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Author Topic: Operational Level Question  (Read 4061 times)
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Goodelgin
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« on: May 28, 2016, 06:46:39 AM »

I love military PC games that I can play at an operational level ie set up a plan of action for units, movement, waypoints etc but then leave the ground level stuff  at the engagements level, like the actual  'shooting to the AI. Flashpoint Campaigns Red Storm is great for this.

 If I can watch the battle play out at ground level and see how my plan is working out then that is a big plus (and very few games I've found are like this). Will GTMF be like this and let me worry about operational matters and then watch what happens with minimal input from me?

Also, have just bought a new laptop with an i7 chip and dedicated 970m graphics card. Will this be enough to play GTMF at a decent level of graphics and frame rate?

Thanks for any advice
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hnbdgr
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« Reply #1 on: May 28, 2016, 07:20:28 AM »

Hi! GTMF has 2 stages

operational and tactical(battle)

During the operational phase you can set up your strategy, lines of defence etc. However most people see this as an extra(i.e. not the main attraction of the game), it's a got a square(not hex) map and with limited movements it doesn't quite have the fluidity of a real battlefield. It is much more like a chessboard.

Tactical (battle) - this is what most people are playing this game for. Play area by default is something like 3x3km if I'm not mistaken. In here you can certainly give orders at the beginning and watch it all play out. However I don't think there's any game out there with AI so clever that you wouldn't need to hold it's hand every now and then. Same here - when you begin your battle you give out orders (your plans) according to your assumptions. But your assumptions will most often turn out to be wrong Smiley


The tactical battle phase is very fluid and situation changes rapidly. Therefore for best effect you'll have to be ready to give orders when necessary. You've spotted tanks, move infantry out of the way or order them not to shoot and put them in ambush mode. Or you'll need to move your tanks in a new position to cover an approach you missed before.

But by and large most of the planning and ordering can take place during "deployment" and "initial orders" phase. Check what your units can see from which position, set up ambush points and chokepoints. etc. One big drawback during deployment is the limited fixed points (squares) where you can deploy. This is a major pain when deploying MG's and mortars that you want to have right at the edge of a treeline. It's not going to happen unless you get a square like that by chance.

Anyway have a look at youtube for some gameplay videos hopefully that will allow you to gauge what the gameplay is like.

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Goodelgin
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« Reply #2 on: May 28, 2016, 07:38:01 AM »

Great reply. Thank you. Think I'm going to take the plunge and buy the game this morning. Just a final question. During the battle phase how far can you zoom out on the map to issue orders?
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hnbdgr
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« Reply #3 on: May 29, 2016, 08:03:30 PM »

glad I could help. You can zoom out right out to the top to get a top down like view. It's probably useful, but I rarely use it. Instead I find myself checking for positions from the ground. For instance - placing tanks. I'll click on the ground zoom right down to the dirt and check my field of view. if it's good I'll put the tank there. This way you can set up reverse slope defences and place arty correctly. On-map Arty is a major pain in the ass to get to fire correctly so I recommend to put them in positions that are 1) in relatively good view of the areas you expect to bomb. 2) far away from the enemy as possible at the same time.

Also use the "area of sight" preview(not line of sight). it's fantastic at showing you which areas your troops see and which they don't.
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cik
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« Reply #4 on: May 30, 2016, 09:12:52 PM »

GTMF sounds like what you're looking for. the game can be very "hands off" in that many battles can be played relying almost entirely on a pre-arranged plan of attack with only minor tweaking.

it's very strange how it plays out; the soldier AI takes a lot of work off the hands of the player. what in other games would require constant micro the squad/soldier AI takes care of on it's own.

if you issue an order to advance towards a town in two lines, takes in front throw smoke etc the AI will

>get into formation on it's own
>start a march towards the location
>throw smoke to cover itself
>spot, communicate targeting information by itself
>assault the position in a pretty reasonable way
>throw grenades, explosives, anti-tank weapons etc. by itself pretty intelligently

once you give the order to move out the troops can conduct the assault without much supervision. the only big thing you will have to worry about is unexpected enemy positions or enemy armor moving around that will require thinking on your feet.

even still though, moving your armor to attack their patrols only takes maybe 2-5 clicks tops.

the game is nothing like most RTS in this way.

defensive scenarios are even simpler in most cases requiring basically the initial setup of your defensive positions (incl. fire sectors, ambush points, AT gun firefields etc.) and then mostly the soldier AI will take care of everything besides high level decisions like where to call in heavy offboard artillery.
« Last Edit: May 30, 2016, 09:16:47 PM by cik » Logged
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