On suppression mechanics

[S-Array 03]

So it's obvious to anyone who's played a bit that there is a suppression mechanic in this game but how does it work exactly?

I have often noticed my own soldiers keeping their heads down in a trench instead of returning fire when they are outnumbered or under machinegun fire etc... leading to them getting overrun and picked off. Which is extremely annoying to have happen, but is also exactly how you would imagine suppression is supposed to work so no issues there.

However I never seem to be able to inflict suppression myself to the AI troops, or maybe I'm just not paying close enough attention, but I feel like the AI force its soldiers to shoot back even when under dense volumes of fire.

Then there's the matter of infantry guns, tanks and artillery, do HE shells being shot at infantry causes some sort of suppression?

Would appreciate any info and documentation on the mechanic thanks!

[Sedghammer]

I'd like to know how it functions as well!

[Flan]

The AI troops definitely have the same thing, anyone who's tried to direct control attack a enemy in a trench will tell you this. Miss your first shot and they duck and be annoying to hit.

[Saxhorn]

If your soldiers are outnumbered they tend to hide.
If your soldiers are getting shot out "a lot" they tend to hide. Small arms fire/MG.
If they are getting attacked by a vehicle they tend to hide.

Higher Tier troops are more likely to shoot rather than hide.
If your soldiers are a foxhole or a trench they seem to shoot more and hide less but once again if they are shot at "a lot" they duck down and hide.

I haven't noticed large calibre rounds causing "suppression" but then I don't really miss very often so they don't get a chance to hide.

The AI is rarely outnumbered so my guess is suppression isn't really a thing for it worry about.

[Ch53dVet]

I don't think the AI's Army has been programmed with the element of suppression.
Too many times I've seen enemy soldiers patrolling the leading edges of the fog of war being shot at by snipers and act like they were born deaf, the keep the same pace and direction as if nothing is happening.

Soldiers out in the open come under mortar fire and don't react, even when a shell lands within the range of its lethal parameters they don't hit the deck or go to cover.

Soldiers take rounds to their bodies, evident by way of blood spatter and hp bar reduction, they stand there and fire back w/o experiencing any signs of trauma.
A 2.8 cm hits them in the head and they don't flinch.

Whereas, my armored scout car takes one hit from a 14mm AT rifle and I get the notice of crew in shock and I immediately lose about 10 seconds of control (recovery time I'm guessing) before they react and can move or return fire.

But, when a "BA-6" scout car takes multiple hits from a 5 cm AT gun, Pz III tank and blanketed mortar rounds it keeps firing and moving forward as if being under remote control.

I've seen T-34 tanks take 25 rds or more from a combination of Tanks, high powered AT guns of 7.5 cm and 8.8 cm, respectively, and though they may become immobile, the crew doesn't panic or try to escape from a fear of death.
In real life people will jump from the 20th floor of a high rise building that is on fire, their fear of death by fire somehow outweighs their fear of death by gravity, speed and concrete.

Instead they swivel the turret casually, shooting at targets as they appear, unfazed and interrupted as if spalling and flaking isn't a property of metal fatigue and physics.

[Jimbob]

I tend to find the opposite. Rather than suppressing the enemy (or being suppressed by the enemy) and then having to manoeuvre a flanking element, I tend to find that fights are won and lost at range, by shooting, even when one side occupies what should provide good cover.

[Flan]

Originally posted by Ch53dVet:

I don't think the AI's Army has been programmed with the element of suppression.
Too many times I've seen enemy soldiers patrolling the leading edges of the fog of war being shot at by snipers and act like they were born deaf, the keep the same pace and direction as if nothing is happening.

Soldiers out in the open come under mortar fire and don't react, even when a shell lands within the range of its lethal parameters they don't hit the deck or go to cover.

Soldiers take rounds to their bodies, evident by way of blood spatter and hp bar reduction, they stand there and fire back w/o experiencing any signs of trauma.
A 2.8 cm hits them in the head and they don't flinch.

Whereas, my armored scout car takes one hit from a 14mm AT rifle and I get the notice of crew in shock and I immediately lose about 10 seconds of control (recovery time I'm guessing) before they react and can move or return fire.

But, when a "BA-6" scout car takes multiple hits from a 5 cm AT gun, Pz III tank and blanketed mortar rounds it keeps firing and moving forward as if being under remote control.

I've seen T-34 tanks take 25 rds or more from a combination of Tanks, high powered AT guns of 7.5 cm and 8.8 cm, respectively, and though they may become immobile, the crew doesn't panic or try to escape from a fear of death.
In real life people will jump from the 20th floor of a high rise building that is on fire, their fear of death by fire somehow outweighs their fear of death by gravity, speed and concrete.

Instead they swivel the turret casually, shooting at targets as they appear, unfazed and interrupted as if spalling and flaking isn't a property of metal fatigue and physics.

The suppression of troops and the damage model of vehicles is separate. All the vehicles can trigger a crew shock critical hit by chance for penetrating hits.