Re: Just say no to bungee paratroopers.

[Hans Ronne <hronne at comhem dot se>]

>>so I wrote a patch that applies two
>> rules:
>>
>> If you capture something and you can fit inside it then you move in as
>> part of the capture.
>
>I am not sure that this would be desired behavior in all cases, but for
>want of a good counterexample, your proposal does sound fairly reasonable.

I would concur. Even in non-paratrooper games, it makes sense for a
capturing unit to move inside. Right now, it will wait outside for one turn
or even move away, until the capture task has been changed to an occupy
task. I've been planning to improve how the AI handles such cases. A lot
can happen in one turn ...

>> If you attempt to capture something from inside a transport and you fail
>> then you drop out on the ground or sea under the transport as you're
>> pushed back.
>
>I don't know about this. Consider troops attempting a capture from a
>helicopter unit; they ought to be able to return to the helicopters if
>the capture fails....

The key question is if captures (or attacks) from inside transports should
be allowed at all. In principle, I think not. Paratroopers should jump into
an empty cell, then attack on the ground from there. Jumping on top of
enemy positions is suicide, as several examples from history show, so it
should not be supported as a viable attack mode in Xconq.

You could argue that troop transports at a fortified beach or marines in a
spaceship outside a planet are cases where attacks from inside transports
should be allowed, since there is no empty cell into which they first can
land. However, also in this case, the troops are committed once they attack
and cannot return to their transports. Only overrun actions should be
allowed in such cases, and the attackers should perish if they fail.

These were some general thoughts on the subject. I'm not sure it can all be
easily implemented. Changes to the AI might be necessary as well.

Hans