unit movement: path to destination sometimes problematic

[smashtheaxis]

Here is a problem I regularly have while playing PC:

I want to move a unit to a certain hex or area. Theoretically, different paths to reach the destination would be possible, some save, some dangerous. A lot of time, the user interface will select a dangerous path. Is there any way to influence the path that the user interface selects for me? It would be nice if alternative paths could be selected somehow.

One example: I'm playing the Dash over the Wire scenario. I have a Bf110 on the airfield west of Tobruk. I want to move it to the airfield south east of Tobruk. The path the UI chooses goes first to the East, i.e. over Tobruk (and over the enemy air base with fighters), and only after crossing Tobruk, the path goes to the south. A much saver and better path would be to go south first and then east, avoiding the enemy air base.

Maybe it should be possible to set way points to avoid certain areas if necessary? For example, holding a key and clicking somewhere to set a way point. If the key is released, the user clicks on the destination hex and the unit goes there following the way point(s).

[Rood]

Currently what you ask is not possible, would be nice to have though. Sometimes the path runs next to a town and you could reasonably expect there could be a enemy unit there thus stopping your advance (and there's a different path available).

[robman]

Yes, this is a shortcoming of the current game engine, and I join you in wishing that it could be fixed. Although I am not a programmer, it seems to me that the programming behind "recon movement" could be adapted for this purpose. Here's one way this might work: When moving a non-recon unit, one click on a destination hex (final or intermediate) takes it there, but with no spotting; a second click on the hex is required to actually move the unit to the hex and enable spotting. Intermediate "stops" (and thus a route) could then be chosen by a series of single clicks. Unlike recon movement, intermediate "stops" would not in and of themselves cause an additional lose of movement points, nor would hidden or obstructing units be revealed until selection of the final destination hex.

[Molve]

Any update on this?

How do I move a plane across Tobruk without "getting caught" by the unseen enemy fighter?

I can't afford to place a recon unit just for this purpose (to spot the plane so the pathing algorithm avoids the obstacle)...

I would like to be able to set a "waypoint" for my units' movement; alternatively hold down CTRL (or something) to toggle between "direct pathing" (the way things work today) and "safe pathing" (where in the latter case, the pathing treats unseen spaces the same way it already treats enemy hexes)