Matrix Games Forums

ORIGINAL: Shadrach

I don't think I'm the right person to check interdiction. I usually overlook these things when I play (yes total newbie still...)

Not at all, only asking if you are getting interdiction strikes all over the place, mid-turn.

I have set all Germans (and all Allies) to total interdict in our games.

w/ the new patch, the interdiction should ONLY take place at end-of-turn, not DURING turn.

And, with me still running .21 v. your .4, was just curious about how that might play out for us in out test games.

Ah yes I understand. I DO get interdiction during movement of units (if that's what you mean).
Maybe because the scene was created on your version it still uses the old code?

I'm just surprised playing even works with us on different versions [:D]

ORIGINAL: Shadrach

Ah yes I understand. I DO get interdiction during movement of units (if that's what you mean).
Maybe because the scene was created on your version it still uses the old code?

I'm just surprised playing even works with us on different versions [:D]

Understood, I too am still curious about the interactions b/w .21 and .40

We are playing two different versions ... but which one "rules" during our moves?

I will now set ALL germans to interdiction now (the last turn, only HALF of German Air was set to interdict ... the rest were in "rest" status ....)

Putting now ALL interdict onto you, and will continue to "disband" so as to allow your units free reign w/ movement ...

just to see what my interdicts will do.

Thanks for testing this w/ me.

Well, I was definitely getting a lot of interdicts as the Germans DURING the turn. As well as some at end of turn.
I also got a lot as Allies but the scope of movement is limited.

It's too bad we cannot actually see the results of these interdicts without turning on a debug log. I would assume interdict losses are usually small, couple of squads and tanks maybe, but no way of knowing.

Perhaps look at the losses/replacements at the beginning of the turn and then after each interdict? Of course movement alone causes some wear and tear on equipment which results in equipment going into the replacement pile. And in a scenario that has lots of different equipments it would be a pain. Getting a report on losses to interdiction has been asked for since I can't remember when, it's a very old issue. Maybe some day.

ORIGINAL: Hellen_slith

ORIGINAL: Shadrach

Ah yes I understand. I DO get interdiction during movement of units (if that's what you mean).
Maybe because the scene was created on your version it still uses the old code?

I'm just surprised playing even works with us on different versions [:D]

We are playing two different versions ... but which one "rules" during our moves?

It can be assumed the version installed on each persons machine would decide which rules individually.

ORIGINAL: Lobster

Getting a report on losses to interdiction has been asked for since I can't remember when, it's a very old issue. Maybe some day.

Yes, I think that the limitations (no reports) on air to land interdiction during movement is a GLARING drawback as far as playing the game ... this is something that I think needs to be addressed.

Or perhaps I don't have the game set up properly to see that type of report, not sure.

For my last test, in Normandy/Rommel, I was struck with over 75 interdiction strikes during movement ... and could not figure out a way to see where those interdiction originated, nor what the affect was, only that sometimes my units would go into "retreating" mode, other times they would disembark rail half way to destination, or just suffer in other ways I have not yet discovered.

In a scene like Normandy/Rommel, it is VERY frustrating to have to "click through" 75 interdict strikes, just to get back to playing the game. VERY VERY frustrating. Such a great scene to be hamstrung by that mechanic, w/o better reports / better game mechanics.

And yet ... we struggle on. It is what it is, and there are ways to mitigate, but I wish that that mechanic were better implemented. YMMV!

Without knowing much about the history of the game or why interdiction worked the way it did; maybe this frustration with constantly being harassed is why they decided to move them to the end of turn?

Then again, how will they realistically work at end of turn? A big point of interdiction strikes is to target enemy troop transports and supplies. Having your rail-transported division stranded after a strike is frustrating but that's how it's supposed to be, right? They rarely cause any big casualties but if you can disrupt enemy movement that's a huge bonus. In the Normandy scenario that's perfectly illustrated by delaying the movement of SS Pansy divisions from the south.

Now that interdicts are happening at the end of turn, are they just random strikes all over the place? That would kind of defeat the whole purpose if you ask me.

Obviously we need the strikes to be logged in the battle log as well, to be able to see the effects.

ORIGINAL: Shadrach

Without knowing much about the history of the game or why interdiction worked the way it did; maybe this frustration with constantly being harassed is why they decided to move them to the end of turn?

Then again, how will they realistically work at end of turn? A big point of interdiction strikes is to target enemy troop transports and supplies. Having your rail-transported division stranded after a strike is frustrating but that's how it's supposed to be, right? They rarely cause any big casualties but if you can disrupt enemy movement that's a huge bonus. In the Normandy scenario that's perfectly illustrated by delaying the movement of SS Pansy divisions from the south.

Now that interdicts are happening at the end of turn, are they just random strikes all over the place? That would kind of defeat the whole purpose if you ask me.

Obviously we need the strikes to be logged in the battle log as well, to be able to see the effects.

But that isn't happening (end of turn) as far as I can tell.

During movement ... ok. But at start of every combat round as well ... annoying as hell.

I agree, interdict is part of the game, and perhaps much of the "problem" w/ it (as I see it) is muchly part of scenario design. But as it stands, it seems to be a mechanic that can be abused.

For me, I really don't care ... I can live with it as is, BUT, for many I think it is a mechanic that is just a turn off. Who wants to have to click through LITERALLY multiple dozens of interdicts, w/o any sort of report? For me, I have found ways to mitigate, and maybe that is part of learning the game, but for others .... total turn-off.

Such a great game, there must be a better way. I hope that another mechanic might be found in TOAW V, whereby the IDEA of interdict is kept, but the "click through it all" is better handled.

YMMV!

Yeah, the game sure has a fondness for bombarding the player with (mostly) useless dialog boxes. It's just bad UI design. One that gets to me is when I accidentally click an unavailable unit in the planner, and get "X cannot attack!" - why do we need to click away a dialog telling us this when it should be plain to everyone from the large X over the unit anyway? And don't get me started on the multitide of information boxes the game insists on showing on start of every turn, surely they could be reduced to one or two? And do we really need to click "begin" on every start when the game shows us side, turn and date on the top right anyway? [8|]

Over time I've learned to keep my left hand dangling over the "1" and "ESC" keys to be able to get these out of the way, instead of risking RSI from constant clicking away dialogs.

The issue of having to inform the player that interdiction happened can easily be solved with:

- Showing a short animation when interdiction happens (already happens I believe)
- Having some on-screen text informing of the attack, but disappears after say 5 seconds. The "Command Ops" game does this elegantly with a message log.
- Logging the combat in the Battle Report for the player to examine.

This way the player would not have to be interrupted with a zillion dialog boxes during every move.

Many of those dialog boxes can be "exterminated" via player options / advanced player options.

See, e.g., my other post re: how I have set up those options, so as not to hinder my own play.

I agree, the default UI is not optimal, and it is a turn off in many respects, and the "defaults" that come w/ the game need to be better optimized....but there are things that you can do to minimize the pain

PS: I have seen in the WiTP:AE forum how some folks have developed "scripts" to ease into that game. I want to play that game, but at the same time, I do not want to have go through that "computer ballet" to play it. Same thing seems to burden TOAW. The defaults are just way not optimized.