Matrix Games Forums

I thought that protecting fortification levels was one, but i am not seeing it

If you are referring to the action of "reserve" on an LCU, they are held in reserve and then can follow a defeated unit retreat without the distance penalty.

I am not aware that they activate on defense in any way .... they are an offensive reserve.

Went to the unofficial manual and it seems it is only to change the final odds in defence and only activated if enemy achieved at least 2:1.

Reserve – Units in Reserve mode on the offensive are available to exploit a possible breach in the enemy
line. On the defensive with a proper leadership check, the commanding officer may release his reserves
to plug a potential gap in his lines and thus alter the outcome of a battle by changing the final odds.
Reserve units are withheld from battle unless a commander passes a Land leadership check to commit his
reserves. The reserve unit will not suffer casualties unless committed to the battle. In addition only units
in Reserve will be allowed to Pursue in combat. A unit may only be placed into Reserve if other friendly
units are in the hex. If a unit is in Reserve and no friendly units are in the hex it will revert to Combat
mode.

Units in Reserve in a hex with friendly units, which have Attack orders, have the following effects:

● Do not fire in combat
● Are not affected by bombardment attack
● Are not used in odds calculations
● Will not suffer casualties in the combat
● If a defender is forced to retreat, attacking units in Reserve will be placed into Move mode and will
pursue.

Units in Reserve in a hex that are defending have the following effects:
● Do not fire in combat
● Are not affected by bombardment attack
● Are not used in initial odds calculations
● Will not suffer casualties in the combat unless released.
● If attacked and the initial Assault odds are greater than 2:1 a unit in reserve may be added to the
combat if the units Leader passes a LAND check. If the check is successful the unit’s Op mode to
will change to Move*and the reserve unit’s combat strength will be added to the combat.
● A unit in Reserve Mode that is forced to retreat and has not been will have their Op mode changed
to Move and are retreated with the other units in the hex.


*I wonder way are they put in move mode in defence...do this mean they can come from adjacent hex if fast eboufh(motorised)?

Diliwitm wrote: Wed Oct 07, 2026 8:24 pm *I wonder way are they put in move mode in defence...do this mean they can come from adjacent hex if fast eboufh(motorised)?

When they activate from Reserve and take part in a battle, they never have OpMode(-) modifier, thus they must be used in Combat mode and not in Move mode

When they arrive from another hex in Reserve mode into a battle hex, if the fail to activate, they will stay in Reserve mode. This really SUCKS sometimes.

Let me show you how the code mangled my Chinese 40th Corps in one attack:

Ground combat at Chengchow (88,44)

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 11173 troops, 94 guns, 32 vehicles, Assault Value = 383
Defending force 25967 troops, 138 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 710

Japanese adjusted assault: 119
Allied adjusted defense: 121

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 2 (fort level 1) - no activation of Reserve units at those odds.

Combat modifiers
Defender: leaders(+), preparation(-), morale(-), experience(-)
Attacker: shock(+), leaders(+), disruption(-)

Japanese ground losses:
169 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 23 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled

Allied ground losses:
1607 casualties reported
Squads: 9 destroyed, 184 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 35 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Guns lost 24 (1 destroyed, 23 disabled)

Assaulting units:
35th Division

Defending units:
80th Chinese Corps - arrived in Reserve mode from Loyang
40th Chinese Corps
15th Chinese Corps
2nd Chinese Cavalry Corps - arrived in Reserve mode form Loyang
3rd Construction Regiment
Jingcha War Area
1st War Area
10th Chinese Base Force
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


And this is the 40th Corps after the battle. Totally disabled while 80th Corps and 2nd Chinese Cavalry Corps sat idly in the same hex.
This is why I always try to arrive in battle hexes in Combat or Move mode (yes, there is OpMode- penalty for this , but at least units take part in a battle).

This came directly for the final manual release dated 3.3.24.

How land combat works in detail is a bit sketchy and is something I'm currently trying to understand. But yes, 'move' does seem odd but the units are not in combat mode and they are ready to move in pursuit or to fill gaps in the line and maybe don't have time to change before combat. If caught on their own while in reserve they automatically change to combat.

Reserves only affect the hex they are in.

It is a chore, really.

I move units overland in Reserve mode (in this mode they don't revert to Combat mode when attacked from air plus they move fast), however I have to pay attention when I i.e. accumulate 40 of 46 miles of movement and have to switch units from Reserve to Combat before arrival in a battle hex.

After my 40th Corps got totally mangled, I checked op reports from provious turns. It seems Japanese AI reconed this corps with recon aircraft and the detection level in Chengchow on previous turn was 9/10. I reckon this DL was actually the DL of the 40th Corps thus all fire in the fire phase was against this corps (my other units - HQs, BF, small 15th Corps and cosnt regiment were totally unscathed).

Hence the idea:

- move your most reconed unit to Reserve mode, so it sits out the fire phase and only activates after the fire phase to provide its untouched AV to final odds.

Yes, the reserve (non-pursuit) only activates if the unit(s) set to Combat mode are about to retreat or surrender.
If you have the reserve units set to (pursuit), they only partake if the ENEMY is retreating.

Yaab wrote: Thu Oct 08, 2026 9:49 am After my 40th Corps got totally mangled, I checked op reports from provious turns. It seems Japanese AI reconed this corps with recon aircraft and the detection level in Chengchow on previous turn was 9/10. I reckon this DL was actually the DL of the 40th Corps thus all fire in the fire phase was against this corps (my other units - HQs, BF, small 15th Corps and cosnt regiment were totally unscathed).

Hence the idea:

- move your most reconed unit to Reserve mode, so it sits out the fire phase and only activates after the fire phase to provide its untouched AV to final odds.

There's a fatal flaw in this argument. Your assuming the reserve unit will be activated.

Yes, it is a lottery.

And a chore, since Op reports don't include a name of a base when an individual in-base unit is reconed from air:

Ki-15-II Babs sighted over 40th Chinese Corps