Placement of Minefields

[Embiss]

Playing Second tutorial scenario Me as Nato and the AI, Soviet.

According to the manual Minefields can be placed anywhere on the map. I would imagine this actually means, anywhere within your setup boundary...but I digress, It seems I cant place the minefields in some squares within my setup boundary eg at 25,22 and 26,22 and 26,24.

I can, however, set up the minefields at several squares oustside my setup boundary eg at 27,16 and 28,16 (in fact anywhere on row 16 or North of it

Did I miss something here?

[Belphegor]

I don't think you missed anything. Will look into it. Thanks.

[IronManBeta]

Well, I don't have the final rules handy but you can put mines anywhere on the map so long as they are not within 2.5 km of an enemy unit. This is to prevent you from mining the enemy right from the start, or using minefields to suss out the exact location of hidden enemies.

Cheers, Rob.

ORIGINAL: Belphegor

I don't think you missed anything. Will look into it. Thanks.

[Embiss]

I think I might have missed reading the manual carefully [8|]...might I be placing them within the minimum radius of an enemy unit?

Though it still seems odd that I can place them outside the deployment area..

[IronManBeta]

Yes, I know. There was a compelling reason to do so but I just can't seem to remember it tonight! So many details...

Rob

ORIGINAL: embis

Though it still seems odd that I can place them outside the deployment area..

[CoffeeMug]

ORIGINAL: RobertCrandall

Yes, I know. There was a compelling reason to do so but I just can't seem to remember it tonight! So many details...

Rob

ORIGINAL: embis

Though it still seems odd that I can place them outside the deployment area..

Well, guys, out of real life experience there is good reason to allow laying minefields out of your deployment area. It would really be bad if there is a restriction.

When you are on the defending side, according to the WW3 scenario, there was much time to prepare the defence for NATO. Imagine, every "front" batallion at the Iron Curtain definately knew the area in which to defend West Germany, in 1990 I was in one of those in Braunschweig, North Germany.

A set of diffent plans existed how to deploy the forces of the batallion. When in defence natural obstacles like rivers and ravines are used to channel enemy attacking forces into a position where the BLUE side has got the advantage. MINEFIELDS are an important means of an artificial obstacle. Please remember, the main task of layed minefields is to channel enemy movement, not the destruction or attrition of enemy forces. Those minefield were of of course pre-planned and the engineer units knew about them. At the right time, the tanks and and MechInf would dug into their positions and the engineers would lay the mines way forward of the fighting forces positions, but close enough to overwatch the minefield to destroy the standing and dammed enemy and to keep the enemy from removing the mines and cutting a path. [:)]

So, minefield should not be limited to the deployment area.

Excursus:
A force which runs into a minefield and the first vehicles are destroyed will not charge further into it. It would try to SMOKE (self-capability or artillery) and
a. retreat to bypass the minefield or
b. if possible, destroy the minefield's protection forces, which overwatches the minefield, and then try to cut paths into the minefield.

Rob, there are some posts that AI forces run through own and known minefields. Perhaps you find the above information useful to finetune AI behaviour.

Cheers,

CM

[Embiss]

Thanks that makes sense to me now.

[CapnDarwin]

Rob,

Here is another question dealing with the minefields. Does the game make any distinction in the type or density of the minefield? Type may be a non-issue due to scale and be effective against vehicals and grunts. Density, to me, would be a factor.

Thanks,

Cap'n Darwin

[IronManBeta]

Captain Darwin - no, once a location is mined it is mined and I don't track it any further from there.

Cheers, Rob.