Joy Of Hex:Unit Orders:Unit Descriptions

Unit Descriptions


The third region on the unit orders toolbar are the unit descriptions. There are two variations available for the unit descriptions: numerical and verbal. The following picture is of a numerical description of a unit.

Typically there is a yellow title string followed by the value of that field. These are:

  • Unit - this is the string that appears on the unit graphic of the selected unit.

  • HQ - this is the string that appears on the unit graphic of the head-quarters of the selected unit. If the selected unit is a head-quarters and the head-quaters is drawing supply directly from a supply hex then the string "Supply Hex" shall appear here.

  • Type - this is a short string describing the type that the selected unit is.

  • Motion - this is a short string describing the unit's method of motivation. There are five types of motivation: foot and horse; semi-motorised; fully motorised; half-track; and fully tracked.

  • Attack - To be a good attacker we need these numbers to be high. This is a set of two numbers separated by a slash. The first number represents the actual strength of the selected unit and has been adjusted to take into consideration the supply level and number of bodies. The second number is the unadjusted and would be the attack strength of the selected unit if it had its full amount of bodies and a moderate level of supply.

  • Defense - To be a good defender we need these numbers to be high. This is a set of two numbers separated by a slash. The first number represents the actual strength of the selected unit and has been adjusted to take into consideration the supply level and number of bodies. The second number is the unadjusted and would be the defense strength of the selected unit if it had its full amount of bodies and a moderate level of supply.

  • Bodies - in the abstraction of the Joy Of Hex, a full strength battalion would contain 300 bodies and a full strength company would have 100 bodies. A body is just a crass way of refering to the number of people who are alive and fit enough to fight in combat.

  • Armour - the larger this number the stronger the armour is. This is a set of two numbers separated by a slash. The first number represents the actual strength of the selected unit and has been adjusted to take into consideration the supply level and number of bodies. The second number is the unadjusted and would be the armour strength of the selected unit if it had its full amount of bodies and a moderate level of supply.

  • AntiTank - the larger this number the stronger the antitank is. Antitank strength is critical in defending against attacks by units that possess armour. This is a set of two numbers separated by a slash. The first number represents the actual strength of the selected unit and has been adjusted to take into consideration the supply level and number of bodies. The second number is the unadjusted and would be the antitank strength of the selected unit if it had its full amount of bodies and a moderate level of supply.

  • Fatigue - this is a measure of an unit's level of exhaustion. It is measured as a percentage where 0% is fully rested and 100% is completely exhausted. An unit loses fatigue if it does nothing. If it is night or the unit is not alongside an enemy unit, then the fatigue levels will drop more quickly.

  • Supply - there are five levels of supply that an unit can have if it can trace a supply path to a supply hex: very good, good, moderate, bad, and very bad. If an unit becomes disconnected from a supply hex then it can drop to a state of no supply and be prone to surrendering. If an unit has its immediate supply connection broken, then the text for the supply level shall be printed in red.

  • Barrage - this is only filled in for artillery units. It is a measure of the level of explosive that it can throw. The larger this number is the better.

  • Range - this is only filled in for artillery units. It is a measure, in units of hexes, of the maximum range of the artillery guns.

  • Ready - if an artillery piece has recently moved it could require some time before it is ready to fire its guns. In this case you will see a number refering to the number of turns that you must wait before the artillery piece is finally ready to re-commence firing.

    Other than the numeric unit description, there is a terse verbal description. An example of which is shown in the following picture:

    An explaination of these fields goes as:

  • Unit - this is the string that appears on the unit graphic of the selected unit.

  • HQ - this is the string that appears on the unit graphic of the head-quarters of the selected unit. If the selected unit is a head-quarters and the head-quaters is drawing supply directly from a supply hex then the string "Supply Hex" shall appear here.

  • Type - this is a short string describing the type that the selected unit is.

  • Motion - this is a short string describing the unit's method of motivation. There are five types of motivation: foot and horse; semi-motorised; fully motorised; half-track; and fully tracked.

  • Supply - there are five levels of supply that an unit can have if it can trace a supply path to a supply hex: very good, good, moderate, bad, and very bad. If an unit becomes disconnected from a supply hex then it can drop to a state of no supply and be prone to surrendering. If an unit has its immediate supply connection broken, then the text for the supply level shall be printed in red.

  • Original Quality - this is the original quality of the selected unit as was set by the scenario maker. There are five states: very good, good, moderate, bad, and very bad.

  • Present Quality - this is the game adjusted quality of the unit. This takes into consideration the number of bodies, and supply state. As an unit becomes more fatigued this string will go white white (little fatigue), to blue (moderate fatigue) to red (severely fatigued). If the unit is an artillery unit that has just moved and requires a few turns to get ready, then a round bracket with a number within it shall appear representing the number of turns that one must wait before the artillery piece is ready to fire again.


    The Single Brain Cell Web Site