                             Concept : Land Units

 Land units are organized collections of mil (militia). They are  considerably
more effective and cost-efficient than militia, and have many extra abilities.
With the addition of land units, mil are now more or  less  considered  to  be
militia instead of military, and are less important.

Commands for land units are generally similar to those  of  planes/ships,  and
will  usually start with 'l'. (Note: I decided to make new commands instead of
requiring a (Ship, plane, or land unit?) argument on every silly  command.   I
hope that once you get used to it, you'll agree)

Land unit characteristics

Land units have some characteristics of  both  ships  and  planes,  plus  some
unique  ones. Like both ships & planes, they have efficiency & mobility.  Like
ships, they can carry cargo, may have/use fuel, and may be able to  fire  guns
at  distant targets. Like planes, they have attack and defense values, and may
be able to act automatically to defend your country.  Let's look at a  typical
land unit:

                             Concept : Land Units

   [##:##] Command: land *

      # unit type       x,y   a  eff fort  mu food fuel tech retr rad xl ship
      0 infantry 1      2,0      96%    0  93    1    0    0  75%   1  0
   1 unit

This land unit is an infantry 1 unit, located at 2,0. In many games, you  will
start  with 1-2 basic land units of this type. Some of the things about it are
familiar. It is 96% efficient, has 93 mobility units, carries 1 food, no fuel,
and  is  tech 0. It carries 0 xtra-light planes, and is not on a ship. The 'a'
stands for army, and is just like fleets or wings, i.e. a way of grouping your
units. (See info army for more information)

The others are new concepts. Fort is the level of fortification  of  the  land
unit. The higher the fortification, the harder the unit is to hurt.

The 'retr' stands for retreat percentage. This land unit  must  begin  rolling
morale  checks  in combat whenever its efficiency goes below 75%. This is user
settable in a range determined by the happiness of  the  owning  country.  The

                             Concept : Land Units

happier your people are, the more determinedly they fight. If,  on  the  other
hand,  you  want  the unit to retreat easily, you can set this to 100% or some
other high number. (For information on setting  this,  see  info  morale.  For
information on morale checks, see info attack)

The other new thing is rad. This  is  referred  to  as  the  unit's  'reaction
radius',  and is the distance to which the unit can react to defend your coun-
try.  Basically, if an enemy attacks a sector close enough  to  the  unit,  it
will  go  to the threatened sector and fight, like a plane intercepting. If it
survives the attack without failing a morale check, it will return to the sec-
tor  it started from, just like a plane would. (For more information on react-
ing and morale checks, see info attack) Just  as  you  can  use  rangeedit  to
change the range of your planes and control how far away they'll intercept, so
you can change the reaction radius with lrangedit. Units with a base  reaction
radius of 0, or those whose radius you have set to 0, will not react.

Cargo

Each land unit can carry cargo. The cargo display for land units is very simi-
lar to that of ships, and is gotten with the lcargo command.

                             Concept : Land Units

   [##:##] Command: lcargo *

   lnd# unit type     x,y    a   eff  sh gun pet irn dst bar oil lcm hcm rad
      0 infantry 1    2,0        96%   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0
   1 unit

The land unit is not carrying anything. Potentially, land units can carry  any
of the commodities listed above. Unlike ships, they cannot carry mil, civs, or
uw's. Land units are loaded and unloaded using the lload command, which  works
pretty  much  like the load command for ships. (See info lload) Units on ships
can transfer supplies to/from the ships with the ltend command.

HQ's & Building land units

Like planes and ships, land units are  built  in  special  sectors.  For  land
units,  the  sector  is  the  headquarters  sectors, designation !. Like other
units, they may require hcms and lcms, and will generally require money.

Unlike ships, but like planes, land unit require the expenditure of mil.  Some

                             Concept : Land Units

may require guns and shells. All this info can be gotten with  the  show  com-
mand.

   [##:##] Command: show land build

                             lcm hcm mil guns shells avail tech  $
   infantry 1                 10   5  50    0      0    30    0  $500

The infantry 1 unit takes a total of 10 lcms, 5 hcms, and  50  mil  to  build.
Like ships and planes, units are built at a lower percentage, and 'grow' up to
100%, and any unit with an efficiency of less than  the  build  percentage  is
dead.  For land units, this minimum efficiency is 10%.  The build requirements
for land units, like those listed above, are for a 100% unit. Thus, the infan-
try  1  would  require  1  lcm,  .5  hcms, and 10 mil to be built. (Fractional
amounts are randomly rounded... i.e. .5 has a 50% chance  of  being  1  or  0.
It'll all even out over time)

When 'growing', land units  require  materials  and  militia,  which  must  be

                             Concept : Land Units

present in the sector. The amount of growth is calculated in the same  fashion
as  planes/ships.  Generally  a  land  unit  can grow by up to 2x the ETUs per
update. (See the version command for  exact  maximums,  as  these  are  deity-
settable)  So,  for example, in a 32 ETU game, a land unit could possibly grow
by 64% per update. For the infantry unit shown above, this would  require  6.4
lcms,  3.2 hcms, and 64 military. If any of these things aren't present in the
sector, the unit won't gain efficiency.

Repair of Land units

Ships can repair themselves in any sector, and can use work from  their  crew,
or  from  a  harbor  they are in. Planes can only be repaired in airports, and
only use work from the airport. Land units can be repaired in HQ's, or in for-
tresses,  and use the work of the HQ or fort. This means that front-line units
in forts will repair themselves  each  update,  assuming  that  the  necessary
materials, mil, and work are available. They can also gain efficiency in other
sector types, but at a much reduced efficiency (1/3rd normal gain)

Land unit statistics

                             Concept : Land Units

Each land unit has certain vital statistics which show how  it  will  operate.
These are obtainable from the show command:

   [##:##] Command: show land statistics

                                          s  v  s  r  f  a  d  a  a        x
                                          p  i  p  a  r  c  a  m  a  f  f  p
                             att def vul  d  s  y  d  g  c  m  m  f  c  u  l
   infantry 1                1.0 1.5  60 23 15  2  1  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0

The infantry unit has an attack multiplier of 1.0, and defensive multiplier of
1.5.  It  has a vulnerability rating of 60, a speed of 23, a visibility of 15,
spy value of 2, reaction radius maximum of 1, no firing range, no accuracy, no
firing  damage,  uses  no ammo, has no aa fire, doesn't carry of use fuel, and
can't carry xtra-light planes.

When attacking, a unit's value is expressed in 'mil-equivalents', i.e. 1  mil-
eq  is  as  strong as 1 mil. To find a unit's attack value, find the number of

                             Concept : Land Units

mil currently in it, and multiply by the attack multiplier. To find the number
of  mil  in the unit, multiply its efficiency by the number of mil it takes to
build the unit. In the case of our infantry unit, 96% of 50 is 48 mil. So, the
unit  has  an attack value of 48 (48*1.0), and a defense value of 72 (48*1.5).
Some units, like tanks, will have high attack multipliers, and medium  defense
multipliers.  Some,  like  most  infantry,  will  be  better at defending than
attacking. Some, like artillery units, will be bad at both.

The vulnerability of a unit determines how easy it is  to  hurt  the  unit  by
shelling  it, bombing it, or when it encounters land mines. The lower the vul-
nerability, the better. Values range from 1-100.

Spd is the relative speed of the land unit. Land units move by  marching  (see
info  march),  and  use  mob depending on their speed and the terrain they are
moving through. For more info and formulas, see info march.

Vis is the visibility of the unit. This is a measure of  how  easy  it  is  to
see/detect  the  unit.  Lower is harder to see, and the numbers can range from
1-100 or so. When a land unit tries to use the llook command to look for enemy
land  units/planes,  its  chances of success are affected by the target units'

                             Concept : Land Units

visibility (see info llook for more details).

Spy is the other side of the equation, i.e. how well can the unit find things?
A unit with a low spy won't be very good at locating other units, and won't be
able to report much when it encounters them in battle. A high-spy unit will be
able to use the llook command with more chance of success, and will be able to
more accurately report information about the units it  runs  into  in  battle.
(See  info attack for information about intelligence reports) Units with radar
capacity also use their spy value to determine  how  far  they  can  see.  Spy
values range from 0-127, with low numbers being most common.

Rad is the maximum reaction radius for the unit. When  built,  the  unit  will
have  this  as its reaction radius. If you change the reaction radius by using
the lrangedit command, you will be able to select any value that is between  0
and the maximum.

Frg is the unit's firing range. The unit can fire as far as the frg,  modified
by  the  unit's  tech.  Accuracy  is  the unit's firing accuracy, and helps to
determine how much damage it will do, along with the dam  of  the  unit.  When
firing  at  sectors,  damage  is  based  solely  on the damage. When firing in

                             Concept : Land Units

defense of a sector, or firing at ships, damage is based on both acc and  dam.
(See info fire for more information)

Ammo is the number of shells a land unit uses every time it fires or  partici-
pates  in  combat. If the unit does not have enough shells when firing, damage
will be reduced proportionately. If a unit does not have enough shells in com-
bat,  it will be out of supply, and have its combat strength cut in half. (See
info supply and info attack for information on supply and how it affects  com-
bat.

Aaf is the unit's anti-aircraft fire value. The higher  the  value,  the  more
damage the unit will do to planes flying overhead.

Fc/fu are the unit's fuel capacity and use. If the fc/fu are 0, the unit  does
not  need fuel to gain mobility. If the fc/fu are non-zero, the unit will need
fuel to gain mobility, and will use fu fuel whenever  it  fights.   (See  info
fuel for information on fuel)

Xpl is the number of xtra-light planes the unit can carry. Planes can  operate
from  a  land  unit  in  the  same fashion as if it were a carrier.  Normally,

                             Concept : Land Units

xtra-light planes are SAMs, so units can carry SAMs for air-defense. This par-
ticular unit can't carry any.

Land unit capabilities

There are many different capabilities that land units may have.  They  may  be
seen with the show command:

   [##:##] Command: show land capability

                             capabilities
   infantry 1                 5f light assault

The command shows the cargos the unit can carry (5 food in this case), and its
abilities. See info unit-types for a complete description of the various capa-
bilities.

Moving

                             Concept : Land Units

Land units move with the march command, which is pretty identical to the navi-
gate  command.  Marching  units  can run into land-mines, be interdicted, etc.
See info march for more info. See info mission for  information  on  interdic-
tion.

Units & ships

Each type of ship is rated on the number of land units  it  can  carry.   Land
units  that are 'light' can be loaded onto ships using the normal load command
(see info load). Units that also have the 'assault' ability (see info show and
info  unit-types for explanations of abilities) can be used in assaulting sec-
tors. (See info assault).

Supply

Units need supplies in order to  attack.  Each  update,  and  each  time  they
attack,  units  will  attempt  to draw supplies. See info supply.  Really, I'm
serious. If you don't read info supply, you'll die a horrible death.  I'm  not
kidding.

                             Concept : Land Units

Fortification

Land units are able to fortify themselves to better resist damage. Each  point
of  mobility  spent  increases  the  fortification level by 1, up to a maximum
equal to the maximum mobility of a land unit. A fully fortified unit takes one
half the normal amount of damage. Fortification is lost when the unit moves or
retreats. (Note that a reacting defending unit can have a fortification value.
This is an abstraction) Read info fortify for more details.

Looking

Land units can use llook to look around. This command is analogous to the look
command  used  by ships. When llooking, land units have a chance to spot other
land units and also planes. Recon units tend to have better spy values, and so
are better at this.  (See info show and info unit-types to find out more about
recon units).

Radar

Some units can use the lradar command.  This  command  works  like  the  radar

                             Concept : Land Units

command. Radar range is determined by the unit's spy value.   (See  info  show
and info unit-types to find out more about radar units).

Engineers

Some land units have the 'engineering' ability. These  units  can  do  several
things.  Engineers  are  the  only units that can lay land-mines, and the only
units that  can  sweep  them  when  moving  (like  a  minesweeper).  Attacking
engineers  also  halve  the  defender's mine bonus. Engineers can also use the
work command, which allows them to raise sector efficiency.  (See  info  work)
They also tend to be quite expensive.

Attacking & defending

Info attack has a complete treatment of this, but I will summarize here.  When
you  decide  to  attack a sector, you can use mil and units from adjacent sec-
tors. The attack value of your forces is the combined  attack  values  of  all
attacking land units, plus the number of mil coming in from adjacent sectors.

The defense value is equal to the  mil  in  the  defending  sector,  plus  the

                             Concept : Land Units

defense values of any defending units in the sector, as well as any that react
and move there.

Friendly ships/forts/artillery units/planes can  contribute  support.  Support
starts  at  1.0.  Each  friendly ship/fort/artillery unit/ plane that can help
adds its damage/100 to the support. For example, if you were attacking a  sec-
tor,  and  a friendly battleship was close enough to fire there, it could sup-
port you. If it would normally do 23% damage when firing, it  would  add  +.23
support, making your support number 1.23. The enemy also gets support from all
his stuff.

When all support is totaled,  the  attacker  strength  is  multiplied  by  the
attacker's  support  to  get the total attacker strength. The defender's total
strength is determined similarly. Both sides have their strength  modified  by
the  terrain. (show sector stats will show the defensive value of a sector) He
can also get support by having mine-fields in the sector (see info  lmine  and
info  attack  for more information). Planes support only if assigned to a sup-
port mission. See info mission for information on support missions.

Combat is done fairly normally, with a series of rolls for attacker/  defender

                             Concept : Land Units

casualties, until one side is dead or retreats. Land units take  damage  after
all  mil on their side are dead, and each 'hit' on a land unit does 1 mil dam-
age. (Therefore, a unit that takes 100 mil to build would take 1% damage  when
it  suffers  a  casualty.  A unit that takes 50 mil would take 2%, etc) When a
land unit's level of damage taken in a battle reaches it's 'retreat level', it
must begin taking morale checks. When it fails one, it will retreat.  Retreat-
ing attacking units go back to the sector they came from. Defending units will
attempt  to  retreat  to an adjacent owned sector. If there are none, the unit
will take extra damage and continue fighting.

If the attacker wins, he captures the sector, and his mil/units will move into
the sector if he ordered that. If the defender wins a combat, his units in the
sector stay there. His reacting defending units that did  not  fail  a  morale
check  return to their starting point. Defending units who started in the sec-
tor stay in the sector.

In both cases, retreated units end up in the sector they retreated to.

Units and retreating

                             Concept : Land Units

Ships can use the retreat command to specify when and how they will  run  away
from  trouble. Land units use a similar command lretreat to do the same thing.
See info lretreat for more details.

See also : unit-types, show, supply

