Nifty little tip...

[Copper]

There are several gamey bugs/cheats available to be used. No one forces any of us to use them, and if you do not want to yourself, then don't. Make sure your opponent is aware and agrees to the terms of the game before you start, that way both players will be on a level playing field. I prefer to play with the "detailed armour hits" off, and not to select enemy units for information, as well as only directing fire from units in Command-using the "next target" button only. If my opponent agrees to the terms then I expect him to stick to his word, if we don't discuss terms then I know that I will be at some disadvantage but expect that all will be done to gain an advantage over me.

That's a recipe for disappointment outside of your usual gaming buddies. I think the abstracted nature of the game explains this very well through the ability of leaders to use their binocs to see what has really happened to that icon. The game uses these devices for people to better judge the enemy's condition, and evaluate the battle for making decisions. I see nothing wrong in it. Once you start making artificial and very hard to monitor rules for these sort of things, you begin to lose the essence of what makes this game truly brilliant and unique.

my 2 cents.

Cheers!

Leto

[The Coil]

I mentioned it (oh so long ago) purely as a "by the way, this thing, be it a feature, a bug, an exploit, whatever, does in fact exist" kind of thing. Whether you choose to ignore it or agree with your opponent to ignore it or whatever is up to you. I brought it up to level the playing field, because some people know about it, some people don't, and that seems patently unfair.

I always go into a game with the idea that anything that the game permits is fair unless we agree not to do it before hand. So if you play me, bring your multinational force, snake 'em up the flank, look for blank terrain windows, and lie to me about your tactics in your emails. But expect to be hit by a bunch of preplotted conscript arty as well...

Personally, when someone starts talking about all guns must be towed and armor restrictions and "only use historical OOBs" and stuff, I look elsewhere. For me, the beauty of a computer game is letting the game handle the rules so I can just play. I realize many reasonable people disagree, but that's the beauty of living in a free society. Assuming you do.

[Ratzki]

Coil, that is exactly what I am talking about. Either discuss the "rules" that both will play under beforehand or the sky is the limit as to what I will do, and expect my opponent to do the same. This is what makes the game unique and fun to play as the variety of units, field conditions, objectives, personal rules(or lack of), and people to play against is huge. Any way that you choose to play the game works, as long as both parties know what is being played.

[PoorOldSpike]

I brought it up to level the playing field

Yep nothing wrong with that, in fact people tell me they learnt things they never knew before from reading my tac tips.
I didn't know about this 'blank terrain pane means dead unit' thing before seeing this thread, but now that I do know, i'll be using it in games myself..
I wouldn't call it a 'bug' though, more of a 'quirk' and I daresay it has a parallel in real-life to some extent, because when a RL unit is killed there may be little telltale signs that its really dead like blood trickling out of the woods, or hideous screams etc.
A blank terrain pane therefore abstractedly mimics that..
Here's a test setup I just did to explain the tip better to noobs -

The German tanks have been shooting at 4 x 45mmATG's in the woods.
1 - Jerry sees one gun icon and a row of stars (some are loose crews and inf)
2 - He clicks on each of the stars and this is what the gun terrain panes reveal, 2 are alive (live panes), and 2 are dead (blank panes)
So he needn't worry about area-firing at the 2 dead gun stars..:)
3 - This endtest 'all is revealed' inset shot confirms that two guns are live and two are dead, just as their panes said.

[kineas]

This kinda spoiled the game for me, but at least everybody knows it now. This doesn't abstract anything, it's a hideous bug, FOW leakage if you like... :)

[PoorOldSpike]

I'm all for levelling the playing field but got in trouble for it a few years ago when I entered a Tourney.
The organiser sent out the scen file to everybody, but I saw straight away that the defender could win easily by blocking off bridges and fords with his roadblock allowance, thereby totally preventing the attacker getting across the river.
I posted it in the tourney discussion thread before the start and although most people were glad I'd pointed it out, there were a minority who were furious at me, because obviously they were hoping for an easy win by blocking off the crossings.
Anyway the organisers thanked me and ditched the scen and came up with another one..:)

[SublimeTime]

Thanks for the info....new to the game and would have never known. As mentioned it could be bug or exploit or whatever but it is what it is. All that said I WOULD be at a disadvantage not knowing that and area firing at that gun that I don’t know is dead or not and wasting my resources whereas my opponent would just be laughing and exploiting that advantage for themself.....the point, it does level the playing field. Thanks.

[KG_AirborneBob]

I guess its a factor of the game we shold be aware of..not so much a cheat. I know in combat you pick up a sixth sense about things, perhaps this is a bit of that....

[Randalll]

I don't see this as a bug or a cheat, just part of the game mechanics. Something was there, now it is not. Since it is available to both sides, its fair. The fog of war feature really adds to the game but at a certain point you might realize that you have poured enough fire into a position to neutralize it.