

---

LZ_AREA = difference(OBJECTIVES, OBJECTIVES[1])

...

function on_next_turn (turn)

...

if units_in_area_count(LZ_AREA, US_SIDE, false) > 0 then
US_IN_LZ_AREA_TURN = US_IN_LZ_AREA_TURN or turn
end

...

end

...

[then later on the appropriate set_release_turn (id, turn) function calls to effect the actual unit release(s)]

---

('false' for units_in_area_count()'s third function parameter, verified_only, because the elevations prevent the NVA recon unit at hex 33,36 from having a LOS to hex 38,33.)

When you need a new CSEE function, you need it. This was a situation presenting one of those needs.

ORIGINAL: berto

If it's not clear, for the area family of functions, the area need not be contiguous; the hexes can be disconnected and scattered. This makes possible, for example

in_area (HELOS, hexes_landing_zone (hexes_all ()))

to check if all helicopter units are at Landing Zone hexes (where HELOS is a custom org list of trackids).

Here is another good example

units_in_area (join (hexes_terrain (hexes_all (), CITYHEX), hexes_terrain (hexes_all (), SUBURBHEX)), ARVN_SIDE)

to determine a list of all ARVN units in City or Suburb hexes.

The possibilities are almost endless.

[Big Ivan]

OMG berto, very nice, very nice indeed!![:D]