Southern Storm Live Stream this Saturday the 29th

[CapnDarwin]

We are showing the game again, and hopefully no technical issues, tomorrow at 1pm EDT on Slitherine's Twitch Channel. Link: https://www.twitch.tv/slitherinetv/sche ... f38d174d70

Hope to see you there!

[GlassHoppa]

Nice! Please do show off the Scenario Builder - Battle Plans function. One question right off the bat, I see that you can set up various types of movement / offensive tasks (Deliberate, Hasty, etc), but can you set up defensive tasks? Contain, Secure, Isolate, Occupy, Canalize, etc? Hope you guys get a chance to dive into it tomorrow.

[budd]

Looking forward to this, I'll try to catch this live. I'd really like to see in depth on the new order system and waypoints. My PBEM partner and I just starting playing FPCRS again, forgot how much fun this game system is in PBEM. Not sure my PBEM partner would agree as my NATO arty and night vision tanks are kicking his A**

Release Week buy for me

[CapnDarwin]

See you then budd! Best of luck in your PBEM battles.

[budd]

Caught the stream, looks good. Will the manual be available before release?

Did infantry survivability get improved? Playing Red Storm and remembered that was one the niggles I had about the game. Had an infantry unit dug in, urban hex 90% cover rating, 500m LOS, in the dark, enemy T-80's come down the road get off the first shot from 1 hex away and I lose 3 strength before I get to shoot, that'll make you curse. Is ambushing viable now, I'm guessing the SOP[point blank I think the setting was] will help but if they get spotted easily will that matter.

Also question about all unit survivability. Local unit autonomy to be ordered out of a bad situation without going through the order delay, emergency order type thing without sitting there getting killed. hope I'm explaining what I mean correctly.

Good stream Capn, hope you got your mic sorted out. Look forward to the next one.

[GlassHoppa]

Thank you for the stream, enjoyed it very much! A Question/Observation along the same lines as @budd - From my viewpoint, you positioned your recce and screening units very well, however your main Mech and Armored Companies had very limited impact on the gameplay. Admittedly, for your first command cycle, you wanted to keep them in reserve and then decide which axis to commit them on. But when you did decide and submit order to them, they sat for another command cycle, presumably to "frag" out the orders to each platoon. By the time the reserves were moving, your screens had already been over-run and there was no way to get the Armored Company up into the treeline to the south. They did get off some shots from the open and I believe killed a few BMPs (bringing the OPFOR down under 30%, Sudden Death condition). But overall, I felt that you, as the Battalion Commander had very little "agency" once the scenario started (after your initial deployment). Which is... frustrating.

So, question - is this lack of agency just a function of this particular scenario or is the "order delay" a bit too aggressive? Would the game engine have allowed you to issue a move order to your reserves as part of the setup (before scenario start), say down the main axis, and then you adjust later as the OPFOR intentions become clear? And you did have some problems with properly issuing the move orders, I believe because you mistakenly selected the Brigade HQ. I'd welcome your insights here.

And I fully recognize that how this "Final Push" Scenario played out in your stream is probably "realistic" - the NATO (US) screening elements attrited the OPFOR just enough for the secondary forces to rout them. But at cost of their "lives," or at least their own unit cohesion. And the scenario would have played out differently if OPFOR / the AI had been more aggressive with their helos. Nevertheless, it felt like your only input to the scenario was initial setup and the unit postures. Limited Agency.

Thoughts? And thank you again!

[CapnDarwin]

Let me see if I can answer some of the questions above:

1. Yes, infantry is "more" survivable, as is Recon, as units can make those local moves with little to no delay. That was the case for the few units that pulled back from the initial wave of Soviet forces. SOP use does make it easier to set for ambushes, as you can set a point-blank range engagement for those 0 to 1 hex shoots.

2. Depending on Standoff and the other SOP settings, units can fall back faster. Also, the spotting and combat models have been vastly improved with the per sensor per unit spotting and per ammo tracking of weapons. It is possible to have enemy units run over a recon unit and never see if the terrain and SOP settings are correct.

3. The late move of my "reserve" forces come in two flavors. First, I did things a turn too late as I miss read the speed of the Soviet advance. Unlike Red Storm, where the AI could bog down on the recon screen, these guys shot me up and kept moving as my resistance was minimal to the amount of firepower they had. My second oops, was not setting the first waypoint or two to a hasty move. The travel was slowed by the deliberate move and the additional time to make that move from an orders perspective. I don't think it was a lack of "Agency" as much as my plan had a timing flaw of my own doing.

4. It is a tough run for the Soviets in the case of the battle plan used. The route through lacked cover and played into the longer-range systems of the US forces. The helos did some damage as they moved forward to the screening force, including calling in fires from the arty batteries on spotted targets. Some of my forward screen was hammered by the opening barrage, and had the game gone longer, the helos would have made more of a dent in my tanks and IFVs with my AD assets in flames.

I hope that clears up some of the questions.

[GlassHoppa]

@CaptDarwin:

Thank you for the answers, #3 makes sense. Start with Hasty Move, then refine... Looking forward to the game!

[Duck Doc]

Watching the stream today in past tense and I really appreciate the expertise shown in setting up the battle. The deep tactical thinking required shows off the strength of the game. Good job!

[IronMikeGolf]

Did infantry survivability get improved?
...
Is ambushing viable now, I'm guessing the SOP[point blank I think the setting was] will help but if they get spotted easily will that matter.

We re-worked spotting and put a good bit of work into that. So, dismounted personnel have a much smaller signature. You can specify that carriers are hidden nearby and that reduces the signature even more. Until the fire, of course. Number of elements in a unit also contributes to the signature.

So, you can do things like put a two person recon team in a high concealment position, stash their ride, set Stand-Off to zero, Refuse Fire, Relocate depending on fire or casualties, and that team will basically be invisible, unless an enemy units comes into the same hex and even then it might take time. If the recon team moves or shoots, there signature goes way up and they can get spotted.

The range band setting also comes in handy for massing short and long range weapons from multiple units. Say you have an infantry company set up on a reverse slope and when the open, it will be at 500m. You have supporting ATGMs or tanks positioned where they can observe the approaching enemy out to 5 or so km. Now, you have the option for the everyone to open pretty much together, or have your long range shooters try to thin the approaching herd.

[budd]

Thank you for your answer. It all sounds very cool, looking forward to release day.

[Crossroads]

Just watched the twitch recording, awesome stuff! Cap'n, you mentioned something about the manuals and how many printed pages they'd make iirc. Is there an option to buy this game with a printed manual, or even a manual book similar to what has been previously available with Matrix for say TOAWIV, DC Barbarossa, or War in the West? Fingers crossed!

[CapnDarwin]

Crossroads, Matrix is making a printed book, which should be a purchase option. From what I know, they will be available after the first of the year as I was behind getting a combined document done for them, and then the holidays impact printing and shipping. There will be PDFs with the game, of course.