Latest SPWAW FAQ

[Supervisor]

This FAQ is to be used as a quick reference. For more detail, look at the manual page in parentheses in most of the answers. Thanks to Paul Vebber, Bill Wilder and many other who contributed.

Q. How do I get my units to move? They show ready but will not go anywhere.
A. The default game setting is to have “Command and Control” on. This limits movement options. Check the Command & Control and Unit communications settings. If the unit is out of range and has no radio, It will only move to the unit objective (Pg 22,54-56) To make it easier the first time you play, turn Command & Control off
1. Check preferences menu. Is command control on or off? If on, turn it off. Read the manual about how this feature works.
2. Is your unit set to advance or defend? Right click on the non-moving unit. If it says defend in the black screen, click on the word, Defend, and it will change to advance. Now it should move.
3. Is your unit suppressed? Does it have move factors left? Right click on the unit. Does it have move factors remaining? What is its suppression level? Anything above 5 suppression might pin or suppress the unit so that it won't move.
4. Can it move? Some units have no move factors. Check and see(pg 43)

Q. The all formation button is gone. Do I have to move my units one at a time?
A. Use the A key to use the All-Formation command. It will only work with C & C off( Pg 42)

Q. How do I know which units are in a formation and are mine?
A. Units that belong to the same formation as the unit that you have selected are colored yellow. This helps you to keep your platoons together as a cohesive fighting force. Another reason for playing with command control on. Units that are red are others of your army. Those in white are the enemy. Those that are silver are the enemy in your LOS.(pg 21)

Q. After an artillery barrage, I cannot find my infantry. They disappeared.
A. . When suppression gets too high, you have abandoned infantry, or more accurately out of contact infantry. When you look at your units, you can immediately tell who is very, very bad off, because the number or the “+” is gone. Click on the hex and they will appear

Q. What do the “*” and “#” represent in the unit description on the lower left of the screen?
A. # is the fired on/movement reduction indicator, indicating the unit has been fired on. Movement is also reduced for two turns after the unit has been spotted or fired at (indirect fire counts)
* indicates that the unit has been spotted, or has not been moved since being spotted. (pg 25,44)

Q. The information window in the upper RH corner is black.
A. You are playing a V1 scenario. It needs to be upgraded to v2. To fix an old scenario:
1) Load it into the editor.
2) Change the weather from what ever it is to some thing else.
3) Change it back again. The routine that was called, resets the weather picture.
4) Changing the weather will most likely change the visibility. If so, change the visibility back to what it was before you changed the weather.
5) Save the scenario.
6) Exit the editor and play the scenario.

Q. Setting up quick battles. How can I set the buy points?
A. Go to the preferences screen.
Click on the "Battle Points" area.
Choose the number of battle points you want.
Exit the preferences screen.
Go to your battle menu. The number of points are now set for Player1 from your choice in the preferences screen. Player2's points will be derived from the amount you set for Player1. However, you can also set the battle points for Player2 in the preferences screen at the same time you selected them for Player1 using the same procedure.


Q. Some of the vehicles and tanks do not have a “+” in the center.
A. This lets you know the vehicle has been abandoned.(pg 26)

Q. How do I deploy parachutists and gliders?
A. To use Gliders and Paratroopers. load the troops and assign each a hex, during deployment. In the pre-game bombardment phase, after the artillery attacks, the gliders and transport aircraft should come in, under AI control.(pg 31)

Make sure you assign entry and exit directions for all gliders, strike aircraft and transport aircraft, especially when making a scenario. Do not depend on the default

Q. How are HQ’s and Ammo dumps and Ammo vehicles used?
A. For resupplying your units, move your unit into the same or the adjacent hex. (Pg 57) HQ’s give additional morale benefit to units within 5 hexes and reduce suppression(pg 40)

Q .Can I put my units under computer control during the game?
A. Yes you can set waypoints DURING THE GAME and place
your units under computer control. Go to the HQ tent icon and click on the
waypoint icon and then set unit to computer control. This is useful in
big scenarios when reinforcements come in and are well behind the front
lines, Waypoints put them under computer control and
they automatically move at the end of the turn (pg 77)

Q. Minelaying has changed. What is the new procedure?
A. To lay mines, use the toggle in the unit data screen. In the old code, you
could toggle "remove mines" with "do not remove mines". There is now a
third toggle, "place mines".

Q. How do I remove Dragons Teeth?
A. Place an engineer unit in the adjacent hex. It will remove the obstacle within 2 turns(pg 29,57)

Q. How do I breach a wall or hedges w/o immobilizing my vehicles?
A. Use engineer units to direct fire on the wall (Z key) or use artillery above 105 mm by direct or indirect fire. (pg 28,29)

Q. How do I blow up a bridge?
Same way as a wall or hedge. Make sure you are not cutting off a line of retreat or advance because the procedure is irreversible (pg 28,29)

Q. How are Special Forces and Guerilla’s employed?
A. During deployment, feel around with the mouse hint box, until you find the infiltration button and click it. You should see what looks like the artillery screen that is missing some buttons. The special troops you purchased should be listed here. Select a hex on the map and click it. Then click the little lit up circle next to one of the special units. This should depress the little circle icon, as it would if you were targeting artillery. One you have assigned hexes to all the special units you want to infiltrate, you may close the screen. You will note that machine guns, mortars and the like cannot be sent on infiltration missions. These are for troops traveling light.

Play the game. After several turns, you should get a pop-out box saying that one or more units have infiltrated to the assigned target. Note that the exact turn they will arrive is unknown to you and you will not be in contact with them, until they arrive. This may place certain units of the formation who were not able to infiltrate, out of C&C, unless you keep them near a company HQ or the Bn HQ. Play testing may show a need for shuffling of the special formations.

I would not recommend that you choose objective hexes for the target hexes. Your troops will arrive piecemeal and get beat up. I would recommend a nice, out of the way clump of woods not to far from an objective as a rally point. Once the whole platoon arrives, you can then attack.

Q. How are Commandos, Gliders, and Air Drops employed?
A. When you now play scenarios or campaigns, these features may be included, depending on the scenario. All three features work basically the same way. If the scenario includes gliders or airdrops, then as the battle begins, prior to turn one, gliders will come in and land. These features work in the same way as pre-game artillery barrages or air attacks. If it is an airdrop, the transport aircraft will fly across the screen, dropping their human cargo in or near the designated drop zones.

Weather and enemy opposition can affect where these units will land. In some cases, they may continue off the map. If that occurs, these units are considered to have been dropped or to have landed out of the area of battle for this scenario. They will be unavailable.

If a glider hits a tree or a building, it will crash and transported casualties will occur. All landing units will be in varying states of suppression. This is determined by their basic morale and skill values as well as just how close an enemy unit might be to them. Thus they may be ready for battle, or it may take a turn or two for them to become oriented and get down to business.

Commandos will appear at varying turns, usually on the enemy’s side of the map. They are Special Forces and have special skills at demolition tasks. The scenario designer has predetermined their hex of entry and mention of their presence should be in the introductory text that accompanies the scenario.

Q. What are gun teams and pack mules used for?
A. Gun teams haul guns. So do pack mules. More realistic than tons of trucks
and half-tracks, at least for the Axis side and the minors...and Russia.

Q. What is the Victory Frontage button in Preferences for?
A. The victory frontage option changes the arrangement of victory hexes
from the "old" 3 groups of 7 to 5 groups or 4 (or so).

Q. What is the Limited Intel Button for?
A. Limited Intel makes you "reroll" all your sighting checks every turn
(i.e. the enemy is not static, but moving around within the hex...) so you can
"lose target lock" on enemy units (but if a unit had them targeted they can
still shoot - new units just can't and it doesn't appear on the map.(pg 23,45)

Q. What is the AI advantage button used for?
A. This number gives the experience/morale rating of the troops as compared to their intended morale. IIRC Germany had a 75 point (average to vet) average on experience in '42, so at 133 percent they should have about 100 points (elite)

Q. Why is there a Limited Ammo Button and a Full Ammo Button?
A. Limited ammo reduces the ammo a unit gets from the maximum in the OOB to as much as 50% of the listed load
Turning Ammo off means you never run out of ammunition.(Pg 22)

Q. What do the Artillery buttons in Player preferences do?
A. These buttons work like the toughness buttons. Raising these above 100% improves the artillery effectiveness and lowering them decreases effectiveness. (pg 23,51)

Q. What is the “True Troop Cost “ button for?
A. This button is used to cause troop costs to be generated using the unit’s experience as the measuring factor over standard cost. It is designed for a 2 player game for creating an even battle with balanced points (pg 22)

Q. The gray text box messages are too slow or too fast. How do I adjust the speed?
A. Go into the Preferences screen and adjust the message delay up or down. The higher the number the longer the delay (Pg 21)

Q. How do tank or other crews bail out voluntarily?
A. Use the 9 key and a pop up box will ask if you are sure.(Pg 20)

Q. What do the categories mean in the Encyclopedia Screen for an individual
unit.?
A. "ACC"= Accuracy of the weapon, the higher the number the more accurate it
is. Basically the range at which you have a base 50% hit probability before
any modifications. Good to know, for example you might have two 88mm guns to
choose from one might be more accurate than the other. Note that the editor
will show 4 times the "real value" - a hold over from SP3
"Kill"= This is the relative lethality of the weapon. Important, new types
of rounds have been added.
"Pen"= Penetration. You will see two numbers here. The HE ( high explosive )
number is the max thickness in mm and is compared agains the ebase armor at
the closest range it will pierce. AP ( armor piercing ) is approximate
penetration in mm (+/- a handful of percent).
"Heat"= high explosive anti-tank. This round uses the effect of a "hollow
charge" explosion to send a molten slug of filler material through the
armor. It is compared to the "geometric thickness (base/cos of compound
angle)
"APCR"= Armor piercing composite rigid. This represents Armor piercing
discarding sabot (APDS) as well. It uses a different routine than AP to
determine "effective armor thickness" it is more effected by ange than AP.
"Range"= Max range of the weapon according to the type of round fired. You
will see two numbers here. Ok this is where you need to take a look the unit
stats, by right clicking on the unit once bought. The chart showing range,
type of round, and armor penetration. Notice the difference in range for
each round, it isn't so important to memorize this as it is to know that the
AP types have a shorter range. Note that the editor will show 4 times the
"real value" - a hold over from SP3
"Warhead"= This affects HE casualties, and HE effects on tanks, when a tank
is hit, this number is a key determining the severity of the damage
"Survivability"= The higher the number the better chance it has of surviving
the rigors of battle.
"Rate of Fire"= It is an average fire rate for a veteran unit. Elite would
be higher, green will be lower.
Fire Control = A base number is multiplied times fire control and added to
your hit probability, so the higher the fire control, the better your
hitting percentage will be.
Range Finder= This plays a role in how badly your initial shot is degraded
and how quickly the subsequent shots "ramp up" to normal. It also plays a
role in your ability to hit moving targets.
Stabilizer = This is mostly used in post WW2, but some WW2 tanks had some
stabilization of the gun. Players may want to experiment with this if they
feel the penalty for a moving firer is too great.

Q. How is command & control best used?
A. Command & control requires a different way of playing and thinking.:
1) Think platoons when you maneuver, not squads. With C2 on the game is not about squad movement, but Platoon movement, your squads are "distributed steps" that make up your platoons.
2) Think ahead. You need to plan your units objectives at least to some extent or you will run out of orders and your units will get "stuck". An artificial penalty? Sure, but if you maneuver by platoon (meaning conduct your bound and overwatch by alternating platoons, not squads within platoons) it actually doesn’t work half bad...
That's really what they are about. More to limit what a player can do, not to really simulate C3.

Q. What is defend mode?
A. Defend mode is really a "transition" between troops that are oriented toward advancing toward their objective, and achieving "in cover" status. "In cover" is really more "improved position. That is why tanks can "dig-in". Its more moving around within the hex to find a "sweet spot" in the "micro-terrain" within the hex. That is why it takes a few turns to find it, and its assumed engineers are more better trained in "terrain analysis" and speed the process. So defend means "searching for an improved position" more than "digging holes in the ground".
The effect of Combat friction is shown in the reduction in movement points for being "close to the enemy" (asterisk *) or shot at within 2 turns(pound #)
So what you have is really three types of cover.
Fortifications...Serious protection, concrete or wood superstructure
Entrenched...Improved positions, maybe some overhead cover, organized defensive position
In Cover...hasty defensive position, scraping out a hole with your helmet or an entrenching tool, hiding in some undergrowth or tall grass, etc.

Q. Smoke doesn’t seem to work as well. Has something changed?
A. Smoke reduces the chances you see things, it no longer totally blocks line
of sight, (at least you have to lay a LOT in that mode) .If you know where something is, you have to lay a lot of smoke to "break lock" - it is no longer a "deflector shield" you raise AFTER someone has spotted you! If you pop it and run away, then the enemy will have a more difficult time spotting you through the smoke in the new hex through the
smoke. But if you just pop it and sit there, after the enemy has targeted
you, it doesn't do much. This is smoke's realistic role as an obscurant, not
impenetrable armor. (pg 27)

It is most effective if you use artillery to lay it IN ADVANCE so you are
moving up behind and through it where it lowers the enemy chances of
spotting you in the first place. Smoke will also drift around ad lasts for a
more variable time period.

Q. What is suppression? How does suppression work ?
A., Suppression is the measurement of the combat worthiness of a unit. Suppression goes up to 99, 0 suppression means you get the best hit chances. Once you start getting shot at, you suffer about a 25-50 degradation based on experience.. The first few points of suppression do the most, once you get over 20-30 its more a matter of how far you head is between your knees... Every time you "rally" suppression is cut in half but once you get shot at you are stuck at 1 minimum. Every "*" when a vehicle is hit means a system or crewman is knocked out. The more stars the more suppression vehicles take.

When your suppression reaches a certain fraction of your morale you become pinned (buttoned for vehicles), then retreated and finally routed, as you rally the suppression below the thresholds, you get improvement in status. IF you keep shooting at retreated or routed troops, occasionally they figure its better to go down fighting and spontaneously go to pinned and stop running away. Russians in delay or defend mission can "fanatically" go from routed or retreated back to good order again.


Q. How do campaigns work?
A. SP: WAW allows two types of campaigns. There are campaigns generated by the computer and there are also what are called "User Edited Campaigns." That means that these campaigns were designed by individuals much like the scenarios that are included with the game. These are not computer-generated and may prove quite different from the campaigns the computer creates on request. User-Defined Campaigns are often more historical in nature and are built around a particular unit or a particular theater of battle during the World War II period.
Managing Campaigns
User-defined campaigns require a little different care than the scenarios in the game. A separate subdirectory or folder should be created to hold these campaigns. Inside each campaign is a zipped (or compressed) package. To use the files needed for a campaign, you'll have to "open" or unzip these files into the \scen subdirectory of the game.
Do not delete the zip file. If you remove the campaign files, the zip file will remain intact. If you keep it, you'll always have these files for future play.
The Problem to Avoid
There is a definite reason for doing it the above way. When you load a campaign into SPWAW (an edited one, like ours), it occupies a certain space. When you load another of the same type, it overwrites the old one. In other words, you cannot have two of this type of campaign open in SP: WAW at the same time.
There is one master file that controls all the scenarios in one campaign. It is called usercamp.dat. Each campaign has the same master file name. It is the only one the game will recognize. The game was originally designed by SSI so that the owner of the game could design campaigns on his computer and they would all be saved into this one file.

Because, however, we are doing campaigns on separate computers, we cannot access the same usercamp.dat file. Each campaign we create has its own usercamp.dat file. Again, if you load an edited campaign into the game and one is already there, it will load right over the top of it and sometimes mix the scenarios of the two campaigns.
Resolving the Matter
To avoid this problem, here is what we will do.
1. There should be a separate folder in the game called "Campaigns." If not, you'll need to make one.
2. In this new folder, keep zip files of all your campaigns. For example, in mine I currently have two zip files:
· tunisiacampSPWAW.zip
· eaglesSPWAW.zip
3. When I am ready to play a campaign, I first make sure that there are no campaign scenarios in the \scen subdirectory. You will recognize these because they all begin with UC. I remove them and also remove the usercamp.dat file.
3. Now I open the zip file from the SPWAW\Campaigns directory. For example, eaglesSPWAW.zip has seven files: six scenario files and one master file.
4. I load these into the SPWAW\scen subdirectory. I keep the zip file intact, right where it was. That way when I need to remove the Eagle campaign, I can simply delete it. I have another copy still in my SPWAW\Campaigns folder in that same zip file from which I extracted the files earlier.
5. So I delete the campaign files from SPWAW\Scen (remember, they begin with uc) and the usercamp.dat from the \Scen subdirectory, but NOT the \Campaigns subdirectory.
6. Now I can go to the SPWAW\Campaigns subdirectory and open tunisiacampSPWAW.zip and put those files into the game. Until there is a better way, this is how we will have to do it. After you have finished playing you can remove those files from your \Scen subdirectory. Remember, you still have the campaign tucked away in the \Campaigns subdirectory in the tunisiacampSPWAW.zip file.
By using this method you'll be able to receive and store new campaigns as they are produced for the game with no danger of them being mixed or corrupted. Just keep a zip file of each campaign in your Campaigns File folder and open them whenever you are ready to play.(pg 78)

Q. How do you set up and use reinforcement hexes?
A. Reinforcement Hexes are used to set up delays in bringing units into the scenario. Reinforcements are set from the deploy screen, reinforcement hexes (where they will enter) are set from the map editor screen.
1. Go to the map editor and click on "edit."
Reinforcement hexes are numbered 1-4 only in the deploy screen, NOT HERE. Remember that.
Now each side has four reinforcement hexes, and they are numbered thusly
0=side 1 retreat hex
1=side 2 retreat hex
2-5 = side 1 reinforcement hex numbers.
6-9 = side 2 reinforcement hex numbers.
To make a hex a reinforcement hex, click on it. Then type (if you are side 1) numbers 2,3,4, or 5.
If you are setting reinforcement hexes for side two, you would use numbers 6,7,8,9.
Now it is VERY important to remember that when you go BACK to the deploy screen to assign units as reinforcement hexes, the numbers in the map editor no longer count.
This means that side one has reinforcement hexes 1,2,3, and 4 (even though in the map editor they were numbered 2-5).
The same with side 2. Now in the deploy screen, they are numbered 1,2,3,4.
Example:
Do this in the game as I go.
1. Open the game, Go to map editor, edit.
2. Find hex 2,2. this will be our reinforcement hex.
3. Now, simply click on it (2,2). Now type "2" You should now see a reinforcement flag in hex 2,2.
3. Close the map editor.
4. Open the unit deploy screen
5. Find that reinforcement flag you just typed in 2,2. Run the cursor over it. It should say reinforcement hex 1.
And the same system applies with the others.

Q. How do retreat hexes work?
A. Retreat hexes are set in the same way as reinforcement hexes, from the map editor screen. Open the map of the scenario with "edit." Then click on the hex you want side one to retreat through. Then type "0" (zero) for side one (left side). Net click on another hex on the other side of the map and type "1"(one) for side two (right side)

Q. What are reaction turns?
A. In the Steel Panther Series you can set a time for units to "react" or start moving. Reaction turn is used in conjunction with waypoints.
This is done in the scenario editor. Are you designing scenarios?
It works like this.
1.After you have selected and placed your units, you have the option to set a time for them to react or move and also the directions of their move.
2. This is done by first clicking on the top right hand corner button in the Unit deployment screen in the editor.
3. Now you see on the right a listing of all the units and formations for one side. .In the center you'll see a list of the leaders for each formation. To the left of the name of each leader are two buttons. One shows arrows. The other the head of the leader.
4. First click on the head of the leader. It changes to a computer. Now in the lower left hand corner of the screen is a button titled "reaction."
5. Click on it. Now the screen turns blue at the top. Type in the turn number you want to activate the unit. If you type in a 5, the unit will start to move on turn five. That is its reaction turn.

Q. How do you set waypoints?
A.After setting the formation to computer control and setting the reaction turn, in the same screen, click on the arrow button. The computer changes the screen to the units deployed. A new screen of the battle map opens. Now simply click in a path you want the unit to follow. Each time you click on a location, it is a waypoint. You can have up to 10 waypoints for that unit. You can erase waypoints by clicking on the cancel button, but it cancels all waypoints and you have to start over. Make sure that when you set waypoints that the last one ends up in the objective you have set for the formation.

Q. What are formation objectives? How are they used?
A. Formation objectives are used to set objectives for individual formations within the scenario. To set a specific objective for a formation, click on the blue flag in the Deploy screen after highlighting a formation. Then click on a hex. Look at the bottom of the screen. That is now the formation's objective. If you want all of your units to have the same objective, click on the Green flag button. Don't use the green flag unless you want the objective hex for ALL formations the same.

Q. Are Reaction turns, waypoints and formation objectives all necessary for scenario design?
A. All of these features, Reaction Turn, Waypoints, Formation objectives, reinforcements, work properly if used .properly The problem is that they are often not used properly and therefore you don't ge the desired result. It follows a certain logic.
We'll bypass reinforcements and reinforcement hexes.
Here we go.
If you are going to use Reaction Turns, waypoints and objectives you should use them together.
1. The formation, in order to use any of these, should be set to "computer control"
2. Once you set a formation to "computer control" you must then tell the computer what you want it to do with that formation.
If you don't the computer will do what it thinks best, including moving the units even though you don't want them moved.
3. Naturally, while under human control, the units will do what you tell them too. They won't move unless you tell them to. They won't fire (except op or reaction fire) unless you tell them to.
4. When you set a unit under computer control, you must then tell the computer how it should use them.
=================
Now to some particulars.
Let's take a hypothetical formation, a US rifle platoon. It is composed of B0, B1, and B2.
The US side is the computer side. I am the human player and I have the Germans. This is a German advance vs a US Delay scenario.
Here are the steps you follow: Click on the H button at the top right of the unit deploy screen in the editor.
1. Set the formation "B" to computer control. Do that even though the computer is already controlling the US side. You do this in order to specify to the computer how the unit is to move and be used by the AI.
2. Now since the scenario is US Delay, what do you want formation B0 to do?
a. If you want it to stay in place throughout the scenario without moving, set B formation reaction turn to 99. Put a formation objective flag in the B0 hex. It should stay in place until it retreats or dies, if done correctly.
b. But say you want it to move beginning at turn 5. You want it to go to objective flag in hex 22, 50.
c. Set B formation from defend to advance. Set the reaction turn to 5 for formation B. This means that formation B will advance, but not before turn 5 (give or take a turn or so...computer random selection).
d. Now go back to unit deploy screen, click on unit B0 and then set the formation objective flag (the blue flag) in hex 22,50.
Now come back to the "H" screen where you were before.
e. Now you want formation B to follow a certain route. That is where waypoints come in. You may want formation B to take an indiirect route to hex 22,50 in order to flank where you think the human player might be.
f. So you click on the two little arrows next to the computer for formation B.
g. A new screen appears. You find B0 (leader of B formation) on the map, and from there you go to the first spot you want formation B to go to. Click on it. A yellow line is seen from B0 to your first waypoint. Continue doing that for up to 10 times. I would make sure that the final waypoint ends at hex 22,50 (where the blue formation objective flag was placed).
So now you have set formation B to remain in place till turn 5 (this may vary a turn or two. The computer does this randomly). Then it will begin moving from waypoint to waypoint till it reaches 22.50. If it becomes involved in combat, it will fight normally, but when it can, it will move on till it eventually arrives at 22,50 where it will remain unless killed or routed.

Q. I designed a scenario and set waypoints and unit objectives, but they aren’t working. They all say objective 222,222
A Waypoints and unit objectives will work as long as they are set as the last item in scenario design. If you purchase more units after setting the waypoints, etc. the waypoints and objectives will be erased and you will have to start over. It is best to have a save before purchasing additional units. This is why scenario design requires careful planning to avoid this situation

Q. Why does pavement, sandstone & dirt show differently on elevations?
A. This is a known problem. One way to avoid part of this is to use base #2, gravel, instead of cement. It does not have that blocked appearance that cement does. You can also feather the edges of cement with gravel. Another possible solution is to put the gravel in first, then the grass

Q. How do I add on board artillery to my scenario.
A. Make the year 1949 and the month December and you will be able to buy on board artillery. Change back to the year of your scenario and save.

Q. How do I purchase trains for my scenarios?
A. Trains are under the Norway OOB and are purchased the same as on board artillery. Make the country Norway and the year 1949, month of December. The trains are under the Misc section in the purchase screen

Q. How do I put destroyed tanks in my scenario
A. In the Editor deploy screen, select the unit and click on the Modify Unit button. Make the cost of the unit 0 and return to the deploy screen. Type the “U” key and you will be asked if you want to destroy the unit


Send any additions or changes to;
Brent Richards
brentr@schobers.com


------------------
Grenadier
SPWAW Beta Team