Flashpoint Campaigns: Cold War News

[p][/p][p]Flashpoint Campaigns: Cold War releases November 20 and will cost $49.99 on launch.[/p][p]As a thank you to our longtime supporters, existing Flashpoint Campaigns: Southern Storm owners will receive a 50% discount when purchasing Flashpoint Campaigns: Cold War. [/p][p]To receive the discount, please select the Flashpoint Campaigns: Cold War Upgrade bundle when making a purchase on Steam or directly through the Matrix Games website.[/p][p]We'd like to thank all our players for their continued support.[/p]

[p]Hello Commanders![/p][p]Actually, hang on just a minute, I need to hop in this helo to ride out to the front. Or wait, was it the truck to the far flank? Hold up, let me check my plan.[/p][p]In all seriousness though, transport plans are an incredibly complex thing. One of the biggest challenges is creating a system that gives players the versatility to do weird, wacky things but which also has the simplicity to be understood. Let’s start with a reference look at what the Pros use when they are planning this stuff.[/p][p][/p][p]Figure 1: What the Pros use to plan these things[/p][p]Well… that’s a lot. How can we make that easier for players to fill out quickly? Fortunately, some of that is pretty easy. Players don’t have control over individual squads, so the game will handle which squad or vehicle gets carried by whichever vehicle is most appropriate. And while timings are important, in general in our game everything is done ASAP. So the units need to know the timings, but the player just needs to know that the units will do things without delay.[/p][p]Another thing we can do is to break this up a bit. The table above is for what is called a Lift, which is the plan for all the units involved and will take the different units to multiple locations from multiple locations. We’ve broken this down into the players only needing to plan a single Serial at a time. A Serial has a single, specific pickup location and a single, specific drop-off location. With those changes in mind let us see what we have left.[/p][p][/p][p]Figure 2: Sample Plan[/p][p]This is a pretty simple plan as all things go, but it serves as a good example for looking at the various elements at your fingertips. The top section is pretty similar to the Air Movement Table above, showing us which transport unit is carrying which passengers. Below that we can see the path the transport will take, where it’s going to pick up the passengers and where it will drop them off. I have utilized the ability to set six waypoints to have the transport helicopter do some exfil as well. In the next section we can see which units have been attached as escort duty to this plan. Issuing this plan will give the respective orders to all of our units involved.[/p][p]Escorts and Transports will move in formation with each other, great for keeping your transports under the protection of any escorts and avoiding having your troops arrive one at a time where they can be easily be picked off. If you already saw our pre-release stream then you know these plans can involve many more units of course, but in case you didn’t and want to check it out: [/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p][p]Now, I think it’s great being able to do this sort of thing. But I promised you versatility, didn’t I? So let’s see what that can look like.[/p][p][/p][p]Figure 3: Now it gets weird[/p][p]Since it’s probably not immediately obvious, let me explain the madness I have concocted here. We have a transport unit consisting of a couple of Chinook helicopters. Inside each of those Chinooks is a platoon of America’s brave men and some friends. But the transport mission those Chinooks are going to undertake is to go pick up a couple of Kiowa helicopters. How are they going to do that? Well the Kiowas will get sling-loaded underneath the Chinooks. Now that’s a bit strange, but why stop there? If you’re not familiar with the Kiowa, on the outside of it are a couple of benches that Joe Smith and a few buddies can ride on. So while the Kiowa is getting strapped in we’ve got a couple of mortar teams lashing themselves to the side of these Kiowas. Why are they riding the Kiowas instead of the Chinooks? I don’t know, I guess they just want to feel the wind in their hair. Or maybe it’s ‘cuz I told them to for this arbitrary example.[/p][p]Alright, you probably don’t want to do that, but what might you actually use this for? You could use this for transporting some wheeled units with some infantry that can use the wheeled transport to sneak close to an objective or observation point. With any luck we can expand this to cover other transport types like amphibious landings in future updates and content.[/p][p]There are a lot of nuances that Tactical Transport lets us utilize and explore in the game. An entire new range of possible scenarios we can develop and add to the game as we continue to support it and expand the series in the future. For any wily users who want to make their own scenarios or even edit the unit data the potential here is immense. If you’re as excited as I am about this, post your favorite picture of an unlikely military transport in action. Here’s mine:[/p][p]Figure 4: Ok, so the chopper isn't being carried, but it's still funny.[/p]

[p]Andrew Spearin, Producer, On Target Simulations[/p][p][/p][p]Introduction

The purpose of this AAR is to showcase how playing Flashpoint Campaigns: Cold War is less about gaming the systems, and more of an exercise in thinking and acting as a commander of ground forces. We'll take an analytical approach to how we planned our operations and see how the scenario unfolded; highlighting the strong points and invite any discussion on points to improve.

We are using the Every Cat is Black at Night play through from the October 16th, 2025 gameplay livestream on the SlitherineTV Twitch channel. You can watch the full battle in real-time action here. Read on below as we break down in further detail.

This will be a multi-part AAR posted below, with this initial post providing a situational picture of the scenario. Next, we'll look at the general plan for our primary course of action. We'll chronologically follow the main events as they unfolded. Finally, we'll assess the end results.
[/p][hr][/hr][p]
1. Situation:[/p][p][/p][p]Figure 1: Area of Operation, Most Likely ECOA

Every Cat is Black at Night D+1 | 21 July 1989, 2300hrs - 0500hrs | West Germany vs Czechoslovakia @ Landau ad Isar Scenario by Jo Lima; Mike Johnstone | Map by William van der Sterren[/p][hr][/hr][p]Player 1:
NATO: 4th PanzerGrenadier Division \[4.PzGrenDiv]
Commander: Generalmajor Berthold \[Andrew Spearin]
Second-in-Command: Oberst Borsack \[Gary Chezem]

Player 2:
Warsaw Pact: 9th Tank Division \[9. Tank Divize]
Commander: generálmajor Weiss \[CPU][/p][hr][/hr][p]
As the battle in Straubing developed, the Czechoslovakian 9th Tank Division began to drift south towards Landau ad Isar. With the Czechoslovakian 2nd Motor Rifle Division locked in combat with the West German forces in Straubing, the surrounding countryside south of the city held promise for quick exploitation. Unfortunately, the day was lost in the engagements in Straubing, and it was nighttime before the 9th was in a position to exploit the temporary local advantage the Czechoslovakian forces had.

In the 9th Tank Division HQ, there was severe indecision about making a nocturnal advance in the barely reconnoitered ground. Unlike their fellow countrymen north of Straubin, the Czechoslovakian forces in this area had been plagued by indecision and stop-and-go movement. The 2nd Motor Rifle Division was in a difficult position since, even though it had succeeded in opening a gap in the 9th Tank Division, it had entangled itself with the West German forces in Straubing. This earned the Divisional Commander a stern rebuke from the Army HQ, which was still demanding continued pressure and relentless advance.

The West German 4th PzG Division had reasons to feel marginally more optimistic. Not only had they stopped two Czechoslovakian divisions, but they could now use the night to maneuver reinforcements and consolidate their defense. At a higher level, NATO had concerns over the fact that the Czechoslovakians had secured a bridgehead over the Donau and that there were no forces to make an immediate counter. They were going to have to rely on aerial and artillery attacks to eliminate and harass the bridgehead forces. There was also concern over the gap south of Straubing. It was uncertain whether the Czechoslovakians would exploit it before the 4th PzG Division could plug it. The Divisional Commander of the 4th PzG Division wanted to consolidate his defense and counter-attack at first light on 22 July. For that purpose, the commander was moving armored forces hastily toward the area. Unfortunately, the counter-attack against the bridgehead was not meant to be.

During the early evening of the 21st, the Czechoslovakian High Command, under Soviet pressure, took control of operations in this area. In a frantic affair, the forward groups of the 9th Tank Division were consolidated into a mighty armored fist with orders to make a night drive towards Landau ad Isar and beyond if possible. As they started the advance, they realized they had just moved towards a gap in NATO's defenses. Being the defender in their own land, the HQ 4th PzG Division was quickly made aware of this. The division immediately began rushing forward with whatever mobile forces they could assemble to throw against the flank of the advancing Czechoslovakians.[/p][hr][/hr][p]
Annex A: Order of Battle (ORBAT) 4.PzGrenDiv
[/p]

• [p]HQ 4. PzGrenDiv[/p]
  • [p]HQ JgBtl 47[/p]
    • [p]HQ 2/JgBtl 47[/p]
      • [p]1/2/JgBtl 47[/p]
      • [p]2/2/JgBtl 47[/p]
      • [p]3/2/JgBtl 47[/p]
    • [p]HQ 3/JgBtl 47[/p]
      • [p]1/3/JgBtl 47[/p]
      • [p]2/3/JgBtl 47[/p]
      • [p]3/3/JgBtl 47[/p]
    • [p]HQ 4/JgBtl 47[/p]
      • [p]1/4/JgBtl 47[/p]
      • [p]2/4/JgBtl 47[/p]
      • [p]3/4/JgBtl 47[/p]
    • [p]HQ 5/JgBtl 47[/p]
      • [p]1/5/JgBtl 47[/p]
      • [p]2/5/JgBtl 47[/p]
  • [p]HQ PzAufklBtl 4[/p]
    • [p]HQ 2/PzAufklBtl 4[/p]
      • [p]1/2/PzAufklBtl 4[/p]
      • [p]2/2/PzAufklBtl 4[/p]
      • [p]3/2/PzAufklBtl 4[/p]
      • [p]4/Radarzug 4[/p]
    • [p]HQ 3/PzAufklBtl 4[/p]
      • [p]1/3/PzAufklBtl 4[/p]
      • [p]2/3/PzAufklBtl 4[/p]
      • [p]3/3/PzAufklBtl 4[/p]
      • [p]6/Radarzug 4[/p]
    • [p]HQ 4/PzAufklBtl 4[/p]
      • [p]1/4/PzAufklBtl 4[/p]
      • [p]2/4/PzAufklBtl 4[/p]
      • [p]3/4/PzAufklBtl 4[/p]
      • [p]4/4/PzAufklBtl 4[/p]
      • [p]5/4/PzAufklBtl 4[/p]
      • [p]6/4/PzAufklBtl 4[/p]
      • [p]8/Radarzug 4[/p]
    • [p]HQ 5./PzAufklBtl 4[/p]
      • [p]1/5/PzAufklBtl 4[/p]
      • [p]3/5/PzAufklBtl 4[/p]
        • [p]2/5/PzAufklBtl 4[/p]
      • [p]10/Radarzug 4[/p]
  • [p]HQ 4/RakArtBtl 42[/p]
    • [p]1/4/RakArtBtl 42[/p]
    • [p]2/4/RakArtBtl 42[/p]
  • [p]HQ 5/RakArtBtl 42[/p]
    • [p]1/5/RakArtBtl 42[/p]
    • [p]2/5/RakArtBtl 42[/p]
  • [p]WG WLR[/p]

[hr][/hr][p]
Annex B: Intelligence Preparation of the Battlefield (IPB)[/p][p]Area of Operations
Landau an der Isar, Bayern, West-Germany | 48°40'00"N 12°42'00" | 20 x 15 km area

Named Areas of Interest (NAI):[/p]

1. [p]APPLE: A high value objective along the A92 mobility corridor; anticipated as a chokepoint for the main effort[/p]
2. [p]BERRY: Left flank area with minor objective[/p]
3. [p]CHERRY: Right flank area overlapping PIR EAST[/p]
4. [p]DRAGON: Blocking position at a critical junction along the mobility corridor that leads to Landau an der Isar[/p]
5. [p]ELDER: High value objective area[/p]
6. [p]FIG: Critical objective area at western edge of the AO[/p]

[p]Priority Intelligence Requirements (PIR):[/p]

1. [p]NORTH: required to monitor for a left flank maneuvre[/p]
2. [p]EAST: required to monitor a right flank maneuvre[/p]

[p]Terrain & Weather Analysis

Weather forecast is clear, with no moon 0% illumination.
Dawn is at 02:56

Enemy Forces

The 18th Tank Regiment of the 9th Czechoslovakian Tank Division is the expected opposing force.

Intel reports indicate that local enemy forces may contain 50 to 60 Recce, over 80 Tank, over 80 APC, over 80 Inf, 6 to 10 SP AT, 10 to 20 AT, over 80 HQ, 20 to 30 AD, 6 to 10 SPArty, 40 to 50 Arty, 30 to 40 Utility and 1 to 5 WLR subunits.

A typical force structure for a Czechoslovakian armoured reconnaissance element could look like this:[/p][p]A typical force structure for a Czechoslovakian tank battalion could look like this:[/p][p]NOTE: Intelligence reports T-72 tanks are equipped in the forward elements of this force.[/p][p]A typical force structure for a Czechoslovakian artillery battalion could look like this:[/p][p]NOTE: Intelligence reports 130mm M46 are equipped with this artillery battalion. They are likely equipped with illumination rounds to enhance their night fighting capability.[/p][p]Enemy Doctrine

Expect a high tempo as the enemy tank division is pushing towards a breakthrough.
Reconnaissance elements will be in the lead, likely taking main roadways until making contact.
Expect T-72 tanks as their primary force, followed by motor rifle companies and second echelon tanks.
Artillery with this division is limited, but still effective.

Enemy Courses of Action (ECOAs)

Most Likely ECOA:
Main effort moving fast along mobility corridor towards APPLE

Most Dangerous ECOA:
Forces split with flanking elements through BERRY and/or CHERRY
High mobility advance party moving faster than our force can arrive to DRAGON, ELDER and FIG

Intelligence Gaps
Our forces are moving into the AO from the north-west and currently do not have active information from any NAI or PIR. Rapid movement of armoured reconnaissance to monitor PIRs is imperative.

Assessment
According to enemy doctrine, the MLECOA and MDECOA are both anticipated.[/p][hr][/hr][p]
2. Mission

Block further penetration by enemy forces along the A92 corridor.[/p][p]3. NATO Planning

Knowing that the 2ic has experience combat on this battleground before, the Generalmajor consulted an opinion as an initial consideration.
[/p]

[p]Oberst Borsack wrote:In the past, I've tried to take advantage of the southern side of the river... it's a good flanking route. However, you have to really commit to it or else you end up having forces where they are not needed.

Maybe just a town and high country defense of the objectives.[/p]

[p]Time is of the essence for this meeting engagement, and a flank maneuvre south of the river would be time consuming and risky. The 2ic's advice will remain a consideration if resources allow.

ELDER will be a focus area for consolidating infantry to conduct a stalwart defensive position along the mobility corridor.

We also require infantry, supported by tanks, in BERRY which contains a tertiary objective. These forces will be used to slow the advance and potentially launch a counterattack into APPLE, if the opportunity presents itself.

Armoured forces will screen and attempt to slow down the enemy main effort in APPLE and BERRY.

2ic chimed in with some good advice, this time, regarding the deployment of tanks in BERRY:
[/p]

[p]Obsert Borsack wrote:It might be good to put one platoon on the north side of the river and the other two on the southern side because we're not going to stop them from taking the APPLE objective, so if we can hit them on the way by...[/p]

[p]With the first delay force ready, we noticed a treeline south of CHERRY that offers a concealed location to monitor PIR EAST and intercept a potential enemy flanking maneuvre.

The initial orders we issue to our units are going to set the entire battle's trajectory, so we must carefully plan and prepare to pivot our COA as the situation changes.[/p][hr][/hr][p]
4. Execution[/p][p]Turn 1 (Setup): 23:00[/p][p]
[/p][p]The initial advance party is small: a handful of tanks, infantry and armoured reconnaissance with ground radar. We need to be economical about sending them into our initial priority areas and establish pickets to monitor the mobility corridor.

Orders:

- 3/PzAufklBtl 4 equipped with Leopard 1A5 tanks, armed with 105mm L7 cannon and equipped with nightvision are tasked to BERRY, setting positions on both sides of the Ressinger Bach.

- 5/PzAufklBtl 4 are typically armoured reconnaissance scout teams, but are bolstered by MG3 machine gun teams and a Carl Gustav team. So they will need to perform as mobile infantry to begin with until they are reinforced. They are being sent to the town of GANACKER and setup defensive positions to cover the objective in DRAGON.

- 2/5/PzAufklBtl 4 draws the short straw and is detached to seize the treeline south of CHERRY to monitor PIR EAST.

- Our two TPz Fuchs + RATAC units with ground search radar and being deployed in depth positions and set up to detect the approaching enemy.

[/p][hr][/hr][p]
Turn 2: 23:23[/p][p][/p][p]As the intial orders are carried out by our advance party, our first reinforcements arrive. A troop of Leopards accompanied by another RATAC enter the AO from the north.

Orders:

- 4/Radarzug 4 will move 1.5 km east and monitor PIR NORTH, hopefully to give us our first detection of the approaching enemy.

- 2/PzAufklBtl 4 is tasked to move hasty south to GANACKER and pivot east to set up defensive line in the treeline covering CHERRY and PIR EAST.

[/p][hr][/hr][p]
Turn 3: 23:46[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]The bulk of our Jaeger Battalion has now arrived in the AO, with an additional troop of Leopards and a few SpPz Luchs A3 recce units. We can use these units to bolster our advance party troops and establish a new defensive line in ELDER.

The objective in APPLE has fallen to the enemy. We have no contact reports from the area, but it's a reasonable assumption these are the advance reconnaissance units moving along the mobility corridor.

Radar detects our first enemy contact: 10 to 20 tanks moving south on St2325 into PIR NORTH.

Orders:

- 5 and 6/4/PzAufklBtl 4 are sent to cross the Isar at LANDAU and move hasty east and prepare to cross back north. 2ic gets his wish granted for this maneuvre.

- 4/PzAufklBtl 4 Leopards head south to reinforce the infantry at GANACKER.

- 2/JgBtl 47 mount up in their Unimog 1300 L utility vehicles and deploy defenses in HAIDLFING and support the 3/PzAufklBtl Leopard tanks in BERRY. 4/4/PzAufklBtl 4 will move with 3/4 to screen forward of the infantry and tanks, gaining sight on enemy forces in the vicinity of APPLE.

- 3/JgBtl 47 will move to establish a depth position in ELDER.

- 4/JgBtl 47 were initially intended to bolster DRAGON. However, due to 2ic's worries, this unit is being sent to WAIBLING as a reserve force to rapidly deploy when needed.
[/p][hr][/hr][p]Next: Contact![/p][p][/p][p]You can read the rest of Andrew's AAR as it develops on our forums here[/p]

[p]Flashpoint Campaigns puts the player in the command post, planning and supervising the battle to defeat the opposing forces. As the commander, the player issues orders which are executed by the companies and platoons, represented by unit counters on the map. To make this a dynamic and engaging experience, the game’s AI (artificial intelligence) plays three important roles:[/p][p]1.      A skilled opponent, commanding the enemy forces. Even though scenarios may come with battle plans that define the initial maneuvers, the computer player still needs to supervise all units not involved in those battle plans, and finish the fight with all units once the battle plans have been completed.[/p][p]2.      Tactical and autonomous unit level behavior for platoons and companies on the map operate within the boundaries of the orders and standard operating procedures (SOPs). During the game’s orders resolution phase, where the player commander intervenes, these units execute their given orders and respond per SOP to events and unforeseen situations. The unit’s tactical behavior needs to be sound and competent, so that the battle’s success is determined by the commander’s planning and supervision.[/p][p]3.      Streamline the process of issuing complex orders in a single orders phase, to maneuver in formation, cross future bridges and minefield gaps, or perform follow-on actions after an airborne insertion.[/p][p]Figure 1   Mission briefing graphics and your command vehicle in shown in Flashpoint Campaigns: Cold War[/p][p]In this blog, we want to highlight the improvements for the AI as an opposing commander, for the unit’s tactical behavior, and for assisting the player in issuing complex orders.[/p][p][/p][p]The Computer Player has been upgraded to coordinate fire-support with planned ground maneuvers. When it has available fire-support assets such as artillery, attack helicopters, or close-air-support, it will coordinate fire support as follows: it will first identify the most important planned ground maneuvers, then predict the potential threats on the front and flanks of these ground maneuvers, and finally assign missions to the fire-support assets to destroy or suppress these threats.[/p][p]The Computer Player is capable of this coordination both when the Battle Plans are being executed and when Battle Plans have been completed; the only requirement is that unallocated fire support assets are available (and not tied up in Battle Plan missions of their own).[/p][p]Figure 2   Developer view of the Computer Player’s plans, in which it coordinates fire support assets to support a ground maneuver (diagonally, from the east to southwest) by sending gunships (north of the ground attack maneuver) and plotting artillery strikes (south of the ground attack maneuver)[/p][p]By coordinating fire support with ground maneuvers, the Computer Player becomes a more interesting opponent with stronger combined arms maneuvers.[/p][p][/p][p]Attack helicopters are a symbol of the Cold War era: these “gunships” could be quickly ordered across the battlefield to halt an armored attack or cover an open flank. Well-timed use of these attack helicopters can change the battle and our beta-testers have consistently demonstrated this. However, our beta-testers also reported that the helicopter unit behavior let them down when the gunships attempted to return to their FARP base to replenish ammo.[/p][p]The problem was that the helicopters would take a quick and short route back to the FARP, potentially traversing hostile held terrain and ground covered by known hostile air-defense systems.[/p][p]For Flashpoint Campaigns: Cold War, we introduced the following improvements:[/p]

• [p]helicopters now use the ‘stealth’ pathfinding preference when returning to the FARP, thereby preferring low terrain, valleys, protection from hill sides, and avoiding crossing ridges at the highest point[/p]
• [p]in addition, helicopter pathfinding also considers the map of spotted and recently lost-track-of hostile air-defense systems, aiming to avoid terrain covered by these systems.[/p]

[p]An example is shown below, for a West-German BO-105/PAH-1 anti-tank helicopter section which is trying to return to its FARP, carefully plotting a route which minimizes exposure to known Warsaw Pact air-defense systems:[/p][p][/p][p]Figure 3   The West-German BO-105/PAH-1 returning to base by “threading a needle” through the hostile air defense coverage (shown as red covered hexes)[/p][p]Note that this behavior does not make helicopters invincible: they might still be surprised by SAM missiles from unspotted or relocated air-defense systems.[/p][p]Another example of improved tactical unit behavior is the withdraw movement to a better position. On paper, the original design should work well: after being triggered by a nearby hostile unit, the unit would decide to withdraw, pick a safer location to withdraw to, and finally issue the movement orders to do so. On the game’s battlefields, the resulting behavior was unreliable:[/p]

• [p]the chosen withdraw location chosen was not always the most suitable location[/p]
• [p]the path to that location could expose the unit to increased danger[/p]
• [p]even a seemingly perfect withdrawal path and location could be rendered useless due to new enemy units appearing in the time between the decision and the actual start of the movement (when the unit is fully mounted up)[/p]

[p]To address these issues, we implemented the following changes:[/p][p]The first change was to improve the assessment of good withdraw destinations, now also allowing bridge crossings if necessary. After selecting the best candidate withdraw destinations, these would be filtered to unique locations (removing similar neighboring locations) and ranked for having the safest path to the location, resulting in a single best location to withdraw. If this “best location” offers benefits over the current location, the unit will withdraw.[/p][p]The second change was to revisit, and if necessary, update, the choice of the withdraw destination at the time the unit was all mounted up and ready to move. This allowed the unit to respond to newly spotted hostile units and to hostile units having closed in between the initial decision to withdraw and actual start of the movement.[/p][p]Figure 4   A US Army ‘hammerhead’ M901 ant-tank platoon automatically pulling back to hillside position further away from the threats, using a covered path due to the town and hillside between itself and the Warsaw Pact mechanized forces moving up.[/p][p][/p][p]As commander in Flashpoint Campaigns: Cold War, you issue orders for 15 to 60 minutes of game time. It is important to be able to issue orders for that duration, even when the orders involve coordination between several units’ actions. The game’s AI facilitates this.[/p][p]For example, the commander can order a bridge layer unit to place a bridge across a minor river, and, in the same orders phase, plot a tank company assault across that still-to-be-placed bridge. The AI’s pathfinding knows how to deal with future bridges and supports planning movements beyond the bridge accordingly.[/p][p]For Flashpoint Campaigns: Cold War, we expanded this with the capability to issue follow-on orders to airborne forces that will be inserted, as soon as the orders to corresponding air transport units define the future landing zone. This enables the player to plan and command complex airborne assaults with airborne forces seizing objectives all in a single order phase. This is illustrated below for an airborne engineer unit with orders to blow a bridge immediately after being inserted.[/p][p][/p][p]Figure 5   A small airborne insertion planned for the initial turn, with the transport (white path) inserting the airborne engineer section in a landing zone before exfiltrating. The airborne engineer unit (orange path) being inserted will move to the bridge, demolish it, and subsequent take position in the village.[/p][p][/p][p]In Flashpoint Campaigns: Cold War, we also assist the player with issuing formation movement orders for groups. These formation movement orders reduce the effort to issue orders, and they help those units involved move with greater cohesion, being able to better support another when being engaged. The new formation movement commands allow for column formations to move across roads and complex terrain, and for two-up and three-up formations to maneuver through open terrain.[/p][p]Figure 6   The player’s options for formation movement orders illustrated, with the developer graphics displaying the.[/p][p][/p][p]With these examples, we hope to have given you a glimpse of the improvements that are part of Flashpoint Campaigns: Cold War and perhaps a better understanding of the challenges facing “the computer player.”[/p]

[p]Hello Commanders![/p][p]Today we’re going to take a closer look at the at the improvements we have made in Flashpoint Campaigns: Cold War’s (FCCW) SOP system from Flashpoint Campaigns: Southern Storm (FCSS).[/p][p]Just in case you’re new to the term SOP, it stands for Standard Operating Procedure. In the context of Flashpoint Campaigns (FC) it is how units react under a given set of conditions. As a bit of history, before FCSS (in Flashpoint Campaigns: Red Storm) the SOP was determined by the type of order a unit received and was not adjustable. In FCSS we changed that to have user defined SOP behavior. This could be adjusted for all orders or on an individual order basis. Later in development we added presets that could make setting the SOP even faster.[/p][p]With some background established, let’s look at the changes made in FCCW. SOP presented a number of challenges for players, new and old. Some players found them incomprehensible with a bunch of levers and buttons that had no clear consequence. Other players found them tedious to interact with, taking too long to get to the part of the game they found most enjoyable. Many found the enemy AI to be using SOP settings that were non-ideal, resulting in too easy challenges in scenarios.[/p][p][/p][p]Figure 1: FCSS SOP Manager[/p][p][/p][p]Figure 2: FCCW SOP Manager[/p][p]It doesn’t take long to spot that there is a lot that has changed. The scope preset at the top has been replaced with a much more straightforward list of orders on the left hand side. This makes for faster one click switching between which order we want to edit the SOP of. The starting selection is now the current order instead of the Default SOP (the SOP settings which every newly issued order will clone). Those handy presets we added later in FCSS? Now fully available as a quick dropdown you can select from right at the top of the Manager. The multiple apply buttons are now replaced with a single apply button and checkboxes to select which things you want to modify. Some background color helps to break up the form and make it easier to read. And if any piece of it is confusing, there are now mouseover tooltips explaining each piece of the form.[/p][p][/p][p]Figure 3: FCCW R&R Form[/p][p]One of the things we did to make the SOP form smaller was to remove the R&R settings which don’t really need to be set on each order into their own form. Since we were doing this though we could also take the opportunity to give players greater control on which ammo types are important to them. Don’t think the chaingun ammo on your Bradleys are important? Uncheck it! Think smoke rounds for your artillery is cool, but don’t want your artillery stopping to reload because you ran out? Uncheck it! Tired of your infantry running out of grenades and not getting more? Check that![/p][p]We did remove the ambiguous Tactical Initiative value from the SOP Manager. It was having a fairly small impact that wasn’t terribly clear to players and could have unanticipated effects for players on the battle.[/p][p][/p][p]Figure 4: FCCW SOP Overview[/p][p]Up til now, we’ve just looked at things that help players do things the old way. And that’s important, but how can we get to hitting that Start button faster where the bullets start flying? First is fairly simple for players: have every unit in the game start with a decent Default SOP setting. Our scenario designers and editors have gone through every unit in every scenario and set the SOPs to something that makes sense for those units to complete the most likely mission the players will want them to complete. That might be one of the SOP Presets exactly, one with slight variations, or even one with lots of adjustments.[/p][p]But what if you don’t like where we started you off? Introducing the SOP Overview tab. You can find this in the incredibly useful Operations window. It will list every unit under your command with the settings they are currently given. You can use this to inspect your force at a glance and upon spotting something you want to change, simply right click the unit icon and make whatever changes you would like.[/p][p][/p][p]Figure 5: FCCW Unit Right Click Menu[/p][p]Later in FCSS we added those presets, and they are still here, but now we automatically filter them down in the right click menu to just the ones relevant to your current unit selection. All the others are still there if you want, you can grab them through the dropdown menu at the top of the game window.[/p][p][/p][p]Figure 6: FCCW Unit Dashboard SOP Summary[/p][p][/p][p]Figure 7: FCCW Unit Dashboard SOP Detailed[/p][p]It's definitely easy for players to get lost in the wall of text that a SOP description can easily be. Or they might think that since we’re providing all of this information they have to be able to absorb and understand it immediately to be able to play the game. Both are bad. To address that, the description of a SOP in the Unit Dashboard has been compressed to just show the closest matching preset and the changes to that preset (if any). You can still pull up the full description with a single click by clicking on the name of the Preset in the Dashboard if you wish.[/p][p]I could probably spend lots more time talking about the many wonderful changes we’ve made to SOP settings and the presets, but we have to stop at some point, and now is as good a time as any. We’ve made a lot of changes that will hopefully address the various concerns of our veteran players and make it easier for new players to pick up the game and start playing.[/p][p][/p][p]Eagerly awaiting to share the awesome with you guys,
 - Kevin (SgtZdog)
   Programmer at On Target Simulations[/p]