"Nationalized" OOB's

[blitzkreig]

hello!

I voted number one

Just would'nt be the same advancing over the stepe with my German armoured infantry platoon and tanks.

Pz Gren Zug any day!

Having said that I would add the clasue that I have been put of playing the Italians as I didn't know what I was buying. I'd ask for loads more info in the info tab but realise that we be way to much work, so I stick with my vote, leave it be!

[Imp]

Excuse me for being thick but I do not see how adding stuff to the info button saves clicking through the fprmations you cannot browse to see what you have.

Ex
Click formation click info button thats 2 clicks for each formation.

Click formation click on a unit in it read the unit class in yellow top left, thats 2 clicks to told you its Infantry Paras Armored car or whatever if need be can check morale exp mods across top again in yellow to see if elite or 2nd line

Uses for the info button are usefull info hence possibly the name.
Formation used as such i.e normally allocated 1 per 3 rifle companys between 1/42 to whatever.
Spec forces not normally found fighting alongside regular army.
Rebel forces etc or something unusual.
Listing super rare stuff would be nice like those truck 88s that I have never used
Background info on use or tactics if the OOB designer is so kind as to include. Now this adds flavour to the game you can fight with them with those details fresh in your mind.

Formation name makes no diffrence once the game starts at no point does it say you are moving your Zug across whatever you are moving a group of MkIIIs or whatever which you could call Hanz Dead beats Zug3 CoB or whatever thats in your head like the premise for the battle & forces at your disposal unless you rename them all to something historical like proper call signs. That I can see adding flavour to people that understand them.

If flavour is wanted to be added how about this as a thought
Add a blank entry at the start of the encyclopedia that gives general info on that nation, as per Croatia off the top of my head in MBT

If people were willing to do the research I am sure adding this would not be to hard
Example.
Give some time period specific info on formations & most common units & perhaps which tend to work with which.
So you could say from 1/42-12/43 Panzer Divisions consisted of X number of Companys. Tank, Pz grenadier & had AA & Arty assets integral to the formation.
Armed with this info you could pick your forces with the correct ratio of equipment assuming it is at full strength. Its therefore easy enough to buy any force roughly correctly by keeping the ratios the same. Play with a quarter of it just divide by 4 & now you are ready to go.
To me having this info readily to hand & fighting with an about right force is much more involving than calling a formation whatever simply because it has no bearing on the game whatsoever after you leave the purchase screen. I am strugling to remember what my scouts & AT teams are called the formation name is long gone unless I play them on a regular basis but correct unit names do impart atmosphere & as you are dealing with them each turn so soon pick it up

This also can be used by MBT & modern conflicts notes could be added to
For instance rather than looking up details if a nation has been in a conflict it could be listed in the encyclopedia. Want to play Israel look for conflicts before set it up & there are your dates & protaganists. Vietnam list sides & dates etc, if someone had time on their hands could even include a little synopsis of events.

Sorry got a bit long & this would add to the work load as Don & Andy would have to vet everything. Perhaps adding to Encyclopedia with a button so CD only might persuade a few more people to buy it

As a thought & "easy" fix could use above idea to give translations
Co Platoon Section The type Tank Armored Car etc.
Not ideal for those that want english formations but using this what ever naming format is decided on the translation could be given. So if in English those wanting real names could look them up as deploy or start game. Thats something you cant do now but a translation text in the encyclopedia would let you access it at any time for those that it seems to improve the game. Also helpful for anyone who is more fluent in that language possibly

[Lt. Ketch]

I voted 2nd. When I found winSPWW2 I was really confussed by the oobs. I had grown up with SP1 with a comparitiavly small number of formations and units, all in english. It took me a while to get used to the names. I do like the realism the nationalized OOBs give and I don't mind checking out all of the different formations and units I don't know. I use the information button a lot. I may not know how to pronounce the unit's name, but I know this weapon can clean my opponent's clock. My own interest aside, I think that by at least listing the formations in a consistant and standard language it would shorten the learning curve for new players, whether they are fimilar with the SP series or not.

Originally Posted by Cross

Would it be possible to sort the OOB into:

Companies
Platoons
Sections

Perhaps by separating them with headings. 'Companies' at the top, then scroll a page or two and see 'Platoons'; so people will instantly know what formation they are looking at.

I'm with Cross on this. I think that it would make think a lot easier overall, for everyone, to have the companies, platoons, and sections grouped together. It would shorten search time for formations. It takes me forever to find the right German Mech infantry formations for battles because they all look the same with the expection of 2 to 3 letters. It would also help the learning curve for new players because the OOB would have additional structure beyond just Armour, Infantry, Artillary, and Misc.

Now, with all that said, if my vote swings the change to formations only, I'll take it. If everything stays the same, I won't complain.

[Imp]

Originally Posted by Cross
Would it be possible to sort the OOB into:

Companies
Platoons
Sections

Perhaps by separating them with headings. 'Companies' at the top, then scroll a page or two and see 'Platoons'; so people will instantly know what formation they are looking at.

2 Schools of thought but OOBs are generally sorted in same structure so infantry starts with Paras then runs through ending in sections. Armour starts with armored cars etc.
Admitedly a few things have gone walkies probably due to the amount of revisions things like taking German Heavy AC at bottom but generally things are arranged Company Platoon Section for armour & same for infantry but with sections lumped at the end as tend to be diffrent unit types.

I like the format of Co then platoon as I can buy the company then quickly sell 1 platoon & buy the same type of unit with diffrent equipment, say 1 platoon with Panzerfausts or 60m Mortars for instance.
While it would be nice if all OOBs were uniform I feel this is a huge job & not really sure how works but may need the pick list revised.
As said they generally follow a patern its just the odd formation that has migrated & hence needs hunting down.
There are so many diffrent ways to organise it you are not going to please everyone but I must admit my main reason for wanting English formations is to hunt down those that are out of place. FOO vehicles in MISC, Light SPAA in ARMOUR not ARTY or the odd Platoon that is not listed after its company.
Could probably run a search to find whats out of place if sorting is not a big headache.

[Richard_H]

There are plenty of visual clues in the Buy screens without needing to understand the language, surely? So please please keep as is - if not translate a few more. If everything were translated into English, not only would you lose the flavour but you would also hit a potential anomaly in the play screens, when you'd get for example "Infantry Squad fires on Infantry Squad", and if you've got a big battle going on, you're left wondering whether that's your support unit, or enemy return fire.

[Roman]

I prefer the native language to search for units in the web, but I think in the case of the Chinese are not going to write the character oobs in Mandarin. I think there are more difficult languages. Perhaps in the most difficult languages they can add to an abbreviation in English units on the drive type (although I speak Spanish)

[glaude1955]

Je préfère les noms dans la langue d'origine. Meilleure immersion même si c'est quelques fois dur Ã* comprendre.

I prefer the names in the original langage. Best Immersion albeit sometimes hard to understand

Yves

[Panzermeyer]

IMO, the foreign languages in the OOBs just makes it more difficult to select units without adding any enjoyment of the game. Just my 2 cents, I'm sure others feel differently.

[iCaMpWiThAWP]

Originally Posted by Panzermeyer

IMO, the foreign languages in the OOBs just makes it more difficult to select units without adding any enjoyment of the game. Just my 2 cents, I'm sure others feel differently.

I don't think so, it's easy to understand what you're buying after a look around the oob, also note that there are images to help you out

[DRG]

The only thing is...... the Czech OOB isn't one the "problem" OOB's and I have no intention of letting it be turned into one.

Don