Matrix Games Forums

How exactly does a unit's footprint (as in the actual footprint, not the one that you set when giving an order) interact with terrain features like forested areas? For example, if I order an armored or mechanized unit into a spot with just enough clear space for the order to go through but surrounded by forest terrain, how does the game calculate their cover status? Do they receive benefits from the forest terrain or is the game basically shoving the whole unit into that clear spot?

Similarly, if I have a unit that CAN go into forested or rough terrain, but only half the unit is in the wooded/rough area, does the game calculate their cover bonus as a percentage equivalent to the percentage of the unit in cover or does it work in another way entirely?

I'm not 100% sure, but I think the footprint is broken up into the invisible 100m square, grids that make up the map.
If the footprint covers mixed terrain, then that is somehow taken into account within the magic formula that Panther have come up with to resolve combat, and bombardment.

Or it might just be the terrain that the majority of the footprint is covering, which you can see in text at the bottom of the General tab for the selected unit.

Would be nice if someone that knows for sure could confirm it.

ORIGINAL: dazkaz15

I'm not 100% sure, but I think the footprint is broken up into the invisible 100m square, grids that make up the map.
If the footprint covers mixed terrain, then that is somehow taken into account within the magic formula that Panther have come up with to resolve combat, and bombardment.

Or it might just be the terrain that the majority of the footprint is covering, which you can see in text at the bottom of the General tab for the selected unit.

Would be nice if someone that knows for sure could confirm it.

+ 1

ORIGINAL: NoxNoctum

How exactly does a unit's footprint (as in the actual footprint, not the one that you set when giving an order) interact with terrain features like forested areas?

It is complicated But to simplify a lot, it basically uses the terrain feature which are found to be "dominant". That is, simple majority counting of how many 'terrain cells' of a given type are covered by the unit footprint.

ORIGINAL: NoxNoctum
For example, if I order an armored or mechanized unit into a spot with just enough clear space for the order to go through but surrounded by forest terrain, how does the game calculate their cover status? Do they receive benefits from the forest terrain or is the game basically shoving the whole unit into that clear spot?

Well, if there's no path for the mechanized unit to get there, you won't be able to issue that order (the UI will let you know). If there's such path, the above applies.

ORIGINAL: NoxNoctum
Similarly, if I have a unit that CAN go into forested or rough terrain, but only half the unit is in the wooded/rough area, does the game calculate their cover bonus as a percentage equivalent to the percentage of the unit in cover or does it work in another way entirely?

See above. Note that units - or forces, in Command Ops parlance - are monolithic. That is, if you have a mixed force of panzergrenadiers and their Sdkfz's, they'll be handled as mechanized units for the purposes of movement. For fires, it's complicated Let's say that the game tracks whether that infantry has dismounted or not (say, if they're assaulting, then the infantry is supposed to be advancing towards the objective with the vehicles staying behind). If they're moving, they're assumed to be riding on the Sdkfz's.

Fires for these units are resolved in a intuitive manner, yet difficult to program (we identified and resolved several issues back at the beginning of the year). Anti-personnel fires affect dismounted personnel (if any) and the passengers of the vehicles (if those are "open-top", see on the EstabEditor the attribute for that vehicle). Anti-armour fires attack the vehicles, and can cause casualties on both crews and passengers.

Thanks for the explanation Miguel [:)]

So if I get can my mechanized unit footprint to partially cover some trees, I can get some benefit from the forest cover?

The reason I was wondering about this is from playing Hell on Wheels Counterattack. As the Germans, one of your two Pak40 units starts out in a forest "wedge", with its footprint covered probably 75% by trees. So it got me thinking, are they deriving any benefit from this? (presumably that's why the scenario designer put it in that spot).

ORIGINAL: NoxNoctum

So if I get can my mechanized unit footprint to partially cover some trees, I can get some benefit from the forest cover?

The reason I was wondering about this is from playing Hell on Wheels Counterattack. As the Germans, one of your two Pak40 units starts out in a forest "wedge", with its footprint covered probably 75% by trees. So it got me thinking, are they deriving any benefit from this? (presumably that's why the scenario designer put it in that spot).

You can treat terrain effects that way.

It's a complicated algorithm that determines fire protection and line of sight impacts based on all the various kinds of terrain effects, unit composition, the relative amount of coverage within a footprint's width and depth, and the unit's formation deployment type.

You also have to keep in mind that some combinations of ground cover type and forested terrain won't allow mechanized unit deployment in that terrain. You can sample the terrain impacts on mechanized units by right clicking on spots within the terrain feature to assure yourself there is a greater than zero capability for motorized movement in that terrain.

100-percent movement movement through a terrain (usually only available on paved major roads) assures the quickest deployment for safety inside that terrain. A 5-percent movement means it will take the unit significantly longer to deploy into that terrain to obtain all the fire protection and line of sight benefits derived from deploying there.