Surrounded troops escape! (news at eleven)

[willgamer]

Playing as the Allies on the D-Day scenario, I surrounded German troops completely, behind Allied lines, only to have them strategically move to reappear elsewhere on the map.

Somehow that just doesn't seem right.....[X(][8|][:D]

[cpdeyoung]

They only have one chance to do that, and I think of how porous the pockets in the Soviet Union were when first formed, and accept this as a simulation of that. If you saw the movie "Atonement" you remember the three soldiers moving to Dunkirk. That is how I think of "pockets". Perhaps it helps to think of allowing strategic movement out of "pockets" as simulating the simultaneous flux of movement, but in a turn based game.

Remember to use it yourself, and don't forget disbanding, breaking up a unit and filtering through the lines, when things get really tough.

Just how I see it, of course.

Chuck

[Wolfe1759]

Is this really how it is supposed to work - it seems more than a bit odd if it is and also against any of the supply rules I can find in the manual.

I've also found surrounding German troops in the Overlord scenario to give some unexpected results (as in my Supply in the Overlord scenario post)

[gwgardner]

It's a feature, believe it or not.

Totally ahistorical and unrealistic, notwithstanding Chuck's imagery. It should be disallowed in any situation where the surrounded unit has no access to the sea.

If the unit is not completely surrounded, or does have access to the coast, I can see strategic move as viable, but otherwise, it's just silly.

In PBEM I prefer a house rule in which no such strat moves are allowed, when completely surrounded. Nothing you can do about it against the AI, however, until the developers decide to fix it.

[Wolfe1759]

OK accepting that it is a feature that then means the Strategic Movement rules in the TOW manual are wrong.

Section 8.7 Stategic Movement 3rd bullet point "Units out of Supply can't use stategic movement" and even if they are ruled as being in supply the next paragraph says "Highlighted Cities are friendly-controlled Cities that had a land connection over friendly-controlled hexes to the selected unit at the begining of a turn"

[Champagne]

It is a tough issue because many pockets in WW2 were indeed porous.

Any solution to the problem would have to take account of this fact.

[Wolfe1759]

I think I can accept using strategic movement to escape from a pocket, Dunkirk and to a lesser extent Arnhem spring to mind. Also given that strategic moves are in limited supply it is probably only going to be used for at most 1-2 units a turn and that then limits your use of strat move for the redployment of reserves or reinforcements.

That then gives me the question of what actually are the strategic movement rules as 8.7 doesn't seem to represent what actually happens in the game. Is the rule as per 8.7 but deleting the bullet point and sentence I quoted above? If that is the case great, end of my confusion and I'll play as is.

I think the problem might be that it is unclear when a unit becomes out of supply - is it

1. immediatly upon being cut off from a route of friendly controlled hexes to a supply source (friendly controlled city/port) - pretty certain this isn't whats happening

2. at the begining of a new game turn

3. at the begining of a new player/nation turn

4. sometime else