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Custom ad-hoc brigades
Posted: Thu Dec 07, 2023 6:20 am
by Khanti
I would like to be able to create ad-hoc brigades from independent units on map.
Let's say: 1 tank, 2 mg, 1 art, 2 inf, 1 rec.
It is possible now to create custom formations (battalions) but not brigades. When I create tons of independent units, sometimes it will be needed to gather them in brigade

And only 2 battalions can be attached as support in standard brigades.
Re: Custom ad-hoc brigades
Posted: Thu Dec 07, 2023 7:41 am
by Don_Kiyote
Khanti wrote: Thu Dec 07, 2023 6:20 am
to create ad-hoc brigades from independent units on map.
Let's say: 1 tank, 2 mg, 1 art, 2 inf, 1 rec.
Those are Formations, as in types of Brigade, Corps, and Army. Each Formation has a specific Table of Equipment for each Battalion, and for the whole Formation. New Formations with new mixes of available models have to be discovered and researched. It takes forever. You can customise available Formations, but only in a restricted way, and it is also expensive.
Your Formation at the Brigade level is:
1x50 Armour
2x500 MG
1x500 Artillery
2x1000 Infantry
1x50 Recon Buggy
That is a crazy formation. It also has too many Battalions. Making it would mean breaking all the rules for a huge section of the game.
Re: Custom ad-hoc brigades
Posted: Thu Dec 07, 2023 8:07 am
by Khanti
1. max battalions is 7 (5 plus 2 can be attached)
2. it's not about crazy, it's better to have bonus (as brigade gives) and not 7 separate independent battalions
Re: Custom ad-hoc brigades
Posted: Sat Dec 09, 2023 7:56 am
by Don_Kiyote
Khanti wrote: Thu Dec 07, 2023 8:07 am
it's not about crazy, it's better to have bonus... and not 7 separate independent battalions
Yes, a bonus is better than no bonus.
I guess there is a sort of an idea to what a formation is, that the individual units are supposed to be used together as a single, larger unit, in a particular prepared way according to the demands of the situation. For instance, I use a Light Infantry Brigade in mountains, and a motorised Brigade on plains.
This idea of a 'Standard' is an ancient part of the military mind: the unit is superior to the individual (or part)... because it is the form which regenerates and persists where the individual does not, if that makes sense. Standardisation and repetition are the expressions of this idea, and part of the reason why for instance soldiers wear uniforms.
Just thank the Romans, and their Standards, especially the ones lost in the German forests, for all of this.
Re: Custom ad-hoc brigades
Posted: Sat Dec 09, 2023 1:09 pm
by Soar_Slitherine
Don_Kiyote, the problem with that is that many combinations of model types that are commonly used in coordination in real life do not function well in the game if they're all placed within a single game piece.
For example, if you want to use tanks, infantry and artillery, you want a tank battalion, an infantry battalion and an artillery battalion rather than a tank-infantry-artillery battalion. The infantry needs to be able to avoid going into an attack against enemies that will inflict casualties on the infantry but will get easily squashed by the tanks, and the artillery need to be able to fire a preparatory bombardment before the other models attack.
The mechanics of attaching independent units restrict adding units of additional model types into a 1-1-5 or 2-5 ratio, which is a less-than-optimal composition in many circumstances, whereas bringing multiple brigades with different model types reduces the highly-impactful concentric attack bonus.
Then there are the model types, such as walkers and jetpacks, that are not included in the premade OHQ templates at all. And since you can only add models to OHQ templates, not remove, if you want to make a formation built around a specific model type, you're stuck with a bunch of unnecessary crap in the table of organization & equipment and managing the quality settings to keep it out adds hassle.
Re: Custom ad-hoc brigades
Posted: Sun Dec 10, 2023 9:22 am
by Khanti
Don_Kiyote wrote: Sat Dec 09, 2023 7:56 am
Just thank the Romans, and their Standards, especially the ones lost in the German forests, for all of this.
About Germans. Please treat my idea as a German Kampfgruppe (created ad hoc when there was a need to coordinate separate units).

Re: Custom ad-hoc brigades
Posted: Tue Dec 12, 2023 6:31 am
by Don_Kiyote
Okay, it might work as a stratagem.
what should the HQ look like?
Re: Custom ad-hoc brigades
Posted: Wed Dec 13, 2023 5:22 am
by fibol
Isn't that what Battle Groups already are?
Re: Custom ad-hoc brigades
Posted: Tue Jan 02, 2024 2:23 am
by Don_Kiyote
fibol wrote: Wed Dec 13, 2023 5:22 am
Isn't that what Battle Groups already are?
Literally, yes, it appears so...
quick search:
Kampfgruppen der Arbeiterklasse (KdA) or in English "Combat Groups of the Working Class" were a paramilitary organisation in East Germany, founded in 1953...
I presume OP wanted separate units and separate tiles... But in game, the 'Battlegroup' button forms a single unit from many smaller ones, or at least it did when I tried it last, which was a while ago. It also stripped my unit feats in the process.
So you can meld together any number of disparate units, such as the ones listed above, but you can't occupy more than one hex with them without an HQ.