Command times

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    • Command times

      One problem I have noticed in playing on-line games is that the player who is on-line constantly will generally rip those of us who have to go to work. It became more evident to me today when I fired a rocket at a province my opponent was 20 minutes out from and he immediately reversed course. In todays military, maybe. In 1942 not a chance.

      One possible solution that would make the game more reflective of the time period and solve several problems including air plane tick timing, rocket avoidance, and somewhat level the playing field between the constantly on-line and the more casual gamer would be he introduction of "orders delay". This reflects the time lag from the time an order is issued to the time it is received and executed. Programming should be simple as we have "delay" available with most unit type movement commands. This delay reflects the time delay between a general issuing an order and the time it is received in the field.

      How it would work, is when a player issues a command, the unit will execute the command in x amount of time. I suggest 15 minutes, but it could be shorter or longer. The command could be cancelled prior to implementation and the unit would just contiue with the action it was preforming at that time. Construction would not be affected as there is already a long time lag between the building command and final production of the unit or improvement.
      "A good plan, violently executed now, is better than a perfect plan next week." - General George S. Patton, Jr.

      "Do, or do not. There is no try" - Yoda
    • That is an interesting idea. It would minimize some of the micromanagement, which would of course annoy the players that micromanage.

      I am not sure I could handle watching my units get smashed because the countdown timer still had 1 second to go. :00008356:
      War is a game that is played with a smile. If you can't smile, grin. If you can't grin keep out of the way til you can. - Winston Churchill



      VorlonFCW
      Retired from Bytro staff as of November 30, 2020.

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    • It would be annoying sure, but in the end would not only level the playing field but be more realistic. Plus it would add some complexity, make people more cautious knowing they can't just reverse course as soon as they see a stronger enemy army. It would give consequences those annoying people who just spam troops at you in such a stupid way so as they don't pose a legitimate threat to you but may kill a bunch of troops and take a few provinces before you can muster enough troops to push them back, destroy them and take their provinces. For example, say I was one of those people. I send an army with like 15 strength while my other troops are travelling to their attack. I see a stronger troop than me, and instead of turning around so I can live to spam another day, I have to put in a request that would go through a delay that could end up in my troops engaging and getting destroyed. That would means if I want to win, I have to wait before attacking, instead of sending my nearest force in.

      And of course, the wait times would be different for different actions. Stopping would take less time than doing a complete about-face,
    • Well, I would agree with this, but as the units progress through the levels the command time should be shorter. Like, 1950's infantry should have a lot less command time due to radios, better command structure, etc. Planes and ships in that are in the 1950s / very early 1960s (I think?) should have way shorter command times as well. I do like this idea though, I hate having to micromanage units..
      "ANU! CHEEKI BREEKI IV DAMKE!"
    • This is a very interesting idea, that will also put an end to the shoot and scoot gamey tactics.

      I would only change one thing. The time interval between an order being issued and executed should not be arbitrary. It should be directly proportionate to the size of the unit the order is being issued to. The bigger the unit stack the more time it should take for the command to be carried out. A 100 unit mega stack should not have the same response time as a smaller more flexible stack of 10 units. The logistics involved in getting big stacks moving or countermanding existing orders are very complex and should be accounted for.

      Programming wise it should be easy the mechanism already exists, it can work kind of same as the disembark countdown timer. When you issue an order you see the timer over the unit and see it count down till it runs out and the order is executed.
    • Then different nations should have different times before execution of the orders. After all the commands systems of the Germans and Americans were recognized for their efficiency and of having low level leaders that were encouraged to make battlefield decisions. While others like the British and Italians were usually recognized for their inefficiency and/or lack of battlefield initiative.
      "Strategy is the art of making use of time and space. I am less concerned about the later than the former. Space we can recover, lost time never." ~ Napoleon Bonaparte

      "Anyone who has to fight, even with the most modern weapons, against an enemy in complete command of the air, fights like a savage against modern European troops, under the same handicaps and with the same chances of success." ~ Erwin Rommel
    • The different nations thing is too complicated for CoW to be honest, but I will say, this sounds a lot like a function in Conflict of Nations (I know I bring it up too much) where if you have a 100 mega unit stack that stack will suffer in combat, movement, effectiveness, etc. Medium sized stacks will loose stats, and small, flexible stacks will be at the top, being able to defeat the bigger stacks. Again, as for the other nations having different command times, no, that would make certain nations over powered (eh) and it would be wayyy too complicated for CoW to implement.
      "ANU! CHEEKI BREEKI IV DAMKE!"