Matrix Games Forums

Hi All,

1. Good to read. Now I have an idea of what a force mix may look like based upon lower points

2. Can one choose their own units for this type of Battle? Could one choose the force mix for both sides?

3. Can the battle be saved as a scenario?

Regards John

This is going to be interesting to follow.

I think Erik should be able to get a fairly big win in this one. The soviet armour is low grade, by the looks of it, so his MK111s and the MKIV should be able to dominate the field.

But we shall see!

ORIGINAL: z1812
2. Can one choose their own units for this type of Battle? Could one choose the force mix for both sides?

Yes and no. By default, you choose your preset and set your percentages, which then generates historical forces given year and season for your percentages. The basic presets do not limit unit type. However, we've included some historical presets that do. For example, there's a "German Panzer Battalion" preset that will not give you anything that wouldn't have been in a Panzer battalion or a Kampfgruppe likely to be formed from one. You can adjust the percentages after you load the preset, but the unit types are already set.

You can use this to create your own preset (it's just editing a new text file) that lists the exact unit types you want. You can even assign names to the platoons. If you then tell the RBG to use that preset, you will only get those unit types you listed.

3. Can the battle be saved as a scenario?

Yes, once generated it shows up as "Random" in the scenario list. You can open it in the Scenario Editor after you've played it (assuming you don't want to see everything before you've played) and save it under a different name so that when you generate your next random battle, it's not overwritten. I did this with a few I generated that turned out to be especially fun.

Regards,

- Erik

ORIGINAL: z1812

2. Can one choose their own units for this type of Battle? Could one choose the force mix for both sides?

The RBG picks the units for you based on the best data for the equipment distribution dates that we have. The RBG produces a distribution RBG_Z.txt file for you to look at after the generation process if you like. This lists the % probability of a given unit to appear (it is essentially a large table)

However this is all shaped by what preset you have chosen. You can randomize the presets if you like.

A preset defines data about a particular "outfit" during the war (eg a company, regiment, division etc). Specifically the name of the outfit, the selection of units available to that outfit, naming conventions used at the platoon level, and it also sets the force mix % for you. If a preset defines say a panzer div which used PzIIs early in the war but Panthers later, the RBG still applies a date distribution function to the list of potential units so that you don't get any ahistorical date mixups.

You can add your own presets to the library of available ones pretty easily. Hopefully people will share their own presets with others as well to help enrich the community data driving files for the RBG. The more and better the input driving files for the RBG the better the generated battles will become. The other driving files being the map template, setup zones, battle plans themselves.

The preset idea was developed to allow random battles with some historical flavor like "1st panzer div vs 7th tank corp" rather than just "grey vs red"

You can also just choose a default preset for each side. This is just a generic all units, default naming conventions, default mix % "grey vs red" preset.

It is also possible to change the force mix % bars after you load a preset if you want to further tweak them to your liking.

Once you are in the game and during purchase, you will also have some ability to adjust your platoon strengths (you do have fixed points, so if you strengthen one platoon it is at the cost of weakening another).

I hope that answers your question.

3. Can the battle be saved as a scenario?

The battle is saved as a scenario called "Random". You can play it time and time again if you like. If you generate a new battle then the old one will be overridden. If you want to keep a particular generated battle, then simply copy the battle to something else.

Hi All,

First thanks for the quick responses. I appreciate it.

Are the units editable in the scenario editor? Say I saved a RBG and then opened it in the scenario editor. Could I cherry pick units?

regards John

Yes, that's easy to do.

Hi All,
 
Thats excellent!!
 
Regards John

Sounds great guys.

Regards,

Grell