Chapter 4.

What you have to take into consideration in Combat.

The first thing to take into account is that the battalions have two fundamental values that determine their combat capacity.

Number of Components:
This is the relative value to the number of combatant components (men or vehicles) of the Unit.
The loss of these components is non-recoverable during the game. Nevertheless, the speed of losses is slow when simulating real combat.

Efficiency:
This refers to the real combat capacity of the Unit.
Therefore, a Unit at 20% Efficiency means that only 20% of its components (men or vehicles) can go into combat, but 100% of them will come under enemy fire. As you will see during the game, in the relation between real losses (those that affect the number of units) and the more accurate efficiency losses, those affecting the units which have been severely punished during combat have to be rested by giving them breaks between combat duties.

When do I lose Efficiency?:
One way of losing efficiency is engagement with the enemy. Every received hit makes you lose a percentage of efficiency, visible during combat.

How can I recuperate Efficiency?:
There is continuous efficiency recovery, independent of what a unit is doing, but it is quite low. To recuperate a unit's efficiency quickly, you must place it in the deployment modes Hold or Fortify.

When do I not recuperate Efficiency?:
When I have run out of Supplies. This is when my supply lines with the rearguard are cut off by the enemy and the unit's stocks are exhausted.

How to defeat an enemy battalion:
There are two ways to beat an enemy battalion. Firstly, by destroying every man and vehicle that make it up, measured by the Number of Components indicator.
And secondly, by attacking a unit whose efficiency has been reduced to zero. In this case, the unit under fire surrenders and disappears from the game area.

Efficiency and automatic retreat:
Another concept that should be taken into account is that a battalion which has 20% efficiency or less, if attacked, retreats towards its retreat point, which is marked with a white flag when you select the unit. The retreat point can be set by you and will automatically move only if the unit deploys further than a 500 meter radius.
So be careful about where your units retreat to, especially if they are in defensive mode, to avoid them scattering too much or withdrawal in an inappropriate direction.

Planned Retreat:
You can change a unit's direction of retreat, at any moment, by clicking on the white flag, which indicates the direction in which the unit will escape. Remember, further away than 500 meters and the unit will automatically choose a new retreat point, that may be opposite to your strategy.

Combat value modifiers:

Type of terrain:
Clearly, it is not the same defending oneself in a forest or in a city or on open ground.

Difference in altitude:
Units in higher positions have greater shooting accuracy and are, therefore, more efficient.

Night Fighting:
At night, shooting efficiency is drastically reduced, so the units in combat will lose the possibility of recuperating efficiency, being unable to advance very far in their objectives.

Crowding of Units:
When two battalions get too close to each other (a striped yellow icon can be seen on them) collateral damage is produced if one of the units comes under attack since the other one will also suffer losses. This effect can be avoided by correct deployment of the battalions.

Movement Modifiers:

Type of terrain:
It is not the same moving around a forest as doing so on open ground or in a town or, especially, along roads. Dense forests are areas in which motorized units advance at a very slow speed.
Avoid this type of terrain in any unplanned retreat. When advancing through several types of terrain in the same movement, the signs indicate the most complicated terrain.

Difference in altitude:
Going uphill will always slow down a battalion's advance.