Sub-dividing units in a scenario

[Mark Stevens]

Is it possible, when designing a formation, to start with some units already divided into their sub-components and dispersed, e.g. create an infantry division then split it into three brigades and place them on the map (or programmed to come on as reserves) individually?

I know you can do it when the game starts, but how about beforehand?

Thanks for any advice.

[Panzerpelle]

Is it possible, when designing a formation, to start with some units already divided into their sub-components and dispersed, e.g. create an infantry division then split it into three brigades and place them on the map (or programmed to come on as reserves) individually?

I know you can do it when the game starts, but how about beforehand?

Thanks for any advice.

Yes you can...In deployment mode...But there are some drawbacks..the OOB can be changed at all after you do it. On the upside..you can merge them in the editor also...

[JMS]

You can do it in the deployment screen just like in the game, but be careful, because the force editor is severly limited if you have divided units (namely, no cut'n'paste) and you cannot do the F4/F5 trick as the divided units re-appear as normal units. Also, the subdivisions can only be renamed from the menu. All in all, serious pain the backside, so if you plan to do it, make it the absolutely last thing you do before kicking a scenario out of the door.

[Mark Stevens]

Thanks, you've both frightened me but I'll give it a go - I want to tidy up the Norwegians in the Europe Aflame scenario so that the army doesn't consist of twenty tiny regiments, but without making it impossible for the Germans to land.

[JMS]

It is not much of a problem if you don't do it to half the OOB. The problem IMO is the time lost dividing and re-uniting divided units.

[Mark Stevens]

I see what you mean. So I can't reorganise the Norwegians into six brigades, then deploy the 1st and 2nd regiments of each brigade on the map from the start, and have the 3rd brigade scheduled to come on as a reinforcement a few turns after the Germans invade: if the units are configured as six brigades and then split, they're either on the map from the start or they're not. I'd need a separate unit labelled 'Norwegian Reserves', not split up, and scheduled to arrive as above?

[JMS]

No, not at all. Once split, the use of the force editor is restricted, but the deployment editor works fine. You can have 2 subunits at start and have the third one appear when you want as a normal reinforcement.

The event editor needs to be touched if any event is triggered by the units in question. As a practical example, in my Spanish Civil War scenario, nationalist divisions start as 2 brigades of 6 Bns each, many of whom start divided in 2 regiments of 3, but destruction of the 1st Bde triggers the entry of the cadre for a 3rd Brigade and the 1st Brigade gets rebuilt as a 4 Bn-unit. In the case that the Brigade starts divided, the triggering event is set to the destruction of the 1st regiment of the 1st Brigade. TOAW tracks the changes in the OOB, but does not update the events, so you need to manually set the trigger to "unit destroyed" for it to reappear.

[JeremyMacDonald]

Also keep in mind that if these units are recombined they will get the normal boost to proficiency hence one should take some care when setting their proficiency levels.

[Merf]

I have a quick question on divided units.

If a unit is divided during game play, either through player choice or as a result of combat, and that unit is later withdrawn using an event, is the game smart enough to withdraw all the sub units?

Thanks for replies.

[JMS]

Nope. The event will be invalided.