retreating helis
 

I don't remember if this has been mentioned before. I noticed that some times retreating helicopters will not actualy retreat but instead stay put, and if they are player controled, unable to move them manualy, and they also don't leave the map as usual on their own. Just stand still. This in both single and multiplayer campaigns.

Re: retreating helis
 

This usually happens when a helo is damaged. Sometimes it hasn't taken enough damage to retreat off the map (usually just 1 point) and eventually it'll return to player control.

Re: retreating helis
 

I don't know about the damage part, but I have never seen a heli like this return to player control, even after 20+ turns.

Re: retreating helis
 

A damaged heli usually heads back to base rather quickly. Even with only slight damage.

Re: retreating helis
 

I've seen this a lot because I always use helicopters. Normally the heli stays in the same hex for the rest of the game. On rare occasions it does come back to player control, but usually only for a turn. No idea why or how, but it is worth checking it every turn because if you get control back for one turn the heli can be moved to a safer place or taken off the map. This is a good idea if it is a core unit. Sometimes a stuck heli will be discovered and shot down.

cheers,

Tim

Re: retreating helis
 

What Tim said.

Re: retreating helis
 

Did you check it's suppression ?

Next time you get one like this save the game and post it here.

Don

Re: retreating helis
 

ok, the two latest turns of my current single player campaign. It looks like the same problem.

The units in question are O1 and O2, both Apache gunships. Supression 1, says retreating, but they don't move on their own or accept manual orders.

This is the first battle for this campaign, as Greece starting in January 1996, against USA. The other two opponents in the campaign are Russia and Turkey.

This is the first time in recent memory I face USA forces and I have to say, those M1A1-2 MBTs are a HUUUUUGE pain in the *** to destroy. I am still doing well in this battle, but, damn!

Oh, you might notice I have some allies, cyprus a couple of tanks and recon squads. I was curious what they had available while purchasing support units and then I couldn't find a way to go back to choose my own units, so I bought some.

Re: retreating helis
 

I've also encountered the problem of frozen damaged helicopters. It only happens on very large maps when the helicopter has a long way to retreat to reach its own side.

It happened to me a lot in the LZ X-ray campaign. The line between normal retreating helos and frozen helos goes on the east edge of the LZ battlefield.

Re: retreating helis
 

Yes - the bug is the original SSI path finding routine which uses magic numbers for whether or not the path finding has gone on too long or not. That constant was OK for SSI sized 100 by 80 maps, but not for our new bigger map sizes.

Changing that constant to MAXINT means the retreating helos now can find a path to the baseline, and follow same.

Cheers
Andy