How is enemy strength counted on the map

Gimpylung · 2013-02-22, 09:02 AM

Example...

Enemy Platoons in Tawrich... more than 1 platoon

Is that telling me there is 48 enemies in Tawrich SOI...a full platoon and possibly some more.

Is it telling me there is 96+ enemies in 2 full platoons and possibly some more.

Or is it telling me there's 2 squads of 2 enemies platooned together totaling 4 players and another similar platoon to explain the plural... 8 players minimum.

Basically is it counting enemies individually and if its more then 48 then its a platoon, or is it counting the listed platoons in that area regardless of their size.

Same goes for squads.

Gimpylung · 2013-02-22, 12:31 PM

Anyone?

NotTheMomma · 2013-02-22, 12:51 PM

I doubt that anyone other than SOE knows the answers, and I'm OK with the ambiguity in regard to enemy movements. In case anyone is wondering, there also appears to be a minor delay in reporting as an enemy zerg moves from hex to hex (which is probably intentional).

What does bother me is that the game provides more information on the map regarding enemy movements/presence than it does ally which, for one, is counter-intuitive. I know more about the enemys' force strength and position than I do my own allies, which inhibits everyone's ability to react strategically.

OK, so there's "Enemy Platoon" at Tawrich, which my faction currently holds. Do we have any defenders? How many? You could redeploy and find 4 allies and a Sunderer or a multi-platoon, allied tank zerg. Why would any leader commit a platoon to this defense under these conditions of uncertainty, when you can just retake the base for more XP?

Sure, with good alliance coordination and scouting, you can get around this and might react fast enough to stop them from flipping the base, but I think it is one of the many things that currently discourages strategic defense.

MrBloodworth · 2013-02-22, 12:51 PM

Originally Posted by NotTheMomma

I doubt that anyone other than SOE knows the answers, and I'm OK with the ambiguity in regard to enemy movements. In case anyone is wondering, there also appears to be a minor delay in reporting as an enemy zerg moves from hex to hex (which is probably intentional).

What does bother me is that the game provides more information on the map regarding enemy movements/presence than it does ally which, for one, is counter-intuitive. I know more about the enemys' force strength and position than I do my own allies, which inhibits everyone's ability to react strategically.

OK, so there's "Enemy Platoon" at Tawrich, which my faction currently holds. Do we have any defenders? How many? You could redeploy and find 4 allies and a Sunderer or a multi-platoon, allied tank zerg. Why would any leader commit a platoon to this defense under these conditions of uncertainty, when you can just retake the base for more XP?

Sure, with good alliance coordination and scouting, you can get around this and might react fast enough to stop them from flipping the base, but I think it is one of the many things that currently discourages strategic defense.

Yeah, definitely agree with this experience.

Stanis · 2013-02-22, 01:00 PM

Hopefully good intelligence will be a feature of the Interlink facility.

Ideally we would only get enemy intel movements with 2 hexes of a main base, and ajacent hexes otherwise.

Similarly for hotspots. We should only see hotspots where we are in conflict with the enemy. A big fight on the other side of the continent between the other two opposing factions .. seems strange to know about that.

Admittedly if we had friendly force identifies accurate intel of enemy force sizes being available just by looking at an alt .. is a pain.
I miss the CR reveal friendly / reveal enemy, and decent radar coverage.

Wars are fought on intel.
How are we supposed to fight that war if we can't play a game of stealth.

EDIT: I always assume that the indicators are half what they say.
1 squad = 6 people
1 platoon = 2 squads

Then look at hotspots once the action starts

Hamma · 2013-02-22, 01:10 PM

Yea the simple answer is we aren't really sure. No way to know

maradine · 2013-02-22, 02:12 PM

Coulombs.

Brusi · 2013-02-22, 05:27 PM

Hopefully they will add some more leadership skills/certs to better identify enemy as well as friendly troop movements?

Roy Awesome · 2013-02-22, 06:39 PM

There is no way to know for sure. TEST has these rules:

No Activity: Aint shit there

Enemies Detected: Aint shit there

Enemy Squads Detected: Could be a fun fight for a squad or two.

Enemy Platoon Detected: The zerg is coming

Enemy Platoons Detected: Could be a fun fight or it could be TE's op. Look before you jump.

Really though, the change in alert level over time is the most important bit. It allows you to map where the zergs are moving, and I have some good maps of zerg movements on Mattherson.

If you go from Red -> Yellow: Zerg has moved, base will be ED in moments. Back-cap this for easy kills.

If you go Yellow-> Orange, expect Red Alert in 1-2 min.

If you have a IA hotspot, expect it to go Red.

If you have a red on a biolab, it's a farm.

If you have red at Crown, it's a farm.

Crossroads is always fun on Red.