Optional Auto-Select Reinforcements

[HerrBaron]

I don't play this game online; I'm easily overwhelmed in the heat of battle, and a large part of what breaks my concentration is the two-part process of calling a reinforcement unit, then having to wait for it to appear in the reinforcement area of the map to select it and give it orders.

When I call a unit up, I'm almost always looking at the location I want it in, and have to click a location on the map, only to have to do it all over again when the unit appears.

I believe an option to auto-select a unit called as reinforcement would solve this kind of issue for a lot of players. If a unit were auto-selected as it enters the map, a player could immediately begin queuing orders for it without having to leave the front line where the player is needed most.

This one ability alone might make me reconsider playing multiplayer.

What do you guys think?

 

[Hawk8762]

I don't play this game online; I'm easily overwhelmed in the heat of battle, and a large part of what breaks my concentration is the two-part process of calling a reinforcement unit, then having to wait for it to appear in the reinforcement area of the map to select it and give it orders.

When I call a unit up, I'm almost always looking at the location I want it in, and have to click a location on the map, only to have to do it all over again when the unit appears.

I believe an option to auto-select a unit called as reinforcement would solve this kind of issue for a lot of players. If a unit were auto-selected as it enters the map, a player could immediately begin queuing orders for it without having to leave the front line where the player is needed most.

This one ability alone might make me reconsider playing multiplayer.

What do you guys think?

Ive never found calling in units to be too big a deal.
Usually, just call them into where you want, and as you focus on the battle, youll see them arrive.
They spawn in attack move so if they do encounter enemies they will stop to engage.

 

[HerrBaron]

Ive never found calling in units to be too big a deal.
Usually, just call them into where you want, and as you focus on the battle, youll see them arrive.
They spawn in attack move so if they do encounter enemies they will stop to engage.

Yes; but the problem with that is that while they spawn in "attack move", they ignore roads, which are the best means to get them where they're going quickly, and you must specifically order them to use a road move. This is what I'm talking about. Auto-selecting them as they enter would open up the mechanic of orders / queuing of orders at spawn-in, a plus for players without adding a great deal of effort for the developers. They already have a pointer or a reference to the unit; as a developer myself, this likely means that they have access to a selected flag for that unit through the pointer or reference.

Can't you think of instances where you've called for a reinforcement, only to be annoyed that they took their sweet time getting there? Wouldn't it be better if you could order them to use a road move when they spawn, or queue up a fast command or even a simple "y" command so they use roads and unload where you want them, and simply forget about them until you see them take their place in the action? I find most often that having units move cross-country across whatever terrain is simply not efficient, and almost always end up having to scroll to them and issue orders.

 

[Adolith]

I dont quite get your problem. You are not forced to place your reinforcements in your spawn. You can place them anywhere you want on the battlefield, and they will fast move from the spawn to the indicated position. If they encounter enemies they will attack them. No need to queue up anything.

 

[o0970o]

The reinforcement comes in "fast attack move" which you cant do that in another way. I really don't see the issues with that.

 

[Hidden Gunman]

Mouse click, drag, press key, click mouse. Done.

It took seventeen separate actions to load a minie ball rifle musket, this takes four.

 

[Kaziglu]

I suggest having a look at some good commented gameplay videos.

 

[Hawk8762]

Yes; but the problem with that is that while they spawn in "attack move", they ignore roads, which are the best means to get them where they're going quickly, and you must specifically order them to use a road move. This is what I'm talking about. Auto-selecting them as they enter would open up the mechanic of orders / queuing of orders at spawn-in, a plus for players without adding a great deal of effort for the developers. They already have a pointer or a reference to the unit; as a developer myself, this likely means that they have access to a selected flag for that unit through the pointer or reference.

Can't you think of instances where you've called for a reinforcement, only to be annoyed that they took their sweet time getting there? Wouldn't it be better if you could order them to use a road move when they spawn, or queue up a fast command or even a simple "y" command so they use roads and unload where you want them, and simply forget about them until you see them take their place in the action? I find most often that having units move cross-country across whatever terrain is simply not efficient, and almost always end up having to scroll to them and issue orders.

I am afraid you are incorrect, called in units are in a strange "fast-move/attack-move" hybrid. The use roads to the point you called them to, but will stop to engage on the way.

 

[HerrBaron]

Mouse click, drag, press key, click mouse. Done.

It took seventeen separate actions to load a minie ball rifle musket, this takes four.

Can you be a it more specific, please? Click what, drag what to where, press what key, click mouse ? The "Press key doesn't seem to fit, bu I could be mistaken...

Click-drag I assume is in the reinforcement menu, opening it and navigating to the category you want, but then it 's another mouse click, not a keypress, and then another mouse click to place the unit, and it will then come in through the reinforcement area. Again, your "workflow" doesn't seem to fit.

 

[HerrBaron]

I suggest having a look at some good commented gameplay videos.

I watch Vulcan almost obsessively; his videos are the best I've found for this game.

 

[HerrBaron]

Look, guys, I'll be completely honest with you all; I'm still struggling to win the Carpiquet map as allied with 3 AI alongside me and 4 AI against me on medium difficulty. I'm no expert! as I stated, I get overwhelmed by all the micro I seem to have to do in this game. That's why I'm looking for anything I can find to lighten that micro-ing load so I can focus on the battle.

 

[HerrBaron]

I am afraid you are incorrect, called in units are in a strange "fast-move/attack-move" hybrid. The use roads to the point you called them to, but will stop to engage on the way.

This doesn't seem to fit my observations; I repeatedly see reinforcement units leave the roads they come in on to move cross-country, almost always arriving more slowly than if they'd stayed on the road.

 

[Hidden Gunman]

To clarify, you multi-select your units when they arrive (using the mouse); you then press the 'fast move' hot key (off the top of my head I can't remember which it is); then you click on the map where you want them to go. Are you selecting your units in the reinforcement menu than placing them on the map where you want them to go, or are you simply selecting them and positioning them where you want them to arrive? (It sounds like this is what you are doing)

It sounds a bit like you are over-micro'ing. When you are playing 'skirmish' (single player), are you focussing on one section of the map, or are you spreading your units across the map into your AI team mates zones? The AI will largely (not completely) focus on one 'lane', similar to what human players do in MP. You really only need to focus on your lane, and keep an eye on what is happening everywhere else, particularly your flankers.

When in actual contact with the enemy, or when you are approaching contact, use the 'Q' hot key to put your units into 'stop and fire' mode'. They will move cross country, but each unit will stop on first sighting an enemy which is within range. If you initially set your units in a formation (if each unit has roughly the same speed) they will move forward in that formation or try to adjust to it if you use the click and drag multi-select...when they run into the enemy, each unit will independently advance to the position which it can fire on the enemy. Not trying to do this is the single biggest mistake that players can make...when you can master how to do it, you can overwhelm an enemy line piece by piece, and it will cut down the detailed micro you need to do...as each enemy unit is destroyed or driven off, your units advance till they run into the next unit and do the same.

Form your units into discrete groups, rather than individually...each 'group' should be under a leader unit's command aura, and should have a recce unit. Move your armoured recce and leader units as part of each armour group; same same for infantry. Try to put a screen of inf recce units out in front of your troops to give you the maximum visibility...don't push them into fighting though. When they sight no enemy troops, you advance past them, then repeat the process. No unit on your frontline should be without a command unit's aura, or a nearby recce unit. Your groups should be close enough to each other to mutually support, but try to fight only one or two groups at a time...don't push forward all across the place all at once, that leads to missing things, and missing things results in dead units...rather than trying to thump your opponent with a big hit, think of chipping away, 'crowbarring' pieces out of the opponents force/line, and working your way forward bit by bit.

 

[HerrBaron]

To clarify, you multi-select your units when they arrive (using the mouse); you then press the 'fast move' hot key (off the top of my head I can't remember which it is); then you click on the map where you want them to go. Are you selecting your units in the reinforcement menu than placing them on the map where you want them to go, or are you simply selecting them and positioning them where you want them to arrive? (It sounds like this is what you are doing)

It sounds a bit like you are over-micro'ing. When you are playing 'skirmish' (single player), are you focussing on one section of the map, or are you spreading your units across the map into your AI team mates zones? The AI will largely (not completely) focus on one 'lane', similar to what human players do in MP. You really only need to focus on your lane, and keep an eye on what is happening everywhere else, particularly your flankers.

When in actual contact with the enemy, or when you are approaching contact, use the 'Q' hot key to put your units into 'stop and fire' mode'. They will move cross country, but each unit will stop on first sighting an enemy which is within range. If you initially set your units in a formation (if each unit has roughly the same speed) they will move forward in that formation or try to adjust to it if you use the click and drag multi-select...when they run into the enemy, each unit will independently advance to the position which it can fire on the enemy. Not trying to do this is the single biggest mistake that players can make...when you can master how to do it, you can overwhelm an enemy line piece by piece, and it will cut down the detailed micro you need to do...as each enemy unit is destroyed or driven off, your units advance till they run into the next unit and do the same.

Form your units into discrete groups, rather than individually...each 'group' should be under a leader unit's command aura, and should have a recce unit. Move your armoured recce and leader units as part of each armour group; same same for infantry. Try to put a screen of inf recce units out in front of your troops to give you the maximum visibility...don't push them into fighting though. When they sight no enemy troops, you advance past them, then repeat the process. No unit on your frontline should be without a command unit's aura, or a nearby recce unit. Your groups should be close enough to each other to mutually support, but try to fight only one or two groups at a time...don't push forward all across the place all at once, that leads to missing things, and missing things results in dead units...rather than trying to thump your opponent with a big hit, think of chipping away, 'crowbarring' pieces out of the opponents force/line, and working your way forward bit by bit.

Hey Gunman!

This is stuff that's been missing from every guide or tutorial video I've seen. Thank you for it.

I am selecting the units in the reinforcement menu, and clicking on the map where I want them to go, not where I want them to enter. It is specifically the necessity of moving the camera from where I'm focused back to the units that just entered to issue them a fast move or whatever that my OP was about.

I'm not spreading the units out across my AI ally zones, but focusing on my own area of responsibility.

You're right; I struggle with keeping groups of units organized. I'll work on that.

I'm saving this post as a PDF to have it as a reference. Greatly appreciate your time and patience in sharing your expertise!

 

[Hidden Gunman]

No problem, hope it helps. A lot of guides and such tell you 'how' to play, but not how to actually do things I've found, but that's no criticism of the people that put them together...the problem is that there is a big step from knowing what to do, and not knowing, and a lot of people overlook the very basics, but that is what the game is built around.

 

[UKCarbine]

@HerrBaron, I think the command you are after is 'F' as is the fast move command where they will stick to the road. I also find bringing reinforcements into a staging area as opposed directly onto the frontline. This way you ensure if an area is overrun and you are distracted the reinforcements don't roll into a hail of fire. Here is a list of the commands somebody kindly posted up.

https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/foru...key-and-command-info-for-new-players.1013974/

Might I suggest you play a 1v1 or a 2v2 as opposed to 4v4. We have noticed more recently the ai is almost doubling up in some lanes due to the route they travel down.This might be due to the map we have chose though and their lanes bleed over slightly. Think it was the map Colleville 4v4. On more than one occasion the left lane has been hit by two AI players.

With regards to your initial question about Auto reinforcements, I think part of the player skill is down to factoring in your reinforcements/supplies and how long they will take. I find this game much slower paced than previous wargame titles so you do have a bit more time to think. Anyway that is my two bits worth.

 

[HerrBaron]

@HerrBaron, I think the command you are after is 'F' as is the fast move command where they will stick to the road. I also find bringing reinforcements into a staging area as opposed directly onto the frontline. This way you ensure if an area is overrun and you are distracted the reinforcements don't roll into a hail of fire. Here is a list of the commands somebody kindly posted up.

https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/foru...key-and-command-info-for-new-players.1013974/

Might I suggest you play a 1v1 or a 2v2 as opposed to 4v4. We have noticed more recently the ai is almost doubling up in some lanes due to the route they travel down.This might be due to the map we have chose though and their lanes bleed over slightly. Think it was the map Colleville 4v4. On more than one occasion the left lane has been hit by two AI players.

With regards to your initial question about Auto reinforcements, I think part of the player skill is down to factoring in your reinforcements/supplies and how long they will take. I find this game much slower paced than previous wargame titles so you do have a bit more time to think. Anyway that is my two bits worth.

HI UKCarbine, many thanks for this. I do know about the 'F' command, but hadn't considered bringing reinforcements into a reinforcement area as opposed to the front line; I'll give this a try.

I guess the reason I've been trying to play 4v4 is that I read a post somewhere that limiting my area of responsibility when learning to only a quarter of the front would reduce the workload to something manageable while I'm trying to learn the game. I played a fair amount of MoW: AS2, another one where I struggled to keep up.

Greatly appreciate the reply!

 

[Gilmund]

Hey Gunman!

This is stuff that's been missing from every guide or tutorial video I've seen. Thank you for it.

I am selecting the units in the reinforcement menu, and clicking on the map where I want them to go, not where I want them to enter. It is specifically the necessity of moving the camera from where I'm focused back to the units that just entered to issue them a fast move or whatever that my OP was about.

I'm not spreading the units out across my AI ally zones, but focusing on my own area of responsibility.

You're right; I struggle with keeping groups of units organized. I'll work on that.

I'm saving this post as a PDF to have it as a reference. Greatly appreciate your time and patience in sharing your expertise!

Do not put them where you want them to go, you've to do it yourself. Get them on roads and disembark them on roads, many times you've to do it behind your frontline to prevent being ambushed. BUT if you say to them to go in the middle of a treeline between two roads, they'll disembark in the middle of nowhere and you'll loose time or they'll slowly ride in the middle of grass.
A lot of the work is to understand how the road system is build and from which road your units will come depending on the area of the map you place them. You should know all the "starting points" from the maps. It comes with experience.

There are issues with the automatic road system though, in a map like 4vs4 pegasus bridge, you've a right corner where you've to direct all your new units with SHIFT and move orders or they'll automatically go open ground cause they think they take the fast way. But it is rare.

 

[roirraw]

Fast moving truck infantry into the enemy line can be helpful too. Just make sure the trucks are slightly spaced out so any sort of incoming fire won't dismount or destroy all the trucks. Playing this way with some vehicles supporting can help you seize ground, just barrage the areas ahead of your attack zone with artillery/planes to force falling back of any units that could check your advance.

Roads control most attacks, since fast moving is the best way to close the distance to a target or run away with minimal losses.

 

[HerrBaron]

Do not put them where you want them to go, you've to do it yourself. Get them on roads and disembark them on roads, many times you've to do it behind your frontline to prevent being ambushed. BUT if you say to them to go in the middle of a treeline between two roads, they'll disembark in the middle of nowhere and you'll loose time or they'll slowly ride in the middle of grass.
A lot of the work is to understand how the road system is build and from which road your units will come depending on the area of the map you place them. You should know all the "starting points" from the maps. It comes with experience.

There are issues with the automatic road system though, in a map like 4vs4 pegasus bridge, you've a right corner where you've to direct all your new units with SHIFT and move orders or they'll automatically go open ground cause they think they take the fast way. But it is rare.

Yes; I've found this to be the case; so basically, you're saying bring them up and disembark them on the road, and from there, direct the disembarked infantry to where you want them off-road?