Phantom Artillery

[Glenn Saunders]

Couldn't this be addressed by the same technique that won't allow an unlimited number of move adjacent and fire attacks? Or the limit on air attacks on a hex?

Might not be a bad idea I suppose - although Dog Soldier does make a good point too.

The Air Limit idea was something I came up with and that was after the basic rules were long since established. Also, the justification for the Air Limit rule is something that is a little easier to visualize - I mean it is difficult to imagine a gross number of aircraft over a single hex - let alone a situation where an operational cmdr would actually order it.

But I can see a Op Cmdr saying "fire everything we got at that target" and then some joker would make fun of the limit and say "but sir, we already put all the shells we are allowed to into that hex.":)

Glenn

[Dirk Gross]

My comment was really just thinking aloud about what you said. Trying to get off the beaches at Normandy...I want every piece of artillery firing I can get. As a game, I want to fire what I can. As a simulation, it does raise questions in your mind about how many shells are landing in the target. And then, as I'm firing, I'll switch targets as soon as the target disrupts.

In summary, I can live with it and I don't see a need for a fix for a non-problem. Game on! :smoke:

[Dog Soldier]

Dirk,

Your idea made me think of another item. Maybe Glenn can put a light on this subject...

There has been a menu item under the View menu for Area Boundaries. this items seems still born, I can not see it working. Was this an idea to control the boundaries between divisions and limit the artillery from multiple divisions attacking the same hex?

Dog Soldier

[jonnymacbrown]

"However we didn't want anyone to build a Bulge Game on the France 40 Map, thus negating the need for people to own Bulge. That could piss off a lot of people who bought Bulge. And Bulge is a very popular game!"

Yes it's a great game! But the best map of all time is the F40 map and graphics. I use the F40 map graphics in B44 and it is really good! von ege :cheeky:

[Glenn Saunders]

There has been a menu item under the View menu for Area Boundaries. this items seems still born, I can not see it working.

It only works for maps with National Boundaries defined. You won't see any effect in Russia, but you wiull in France 40, NGP 85 ...but not Bulge - that map was made BEFORE we had this feature and JT has the master Overlay file so we (Blackie and I) can't even add it for you.

Glenn

[Dog Soldier]

Thanks for the insight Glenn.

Dog Soldier

[Sgt Barker]

Kind of a hijack, but re: what Glenn said about product.

When I started playing regularly a few months ago I thought of asking why a "map pack" wasn't released for, say, all of the western Soviet Union. Allow the scenario makers to research and go nuts.

Then the inner child went away and the outer 50 year old business man took over as I realised this would hose them making any money at all. HPS has superbly walked the line between giving us too much (and cutting their own financial throats), and making it seem like a money grab by "rereleasing" the same product over and over. The combination of retroactively applicable engine updates and wonderful research and scenarios make PzC a good deal, even if I do shell out $40.00 a pop for the "same game" every few months.

BTW, it's good to see someone close to a company be straight about the business end of things. Refreshing.

[alaric99x]

In a way they do sell the same thing over and over again, but I don't look at it that way. Each of the games has such a wealth of detail, and a variety of scenarios, that it's not the same thing, even if it does use the same engine. And, as you say, "retroactively applicable engine updates" means that all previously purchased products get repeatedly upgraded to the latest features.

It's interesting to see how many peope on this ladder have ALL PzC titles. I purchased my first HPS games about 2 months ago and I find myself wanting more and more of them. I have no doubt that I will have spent another thousand dollars over the coming year. I also bought a Civil War title with my second purchase and I'll buy NGP with my next purchase. HPS is successfully cultivating repeat customers, many of whom will spend a few thousand dollars rather than buying a few games.

Can I get back to my original question now? Glenn, I'm guessing you were involved in the design of the France '40 campaign scenario. Can you tell me what the intent of the designers was? Did the designers intend that the artillery units I asked about be used, or were they intended to be in travel mode on the way to the front?

[Glenn Saunders]

Glenn, I'm guessing you were involved in the design of the France '40 campaign scenario.

Yes - I am the guy who placed those units on the map.

Can you tell me what the intent of the designers was? Did the designers intend that the artillery units I asked about be used, or were they intended to be in travel mode on the way to the front?

The idea is they are in T mode off the Map.
I actually had a very detailed DOC which jumped around and gave etremely detailed info about WHO was WHERE and at What time and on what date. And this I worked with to establish the releases and which units were in front or behind others units.

As volcane alluded too as well, in order to estabish AI orders, you need to have the units on the Map. Furthermore, once units go into the reinforcement list they become extremely difficult to manage viryally impossible to keep track of.

Finally - there was a suggestion that I could have done all this and then added the units to the reinforcements list after I was done.

YEs - this is possible too. However one has to understand that during development you don't get it perfectly correct on the first try. So it was important to TEST the game using ON MAP Fixed units with Releases so adjustments could be made.

I learned a lot about this process doing Sicily and in that Campaign I test with a key piece of GErman Reinforcements FIXed in Messina and releasing at the correct time. Before we mastered game I Added the unit to Reinforcements because it just Looked better. I even remembered to remove the Release so it wouldn't show up and look funny in the Command report. What I negeleted to do was Remove the FIXED status. Thus a number of people got well into Campaigns before finding my error. And with encrpyted files I can go in and fix my mistake. So I vowed never to make that mistake again.

So having a bunch of units poise at the edge of the map looks a little funny I will grant you - the possible side effects of changing it with the number of units was simply not worth the while.

Furthermore - until now nobody ever pointed out that the arty units could potenially be used when they shouldn't be able to be. But in the big picture, doing so doesn't realy affect the game outcome.

There - I think I've covered jus about every aspect of this that I can think of.

Glenn

[alaric99x]

Yes, you have expressed yourself with abundant clarity.

Please don't think I'm being critical, the scenario is superb in all respects. I have no problem at all because of the fact that those artillery units are there, I just wanted some advice about what to do with them. Your response indicates that they are really back on the road somewhere and shouldn't be used until released.

Using them really does make a difference, I've started this scenario both ways. I haven't had enough experience to know who's doing the spotting, but there are quite a few shots available if you set up these units. If they help eliminate a few key blocking Dutch and Belgian units, they can help to clear avenues that allow dozens of German units to advance.