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Company Command (Rally)

Posted: Sun May 14, 2006 5:39 pm
by Whitmire
Will Captains always rally any units within 3 hexes of them or will they only give their bonus to units in their own company?

I'm pondering whether I should assign an armoured Company Command unit AND an infantry Company Command unit to hold my centre, or whether I shall split the Commanders - one to bolster the morale of the attacking force and another to hold the line.

Odd enough, I'm attacking with infantry and holding with armour (supported by more infantry). My tanks have severe issues with the terrain they'd have to advance through. ;)

RE: Company Command (Rally)

Posted: Sun May 14, 2006 8:05 pm
by FlashfyreSP
Company Commanders only rally the troops in their formation. Your Infantry CO cannot rally any of the armoured formations, and vice versa.

RE: Company Command (Rally)

Posted: Sun May 14, 2006 8:43 pm
by Whitmire
Ah, okay, that was quick. Thanks!

Sometimes, when I've removed a unit or two from a Company formation, I've seen newly bought units appear under the Company "0" unit even though they're not part of the original formation.

For example:

B0 Cossacks (Company Command)

C0 12,7mm HMG
C1 12,7mm HMG

D0 Cossacks
D1 Cossacks
D2 Cossacks
D3 Cossacks

E0 Cossacks
E1 Cossacks
Etc.

Now the 12,7mm HMGs should have no business as C-units under a B0 Cossacks unit, but sometimes when you buy a section of individual support weapons, they appear under a Company Command unit nonetheless. This has made me wonder whether the company formations have some hidden meaning.

Well, now I know that the formations DO have a meaning, and it's not that hidden either. If only I could solve the mystery of displacing support weapons...

RE: Company Command (Rally)

Posted: Sun May 14, 2006 8:50 pm
by Alby
Point of Parlimentary proceedure....
always wanted to use that line
[:D]

alot of formations were "arranged" wrong in the oob editor we discovered, while working on SPWAW Enhanced.

for instance something that is classed as a "platoon" should not have a Platoon in it.

example...
Motor AT Plt

unit 1 75mm AT Gun
unit 2 75 MM AT Gun
unit 3 Med truck section( which is already classed a a platoon in another formation slot, this formation should be classed as Company for this particular layout)

Correct layout would be..(using just generic names for the units here)

unit 1 75mm AT Gun
unit 2 75mm AT Gun
unit 3 Medium Truck
unit 4 Medium Truck

Otherwise they will come out inappropriately organized once you purchase them.
hope this makes sense....

Hopefully we caught most all of these type errors


RE: Company Command (Rally)

Posted: Mon May 15, 2006 12:04 am
by FlashfyreSP
There's another potential problem with the "nesting" system: only one formation can "nest" inside another. if you have a formation that includes another formation, you cannot put it into a THIRD formation; if you do, nothing of the second formation will show up.

And a further point on the company command question:

Whitmire, anytime you delete a subformation from the company, further purchases will "refill" the company with the next immediate formation(s). The company formation is pre-set as a group of formations; removing any subs does not reduce the company's overall size.

RE: Company Command (Rally)

Posted: Mon May 15, 2006 1:29 pm
by maniacalmonkey
Whitmire, anytime you delete a subformation from the company, further purchases will "refill" the company with the next immediate formation(s). The company formation is pre-set as a group of formations; removing any subs does not reduce the company's overall size.

How does this work with overlapping company formations?

For example, I buy a company and delete its last subformation. I then buy a second company. Would this second company's command unit "refill" the first company's formation? What would be the effects of that?

Can a company command unit be subordinate to another company command unit while retaining command of its own company [&:][:'(]


RE: Company Command (Rally)

Posted: Mon May 15, 2006 7:11 pm
by FlashfyreSP
ORIGINAL: maniacalmonkey
Whitmire, anytime you delete a subformation from the company, further purchases will "refill" the company with the next immediate formation(s). The company formation is pre-set as a group of formations; removing any subs does not reduce the company's overall size.

How does this work with overlapping company formations?

For example, I buy a company and delete its last subformation. I then buy a second company. Would this second company's command unit "refill" the first company's formation? What would be the effects of that?

Can a company command unit be subordinate to another company command unit while retaining command of its own company [&:][:'(]


To an extent. The second company bought will fill any missing formation slots in the first company; since the first subformation in the second company is the CO, that unit will be subordinate to the first company commander. As to whether the second CO retains any command ability over the rest of its company formation, that I do not know for certain. From anecdotal reports made by others during previous discussions of this system, it appears that once the first company is refilled, the second company operates without a CO, since that unit is actually part of the first company. This implies that the second CO loses his command ability over any other unit; in effect, it becomes like any other subformation, whose command structure is limited to those units in its own formation.

The advantage to this flaw is that you can purchase a company, strip out a few unwanted subformations, and refill them with simple section or platoon formations, and save points. It is recommended that you not purchase another company right after stripping out the first one; the best result is to keep track of how many subformations you remove from the first company, replace those, and then buy your necxt company.

RE: Company Command (Rally)

Posted: Mon May 15, 2006 9:09 pm
by KNomad
ORIGINAL: FlashfyreSP
The advantage to this flaw is that you can purchase a company, strip out a few unwanted subformations, and refill them with simple section or platoon formations, and save points. It is recommended that you not purchase another company right after stripping out the first one; the best result is to keep track of how many subformations you remove from the first company, replace those, and then buy your necxt company.

So .. I can buy a company ... replace an formation with something different ... and still have that replacement under command of the co capt?

RE: Company Command (Rally)

Posted: Mon May 15, 2006 9:38 pm
by FlashfyreSP
That certainly seems to be the case. I have, on occasion, replaced a subformation or two in my core force because I wanted something different, and those replacement subs were rallied by the company CO.

RE: Company Command (Rally)

Posted: Tue May 16, 2006 2:45 am
by azraelck
I have as well. I've even taken Inf cos and subbed in a platoon of medium tanks for their inf AT group. It worked out fair enough, but I found the force lacking in some areas. That was very early in my SPWaW career.

RE: Company Command (Rally)

Posted: Tue May 16, 2006 3:47 am
by KG Erwin
Interesting. My philosophy has been to alter the OOBs to match my customized core forces. For the USMC, it was pretty easy, as their concepts of creating combined-arms combat teams was established as early as 1942.

You may characterize them as single-minded "beat your head against the wall" types, but the Marines carefully considered the types of missions they had to perform, and quickly learned how to tailor their force compositions to get the job done.

Consider the evolution of the rifle squad from a 9-man unit in 1942 into three fire teams with four men each by 1944 -- this is a concept that is still being used today.

These guys became a model of military efficiency -- for direct-fire support, each company had six .30 cal MMGs or HMGs and three 60mm mortars. Battalion could also add some bazookas, 81mm mortars and maybe a .50 cal MG. Regiment could thrown in a 75mm -armed halftrack or two. Division could assist with even more .50 cals and tanks, plus engineers and specialized assault squads with demolitions and flamethrowers.

How could guys like these ever lose? Well, they didn't ever lose, but they paid a heavy price for gettin it done. You may tire of hearing about them, but I never tire of talking about them.

A modern bumper-sticker says "When it absolutely has to be destroyed overnight, call the US Marines". That is only a slight exaggeration. Sometimes it took days or weeks, but they always prevailed.

RE: Company Command (Rally)

Posted: Tue May 16, 2006 8:09 am
by Korpraali V
ORIGINAL: KG Erwin

These guys became a model of military efficiency -- for direct-fire support, each company had six .30 cal MMGs or HMGs and three 60mm mortars. Battalion could also add some bazookas, 81mm mortars and maybe a .50 cal MG. Regiment could thrown in a 75mm -armed halftrack or two. Division could assist with even more .50 cals and tanks, plus engineers and specialized assault squads with demolitions and flamethrowers.

Well, that's possible if your country is rich enough to support you with all the toys possible. In small scale similar compositions took place in Finnish army during WWII, and I believe also in all other armies. But you are right, the scale is probably larger than in any other army. But how far that idea goes from German Kampfgruppe-idea?

RE: Company Command (Rally)

Posted: Tue May 16, 2006 10:07 am
by Whitmire
OK, not only does these answers clear the question, but it also presents interesting opportunities to use the CO's superior Rally ability to bolster supporting troops which *I* can choose.

Nice! This will make buying units even more interesting. A pity it does not show where the CO's influence ends.