spotting units during player 2 setup..a bug?

[Cicero]

Situation:
SPWAW ver5.3, German assault across a river to Polish Defence, september '39.

I am player 2, Polish. During my setup I was able to spot a few of my opponents units, It enabled me to lay down an immediate arty barrage with good effect...which i am not complaining about!! but, I am not sure whether this is supposed to happen or whether its a bug..I havent played anything other than 5.3 so I would appreciate it if someone could enlighten me.

[ July 01, 2001: Message edited by: Cicero ]

[Warrior]

Lucky you. Blast them if you can see them, that'll teach 'em not to set their positions too close to the riverbank. While deploying for a river crossing, I always take one unit and "walk" it through every hex along the river to see if any of the enemy come into sight, than do just what you did - drop artillery on their heads. It's just a matter of visibility.

On the other hand, you should not be able to see enemy units that aren't in LOS.

[ July 01, 2001: Message edited by: Warrior ]

[BryanMelvin]

Was this a scenario? If so, what can sometimes happen is when a scenario is saved from editor from player's two deployment setup -the game will expose units on map when game is played. It is important to save a designed scenario from editor from Player one's deploy phase so this will not occur.

[Cicero]

It was a battle generator game, and the units were in line of sight.

I suppose In retrospect I would hesitate to call this a bug, but having said that, I cant see a rationale for it...am I missing something fundamental here ?

I must say I dont like the idea of "walking units" along the river bank to expose this kind of situation...seems a kind of "gamey" thing to do..so I wont be following that example. It was interesting to hear that some people do that but I hope it isnt a widespread practice...winning the game at all costs has never been my style.

[MacCready]

Look at it as just an aspect of recon in the game,I've noticed alot of opponents(e-mail /online)
tend to lay down an arty barrage right away just over my deploy line.(As if i'm going to set up like its a race)
Hide in woods,jungles,buildings,etc.

In Steel Panthers III the gunships/helo's
saw just about everything from high altitude in the deploy phase.

[ July 01, 2001: Message edited by: MacCready ]

[Alby]

I hated that!!
pop up a helo to high altitude during deploy and see evrything...geez

[Warrior]

Originally posted by Cicero:
I must say I dont like the idea of "walking units" along the river bank to expose this kind of situation...seems a kind of "gamey" thing to do..so I wont be following that example. It was interesting to hear that some people do that but I hope it isnt a widespread practice...winning the game at all costs has never been my style.

You call it "gamey," I call it scouting. And since the price my troops pay for not winning is dying, I shall continue to do my best to win. Want to try a PBEM with me?

[Antonius]

Player 2 must always be aware that his units can be spotted by player 1 if they are in LOS.

Maybe the attacker should therefore be player 2 instead of player 1, at least in PBEM/on-line games.

[Cicero]

Originally posted by Antonius:
Player 2 must always be aware that his units can be spotted by player 1 if they are in LOS.

Maybe the attacker should therefore be player 2 instead of player 1, at least in PBEM/on-line games.

Yes, that sounds like the solution...hadnt thought of that..will spoil Warriors "scouting" though.

[ July 01, 2001: Message edited by: Cicero ]

[Warrior]

Player 1 (whichever country) is always the attacker in the battles I've generated, and in the PBEM's I've tried. If there's another way to do it, I'm interested in learning how.