[scorpio_rocks]

Overwatch / Opportunity fire is a comon abstract used in most IGOUGO style games.

It allows you to control how (against what targets and at what ranges) your units will engage the enemy during your opponent's turn.

I believe most people will set some kind of Op Fire restrictions on at least some units in almost every game. Examples include: when not wanting to "spring" a trap / ambush early, to avoid troops giving away their position (esp scouts, FO, HQ, etc), To avoid units firing ineffectivley and wasting ammo (an AAA asset, for instance, armed only with HE will be wasting its time shooting at tanks) or to ensure a kill shot.

There are many uses for the system, and it is considered "essential" by the PBEM community (some of whom said the game was almost "unplayable" without it, when it was bugged).

I usually have it set for at least my "speciallist" troops - scouts, FO, ATGM(in MBT), Flak, etc. in almost every game.