Question about instructions/orders for players

[Mgellis]

Quick question...

In a set or orders, how do you describe an oddly-shaped patrol area (e.g., a grid, except parts of the grid have been cut off by national boundaries, etc. so it now looks something like an hour glass or a turtle)? Is it enough to just say something like...

YOUR AO CONSISTS OF ALL HONDURAN AND INTERNATIONAL WATERS WITHIN THE RECTANGULAR AREA BOUNDED BY 22°N, 16°N, 88°W, AND 84°W. TERRITORIES AND WATERS WITHIN THIS AREA BUT OUTSIDE YOUR AO ARE MARKED ON YOUR TACTICAL MAP.

(This assumes the places that are out of bounds to players have been marked with no-navigation zones.)

Any advice or suggestions about this?

Thanks.

[CV60]

Back in my day, the orders gave the lat/long of each of the points that made up the polygon

Quick question...

In a set or orders, how do you describe an oddly-shaped patrol area (e.g., a grid, except parts of the grid have been cut off by national boundaries, etc. so it now looks something like an hour glass or a turtle)? Is it enough to just say something like...

[Mgellis]

ORIGINAL: CV60

Back in my day, the orders gave the lat/long of each of the points that made up the polygon

Quick question...

In a set or orders, how do you describe an oddly-shaped patrol area (e.g., a grid, except parts of the grid have been cut off by national boundaries, etc. so it now looks something like an hour glass or a turtle)? Is it enough to just say something like...

So something like this...

YOUR AO IS THE AREA BOUNDED BY REFERENCE POINT 1 (22°N, 88°W), REFERENCE POINT 2 (22°N, 87°W), REFERENCE POINT 3 (16°N, 84°W), REFERENCE POINT 4(15°N, 86°), AND REFERENCE POINT 5(16°N, 88°W).

or would it simply be listed as...

YOUR AO IS THE AREA BOUNDED 22°N, 88°W; 22°N, 87°W; 16°N, 84°W; 15°N, 86°W; AND 16°N, 88°W.

The latter is more concise and I imagine anyone who was an officer in the navy would know enough about marine navigation to be able to figure out that these are five separate points, listed in a clockwise direction. I am guessing the semi-colon would be used as a "higher level comma" in this case, but if I'm wrong about that please let me know.

The former would probably be more clear to a person who plays Command but perhaps has not been trained in navigation. I'm a little inclined towards the former because I'm trying to strike a good balance between "realism" and "does not utterly confuse the player."

Or is either acceptable?

Please let me know what you think.

Thanks.

[ckfinite]

One idea is to make a map overlay that is just the AOE polygon - though it is a little bit space intensive for a vector graphic.

In terms of the textual descriptions, the latter followed by a Command footnote (e.g. these points are RPs 1-5) might be the best approach.

[Mini_Von]

ORIGINAL: ckfinite

One idea is to make a map overlay that is just the AOE polygon - though it is a little bit space intensive for a vector graphic.

In terms of the textual descriptions, the latter followed by a Command footnote (e.g. these points are RPs 1-5) might be the best approach.

Great idea.

Another way might be to just make a mission and use the lines as the boundary.

[CV60]

It has been a number of years, so I may not have the formating exactly correct, but for message traffic, using your reference points below, it would look something like this

"THE CVBG BOX 1 IS THE AREA BOUNDED BY 220000N0880000W; 220000N0870000W; 160000N0840000W; 150000N0860000W." However, that is a bit difficult for non-USN types to read. I would go with more traditional designation, especially given the international audience that plays the game.

YOUR AO IS THE AREA BOUNDED BY REFERENCE POINT 1 (22°N, 88°W), REFERENCE POINT 2 (22°N, 87°W), REFERENCE POINT 3 (16°N, 84°W), REFERENCE POINT 4(15°N, 86°), AND REFERENCE POINT 5(16°N, 88°W).

or would it simply be listed as...

YOUR AO IS THE AREA BOUNDED 22°N, 88°W; 22°N, 87°W; 16°N, 84°W; 15°N, 86°W; AND 16°N, 88°W.

The latter is more concise and I imagine anyone who was an officer in the navy would know enough about marine navigation to be able to figure out that these are five separate points, listed in a clockwise direction. I am guessing the semi-colon would be used as a "higher level comma" in this case, but if I'm wrong about that please let me know.

[thewood1]

I think your line...

"YOUR AO IS THE AREA BOUNDED BY REFERENCE POINT 1 (22°N, 88°W), REFERENCE POINT 2 (22°N, 87°W), REFERENCE POINT 3 (16°N, 84°W), REFERENCE POINT 4(15°N, 86°), AND REFERENCE POINT 5(16°N, 88°W)"

...is best. It gives a reference within the context of the game, as well as a map reference.

[Gunner98]

I think that naming the Ref points in question is always useful, then lock them and leave one selected on your final save so the players eye is drawn to it and its title.

Although listing the coordinates in the orders is accurate with generally accepted standard staff duties, it’s a practice that is losing relevance with digital C2 systems. The listing the LAT/LONGs in the main order is awkward in real life and I think in the game briefing. A line such as: AO: AS PER TRACE (or operational map) will suffice, then having the named Ref points on the map should make it evident to the player.

The actual data points in real life are still transmitted but either in a following annex or supplementary order only for backup. The executable trace is as it’s designed on the C2 layer shared by all users. This also makes quick and accurate changing of battlefield geometry and control measures a breeze compared to the grease pencil days.[;)]

B

[CV60]

I guess operators of my generation are "grease pencil geezers" now [;)]

This also makes quick and accurate changing of battlefield geometry and control measures a breeze compared to the grease pencil days.