Fixed Units release criteria

[Blackcloud6]

I'm just getting back into the PC games.

Is there a way, during a scenario, that one can find out what the criteria is to release a fixed unit?

[Cashew]

From the PzC manual:

Fixed Units


It is common in the game for certain units to begin
the scenario Fixed.  Depending on the game title
and scenario, some units may become Fixed after
the scenario starts.  The purpose behind having
Fixed units is to prevent unrealistic movement by
those units at the start of the scenario or to force a
player to halt movement as per historical
conditions that could occur at night.  Units that are
assaulted or Spotted automatically become un-Fixed.  In addition, depending
on the scenario, certain organizations may have Releases assigned to them
that will cause their units to become un-Fixed at a certain time in the scenario.
Depending on the Release, if any unit in such an organization becomes
Spotted, then the Release may be automatically triggered.

In the menu bar, under "Units" is "Releases" which shows you the time for scheduled ones. From the Help file:

The Release Dialog displays a list of the Fixed unit releases in the current
scenario.  Each release shows a time, date, probability that the release will
occur on that time and date, and the organization the release applies to.  When
the probability is followed by the letter T, it indicates that the release can also
be triggered whenever a unit in the specified organization becomes Spotted. 
When an asterisk (*) precedes the release, it indicates that the release did not
occur on the time and date specified.  Selecting an entry in the list of Releases
will Highlight the affected units on the map.  Double clicking an entry or clicking
OK will close the dialog and leave the units Highlighted.  Clicking Cancel will
close the dialog and remove the Highlighting.

Hopefully that helps; I'm new so maybe there's better info that I'm unaware of. And maybe someone could explain why the information is split between two files? Thank goodness for searchable PDFs otherwise I'd never find some of this stuff.

[ComradeP]

It's in two different files because the user manual explains what a Fixed unit is and the program help file explains what the information in the Releases dialogue means.

Unlike some other values, which are set in stone at the start of the game and are not variable, the releases don't have to occur on the turn of the time of release. There may or may not be a percentage chance of release, a roll on each game day instead of each turn, a trigger (T) that releases the entire formation if one of its units is released and the possibility of reassigning formations to a corps or army that is released earlier than that formation triggering an earlier release. You'll notice that some of the more recent games sometimes feature "tripwire" units, such as armoured car or recon units, belonging to a formation with a T trigger spread-out across the map to make an earlier release more likely.

The last option could be viewed as cheating, but with mutual agreement it can improve the balance of a scenario in case Fixed units cause issues. Obviously, it's not possible to do so if the Releases dialogue only contains releases for divisional-size or smaller units.

I find figuring the "or is released if Spotted by an enemy unit" mechanic works better when you see it the other way around: "is released when the unit spots an enemy unit". When your unit spots/is spotted by an enemy unit during the enemy turn, but no enemy unit is in view at the start of your turn, the unit is not released unless release is triggered by other criteria.

[Blackcloud6]

So there is no criteria like "the 5th bde is released when 500 point of objectives are taken" but instead its a percentage chance and thus random unless the unit is spots and enemy or is attacked?

[ComradeP]

If a formation is supposed to be released when the enemy has captured a certain location or reached a certain point on the map, a "tripwire" unit will need to be placed there to make that happen. "Released when hex X,Y is controlled by the enemy" is not possible.

Depending on the scenario, releases may or may not be random. In many cases, release chance is 100%. As releases are usually checked per turn, it won't take that long for formations to be released if the percentage chance isn't 100% unless they have a low release %.

Releases can be a bit problematic if they're not set to T in scenarios with low visibility or terrain obstructing line of sight as parts of a formation might be released whilst others are bypassed by the enemy whilst remaining Fixed.