Visibility

[Fabs]

This is really a question about the effect of visibility ratings on LOS and spotting.

I have never quite understood what values to use for simulating say

- a night attack on a moonless night, or
- with full moon, or
- at dawn/dusk,
- on a clouded, rainy November day
- During a sand storm or
- a snow blizzard etc.

Is it so that the number does not just represent how far a unit can see, but has effects on how well units can stay hidden relative to their experience/morale and possibly on the effect on LOS of different terrain types (tall grass, fields, trees, orchards, vineyards, rough)?

Is there a visibility level below which ambushes work particularly well, or experienced troops have a better chance to sneak onto and spot a lower experience enemy and get the chance to fire first?

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Fabs

[Paul Vebber]

Is there a visibility level below which ambushes work particularly well, or experienced troops have a better chance to sneak onto and spot a lower experience enemy and get the chance to fire first?

The lower the visability the easier it is to stay hidden. No real cut-off. Just the lower the visibility the closer in you have to be to get spotted. Experience plays a big role in that too. Numnutz at exp 50 will get spotted moving in the opne 600+ yards out. Rambo at exp 120 can sometimes get 200 yards away.

A spotter value is compared to a spottee value and a random number added to it. IN effect based on about 200 lines of modifiers there is a "cookie cutter" range arc for that set of variables that varies a bit each time you check sopotting. If you are inside the circle you get spotted, if out side you don't.

With limited intel on the game resets the spotted flag every turn and rerolls. that is why previously spotted things can "disappear". the random factor was different and you "lost the bubble" on that guy. If you don't like that, keep limited intel off

[Wild Bill]

It is a feature you have to "play with" to get a feel for how it affects play.

I usually use for these kinds of scenarios visibility limits of between 2-6.

You have to keep a scenario playable. No blind man's bluff, with units wandering around looking for each other

WB


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In Arduis Fidelis
Wild Bill Wilder
Coordinator, Scenario Design
Matrix Games

[Larry Holt]

Originally posted by Fabs:

I have never quite understood what values to use for simulating say

- a night attack on a moonless night, or
- with full moon, or
- at dawn/dusk,
- on a clouded, rainy November day
- During a sand storm or
- a snow blizzard etc.

I guess you could go out at dawn/dusk/rain/etc. and see what you can see. Find a hill with a really unobstructed field of view and note how far away you can see cars moving at about 20 mph, people moving, etc. under those conditions. Take a pair of binoculars for low light conditions. Since they gather in more light, they work for light amplification as well as magnification and can simulate what a crew with optics could see.


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An old soldier but not yet a faded one.
OK, maybe just a bit faded.