There will be many times, when you will find that a platoon will simply not do as it's told. You carefully enter the WP commands only to see the unit advance beyond the co-ordinates given, or deploy in an erratic or an irregular formation. Irrespective of the commands given in mission orders, a platoon will always dynamically adjust its position to suit the terrain. This is not always easy to predict and can lead to strange looking formations, with vehicles appearing to be out of place. The following (real) example is of a platoon of tanks which were using Waypoint orders and were expected to have formed into a line facing north. This was the result. Although the 50m horizontal separation was maintained, vehicle 2 is 100m in advance of the line and vehicle 4 is 50m behind.

After moving the WP 150 meters north, the platoon formed into a straight line. What the platoon was apparently doing, was responding to the potential threat posed by the small wood to their right. By moving vehicles 2 and 4 out of line, the platoon was retaining visibility to its right flank. Had it formed in a straight line, as it was instructed to do, it would have been blind to its right, so Gunship overruled the the instruction and adjusted the deployment. You will see this behaviour many times and it is something over which you have no control. You may have battlefield control over the dispersion and deployment of units, but Gunship always retains tactical control at the platoon level. This adjustment is particularly pronounced with 2 vehicle 'sections' (such as some Air Defence and Anti Tank units), when they will appear to be deployed in echelon formation.

Using Logic orders in conjunction with certain objectives can also force the platoon into an all round defense, which can lead to some vehicles in the platoon facing to the flank or rear.

In Gunship, trees represent a barrier to direct fire and whilst not an entirely accurate representation of the real world, that's the way it is. The wargamer in me would point out that it's the same for both sides. Whilst trees do offer considerable protection, remember that all the tree does is stop the round. When the round detonates, the blast can still offer damage to lightly armoured vehicles.

Single trees are minor obstacles to movement and a platoon deploying nearby, will often use one to protect one of its vehicles. Tree lines are just short of 150 meters long and can hide 2 vehicles, provided the lead vehicle (ie the Waypoint) is not positioned directly on its centre point. When vehicles deploy behind the tree line, they are hidden, but also completely blind. If a vehicle deploys and is actually touching the trees, then it becomes a perfect ambush site. The hidden vehicle can see out and fire, but is completely invisible to the enemy. He will even remain undetected by enemies approaching from behind (see example below). Unfortunately, it is very difficult to force a single vehicle to adopt this position and almost impossible for two. Deploying a four vehicle platoon behind a tree line usually results in one vehicle hidden and able to fire, one vehicle hidden but blind and two vehicles sat out in the open.

Tree clusters or small woods are a different proposition. Vehicles generally don't like them and will always try to drive around them (often more than once). If you want to waste a lot of time deploying your defensive line, try to send a tank platoon into the centre of a wood. More often than not, the platoon will deploy fully exposed in front of the wood, or waste vehicles by parking behind it. HQ, Recon and Air Defense platoons do seem to make better use of woods, but more often than not it's the other side's AI. The Tunguska for instance (it cheats), has an uncanny ability to position itself in almost impregnable positions whilst still preserving impressive fields of fire.

Water Obstacles

A water obstacle is either fordable or impassable and will vary along its length. Vehicles trying to cross a water obstacle will deviate left and right in an attempt to find a fordable section. If a vehicle finds a shallow bit, the rest of the platoon will try to follow, but rarely will an entire platoon manage to cross anything larger than a puddle. Any vehicle straying too far into deep water will become permanently stuck. Amphibious vehicles such as the AAV-7A1 have no water crossing advantages and will drown in deep water. If you do order a platoon to cross a water obstacle, its progress must me monitored as the obstacle may not be fordable at that point and a vehicle or even an entire platoon can be left stranded and completely lost to the mission. The standard bridges used in Gunship are always broken and cannot be used for crossing.

STOP PRESS............Large rivers can now be successfully crossed, using a new Bridge Modification. See the Bridges section for more details.

Broken ground found alongside water features can also cause a platoon to adjust its formation as vehicles attempt to avoid rough spots. Wheeled vehicles such as trucks are particularly prone to this and will often try to avoid rough ground completely.

The placement of units in towns and cities will be frustrating, as a threat perceived by the platoon may not be apparent to the player. Because of the close confines of built up areas, Gunship's tactical control will usually make accurate unit placing impossible. All too often, no amount of tweaking will convince them to stand on the spot you wish. Vehicles will also be deployed inside buildings, although trying to force them into this behaviour is fruitless. The use of Logic orders is particularly effective in built up areas, and platoons can show a surprising degree of tactical awareness when operating under Logic_Main_Defense.

Due to a limitation (I think) on the number of objects allowed per map (and possible hardware configurations), some of the terrain graphics may not be drawn, even though the game still recognises them. Graphics seem to be drawn from the top down, so its the lower part of the map that suffers. If you have a very large wood covering the top half of the map, then the lower half may be barren. For example; if you have a map that is largely covered in woodland, and then change the centre map co-ordinates by a few kilometres, you may find that the edges of the woods have changed shape. Where there was once forest, is now broken ground, but GS will still treat it as woodland. The game knows what the terrain should be, but graphics limitations can stop them from being displayed. In one mission I was working on, I decided to move the entire map 2km south, just to give the attackers a bit more head room. When I re-ran the mission, my forward bunkers were stuck out in the open. The mission still ran as before, but didn't look right.

You also see this occur inside built up areas. Occasionally, a vehicle will seem to deploy in the middle of an open square (a blank grey box). The vehicle is actually inside a building, which although the game recognises, the screen hasn't drawn.

Due to its dynamic nature, a minor position shift of just one platoon can drastically influence the outcome of a mission. A well sited vehicle, in the right circumstances, can deplete an attacking force to the extent that it can no longer complete its task.

Example:  In a recent home made mission using Waypoint orders, I sent a Russian armoured thrust of three T80 platoons and one BMP Platoon diagonally across a lightly defended front, with the objective of assaulting a HQ sited in a town. The seriously outnumbered defenses consisted of 2 well separated platoons of cavalry M3A3s behind tree lines. They were deliberately inadequate for the task, would do limited damage, would die quickly and would thus allow the Apaches to fly to the rescue.......... A good old Gunship mission!

As expected, the 1^st M3A3 platoon launched a couple of TOWs, but were quickly and ruthlessly dealt with. The overkill was impressive. Similarly the 2^nd and by now closer platoon opened fire and attracted the attention of the Russians. The M3A3 at each end of the line died quickly, but the vehicle in the centre, which was touching the tree line, remained completely undetected. Not only did he survive the engagement, but destroyed all three BMP3s and two of the T80s driving by. Then, turning in place, took two more T80s in the rear. The rear T80 platoon was following a slightly different route and was closer to the tree line. One tank actually drove up to the trees and stopped. Failing to locate the M3A3, it turned on its tracks to drive away and presenting its rear, was promptly destroyed by cannon fire. Five dead T80s and three BMP3s. The lone M3A3 had now run out of targets.

This was not according to plan. Not only had the Russian tank force been badly mauled, but the M3A3 deliberately targeted and destroyed all three BMP3s. After running the mission four or five times, all with similar results, I edited the text file and moved the M3A3 platoon 20 meters to the west. Now all the defenders died to a man, with a loss to the Russians of only two T80s.

The accurate positioning of Artillery units is crucial, particularly if  'calling in Support' is a vital element of the mission. I've often found that my artillery platoons had taken serious damage, even though no enemy came near. Unfortunately, if the guns are badly positioned, then your artillery is more than capable of destroying itself.

When artillery is called on to fire, the AI seems to draw a straight line to the TRP and should this lie through a nearby house or the hill that they're sitting behind, the round will detonate at that point. This means that, being lightly armoured, a gun close behind a tree will blow itself up and a detonating round from an MLRS can take out the entire battery. Care should also be given to the initial direction of facing. When the guns are called, they turn, in place to face the TRP. If this is to a flank, then the line of fire may cross other guns in the battery, which are necessarily close. They will and often do shoot each other.

Unfortunately, as platoons will adjust their deployment to suit the terrain, sometimes Artillery Batteries will actively try to deploy in hazardous positions.

Example: This battery of M109s were positioned in relatively open ground facing north. Gun No.5 has perceived an advantage in running forwards and using the small tree cluster as cover. All platoons will do this. If support fire is requested to the NE, all four guns will fire. A request for fire to the North will result in Gun No.5 firing into the tree and probably destroying itself. If a request is made for fire to the NW, then Gun No.5 could probably fire without self-detonating, but it would be hit by the shell from Gun No. 3.

Always attempt to site guns on level, open terrain. On some maps, this can be difficult to find. Also avoid reverse slopes and any and all obstructions, such as trees and buildings.

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