When does a battle plan start and end?

[EntropyAvatar]

So you assign units to a battle plan, they move to their start positions and start accumulating a planning bonus. Then you fire off the plan and they start attacking toward their end line.

1. Do they keep the full planning bonus until they reach the end line, or does the bonus decay or have some time limit? I think there must be some sort of decay or time limit, or on launching Barbarossa I'd set the ultimate target line around Vladivostock, and have bonuses all the way.

2. Do you lose the bonus once you reach the end point of the plan? That would be a bit rough. Wouldn't want your forces to turn into jello the moment they finally complete their encirclement.

3. Do you lose the bonus if you deviate from the plan?

4. Do you get the bonus if you are attacked before launching the plan? If yes, how on earth do defensive plans work?

Overall, I'm starting to think that the planning bonus amounts to a combat bonus for sitting still for a while, that decays once you start fighting or moving again. Otherwise you get into really weird situations where you gain and lose the bonus at essentially arbitrary times or rewards unrealistically long-term plans.

 

[fabius]

So you assign units to a battle plan, they move to their start positions and start accumulating a planning bonus. Then you fire off the plan and they start attacking toward their end line.

1. Do they keep the full planning bonus until they reach the end line, or does the bonus decay or have some time limit? I think there must be some sort of decay or time limit, or on launching Barbarossa I'd set the ultimate target line around Vladivostock, and have bonuses all the way.

2. Do you lose the bonus once you reach the end point of the plan? That would be a bit rough. Wouldn't want your forces to turn into jello the moment they finally complete their encirclement.

3. Do you lose the bonus if you deviate from the plan?

4. Do you get the bonus if you are attacked before launching the plan? If yes, how on earth do defensive plans work?

Overall, I'm starting to think that the planning bonus amounts to a combat bonus for sitting still for a while, that decays once you start fighting or moving again. Otherwise you get into really weird situations where you gain and lose the bonus at essentially arbitrary times or rewards unrealistically long-term plans.

From what a dev said (think it was podcat)

Bonus accumulates as soon as you start plan- up to a max dependent on things like doctrines.

One you plan you units under that general will move to the Front or def line to start preparing.

As soon as you execute the plan; or move units their plan bonus has a trick loss.

After executing plan you still have bonus even if you manually take over movement and attacks.

 

[EntropyAvatar]

So you are saying that the planning bonus does tick down once you start executing the plan?

 

[fabius]

So you are saying that the planning bonus does tick down once you start executing the plan?

Yes.

 

[PlacidDragon]

So you are saying that the planning bonus does tick down once you start executing the plan?

Well, thats only natural. You cant have a massive bonus to the initial Operation Barbarossa in 1943

 

[EntropyAvatar]

So would it be fair to call the planning bonus a "time spent inactive" bonus? I mean, you need to have a plan to get the bonus, but you don't actually need to follow the plan (I can micro without penalty). I'm definitely not following the plan if the plan is an attack but the enemy attacks me first (like in the Bulge), but presumably I still get the planning bonus? What if I radically altered the attack plan the day before hitting go? I think that to be consistent with the micro scenario and the unexpected defense scenario, you probably wouldn't suffer a planning penalty then either.

I think this disconnects the planning bonus from a preparation for any particular set of events. But the alternative is a potentially confusing arbitration about when you are following the plan and when you aren't. Which would probably end up being as easy to understand as the fort rules in EU4.

So a combat reward for spending time without fighting or moving probably encourages operational pauses? Your force will certainly benefit, but it will benefit the opponent as well. If both forces have depleted their planning bonus, but the balance of forces is in my favor, I'd probably keep going. I'd only want a pause if I knew I'd benefit more from the delay than the enemy. On the other hand, if I accrue planning bonus faster than the enemy, a series of short pauses could give me a big lead in overall combat bonus. On the third(!) hand, if the enemy I am attacking has enough reserves to form a secondary defensive line, that would definitely necessitate a pause, since I don't want my planning-depleted forces running into full-planning bonus enemies.

Anyway, it should be pretty interesting to see how it all plays out.