"Road Movement" question

[FM WarB]

Lets say you are on a curvey road. How can you determine whether it is faster to move along the road using waypoints which can impose more command delay, or to move in a straight line, point to point on and off the road? (It does seem silly to me that in effect you must order units to stay ON the road, not the other way around.)
Has anyone seen anything like a Terrain Effects on Movement chart, which would aid such calcualtions?
Are there any tricks to road movement I am not aware of?

[kineas]

In my experience it's always worth to stay on the road. Fast mode on a road is really speedy and bog-safe. You will lose a little speed in the turn, but the vehicle will accelerate again. You don't really want to risk bogging by cutting a curve with fast speed. And slowing down before leaving the road means another waypoint.

[FM WarB]

Good tip about fast speed, thanks.
I just wish there was a Single road movement order, to the effect: "move from point A to point B and Stay on the Road unless fired upon" Roads are for moving, fast as you suggest, not for combat.

[Mike Abberton]

"Follow road" and some sort of "follow vehicle on road" (for column movement) commands have been on the wish list for a looong time. Unfortunately they have stayed there.

Who knows, maybe CM:SF will implement it.

As others have said, though, it is usually better to use Fast movement on the road than to a Move or Hunt command "straighten" the road. And Fast moving vehicles over non-road terrain is really risking a Bogging.

[FM WarB]

[quote]"Follow road" and some sort of "follow vehicle on road" (for column movement) commands have been on the wish list for a looong time. Unfortunately they have stayed there.

I'm glad it's not just newbie me!

[Der Kuenstler]

Also keep in mind the "horsepower per ton" of the vehicles in line, which is found in the vehicle info pop-up window. A vehicle with a high HP per ton will accelerate quicker than one with a lower HP per ton, even with equal command delays, so put those in front. If you don't, they'll run into the back of the lower HP vehicle and start doing all of that crazy zig-zagging.

Put your green and regulars in back, too, because they have longer command delays and are more likely to bog and screw up the convoy than the vet vehicles.

The road you see in CM is abstracted - put your "move" line over the edge of the road and you will see it still says "road" even though you are in the grass - roads are wider than they look in the game - that's why you can put two vehicles side by side on them.

The good news is all vehicles run right through infantry groups on the road as if they weren't there, so you don't have to try to dodge them...

[FM WarB]

The road you see in CM is abstracted - put your "move" line over the edge of the road and you will see it still says "road" even though you are in the grass - roads are wider than they look in the game - that's why you can put two vehicles side by side on them.

Kuenstler,
Thanks for those tips. I always found it odd that there are only two types of "roads" in CM and both permit two abreast deployment. I've seen Bn and Rgt level games with three different kinds of roads, the lowest level being a path, one vehicle wide (abstracted).
WB