Infantry in FPC:RS

[Mad Russian]

Let's talk infantry in the game.

There is lots of it to begin with. This is combined arms game. Yes, there are TANKS!

But, wait for it, there are INFANTRY too!!!!!!

Infantry comes in 3 flavors.

Mechanized - which has armored vehicles for transportation.
Motorized - which has trucks for transportation.
Leg - which has, well, legs for transportation.

In the game infantry uses it's transportation for two things.

First, to move around the battelfield quicker than if they were walking.

Second, if the transports have weapons they support the infantry in their mission of attack or defend.

The infantry and the transport take respective losses if the infantry is moving. What that means is, the unit is, during movement, only made up of vehicles. If a vehicle is killed so is an infantry unit inside.

The infantry and the transport take irrespective losses if the infantry is not moving. What that means is, the unit is, while not moving, made up of the infantry and vehicles separately. As such each can take losses that do not affect the other. Infantry OR the vehicles can take damage without affecting anything else in the unit.

Hope this helps.


Good Hunting.

MR

[mekjak]

I noticed that when giving a deliberate move or assault order to infantry there's a popup asking how many hexes from the objective you want them to deploy/dismount? What exactly does that do? I couldn't find anything in the manual about it. Does that apply to just the final waypoint or each one? Do mechanized infantry automatically dismount when on the move i.e. when coming under fire?

Really nice game, by the way. Rarely have I played a wargame that feels as good as this one does.

[CapnDarwin]

Mekjak, that is the number of hexes from the final way point. If I missed that in the manual I'll add it to the errata and fix it in the master document.

Thanks.

[pzgndr]

Let's follow up on this a bit? I finally got around to playing the tutorial scenario; very good. Speak to us some more about how dismounts and carriers work in the game. I got it that you set a dismount point, but it appears both carriers and dismounts stay colocated in the same hex? I assumed the carriers would stay hull-down and out of the way but after watching one platoon's carriers get destroyed I'm not so sure. There should be a way of conducting separate dismounted operations so players can better control where the carriers are and what they're doing. An errata for the manual is needed; it doesn't even discuss the dismount dialog described in the tutorial quick start.

[DoubleDeuce]

Its my understanding that any armed vehicles will actively participate in the attack/defense along with the dismounts.

[Mad Russian]

ORIGINAL: pzgndr

Let's follow up on this a bit? I finally got around to playing the tutorial scenario; very good. Speak to us some more about how dismounts and carriers work in the game. I got it that you set a dismount point, but it appears both carriers and dismounts stay colocated in the same hex?

They will separate during the last part of an assault if you want them too. Once the infantry has moved into the hex they will rejoin.

I assumed the carriers would stay hull-down and out of the way but after watching one platoon's carriers get destroyed I'm not so sure. There should be a way of conducting separate dismounted operations so players can better control where the carriers are and what they're doing. An errata for the manual is needed; it doesn't even discuss the dismount dialog described in the tutorial quick start.

I don't agree with this. The hexes in the game are 500 meters. The infantry isn't going to want their carriers farther away than that. While dismounted operations for infantry and carrier sounds great in reality it would happen about once every thirty years.

No infantry is going to want their carriers off running around without them. Any infantry officer that would send his carriers out running around would get his men stranded in short order.

Good Hunting.

MR

[pzgndr]

ORIGINAL: Mad Russian
I don't agree with this. The hexes in the game are 500 meters. The infantry isn't going to want their carriers farther away than that. While dismounted operations for infantry and carrier sounds great in reality it would happen about once every thirty years.

OK, I guess the 10km dismounted night attack I did at Hohenfels without my tracks to secure a chokepoint was just a bad dream in my memory, along with another day that I got overrun by two OPFOR tank battalions. [8|]

C'mon, the reality is (was?) there are some situations where dismounted operations more than 500m from the carriers are warranted, such as setting an ambush where grunts shoot&scoot back to carriers on the other side of a terrain feature. Whatever. TacOps allows this. The point is you guys have imposed a restriction in this game where carriers and dismounts are assumed colocated in the same hex all the time and that's something players need to bear in mind. IMHO that's something to reconsider for a future enhancement. Just my 2 cents.

[CapnDarwin]

Pzgndr, first your 10km op is an infantry operation with the tracks off map. There is no mechanized effort there so I don't see that as a valid argument that we are doing something wrong. Now, your second point is valid. There are times when some separation more than 500m is warranted. The next major game iteration will have the ability for fully dismounted infantry since it will feature air mobile forces. That will translate in some ways to mechanized units as well.

[TigerTC]

ORIGINAL: pzgndr

ORIGINAL: Mad Russian
I don't agree with this. The hexes in the game are 500 meters. The infantry isn't going to want their carriers farther away than that. While dismounted operations for infantry and carrier sounds great in reality it would happen about once every thirty years.

OK, I guess the 10km dismounted night attack I did at Hohenfels without my tracks to secure a chokepoint was just a bad dream in my memory, along with another day that I got overrun by two OPFOR tank battalions. [8|]

C'mon, the reality is (was?) there are some situations where dismounted operations more than 500m from the carriers are warranted, such as setting an ambush where grunts shoot&scoot back to carriers on the other side of a terrain feature. Whatever. TacOps allows this. The point is you guys have imposed a restriction in this game where carriers and dismounts are assumed colocated in the same hex all the time and that's something players need to bear in mind. IMHO that's something to reconsider for a future enhancement. Just my 2 cents.

It's never been an issue in the scenarios I've played. Sure, there is a tradeoff, but it has seemed a reasonable and workable compromise. This is a mech battlefield, and the size of the battlefield and the timeframe wouldn't allow for separate/light infantry ops.

[Mad Russian]

You did one dismounted operation that stuck in your memory. That would prove my point if that was the one time you did it.

We never sent our carriers anywhere that was very far away. Who wanted to be left on foot in a mechanized fight?

That's very much akin to bringing a knife to a gun fight.

Having said all that, we very much can separate the two of them, in a scenario, to show the kind of action you had. You can create both halves of a mech infantry unit in the editor.

Good Hunting.

MR

[pzgndr]

ORIGINAL: Capn Darwin
Pzgndr, first your 10km op is an infantry operation with the tracks off map. There is no mechanized effort there so I don't see that as a valid argument that we are doing something wrong. Now, your second point is valid. There are times when some separation more than 500m is warranted. The next major game iteration will have the ability for fully dismounted infantry since it will feature air mobile forces. That will translate in some ways to mechanized units as well.

Thank you for recognizing my valid point.

The first point was also valid since there was a significant mech effort - the rest of the Bn TF - with the two efforts converging as part of the plan of attack. But that's just one example. Be cautious in developing these scenarios so you don't restrict player flexibility too much. Sometimes it's interesting to play out different tactics, as crazy as they may seem to others. [;)]