Stack Movement?

[Dion]

Is there anyway to move units in stacks? I can only move units one at a time. Makes the game a choir to play, as it takes a few hours to play one turn and a few weeks to play each game, not to mention aching wrists. I know the game has a move all button, but that moves all the units in a general direction, regardless if you want each unit to move or not, breaking up the stacks in the process.

[Mobhack]

There is no stack movement, and it would need a complete rewrite of the code from the ground up to implement.

All opfire is based on individual movement - which unit of the stack should an opfiring enemy unit fire at?. Would be one such question for example. Or all of them? And if so, how to implement that mechanism.

What movement penalty applies to a stack of say foot and including a tank? Would slower units fall out of the stack?

Basically, you are asking for a total rewrite of a game that did not even originally allow you to stack units (other than when a vehicle dropped its passengers).

[DRG]

It may seem simple but moving more than one at a time bumps into a host of basic game bedrock coding........ The game was designed from the beginning to deal with "one unit at a time".... that's why only one aircraft can enter, make an attack run and has to leave the map before the next one can make it's run-in.

Move a stack of units and it's opfired on would require a significant code adjustment with an unknown number of knock - off "gotchas".

After tweaking other peoples code for almost a quarter century the desire to re-invent the wheel is not as strong as it once was

[Mobhack]

Yep - our code triggers opfire for every unit that unloads from a vehicle.

The original SP code only opfired at one of the units if several debussed, cannot recollect if it was the first one out or the last one.

[jp10]

I find that if you really want the feel of a battalion or brigade leader you should move all your sub-units by 'Move All' commands. This rewards staying within command radius and forces shorter movement clicks to keep units together. Infantry no longer seems to be running at full speed everywhere. Units get 'lost' and slow down the whole formation. You need to lengthen any scenario by about 10 turns but it is a much more realistic 'battalion commander' feel IMO. For a better brigade commander feel try setting sub-units to AI control with movement objectives. It gives more of a "Here's my plan" "What the heck happened?" approach to your command level.

[Imp]

It breaks up the stacks because there is a move penalty to enter a hex containing a unit so open ground with infantry for example they all string out in a few turns.
Not to mention its not great if they get fired on generally avoiding stacked units is a good idea.

[KAreil]

Originally Posted by jp10

I find that if you really want the feel of a battalion or brigade leader you should move all your sub-units by 'Move All' commands. This rewards staying within command radius and forces shorter movement clicks to keep units together. Infantry no longer seems to be running at full speed everywhere. Units get 'lost' and slow down the whole formation. You need to lengthen any scenario by about 10 turns but it is a much more realistic 'battalion commander' feel IMO. For a better brigade commander feel try setting sub-units to AI control with movement objectives. It gives more of a "Here's my plan" "What the heck happened?" approach to your command level.

Can you elaborate what exactly you mean with "Move all" commands?

I'm aware that I can assign waypoints to sub units in the HQ screen and that they execute these orders if I activate AI for them. However I don't know of any other command to order more than one unit.

[DRG]

From the Game Guide just above Artillery Bombardment Screens, including Air Unit Handling

A

Selects the 'All Formation' mode. This is very useful if you wish to set the targeting range of an entire formation with the 'Y' key OR if you wish to move an entire formation to a specific point but it is VERY important to remember that you cannot undo a group move so Remember to toggle this off after the 'Y' operation, or the next time you try to move a unit, the entire formation will move simultaneously under AI control and you will be stuck with that move

They don't actually move "simultaneously" but once you select that and click on the hex you want to move to they will all move towards that hex in sequence and there is no stopping or changing (undo) after they have moved there so you need to know where your units are and be careful with it.

It can be really handy for moving units down a road that is not in the enemy's LOS and it can be handy if find you have units from a formation spread too far away from each other and you can use "A" to select a point they can move towards to get the unit back together.

Build a simple test scenario first and observe how it works and experiment If you are far behind the lines you can get away with picking a distant hex to get them moving in that direction but if you do use it nearer the front only click on one hex in front of the lead unit. It can be a bit unpredicable and that is why short moves are best generally

[KAreil]

Thanks!
Tried it and seems a bit quirky...but it is at least useful for setting targetting range,... wasn't aware of the 'A' key at all...my bad.

For a more delegated experience I think will stick with giving waypoints and let the AI do the walking.

[DRG]

It's "quirky" until you understand how it works.

The last unit in the formation is always what moves first and the X0 is always what moves last so if you click on the X0 first with "A" set and order the entire formation to move to a point the last unit in the formation roster will move first and the X0 will be the last unit that moves and therefore the entire sequence will seem "quirky" if you just pick one at random unless you happen to pick the last unit in the formation

It's set up that way so the command unit isn't the first one charging in