T41/Ea42 Alt ZOC change.

[Volcano Man]

No, no two sets of PDTs. This is one of those things where some may not like it but, in the end, I think that the change is better for the experience and makes for a more historical outcome on the tactical level. Units can still pass through each other if they begin the turn next to the enemy, so it is not like a weak AC screen can effectively hold a line: they still have to fall back to delay the enemy. If they don't fall back enough and the enemy is composed of tanks then the tanks will simply move up and kill them off and it is off to the races. A defender could very well sacrifice his ACs in this manner, but gradually the attacker will pick them all off. All veteran PzC players know that once you lose your recon units in the desert, you will have placed yourself at a serious disadvantage since you become highly prone to being out maneuvered and flanked on the open desert. So, as always, it is one of those things you have to balance when trying to delay with AC units.

With the previously weaker ZOC, it was possible to drive right by and isolate enemy ACs with high movement value ACs (all other units did not have enough movement points to do this). The result was a constant ZOC "dance" because once one side isolated the other, the other side could not move far enough to avoid subsequent isolations. This is NOT a good thing. It also made it where it was more or less a guessing matter on how far to move back your forces in order to avoid enemy ACs from moving in and isolating.

In the end the result is a more realistic representation of reconnaissance assets, allowing them to screen and delay rather than be overrun and isolated by enemy recon units. To some this might seem like it was already that way to begin with, and it was, but for the most aggressive players amongst us this was a fatal flaw which caused the destruction of your most valuable asset in the desert.

As far as making it feel more linear, I don't think it will restrict it in an extensive way since, as mentioned above, the only units that were able to move through a ZOC and still have MPs remaining to fire or continue on where AC units. Also as mentioned, you can still squeeze through (albeit slower), but a more linear feel is desired in the sense that recon assets in the desert must be capable of effectively delaying and screening enemy recon assets since they are the ones that form the front lines on the peripheries. Without this, the desert battles turn into a mass of intermixing nonsense.