Matrix Games Forums

What exactly does it mean in the unit info bar at the bottom of the screen when it says that the unit is 'out of contact'? And, is there any disadvantage to being out of contact; and how does a unit get 'in contact''?

thanks

adamo

A unit being in contact is only vitally important if you are playing with Command Control on. A unit remains in visual contact with its superior command (ie the squads in a platoon are subordinate to the platoon leader who is represented by a number in brackets, or a + if its an armoured formation) as long as it remains within 3 hexes from that unit.

Beyond those 3 hexes, the unit, if it has a radio, must run a check to see if it is in contact with its HQ via the radio. WWII radios were not as reliable as today and I also believe that experience plays a role.

Being in Contact is important with command and control on because if you change a formation's objective with a unit not in contact, the unit will not recieve the new objective information until contact is re-established. They cannot change their stance either (IIRC) from advance to defend.

It also becomes vital for calling down artillery strikes as the FO has to be in contact with the AO.

While I am not positive about its effect on rallying, it makes sense to me that a unit out of contact cannot be rallied by its commander, so such a unit would recieve only its own rally during the turn and not the extra ones that you could ordinarily assign it.


Radios and Command Control really enable a smaller more organized force to outmanouver and defeat in detail a larger uncoordinated force. (Think of Barbarossa with the Wehrmacht vs the Red Army in terms of manuverability, the size of the participants and initiative on the battlefield.)

A unit is out of contact when it cannot SEE it's leader(B0 or C0 or D0 etc) nor has radio contact. This comes more into play when you have Command and Control option on. It also have to be out of sight of the A0 unit which can command all.

The problem you have is that if the leader changes the objective(as happens late in a scenario) to take out another enemy position, the lost unit is stuck going to the OLD position. How can the lost unit know the objective has changed because no one tells it.

Another feature that lost units lose is the extra layer of rallying that comes from having a Lt nearby to reduce suppression after the Sargeant has failed. Other bonuses apply as well.

You had another question about how you manage large groups of units, What I tend to do is divide the forces around features of the map and give tasks to groups of units. By giving I mean I make a (geographical)mental note that, for example, those units north of the destroyed bunker and south of the woods are to go after that objective while those south of the destroyed bunker move on to another different objective. The problem with this is, if I'm not careful, I send a unit with other group. And halfway through I realize I've got a lost unit. It's even worse when I've changed objectives for the group. I might have to send the HQ unit back to find the lost unit. But most times I just abandon the lost unit; it's not worth losing an objective.
In the mega-campaign Lost Victories(Eastern front) I've had to make a choice about whether to attack early against a disorganized Soviet force versus having the extra support if I decided to wait. I decided to attack early an thus can't afford any lost units like I had in an earlier scenario.

One thing that does help is the colour coding of the selected unit. If you select one unit, it changes to a gold colour AND so do other units in it section(D0,D1,D2,D3 etc.)
The Next unit and Previous Unit buttons are useful for this as well.

The nice thing about this forum is that people will correct me if I'm wrong or clarify as well.

ZoomBoy
Developing a iso-tile 2D RPG with skills, weapons, and adventure. See my old Hex-Tile RPG GAME, character editor, diary, 3D Art resources at Check out my Web-Site

You guys talk of 'Objectives'. Where are the formations' objectives listed and how can they be changed??

Formation objectives : a "target" hex that is marked with a blue flag (and given in brackets in the lower right).

Units may move into the direction of their obj. without spending orders (but movement points..)

O.C. this applies only if C&C is turned ON, what I would strongly advise, as it adds much to realism (but makes some battles much harder).

A.

I have found the unit strength color change from white to yellow (when one unit is selected all the others in the unit are too) to be very helpful in keeping and moving units together (playing with C&C off). I originally had the Marine and IJA flag symbols turned on but they obscured the numbers, so I turned them off. Much better.