Pinned Down BattleLines

Battle Lines creates an autonomous two-sided ground war using factions selected by the mission maker.

Place one crewed unit or vehicle from each opposing side. Right-click each one, select Connect > Sync To, then drag the blue synchronization line to the Battle Lines War Setup module. Battle Lines creates sectors, spawns forces, captures territory, replaces casualties, and keeps the battle moving.

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Remember Battle Lines and Steel Rain was made for each other!
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• Autonomous two-sided ground warfare.
• Uses the factions of synchronized HQ objects.
• Procedural and mission-maker-placed sectors.
• Infantry, vehicles, armor, garrisons, and support assets.
• Several attack and defense doctrines.
• Individual AI casualty replacement.
• Adjustable reinforcement, population, and group limits.
• Long-distance infantry transportation.
• Mechanized infantry support.
• Optional Player Bubble for performance.
• Optional player and squadmate respawning.
• Optional artillery and aircraft seeding for Steel Rain.
• Debug markers, ownership audits, and trace reports.

• Place the Battle Lines – War Setup module.
• Place one HQ unit or faction vehicle for each of two hostile sides.
• Synchronize both HQ objects to the module.
• Choose your settings and start the mission.

The synchronized objects identify each side’s faction, headquarters position, and battlefield direction. They are anchors only and never become Battle Lines combat forces.

Battle Lines controls only forces that Battle Lines creates.

Units and vehicles already present in Eden remain under the mission maker’s control. Battle Lines will not command them, respawn them, add waypoints, or use them as reinforcements.

Player and mission-maker forces belonging to either fighting side can still capture and contest sectors without becoming Battle Lines-controlled.

Use the Battle Lines – Strategic Location module to create an important sector with a custom name, position, and capture radius.

Custom locations receive priority. The Target Sectors setting remains the total sector limit.

• Balanced: Both sides attack and defend.
• Push: Both sides fight aggressively.
• Meeting Engagement: Both sides rush toward the center.
• Assault / Defend: One side attacks while the other defends.

The Reinforcement Budget pays for new groups and assets.

Each group also has its own replacement pool for individual casualties. When that pool is exhausted and the group is destroyed, it is permanently removed.

A budget of -1 allows new groups to continue spawning but does not give existing groups unlimited replacements.

Population caps control new combat forces. Dedicated garrisons, temporary transports, and rear support assets are excluded from normal frontline caps.

Infantry traveling long distances may receive a truck, halftrack, APC, or IFV.

Transports pick up infantry, deliver them near the objective, and may remain available for later use. Medical, fuel, ammunition, repair, and other service vehicles are excluded.

Armed vehicles may also support an infantry group while remaining behind the troops instead of charging ahead alone.

The optional Player Bubble reduces distant groups to smaller skeleton forces. Their removed soldiers are restored when a player approaches.

This can improve performance during larger battles.

Battle Lines provides optional player respawning and optional single-player squadmate replacement.

Respawned players and squadmates preserve their equipment and identity whenever possible.

Multiplayer mission makers should test this feature with their chosen respawn system.

Battle Lines and Steel Rain are separate mods.

Battle Lines can optionally place rear artillery batteries and CAS-capable aircraft. Steel Rain finds and uses those assets.

Steel Rain is not required. Without it, seeded support assets will not receive Steel Rain missions.

Possible conflicts include: Prairie fires class names are different. So I am going to patch this in the next weekend to use correct forces. Right now it spawns all MG’s, and Squadleaders using prairie fire. Update is coming.

• Other dynamic war or sector-control systems.
• AI commanders that control every group.
• Scripts that continuously replace waypoints.
• Cleanup systems that delete Battle Lines assets.
• Respawn systems that attach to every AI unit.
• Faction mods with incomplete or unusual configurations.

Use only one strategic AI commander or dynamic war system on the battlefield.

After reading the synchronized HQ objects, Battle Lines can:

• Keep Excluded: Leave them visible and untouched.
• Hide/Disable: Hide them and disable simulation.
• Delete: Remove non-player HQ objects after boot.

Player-controlled HQ objects are protected.

• Synchronize exactly two hostile sides.
• Some factions may lack usable vehicles, artillery, aircraft, or transports.
• Do not run the mod and a mission-script copy of Battle Lines together.
• Smaller battlefields create faster, more intense fighting.
• Larger battlefields require more units, transportation, and processing power.
• Enable the Player Bubble for large battles.
• Disable Debug Mode during normal play.