Any hints to protect the PO?

[ncc1701e]

The PO is doing whatever it wants with support units.

The list of common mistakes:
1. Rail repair units are on the front line, not even on a rail hex, whereas there are plenty of hexes to repair behind
2. HQ are on the front line without protection
3. Artillery units are on the front line without protection

Is there not a flag to activate to protect the PO from doing stupid things?

Thanks

[rhinobones]

The PO is doing whatever it wants with support units.

The list of common mistakes:
1. Rail repair units are on the front line, not even on a rail hex, whereas there are plenty of hexes to repair behind
2. HQ are on the front line without protection
3. Artillery units are on the front line without protection

Is there not a flag to activate to protect the PO from doing stupid things?

My experience is about the same as yours, but there are some things designers can do to help mitigate a stupid PO. You might try some of the following:

Rail Repair Units. Assign these units to their own formation (one to three units per formation). General Orders set on Independent, Orders Emphasis Minimize Losses and objectives along the rail lines. If the force is intended to be optimized only for PO play, I would get rid of the RR units and just use an event to set the force automatic rail repair.

You might experiment with giving the RR Unit a secondary icon of RR Transport or Armored Train so that the unit only travels on the rails and stops on the next broken rail.

HQ Units. Do not assign combat maneuver units to the HQ formation. As desired include support units (AA, MPs, transport, staff maybe even some rocket/missile artillery). Add supply capability as the secondary icon and set General Orders on Independent. This gives the HQ supply capability within a range but it does limit the command/control function.

Artillery. Can be a discreet formation or added as a subunit to the HQ/combat formation. If in a combat formation you can expect it to be in the front lines; if in the HQ or its own formation General Orders can be set to Independent and hopefully support from a distance.

Engineer/Construction Units. About the same as the RR Units.

If you are working with an existing scenario these suggestions can involve quite a bit of work. Suggest testing on a smaller scale. Can you name the scenario(s) you are referring to?

Regards, RhinoBones



The manual definition of General Orders: Independent
Independent: Units belonging to the Formation will attempt to do what they do best in support of other Formations along the axis running from lowest-numbered Objective to highest-numbered Objective. This is a “catch all” order, intended primarily for very high-level Formations.

[Cpl GAC]

When the 39th Pz Korp couldn't crack the Soviet Pskov defenses they brought in the vaunted Nachschlub Regiment and their iron baggettes.

Fightin' Nachschub.PNG (1.47 MiB) Viewed 415 times

On a serious note - and not meaning to tread old ground - it's a good question? Is it possible to create a General Orders like Independent that include not advancing into enemy ZOC?

I looked at the above - that Nachschlub is in the AGN formation; it and the AGN HQ. They are set on Secure.

Understanding General Orders subtleties and how to optimize them with a multi-track PO is way above my pay grade.

[ncc1701e]

Can you name the scenario(s) you are referring to?

I am playing Eastern Front 1941-1945 V8.1 scenario but I have seen things like this in other scenarios.