Turning Squads Around

[hnbdgr]

Ok, I've always thought the infantry behaved a bit odd when I ordered them to move and did some tests today to confirm.  Whenever I order them into a line (single or double line will highlight this issue nicely) and order them to move somewhere - it's a hit and miss affair as to which direction they end up facing. I assume the click and drag mode for attack/move/march commands should angle the infantry according to the angle you release the mouse at. But in practice it's 50:50.

This is really frustrating - try it with 3 squads bunched up together and creating a line. It takes them ages to react and form a new line, 90 degrees to their existing one. Often it won't be 90 degrees at all but some random direction and they don't tend to pivot at the center of their mass but at the one of the ends of their previous line.

This explains their sluggish confused movements when I need them to arrage lines in the heat of battle. Say you order them to the edge of the forest and want them EXACTLY at the edge, just behind tree cover in a double rank, short spacing unit. Suddenly the buggers decide to dance around in a circle.

Is this a bug or a "feature"? I'd love to see this fixed/adjusted in mius. I guess one could argue the game tries to bring an element of randomness to it by placing soldiers wherever, but I reckon it's just a bug. Because vehicles in GTOS have generally precise movement and end-facing, staying true to orders - at least much more often than infantry.

Company of heroes/Total war series style "preview dots" would be enormously useful here. Does anybody have any insight into this?

[Krabb]

*Voice from the grave* What's the point to turn infantry somewhere, if it turns itself if needed when needed?

[hnbdgr]

thanks, I'd argue it's a big point, because it's too late for it to turn once it's in a firefight.  Once in a firefight - bullets start flying and squad suffers suppression, a change of direction will be sluggishly slow and imprecise, resulting in what seems like random scattering. the point is rather to have them facing the right way before the bullets start flying. 

In an ideal world, the platoon leader issues orders and the squads line up where needed how needed. A certain degree of randomness it to be expected. but a 90 or 45 degree deviation of the battle line is just not right. And you need them to be facing the right direction (expected position of enemy). A battle line (2 rows, medium spacing for instance) has it's maximum effectiveness perpendicular to itself.

[Dane49]

There is a circular downward pointing arrow in the middle of the GUI that appears when you select(left click) a squad or platoon, click that, then right
 click the direction you want them to face.

I do that in this 3 part video.

[hnbdgr]

thanks Dane,

which part and what minute should I be looking for? Are you referring to the rotate command? That does work for individual soldiers but not for a squad formed into a line - you can't rotate them around their center to face a new direction accurately.

On a slightly different topic. How did you manage to swap the red and blue indicators? Your troops are blue, their troops are red - is there an option for that?

many thanks

[Dane49]

On a slightly different topic. How did you manage to swap the red and blue indicators? Your troops are blue, their troops are red - is there an option for that?

Options-4.21 and 4.23(Nato).

As far as getting your troops to face as you want on line,you might have to do column then face in the direction of the enemy and then on- line move. I know it's alot of commands, but this game isn't  like the other game you mentioned for pre - WW 2.
You won't be able to do this with the quick orders!