Does specialising a unit take effect immediately?

[VonWulfen]

Hello all.
I am playing as Axis and decided to go east not west as per the original German plan.
I think it will be a long conflict so I am saving my unit specialization points so I have the ability to specialize my troops on the fly.
Winter warfare being one of the specialties I am planning.
Does specializing a unit take effect immediately?
Or do I need to do it in advance?

[MOS96B2P]

ORIGINAL: VonWulfen

Hello all.
I am playing as Axis and decided to go east not west as per the original German plan.
I think it will be a long conflict so I am saving my unit specialization points so I have the ability to specialize my troops on the fly.
Winter warfare being one of the specialties I am planning.
Does specializing a unit take effect immediately?
Or do I need to do it in advance?

It appears that specialization takes effect immediately. I just did a quick test. I had a German Armored Corps vs. a Belgium Infantry Corps. The odds were 3 to 1 in favor of the Germans. I gave the German Armored Corps the "Elite" specialization. On the same turn I then checked the combat odds again and they were now 4 to 1 in favor of the Germans.

[VonWulfen]

Excellent

[MOS96B2P]

Good luck going east. Don't forget your coat and let us know how it goes........ [:D]

[Michael T]

Well I am not so sure. I had to attack across a river so I added an Engineer to a unit in the attack. When I resolved the attack the unit I added the Engineer too still had a -50% modifier, not -25%. Unfortunately I could not follow up the next to try it again as the defender had moved away.

So either the effect is not immediate or the Engineer specialty is bugged.

[Michael T]

However thinking about it, I recall adding a Anti Tank specialty to a unit and it's on screen combat factor rose immediately. Has anyone checked if the Engineer specialty actually works?

[MOS96B2P]

I just tried it with engineers and it seemed to work. A Netherlands Infantry Corps defending behind a river vs an attacking German Infantry Division. Odds: 1 to 3 favoring the defense. I gave the German Division the engineer specialty and then (that same turn) the odds changed to 1 to 2 favoring the defense.

Edit to add:

Interesting I just exited the game and reloaded the save. This time I gave the German Infantry division the "Elite" specialty instead of "Engineer". The odds remained at 1 to 3.

[Michael T]

You need to resolve the attack and check the battle report. It will show you the river modifier for the unit with the Engineer. It should show a 25% reduction. As it is normally 50%.

[MOS96B2P]

ORIGINAL: Michael T

You need to resolve the attack and check the battle report. It will show you the river modifier for the unit with the Engineer. It should show a 25% reduction. As it is normally 50%.

Hmm, yes. Good point. I'll have to go back and have a closer look.