Slitherine

Wow, this ability is crazier than I realized. There should probably be some discussion about it.

Pictures explaining Mass Attack below. The only difference between the images, as you can see, are the number of friendly units adjacent to your target which have not yet fired themselves.

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I didnt know about this - nice feature but does need explaining.

How do you see that screen you first posted?

todwag wrote:How do you see that screen you first posted?

Hit "L" key to see combat log.

Friendly units adjacent to enemy unit are reducing enemies initiative.

To be more precise, adjacent unit reduces initiative if:
- it is in the same plane as enemy unit (ground or air)
- it can attack the enemy (so trucks etc. do not generate mass attack)
- it has an attack action left

If you have 3 units next to the enemy, the first attack will be the easiest because there two units generating mass attack (initiative -2). Second attack will see only initiative -1, because one of our units has already spent his attack action. But on the other hand, the defender has probably took some damage. So, mass attack rule attemts to distribute damage between attacking units more evenly.

In some cases effects of mass attack will be more visible than in the others. Thus, infantry types have low initiatie values, and so the effect is stronger. In case of infantry vs. tank in the open mass attack gives much less effect, because the difference in initiative between attacker and defender is too big.

In Panzer Corps, you launch mass attacks on trucks.
In Soviet Russia, trucks launch mass attacks on you!


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Omg it's the Crazy Ivan truck attack!

dsk2293 wrote:Omg it's the Crazy Ivan truck attack!

Oh hell yea I remember those things, heh.

Mass attack, for the new guys who may not know about this feature.

/bump

What I really want to know, is why values of suppression often don't seem to quite add up...

Seems to be a much different mechanic than PG3D? I have a theory it's still a bit buggy at this point...

Obsolete wrote:What I really want to know, is why values of suppression often don't seem to quite add up...

Seems to be a much different mechanic than PG3D? I have a theory it's still a bit buggy at this point...

Suppression in PzC works similarly to PG/PG2, but there are also differences.

- The most important difference is related to initiative. In PzC every point of initiative advantage gives you a certain percentage of strength that fires first. This percentage is set in gamerules.pzdat file and is now equal to 20%. So, if your initiative advantage is 5 or more, all of your strength fires first, like in PG/PG2. But if your advantage is less than 5, only a part of your strength will fire first.

- In PG each kill also gives you 1/2 of suppression. In PzC every kill gives you (5-EnemyStars)/10. So, green units get the same amount as in PG, elite 5-star units are not suppressed by kills, and all other units lie in between.

So, here is how it works in PzC: first we roll dices to determine kills and suppression, then we convert kills to some additional suppression, and then we reduce enemy's unsuppressed strength but a certain percent of (kills+suppression), depending on the initiative difference. Remaining kills+suppression are applied after enemy has a chance to shoot back.

Rudankort wrote:

Obsolete wrote:What I really want to know, is why values of suppression often don't seem to quite add up...

Seems to be a much different mechanic than PG3D? I have a theory it's still a bit buggy at this point...

So, if your initiative advantage is 5 or more, all of your strength fires first, like in PG/PG2. But if your advantage is less than 5, only a part of your strength will fire first.

Does this mean there is more than one die roll for each combat?

First die is for % of strength to fire first. Then combat is resolved. Remaining strength that did not fire now rolls a die for an additional attack.

The word first indicates there is more than one combat roll.

Razz1 wrote: Does this mean there is more than one die roll for each combat?

First die is for % of strength to fire first. Then combat is resolved. Remaining strength that did not fire now rolls a die for an additional attack.

The word first indicates there is more than one combat roll.

On implementation level, I calculate all damage done by the unit in one go, and then apply part of it immediately, and remaining part - after opponent's counterattack. But this should not be a huge difference.

This explains it better and it can even be worded more simply.

"To reply to the first post in this topic. Here is what's going on exactly.

Sample 1. Your initiative advantage is 3. This means that 60% of your strength fire first. You score 4 kills and 4 suppression (2 from dice rolls and 2 as a side effect from kills). So, total enemy strength disabled by your shot is 8. But only 60% of it got applied BEFORE enemy's counterattack. This is 4*60/100, rounded to 2 kills and 4*60/100 rounded to 2 suppression. So 4 points to subtract from enemy's strength (10). This leaves 6 which can shoot back at us."


I put the quote above so others can see it more clearly.

I've had to re-read through this a few times before understanding it well. At least, I THINK I understand most of it well at this point.

Obsolete wrote:I've had to re-read through this a few times before understanding it well. At least, I THINK I understand most of it well at this point.

Hmm, what's so difficult about it?

Will there be an ability to attack with more than one unit at a time? Say 1 INF from the east, 1 INF from the south and a tank from the north, all at the same time after movement? That would reflect a certain tactical reality. . .

This could be done with a button press after which you would "tag" all attacking units, then the attack would commence, using all the available strength(?) or somesuch.

That's what mass attack simulates.