                               Command : MARCH

NAME
   march - Move a land unit or units

Level: Basic

SYNTAX
   [##:##]% march <LAND UNIT/ARMY> <ROUTE|DESTINATION>

The march command is the move command applied to land units.  You can  control
one unit or an entire army with it.

Land units may only move into sectors you own.  If you are moving an army  and
the  lead unit stops, the army stops; (the lowest numbered unit is always con-
sidered the lead unit).

The program will prompt with the mobility of the lead unit, the minimum mobil-
ity value for the army, and the current sector coordinates in the form:

   <57.0:23.5: -6,4>

which means the lead unit has 57 mobility units, some other unit in  the  army
has 23.5 mobility units and the lead unit is in sector -6,4.  You may indicate
the direction you would like the army to move by typing a  string  of  letters
consisting of any combination of the following:

   y  for up-left
   u  for up-right               y    u
   g  for left                    \  /
   j  for right               g  --  --  j
   b  for down-left               /  \
   n  for down-right             b    n
   r  for radar
   l  for lookout
   m  to sweep landmines
   h  for end of movement

The radar option will cause the lead unit to use it's radar, if any.  You  may
also  give  a  unit  number  or  army  or  group of units on the same line: "r
12/13/14/73"

The lookout option works in the same way as radar, i.e. it will cause the lead
unit to do a lookout.

Note: the lookout and radar commands use BTU's, just as if  you'd  typed  them
separately from the command line.

You may also use the 'm' command to  have  engineers  in  the  marching  group
search for mines in the current sector. Example: "m 12"

Since the <ROUTE> can be specified in the command line, simple unit  movements
are often typed as a single line, such as:
   [##:##] Command: march 19 jjjh

Or some movements may be done partly on the command line and  partly  interac-
tively:

   [##:##] Command: march 18 yy

   <112.7:112.7: -4, -2> l
   Your capital 100% efficient with 549 civ with 10 mil @ -5,-3
   Your highway 100% efficient with 549 civ with 0 mil @ -4,-2
   Your harbor 100% efficient with 549 civ with 109 mil @ -3,-1
   <112.7:112.7: -4, -2> yh
   war band #18 stopped at -5,-3

You may also simply specify the destination sector on  the  command  line.  In
this  case,  empire  will  set  the  path to be the cheapest path (in terms of
mobility) that currently exists. The unit(s) will move to the destination sec-
tor, and then ask for more input.

For example,
   [##:##] Command: march 18 -6,-2

   <104.2:104.2: -6,-2> h
   war band #18 stopped at -5,-3

Note that if you are marching multiple units, you may only specify a  destina-
tion sector on the command line if all the units start in the same sector.

See "info Mobility" for the mobility cost to march land units.

At the update, units with negative mobility have their mobility halved  before
new  mob is added. For example, in a game where units got 32 mob per update, a
unit with -100 mobility would have -18 after an update.  (-100/2 = -50 + 32  =
-18) This helps inefficient units be not quite as slow.

Moving a unit through a sector that has been  mined  introduces  a  chance  of
mines/(mines + 50) that you will be damaged.  Units with engineering capabili-
ties can remove up to five mines per pass through a sector (indicated  by  the
message  Sweep...).   Such  units also take 1/2 normal damage from mines.  See
info lmine for more details.

Hostile land/sea/air units may fire at/bomb your units, if they're on  interd-
iction  missions (see info mission).  If your enemy has a stack of missiles on
interdiction mission, then they will  automatically  fire  one  after  another
until 100 damage has been done.  Missiles and pinbombers have a 100% chance of
hitting their target (provided they make it through  plane/missile  defenses).
Collateral  damage  will  be  done  to the sector that the units were marching
into.

SEE ALSO
   Unit-types, lmine, LandUnits, Moving

