Decisive Action v2.7

[pmaidhof]

Decisive Action Decisive Action is a modern Division and Corps level simulation that depicts combat with maneuver brigades and battalions along with supporting artillery, airstrikes, electronic warfare, engineer, helicopters, and even pysops units. Units are depicted with official NATO symbology, and US Army official map control measures delineate the battlefield.

 

New life may have been blown into the languishing gem with the very recent release of v2.7. The sim is available from HPS Sims.

 

I have had an on again off again love affair with this sim. The civilian version is a deviation from a product used at the US Army Command and Staff College. It suffers from sporatic support, but once again the recent patch release will cause me to spend more hours with this program.

 

Recent (clipped) changes include:

 

1) Logistics: Truck convoys are set from the outset; no more making

them on the fly. There's no (zippo, nada, none) automated logistics;

you must transfer everything by hand. New special button for that

function. I don't remember if consuming different quantities of

points for movement and combat is new in this version; though the

points themselves are all one big heap.

 

2) UAVs only operate at a designated movement node, but can have a

much bigger radius.

 

3) ATO tool for airpower - no longer through the Fires popup. In

theory, you can now put in 24 hours' worth of strikes and let them

unfold. Guess what the Air Force element here never does? (With good

reason in some cases.)

 

4) Multiplayer completely revamped - can take a large number of

workstations, but requires access to a shared drive.

 

5) Attack By Fire position for helicopters - fly out, shoot from this

movement node. Note that they won't shoot *without* one. (Or having

their range ring cross a TAI.)

 

6) Counterfire radars: Optional! If Counterfire is set to Detailed,

then a CFZ or CFFZ must be in the forward arc of an active friendly

radar in order to produce triggers for counterfire.

 

7) Loads of power for the Host in multiplayer. But less than 2.5

(free access to the editor) which caused... major issues.

 

8) Assuming you guys got 2.71, it will run for 400 turns.

 

N) A hell of a lot of bug fixes.

[pmaidhof]

Here is an image of the extremely late stages of a homebrewed scenario that I have concocked to help me relearn some of the finer points of Decisive Action. In this photo a US Close Air Support mission is being run on some bitter enders located in the Siberian town of Interkol' Pervyy.

 

 

OPFOR 2nd Tank Bde is the last remaining on map unit. It is surrounded by US mech and armored battalions. Division is rushing additional artillery units to US 2nd Bde, in whose zone this situation is taking place.

 

Edit: battalions, not brigades.

[Eric]

There are some retreat parameters in DA, and the Maximum Loss is 30%. Now I want to let my unit don't retreat or retreat until Max Loss is more than 30%, Does anyone tell me how to do that?

[pmaidhof]

There are some retreat parameters in DA, and the Maximum Loss is 30%. Now I want to let my unit don't retreat or retreat until Max Loss is more than 30%, Does anyone tell me how to do that?

 

Hi Eric,

 

It has been a while for me with DA. However I am in contact with someone who uses a derivative of it in his day job and will attempt to get an answer for you.

 

Pete

[pmaidhof]

There are some retreat parameters in DA, and the Maximum Loss is 30%. Now I want to let my unit don't retreat or retreat until Max Loss is more than 30%, Does anyone tell me how to do that?

 

Hi Eric,

 

From the above referenced person:

 

"No can do!

 

The Max Loss parameter is losses sustained in a single turn, by the way.

 

Typically, units that lose 30% are considered combat ineffective. DA

is quite lenient in that regard."

 

I hope that answers your question.

 

Pete

[Eric]

There are some retreat parameters in DA, and the Maximum Loss is 30%. Now I want to let my unit don't retreat or retreat until Max Loss is more than 30%, Does anyone tell me how to do that?

 

Hi Eric,

 

From the above referenced person:

 

"No can do!

 

The Max Loss parameter is losses sustained in a single turn, by the way.

 

Typically, units that lose 30% are considered combat ineffective. DA

is quite lenient in that regard."

 

I hope that answers your question.

 

Pete

 

 

Thanks Pete.

 

I find sometime the unit will retreat beyond combat field and I can not see it. That's a big problem, I think it is better for me to alert when the unit loss more than 30%.

 

 

In addition, is there map roaming function in the latest version 2.7 ? can you send me this version and let me test the new functions ?

 

 

 

Thanks very much for Pete!!

[pmaidhof]

I pretty certain that you can download v2.7 from www.hpssims.com

 

I have not DA'd for a couple on months now so I don't have an immediate retreat answer for you. I do have an enormous student/user guide that I can dig out over the next few days to see if there is any insightful retreat parameters or other relevent information. I'll post it here.

[Eric]

There are some retreat parameters in DA, and the Maximum Loss is 30%. Now I want to let my unit don't retreat or retreat until Max Loss is more than 30%, Does anyone tell me how to do that?

 

Hi Eric,

 

From the above referenced person:

 

"No can do!

 

The Max Loss parameter is losses sustained in a single turn, by the way.

 

Typically, units that lose 30% are considered combat ineffective. DA

is quite lenient in that regard."

 

I hope that answers your question.

 

Pete

 

 

Thanks Pete.

 

I find sometime the unit will retreat beyond combat field and I can not see it. That's a big problem, I think it is better for me to alert when the unit loss more than 30%.

 

 

In addition, is there map roaming function in the latest version 2.7 ? can you send me this version and let me test the new functions ?

 

 

 

Thanks very much for Pete!!

Thanks Pete,

 

I am waiting for your posts here.

[pmaidhof]

Hi Eric,

 

I have a chance to scan through that guide last night and it is really amazing while on one hand how voluminous the guide is and on the other how cryptic.

 

Let me make sure that I understand what you are trying to accomplish.

 

You want to:

 

a.) order a unit to disregard any "max loss parameter", essentially order it to die in place...or accomplish its mission.

 

b.) avoid situations were a unit, in reaching its "max loss parameter" retreats off of the map and basically lost for the rest of the scenario? (Reminds me of getting too close to the map edge in TacOps..."56 units have exits the map" and having no recourse to order them back.)

 

With your clarifications, I'll fire up my DA (maybe this weekend) and see what I can find out. Have I mentioned that I have a love-hate relationship with this game?

 

Pete

[Eric]

Hi Eric,

 

I have a chance to scan through that guide last night and it is really amazing while on one hand how voluminous the guide is and on the other how cryptic.

 

Let me make sure that I understand what you are trying to accomplish.

 

You want to:

 

a.) order a unit to disregard any "max loss parameter", essentially order it to die in place...or accomplish its mission.

 

b.) avoid situations were a unit, in reaching its "max loss parameter" retreats off of the map and basically lost for the rest of the scenario? (Reminds me of getting too close to the map edge in TacOps..."56 units have exits the map" and having no recourse to order them back.)

 

With your clarifications, I'll fire up my DA (maybe this weekend) and see what I can find out. Have I mentioned that I have a love-hate relationship with this game?

 

Pete

 

 

Yes. Correctly.

 

 

I want to order a unit(or units) in order to accomplish its mission(attack or defend) and dont withdraw( in reaching its "max loss parameter").

[pmaidhof]

Eric,

 

At first glance I believe that since the game is an offshoot of a training tool used at the US Army Command & Staff College, or one of those, have a unit fight to the death is not going to be an option.

 

I'll give it some run throughs over the next few days, but once again, I think the max loss threshold in this game is 30%.

 

Pete

[pmaidhof]

Eric,

 

From a written DA Training Course booklet that I have in my possession, it briefly discusses the Retreat Parameters box, which

controls when a unit will withdraw. The Maximum Loss drop down allows the operator to specify what of level of losses during a turn, from 1% to 30%, will trigger a an automatic withdrawal. A unit may take far more than this level of losses! The maximum parameter does not protect your unit in any way; instead it sets the unit's determination to hold onto ground.

 

If you set the Retreat Route Box, then create a movement route for the unit, the unit will not embark on the route until its maximum loss level is reached on a given turn.

So a unit will retreat when it reaches the chosen Max Loss percentage in a given turn, not total.

 

Sounds as if this answers your question, albeit unfavorably to what you are trying to accomplish. The best I can offer is place another unit "in reserve" close enough to assume a particular retreating unit's mission, yet distant enough not to interfere with the retreating unit's retreat path, remembering that if unit's footprints overlap, it will impede both unit's movement rates due to game-termed "congestion".

[Eric]

Eric,

 

From a written DA Training Course booklet that I have in my possession, it briefly discusses the Retreat Parameters box, which

controls when a unit will withdraw. The Maximum Loss drop down allows the operator to specify what of level of losses during a turn, from 1% to 30%, will trigger a an automatic withdrawal. A unit may take far more than this level of losses! The maximum parameter does not protect your unit in any way; instead it sets the unit's determination to hold onto ground.

 

If you set the Retreat Route Box, then create a movement route for the unit, the unit will not embark on the route until its maximum loss level is reached on a given turn.

So a unit will retreat when it reaches the chosen Max Loss percentage in a given turn, not total.

 

Sounds as if this answers your question, albeit unfavorably to what you are trying to accomplish. The best I can offer is place another unit "in reserve" close enough to assume a particular retreating unit's mission, yet distant enough not to interfere with the retreating unit's retreat path, remembering that if unit's footprints overlap, it will impede both unit's movement rates due to game-termed "congestion".

 

 

Thanks Pete.

 

In fact, the automatic withdrawal is the biggest problem. Sometime, the unit can not retreat along the given route, and I dont know where my units retreat. Why the retreating is automatic? In addition, I dont understand what is "in reserve" ?

 

 

eric

[pmaidhof]

what is "in reserve" ?

 

I think that I used "in reserve" as a non-DA term. My concept of a unit with a reserve mission in this situation would be placed a short distance behind the threatened unit so that in the event the forward unit reaches its retreat threshold for that turn you can hopefully plug that newly created gap in you lines with your unengaged unit a few km behind your defensive line. Provided you can plag that line the unit that was originally forced to retreat would now become your "reserve", hopefully keeping it unegaged and close to its HQ so that it may recover.

[Eric]

what is "in reserve" ?

 

I think that I used "in reserve" as a non-DA term. My concept of a unit with a reserve mission in this situation would be placed a short distance behind the threatened unit so that in the event the forward unit reaches its retreat threshold for that turn you can hopefully plug that newly created gap in you lines with your unengaged unit a few km behind your defensive line. Provided you can plag that line the unit that was originally forced to retreat would now become your "reserve", hopefully keeping it unegaged and close to its HQ so that it may recover.

 

 

Thanks Pete。

 

Can I let the unit retreat non-automatic?