Army Disaster on Java is this a bug

[ChezDaJez]

It's too abstract a model to allow this. 1,000,000 men can be stopped by 10. Ridiculous. At the very least, the defeated units should be allowed into the enemy hex. If they suffer a subsequent retreat result NEXT TURN from the enemy units present in the retreat hex, then fine, I can live with that. But at least give the unit/s a chance. Why does everything have to be resolved in one turn in this game? How long is it?

I would have to agree with that. I could see a surrender to a much smaller unit if that unit was firmly entrenched around a critical choke point such as the only bridge out of town but surrender shouldn't happen as a general rule. At the very least, let there be opportunity fire against the retreating unit to see if they can enter.

Chez

[ChezDaJez]

Hi, I think 2 very simple changes would help here.
Have all combats involving Paratroops resolve as soon as they drop. Have all defending units in a hex execute a shock attack against Paratroops as soon as Paratroops execute their shock attack. Then the para force would have to be large enough to survive before any other combats take place.

Have all stacks of units forced to retreat into a hex containing enemy forces execute a shock attack when retreating. If they force the enemy out they survive. If they fail to dislodge the enemy they surrender. (This shock attack should get some kind of modifier as it is in effect a life or death attack)

I think these would solve most of the problems. Paras could not block retreat unless dropped in required strength and blocking units would have to be strong enough to actually stop a retreat.

Good idea but wouldn't that require a prety extensive rewrite?

An alternative would be to simply have the game check for modified combat values between the retreating units and occupying units during a retreat. If the retreating unit can achieve a 2:1 odds (after all factors such as fatigue and morale figured in), then allow the retreat otherwise they surrender. This would apply to any type of unit, not just paras.

Another alternative is to not have paras exert a ZOC in the turn they drop. I would think that in most cases they would be pretty disorganized (disrupted) during the turn they jump and would need some time to regroup (1 turn).

Chez