Quick Questions

[JohnS]

Returning to Steel Panthers after a long layoff - played a LOT in the early days (1996 -1997?), glad to discover and purchase this version. Just a couple quick questions for the veterans.
1) Is there a better way (example - a mod) to help differentiate and identify changes in terrain. Right now I push the cursor hex to hex but to my (admittedly old) eyes, the rises and drops in terrain are not readily spotted.
2) If you move and fire does that reduce the number of shots that you have available as opportunity fire? If you stay in place and fire does your number of shots in oppty fire get reduced?
3) If an enemy unit is routed, can I count on it staying that way. This is primarily a victory hex question - if my units grab the victory hex and move on is there a risk that the routed enemy unit that I left behind will rally and retake it?
4) When units fire, is there any way to slow down the casualty report at the top and bottom - it scrolls awfully fast to keep up.

Any help, much appreciated. Glad to rediscover this excellent game.

[scorpio_rocks]

Welcome back! (A couple of answers assume you have the purchased version - as you intimate in your post):

1) The red bar at the top of the screen shows hex (and terrain) height and type.
From the manual:


2) Yes, Yes. (Personally I only ever fire 1/2 available shots from the halt if I want to assume some OpFire)

3) Just like your units AI (and other player) units can, sometimes (very occasionally), manage to rally from rout.

4) Yes. From the Misc Tab of the Game Options screen (before hitting "Play") adjust graphics delay and/or scroll speed.

[Mobhack]

For 1) - if you have unit path displayed then most of the map will be greyed outside of the hexes a unit can motor to.
So its better to play with move radius off - it is really only for learners IMHO, like stabilisers on a kids bike. You will soon get to know what things can goto, once you have played a bit.
Preferences screen-> Move Radius.

In addition, some players think the map shows more clearly without the hex grid overlay being displayed. Press the Full Stop key (.) to toggle the display of the hexes in game or Preferences->Hex Grid.

2) Of course. The only guaranteed opfire shots you give to a unit are those shots left to the unit when you hit end turn. Unlike the original game, units may (depending on experience, suppression etc.) self-generate opfire shots even if they have zero on the clock - thus reducing the old trick of teasing out the tiger's opfires with Jeeps and so on - those so generated are not guaranteed.
Leave a unit with remaining shots should you think it will need them.

3) They can and will occasionally rally and turn on nearby units. However unlike the original game, routers within 1 hex may also surrender to enemy units. So sometimes charging a scout car into the middle of a mass of routed grunts sweeps up loads of POWs, other times someone gets irritated by the nearby unit.

4) Misc tab, also Preferences->Message Delay.

[JohnS]

Thanks for the responses. Re Question #1 - I recognize that the red bar indicates the hex info as you move the mouse cursor from hex to hex and you can gather info that way. My concern was really LOS in the sense of visual awareness of where your unit is going, for example, when it will be moving onto the crest of a hill or when a particular hex is likely to be vulnerable to receiving fire.

I assume there is no provision or mod by which you can turn on and off elevation numbers or colors or something like that.

I remember back in '97 having some frustrations with a Campaign in Steel Panthers II Modern Battles because the scenario designer had clearly found a tiny Line of Sight avenue by which the opposing force could take out my tanks under circumstances in which it was nearly impossible to determine how or where there could possibly be a LOS to the hex.

I'll try it with the hexes off and see if that helps. Thanks.

[Mobhack]

There is the Unit View button, which highlights all hexes a unit can see from its current hex. (may only be for full game?)

But there is no way to select a random hex X,Y and do the equivalent. You therefore have to rely on your own map reading skills and intuition to figure out if moving to hex X,Y is going to have the required field of view. Just like any officer has to with his map-reading skills.

The mini-map uses different colours for height levels, and so can give a general overview of terrain, but at 1 pixel per hex resolution.