I love area patrol, but there are times I'd like to be able to have units patrol but not assist automatically. Ideally there would be 3 options. 1. Assist anything along the patrol route 2. Repair anything along the patrol route, do not assist buildings or factories 3. Patrol but do not assist or repair. One of the big reasons for number 3, is to keep my com from stopping to assist and thus presenting an easy target. If a commander is patrolling I don't have to worry as much about him being sniped. Unfortunately the best defended areas are also where my nuke launchers are built and that commander loves to stop and assist.
