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Post news Report RSS Terminal Conflict - "Break the Fog of War" Development Diary 17

A overview on managing uncertainty in any military engagement in this definitive Cold War strategy game. Get the most out of your armed forces to secure victory. Be awesome! For those wondering, is the game moddable? It most certainly is! Good call we invested so much into building all these Bomber Commands so that we can end on a Bomb Shell!

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We all practically clamber out of the turret because of the low visibility advancing into position towards the West German border. I did volunteer work last night and managed to get hold of fresh bread before receiving the move order but our stomachs are too nervous for it. Perhaps it is true. War is so complex it is beyond the ability of the human mind to comprehend all its implications and consequences.

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Though you might possess the most potent military in history, any honest commander will admit that there are limits and uncertainty in any military engagement. Your terminal is a potent command and control system that enables you to make strategic judgments for this very reason. Your fullest understanding of the knowns and the unknowns will carry the day.

Friendly Unit Visibility

Single unit markers bearing our color and their unit names in any region on the map are friendly units. If you deploy multiple units in a region, they will form larger US Commands (COM) or USSR Fronts (FRN), while fleets form Navies (NAV).

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Enemy Unit Visibility

Enemy units have three states of visibility:

  • Visible – Identified enemy unit in enemy faction color
  • Diamond marker(s) - Unknown detected enemy unit(s) in enemy faction color
  • Invisible – Undetected

Land Units

Friendly Army Commands are good at setting up perimeters and detect the presence of enemy Land or Air Commands in directly adjacent regions to their command. If an enemy army maneuver or troop movement takes place in these regions, they will usually be able to identify the direction the enemy came from.

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Army Commands are thus powerful but have no capacity to identify enemy navies. Short of engaging, they lack the ability to identify with precision enemy unit compositions.

Air Units

Air units have a potent passive ability: Air Patrol. When combat ready, air commands can identify with precision any enemy non-submarine naval unit in the same region. Deployed with an Army Command as protection they offer a strong ability for operational awareness.

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Bomber Command: Ordering a bombing mission in a region, if an enemy unit is present it becomes visible for two turns, unless intercepted and defeated by a combat ready enemy Fighter Command or Carrier Fleet conducting Air Superiority. However, bombing missions are offensive actions and carried out in enemy controlled areas will result in a Warzone being declared.

Fighter Command: Useful for conducting Air Superiority missions of your own, they are very advantageous for identifying enemy units as they are on par in the sky with enemy Fighter Commands. Yet, violating enemy controlled air space will much like with Bomber Commands result in a Warzone declaration.

Sea Units

All sea units that enter a region controlled or dominated by the opponent will be shown as Unknown to them as long as they continue to reside in that region despite having no unit deployed there.

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If an enemy Fleet maneuver or movement takes place in the region, you will be able to identify where it came from. Unlike with air units, friendly naval units may traverse enemy regions as part of their Freedom of navigation as long as they do not meet with a counter force. However, if conducting combat or other offensive actions, such as Carrier Operations, sea units are visible for a minimum of two turns.

Powerful as they may be, military means without wisdom opens up for misunderstandings and miscalculations and a reality where potential mutual annihilation will commence. Wise men have said that where the scope of the military ends the domain of the intelligence services begin, but that is for another development diary!

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