Panzer Command: Kharkov Features List

[Erik Rutins]

ORIGINAL: Rick
OK - How about setting it with 5% on T1 but increasing the probably to 50% T8.
Can the same unit have increasing probability of arriving?

Nope, but you can approximate that curve by playing with the existing variables.

Also, since I"m asking questions, I have both desktop and laptop (for on the road times). As far as system requirements, if my laptop can play the demo for PC:OWS, will it be able to play PCK? I know I saw the system requirements seemed to be the same, but does PCK use more system resources?

Yes, if it can play Winterstorm, it will be able to play Kharkov - the minimum requirements have not changed and Kharkov actually is in some ways more compatible with some low-end systems than Winterstorm was. Kharkov does not demand much more from the video card, but it does more between-phase calculations so the worst case should be that the end of phase calculation takes a bit longer than on Winterstorm. Performance-wise in both Winterstorm and Kharkov, a better video card will generally improve your during-replay FPS and the look of the graphics quite a bit, while a better processor (especially a dual or multi-core) will speed up the calculations a lot.

Regards,

- Erik

[Mraah]

Erik,

I read the new features but I didn't see a new command for mount/unmounting when moving. Currently in PCOWS it appears you can only mount/unmount within 15 meters. This make it difficult to RUSH a building and, well, mount the building, as it were [;)].

Currently in PCOWS , if you RUSH a building you can't go in it until the next phase.

Also, it appears that when infantry mounted in a building take fire/casualties, sometimes they unmount the building and end up outside. I observed infantry in the bell tower go to the first floor and outside after receiving MG fire from my halftrack.

Forgive me if I missed something somewhere stating this was fixed etc.

Thanks,
Rob

[Erik Rutins]

ORIGINAL: Mraah
I read the new features but I didn't see a new command for mount/unmounting when moving. Currently in PCOWS it appears you can only mount/unmount within 15 meters. This make it difficult to RUSH a building and, well, mount the building, as it were [;)].

In Winterstorm and Kharkov, you can move to a spot and then mount or unmount at the start of either phase, not during the phase. So you get a chance to mount or unmount every 40 seconds. Since these are instantaneous commands and apply at up to 15 meters distance, we don't think that's unrealistic.

Also, it appears that when infantry mounted in a building take fire/casualties, sometimes they unmount the building and end up outside. I observed infantry in the bell tower go to the first floor and outside after receiving MG fire from my halftrack.

Did they fail morale and rout? It's possible there was a bug in Winterstorm, but I wouldn't call it that until I knew more about the situation.

I haven't seen infantry unmounting in Kharkov unless they are completely broken and routing.

Regards,

- Erik

[jamespcrowley]

ORIGINAL: Erik Rutins

ORIGINAL: Mraah

Also, it appears that when infantry mounted in a building take fire/casualties, sometimes they unmount the building and end up outside. I observed infantry in the bell tower go to the first floor and outside after receiving MG fire from my halftrack.

Did they fail morale and rout? It's possible there was a bug in Winterstorm, but I wouldn't call it that until I knew more about the situation.

I haven't seen infantry unmounting in Kharkov unless they are completely broken and routing.

Regards,

- Erik

The "dance of death" was one of the biggest annoyances in the CMx1 series.

Under heavy fire, often squads would exit trenches, foxholes, buildings and other could cover and run around like headless chickens in the open until they were eliminated.

While I accept that an individual might be driven to do this sometimes, infantry as a whole were able to absorb a terrific amount of punishment when in good cover. This might make them temporarily combat ineffective but not stupid enough to vacate that good cover by going out into the open.

The trigger for this behaviour in CM was the unit going from pinned (supressed in PC?) to panicked/broken/routed

In CM, I wondered if the gap between being suppressed and being routed/broken was too narrow. Hopefully this is not the case with PCK.

Having said that I have just DL'd the demo of PCoWS and, playing the tutorial, noticed something very similar; a Russian Rifle squad in a building routed and ran outside after only a couple of bursts of MG fire from a HT (no casulaties as far as I can remember but may have been Green. Perhaps that had something to do with it).

IMO, units should only leave good cover involuntarily very,very rarely.

[Erik Rutins]

ORIGINAL: James Crowley
IMO, units should only leave good cover involuntarily very,very rarely.

That's basically what they're told to do in Kharkov. FYI, a pinned and routed unit won't move. A routed and unsuppressed unit may try to bolt.

There is a possibility that a routed unit will leave cover in Kharkov, but it's not common.

Regards,

- Erik

[ravinhood]

Just as long as they don't banzai attack and leave their great defensive positions just because I took an objective flag I'll be a happy camper. We discussed this before, but, it's imperative that the AI KNOWS when it's WINNING and doesn't do STUPID stuff at that point. Obviously I expect it when it's losing I even do it. All or nothing sort of play near the end. But, doing the WAVE ASSAULT after I take one objective position and going from winning to losing was really annoying in CM.

[ravinhood]

ORIGINAL: James Crowley

Is that all?

No, seriously. WOW [:D]

LMAO James I just read this and belly laughed out loud. IS THAT ALL!! hahaha Well of course it's never enough just look at the before the game is released wishlist lol.

[jamespcrowley]

ORIGINAL: ravinhood

LMAO James I just read this and belly laughed out loud. IS THAT ALL!! hahaha Well of course it's never enough just look at the before the game is released wishlist lol.

Yes, we always want more and more, don't we.

Having said that, I have great expectations for the CM series; I don't think I have been so excited by a software release since CMBO, way back when!

[Mraah]

ORIGINAL: Erik Rutins
In Winterstorm and Kharkov, you can move to a spot and then mount or unmount at the start of either phase, not during the phase. So you get a chance to mount or unmount every 40 seconds. Since these are instantaneous commands and apply at up to 15 meters distance, we don't think that's unrealistic.

I agree that for an instantaneous move, yes, within a certain distance they could mount/unmount. Unfortunately, I came across a "cheat" that will allow your infantry unit to "building hop" in the REACTION phase that would allow the unit to move (instantaneous) from one building to another without have to cross the 40 meters of open terrain between the two buildings.

An example, in the ORDERS phase you have a unit between two buildings, left and right of the unit, that are within mounting range. You mount the building on the right. In the REACTIONS phase you can unmount the building (which places it into the previous location in between the buildings) and then you can mount the building on the left. So they basically teleported between the two buildings [:-].

I would have thought having a submenu for RUSH/ADVANCE/DEFEND - MOUNT could remove this teleportation and force the unit to traverse the 40 meters between the two buildings.

Thanks for your replies!! At any rate, it's not detering me from getting Karkov. Just some observations. [:)]

EDIT NOTE : Above observations are in PCOWS.
2nd EDIT NOTE : The cheat would work great for SEWER movement for the urban fighting battles!! So, if you agree then don't throw throw away the code.

Rob

[Erik Rutins]

ORIGINAL: Mraah
I agree that for an instantaneous move, yes, within a certain distance they could mount/unmount. Unfortunately, I came across a "cheat" that will allow your infantry unit to "building hop" in the REACTION phase that would allow the unit to move (instantaneous) from one building to another without have to cross the 40 meters of open terrain between the two buildings.
An example, in the ORDERS phase you have a unit between two buildings, left and right of the unit, that are within mounting range. You mount the building on the right. In the REACTIONS phase you can unmount the building (which places it into the previous location in between the buildings) and then you can mount the building on the left. So they basically teleported between the two buildings [:-].

That's not really a major problem - the unit is still limited to those two buildings. When you unmount, you are placed in the exact location you were in before you mounted, so the most you could do is cross 30 meters of space between buildings if you'd placed your squad perfectly between them and then mounted one. You can never bounce over to a building that wasn't within 15 meters of your original mount point.

Note that when we actually get to true city-fighting, as in Stalingrad, we will need to revisit this, but I think it works well for now.

[Mraah]

Erik,

Ok. Check out my 2nd edit note in the original post while you were replying. Makes a good SEWER move [;)]

Rob

[jamespcrowley]

ORIGINAL: Erik Rutins

Unit List: Note that this list only includes units for which there are in-game models, focused primarily on the 1941-1944 Eastern Front order of battle. Specs are provided for many more units than listed here, which will have models added in the future (and could have models added by modders post-release)

Presumably the random generators do not select the un-modelled units?

When new models are added, do they have to be activated in some way to enable them to be selected by the generators?

[Stridor]

ORIGINAL: James Crowley

Presumably the random generators do not select the un-modelled units?

When new models are added, do they have to be activated in some way to enable them to be selected by the generators?

The generators do not select un-modelled units.

Nothing special needs to be done to enable them in the generators, they will be automatically included in a random battle depending on their service entry, median and end service date settings. That is if you set the RBG to include all units, it is possible to load a particular battle plan which may limit equipment based around historical settings.

[jamespcrowley]

Thanks Stridor.
 
Are you able to say how many additional, un-modelled, units there are n PCK?

[Erik Rutins]

ORIGINAL: James Crowley
Are you able to say how many additional, un-modelled, units there are n PCK?

We've included stat files for quite a few that don't have 3D models yet, though there are far fewer in that state than there were with Winterstorm. so I'd say probably a couple dozen at most?

[jamespcrowley]

Well....with the unexpected delay caused by the random campaign generator and with a certain someone, who has manifested a modicum of talent in producing passable 3D models idling his time away, well....perhaps some of those vacant slots might just start to fill up. [:D]

[madorosh]

Seems to me that CM:BB shipped with some vehicles "sharing" 3D models in the absence of the correct ones; of course, they had an insanely large vehicle list and the shared ones were relatively obscure. Unless I'm thinking of CM:AK...?

[Mobius]

ORIGINAL: Michael Dorosh
Seems to me that CM:BB shipped with some vehicles "sharing" 3D models in the absence of the correct ones; of course, they had an insanely large vehicle list and the shared ones were relatively obscure. Unless I'm thinking of CM:AK...?

Besides the ordinary vehicle list each type often had some variant that is easier to do once the basic work of the original is done. Example the 3 types of Brummbars, 4 types of BA-3,6,10,10M armoured cars. I didn't know it beforw I aquired a new book, but there are two models of KV-2, which probably will be my next model(s) (post release) after we are done testing the campaign generator.

[helm123456789]

Man with the addition of Brummbars its looking like I might be able to try my hand at doing SL scenarios 1-3.
 
I'm getting more excited by the day.
 
Might have to leave work early the day it comes out.  Erik, Mobius if I give you my desk phone number at work....do you think you could give me call the minute the download become available[:)]

[Mobius]

I think Erik wants this released more than anyone. He's been working 25hrs a day on it for the last couple of months. I just playtest and build models at my own pace. [:'(]