Q about game mechanics

[Adam Parker]

Definitely love the price point of this game. I understand the scale and area of operations for this title as these have been well laid out by Robert - thanks.

One thing I've yet to find is the turn sequence and how a game unfolds?How also does the air umberalla work - do air units fly as in "Tac Air" using separate icons in separate phases?

How intuitive is land movement? I can see the use of what I think are way points and a unique looking traffic management system in which it looks like players use to coordinate arrivals and inter-related pre-combat actions. How does this work in terms of a turn (and I expect the AI will be an ultra expert at coordinating itself of course!)?

Adam.

[IronManBeta]

Hello Adam.

The turn sequence.

Each side takes an orders phase where they can study the map, the mission briefing, staff diary and the staff VP report to get oriented. Then he can issue orders to individual units or groups of units up to his Staff Orders Point Limit (if he is playing with it) or a prudent number if he is not. Excessive ordering leads to excessive radio traffic and invites an enemy artillery barrage on the HQ you see.

When both sides have issued their orders then turn resolution commences. Turns are 10, 20 or 30 minutes long depending on your fancy. There is a 'long tickover' every 20 minutes that controls weather, HQ stonks, and AI control of airstrikes and arty fire plans. There is a medium tickover every 5 minutes that controls smoke and gas cloud dissipation, spotting enemy bridges, unit combat stress levels, forced movement due to doctrine, individual unit target aquisition, Fire Support Control Center activity (basically matching available artillery assets to fire support requests), and checking for sudden death. There is a short tickover every minute to update unit state. Independently of all this, the units move, fight, send situation reports, prepare to execute orders, dig in, etc, all on their own individual schedules. When the turn is over everything stops where it is, there is a housekeeping phase (for reinforcements and withdrawals) and then you have a fresh chance to issue orders. There is no great push though to have all orders fully resolved in exactly one turn. It might take just a moment or it might take hours.

It is both structured and yet free form - sound like fun?

Air units are held off map. You just pick a spot and designate it as a target. It is a little more complicated then that but not by much.

Coordinating your ground units is indeed important. You can just throw them at the enemy but coming up with a proper plan will really pay dividends. It can be a touch cumbersome to learn but once you get the hang of it you find that you obtain tremendous control and can really improve your odds of success. The AI is not terribly expert at that part of it though - I had to do something to give the humans a chance!

Cheers, Rob.