Wishlist: Next battle location info in rebuild screen

[Brian61]

When modeling a historical force in the long campaign you sometimes need to make numerous unit changes in rebuild and then reach a specific sub-theatre in the next battle. An example; with a core force drawn from the 3rd Panzer Division, after Poland numerous unit changes are required along with getting low-countries vs France as the next battle. Currently it is possible but can be very tedious, requiring a dozen or more reloads with having to do all the unit changes each time in hopes you get the right sub-theatre next.

If, in the rebuild screen, the next battle location/match-up was displayed you would know if you were on the right track before making all the unit changes or if you needed to reload and try again.

Thanks,
Brian

[iCaMpWiThAWP]

Originally Posted by Brian61

When modeling a historical force in the long campaign you sometimes need to make numerous unit changes in rebuild and then reach a specific sub-theatre in the next battle. An example; with a core force drawn from the 3rd Panzer Division, after Poland numerous unit changes are required along with getting low-countries vs France as the next battle. Currently it is possible but can be very tedious, requiring a dozen or more reloads with having to do all the unit changes each time in hopes you get the right sub-theatre next.

If, in the rebuild screen, the next battle location/match-up was displayed you would know if you were on the right track before making all the unit changes or if you needed to reload and try again.

Thanks,
Brian

CHEATER ALERT he reloads!
Just kidding, that's a good point, but i find it to be one of the aspects of war, even when you do, you don't quite know what's going on, sure it's funny as hell when you get a forest map to play with your panzer company, it's one of the things i love in this game, the surprises

[gila]

It's been awhile since played a campaign vs the AI,but i recall after France you get to choose which branch of going to Africa or the Balkans,then it branchs to the russian front,if playing as Germany.
Of course Batlocs can be edited in battles,ie if you want less forest,more roads,less mud ect., you can make it that way,unless you want the first one given

[Brian61]

Yes surprises are great and battle locations are easy to change, neither subject is involved in this issue.

Maybe its just a complete misunderstanding over my use of the term 'historical campaign'. When I play a 'historical campaign' I first research the history of the unit in question, like read books and do web searches. I then pick a core force drawn from the unit based on its actual historical TOE/OOB as best as can be determined. I then play battles against the opponents in the places that the actual real unit in history saw action. Call it a form of handicapping if the desire to study history in this manner can't be understood.

So, if 3rd Panzer Division fought in the Battle of Hannut then I desire to play a battle versus France in the low countries type geography *not* a river crossing at Sedan or a battle versus Belgium or Great Britain. That is, I want to follow the path the real unit followed in history to perhaps get a better feel for what its commanders and troops faced as well as the strengths and failings of its equipment in the historical battle.

While it would be nice to know the battle type as well as the opponent prior to making rebuild changes that might be thrown away, even just knowing the batloc and opponent would help reduce the tediousness of the present workaround. The batloc is important in some cases because of river crossings. You can't change a river crossing into anything else as far as I'm aware, nor can you change the opponent.

This issue occurs with all countries in all theatres in the long campaign were there are multiple possible opponents (and/or sub-theatres), as far as I am aware, not just Germany in the Poland -> Europe -> Balkans -> Eastern Europe -> Western Europe chain.

Finally, yes I am aware that this is a game and not a simulator and I'm pushing its limits by using it in this regards. It is, however, a testament to the designers and maintainers/modders, that it models historical reality well enough, within limits, that real world tactics in many cases actually work in the game and a certain feeling for the real historical battles can be obtained by playing the battles in the game. It is also a quite fun and entertaining way of handicapping yourself to make the game still challenging after over a decade of play.

Thanks,
Brian

[Roman]

If you like historical rigor make generated campaigns. There you can simulate a theater of operations, with a time limit.
I never did but maybe you can have more points and then make the necessary updates. Bone did not use all the points at the beginning. Even if you do well in the first battles, you get the points.
Thinking out loud .... It is very difficult to implement an option similar to the one in the scenario editor to change the characteristics of the units? I think that option was the key "d ".

[iCaMpWiThAWP]

This actually gives me an idea:
What if the player could pick either south or north in western/eastern europe section of the campaign map selection? this could solve your problem, i think.

[gila]

@ Brian61

So you want an exact historical path for a campaign that would be used as far as terrian?
There's more than just the german campaign and many sub campaigns.
What about all the theaters and nations?
It would be an overall change.
Extremely difficult to say the least,and i'm guessing not possible.

[Brian61]

Originally Posted by gila

It would be an overall change.
Extremely difficult to say the least,and i'm guessing not possible.

Umm, I'm doing it now with the present version, just have to do alot of reloads.

The suggestion I'm making is to display next battle info in the rebuild screen. Preferably the mission type included, but even just the battle location and opponent identity would be an improvement eliminating alot of wasted core rebuilds/changes.

As it would only display information already (presumably) available at that point, it would seem to be a minor modification with no possiblity of side effects.

Now, the preferred solution would be the ability to override the long campaign script's selection of mission type and opponent in the rebuild screen but that would entail, I believe, much more work and potentially have side effects (read might need more debugging). As the SP CAMO team are volunteers, I hesitate to suggest a more complex solution and corresponding time investment when the interested group is probably small and a simpler solution would meet most of the need.

Thanks,
Brian