Question: View

[Warmonger]

Is there any way of finding what the view from an unoccupied hex is? Like the Unit View but without a unit.

[gila]

How could you have a view when none of your units is there

[DRG]

No. Send in a scout and look around.

Don

[Mobhack]

As Don says.

You have a map - just like real life officers do, so learn to read it like they do.

Your map is actually perfect - all fords marked etc. Unlike real life maps (which e.g only give a hint as to precise vegetation since the paper map may well have been drawn 10+ years ago, and Farmer Giles may have planted an entire orchard in the meantime in that field you thought would give a nice flanking fire on the approach to the village and at the same time he's dug a gravel quarry on the hilltop you thought would make a nice OP..).

And if we had (which we will not) a "view from any old hex" function - would you like that for a unit with zero vision, 10, 20, 30 or 40 (thermals) sights?. vehicle or infantry?. Or a helo at very low?. Suppressed or not?. Moving at a rate of X hexes?. All of those, and a few others I have not remembered will produce different view fans from the hex.

Plus smoke and fire in surrounding hexes may vary the view as well - so your decision made 3 or 4 turns back when nobody was there yet may be nixed by the events that shaped the battlefield in the intervening approach time.

A real unit produces its actual view fan, when in the specific hex, and based on current environmental factors. Your desired function would require you to first answer 20 questions. And it would only be reliable so long as nobody shelled stuff, blew up, produced rooster trails in dusty conditions, popped smoke or whatever.

Andy

[Warmonger]

What you say is quite valid, but there is a problem in the game which isn't in real life. Because the map is 2D undulations aren't visible and they affect what can be seen from a given hex.

For example, there was a large wheat field field bordered by trees. To the eye the wheat field looked flat so a sensible move was to position units in the trees to command the field. Once the units were positioned it turned out they could only see 1 or 2 hexes into the field making the position basically useless and wasting several turns to get them into position.

The undulations can be determined by mousing over hexes and noting heights, but this is tedious and time consuming. I was hoping there was an easier way.

[gila]

@warmonger

Go test this for yourself in a real life situation

See how far you can see thru tall grass and crops.

On the same level, can you see thru very far? no probaly not.

On a higher level yes of course! same as in game.

[Imp]

As Gila said same old thing applies that we keep saying to you stop thinking of it as a game & look at what its trying to model in real life. There are very few hexes you have to mouse over to find most stand out & are obvious rather than just being shown as open ground. Fields, dunes, tall grass snow drifts etc you know are going to be a hinderance to LOS

[Griefbringer]

Originally Posted by Warmonger

What you say is quite valid, but there is a problem in the game which isn't in real life. Because the map is 2D undulations aren't visible and they affect what can be seen from a given hex.

Actually, the same problem also applies to reading maps of the terrain in the real world - they do not cover all the possible minor undulations in the ground, rather there height contours at certain intervals.

As said before, the maps in game are actually more detailed and accurate than you might actually have available in the real world situation.

If you want the full details, have some "eyes on the ground" move over there and check it for yourself. Otherwise you will need to rely on your map-reading skills.

Especially with units that are slow to position and whose fields of vision are important (eg. anti-tank guns) it is certainly worth checking any position with scouts before moving in the unit and only finding afterwards that it is in a poor position, requiring a couple of rounds to get it to a correct position.

Simple scout jeep or armoured car goes a long way for checking the positions before moving in the anti-tank guns. Actually the US TOE provides some anti-tank platoons with a command vehicle that can be used for this purpose.

[Mobhack]

See the TD platoons (41 and 44) in the USA OOB. The integral scout cars are there precisely for that sort of thing, and providing flank security once in place.

WE provide (-) versions without, for the AI and those players who don't want/need them (since the maps are that accurate that actual ground reconnaissance is not as necessary as in real life).

Route reconnaissance also a major job of recce units in real life - rather than head butting the enemy in combat to find them. Part of route reconnaissance is leaving a scout car at a junction or whatever to direct the following columns down the right road, again not a factor in most wargames since the "player-god" has a perfect map and absolute control of all units movement.

No traffic lights, MPs, or street signs are needed in the SP universe !

Andy