CS Wishlist

Dan Caviness · 06-25-2016, 10:46 PM,

Some great points and ideas here guys.
I will cease and desist from my Haiku Corner threads as this is exactly that.

A quick preface.
All changes should be evaluated not only as to how they effect us going forward but as to how they effect the considerable amount of work put into many of our old favorite scenarios.

I'll add a few points to consider.
There are of course "IMO" so let's keep it civil... Whistle

Let me start with the ideas proponed above.

Bridge Blowing of Full Hex (or longer) bridges:

There are a lot of scenarios out there that have been designed using the fact that you can blow a hexside bridge and you can't blow a full hex bridge. If you open it up to full hex bridges many of those will be fundamentally changed, and in some cases ruined. My Longest Day being one example. I used the full hex bridges over the inland canals in order to prevent the Axis from sealing off entire areas of the map. Should we decide to incorporate blowing full hex bridges I would ask we at least incorporate the ability to build them, using the Bridge Engineers of course. I think it opens a can of worms, but if I can at least go back and modify an existing scenario to preserve it, I can live with it.

OP Fire Setting/Keyboard Strokes:

Point well made. The old way was to hit the "D". Then, in a fit of inspired and self delusional improvement it was "improved" to become "CTRL P"?... Crazy

Next Available Unit:

Can we make it so that you can click on ANY unit and start moving to the "next available" or "last available" (reverse key) rather than having to plow through EVERY unit on the mapboard from the right edge to the left? In the massive scenarios you risk carpal tunnel syndrome prior to hitting that damned button 4,987 times...

Color Coordinated Command:

Awesome idea.

Elimination of ON MAP Air:

I'm ambivalent here...but it raises a lot of hackles...so...let's just get rid of it? I believe this could be done without effecting most if not all of the scenarios out there that have included it.

Rubble Creation:

I totally agree on this one. It seems...way back when...the original version of the game did this. I seem to recall city hexes slowly becoming rubble after repeated artillery strikes? That was cool. It also seems the game even tracked the height of said rubble, as in a village became 2 meter high rubble and city became 10 meter high rubble. Not exact on the numbers, but I believe the old tables included rubble height/effect on visibility?

Blowing Bunkers and Pillboxes:

Again, awesome idea IMO. It gives us a choice, do we want to keep/save that bunker because it may be of use to our side later, or should we just eliminate it? I would suggest engineers could also be allowed to blow LOW stone walls, and even BOCAGE.

Armor Facing and the Retreat:

Let me say this...I love AF.
I see it as a subtlety that allows a good tactician to gain an advantage.
I think the strategic thinkers in our group tend to feel otherwise, but as a tactical guy who lacks the capacity for strategic thinking of any sort, I love it.
I don't love the way it works for retreat however.
I see a growing trend towards playing with AF off which I find disheartening. I think it's the retreat thing that they really don't like. I get it.
Guys, for me, and many others, the subtlety involved in getting a flank shot is a great part of the game and I'd hate to see that go away. I think of it like playing chess for years, getting good at it, and suddenly I'm playing checkers.
Still, I totally agree tanks should not automatically retreat by turning 180 degrees and showing their ass while they run. What I'd like to do is find a way to improve that aspect without simply resorting to turning AF off. Tanks have sides, tanks have rear ends, and in my case a rear end is actually in charge of the tank...but shots taken from the sides and rear should get better results based on the targets (well thought out and researched) side and rear armor thicknesses vs. their frontal values.

If Bill/Askari chimes in on this thread...he developed some excellent ideas about how to improve the stupid retreat regimen which could help us preserve Armor Facing by removing that problem area. Not to say some tanks didn't run and show their rears...it should be a probability...perhaps effected by the morale/skill level of the tankers?

Clearing Minefields:

In cases where you run into multiple strength minefields (YES JASON I'M TALKING ABOUT YOU... Big Laugh

) it would be nice if you could run multiple engineers into the hex and clear more than one strength level of mines out per turn? Not sure about this, just an idea. Most scenarios, a one strength minefield is all you'll run into but some of the sneaky devil designers... Whistle

Modify the Unit Display Window:

The right hand of the screen is our friend. Nice to see those units. In some cases the text that describes the hex itself, like CITY/BLOCKED/MINEFIELD 2, the text gets garbled and overwritten so it's hard to tell what that hex really is about. Possibly enlarge that area so the text can be viewed clearly?

OP Fire Setting:

In some cases you can set an indirect firing unit with CTRL P, in others you have to use the dropdown to set indirect firing units. It would be nice if you could set them all using CTRL P, or even better, using the old single key shortcut D.

Double Time for Bicycles:

Please correct me if I have this wrong but I don't believe I can double time my bicycle units. We can go to the whip for foot soldiers and go to the whip on our horses but the bicycle guys can't peddle harder?... Whip

Commanders being carried:

Not sure why it takes a 5 strength jeep to carry a 5 strength commander. I realize their egos get larger with their rating but not sure that carries weight?... Helmet Rolleyes

Great forum thread here.
Love to see us hashing this about.

In general I'd like to say that you have two types of changes. Those that everyone loves, and those that everyone hates. Let's try to remember in some cases we've actually grown to embrace and enjoy some changes that initially proved frustrating to some. EA being a good example. I ranted against it for some time until Eric the Hawk schooled me. He was right. It's simply another way to look at it and once you learn how to work within the structure of the new EA, it's fine.

I was happy with it as it was, but now I swing both ways.

Regards,

Dan