Changing Core units in WWII campaign

[silber]

Is there any way to add or remove core units in a WWII campaign? This way, one couls start off with, say, a USMC Company A, and, over the next four years, morphing it into a Company F. This will involve adding a few support units. Another possiblity is a Soviet Tank Battalion, which would go from three companies of tanks to two. Company sizes change, but you can't easily do that within the game.

FWIW, I personally like an unbalanced core. Typically, for European campaigns I like a tank/armored battalion with a motorized infantry company, and rely on the additional forces for attachements.

[Hexed Gamer]

In the course of playing the Long Campaigns your core can indeed "alter".

You get points from battle to battle used for repair or replacement.

Your support tank platoon for instance might evolve from an earlier vehicle to a later version.
You might go from a infantry support based unit, to one that is air defense platform.
A motorcycle recon unit might get upgraded to an armoured car option.

[silber]

ORIGINAL: Hexed Gamer

In the course of playing the Long Campaigns your core can indeed "alter".

You get points from battle to battle used for repair or replacement.

Your support tank platoon for instance might evolve from an earlier vehicle to a later version.
You might go from a infantry support based unit, to one that is air defense platform.
A motorcycle recon unit might get upgraded to an armoured car option.

Right, but the basic number per platoon remains the same. I know that you can move units between platoons, but you can't add platoons or remove them. Essentially, you can just change platforms. For some cases, this is probably OK. You can do US Marines by giving, for each company, a couple of extra wimpy infantry units, and then convert them into the later units TO. On the other hand, there is no way to morph a 1941 Soviet Tank Battalion (which has 48 tanks divided among 12 units) into a 1943 Tank Battalion, with 20 tanks in 8 units.

[Jim1954]

SPWW2 will allow you to do that, but SPWAW will not. You can purchase junk units to upgrade later on, but if you change a vehicle to infantry for instance, you suffer experience penalties.

[Cooper]

Actually Silber, you can change core units. It simply requires some file manipulation. Locate the save game file that your campaign battle is saved in after you have fixed your units and gotten to the next battle. Re-name it a scen.dat file and move it from the save folder to the scen folder. Open the scenario in the scenario editor and make whatever changes you wish, including adding core units. Don't forget to modify any attributes to maintain continuity with your campaign. Save the scenario, go into the scenario folder, rename the scenario file a save.dat file and you are ready to go. You may also have to buy the Russians but thet only means you can have a fairly historically accurate OP-FOR. Thank you to Mike Warhorse Amos for teaching this to me. My buddies and I have had a simply awsome campaign because of this, since you can also use custom maps and edit the Victory Hexes to make them make more military sense than the computer does (i.e. major terrain features, key road junctions, villages or towns,etc.)
Dave

[silber]

ORIGINAL: Cooper

Actually Silber, you can change core units. It simply requires some file manipulation. Locate the save game file that your campaign battle is saved in after you have fixed your units and gotten to the next battle. Re-name it a scen.dat file and move it from the save folder to the scen folder. Open the scenario in the scenario editor and make whatever changes you wish, including adding core units. Don't forget to modify any attributes to maintain continuity with your campaign. Save the scenario, go into the scenario folder, rename the scenario file a save.dat file and you are ready to go. You may also have to buy the Russians but thet only means you can have a fairly historically accurate OP-FOR. Thank you to Mike Warhorse Amos for teaching this to me. My buddies and I have had a simply awsome campaign because of this, since you can also use custom maps and edit the Victory Hexes to make them make more military sense than the computer does (i.e. major terrain features, key road junctions, villages or towns,etc.)
Dave

Thanks, I will try this. Do you do this before or after deployment. (Also, how do you distinguish between core and support units in the scenario editor. I remember from previous versions that it wasn't easy.)

[silber]

ORIGINAL: Cooper

Actually Silber, you can change core units. It simply requires some file manipulation.

How do you make the newly added units core units? Also, by attributes, you mean month and the like, right? (I don't think you can modify units with a fine granularity.)

[Cooper]

Silber
You do this before deployment. There really is no way to distinguish betwween core and support units other than to keep track of them and ditch the support units after in the next battle. You would have to put the file back in the editor. Another option is to re-form your core force in the editor, buy no support units, and set up a two turn battle. When this ends you should be back in your campaign cycle with a new core force and be able to then buy support units in the normal fashion.

As far as changing unit attributes, in the editor you can change everything about your units
such as experience, morale, command ability in armor, infantry, arty, weapons, ammo loads, name and rank. No point in losing favorite units or there experience if you can help it. Hhope this helps.
Cooper

[KG Erwin]

OMG, this solution sounds like more trouble than it's worth,[X(] but if you have the patience to do it, then go for it.

My favored method also requires a little work, but I try to envision my core force at the END of the campaign, and then work backwards. This is where some historical knowledge comes into play. I've written so much about the USMC, but the end-game force structure in this OOB is pretty easy to pre-plan. The Germans are tough, but it is still possible to pre-plan them. If you really want to play a long campaign, you should use this pre-planning scheme.

A ready-made upgrade chart doesn't exist for SPWaW. There are too many possible variations to make it even doable. Some careful study is required, which only adds to the game's value as an educational tool on the nuts and bolts of WWII-Era tactical combat.

[Cooper]

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[Cooper]

Since I only have to do this when I change my core units, I don't find it to be that much trouble, especially using Fred Chlanda's editor. I play from an historical re-creation aspect and I find that the flexibility this offers me in the campaign to be well worth the effort. The great strength of this game is that it can be whatever you want it to be, from historical to just plain fun gaming. God Bless Matrix Games!

[silber]

OK, I may be dense here, but how do I make the newly added units count as core units? I can toggle their aux status, but anything I add doesn't stay after the next battle.
thanks

[Cooper]

Silber
E-mail me. I will send you a copy of Warhorse's original document on how to do this. It is a lot more concise and clear. I should have done that in the first place. Sorry.

[Losqualo]

ORIGINAL: KG Erwin

OMG, this solution sounds like more trouble than it's worth,[X(] but if you have the patience to do it, then go for it.

My favored method also requires a little work, but I try to envision my core force at the END of the campaign, and then work backwards. This is where some historical knowledge comes into play. I've written so much about the USMC, but the end-game force structure in this OOB is pretty easy to pre-plan. The Germans are tough, but it is still possible to pre-plan them. If you really want to play a long campaign, you should use this pre-planning scheme.

A ready-made upgrade chart doesn't exist for SPWaW. There are too many possible variations to make it even doable. Some careful study is required, which only adds to the game's value as an educational tool on the nuts and bolts of WWII-Era tactical combat.

That's pretty much the way I do it when playing the German campaign. I write down the OOB my core force should have in mid 1943 when most unit types are available. When buying my core force in 1939, I fill my 1943 OOB with 1939 units.
The only thing you have to care about are the leader ratings, that should fit from beginning on. That means if my 1943 OOB has heavy tank platoon, I fill it with light tanks and not with Infantry or Artillery.

[Buggsy]

ah man, I want to play SPww2 badly, but as soon as I saw stuff like "EMM386" "DOS" "veis monitor compatability", without thinking, I clicked and dragged the file over to the recycle bin the promptly deleted it.

[8|]