Elmer Assist usage

[larryfulkerson]

I was horsing around with my B41 scenario just now and noticed that here on T11 the objectives of several formations was
erroneous and needed adjusting if I was to let Elmer move everybody so I adjusted it and it caused me to think about adding an
Axis PO to the scenario before I publish it again.

And I was wondering if anybody uses the Elmer Assist thing besides me. Anybody?

[sPzAbt653]

I used it briefly once and decided that it wasn't for me, but it is a great feature. You generally have to remove whatever objectives are there already, so at first its a little annoying. I suppose you could go into the editor and assign a blank track, then start from scratch. For more people to use it there might need to be a better way to implement it.

Edit : That made me think that you might change tracks in game, so I looked and yes you can, so no need to use the editor as I said above.

[larryfulkerson]

That made me think that you might change tracks in game, so I looked and yes you can

Isn't there an event that will do that for you? I seem to remember an event doing that.

[sPzAbt653]

Yes, you can do it by event also.

[larryfulkerson]

I usually build my objectives for each formation so that they overlap somewhat in order to prevent the gaps that appear in the front
lines sometimes. That means that the units have to compete for road and rail usage. But I'd rather do that than have gaps in the
lines. Is there anybody out there that doesn't have overlapping objectives? What about you Steve?

[larryfulkerson]

Here's the kind of gap I'm talking about. The German units start on the left edge and are moving to the right and the Soviets are
coming from the right and moving left and they are supposed to be contained by the Axis and as you can see they have found a
hole in the lines and are free in their turn to wreck all kinds of rail in my backfield. This means I need to adjust the objectives a tiny
bit.

EDIT: And another thing: Elmer doesn't seem to use the BTS system with it's addition to MP's needed to traverse a battlefield hex.
I have seen no graphical depiction of the battles that occur. But then, I'm counting RBC as a combat since that too would emplace
a BTS stamp in the hex. So there's an advantage to using Elmer to move your units and do your attacks.

EDIT2: It turns out that I was missing the correct graphics file and wasn't displaying the BTS marks on the map. I replaced that file
with a newer copy and the BTS stamps are back. Turns out that Elmer IS using the BTS system after all.

[sPzAbt653]

I think overlapping is a good idea in many cases. But there is no right or wrong way. Lay 'em down and see how they play out, adjust if necessary. [:)]

[mllange]

ORIGINAL: larryfulkerson

I was horsing around with my B41 scenario just now and noticed that here on T11 the objectives of several formations was
erroneous and needed adjusting if I was to let Elmer move everybody so I adjusted it and it caused me to think about adding an
Axis PO to the scenario before I publish it again.

And I was wondering if anybody uses the Elmer Assist thing besides me. Anybody?

I definitely enjoy using Elmer Assist, when I'm in the mood it adds the feeling of being a force commander with an element of unknown. I lay down the operational objectives and leave the details to my faithful adjunct assistant, Elmer. Great fun. I use the track selector rather than mess with the editor most of the time.

[r6kunz]

I think this is a great feature, both testing and playing. Road to Moscow I: "can Guderian reach Minsk?", or Ardennes 1944: "can Peiper reach Stavelot?"

[larryfulkerson]

I've been playtesting my B41 scenario using the track selector and the Elmer Assist feature and I'm finding some tricks
and traps. First of all there's a great advantage to letting Elmer do the fighting because Elmer doesn't seem to use the BTS
system that would slow down a manual advance. And at the beginning of the turn before I've moved anybody, I go through
all the formations one at a time to find the tired ones to move them to better supply and dig them in so they don't move and
use the services of the engineers to fix the rail and or bridges that need it. And then after about 1/4 of the time I would have
used doing my moves I'm ready to click the "Elmer, move me" button and watch the show. Oh, and another thing: I've noticed
that Elmer seems to get way more RBC's than I do. So I've found it advantageous to use Elmer to play my side.

[mllange]

Good ideas there, Larry. Now I'm off to do some 'testing' of my own.

[larryfulkerson]

Something else I discovered was that if you click on the game map while Elmer is moving the
units, Elmer will quit moving the units. So if you see some formation going wrong or some
perverse situation is developing you can stop the action, adjust the objectives and hence the
track for that formation and THEN continue letting Elmer move everything. It's pretty cool.

[larryfulkerson]

And another thing I discovered just now: After the last time you've let Elmer move your units and you're just about to end your
turn, you have a chance to go through each of the formations and "park" those that still have MP's left and those guys that are
still in a "moving" status, you can set to "mobile" instead.