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ZOC nullified after an attack
Posted: Mon Sep 09, 2019 8:58 am
by Ktonos
There are instances in 1.16.03 where a defending unit loses it's ZOC after a couple of attacks.
Eg German infantry can't move past a Soviet unit (movement gray'ed out due to ZOC), but after the Soviet unit takes a couple of attacks, the grayed out becomes green and it seems like there is no ZOC anymore.
I observed this twice. The soviet units in both cases were above 5 strength but at low Readiness (their STR number was grayed)
RE: ZOC nullified after an attack
Posted: Mon Sep 09, 2019 10:11 am
by Hubert Cater
Hi Ktonos,
Just looking at the code again on my end and the only factor that should nullify a ZoC is if one of the key units responsible for the ZoC drops below strength 5. I see you mentioned that the Soviet units were above 5, but can you confirm? For example, some support units require 2 units to qualify a proper ZoC and even just one of them dropping below strength 5 will nullify the ZoC in that one particular hex.
Hubert
RE: ZOC nullified after an attack
Posted: Mon Sep 09, 2019 5:54 pm
by Ktonos
In both cases the unit exerting the ZoC was definitely a corps infantry. I am pretty sure that the ZoC was removed after an attack by one of my units -
I couldn't move past due to zoc, I attacked dropping defender to 8 str, then immediately after the attack, the same unit had the previously restricted move due to zoc cleared out. I didn't think much of it at the time, but my opponent complained so I was vigilant during my next turn, and I spotted one more case. Next time I encounter it I will try to take a screen.
RE: ZOC nullified after an attack
Posted: Mon Sep 09, 2019 6:04 pm
by Markiss
It is in the game against me that this is happening. I noticed that both times, it was a corps whose ZOC was driven through without penalty. Does the corps "weak zone of control" have something to do with this? I really need to know, for if it is, then I will never buy another corps for the Soviets. They literally might was well not be there.
This issue matters to me more than most, as I build a main line of resistance to try and hold a front with the Soviets, as opposed to just leaving a few units in cities and packing the rest of my units in a ball around the victory cities, as so many do. The Germans ARE going to punch the occasional hole through, but if the ZOC rules are in effect, the Germans are prevented from running through the hole at full movement because the ZOC of the units on the shoulders of the hole slows them down, giving me a chance to retreat and re-form my line. When a unit can run through a 1 hex gap without penalty, it can cut off my retreat, and the WHOLE FRONT dies. Which is what has happened, twice now, in the same game.
I would just like to understand this phenomenon, so I can plan for it. When a unit suddenly makes a movement that seems impossible, it is game-wrecking.
And I was doing so well. I wasn't going to win, but I was at least being competitive. That is now over.
RE: ZOC nullified after an attack
Posted: Mon Sep 09, 2019 7:31 pm
by Ktonos
To be fair, as I said in the in game chat, I disagree this was game changing.
Regarding the first case: my mechanised inf could reach behind the line take the mine and cut the retreat of the Soviet group anyways.
ie Before I started moving the Mech, and while the ZoC was still in effect, it could reach the mine passing by the Soviet corps.
In the second case it was kind of irrelevant as far as I remember from last turn the corps that moved past the ZoC didn't cut anything out of supply. The damage in Kiev is from panzers crossing the Dnieper several hexes east of the city, not from the corps.
Game has glitches and we live by them. For example I still see units that just moved to a clear hex having a 4 level entrenchment next turn, or I've seen twice the Rommel HQ not deploying in Africa due to limited space.
RE: ZOC nullified after an attack
Posted: Mon Sep 09, 2019 8:57 pm
by Markiss
That's funny that you mention Kiev as the second case, I was far more stunned by the movement of your panzer around the end of my line near Smolensk. I saw the panzer on my turn, and figured that it would need 8 movement points to reach my HQ with all the ZOC's and forests in the way. So, I had one more turn, and so didn't cover that avenue of approach.
Except that I didn't have one more turn. Your panzer reached the HQ, and now it is dead. And soon, so will the rest of the force that it commanded.
And I am living with the flaws in the game. If I wasn't, I would not still be playing after a year. But I care enough about the game enough to try to get the flaws corrected, instead of just moving on, as so many others have. I am just trying to make the point that it is a big deal, maybe with a little too much passion, as is my way.
Also, I do not think that this issue just started. I have noticed it here and there over the last few months, but I wrote it off to the replay maybe not being exactly accurate, or maybe myself being mistaken. But this time, both times that I saw, it was very clear that initially, a unit could not move through or around the blocking unit, but after that blocking unit took an attack, even if it did not drop below 5, the ZOC seemed to no longer be active and the enemy could blitz right on by without penalty, reaching targets that they should not be able to reach. Both times the blocking unit was a Soviet corps.
Hope that helps.
RE: ZOC nullified after an attack
Posted: Mon Sep 09, 2019 10:14 pm
by Hubert Cater
Thanks for the info and a Corps is considered a secondary support ZoC unit, which simply means a hex that would have ZoC exerted over it would require 2 Corps adjacent to it with both having strength >= 5. It sounds like at least 1 Corps was still at strength 8 in your example, can you confirm the other was at least >= 5?
RE: ZOC nullified after an attack
Posted: Mon Sep 09, 2019 10:40 pm
by Ktonos
Ah, always thought corps ZoC is same as Army ZoC. Thanks for the clarification. I don't remember the surrounding units and what their state was before and after the ZoC but I am pretty sure this is the reason.