Matrix Games Forums

This is something Larry brought up and I think it's a good idea. Such a good idea I thought it should be expanded upon.

You can't tell which units have simply used all their mp and which ones are embarked for rail movement. The more units present in the scenario the more head scratching that causes. If you can single out dismounted units in the UI then what's the problem with embarked for rail movement?

I guess going to the extreme you could even do something like: embarked/dismounted or embarked or mobile/dismounted or tactical/dismounted or local/dismounted. You could designate which are Dug in, Entrenched or Fortified. Local Reserve, Tactical Reserve. Why just use the Dismounted column in the OOB for that single category?

Or just use letters: E/D, E, M/D, T/D, L/D, D, L, T, M. Again, if the game can go through the OOB and tell you if a unit is dismounted then it can just as easily go through the OOB and give you the status of every unit. I know no one wants to have to mess with the UI and I sympathize with them. This UI output stuff is a pain. But Larry does have a good point.

This is OOB UI:

It's a very good idea to be able to see the state of each unit in the OOB like that.

However, Dismounted is not a "state" the same as the others (Embarked, Entrenched etc), it's an "extra" value, and it can be combined with others, which complicates things. For instance how would you handle sorting of the "State" column when the values are like for instance "D/E" for Dismounted+Entrenched?

It would be better to have "State" as a new column and keep the "Dismount" column. They'd need to make the columns tighter to fit though, maybe shorten Dismount to "Dis" and State to "Sta" (for instance).

More information in the OOB will always be useful, as long as it can fit. Maybe if the table can be made to scroll horizontally there would be room for a lot more data for sorting.

Can just make the window larger. The dismount column is new so it would be the same as adding that was.

How about if a unit is Embarked on a train it could be displayed as 'Move 30' ?

Why not a graphic icon to represent RR, Air or Sea movement with used/unused?

(Train Icon) 6/36
(Plane Icon) 126/126
(Ship Icon) 6/16

Just add one more column for this in that dialog?

Just 'brain storming'

Well some people were wanting to auto dig in at the end of a turn. I thought this would at least give players a way to see what was dug in and what was not and to what degree. Not such a problem with a small scenario. But once you start getting into the hundreds of units it can be a real time eater. Larry wants some way to see what had been embarked and what wasn't. Looking for zero movement point units isn't all that reliable because there are actions that eat up all the movement points besides embarking. Was thinking this would be a work around for some of that but not many replies so must not be much need for it.

Maybe even a dig in button could be added. Dunno how hard that would be to get done.

ORIGINAL: Lobster

Well some people were wanting to auto dig in at the end of a turn. I thought this would at least give players a way to see what was dug in and what was not and to what degree. Not such a problem with a small scenario. But once you start getting into the hundreds of units it can be a real time eater. Larry wants some way to see what had been embarked and what wasn't. Looking for zero movement point units isn't all that reliable because there are actions that eat up all the movement points besides embarking. Was thinking this would be a work around for some of that but not many replies so must not be much need for it.

Maybe even a dig in button could be added. Dunno how hard that would be to get done.

Shift '.' ( period ) is available ( ??? ) so that all units are dug in after the application of the key press. Just thinking outloud.

Could put a dig in button on the unit report, formation report and oob. So if those reports show if units are D, E or F then you can take care of things while you are looking to see the dig in state of things.

I'm trying to think if there is a reason that a unit should be kept in Mobile deployment with MP's left at the end of a turn as opposed to Digging In. Nothing immediately comes to mind.

Only thing I can come up with is because you forgot to dig in. Maybe overlooked because there were 500 units to go through.

Unless:
Are the any "special" units, like support units, where it would be better if they NOT dig in and are left with remaining MPs? Like AA, HQs, Supply etc?
Are units given for instance a boost in readiness or supply if they have remaining MP? They didn't do all that so had some R&R?

The manual at 6.1.2 gives a good definition of what units should dig in at the end of a turn using remaining MPs, basically the units that "can act":

"When referring to a unit that can act, we
mean the next land unit in the owning
player’s Order of Battle (OOB) that is neither
selected for combat, Dug In, Entrenched,
Fortified, in either Local or Tactical Reserve,
or out of Movement Points."

Are the any "special" units, like support units, where it would be better if they NOT dig in and are left with remaining MPs? Like AA, HQs, Supply etc?

Ahh!! ... Transport Asset Sharing. Not a huge influence on any scenario that I have seen, but never the less it is a factor.

Are units given for instance a boost in readiness or supply if they have remaining MP?

No they aren't, and if I remember correctly Digging In costs nothing.

Ahh!! ... Transport Asset Sharing. Not a huge influence on any scenario that I have seen, but never the less it is a factor.

Yes... in the manual it says:

"Units that do not move and are not assigned a Local
or Tactical Reserve status will temporarily lend a
portion of their transport assets (equipment with a
transport capability, such as trucks, horse teams, etc.)
to their parent Formation (and possibly to others
depending upon the Formation Support Level) to
aid in distributing Supply to other units. "

But not clear how "do not move" is defined - remaining movement points, or does the game keep track of if a unit has moved this turn in other ways? Will Digging In a unit still make it contribute to the supply?

I think I read somewhere here that by digging in at end of turn, you free up these assets to help with supply, but I may remember it wrong.

In TOAWIII I tested transport asset sharing. The most I could get was a +3 supply distribution. Not sure how it goes in TOAWIV.