Couriers Killed/Captured

[con20or]

Guys - refresh my memory on something.

When a courier is killed/captured - how many are respawned? If any?

I was playing devils den - and sending support messages to nayone who would listen - I sent one to meade and the division commander who were both nearby. The couriers had to run the reb cordon to get out - they were repeatedly shot down/captured (i dont know which) but a new courier kept getting respawned. Id say around 10 got respawned.

Is this usual?

On another note - i dont play MP much, but have any of you ever intercepted a courier from a human player - and were all the juicy details there? The intercepted AI ones in SP are usually useless.

[Little Powell]

Yes, they will keep spawning until the message gets across. I also believe that they will try to take different routes to get to their destination. Good luck in getting support after sending support requests. I've never gotten that to work, but MTG claims it will work under certain conditions. Maybe he can chime in.

Yes in MP, you can intercept any courier message... If you intercept a Free Text courier message, you can read what the player wrote. Cool feature.

[con20or]

ok, thanks LP.

One suggestion i made recently was that only one or two courier messages should be sent - like in real life. Maybe if the general is in LOS of the courier then send a few more - simulating him seeing the courier getting killed - but otherwise it would make more sense and be more realistic if only a limited number were dispatched. This would make the capture/death of your courier more important.

The only way you would know the courier didnt get through would be by seeing the troops standing there waiting for orders - just like in real life!

I was playing a MP game a while back - and being the courier nut that i was i sent quite a few. I asked my partner after the game did he get my messages, cos i got no replies - and it turned out that he had the 'open courier messages on receipt' option turned off.

Something for people to watch out for when playing!!

Another submission i made recently - it was suggested in a different post - was some sort of reply to support requests. Even a no is better than wondering Although the confirmation courier could get killed too!!

i love the uncertainty:)

[Marching Thru Georgia]

con20or wrote:

The couriers had to run the reb cordon to get out - they were repeatedly shot down/captured (i dont know which) but a new courier kept getting respawned. Id say around 10 got respawned.

Ten is the limit I believe. I think it is set in the OOB, but that's just a guess.

Another submission i made recently - it was suggested in a different post - was some sort of reply to support requests. Even a no is better than wondering Although the confirmation courier could get killed too!!

Amen.

The 'Help' request works fairly well. The prerequisites to getting support are as follows:
1. You must be heavily engaged. If you see an overwhelming force heading your way, don't bother to send for help. You won't receive it. You'll need to engage those forces first. (This would be another good game addition to make; get help before it is too late. Here's a method to get Norb interested. :whistle: he likes to recreate human behavior. In this situation, have the commander you are requesting help from, ride over to your position and assess the situation. Then he sends a courier to his troops to hurry forward. Just like Reynolds helping Buford.)
2. The person you are requesting help from must have troops that are not engaged themselves. If your fellow division commander is also in a hot fight, he won't be able to help you.
3. The higher up the chain of command your request goes, the longer it will take to get help. Example: if you are a division commander and request help from a fellow division, he will respond almost immediately. If you ask for help from your corps commander it will take a bit longer. If you request help from the army commander, the wait will be longer still. But help will come if rules 1 & 2 are passed.

One thing I have noticed a few times is that a commander will bring his troops in my direction, they will maneuver in my rear as if they are aligning for battle. Then they will turn around and march back in the direction they came from. This first started occurring in the March patch. Is that commander getting another order from a superior to move elsewhere? Is he looking for a valid path to the enemy, but can't find one? Norb should be encouraged to check this section of code.

[con20or]

Im not in any way doubting you MTG - but are you SURE that support requests work? I have received support after calling for it - but also when i havent called for it so it could just have been ordered by the commander.

Just curious if you've ever tested it?

As for the unmber of couriers - 10 is way too many - I will have to look into that. Two is nearly too many. And is it dependant on a certain time frame? Say you order a general on the far side of the apline map - thr courier almost gets to him but gets killed - what then?

Time for some more testing me thinks...

[Marching Thru Georgia]

con20or wrote:

but are you SURE that support requests work?

I use it quite often. Many times I will request help, even if I don't really need it, just to see if I can get help. The problem you are experiencing may be the same one I mentioned. Troops initially respond to your request for help, but then for whatever reason, turn around and march to a different location. Many times, I am in the middle of a battle, and my superior tells me to march my men to some far corner of the map. Not very realistic. This is a problem I have mentioned several times before, i.e. information needs to flow up the chain of command. If I am engaged, I should be able to tell my commander of that fact AND he should factor that into his thinking.

Although the 'Request Support' is the only informational message that has an order associated with it, your superior will respond to the others with a move order! Sometimes I am ordered to a corner of the map where nothing is happening and become bored. So I will tell my commander that I have reached my objective. I will then receive an order to move to a new location. Strange, but it has worked like this since version 1.00.

I have received support after calling for it - but also when i havent called for it so it could just have been ordered by the commander.

Yes, if another commander is at the scene, he may well order up additional troops. Also, you may see unrequested troops arrive because they happen to be transiting the road the battle is raging over on their way to some other location. They just blunder into the battle.

[RDBoles]

I have a few questions. Does it make a difference when you ask for help where you the sender are located? If you are positioned on your extreme right of your line and you ask for support for the center front will, if they do come to your aid,does the help line up on you, the CO, or in front of your line? Also does it matter if you are turned a certain direction when you send out for help? I always check the arriving help by clicking on one of their units to see where he will wind up, by finding his green star. This gives me some indication if I need to manuever back or to some other position. I some times move to my helps flank, and this almost guarantees he will be engaged. Why does the help come very close to where you requested them and then they move back or to another spot?

[Marching Thru Georgia]

RDBoles wrote:

I have a few questions. Does it make a difference when you ask for help where you the sender are located? If you are positioned on your extreme right of your line and you ask for support for the center front will, if they do come to your aid,does the help line up on you, the CO, or in front of your line? Also does it matter if you are turned a certain direction when you send out for help? I always check the arriving help by clicking on one of their units to see where he will wind up, by finding his green star. This gives me some indication if I need to manuever back or to some other position. I some times move to my helps flank, and this almost guarantees he will be engaged.

I must confess, I never considered my personal position with regards to where the reinforcements show up. If they do go to the spot where I am located, this is a problem. Since this location is set at the time the unit receives the request, (could be many minutes after I send it), they may go to the wrong spot. If I am well back of the fighting, they may go to that vicinity and seeing no fighting right there, turn around and march away! I'll have to look at this.

Why does the help come very close to where you requested them and then they move back or to another spot?

That's the burning question of the day