Disengage

[jewlguy]

Just what is the criteria that allows a vessel or speeder to disengage when it is being overtaken ? Many times I have been able to attack next turn, giving me the offensive advantage. Then at other times the same unit gets popped instead of backing off,whats that all about? I can usually see a pattern but haven't quite gotten this one. I'm sure it's simple and I'll "ooh, yaaa" when I find out.

[Avenoct]

Mobile units must have full or nearly full health and have plenty of room in the back to retreat into. Rocky squares don't count as room.

This is because a unit disengages after losing half its (current?) health. If this puts it lower than the 2 moves left limit, it's stuck.

-Smack

[RedFred]

...and the obvious criteria for a disengagement is that the disengaging unit must have one full movement point or more over its attacker. Examples are a rover disengaging from an infantry unit or a cruiser disengaging from a skimboat. Air units cannot disengage.

[jewlguy]

OOOh-YAA, duh, of coarse - So then in an open battle situation; or exploring around the red fields of planet, it may behove me to leave a turn or two on a very mobile unit (if it can be afforded). Maybe especialy a cruiser in pirate territory -ah. Leaves open a plethora of movement stratagies that were feeling a little to random and will probably save my butt many times to come. Thanks

[Avenoct]

jewlguy,

I suppose you could plan your moves to maximize your disengage potential, but it's a bit random and you'd be using half or more of your moves being safe. Disengage is basically just a lucky break. Don't count on it. Rather, stack units, have better morale than the enemy, or later, use air power to scour the land.

-Smack

[WhiteElephants]

I don't think it is based on the movement point left over at the end of a turn. Instead I believe it is based on movement points possible. For instance, I've never seen an infantry unit of any type disengage during a battle even though I haven't moved them on the turn before.

I tend to think this holds true for infantrty units that have become elite. Can anyone confirm this? What about the an elite rover versus a regular rover since the elite would have 3 possible movement points and the regular only 2?

[RedFred]

Sorry if I wasn't clear. WE is correct. The potential movement points and not the actual points left are the key. But Smack is also right. If your unit is damaged from a previous battle you will have less capacity to disengage.

WE's premise on elite units seems entirely reasonable. But I can't confirm it myself. I like to be the attacker rather than the defender when I have elite units.

[Method]

copied from the datalinks...

Fast units, such as Speeders and Hovertanks, can sometimes
disengage when surprised by slower enemy units. A unit disengages
when the following conditions are met:

* Unit incurs 50% damage, relative to what it started the combat with.
* Unit is faster than its attacker, taking damage into account.
* Unit is alone in its square.
* Unit did not attack on its last turn.
* Unit is a combat unit (non-combat units may never disengage).
* Neither attacker nor defender is an air unit.
* Attacker does not have the Comm Jammer ability.
* Unit does not have the HOLD order, and is not in a bunker
or airbase.
* A valid retreat square is avaiable, which is not a fungus square (unless Pholus Mutagen) and is not adjacent to an enemy unit.

does that answer the question?

[Avenoct]

Ah good, TKG and WhiteE explain it all. It's hard to phrase the 'movement available' clause, thanks WhiteE.

Good luck Jewlguy.

[jewlguy]

Thanks all - knowing a units potential is a large part of playing to optimal levels. And in my humble opinion it has been my experience that elites do seem to disenage more often then others, when confronted with greater firepower than its armor can withstand. But I would imagine that it is an equation, rather than a random event, as the afore mentioned rules of engagement seem to indicate( thanks TKG -I should have looked there first). That would have been too obvious (boy, do I look stupid)and I would not have gotten the opinion of the wise ones.

[bobyk464]

The extra movement points gained from building the Maritime Control Center significantly improve survivability of cruisers - they can disengage from enemy naval attacks quite frequently. Keep them in teams, and use the healthy unit(s) to strike back. Improvement isn't so terrific for foils - enemy cruisers can still nab them pretty reliably.
On top of this, add Naval Detachment ability to a few ships, allowing them to capture rather than sink enemy vessels, and it's possible to net a fairly potent naval force at no cost by co-ordinating a single cruiser group or combo cruiser/foil group in a high-traffic area. Keep an armored cruiser up front to take the initial attack. It will disengage. Strike back with Detachment-equipped ships and capture or sink the enemy vessel. Then rotate another armored cruiser up front to take the next attack when it comes, while the first once hangs in the back and recuperates for a while. Nice approach if you're not ready to go on campaign yet and just want to be left alone for a while, or if you maybe want to guard a point through the entire game. If you capture ships you don't need, send them to a friendly port and disband them.
Kind of unfair against the AI, since they typically don't assemble navies as such, but usually send lone units. Also, once they decide on a path to your homeland, they tend to use it repeatedly.
Once they figure out how to get air power, particularly choppers, to the contested point, then you've got to re-think this approach. Here's to hoping that once the game reaches such a time, that you've got your own air cover in place. Or perhaps by then, the enemy won't be so concerned with making sporadic inroads through your seas as it will be in stopping your co-ordinated inroads through its own.
So what's the point? Right. Disengaging. Very useful at sea. Maritime Control Center makes it happen in a big way.

[Googlie]

Just as an aside to the disengage debate, it's worth repeating the old truisms re ocean pod popping:

1) - always pop a pod with your first movement point, never your last

2) - if you have disturbed an IoD, always retreat to seawards - wild IoD's will always make for the nearest landmass (but note that occasionally the IoD will be to your seaward side, thus nullifying that escape route - in which case head furthest from land if in so doing the IoD has a clear route to the landmass)

G.