Graviteam

Can someone explain what these troops are used for, specifically how to use them in the game...?

Are they used to set up communications to call in artillery or something?

I just played my first game of Shilovo on my new PC.....it ran fantastic with the GTX 780 gpu.... ;D

Although I got my butt handed to me trying to clear the woods with the Russians so well dug in... >:(

It's best to leave the telephone troops under AI command(Don't try to command them yourself they never do what you want).Under AI command they will automatically start trying to set up commo links as soon as the game starts.
If you are the defender most wire links will already be established.

Mainly their purpose is to set commo wire between your HQ commanders,forward observers and on board indirect fire weapons.
When commo links are established this helps the units communicate enemy unit locations to each other more efficiently so you can bring your indirect fire weapons on the enemy quicker and with more accuracy.
They also help in relaying movement orders to other units quicker also.

Thanks for the clarification...

 ;D

Basically, easily visible is the simplicity of issuing appointment orders and maintaining of morale level. If an unit is under the control of the commander (and better is the higher commander), the level at which it will execute the order is much lower than for a unit without control. But ....
Unit was under the control of the commander need to be "connected" by 1) Voice  2 ) Wire 3) Radio 4) Signal flares . Voice has a small radius (reduced in intence combat) and the commander can not be everywhere at once, flares - is unreliable,  radio stations there's only on the vehicles and it is not the whole. Remain wire, here into the act communicators who are paving their, and thus, the battalion (company) commander can command their subordinates.


All it about medium and high realism settings.

translated a little better but good job on the English andrey

Basically, it simply shows how your units are maintaining orders and morale levels. Units in contact with a commander (higher level commanders being better)  are under more control and and have better morale than those which have no communication with a commander. For a unit to be under control of a commander they need a line of communication by either; 1) Within voice range,  2) connected by wire,  3) radio, or 4) signal flares. Voice has a small radius (reduced further in intense combat) and the commander cannot be everywhere at once. Flares are unreliable. Radios are only on select vehicles. Lastly, wire layers, visibly performing their task on the screen, keep commanders in contact with their subordinates

Its all about taking the realism to a higher level.

Been a while since I played this game though. The command system with the lines were just a beta then. I didnt care for where it was going from that point with the Sms style flashing of information and communication lines all over the place. Has it improved there? I'd love to get back into the game but to me the system started to go away from what I enjoyed. If a unit is in communication, why not have a marker in the ui without all the added flashings of icons that nobody really knew what they were. I have Sokolovo, Volokonovka, and Krasnaya Polyana but dont care for modern warfare. Is the system still doing ww2?

What patch should I have?

Can I turn off the new communication system and just play the way I had been? Is it optional?

Thanks,
mo reb

Always use the newest patch. Icons are explained in the in-game manual. And yes, there is an indicator in the unit statistics panel showing what communication equipment an unit has and whether it's active or not.

In a nutshell, the purpose of this system is to
1) transfer high command value of commander to its subordinates in a more realistic way.
2) enable spotter-commander to direct on-map artillery fire automatically if they have a communication link (and if AI is enabled for those units).
3) transfer information about enemy positions between units.

What's the advantage of high command value? Two things:
a) it improves "the psychological behaviour" of your units
b) you need less command level to control the unit

What is the command level? This is the new system (the improved orders system, option 4.12) that limits your ability to micromanage / control your troops. You can turn it off, but I highly recommend to use it and also set the recovery rate for command level to "very low"  (option 5.04). Read the description in the in-game manual.

Short explanation:You need to have a very high command level to give orders to units with low command value, while a low command level is sufficient to command units with high command value. Each time you give an order your command level is reduced (the amount depends on the order) and thus limits your ability to micromanage. The command level will regenerates slowly over time. The more commanders alive on the battlefield (and the higher their command value), the faster your command level regenerates.

Think command level as "mana" and orders as "spells". The command value of units could be "magic level" of a unit. Everytime you try to cast a "spell", a "mana" check is made against the "magic level" of selected units  (high "magic level" units can pass the check more easily). If the check is passed, the "spell" is succesful and some "mana" is lost. If the check is not succesful, no "spell" is casted and no "mana" is lost (the order is not excecuted). The regeneration rate of "mana" depends on how many and how great wizards (commanders) are alive on the battlefield.  :D

Without going into the whole 'Mana' debate  ;D ;D  I will say that once I grasped what the communication/command interaction did & what it revealed, I found it to be very useful. 
Not having it now would be like losing the rev counter from my car & being forced to use only a speedo.  :P
It's worth persevering with & improves the game experience I think.

It does have infrared scopes to view the battlefield with, which is faintly puzziling to me. :)

Thanks for the replies.

Shilovo and Mius Front when released are WW2.
The modern stuff was some porting from SABOW to this game.I like the modern stuff too.
So it was a welcome addition to this fine game.

Night vision is optional,you don't have to use it.
Even night battles are optional.
The WW2 night binos option are mainly for players who want to view night actions instead of a mostly pitch black screen and pyrotechnics.
The last few patches have lightened up the battlefield so you can see a little better at night and not have to use the night vision binos at all to view the individual soldiers now.

You can also turn off the new orders system (option 4.12)and the command and control lines(UI circle button- lower left hand corner next to flag button).
There are lots of things you can turn on and off in this game to fit whatever type of playing style you prefer.

Aug13a is the latest.

 

Thanks Dane. As helpful as always.

IMO, this game is the high water mark as far as 3-d tactical in ALMOST every way. Where it lacks, and quite a bit, is the infantry. That model needs some work and along with that, some controls that are helpful for that part of the combat. Maybe it has improved since I played, but right when you need the control, close combat, it falls apart. Call it micromanaging if you want, but I'd like things like Dash (very small bursts that fatigue quickly), March, ( faster move in column with slow reorg times) Crawl (super slow), Hide/seek cover. Optional of course.

I love the night battles. I've never felt such immersion in CM as I did with GraytrainTactics.

It's missing combat against another human.  AI can't handle an attack well and it can't manage the details, the micromanagement if you will.  So what you have is an ai that's not fully capable and a human player not given the tools to fill in for a less than capable AI.

Oh yeah. Definitely multiplayer. Maybe one day.

This is in the game already.
You have to use the movement modifiers like stealthy and fast on top of your regular movement commands.
I can get Dash by giving the defense command to a unit or I can modify that same order and push the stealthy button and they will crawl to the objective.

There are a variety of different commands and modifiers to get your units to do pretty much what you want,you just have to figure out how to combine the orders to achieve the desired results.

Try a few QBs with just a platoon and experiment with all the commands and modifiers and observe what the units do before and during combat.
Eventually you will get a better understanding of what you can and can't do in the game.
I still find new things almost every game and am amazed at the flexibility of the system.

Trial and error are your best and in most cases your only lessons for learning this game.

I would love to play this game against a human player 8)

A 3 hour one v one battle with a human opponent.

Better put the kettle on, pull up a comfy chair and grab a packet of custard creams! ;D

Yes please, count me in for multiplay!

Coffee and some Entemanns doughnuts for me please. :D

I don't think it would take a full 3 hours before my opponent would long for a more kinder and gentle AI. ;D

I play multi hour Command Ops games against a human player.  No problem.  By mutual consent the game clock can be sped up when things get slow.  And just save the game when you get tired of playing or have to go and load it up again another day.  I play it with a friend, not a random stranger, so this is no problem.  It could be handled the same way with this game.

From what do wire and telephone troops do to multiplayer. Eheheh I guess those are related.  Yes please. 

May be they pave the wires to the computer of another player.

New Trends multiplayer is coming now. Asynchronous multiplayer, which does not require the presence of both players in the game. One player writes a script (arranges defense) and gives others on the internet, they are trying to win.

Just as it was done in Steel Fury with mission editor  ;D.