GPQ - forest area vulnerability + resting units performance

[Velkan]

I couldn't find satisfactory answers in the manual and forums for these questions:

1. Nearly every terrain feature diminishes the percentage of vulnerability to (i.e. increases protection against) area bombardment. The sole exception seems to be forest/woods (as per page 202 of the game manual), that has 115% area vulnerability. Does this mean that a unit is +15% more vulnerable to area hits in the woods than in open ground? If so, why?

Next, two questions regarding resting units. I want to determine the optimal way to rest units that MUST remain in the front-line, in order for them to be able to put up an average defence but also to reduce exhaustion as best as possible. I know it's not ideal, but sometimes it is necessary.

2.1 - The manual states that "Resting units are not so good in a fire fight, so only order units to Rest if they are unlikely to be involved in serious combat." (pg. 116). What are the values that affect a unit's combat capability when resting? Are they similar to those that define different formations (firing, target, security)? Basically, how bad does a unit perform in combat when caught resting?
2.2 - Another quote. "Whenever units are stationary and either resting, defending or waiting, their fatigue will reduce. Resting troops recover fastest." (pg. 116) What are the recovery values of a unit when resting, defending or waiting? How fast do they lose exhaustion performing each of those orders?

Thank you

 

[Agema]

1) Forest/woods provide less cover than you'd expect from artillery because exploding shells shred the trees, thus making a lot of wooden shrapnel that's very likely to injure men. Even so, woods are still better than open due to small arms fire protection and lower visibility.

2.1) I can't tell you exactly what the values are, but a resting unit fights very poorly. They will deal little damage, take damage easily, and retreat easily. In particular, never let tanks sit anywhere vulnerable whilst resting, or you might easily lose a lot of them should anything turn up.

2.2) As I recall, if your troops are stationary and inactive, they will often increase fatigue - although modestly. This represents them doing various duties like patrolling, etc, digging foxholes and fortifying the position, etc.

How much fatigue they recover can vary; day or night makes a difference (night is better for recovering fatigue). Resting away from the enemy helps - fewer alerts and less noise. I believe resting is more effective in certain terrain, especially towns and villages, and weather may also affect it. I would hope a decent overnight's rest should clear about half a unit's fatigue bar, depending on conditions. An absolutely exhausted unit will need much more than a night's rest.

 

[Daz]

Yeah, what he said
If you keep an eye on them a unit that has a defend order can be woken up very quickly by ticking no rest, so as soon as you see or expect enemy activity in the area of a unit wake it up.
A unit with a rest order has to go through the command delay process before it can wake up so use it cautiously. I believe that a unit with a rest order recovers fatigue faster than one that has gone to auto rest with a defend order though.
Below freezing temperatures and overly hot ones as well, have an effect that will greatly slow fatigue recovery outside of urban areas.

During the day units not in extreme weather, that are defending, but not auto resting (units don't switch to auto rest during daylight unless they are exhausted), and not in urban terrain will recover fatigue, but slower than if given a rest order. At night they will switch to auto rest and recover it much quicker.

 

[Velkan]

Thanks for the tips guys! I'll try those methods, Daz.

1) I thought about the shrapnel but I always assumed that an HE explosion on the ground was worse for a infantry unit than on top of a tree (granted, it sends wood shrapnel everywhere, but i also occurs 3m or higher from the ground and they might be stopped by nearby trees. Or not, that would also depend on the kind of tree and spacing between them). Caviat: I have no combat experience, so I can be very wrong.

2.1) Yeah, Agema, I've seen that happen in game and it makes perfect sense, but I'm still curious as to the values that affect it.

2.2) I think the manual says the opposite, units' fatigue decreases when idle, "Whenever units are stationary and either resting, defending or waiting, their fatigue will reduce.". So, as long as they don't move and aren't attacked, they fatigue levels drop. But by how much? That's what I was wondering, the main difference in fatigue reduction of Resting, Defending or just Waiting (blank white square).

And that is correct, a unit rests more 'efficiently' at night, indoors and with a mild temperature.

 

[Dave 'Arjuna' O'Connor]

The effects of tree bursts are well documented - just google "tree burst". Main reason was that in a ground burst a good portion of the shrapnel is contained within a small radius of the blast area, whereas with an air burst more of the shrapnell tends to travel further. In addition the splintering effects can be very significant.

 

[Velkan]

The effects of tree bursts are well documented - just google "tree burst". Main reason was that in a ground burst a good portion of the shrapnel is contained within a small radius of the blast area, whereas with an air burst more of the shrapnell tends to travel further. In addition the splintering effects can be very significant.

I have, I understand the reason for the 115% vulnerability in forests.

If possible, can you to divulge the values to answer 2.1 and 2.2, particularly the rate of recovery when Resting vs same when Defending?

PS - i have read this thread http://forums.lnlpublishing.com/threads/ai-performance.1709/ and you answers to it as well.

 

[Dave 'Arjuna' O'Connor]

Fatigue is a complex system. It is not just a straight lookup as there are a wide variety of modifiers that apply depending on the circumstances - eg what task you are doing, what the current weather state is, fitness, supply, night, temp, urban, proximity to enemy etc. However, the standard fatigue accrual and recovery rate to which the modifiers apply are:

Accrual = 0.6
Recovery = 1.0

This applies to a unit's rawFatigueLevel. If the unit's rawFatigueLevel is 1,000 then that equates to 100%. So divide these standard rates by ten to convert it to a percentage value. The fatigue adjustment is done once per minute.

Eg1 A unit at 50% would take 500 minutes ( 8hrs 20 mins) to recover, assuming no modifiers and no interruption.
Eg2 A fresh unit would degrade to 50% after 833 minutes ( 13 hrs 53 mins ), assuming no modifiers and a continuous effort.

 

[Velkan]

Thank you Dave! I had the wrong impression that units would gain fatigue faster than they would lose it, which would make no sense. Now I can roughly calculate how long it will take for a unit to recover from a % of exhaustion.

 

[Dave 'Arjuna' O'Connor]

In general you recover quicker than you tire. After all most of us get by with eight hour or less of sleep per day.