Matrix Games Forums

Hello
Ive been playing for quite a few years now but have never really grasped the importance of radios in the game. I can't ever get my company commanders to rally the troops via radio if they are in contact but still outside of the 3 hex zone, so what exactly do they do ?
I only play with C&C off.

ORIGINAL: soldier

Hello
Ive been playing for quite a few years now but have never really grasped the importance of radios in the game. I can't ever get my company commanders to rally the troops via radio if they are in contact but still outside of the 3 hex zone, so what exactly do they do ?
I only play with C&C off.

First, the Radio represents a number of "communication" systems: wireless radios, land-line phones, walkie-talkies, foot and motor messengers, and others. The Radio rating (the % chance the unit has a radio) determines whether non-leader units have a "radio" or not. All leader units get radios, regardless of the OOB setting; that's why Snipers can't be made to NOT have radios, because they act as their own "formation leader".

Now, "radio comms" does 2 things during the game, if not using C&C; 3 if C&C is ON.
1. It allows Barrage requests from units to artillery forces for Indirect Fire. No "radio", no contact to the batteries.
2. It allows commanders to Rally units within their chain-of-command...note the emphasis. Within their chain-of-command. Independent Section or Platoon formations are NOT within a Company's C-o-C, and will not be Rallied by that Company Commander. Independent formations have 3 Leaders: the Unit, the Formation, and the A0. Formations that are part of a Company have 4 Leaders: the Unit, the Formation, the Company, and the A0.
3. With C&C ON, "radios" allow the promulgation of a Leader's Orders to his subordinates, and allow a Leader to use Orders from a higher Leader in his C-o-C.

I suspect that a lot of your trouble comes from units that are not in any C-o-C other than the A0.

I can't get my platoons (as part of company) to be rallied by their own company HQ's or platoon leaders via radio if outside of three hexes. These units should be in chain of command when in contact via radio but I only ever see the actual unit leaders name come up as attempting to rally. So how can i get the darn things to work ?  ... they seem to contact artillery fine, well most of the time at least.

This is combat friction at work. Every command unit has a possibility of recovering cohesion, but under conditions of extreme stress the attempt may fail. This is just the chance you take. I simplify the process by simply moving down the unit list and attempting rallies in sequence. Simplistic, yes, but it's the quickest way to do it.

This is why is so important to maintain formations at the highest possible level (i.e., companies), but everyone has different philosophies on force construction. There are many threads about this subject.