Bolt out of the Blue 5.3

[Aaron]

Aaron - if you are planning a new Bolt version:

* I would also suggest adding "alarm" units per my above post for the NATO mobile SAM belt units. These can be 1 man units with no values whose purpose is basically to release their associated NATO SAM units when the "alarm" units get spotted/attacked. As NATO, I found that the vagaries of play often had combat occurring near to fixed NATO SAM units but these units were not released since it was close terrain. Some units even got surrounded without being released. The "alarm" units should be about 10 hexes forward and on a hill or some such.

the SAM units are part of the SAM belt which priority was WP aircraft and as that they are hawks would have very little effect at shooting down any helos hence the 4 value for AA. It is not very often that they will shoot a hind down but will widdle away at airmobile infantry. I am ok with a few of them being lost


There is an issue with the way air interdiction works whereby it seems towed artillery and the big truck-borne infantry battalions really get overly punished. I realize some of this is built into the PZC system so its hard to change. But maybe there is some tweak that can be done...

This is where the big difference between under armor artillery and under armor APCs/IFVs comes into play.

I also had some NATO OOB questions:

* Some of the NATO corps have decent dedicated AA units, e.g. the French and US Corps and of course the BAOR (which is flush with them, once they all reach the front). Others like the Belgians and Dutch are really bereft, with nothing more than close-range Vulcan type units unless a mobile SAM is released and available, while the West Germans are only so-so (basically one mobile SAM per division if you break up the 36 vehicle corps unit). I had thought NATO Corps were heavily standardized on things like corps assets. Were the Belgians, Dutch and West Germans really that behind the French, British and US in having air defense against Pact attack helos?

Yes the minors where weak in AA. Most still used bofer cannons and most of the WGerman units still had redeye*

I am wondering if the West German Heimatschutze HQ release is too randomized. Early on, there are tons of Heimatschutze marching around but they quickly end up low fuel/ammo because their HQ isn't around yet. Might at least they be on-map, even if fixed until release? That would help a bit with the randomness. Until this is WAD

I will adjust this, right now its set for the HQs to have a 66% chance to show up and the units 33%, you must be getting unlucky but itll take 5 min to change all the HQs to 100%


That said, I am sort of up in the air about terrain defense values. I like the idea of adding in VP hexes that encourage NATO to defend every inch. But with low terrain values and trench values plus fluid zoc, NATO is dead meat if it tries to hold the border.

Depends on what you want to model I guess. If people want a far-ranging "march to the Rhine" style battle then making it fluid works. But I could also see the clash turning static due to the massive firepower, a la WW1 or the 1980-1988 Iraq-Iran War. I think if you go fluid, you need to move some of the VP hexes back a ways.

Just my two cents.