F14 update now available from HPS

[tquinn]

Ed,

Great game. The perfect blend of strategy and tactics. Almost like 20th Century Napoleonics - even has cuirassiers.

Now, just one suggestion for an update:

The Belgian HQs are all one level too high, e.g.: the brigades have division command ranges, the divisions have corps command ranges, etc. Can't think of anything else.

Thanks for hours of gaming enjoyment.

[Ricky B]

Re the Belgians, I believe the HQ structure is on purpose, from memory. I believe the "brigades" for the Belgians are division sized for other countries - similar to the US in 1918.

Rick

[jonnymacbrown]

"A & B quality units can fire quite well enough already so none of that new PDT stuff is utilized. This feature was really only added for some future games which might have *very small* elite units."

Here is why I'm asking: I'm playing two campaigns as French/BEF and I have maybe seventyfive-one hundred small MG units rated A & B. I've been firing these separately, when stacked with other lower rated units, to get the bonus, and taking extra auto D fire hits in the process. Should I, from this point on, in these older games begun before the update, just fire A units with C-F units together? We are in Day 2 so it's too late to begin anew. jonny :conf:

[Jison]

About the belgian HQ's, the following text is from the designers note:

"At the start of 1914, the Belgian Army was in a state of total reorganization and this reorganization was not scheduled to be complete until 1918. Indeed, at first glance the Belgian order of battle will appear odd and even incorrect. Divisions are specified as corps and brigades are specified as divisions. This is indeed intentional and historical."

So all is good and well. :)

Jison

[Nitram Draw]

"A & B quality units can fire quite well enough already so none of that new PDT stuff is utilized. This feature was really only added for some future games which might have *very small* elite units."

Here is why I'm asking: I'm playing two campaigns as French/BEF and I have maybe seventyfive-one hundred small MG units rated A & B. I've been firing these separately, when stacked with other lower rated units, to get the bonus, and taking extra auto D fire hits in the process. Should I, from this point on, in these older games begun before the update, just fire A units with C-F units together? We are in Day 2 so it's too late to begin anew. jonny :conf:

Isn't fire resolved per unit even if more than one unit is firing? Or did I miss this change?

[jonnymacbrown]

"Isn't fire resolved per unit even if more than one unit is firing? Or did I miss this change?"

If you fire all units in a hex but once, the auto fire has fewer opportunities to crack back at 'ya. If you fire with many units separately, which I've been doing to get the A & B quality bonus; well then the auto fire takes more cracks back at me. I want to know if I'm wasting my time. jonny

[Nitram Draw]

"Isn't fire resolved per unit even if more than one unit is firing? Or did I miss this change?"

If you fire all units in a hex but once, the auto fire has fewer opportunities to crack back at 'ya. If you fire with many units separately, which I've been doing to get the A & B quality bonus; well then the auto fire takes more cracks back at me. I want to know if I'm wasting my time. jonny

Me too. I almost always fire a whole stack at once!

[Volcano Man]

"A & B quality units can fire quite well enough already so none of that new PDT stuff is utilized. This feature was really only added for some future games which might have *very small* elite units."

Here is why I'm asking: I'm playing two campaigns as French/BEF and I have maybe seventyfive-one hundred small MG units rated A & B. I've been firing these separately, when stacked with other lower rated units, to get the bonus, and taking extra auto D fire hits in the process. Should I, from this point on, in these older games begun before the update, just fire A units with C-F units together? We are in Day 2 so it's too late to begin anew. jonny :conf:

AFAIK fire attacks are not totaled per se, they are handled individually but the loss results are totaled. In other words, firing a stack and firing just one unit is just as effective, except that firing a single unit at a time will incur more opportunity fire against that hex - so I would avoid doing that unless you are trying to... draw attention to the hex (which can be useful at times). Now there might be something about rolling one die instead of several dice (random number seeds) and all that sort of thing between firing one unit at a time and firing all of them, but for the most part it is better to fire the whole stack at once.

[jonnymacbrown]

"but for the most part it is better to fire the whole stack at once."

Roger. So back to my original question: In the games I am playing as French, started pre-update, is there not, nor will there ever be; a quality bonus for the multitude of A & B MG units I have in the French/BEF Army? Or, does the update change this? Thanks jonny :smoke:

[Volcano Man]

"but for the most part it is better to fire the whole stack at once."

Roger. So back to my original question: In the games I am playing as French, started pre-update, is there not, nor will there ever be; a quality bonus for the multitude of A & B MG units I have in the French/BEF Army? Or, does the update change this? Thanks jonny :smoke:

I guess I am not entirely sure what you are asking. If you mean has the A & B quality MG unit effectiveness changed? The answer is no. If you mean will it ever change? The answer also is no. These units are not very effective simply because they are small two MG units, and that was a historical handicap in doctrine in 1914 which is mentioned in several places in the notes. If you want these units to be more effective then you need to stack multiple MG sections in a hex and fire them as a stack.

But whatever the question: nothing has changed here in regards to A & B quality units. The change in stated in that update is an engine change that allows a PDT value to be set to boost A & B unit quality level bonuses. This is not used in F14 because it does not fit there: you cannot change just one or two small unit A & B quality units without them all changing, so suddenly Guard, BEF etc battalions would all be more powerful, and that is certainly not desired.

Maybe the confusion came from when I said "small elite units" - but I was saying that it only makes sense to utilize this new PDT feature for titles that have small elite units in them because you might want them alone to be more powerful. But again, like I said, don't read too much into the changes notes that comes in updates. They are not always implemented - well, PDT changes I mean, they are usually something that allows them to be utilized if someone wants to use them.