Reinforcement Hex

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uran21
Panzer Corps Map Designer
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Reinforcement Hex

Post by uran21 »

Settlement with a flag is reinforcement hex. Purchased units could be placed in it or adjacent to it during battle if no permanent deployment zone is envisioned by design.

In good old Panzer General for DOS one could make purchase and deployment there as soon as hex was captured. This was changed when PG was ported to Windows platform. A 3 turn delay before deployment could be done was added. OOB enhanced this even more by adding graphical marker during delay period, the rising flag over the settlement.

But Panzer General also had another rule regarding reinforcements. If enemy unit was adjacent to settlement deployment of reinforcements was prohibitive. This rule was very important during campaign play because AI used generic, not scripted, behaviour and relied on purchases. This days enemy units are preplaced and scripted so this rule would have no significant impact on campaign play. But it would have significant impact on Multiplayer if implemented.

Point is the following, in MP player strives to capture reinforcement hexes as soon as possible. When front line is established game usually evolves into battle of attrition (assuming there are two skilled and experienced opponents).

Defender has the advantage because it can replace loses at higher rate while the attacker needs to travel to front from nearest reinforcement hex. In order to disloge defender attacker has to have several strong units adjacent to settlement which implies that defenses in front of it were already overcome. Since such investment takes time and considerable number of troops it is not uncomon for MP games to be overly static in nature until attrition kicks in.

If old rule of prohibitive deployment in case of adjacent enemy unit is used this would make conquest more easier and possibly front line more dynamic with game experience being more enjoyable and dramatic.
Shards
Slitherine
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Re: Reinforcement Hex

Post by Shards »

You already know that I'm fully in favour of something like this :) Teleporting defensive units drive me bonkers!

If it was to be implemented though, I'd suggest that it should be a "Tournament Rules" option in MP that the game creator can opt into when setting the game up. I'd also wrap into this a limit on disbanding/deploying by having any disbanded CP only made available to the player on their next turn (yes, playing against Uran21 has been an education in the dark arts ;-) )
Erik2
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Re: Reinforcement Hex

Post by Erik2 »

I used to place flags in all named locations just to display the location names.
But the deployment on te frontline next to enemy units drive me mad as well.
So I have removed non-essensial flags in my scenarios. I still name locations though, so I'd like a game option to display these on map.
But most importantly, prohibit players from deploying units next to enemy units.
13obo
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Re: Reinforcement Hex

Post by 13obo »

+1 that is spoils MP a lot, especially on maps like Peninsula Invasion, where the Japanese have to assault jungle hexes.
Shards
Slitherine
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Re: Reinforcement Hex

Post by Shards »

Reminded why I dislike this so much!
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