Some questions about Falklands

[moet]

Hi everyone. I'm new to the Squad Battles series (and French speaking from Quebec), so excuse my strange and newbie's questions.
I played some Falklands scenarios and I need some help for a better understanding of the followings :

• Opportunity/reaction fire. I didn't find any details about OF in the user manual. However I'm surprised that an enemy unit who received mortar shells and heavy direct fire at the beginning of the turn is still able to return fire (2 or 3 times) at the end of that turn. I would have expected that the suppressing effect of my multiple fire would disable the reaction capacity of this enemy.
• Command range. Whenever I try to show the command radius of a leader, I obtain a 1-hex range. How can we verify if a team leader is in range with his section leader, and the latter with his platoon leader, etc.?
• Fire effects. Since any fire is directed on the whole enemy hex, not on any particular enemy unit located in that hex, does it mean that the fire have a full effect on every one of those enemy units?
• Unit status. I'm not sure to fully understand the difference between a "disrupted" unit and a "pinned" unit. "Pinned" seams to have a moral content, but not "disrupted" ? I don't see either the exact effects of those two status on the unit's capacities.
• Illumination delays. Am I wrong, but I felt that the illumination fire of the enemy made at the END of the turn doesn't last over the first half of the next turn, but my illumination fire made at the BEGIN of the turn lasts over all the turn (including the enemy playing phase at the end of that turn).
• Objectives values. I'm sometimes disoriented by the objectives and their points value. For example, I don't understand the meaning of the 3 sea exit objectives at the very south of the Fanning Head Mob map (scenario 10) since British units can hardly get there before the end of the scenario.
• AI performance. Does a slow AI make better decisions?
• Disembarking/re-embarking. I read somewhere that a unit can disembark from a vehicle but not re-embark in that vehicle. Why?

Thanks for your helpful clarifications.

[Wolfgang]

Welcome!
I'm fairly new myself having played about 10 months now.. but I think I can help with some of your questions...

Based mostly on my observances of the game in action (So I could be wrong on some or all of these):

• Opportunity/reaction fire.
I believe the amount of outgoing reaction fire and it's effectiveness is influenced by things like morale/cohesion status, weapon effectiveness and possibly leadership effects.

• Command range.
I've only seen a command range of greater than 1 hex when the leader is above the lieutenant / sgt level. Battalion and company leaders may have a greater range. Units in command and control seem to weather ill effects better than units not in CC. I also rarely engage in CQB without a leader present for the assault.

• Fire effects.
I don't believe the effects are distributed evenly among all units in a hex. Some units, for a variety or reasons, are more vulnerable to the effects than others in the same hex.

• Unit status.
I interpret pinned as a unit being restricted by incoming fire and thus not able to bring to bear the full weight of their firepower or make full use of the terrain in which they are located.

I interpret Disrupted to be a lack of cohesion such that a unit is not able to make full use of their firepower until they regain some cohesion. They also have a more limited range of movement.

I believe each status is partially a reflection of morale. A disrupted unit is probably closer to losing a bit of morale as well as being more vulnerable to things that would cause a drop in that morale. A pinned unit is closer to getting demoralized and even more vulnerable to ill effects that would cause a drop. Units can recover from both states with or without a leader, although a leader is best to effect recovery, otherwise you'd probably have to maneuver the unit out of the LOS of the enemy and let it rest (and even then there is some chance they won't recover.)

• Illumination delays.
I've only seen ilum work for the turn that it's fired on and the opponents next turn. Then it goes out.

• AI performance.
I don't believe that AI speed influences AI quality or decision processes. Just the visual replay of it.


Thanks for your helpful clarifications.

I hope this helps! I'm sure some more experienced players will chime in with more info and possibly correct any mistaken notions on my part.

Good luck!

[TheBigRedOne]

I'll try to tackle a few...

• Opportunity/reaction fire. I didn't find any details about OF in the user manual. However I'm surprised that an enemy unit who received mortar shells and heavy direct fire at the beginning of the turn is still able to return fire (2 or 3 times) at the end of that turn. I would have expected that the suppressing effect of my multiple fire would disable the reaction capacity of this enemy.

Suppressive fire is great, if it is effective, and not all of it is. If you are able to reduce the enemy effectiveness and status, you should see an change in the effectiveness of their fire. Disruption or Pinning is the objective here. If you don't do either, your enemy still has the ability to hit you hard. Gotta keep their heads down in order to maneuver.

• Command range. Whenever I try to show the command radius of a leader, I obtain a 1-hex range. How can we verify if a team leader is in range with his section leader, and the latter with his platoon leader, etc.?

This is all outlined in the User's Manual. Platoon/Squad leaders have a range of 1 and it goes up from there.

• Fire effects. Since any fire is directed on the whole enemy hex, not on any particular enemy unit located in that hex, does it mean that the fire have a full effect on every one of those enemy units?

Are you talking about firing on a hex with more than one squad? Basically all you're doing is firing at a certain density. If you've got 24 guys in a hex versus 12, you'll have a better shot at hitting someone, but you can't differentiate between squads. The only weapons that do differentiate would be a sniper rifle (leaders) or an AT weapon firing at armor in a mixed hex.

• Unit status. I'm not sure to fully understand the difference between a "disrupted" unit and a "pinned" unit. "Pinned" seams to have a moral content, but not "disrupted" ? I don't see either the exact effects of those two status on the unit's capacities.

Again, the main differences are in the Users manual. Pinned units are in bad shape morale-wise and can't move forward. Basically they've got their head down and can't put it up over cover to return effective fire. Disrupted have been shaken a bit, have reduced effectiveness, but can still fire and move foward.

• Objectives values. I'm sometimes disoriented by the objectives and their points value. For example, I don't understand the meaning of the 3 sea exit objectives at the very south of the Fanning Head Mob map (scenario 10) since British units can hardly get there before the end of the scenario.

Some objectives are un-reachable. A good scenario designer will put more in than can be expected to achieve, forcing the player to strategize about how to best 'win' the scenario. Most scenarios do not require every objective to be taken to win. Look at the Victory Point levels and figure out what you need to get the win. Ignore objectives that you feel you can't reach without weakening your over-all effort.

• AI performance. Does a slow AI make better decisions?

No.

• Disembarking/re-embarking. I read somewhere that a unit can disembark from a vehicle but not re-embark in that vehicle. Why?

As far as I know you can get in and out of vehicles at will. Just remember that some have Release dates, which means they leave the field of battle, especially helos. If you've got men in them when they vanish, they leave as well.

Hope this helps.

[Wolfgang]

Personally, I take great enjoyment in holding fire and waiting for the infantry to head out into open ground - hopefully densely packed (high density effect) lol. Then just let em have it (plus your weapons will be at full effectiveness), hoping to pin them in place and then reducing them from there. A nice touch after that is to maneuver an armored unit in and just grind the hapless leftovers into the ground. At that point you should hear the lamentation of their women...
  
Another useful thing to be aware of is range: at half range or less the firepower starts to go up. Although I don't recall the specifics of it... I'm guessing that it continues to go up at regular increments from there (at quarter range and then at 1 hex range).

Of course that tactic is mitigated if they have a leader with binocs since they can reveal hidden units.

[moet]

Thanks for this information.

• Command range.
This is all outlined in the User's Manual. Platoon/Squad leaders have a range of 1 and it goes up from there.

Well, how a platoon leader can give his command benefits to his team leaders if he has only a 1-hex command range?

• Unit status.
Again, the main differences are in the Users manual. Pinned units are in bad shape morale-wise and can't move forward. Basically they've got their head down and can't put it up over cover to return effective fire. Disrupted have been shaken a bit, have reduced effectiveness, but can still fire and move foward.

What is not clear from the manual is the path that unit follows when it is under fire and when it recovers from fire : does the unit become disrupted first, then pinned, then demoralized, and from there recovering step by step on the opposite way. In other words, can we find a unit being both "disrupted" and "pinned"?

And I would ask another question : how can we know which leader goes with a specific unit? For example, I can see in the scenario "Clearing Wireless Ridge" that the British 14th Platoon has a lieutenant as the main commander, but also a sergeant and three sections. Does the sergeant can be used to command any of these three sections ?

[TheBigRedOne]

Well, how a platoon leader can give his command benefits to his team leaders if he has only a 1-hex command range?

Most platoons have one leader, maybe two depending on the game. The modern games tend to have more leaders than say the WWII games. The key to effectiveness is keeping your platoon leader in close proximity to his squads. With each hex being 40M, a platoon leader should be, ideally, be right next to his three squads in order for his command radius to play a role. Realistically, he needs to be that close in order to rally his pinned or demoralized troops anyway.

What is not clear from the manual is the path that unit follows when it is under fire and when it recovers from fire : does the unit become disrupted first, then pinned, then demoralized, and from there recovering step by step on the opposite way. In other words, can we find a unit being both "disrupted" and "pinned"?

You can go from normal to disrupted or normal to pinned immediately. Disrupted to pinned as well. Pinned units then degrade to Demoralized if they take continued heavy fire, or retreat away from where they were. If you 'retreat' backwards towards your platoon leader, you will go to D. A unit is either Disrupted, Pinned or Demoralized, not more than one.

When a leader rallies a pinned unit, it goes to disrupted. A demoralized unit goes to disrupted as well when rallied, but oftentimes that takes a few rallies to accomplish. I've had units that just won't really from Demoralized as well. It all depends on the effectiveness and rating of your leader.

Here are a few good articles on the basics of the Squad Battles game engine, including discussing leaders.

http://tfe4.wordpress.com/supply-section...-archives/

[moet]

Here are a few good articles on the basics of the Squad Battles game engine, including discussing leaders.
http://tfe4.wordpress.com/supply-section...-archives/

Thanks for this. :)

[TheBigRedOne]

Here are a few good articles on the basics of the Squad Battles game engine, including discussing leaders.
http://tfe4.wordpress.com/supply-section...-archives/

Thanks for this. :)

Poke around the site. It's basically like a mini-history lesson in Squad Battles.

[Wolfgang]

Jumping in here (i got up early lol)

Command Range and Leadership:
Well a platoon leader is usually a Lieutenant or sometimes even a non-commissioned officer like a Sergeant. Those are basically entry level officer ranks and the LT is likely the only who has had formal leadership training in that unit. I don't think a platoon of 20-40 men would feel too inspired if he was issuing commands from a 100 or more meters away (in the rear with the gear). Their leader needs to be up front with his men and women making decisions there. The lack of that presence in their immediate vicinity would impact morale and cohesion. How would a grunt appreciate their leader telling them to say... assault a dug-in enemy position if he's barking that out over a radio from the comfort of his foxhole 200m away? How much faith would they put in their orders if they're not sure their leader is even aware of their immediate situation?

In cinema, numerous examples of this effect on morale, leadership and range can be evidenced.

Unit Status

Generally you will see a unit move through the various states of morale and cohesion as their effectiveness is degraded by enemy fire: Disrupted, then pinned, then demoralized. How fast that happens depends partly on their starting Morale.
In exceptional cases you might see a unit go from Disrupted or good order directly to demoralized. A flamethrower is good at doing that.

In reverse: Demoralized units can 'heal' up to Disrupted or better depending on their situation and often bypass the pinned state in doing so. Maintaining a Pinned status on a unit pretty much requires the active participation of an enemy unit with a LOS to the pinned unit. Disrupted and Demoralized units don't neccessarily really require that active enemy los for them to maintain that status.

For instance:
It's a beautiful sunny morning on the Eastern Front... An average unit fresh from infantry training, advances into open terrain from the safety of their overnight positions in a treeline, a hidden enemy MG suddenly opens fire on them, they immediately drop To Ground, a bit confused, they just lost one of their guys - where's that fire coming from?? Should they continue their advance? Where's their leader? Who else is hurt? They decide to move forward a little bit more, and little more slowly. Then the MG lets loose a 2nd burst on them and another buddy has just been hit, and suddenly they lose cohesion - they are disrupted. Their morale is starting to look a little shaky. Where is that leader of theirs?? Has anyone figured out where the fire is coming from?? Should they continue their advance?? The MG releases a 3rd burst on them and now they are pinned. Stopped cold. They've just lost yet another guy and their LT, fresh out of officer school, is nowhere to be seen... probably still in the treeline a 100m behind them... who knows?? Now what do they do?? If they stick their heads up or move they will get shot. They could stay put where they're at and wait... maybe their leader will show up (if he hasn't been shot) and tell em what to do OR maybe they could turn their backs to the enemy and retreat - which would surely cause them to become demoralized.

They decide to retreat but become totally demoralized in the process. They make it back to that treeline and move further into the woods to escape any chance of being seen by the enemy. 10 minutes later... maybe they've manage to self-rally or their leader has shown up to rally them. They're still a little disrupted and their morale is not quite what it was before, but at least they're capable of moving forward again. Maybe if they rest some more, they will regain their cohesion... on the other hand - maybe they can't quite recover to such a confident state and just move out anyhow, still disrupted but ready to try again.

[TheBigRedOne]

Generally you will see a unit move through the various states of morale and cohesion as their effectiveness is degraded by enemy fire: Disrupted, then pinned, then demoralized. How fast that happens depends partly on their starting Morale.
In exceptional cases you might see a unit go from Disrupted or good order directly to demoralized. A flamethrower is good at doing that.

I've seen more units go from fine to pinned than anything really, especially if you walk into an ambush and are hit really hard from close range. Disruption happens fairly easily, and it also is affected by the morale of the unit. Higher moraled units (A, B) will take a lot more to disrupt than a C or D level unit, which can disrupt by simply being shot at once.

The under appreciated fact is that if your units are within the command radius of their leader, they are oftentimes harder to disrupt/pin as well. They will also revert back to normal quicker from disruption if under the command radius, I do believe.

IW is right about units being able to 'self-heal', but they have to be stationary and not under fire for several turns for that to happen. It is much quicker to have a leader attempt to rally a unit. I try to keep my platoons in this type of a formation, espeically if moving to contact. Allows maximum flexibility for the unit as well as the leader.