Insta-rout?

Charles22 · #1 April 3rd, 2007, 12:24 AM

Here's one I have never seen before.

I selected an SS infantry platoon in this first battle of the long campaign and fired with it at a scout squad of the Poles. The unit fired and caused no casualties. This unit, I believe, either had no suppression or 1 point. In any case it was low enough to fire (the first time to fire this turn and had not been rallied prior to firing) and IIRC it had 6 shots.

The scouts react fired back and caused a casuality. Suddenly my very experienced SS unit was mysteriously routed with 99 suppression!!! Was this some over-dramatic leader kill feature or something? I can't vouch for who was the leader before this, although I could get an earlier save and find out if it matters.

I tried attaching the save game file, but no searches turn up with it.

Charles22 · #2 April 3rd, 2007, 12:45 AM

Uh-oh, I have a suspicion what may had caused this. This or the prior turn I had accidentally renamed a unit to nothing. For example "E2 " without quotes. The unit which routed was the E2 unit. I had re-named either it or the E1, but I'm leaning towards the E2 unit being the one that was re-named. Anyway, I re-named it again to what look like the other units InfGruppe SS, so that might help here.

I have no idea how to attach a file that windows cannot find.

Okay, more research. It was the prior turn that I re-named a unit, but it wasn't the E2 unit, but the E1. The E1 was re-named not entirely correctly. It was not called "InfGruppe SS" but " InfGruppe SS". In other words there was a space on the first character space.

I will re-load that save, keeping the old one and play onwards and keep a new save too for the correctly re-named unit and see if anything like that happens again.

Mobhack · #3 April 3rd, 2007, 11:40 AM

Your unit had a casualty and pulled back in panic - so will quite likely be in rout from the combat result.

Use of the "R" key to rally them should usually get them back in order, and since they are "elite" then this should be easier than for a line unit.

Cheers
Andy

narwan · #4 April 3rd, 2007, 12:24 PM

Hi Charles, any unit can completely panic (supr 99) from a single casualty. SS is not immune from that. It's just much less likely to happen with them. But sooner or later it will. That's why you've didn't see it before. Try a game with really low quality troops and you'll see it happen with some regularity.

Narwan

Charles22 · #5 April 3rd, 2007, 09:59 PM

I have been playing this or any SP variant for quite a long time, and I tell you it's not the least bit normal, especially for an elite unit. If this were a 30 rate morale unit that "might" be applicable, but even the times I have played those units I had never seen anything like that. Read the description again. Have you EVER had a unit on your turn, which had very low suppression, if any at all, take ONE shot that took out a man and have it rout to the tune of "99" suppression? To make matters worse I don't think it even retreated (moved a hex), but surely, I have never seen a single kill, much less even three kills in one counter-fired shot, achieve this.

In any event, I haven't seen the problem re-occur after addressing the issue I thought had created it.

Charles22 · #6 April 3rd, 2007, 10:05 PM

If you say so, but as much as I've played this game, mostly with Germans, I had never seen it.

BTW, off topic really, but does every tank in this game come with smoke dischargers? I can't believe how many Polish tankettes have them. I look at the tanks using them, for example the 7TP, and I see nothing like that listed. It's getting to be a real nuisance. From what I remember of most earlier SP variants only some of the main later battle tanks had them (PZIV's, Panthers, Tigers, T34's etc.), certainly not something as early or as small as a 7TP. I think I even seen a tankette of the Poles that had nothing but MG's do it too, but I'm not too certain.

narwan · #7 April 4th, 2007, 11:48 AM

Quote:

Charles22 said:
If you say so, but as much as I've played this game, mostly with Germans, I had never seen it.

I've seen it quite regularly, even a couple of times with japanese infantry or US marines.

Ramm · #8 April 4th, 2007, 01:22 PM

I have had the 99 supression from taking a single causality happen on only a few occosians, certanly under 10. All were very similiar to this: Just this morning at my home in Poquoson Virginia I advanced a sqd. of LMG troops (Star Troopers) and after being shot and taking 1 causality from a range of 50m (the next hex) from a defending german rifle sqd. they retreted with the maximum delux suppresion of 99.0 points.
Notes:
The germans were not dug in, but I don't think that makes any differnence
The LMG troopers sqd. were certainly not stock support troops, they had fought 12 prior battles. this makes a differance. Hence the star
They had 1 suppression to start out with! this is important.

Finially to conclude I think the Insta rout '99 just randomly happens on very rare occaisons regardless to a units name or their expeirence or their taste in fast food. Whereass normal routing 16-20-67-88, whatever, DOES have everything to do with prior suppresion, expeirence, wheither nor not the army is routed( I hate when that happens)

Plz post any respones polite or other wise, I love reading the forums and when people respond its very interesting.

P.S. sorry for speling got to run my professor hates late people.

Captain_Insano · #9 April 4th, 2007, 02:44 PM

I've had this happen to me before. I like to think that it's because the 1 casualty was the section's beloved sarge getting his head blown off or something similarly unsettling for the rest of the grunts. Maybe losing a medic would also cause this kind of mass panic. It doesn't happen very often but it is frustrating because then it takes several turns for that unit to get a clean pair of shorts and be ready to continue the advance.

DRG · #10 April 4th, 2007, 08:26 PM

Quote:

Ramm said:
Finially to conclude I think the Insta rout '99 just randomly happens on very rare occaisons regardless to a units name or their expeirence or their taste in fast food. Whereass normal routing 16-20-67-88, whatever, DOES have everything to do with prior suppresion, expeirence, wheither nor not the army is routed( I hate when that happens)

Essentially, this is exactly what happens. It's rare and it's random and it's in the supression code because every unit, no matter how experienced, can sometimes break for "no reason".

Don