So I couldn't really think of a good name for this so I put formation area attack instead of area attack, since there already is an area attack. I'm pretty sure the current area attack will take a group of units and divide up targets in the area between those units, what I'd like to see is a command to attack and actual area rather than pick targets in that area. Tie this in with the really cool formation line tool to make it more useful. Originally I was thinking this would be useful for bombers, but really I think it would work for any types of units, though it would work better with fast moving units than the slower ones. The way it would work would be to get your units into a formation, then pick a start and an end point (well really just an end point as the start will be where they got into formation). The units would then move, in formation from start to end and attack any enemy units they encountered along the way. The big difference between this and the current area attack is they would fire at enemy units as they passed by, but they would keep moving from start to finish. For example a formation of bombers would not try to circle back to hit their initial target, they would just keep moving, in formation, from start to finish dropping bombs (until they ran out) on any units they passed over. It would be a great way to soften up a base in true carpet bombing style. You could do something similar with a blob of fast moving hit and run style ground units, want to divide an enemy base in 2? Make a narrow and deep formation and tell them to march through the middle of the enemy base, they don't stop and get clumped up but they'll soften up or kill everything along their path.
Wouldn't it be a bit more complicated than the developers would like? Like instead of clicking you could use the formations that they talk about in the big April update: "Advanced Commander and Control: Line Drawing The day's almost here -- starting now, you can organize units in whatever formations that you desire with two clicks of the mouse and a quick drag. We've also added the ability for you to set the path your units walk with a shift-click. Fighting across entire worlds is easier with this simple, intuitive, and customizable new control."
It says something here about the formations being changed with a couple of clicks and a drag. Don't actually know how to do so but it is there, and the update did come, I can promise you that
Although sadly, I don't think it actually really describes 'how' to do it, it just informs you that it is there
