Tips to track closest approach?

[Panda21]

I’ve seen a few cases (probes, banshees) where there is a reference to the “closest approach during a turn�. For instance, Banshees do 5 damage to the closest mobile armed unit during a turn.

I was playing with 4 gunboats and 20 banshees. Trying to track which unit each banshee came closest to and which shield it was facing at the time became very daunting, to the point I finally simplified it for myself and had the Banshee damage the first unit it was within range of on each turn.

I also couldn’t figure out how to handle some timing issues. For instance, what if on impulse 5, the banshees had done enough damage to destroy the gunboat, but I don’t know this till the end of the turn? I could end up using the gunboat to fire in impulse 6 without realizing it should be destroyed.

Anyway, am I making all of this way too hard, or is there some trick to tracking all of this that I’m missing?

Thanks for any advice.

[whomcitizen]

Instead of tracking the exact closest approach and shield facing for each banshee, you can adopt a rule where all banshees target the same gunboat for simplicity. This way, you only have to track one target for the group of banshees each turn.
Alternatively, you could establish a rule that banshees always target the gunboat with the lowest health first, which might simplify your calculations.

[elephantdepth]

Instead of tracking the exact closest approach and shield facing for each banshee, you can adopt a rule where all banshees target the same gunboat for simplicity. This way, you only have to track one target for the group of banshees each turn.
Alternatively, you could establish a rule that banshees always target the gunboat with the lowest health first, which might simplify your calculations.

Really nice. Tracking the closest approach and handling timing issues in Federation Commander can indeed be challenging

[fishingtested]

I’ve seen a few cases (probes, banshees) where there is a reference to the “closest approach during a turn�. For instance, Banshees do 5 damage to the closest mobile armed unit during a turn.

I was playing with 4 gunboats and 20 banshees. Trying to track which unit each banshee came closest to and which shield it was facing at the time became very daunting, to the point I finally simplified it for myself and had the Banshee damage the first unit it was within range of on each turn.

I also couldn’t figure out how to handle some timing issues. For instance, what if on impulse 5, the banshees had done enough damage to destroy the gunboat, but I don’t know this till the end of the turn? I could end up using the gunboat to fire in impulse 6 without realizing it should be destroyed.

Anyway, am I making all of this way too hard, or is there some trick to tracking all of this that I’m missing?

Thanks for any advice.

When a unit is destroyed mid-turn (e.g., by Banshee damage), it's generally assumed that you resolve the damage and then check the consequences (whether that unit can still act, etc.) at the end of the turn. In your case, if a gunboat is destroyed by Banshees before impulse 6, then you can just remove it from the board and note that it cannot act in the remaining impulses. If you don’t immediately realize the destruction, it's okay—just treat it as destroyed and adjust the game state accordingly at the end of the turn. In short, try not to get bogged down in every detail of timing and proximity. The important part is ensuring you're resolving the damage and actions logically and at the right time

[Anthona]

Is there a recommended method or tool for tracking damage and determining the closest approach for multiple units, especially in scenarios with high unit counts like Banshees and gunboats? Additionally, how can I effectively manage timing issues to ensure that damage resolution is clear before subsequent actions

[swimmeronerous]

Is there a suggested technique or tool for tracking damage and figuring out the closest approach for multiple units, particularly in situations with high unit counts like Banshees and gunboats?

[Steve Cole]

Not really, everyone just seems to figure it out.