[FIXED][1900.23] Group members ignore plotted course, manual altitude and speed settings when ordered to attack

[Figeac]

Hi all,

I believe I've found a bug: when manually ordering an air or naval group to attack a target (F1), the group leader continues following the plotted course, but the other members immediately break formation and engage the target, even when the "Ignore Plotted Course" doctrine is set to "No". They also ignore the group's manually assigned altitude and speed.

How to reproduce (attached savegame):

A group of four F-4s carrying Mk 82 bombs is flying east along a plotted course at a manually assigned altitude of 2,000 ft. Their target is an electrical substation to the north, defended by an SA-2 Guideline battery whose missiles cannot engage targets below 3,500 ft. Staying at the assigned altitude should keep the aircraft safe.

When manually ordering the group to attack:

The leader continues along the plotted course, maintaining the assigned altitude.

The other three aircraft immediately break formation, switch to "Engage Hostile", and climb toward their maximum altitude, exposing themselves to the SAM.

The leader only begins its attack after reaching the plotted destination, as expected from the doctrine setting, and descends further, presumably following its Hi-Lo-Hi strike profile.

However, if I wait until the entire group reaches the destination and then order the attack, all four aircraft switch to "Engage Hostile" and behave consistently, following the leader's attack behavior.

In my view, orders issued to a group should apply consistently to all its members, not just the leader.

This also raises two questions:

When manually ordering an air-to-ground attack, should aircraft follow their loadout's strike profile, or does that only apply to Strike missions? If not, what determines their altitude and speed during manual attacks?

After releasing their weapons and going Winchester/RTB, the aircraft automatically climb to 36,000 ft, again exposing themselves to the SAM. I assume this is for fuel efficiency, but shouldn't there be a doctrine setting to control this behavior?

Suggestion:

I believe grouped units should genuinely behave as a group, maintaining formation, altitude, speed, and posture while following the same orders.

It would also be useful to introduce a new doctrine, particularly for aircraft, such as "Maintain Manually Assigned Altitude and Speed":

Yes: Aircraft retain their manually assigned altitude and speed, including during attacks and RTB.

No: Aircraft follow their default attack and RTB altitude/speed settings, wherever they comes from.

This would give players greater control over aircraft behavior, particularly when operating near SAM threats.

Thanks!

[Knightpawn]

Run some test. I agree that this looked messed up and with the suggestion that a strike group should behave as a group. Also if one deletes the way point and orders the group to attack the leader goes full throttle while the others follow at cruise.

[Figeac]

So maybe the problem is not just the specific case that I mentioned, but the whole group orders logic.

[blu3s]

Thanks for the report

Logged 0017653

[Dimitris]

This has been fixed for the next update.

[Knightpawn]

This has been fixed for the next update.

Partially fixed in 1900.24 (Steam).

1. if the groups is on path to the WP and instructed to attack target (F1), leader will continue to WP and then attack while all other members will change course and attack - With the path still on the map I would expect the group to go to WP and then turn as a group (or ignore the path and all attack immediately - a design choice)
2. (strangest of all), if player deletes the WP group will continue nevertheless to that point! if instructed to attack meanwhile, behavior is as per 1 above - With no path, I would expect the group to turn and attack the target immediately as a group
3. (fixed) all planes attack in formation and at the same speed now (move to WP to intercept course to target and then F1)

[Nikel]

I see there is also a Matrix patch, but it is still 1900.x?

What is the changelog?

[blu3s]

This one is Post B1900.X (same for all the fixes during last week), the new patch it's just the fix for the CTDs and the null reference exception in PooledList