Patrol Zones

[saint19]

Hello,

Perhaps I have missed it in the manual and the campaign manual.  But is there a way to setup Patrol Zones for ships or squadrons so that the AI takes care of patrolling?  Thanx for your help.

[randomizer]

Yes. One of the Roles available in the dropdown Roles menu on the Division status screen is Patrol. Once selected and set to AI control the Division will split up and patrol randomly around the point where it has been given the order. Patrolling works best with divisions that contain only one or two ships and may be set up in stock, custom or campaign scenarios. Patrolling ships are vulnerable to mine and weather damage and of course are always at risk of attack.

Alternately, if authoring a scenario you may opt to create Search Zones, which are abstracted patrol areas but creating these are covered in the Scenario Editor manual.

Edit:
Patrolling is not in the Manual as it was added in the change log for SAI v1.6.  See:

Link

[Fredrik W]

Actually, you do not even need to put it in AI control. A human controlled division set to patrol will also patrol around the point where given the order, but it will not change to search line as AI controlled divisions on patrol will. I find this useful when I have a force waiting for darkness before proceeding for example.

[saint19]

Very helpful. Thanx Gents.

[saint19]

I did try these. They work good for the most part. But I'm not understanding why sometimes if I go to a division, it won't let me switch it to AI control? Sometimes I would pull up the status window on a division and the box for "AI control" would be greyed out. Sometimes it was greyed out, although it was checked for AI control...thus I couldn't change it. Maybe I'm not understanding that box and how to use it properly. Oh, these are divisions with the rectangle...not the pennant.

[randomizer]

Dec 3, 2013 17:51:20 GMT -6 saint19 said:

I did try these. They work good for the most part. But I'm not understanding why sometimes if I go to a division, it won't let me switch it to AI control? Sometimes I would pull up the status window on a division and the box for "AI control" would be greyed out. Sometimes it was greyed out, although it was checked for AI control...thus I couldn't change it. Maybe I'm not understanding that box and how to use it properly. Oh, these are divisions with the rectangle...not the pennant.

This does not sound right and posting a screen shot might help us trouble shoot the issue.  Generally if the AI Controlled box is greyed out it is because the Division has been either detached or it is a sub-unit separated from it's parent division and outside Player control.  Alternatively if you are playing at Admiral difficulty, player control is limited to the lead division of each Force and the divisions in question may be outside visual range of the lead.

To clarify this, please check your difficulty level (from the Preferences screen) and take a screen shot of the Division Status window along with the map view that demonstrates what you're seeing and post it here using the Add Attachment or Insert Image button.

Thanks.

[saint19]

I think you've clarified it for me. I've got it set on Admiral.

So I guess I was misunderstanding the difficulty setting. Admiral means you're more subject to the C&C problems that occurred during the period. While Rear Admiral and Captain allow you more control over the forces than you would've had back then.

[randomizer]

Correct. Rear Admiral difficulty make a reasonable compromise and for what it's worth I find provides the better gaming experience but this sort of thing is always personal and subjective. The only correct way to play is whatever you like best.

Glad it's not a glitch, thanks.

[saint19]

Do you think that even playing on Admiral that you still have more control than you would've had back then. For example in the Heligoland Bight scenario you have control over two divisions that are pretty far apart and can see from the map all of the sightings of the enemy thoughout the entire area?

[Fredrik W]

The player has more control and more information than real admirals had during WW1 even when playing in admiral's mode. It is hard to simulate the all the uncertainties that real admirals had to deal with at the time. Most of the time you wouldn't even know where your own ships were, or if your order had been carried out. Even if it were possible, it would probably not be very satisfying from a gameplay standpoint.

[randomizer]

Dec 5, 2013 13:05:49 GMT -6 saint19 said:

Do you think that even playing on Admiral that you still have more control than you would've had back then. For example in the Heligoland Bight scenario you have control over two divisions that are pretty far apart and can see from the map all of the sightings of the enemy thoughout the entire area?

Absolutely.  Even with the most restrictive C2 and Fog of War elements in play SAI can only provide a quite limited essence of the command and control problems facing a machine age naval commander.  That said it is my opinion that Steam and Iron does so better than any other offering that covers this period of naval warfare but this is subjective and probably biased towards the game.

A similar topic existed in the old Forum and as I recall, the general consensus was that managing a fleet through some sort of flag-hoist/signalling interface might be fun for a bit but would very quickly become tiresome and lead to frustration.  We can only imagine the complexity of the problem; the signals appendix in V.E. Tarrant's Jutland: The German Perspective logs some 18-important visual signals between Hipper's Lutzow and his Scouting Group-1 in the hour between 1700 and 1800 on 31 May 1916.  That alone represents a considerable amount of work for the sender and much to absorb, interpret and action for the receivers.

I would suggest that a game that simulated a C2 environment with such a potential workload would retain little entertainment value after the novelty wore off.  However, there are no doubt counter-arguments and other opinions on this as the above is by no means definitive.

[saint19]

Dec 5, 2013 13:28:43 GMT -6 Fredrik W said:

The player has more control and more information than real admirals had during WW1 even when playing in admiral's mode. It is hard to simulate the all the uncertainties that real admirals had to deal with at the time. Most of the time you wouldn't even know where your own ships were, or if your order had been carried out. Even if it were possible, it would probably not be very satisfying from a gameplay standpoint.

I see your point.  Definitely have to have a balance.  Either way.  I am enjoying it.