What to do with them?

[GaryChildress]

ORIGINAL: Rudankort

ORIGINAL: Gary Childress
Can this be edited in the "Equipment" file somehow?

Yes. In eqp file negative attack ratings are "passive" and positive attack ratings are "active". So just remove "-".

1. If a unit has an active soft attack value but a passive hard attack value does that mean it can only attack infantry?

2. Is it possible, using the Equipment file to set AT weapons so that they give a combat bonus to adjacent units? If so how would I go about that?

[Rudankort]

ORIGINAL: Gary Childress
1. If a unit has an active soft attack value but a passive hard attack value does that mean it can only attack infantry?

2. Is it possible, using the Equipment file to set AT weapons so that they give a combat bonus to adjacent units? If so how would I go about that?

1. Unit with active soft attack can attack soft targets - infantry, trucks, towed guns. However, if its hard attack is passive, it cannot attack hard targets - tanks, SPATs, armored recon cars etc.

2. This is not possible, at least not yet. I have some ideas how to enable modding of all kinds of unit cooperation and support in an easy way, so it may get into one of the future updates, but no promises at this point.

[Zerstorer]

ORIGINAL: Rudankort


[Well, I think that getting a PanzerJager (6 initiative and 10 HA is quite good when it appears) is not such a bad idea. As for AA, 88mm FlaK appears quite early and many players seem to be using it with good effect. Also, I agree that SPAAs might use active attack ratings (not in []), just like in PG, this might make them an interesting option. This, combined with some price tweaking, will probably improve the balance a bit.

True. Pzjg seems like a good early option and the 88 with the selectable AT role (great idea by the way... something similar could possibly be applied to other units). And a few minor tweaks (SPAA/towed AT) could certainly give the player more reason to consider these purchases.

[Zerstorer]

ORIGINAL: Gary Childress

I've tweaked the initial "Poland" campaign a little, adding an AT, AA, Strategic Bomber and Recon to the default core battlegroup already placed on the map. So at least you start out with one of each and are somewhat forced to use them in the game. This is the best solution I know of.

Nice idea for an alternate start. The option to start each campaign with an different core units could be interesting.

[Razz1]

Strategic Bombers are great if you know how to use them.

For AT and AA, I get the 88 as soon as possible and I also like the the self propelled AA.

Getting a Pk 5 and upgrading to 76mm and then to self propelled pays off late game as they have the experience.

Experienced AT's are good to have. Same with mobile AA. If you get these units early and groom them to get experience, the rewards are great.

Unfortunately the AT's can get lost in combat but usually at a pivotal point in the campaign where you just killed a big heavy tank. So, the sacrifice is worth it.

Remember AT's are great for blocking. Position yourself so the AI will attack it while you sweep left or right.

For the first scenario, personally I would beef up the Polish a little and set a counter attack force.

[Longasc]

Recon units are indeed tricky. Their movement often enables them to penetrate defensive lines and knock out artillery but they usually don't survive such incursions.

I still have two in my core and their spotting when not playing save/reload should not be underestimated but they are so fragile that scouting with them is often barely possible which defeats their purpose.

[Rudankort]

ORIGINAL: Longasc
I still have two in my core and their spotting when not playing save/reload should not be underestimated but they are so fragile that scouting with them is often barely possible which defeats their purpose.

At least you can scout ahead and retreat back on the same turn, using recon movement.

[Apollo1967]

I think that the recon units are actually very useful. As has been stated, you can use them to zoom around the enemy flank and take out that damaged artillery piece then use the remaining movement to get out of range. They are also good for grabbing multiple victory locations in one turn.

On the AA, I do believe that most if not all of these units should be able to "switch" in the same way the 88 does. In some of the German battlefield accounts I've been reading lately (like Otto Carius's "Tigers in the Mud") I've noticed that whenever a section of the line was being reinforced to meet a Soviet attack, tanks, assault guns, and AA were brought into the line at that location to stiffen the defenses.

BTW, is there bug with movement of the Sdkfz 222? I noticed in the scenario "Barbarossa" that the recon unit I am given (an Sdkfz 232? I'm not sure) seemed to be able to move farther in every situation than my core Sdkfz 222, despite having the same movement range. Is this because the 232 is better at moving over difficult terrain, or am I just imagining things?

[Rudankort]

222 uses wheeled movement, while 232 has all-terrain movement. So yes, the latter can go further across difficult terrain.

[Razz1]

^ That's why it would be neat to experiment with the 222 having a visibility range of 4.
Problem is finding similar unit for the British, Americans, and Russians.

Positive
Can see farther
Reason to buy 222
cost is less

Negative
still has same short range movement
weak on attack or defense compared to other recon
Wheeled movement so can not go over rough terrain well


Now a player has a choice between the 222 and a superior recon unit.

Currently there is no incentive to buy a 222 once there are better units.

If the experiment worked in testing, I'd like to see it implement if and only if other Allied units had the same feature.

Don't forget the Italians.

[soldier1]

I definitely vote for a price reduction in the towed AT class. For France and Russia their cheapest lowest calibre AT gun (which is virtually worthless anyway) costs 50 to 70 dollars more than a troop, add a transport and your well into tank price range. i think they were probably relatively cheap to produce in real life too.

[Razz1]

I think they were raised in cost because the AI would spam them.

We have to be careful about that.

[soldier1]

I cant comment on the AI's buying routines but as someone who plays online and hotseat, there not worth it as a class while there are cheaper more versatile options around. I couldn't justify spending so much on something that is essentially a stop gap measure and would very likely get trapped and destroyed once engaged.

[Razz1]

It depends... Sometime someone will make a defensive MP map, where one sides only defends.

I haven't had the time to do a defensive only map.

In that case buying AT with your limited prestige probably is a good thing.

[jomni]

I love to use recon but they die so easily.

[John Woods]

Hi,

I wanted to give some of my AA a low attack value versus soft targets. Followed the directions to modify passive attack value by deleting "-". Did not work. The targeting reticule is red on the ground target but nothing happens when I click to attack. Air attacks still work fine. Anything else that needs to be changed?

JW 

[Rudankort]

ORIGINAL: John Woods
I wanted to give some of my AA a low attack value versus soft targets. Followed the directions to modify passive attack value by deleting "-". Did not work. The targeting reticule is red on the ground target but nothing happens when I click to attack. Air attacks still work fine. Anything else that needs to be changed?

Changes in equipment file only apply to newly-created games. Old saves are not affected.

[John Woods]

It was a new campaign - tried it twice. Also tried it with stand alone scenarios.

JW

[Rudankort]

If it is a new campaign, the only possible explanation is that the file was not saved properly. The game has nowhere else to extract old values from. Program Files folder often has restrictions related to modifying the files inside, this could cause the problem you are experiencing.

[John Woods]

Took an unmodified equipment file.
Opened in notepad - used excel before
Changed soft attack value 2 cm Flakvierling 38 from -6 to 6
Changed spotting range of SdKfz 232 8Rad to 4 as a test subject.
Changed Brückenpioniere movement to 3 as test also

Started Italy scenario
Soft attack value of 6 shows up in unit info screen. Still will not attack soft targets. Only air targets
Spotting range of 4 works.
Movement range of 3 for Brückenpioniere works.

Could it be linked to unit class?

Thanks

JW