Suppression

[Warmonger]

In the real world a unit's suppression is largely determined by the volume and accuracy of enemy fire. Experience also plays a role in that experienced troops have a better idea of what to be afraid. However in the game it appears to be a random occurrence. A couple of examples:

1. A unit with no current suppression moved a hex, took one shot and fell back. When examined it had a suppression of 99!

2. A different unit with current suppression of 1 moved 3 hexes then got fired at by six units for a total of 14 shots. When examined the unit still had a suppression of 1.

The experience level of both units was between 70 and 75.

The other problematic thing about suppression is that it serves a dual purpose. Not only does it determine the unit's current operational capability but it serves a morale function in that it determines whether the unit retreats or routs.

[DRG]

There are quite a number of variables built into the code to ensure that if A then B happens you NO NOT always get C. Since no save game was provided there is no way to tell why what has happened occurred the way it did or what the exact circumstances were but it does not surprise me that a unit could be caught flat footed and immediately shut down with a suppression of 99 or that another unit could be prepared for fire and only endure a bit of suppression. I can tell you a unit could get 99 points of suppression after one shot but it's very very rare and in the active game I am playing now in the midst of a heavy battle none of my troops are at 99

Also, these are two hand picked examples. Do we assume then that your game involved more than just these two specific incidents or are you hand picking extreme examples to make some kind of point ?

Would you prefer a game where one shot = 1 point of suppression every time and 14 shots = 14 points of suppression ?

A few questions........

After the rally phase what was the suppression of the unit that had 99 the turn before ?

What was the leaders infantry command rating for the unit that went right to 99 and the one that went up only 1 after 14 shots ?

What was the circumstances of the 99 ? Did the shots come from point blank range or no ? Was it a HMG bust or rifle fire ? There's more that needs to be known that just "took one shot and fell back"

A unit gets "fired at by six units for a total of 14 shots"... how many hit ? What range were they fired from ? It seems obvious to me that this unit did not endure very accurate fire which is why it had little effect.

Lot's of questions better answered with a save game.

And YES, as in "the real world" a unit's suppression in the game is also "largely determined by the volume and accuracy of enemy fire" and experience IS factored into the equation so that experienced troops fair better than inexperienced ones but experienced troops can still sometimes break easily.. in real life and in the game


Don

[Cross]

Originally Posted by Warmonger

1. A unit with no current suppression moved a hex, took one shot and fell back. When examined it had a suppression of 99!

If this wasn't a close range firefight it sounds like the unit took a casualty?

It's not that unusual for a squad to get 99 suppression and fall back after suffering a casualty.

It's probably a good way to model some of the chaos caused when a man in a squad gets wounded, dismembered or killed in front of his buddies/mates/comrades, and there may be the additional complication of life saving treatment and evacuation...

A good leader can soon get them back in the battle again.


Cross

[Mobhack]

Simples. 99 is the rout status, so they failed a rally test and pulled back in rout mode instead of merely retreat or less.

As Don says - suppression is not a simple mechanistic thing. This is not military chess. Units A and B will react differently to the same fire based on experience, actual dice throws, any saving throws from their leader etc, etc.

And unlike the original SSI code, we only add suppression if the fire from a missed shot is a near miss and a reaction test is failed. AFV which get hit by multiple "shell splinters" results (hits from small things that are only worth 1-2 or so S points) will tend not to go above buttoned status - unlike the original SSI game.

Bottom line - suppression is complex, and determined by random factors in morale tests.

Andy

[Imp]

You also have to take in mind other factors that effect suppression such as the loss of a nearby buddy who is in LOS especially if its armour. You cant predict whats going to happen occasionaly you get an odd result like everything else in the game but you can guess how he is likely to react.
With suppresion you do this all the time prep firing enough stuff to in your judgement to suppress the enemy before making a move for example & then having to deal with the guy that didnt conform & is still dangerous.If there wasnt an ellement of randomness you could predict the effects way to easily.
In my opinion the game works very well till units get to the experience 100 mark when they shrug off suppression with ease & become predictable supermen.
You learn the does n donts pretty quick, fighting in a freindly armour graveyard for instance is a really bad idea while having a platoon of elite troops accompany regulars or worse is a good idea.
The first examle is obvious its not a good place to be, the second the game models quite well. The elite units are more likely to keep performing under fire & produce kills, if they pull off something pretty good the regulars can get a big boost as in suppression lift bringing them back into the action.

[DRG]

Originally Posted by Mobhack

Simples. 99 is the rout status, so they failed a rally test and pulled back in rout mode instead of merely retreat or less.

99 is the MAX_SUPPRESS so the unit is bugging out big time.

It's been awhile since I had a unit that did that where the 99 stuck. If you walk into an ambush in a town and are thrown back in might be half that but certainly it is possible to push a unit to that point on one shot but it's unusual.

Don

[gila]

Originally Posted by Warmonger

1. A unit with no current suppression moved a hex, took one shot and fell back. When examined it had a suppression of 99!

2. A different unit with current suppression of 1 moved 3 hexes then got fired at by six units for a total of 14 shots. When examined the unit still had a suppression of 1.

The experience level of both units was between 70 and 75.

He gives 2 examples,i suspect the first was wandering around aimlessly and "out of contact" of leaders.

The second appears to been "in contact" and did much better.

I could see conscipts or any low morale unit go into max supp. with one shot (although very rarely) as in the first case

[Griefbringer]

There are also some attacks that cause more suppression than usual - flame weapons tend to be particularly nasty on this aspect. That said, they also tended to have rather scary morale effect in the real WWII too.

[Warmonger]

Originally Posted by DRG

Also, these are two hand picked examples. Do we assume then that your game involved more than just these two specific incidents or are you hand picking extreme examples to make some kind of point ?

Would you prefer a game where one shot = 1 point of suppression every time and 14 shots = 14 points of suppression ?

A few questions........

After the rally phase what was the suppression of the unit that had 99 the turn before ?

What was the leaders infantry command rating for the unit that went right to 99 and the one that went up only 1 after 14 shots ?

What was the circumstances of the 99 ? Did the shots come from point blank range or no ? Was it a HMG bust or rifle fire ? There's more that needs to be known that just "took one shot and fell back"

A unit gets "fired at by six units for a total of 14 shots"... how many hit ? What range were they fired from ? It seems obvious to me that this unit did not endure very accurate fire which is why it had little effect.

Lot's of questions better answered with a save game.

And YES, as in "the real world" a unit's suppression in the game is also "largely determined by the volume and accuracy of enemy fire" and experience IS factored into the equation so that experienced troops fair better than inexperienced ones but experienced troops can still sometimes break easily.. in real life and in the game


Don

Thanks for your response. There are two possible approaches to handling suppression in my opinion - make the base result determined by volume and accuracy of fire adjusted by experience with a randomizer to adjust results to make them better or worse than the strictly calculated results; or make the base result random adjusted by volume and accuracy of fire and experience.

I picked the two extreme examples because they seemed to indicate that the results were basically random. To answer your questions:

"After the rally phase what was the suppression of the unit that had 99 the turn before ? " I believe it was in the 40's because the unit continued to rout.

"What was the leaders infantry command rating for the unit that went right to 99 and the one that went up only 1 after 14 shots ?" Don't know, didn't look.

"What was the circumstances of the 99 ? Did the shots come from point blank range or no ? Was it a HMG bust or rifle fire ? There's more that needs to be known that just 'took one shot and fell back'" The shot was rifle fire from either 3 or 4 hexes and caused a hit.

"A unit gets 'fired at by six units for a total of 14 shots'... how many hit ? What range were they fired from ? It seems obvious to me that this unit did not endure very accurate fire which is why it had little effect." No hits. Fire was rifle and LMG from ranges between 3 and 8 hexes.

"Lot's of questions better answered with a save game." I encountered these things when I was first learning the game and didn't know about the Forum or support. Now that I do, I will be sure to do a save whenever anything real odd happens.

[Warmonger]

Originally Posted by Mobhack

Bottom line - suppression is complex, and determined by random factors in morale tests.

Andy

Does this mean it's determined strictly by random factors? So if 1000 rounds are fired at a unit in a hex the results might be the same as if 10 rounds were fired?