Prospect of Mobile GV spawns

[33Vortex]

A suggestion to HTC to look over the possibility of coding Mobile GV spawns into the game. Now we already have this in a different shape, the seaborne CV groups. What if the same was available for GVs in the form of Armored/Mechanized Batallions?

Ok here are my thoughts on how this would function in the game.

- Movement limitations, such as the obvious mountain terrain and shorelines.
- A whole new type of Vehicle Base with a Batallion attached to it. This would not affect current maps, old maps would not have to be changed/re-coded unless HTC reallly wanted to.
- If the vehicle group representing the Batallion HQ on the map are all destroyed, the Batallion will respawn at the GV base it is tied to like a CV/port.
- The possibility is that the Batallion could offer some features otherwise not available such as arty units when stationary. These could be used to shell enemy bases and towns from a distance, much like the shore batteries are used today. I imagine it could work something like this; 1 player control a battery of 4 guns, 2 batteries of 4 guns ea are available per Bn HQ (salvo fire .salvo and .delay commands). A forward scout could spot for these guns, making fast soft vehs and armored cars more useful.
- The Batallion (spawn point) would not be allowed closer than say somewhere between 5-10k yards to a enemy base. Leaving room for defending GVs to maneuver.
- A Company size mobile spawn point could be made for large and medium airfields and ports, this COY unit would not be able to go farther than a couple k from the base but would be much faster to regroup to meet ground attack. It would be more like a defensive position of AT guns and some low level flak.
- The mobile spawns would replace some (or all?) of the fixed spawn points on the map, making ground combat more fluid.
- A Batallion would be represented on the map by command vehicles, soft vehicles and halftracks, together with fairly heavy flak and a few AT-guns which would all be in fixed dug-in positions when stationary and function much like the auto-ack on bases. The dug in positions would make the spawn point resilient to heavy fighters and tactical bombers.
- A Btn or Coy on the move (a column of vehicles possibly with advance scouts some distance ahead represented by AI halftracks/armored cars) would be extremely vulnerable to enemy tanks, but would have active mobile low-level flak units.
- Theoretically two mobile spawns could move as close to eachother as they want but it would be difficult (or impossible) for a moving Bn HQ to move in close to a stationary Bn HQ.
- When mobile the HQ units would have a tag visible at some distance. When stationary the tag would disappear and with defensive guns & arty deployed the whole position would also be camouflaged with netting etc. Making it very difficult to spot from the air until defensive ack or arty open fire.
- When mobile only flak units would be manable, like ship guns and no GVs can spawn. When stationary arty would deploy after a timer and manable, GVs can spawn.
- Downtimes when destroyed must be adjusted for playability.
- If one would want to make these units completely mobile, one could have them auto-attach to the nearest supply dump, which would be the GV bases we know today. In this way they could be made mobile across the entire map.

This is a rough outline of the concept. I understand the amount of work required to implement this. Or maybe I don't, I just know there is a lot of work involved, both coding and artwork. Since I do not know how AH is currently coded, I do not know how to implement this technically. However the vehicle models (except arty maybe?) all exist in the game already so... ?

Anyway, what this would offer the game is a more fluid ground war with another aspect of strategy opened up to the players. Plus a whole new range of ground support missions for all aircraft with ground attack capability. Scouting would also be expanded upon, both from the new mobile spawn points as well as ground and air recon to find the "frontline units".

Imagine these features on a map of Ukraine or Belorussia. No CVs perhaps but... Batallions en masse! And... just imagine the FSOs we could make with truly fluid ground combat.  

Because after all... the air war was not just fought on a strategic level. Many air battles raged overhead massive land battles, and land combat dictated where and when the air units saw action.

Finally, I don't know if it's been suggested before but either way... hey just a suggestion and something HTC might want to consider.


Thoughts, suggestions?

[MAINER]

Very well thought out and I like the idea to! +1

[TheRhino]

This is kind of similar to something I proposed a while ago... but this is a much more well-thought-out idea, and I like it 

[prowl3r]

so basically its a cv style v-base. +1 if it is limited to the front line only i dont think it would be good for the game if that could be snuk deep into ene territory and pound the hq or somethin like that maybe a 2 sector limit?

[33Vortex]

Yeah, like the OP said it has to be restricted in movement. Apart from the obvious limits of mountains and shores there is the possibility to add marshland to maps if modeled, it certainly was a factor in Russia and is a nice-to-have for that theater. Also either a range from VBase, or a no-go zone around certain bases. A further development of this would be to bring Bn HQs to ports for them to board transport ships and make amphibious landings possible. Would add a new dimension to ship strikes and naval combat. Imagine a BoB map scenario of the Normandie landings, which could probably be made possible through a development of this feature. Other battles that could be simulated, well how about the Prokhorovka battle which lasted for days south of Kursk in '43. Infamous for being the "largest tank battle in history". The air forces were heavily engaged throughout the fighting around Kursk and it was there that for the first time in history a armored assault by ground forces (Soviet Army) was stopped cold by air power alone (Luftwaffe).

Well... needless to say the possibilities are there. Of course it would increase the game focus onto ground combat, but it would also make air combat more interesting as the game would put more emphasis on tactical play centered around the position of ground forces than it does today. The strategic elements would still be there, as they are today in terms of strategic targets and cities.
What got me thinking about this was that I felt there was a lack of vehicle combat in terrain away from bases. All combat currently is centered around bases with fairly long drives from spawn points to objectives, this feature would add more variation to vehicle action and it would enable the game to in a very interesting way (I hope) represent the eastern front fighting. A dimension which is completely lacking currently.

Günther Rall claim in his biography that air combat on the eastern front typically never occurred above 2000 meters altitude (above ground naturally). With the exception of recon intercepts. A result of the tactical nature of the fighting being tied to support of ground operations. The air war in the west came to be of a more strategic nature.

Anyway, I think it would be interesting to see the Il-2 and Ju87 used more in their intended roles, even the Ju88 was used as a tactical dive bomber.

[SpencAce]

i think this idea is really cool actually, this sounds like the artillery idea might be able to be tied in with the new observsion class being introduced when the storch arives +100