                              Command : MISSION

NAME
   mission - Assign a mission to a ship/plane/unit

Level: Basic

SYNTAX
   [##:##]  Command : mission <TYPE> <UNITS> <s|o|d|i|e|r|a|c|q> <op sector|.>
[<radius>]

The mission command is used to assign ships, planes, or  land  units  to  mis-
sions. The available missions are:

      Mission        Ships  Land-Units  Planes
   i  interdiction     yes         yes  only "tactical"
   s       support      no          no  only "tactical"
   o   off support      no          no  only "tactical"
   d   def support      no          no  only "tactical"
   r       reserve      no         yes  no
   e        escort      no          no  only "intercept" or "escort"
   a   air defense      no          no  only "intercept"

You  may  also  use  'q'  (query) to check on the mission of something, or 'c'
(clear) to wipe the mission of a land unit/plane/ship.

GENERAL CONCEPT

Missions are things that your planes/land units/ships  can  do  automatically,
such  as  bombing/shelling.  You  assign a unit to a mission, and whenever the
right conditions occur, the unit attempts to perform its  mission.  Note  that
missions don't allow a unit to do anything it normally could not do, they sim-
ply allow them to do it in an automatic fashion. In some cases, units perform-
ing  missions  might  not be as 'smart' as they would be if you were operating
them personally.  That's the price you pay for having automatic defenses.

IMPORTANT NOTES

Missions can occur  during  updates.   (Interdicting  ships  using  "sail"  or
"order").

Artillery units less than 40% efficient will not fire.

Planes  flying  missions  other than air defense will be intercepted normally.
(i.e. if you fly over enemy territory, you'll get intercepted.

Planes assigned to missions other than  air  defense  are  "NOT"  eligible  to
intercept  normally.  For  example,  if  a fighter is assigned to an escort or
interdiction or support mission, it will "NOT" rise to intercept an  intruding
enemy  plane.  (planes on air-defense missions will intercept planes flying in
their op-area, in accordance with the air-defense mission, but will not inter-
cept  one  outside  their op-area, even if it is within their normal range. Be
sure you understand this before using plane missions.)

Planes armed with nukes cannot be assigned missions.

"marine" missiles will keep launching to interdict  ships  until  all  of  the
valuable  ships in the fleet are sunk.  A "valuable" ship is one which cost at
least $1000 to build or can carry land units or planes.  For each new  missile
launched,  the most valuable ship according to (cost to build) * efficiency is
targeted.

Non-marine missiles will keep firing on a sector until 100 damage is done.

OPERATIONS SECTORS

Missions require the designation of an 'op sector', short for operations  sec-
tor.  This  is  the  center of an area that the mission is focused on.  The op
sector may be any sector that is within the unit's range.  (Firing  range  for
ships  & land units on interdiction, reaction range for land units on reserve,
flying range for planes, changeable with range command).  The unit will  exert
influence in a radius around the op sector.  By default, the radius will be as
large as possible, i.e. the biggest range so that  the  unit/ship/plane  could
legally act there.)  For example, a ship with a range of 4 could designate any
sector up to 4 away from it as it's  op  sector,  and  would  affect  anything
within 4 of it's op-sector, provided it was also within 4 of the ship.

If a smaller radius is desired, it may be specified on the command line. If it
is not specified, it will not be prompted for.

The area affected by a unit is known as that unit's op-area.

If a '.' is given as the op-sector, the op sector will be the location of  the
unit.

Additionally,  if  the  unit's op-sector is the sector the unit is in, and the
unit moves without losing its mission status, the operation sector  will  move
with it. (Normally, of course, the only way for a unit on a mission to move is
to be carried on a ship, so this mostly applies to planes on carriers) Thus, a
tactical  bomber  on a ship could have an op-area centered on the carrier that
moved with the carrier.

Otherwise, if the unit moves without losing its mission status, the op  sector
will stay where it was designated.

For  example,  suppose that land unit 4 is an artillery unit, range 5, located
at 0,0.

   [##:##] Command : mission land 4 int .

This would make the unit interdict anything passing within 5  sectors  of  its
location.

   [##:##] Command : mission land 4 int 4,0

This  would  make the unit interdict anything passing within 5 sectors of 4,0,
provided it was also within 5 sectors (the unit's range) of 0,0.

   [##:##] Command : mission land 4 int 4,0 2

This would make the unit interdict anything passing within 2 sectors  of  4,0,
provided it was also within 5 sectors (the unit's range) of 0,0.

The  op-sector/op-range concept allows you to restrict a unit's area of inter-
est to a small, important area, or just let it shoot at anything within range.

MOBILITY USE

When  a  unit  is given a mission, it costs no mobility.  When a unit performs
its mission, it uses the normal mobility costs that it would  use  to  perform
that mission if done by the player.

A unit stays on its mission until you cancel it, OR the unit acts. Any type of
action not a part of a mission is sufficient, so marching, navigating,  trans-
porting,  flying,  reconing,  bombing,  mining,  paratrooping, being attacked,
being paratrooped on, retreating, etc, will all cause a unit to lose its  mis-
sion status, but the unit could bomb/shell/etc AS PART OF A MISSION, and still
retain its mission status.  Also, land units with a reserve mission can  react
to  a  threatened  sector  and  fight, and (assuming they win) return to their
original sector without losing their reserve status.

Note that fortifying a unit does not affect it's mission status.

DEFENDERS

The  defender's  planes  will   intercept   planes   flying   missions.    His
ships/forts/units,  however,  will "NOT" fire at ships/forts/units firing on a
mission.

INTERDICTION MISSIONS (ships, planes, land units)

When giving a unit a interdiction mission, you designate an  op  sector.  From
then  on,  whenever an enemy (defined as something belonging to a nation which
you are at war with) moves in a sector in that unit's op-area, the  unit  will
try  to shell or bomb it (as appropriate). Almost any kind of movement, except
for distribution movement during an update, and the tiny amounts moved by  the
supply routines is enough.

For   example,  an  enemy  land  unit  marching  up  to  the  front  would  be
shelled/bombed.  An enemy moving commodities around would have the commodities
automatically  shelled/bombed.  A  ship  navigating into a sea sector would be
shelled or bombed, depending on it's type (obviously, only depth-charge or ASW
capable  units  would  affect  a  submarine, and a submarine would only affect
things it could torpedo) In general, units can only affect things  they  could
normally  affect.  For  example, if the enemy was transporting a plane along a
highway, and you had an artillery unit and a  light  bomber  interdicting  the
highway  sector,  the  land unit would fire and the bomber would fly there and
bomb, and the total damage would be applied to the plane being transported. If
it  was  still  alive,  it  might  be  moved  to  another  sector, there to be
bombed/shelled again (assuming the new sector was  also  in  both  units'  op-
areas)  If  a  different unit later moved in, it would be shelled/bombed. This
happens as long as the interdicting units have mobility left.

Damage done is divided amongst all units/ships/commodities moving.  For  exam-
ple,  if  6  ships  were moving, and the interdiction mission did 18 points of
damage, each ship would take 3.

Note that only ships with sonar and ASW planes can interdict subs.  Also,  the
units may or may not detect the subs, so it's kind of random. The sub also has
a chance of escaping the damage, depending on the visibility of the sub.

Only planes with the 'tactical' ability can fly interdiction  missions.   Only
planes  with  'ASW'  ability will fly vs. subs. Planes with 'ASW' ability will
not fly interdiction vs. other types of ships/planes/units/commods.  Subs have
a  chance  of  sneaking  through  ASW air cover unnoticed, and ASW planes will
respond to any non-Friendly sub movement.  Depending on the visibility of  the
sub, the ASW plane may or may not identify the type and/or owner of the sub.

Interdiction  has  no  effect  on  flying planes. Interdiction does not affect
loading/unloading.  It will also cause some damage to the sector that the com-
modities were moving into.

Note  also  that forts will fire at enemy ships coming within range. You don't
have to set anything for this, it  happens  automatically.  (Forts  firing  at
enemy ships naving happens before ships/planes/units interdicting ships, so if
the enemy is using an area a lot, a fort will hurt him without costing you mob
from planes)

SUPPORT MISSIONS (planes only)

A  support mission allows your planes to automatically bomb the enemy.  Planes
with offensive support missions will  bomb  enemy  sectors  that  you  attack.
Planes  with  defensive support missions will bomb enemy troops attacking your
sector, adding to your defensive strength. Planes with support orders will  do
both.

When  giving  a plane a support mission, you designate an op sector. From then
on, whenever a sector owned by the plane's owner (or by an ally of the  plane-
owner,  if  the ally is also at war with the attacker) in that plane's op-area
is attacked, the plane will attempt to fly to that sector and give ground sup-
port, if it has support or defensive support orders.

If  the plane's owner (or an ally of the plane's owner, if the ally is also at
war with the country attacked)  attacks  a  sector  in  that  plane's  op-area
belonging  to  a  country  that the plane owner is at war with, the plane will
also attempt to fly there and give offensive support  if  it  has  support  or
offensive support orders.

(see info attack for more information on how support works in land combat)

Only planes with the 'tactical' ability can fly support missions.

ESCORT MISSIONS (planes only)

When  given  an  escort  mission,  an  escort  or intercept capable plane will
attempt to escort any plane flying a support or  interdict  mission  from  the
same  airport  into its op-area.  If even 1 plane flies a support or interdic-
tion mission from an airport, all planes on escort duty at that  airport  will
attempt  to  escort. Planes with escort duty will NOT attempt to escort planes
taking off from other airports, so it pays to  put  your  bombing  planes  and
escorting planes together.

Only  planes  with  the  'escort' or 'intercept' abilities can fly escort mis-
sions.

AIR DEFENSE MISSIONS (planes only)

Putting a plane on an air defense mission modifies where the plane intercepts.
Without  a  mission,  it  intercepts  over own sectors, surface ships and land
units.  With an air defense mission, it intercepts over any sector in  its  op
area.

Example  Groonland  wants to run a recon flight over Bannannarama. Joeland has
a jet fighter with an air defense mission and an op-area covering part of Ban-
nannarama. The 'j' sector belongs to Joeland, and is the base for the fighter.
The 'b' sectors belong to Bannannarama, which has 1 fighter in the center sec-
tor.  The 'g' sector belongs to Groonland. Assume that all countries are mutu-
ally at war.

The Joeland fighter's op area is centered on the 'B', radius 2.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
     . . . . . j . . . . . b b . . . .
    . . . . . . . . . . . b B b . . .
     . . . . . . . . . . . b b . . . .
    . . . . . . . . . g . . . . . . .

The Groonland player enters  a  path  of  'uujjjbgbggh'.   The  first  sectors
entered  is sea, and is not in the Joeland aircraft's op-area, so nothing hap-
pens.

Next, the Groonland plane enters the sector adjacent to Bannannarama.  This is
within the Joeland aircraft's op-area, so it flies to intercept.  It takes the
shortest path there, and fights the Groonland plane.  Let's say that both take
20 points of damage, and neither aborts.

Next,  the  Groonland  plane  overflies a Bannannarama sector.  It gets inter-
cepted by Joeland's fighter, because the sector is in its op-area, and by Ban-
nannarama's  fighter,  because  the  sector  belongs  to Bannannarama.  And so
forth.

A good use of this mission is to provide a wider CAP around a carrier, so that
enemy  planes  get intercepted several times on the way to the carrier, rather
than just once, in the carrier's sector.

Another use is to provide air-cover for an ally who has temporarily  lost  his
planes.

RESERVE MISSIONS (land units only)

A  land  unit  on  a reserve mission may react to enemy attacks within its op-
area.  See info "Attacking" for more on land unit reactions.

Note that units with a reserve mission retain this status even when they react
to a threatened sector and return. This is an exception to the normal rules on
losing your mission status. If, however, the land unit is  forced  to  retreat
from the combat (see land combat for details), it DOES lose its status.

Note: information gained from planes flying missions is automatically added to
your bmap.

SEE ALSO
   Ship-types, Plane-types, Unit-types, attack, bomb, Ships, Planes, LandUnits

