Matrix Games Forums

Hi,

Just wondering what you experienced players do to keep track of the enemy. I am thinking of building an excel and recording all my sightings of enemy units and their status. I would be happy to hear more ideas.

Thanks,
WhiteOwl

ORIGINAL: WhiteOwl

Hi,

Just wondering what you experienced players do to keep track of the enemy. I am thinking of building an excel and recording all my sightings of enemy units and their status. I would be happy to hear more ideas.

Thanks,
WhiteOwl

You can save games, and look at them later.

There are some new features. The SitRep log is a list of battles. The 'Movies' feature give you a set of bitmaps.

Ralph

Don't use your eyes, Luke. Use The Force.

I once tried to keep track of interdiction strikes against my German opponent in a game of Two Weeks in Normandy, and dutifully noted down each hex that was hit by interdiction attacks during the playback of his turn. The theory being that the units, expecially those hit in the last round, before the turn's end, should have been weakened, possibly routed and not as dug in as they would have been, and thus easier to attack, or overrun. I found it to be incredibly tedious, and the results not worth the effort.

However, one thing I always do, unless specifically agreed to ahead of time, is to watch every bit of the replay at least once. This gives me a good general idea of where the enemy is focusing their efforts, and where their reserves are going.

That's a classic remark about The Force. And so true. It's a bit like hunting in the woods. Sometimes it's more what you don't/do hear- like bird song for instance or the rustle of leaves- than what you can see. A very inexact science. Really an art in a way.

Pointers:

1) First find the enemy. They usually put pickets out and you need to find these, preferably with recce units that can then pull back. This can often give you an idea of what's up if you analyse carefully.
2) If you can always replay until you've wrung every piece of information that's useful from it.
3) There's a point at which intelligence gathering crosses a boundary where it isn't intelligent. I'd suggest Excel S/Ss might cross that border. Maybe try a piece of paper and a pencil to keep you focussed.
4) Also practice, practice and more practice. Try games in hotseat mode with 'Fog of War' on. That way you'll see for yourself each turn for both sides whether what you thought you saw is what you really saw.

In summary don't sweat the small s**t. Get a plan together, watch it fall apart at first contact with the enemy and adapt (or die).

Hope this helps. And may The Force be with you!

ORIGINAL: JAMiAM
watch every bit of the replay at least once.

You can watch the replay more than once... How?
Or is this just for PBEM.

ORIGINAL: GreenDestiny
You can watch the replay more than once... How?
Or is this just for PBEM.

Sorry for the confusion, but yes, the replay is just for PBEM.

I can't bear watching the replay. Seeing the other guy doing all these awful things and being unable to respond really frays my nerves.

In theory, this is bad for me in the game. But if I were to watch the replay, I would get into the actual turn and have the urge to start moving units all over the place right away. NOT the right way to go about things.

The main thing is to look at the whole situation before touching anything. It doesn't make much difference whether you watched the replay or not since that doesn't give you all the information you need. Then start with some moves which you're really sure of (and preferably aren't too important anyway) before moving on to more risky business. What is called "intelligence" in military parlance is really just knowledge. Being careful enough to use your real intelligence is just as important.

ORIGINAL: JAMiAM
Sorry for the confusion, but yes, the replay is just for PBEM.

Thought so… it maybe a neat feature to add in a single player game, as I sometimes get distracted when the PO is playing.

I get what you guys are saying about it being tedious and not worrying too much about the detail. However, in real life field intelligence work is tedious, and in RL, a commander always wants as much intelligence as he can gather. Right now, in my umpteenth attempt at trying to beat the damn PO in Anonymous Heroics, I bit the bullet and bulit an excel with each enemy unit's name, formation, strength, and included guesses about the units in a formation I cannot observe directly (like HQs). Then I can tell which formations I am facing in each sector (west, center and east), and get an idea of where I am strong, and where I am weak. Where I should try to defend as best I can, and where I can start thinking of attacking. I'll give it a try for this game and see how it goes.

I bit the bullet and bulit an excel with each enemy unit's name, formation, strength, and included guesses about the units in a formation I cannot observe directly (like HQs).

Sounds tedious... It's only a game after all - you're supposed to have fun [;)]

In wargames, one man's death by tedious, nitpicky, mindnumbing, "Oh my God, would you just move already" attention to detail is another man's nirvana.

That's one of the things that attracted me to TOAWIII, for it seems that you can play it either way. Just let the computer staff handle it, or micromanage till your head explodes.

ORIGINAL: GreenDestiny
Or is this just for PBEM.

Thinking desperately sideways- don't forget it is possible to PBEM against yourself. So you can see those replays.

Well, I play big scenarios myself so my advice probaply only apply for them. Anyways, look for the big concentrations.  This will tell you where the enemy is about to launch a major(or minor) offensive, or where he is concentrating his defence.

ORIGINAL: WhiteOwl

Hi,

Just wondering what you experienced players do to keep track of the enemy. I am thinking of building an excel and recording all my sightings of enemy units and their status. I would be happy to hear more ideas.

Thanks,
WhiteOwl

Well, basically I don't. After all, it's all about imposing your plan, will and strength onto the enemy, not reacting to your opponent's moves. Better keep him worried about what you're doing than the other way round.
We cornered into a strict defensive, he'll come after your most valuable objectives anyway so you know where to meet him [;)]

The only occasions I've kept track of what the enemy was doing was when writing AARs, but it's really too much of a burden when you have a dozen pbem games going - and it didn't change my gameplay anyway.

ORIGINAL: Nemo69

Well, basically I don't. After all, it's all about imposing your plan, will and strength onto the enemy, not reacting to your opponent's moves. Better keep him worried about what you're doing than the other way round.

That's true enough. However if you watch where he's going you can co-operate to a sufficient degree to make him think you were caught unawares- then deliver your brutal counterattack.

ORIGINAL: GreenDestiny
You can watch the replay more than once... How?

Just load the file your opponent sent to you and the first thing that appears is the playback screen. You can do that again and again, etc. I've kept track of the enemy aircraft that way.

ORIGINAL: larryfulkerson

ORIGINAL: GreenDestiny
You can watch the replay more than once... How?

Just load the file your opponent sent to you and the first thing that appears is the playback screen. You can do that again and again, etc. I've kept track of the enemy aircraft that way.

Just a cautionary warning here, and clarification...what Larry means is that you can restart the video playback in a PBEM turn, as many times as you desire. Don't reload the PBEM turn, unless you want to generate some cheat messages for your opponent to hit you over the head with...[:-]

Just click on the second button from the right, to view the replay. When you're finished, you may click it again, and watch it from the beginning, all over again. There is not an incremental rewind button, or search feature built in, though that would be a nice addition.[;)]

ORIGINAL: JAMiAM
Just a cautionary warning here, and clarification...what Larry means is that you can restart the video playback in a PBEM turn, as many times as you desire. Don't reload the PBEM turn, unless you want to generate some cheat messages for your opponent to hit you over the head with...[:-]

Just click on the second button from the right, to view the replay. When you're finished, you may click it again, and watch it from the beginning, all over again. There is not an incremental rewind button, or search feature built in, though that would be a nice addition.

I was thinking that after you've sent your moves to your opponent and there's nothing else to send to him that it shouldn't matter how many times you re-load the file he sent you. You aren't going to send him your moves again I assume. So re-watching the playback by reloading the file he sent you isn't hurting anything, I thought.