Controlling whether your attack consumes a movement point

[Chernobyl]

Not sure if there is an elegant way to write this, but say you move a Corps which has its normal 4 movement points.
Normally, if you move this unit to use all four movement points, the unit may or may not turn dark (cannot attack or swap anymore). However, sometimes it does not. I'm not exactly sure what causes a unit to go dark vs not in all cases.

However, I believe Dazo and I discovered at least certain circumstances where you can save a movement point deliberately and consistently (doesn't seem to be up to chance).

When you move a unit into enemy territory, the national borders do not change until you click somewhere else. If you do click on the screen, the border will update. However, you have the opportunity to use your selected unit to do something first. So if you click attack with that unit before clicking anywhere else, you can use your strike, but this strike will NOT consume a movement point. If you let the border reset and then re-click on the same unit (which still has a movement point remaining) and then attack, this attack WILL consume a movement point. I believe this works whether you are moving into enemy territory or not, so long as you click attack immediately after moving (before clicking on something else), but the case where you move into enemy territory provides a visual change which marks the difference between attack + keep movement point VS attack + lose movement point.

This discrepancy is extremely useful in many cases. It can guarantee a retreat, it lets you shuffle in additional units for attack, etc. Previously I believed it was up to chance, like the RNG factor that affects battle outcomes, but that doesn't seem to be the case. I'm not sure if other players knew about this or not. But in any case it doesn't seem completely intuitive to me and I'm sure many new players don't know about this behavior which makes many useful attacks and maneuvers possible.

[Dazo]

Tried various things and I can confirm what Chernobyl says. We couldn't understand why I always got that extra movement during Bruxelles attack as CP on turn 1 while he couldn't replicate that most of the time.
I think he put his finger on it after scratching our heads for a while, nice catch !

Oh and just to be clear, by national borders, I think Chernobyl means the controlled territory line (continuous light blue in standard game) and not the actual country borders (dashed white in standard game).

[OldCrowBalthazor]

Wow you two! [&o]

Ok, I've practiced the Schlieffen Plan scores of times..and do it a few times before a match if I'm going to be the Central Powers. You've seen one of the screenshots I posted in the War Room concerning that subject.

So anyway...having fine tuned this operation..I was seeing the same thing at times when it came to Brussels. Even considering the RNG and other nuanced moves..sometimes I got that one extra AP on a German corp that allowed me to move up towards Antwerp (or any other hex adjacent) and sometimes not. Now this has quietly confounded me for months. Also..I had seen you two discussing this very matter..which sent me to the same rabbit hole haha.

Well..this is very interesting to see...that we all aren't crazy, no? So there Is a mechanism thats probably involved here. Hmmm...back to some Schlieffen Plan practice runs I go. [8D]

Edit: Now...there other instances where I've seen this mystery with the extra AP that are bubbling up in my memory. Thanks again for posting this you guys.

[Chernobyl]

You can also use this same technique on turn 1 to get an extra cavalry attack in on brussels from the rear as it dashes towards lille. You will consistently still have your movement points remaining.

[OldCrowBalthazor]

ORIGINAL: Chernobyl

You can also use this same technique on turn 1 to get an extra cavalry attack in on brussels from the rear as it dashes towards lille. You will consistently still have your movement points remaining.

Dude, I'm convinced I've 'accidentally' done THAT before too! I started screen shooting every individual move to how the hell I managed that lol. This was driving my efficiency max optimal mind over the moon haha. Well, anyway..now that this came to light, it creates a new conundrum...is it WAD or exploitation? Yegads...talking about pushing the envelope again.

[Hubert Cater]

For now this is considered a "feature". It has come up before and for the full reference, here is the applicable thread that should answer most questions/concerns here:

https://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.a ... 1&#4806374

[Kull]

ORIGINAL: Hubert Cater

For now this is considered a "feature". It has come up before and for the full reference, here is the applicable thread that should answer most questions/concerns here:

https://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.a ... e=1�

Thanks for the link, and it does answer most questions, but not this one: Does the AI use this feature? And if not, could it/should it be coded to do so?