Quote:
Originally Posted by kestrel79
I think it would be pretty cool to see tanks given the ability to capture cities and airfields. Have a moving frontline.
It's the tank's job to drive to the city, destroy enemy tanks and other enemy strongholds. Once a certain amount of these have been destroyed, it begins to be captured. Then resupply trucks and trains are sent in to resupply the now captured base. All meanwhile you have airplanes flying over head battling it out for air superiority and to destroy the tanks trying to capture the base/city.
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good ideas
some additional thoughts ....
I) SMALLER NUMBERS OF TANKS ON SMALLER MAPS
if you just need to direct one tank unit in the 1e person or to be controlled by AI (as designed in the mission) this is not to bad, eg:
- direct tanks to objective, instruct how to act when meeting enemy ground forces (engage if weaker or equal, avoid if they are stronger),
- what to do once objective is reached (hold position, dig in defensively , proceed to next objective etc)
in il2-CoD scenario's i also suspect all
tank units need a number of mobile AA guns integrated with the unit (smaller caliber AA, mounted on mobile soft skinned vehicles that move with the tank unit ) because as a flightsim (without infantry being modeled) most threats will come from the air by enemy planes constantly hunting for them. without that minimal protection any tank unit out in the open becomes much to vulnerable and ineffective
once a captured objective has been held for a period of time (and if it has an unbroken supply line) the same sector/area also needs heavy AA guns (and some reenforced defensive ground artillery positions ?) being spawned automatically to reflect what would normally happen when the enemy hold a new position (normally infantry in fortified positions would hold the position with artillery units nearby), eg once captured the position is held, but the tanks stay mobile. most of this could be done with a number of basic commands and some simple automated scripts and doesnt need to be to complex, but you cant expect a tank unit to fill all those roles (be mobile offensive and defensive, and exclusively hold all stationary positions on their own)
if a tank unit captures an area (town, airfield, bridge etc) and that unit becomes isolated from its supply lines, server msg's need to exist that warn the friendly side to have to supply them by air, or instruct it to withdraw (with a particular limited radius of movement until resupplied)
there is also the additional potential problem that a mission on a server might have been carefully designed,
but when some n00b teens join the server for a bit of fun they take over control of a specific tank unit in the 1e person,
go off on their own joyride and completely change the unfolding battle plan (since there wont be 100's of tanks active on the map, but more likely 20 or so, this could be a major problem). not sure what the solution to this is.
II LARGER NUMBER OF TANKS ON BIGGER MAPS
but to do this in a workable way gets rather complex if you look at the main large maps SoW uses once it deals with land based maps with large front lines. you would need roughly historically correct proportional numbers of ground forces and vehicles on front lines. for example the less able allied tanks cant be matched 1:1 with german tigers, for ex in a normandy (or north africa) scenario where the larger numbers of allied tanks usually overwhelmed the stronger tiger tanks, otherwise the german side would always outperform the allied side (if you give both sides equal numbers of units)
to be able to use the tanks in mission design or a dynamic campaign server with large number of units on a map and a whole front line being populated with tanks and other mobile units, we need to have the right
server commands available to control them and give new orders while the dynamic campaign server keeps running its other parts of scripted events (not in a complex mission design method, but some simple AI instructions method from a purpose designed interface console which is also accessible from within in the game itself by the "server command" that setup the mission (who with a pwd can delegate it to his assistants/helpers). this would allow both sides some ability to respond (in a limited way) to unfolding events in a dynamic campaign server.
might be a bit early to think that far ahead, but eventually some of this type of control should become possible as the series evolves
right now at release of some of these new feature of controlling tanks and other ground vehicles, i'd be happy if the guns are accurate over the right distances, we are given some AA mounted on mobile vehicles to protect them from air attack, and we can issue some basic commands to engage/disengage the enemy forces, capture an objective and hold it, and be resupplied by air once low on fuel/munitions