COTA (mini-guide): Tutorial, AAR, and tips!

Prepare yourself for a wargaming tour-de-force! Conquest of the Aegean is the next generation of the award-winning and revolutionary Airborne Assault series and it takes brigade to corps-level warfare to a whole new level. Realism and accuracy are the watchwords as this pausable continuous time design allows you to command at any echelon, with smart AI subordinates and an incredibly challenging AI.

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MarkShot
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RE: COTA (mini-guide): Tutorial, AAR, and tips!

Post by MarkShot »

(HTTR using the Classic RDOA Look textures)

Previously discussed in this thread was the fact that units prepare their positions and that those preparations persist on the map even though the player cannot see it. Here is a visible example of this.

This HQ unit has been in its current location for less than 24 hours. You can see that from the message log and that the scenario is only 1 day + 9 hours. You will also observe that the unit is entrenched. How did that happen? Well, the unit is occupying the same position that the German garisson had previously been located at.

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RE: COTA (mini-guide): Tutorial, AAR, and tips!

Post by Banquet »

Very cool.. it will be nice if the display of these positions can be included in the next game, which I understand is on the cards.

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RE: COTA (mini-guide): Tutorial, AAR, and tips!

Post by Arjuna »

re positioning of units on the defense. When a force is ordered to defend a location, it will adopt a formation and allocated its sub units to the various formation sub groups. These in turn will adopt their own formation and sub groups. Eventually you end up with a single unit. At each level the sub group will have an assigned location it must defend. This in the first instance will be based purely on the formation offset. So if the formation sub group is the centre guard then it will be offset X metres in front of the "hub" ( ie where the subject goes ).
 
Then we call an AI function called DetermineGTI(), where GTI = Ground of Tactical Importance. In theory this means that piece of terrain that if I occupy it will make the enemy's position untenable or that piece of ground that if the enemy occuppies it will make my position untenable. In practice this means looking for good defensive terrain. Preference is given to high ground with good direct fire protection ( eg urban or woods ). Where possible it will try and select positions on the edge of covered terrain so that they have good fields of fire. However, all of this is constrained to stay within a certain radius of the original offset. The default radius is 500m. After all most infantry type units produce their most effective firepower at 300 to 500m. Beyond that it drops off markedly.
 
So while not perfect it does work surprisingly well in most cases. Can it be im proved? Well the answer is surely yes. But doing so will probably been a performance hit and we're already sailing close to the wind as it is on this score. So it's something we can look further at as machines get more powerful. [:)]
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RE: COTA (mini-guide): Tutorial, AAR, and tips!

Post by oldspec4 »

I just want to say thanks for all the useful info throughout the COTA forums. Having played both RDOA and HTTR, think that I'm finally beginning to understand some of the great details of this game.
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RE: COTA (mini-guide): Tutorial, AAR, and tips!

Post by MarkShot »

Oldspec4,

You are welcome. I have been at this for five years now and I still feel there is much more to learn. This is one reason why I just recently went back to play some RDOA/HTTR. I remember how I originally struggled with RDOA. So,besides seeing how far the series has come since 2001, I wanted to see how far I have come.
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RE: COTA (mini-guide): Tutorial, AAR, and tips!

Post by MarkShot »

I am playing an HTTR scenario at the moment which features an Allied delaying action. I don't recall that HTTR had too many of those, but COTA is full of delaying actions. Well, I just wanted to discuss briefly what is an effective general approach to delaying the enemy when you have a wide open map with space such that you can easily fall back. (My discussion assumes using just the DEFEND order and not the DELAY or WITHDRAW orders. DEFEND gives you the maximum amount of control at the cost of being somewhat less responsive to the changing situation on the ground. Of course, if you are determining the course of the battle, then you certainly prefer to have more control over as compared to better AI subordinate responsiveness.)

Get your blocking positions/line set up and dug-in. If you need to time to do that, then push someone out 3-6 km forward to slow down the enemy in combination with arty. Your blocking positions/line should have arty and mortars at their disposal.

Ideally, you would like the OPFOR to hit this line in daylight and get a good measure of it. Initially, the OPFOR may wonder into it with recon elements or the lead elements of a column in road march. However, in not too long (2-6 hours), the OPFOR will probably either assault your line or attempt to bypass to the left or right; maybe both. You should meter your arty resources. Have your guns stand down if the enemy's approach is weak or disorganized. Mainly use your arty to break the first strong coordinated wave of a full scale assault. In particular, make sure you have arty available right before night fall. If you have any type of contact with the enemy prior to night fall, then you want to turn your arty lose on the enemy. Either you want to totally shred an ongoing attack or simply stun any forward units that are exchanging fire with your units.

Observe what the order delays are and issue orders to your units to fallback to new defensive positions about 3-5kms away as soon as the battlefield is cloaked in full darkness. There are a number of reasons for such timing:

(1) It is much easier to disengage and travel at night. So, the same maneuver during the day would stand a good chance of getting your units shot up and shattered by enemy arty barrages, can easily be done at night.

(2) Darkness should allow your units to get dug-in at their new locations before they encounter the enemy again.

(3) NOW THIS IS A BIG ONE. If you correctly managed the situation during the daytime hours, then the enemy should have a completely incorrect assesment of your current deployment. Most likely he will organize and plan an assault of your defensive line that has become an empty shell. This greatly works in your favor. The process of mounting an attack is much more time consuming and in general covers ground a lot slower than a straight forward road march. So, during the day, you have delayed the enemy by virtue of placing fire on him and opposing his progress. At night, you will allow the enemy to delay his own progress by mounting an attack on a non-existent defense. Not only will this eat up time, but he will also needlessly exhaust his units to gain ground that he could have just simply walked across. In the meantime, while you withdrew your units, they should have had a fairly easy road march to their next set of defensive positions. So, when you and the enemy meet again, besides you being dug-in and him being vulnerable and moving, your units should generally be fresher than his.

Another tip from the polder around Nijmegen ... HTTR may already have many miles on it, but there is still much it can teach about strategy. Enjoy!
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RE: COTA (mini-guide): Tutorial, AAR, and tips!

Post by MarkShot »

For anyone interested, the above post illustrated in detail along with other techniques can be found here:

tm.asp?m=1188241
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RE: COTA (mini-guide): Tutorial, AAR, and tips!

Post by MarkShot »

Well, I haven't posted any tips in a long time. So, I thought I would take a break from testing Dave's latest devious AI tweaks and put a few concepts together for your enjoyment.

(This evening's posting is dedicated to Red2112. A new customer of the series who just purchased COTA in order to expand his understanding of operational ground combat with one of the best tools available to the general public. Mike, thanks for your encouragement to continue writing.)

A key aspect of this series have always been the handling of crossing points: bridges, ferrys, and tunnels. Few places on the maps offer so much potential for such a small investment of force to slow the enemy's progress or speed your own progress than crossing points. In other words, the commander who manages to decide the fate of the crossing points will be able dictate the outcome of the battle.

So, this evening, let's take a look at one particular bridge and how we can eliminate the roll of Lady Luck in determining whether this bridge stands or falls. {Note: The game does allow the player to intentionally blow bridges. But as you will see here, it can be done if that is what you want to do.}
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RE: COTA (mini-guide): Tutorial, AAR, and tips!

Post by MarkShot »

(Note: The Germans are advancing North to South.)

Here we see the heavy road bridge of Elasson (already primed to blow). The Germans would like nothing better than to seize this bridge, since it is precisely what they need to keep the panzers moving South. On the other hand, if we can bring down this bridge, we can force the Germans to have to make a 35km detour to cross the river. Additionally, at least, two thirds of the detour will be over open ground as opposed to the highway you see here heading South. So, beyond the actual distance itself, the Germans will have their rate of travel cut to 1/3 of what it could have been. Just the additional distance and loss of a road would be a major set back for them even if no one takes pot shots at them along the way! Oh, how sweet it would be!


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RE: COTA (mini-guide): Tutorial, AAR, and tips!

Post by MarkShot »

However, it sounds a lot easier than it is. The ideal situation to blow a bridge is:

(1) Have it primed, of course.
(2) Have your units dug-in, not highly visible, and in good cover.
(3) Have arty support.
(4) Make sure that the units tasked with blowing the bridge cannot be easily suppressed.

When we examine the Elasson Bridge, we see that we only meet criteria #1 and #3.

In regards to #2 and #4, the terrain is a real nightmare.

We have no town or woods sitting right at the bank which might conceal and provide cover for the unit tasked with blowing the bridge. The ground is completely open.

Additionally, the South Bank, where we will be, provides unobstructed LOS from all over the Northern side of the river. Ideally, we would prefer a dead space situation where our assigned unit cannot be seen by the enemy until the very last minute.

With the current terrain, even dug-in any units we place there will be seen from far and wide by the Germans and draw fire from all over. Forget about blowing the Bridge! They will be lucky to get out of their alive when the enemy shows up in force!

The terrain situation is really a major set back for our plans. We are going to have to get creative.
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RE: COTA (mini-guide): Tutorial, AAR, and tips!

Post by MarkShot »

As can be seen, our major problem is the lack of dead space/reverse slope to place our units. The reason why dead space/reverse slope is so desirable is two fold. First, our unit(s) is sure to draw heavy bombardment from the enemy if his forward observes are able to see our unit(s) and call in fire. Second, the enemy will be coming in force, and once he has identified our unit(s) he lay fire upon us with everything he has. The end result of all this will be that we are guaranteed to fail in blowing the bridge.

So, given the terrain is cannot be altered, what are we going to do? We will have to find a way to create the dead space we need to make this work. What about the cover of darkness? At night, visibility will be greatly reduced and effectively we will resolve the problems raised above.
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RE: COTA (mini-guide): Tutorial, AAR, and tips!

Post by MarkShot »

But how can we make sure that the Germans will accomodate us and not get to the Bridge until night fall? We will have to stop them someplace North of the Bridge area and hold them there until night fall. At night fall, we will slip away and allow them come charging at the Bridge.

Here we see the solution. Four anti-tank units and one heavy machine gun unit will hold the Germans from reaching the Bridge during the day. They will be backed by significant arty fire. You will notice that they units have been deployed in a reverse slope situation. Thus, their positions will not be apparent to the Germans until they begin to descend the slope about 1km to the North of this defensive line. This will make the defense much more viable by reducing the arty and direct fire that can be targetted against this line. Also, the Germans will hit this line hard (meaning unprepared) as they stumble across. This line will easily throw them back in shock once or twice before they figure out what is going on. But by then, daylight will be done anyway.

Also, note the single armored cav squadron tasked with blowing the Bridge. Yes, that's right. That is all it is going to take when the time comes.

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RE: COTA (mini-guide): Tutorial, AAR, and tips!

Post by MarkShot »

Not shown here, you can take my word for it ... the defense held up rather nicely. The Germans were suitably roughed up and stopped.

Here you see that night has fallen and orders have been issued to displace the defensive line back to Elasson just in case.

After having knocked around the Germans pretty good and with limited visibility of the night, they can very easily pull out and zip down the Highway and across the Bridge.

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RE: COTA (mini-guide): Tutorial, AAR, and tips!

Post by MarkShot »

Here we see the ATG/HMG units already redeployed at Elasson. The Germans are now approaching the Bridge. Already there are excited reports being sent back to their HQ that the Allies have bugged out at night and the road to the South lies wide open before them.

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RE: COTA (mini-guide): Tutorial, AAR, and tips!

Post by MarkShot »

Well, our unit B.2 quietly dug-in on the South Bank counted about six German units. They figured that the enemy was serious about taking and using the Bridge. So, it was finally time to drop the Bridge.

Ka-boom!

At this point, I am not sure what the German plan will be to try to get behind us. However, one thing I am sure of is that they will be force marching tonight! :)

And this concludes our brief discussion of asserting your will over bridges and the enemy.

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RE: COTA (mini-guide): Tutorial, AAR, and tips!

Post by MarkShot »

In my previous series of posts, I emphasized the importance of reverse slope/dead space deployments and how they act as a force multiplier for small static forces against substantially stronger attackers on the move.

Here we have a good example of what happens without such a deployment. We see a dug-in ATG unit which is getting the sh*t knocked out of it. (It is in retreat recovery and extremely supressed.) Why is this happening us? I have used the threat LOS tool to highlight the lines of sight (of course, I am assuming symmetric visibility with my example here which is not completely valid; but it is an acceptable simplification in this case). What do we see? Pretty much any enemy as much 5-6km away can easy spot our position.

So, that means arty will rain down upon us without mercy. It also, means as their tanks and other units close they will all be bringing direct fire to bare such MG, tank main guns, AG, ...

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RE: COTA (mini-guide): Tutorial, AAR, and tips!

Post by MarkShot »

This will probably get changed in the future as we (beta/dev team) have already discussed this, but in the mean time I would like to point this out to help you when you are planning deployments ...

Here you see range rings displayed. Green for anti-armor (hard targets) and red for anti-personel (soft targets). However, the important thing to note is that these rings represent the maximum range of the modeled weapons and not the effective engagement ranges. Thus, for practical planning, you would be best to halve the diameter of these circles. In fact, from our discussions, units are unlikely to engage targets at the maximum weapon range anyway.

The place where maximum range display makes sense and proves very useful is with indirect fire weapons such as rockets, guns, and mortars. Those would be your blue rings.

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RE: COTA (mini-guide): Tutorial, AAR, and tips!

Post by MarkShot »

Here is one other thing which I think I should add about reverse slope defenses and the advantage that they convey.

As I understand it from Dave, the AI will only mount an assault if it knows that the enemy is present. Also, the AI (much to Bil H's chagrin) does not currently conduct recon. So, reverse slope positions are less likely to be met by an initial assault and are also more likely to endure for a longer duration before the AI assumes a really aggressive posture and assaults. This is mainly because an exposed position is known about sooner by the AI and it can more easily determine the force ratio which it is facing and whether an assault is necessary.

Of course, against a human, I would expect your reverse slope defense to be revealed quite early by a single recon unit leading the main force 3-6 hours down the road via a MOVE order or a very light PROBE order towards the objective with a weak force to gauge the resistance.
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RE: COTA (mini-guide): Tutorial, AAR, and tips!

Post by MarkShot »

{The following post illustrates what happens when you keep playing the same scenario over and over again as Dave tweaks the AI. Your mind begins to drift in strange fashions.}

I have started using the delay to a small degree. So far, I have mainly been using it with single units.

Anyway, I have happened across an interesting technique. The manual states:

(1) If the delay command has two waypoints, the unit will start at the first and end at the second while determining intermediate blocking positions along the way.

(2) If the delay command has more than two waypoints, the unit will start at the first and end at the last with the additional waypoints forcing the selection of intermediate blocking positions.

Well, if you go with method #2 and put your first two waypoints practically side by side, then the following happens. When the unit decides to bug out, it kind of goes no where. Generally, since the unit made the decision to fallback since it perceives that it was outgunned, it will soon end up retreating and pulling back. Once retreat recovery has been accomplished, it will return to the original location and once again decide whether it should fallback.

---

So, basically, by using this technique, you can kind of specify just how many times a unit should reoccupy a location before it finally departs the area. Now, you may think such behavior seems silly and of now practical value. But consider that the enemy may not really be attacking, but just marching down the road. So, after driving your unit back, he will continue his march. When your unit returns, it may once again manage to interdict the road. So, effectively you can establish a harassing action along the enemy's route of march. After a few serious shoot outs, your unit can finally displace (you should specify an avoidance route to avoid taking the same road as the enemy was on).

Of course, you could just establish a defensive position and get similar behavior (knocked back and then retake the position), but this gives you a little more control over what to do if the enemy is not simply marching by, but has decided to set up camp at that spot.

---

Here is another interesting possibility. What if your single unit is given a delay (avoidance route with low aggro) waypoints further up the road against the enemy's direction of march? Can you effectively make a unit that would be serving as a picket to do more than just advise of the enemy's presence? Make it attempt to maneuver behind an advancing enemy column and cut its line of communications? Imagine an enemy attack force where a picket practically side steps the attack force and then proceeds to disrupt supplies needed for the attack. That would be something!
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RE: COTA (mini-guide): Tutorial, AAR, and tips!

Post by MarkShot »

ORIGINAL: MarkShot
Here is another interesting possibility. What if your single unit is given a delay (avoidance route with low aggro) waypoints further up the road against the enemy's direction of march? Can you effectively make a unit that would be serving as a picket to do more than just advise of the enemy's presence? Make it attempt to maneuver behind an advancing enemy column and cut its line of communications? Imagine an enemy attack force where a picket practically side steps the attack force and then proceeds to disrupt supplies needed for the attack. That would be something!

According to Eddy, he has done this, and it works.
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