Josey Wales

The Coy XO definitely takes over if the Coy Commander goes down.
A Bttn XO does not appear take over if the Bttn Commander goes down.
It would seem as if from @Bulletpoint's post that the Asst Plt Ldr behaves more like a Bttn XO than a Coy XO.
I have no idea or explanation as why it is like this.
 
As for a leader attributes passing down to his subordinate units - this categorically does not happen. I explain this in my post The Relationship between Soft Factors, Morale & Fatigue
To conceptualise this, imagine the leadership modifier is exactly the same as the fitness modifier with respect to who it affects.
An unfit Platoon HQ that gets out of breath walking up a hill does not mean that all of the squads under their command get out of breath walking up the hill. 
The same for Leadership. A Plt Leader who has a -2 Leadership modifier only applies that modifier to the rest of the Platoon HQ. The squads are dependent on the leadership modifier of their individual Squad Leaders (or team leaders when split).
I think this gets confusing for people because of 2 reasons.
1. The Leadership modifier is the only soft factor that can dynamically change as a result of casualties.
2. It is the only one of the factors that is applied to individuals as opposed to the team as a whole. Experience, Fitness and Motivation remain the same for a unit throughout the game irrespective of which individual within the team becomes a casualty.
What I mean here is that a unit with +2 Motivation, Veteran Experience and is Fit at the start of the game will still have +2 Motivation, Veteran Experience and be Fit at the end, even if all but one member is killed and the unit is Rattled and Exhausted.  Leadership, however, will change depending on which individual becomes the casualty. If for example the sole survivor of a squad is Sgt Cane who had a +2 Leadership modifier at the beginning, the Squad will still have the +2 Leadership modifier. However if the sole survivor is Private Pants then the Leadership modifier is likely to have changed to -1 or -2. The the other soft factors will remain the same as they were at the beginning because they apply to the unit as a collective.
 

AT guns are my favourite CM unit type. I only know about British WW2 doctrine when it comes to AT guns and I use this in game.
In defence the guns would be positioned in defilade or reverse slope positions with infantry positioned to defend them rather than the guns positioned to protect the infantry.
In attack, tanks would be used to take ground. AT guns would then be brought up to take the positions of the tank units so that the tanks could advance whilst the guns protected the newly captured position with infantry supporting them.
I have broken with doctrine on occasion and used smoke to conceal AT manouevre to attack tank positions.
I am currently playing a game where I have several AT guns at the edge of woodlines. They are protected by sandbags and have been getting the upper hand against multiple panzer assaults. All guns are in tact with a couple of crew casualties only, whilst the area they are covering is a graveyard of German armour and burning wrecks. Man I love AT guns!!

I'd like to spare you lot's of things... unfortunately they would make you rather sick as well.
Never mind, someone will empty your potty soon and it will be time for bed.

Lots of gnashing of teeth and angst over nothing at all...
Not sure of the age group of some of the posters, but surely, grown men can't get that het up over a computer game?... 
Not sure how they cope when real life problems that matter surface... still, it's a funny old world isn't it 

The 3rd reason is that those of us who started with CM1 learned that it was very important to keep HQ's with good attributes close to subordinates as that indeed make a big difference in performance.  Your findings are appreciated and it seems like this is one of those "myths" that need to be unlearned in CM2.
However, I would have sworn that many years ago (CMSF days) comparisons were made in combat between units in and out of C2 of their HQ's with different attributes that there was a statistical difference in performance.  However, the difference is so subtle in CM2 (vs very obvious in CM1) that in CM2 it's hardly worth worrying about - other than keeping units in C2 for "realism" purposes.
 

The Coy XO definitely takes over if the Coy Commander goes down.
A Bttn XO does not appear take over if the Bttn Commander goes down.
It would seem as if from @Bulletpoint's post that the Asst Plt Ldr behaves more like a Bttn XO than a Coy XO.
I have no idea or explanation as why it is like this.
 
As for a leader attributes passing down to his subordinate units - this categorically does not happen. I explain this in my post The Relationship between Soft Factors, Morale & Fatigue
To conceptualise this, imagine the leadership modifier is exactly the same as the fitness modifier with respect to who it affects.
An unfit Platoon HQ that gets out of breath walking up a hill does not mean that all of the squads under their command get out of breath walking up the hill. 
The same for Leadership. A Plt Leader who has a -2 Leadership modifier only applies that modifier to the rest of the Platoon HQ. The squads are dependent on the leadership modifier of their individual Squad Leaders (or team leaders when split).
I think this gets confusing for people because of 2 reasons.
1. The Leadership modifier is the only soft factor that can dynamically change as a result of casualties.
2. It is the only one of the factors that is applied to individuals as opposed to the team as a whole. Experience, Fitness and Motivation remain the same for a unit throughout the game irrespective of which individual within the team becomes a casualty.
What I mean here is that a unit with +2 Motivation, Veteran Experience and is Fit at the start of the game will still have +2 Motivation, Veteran Experience and be Fit at the end, even if all but one member is killed and the unit is Rattled and Exhausted.  Leadership, however, will change depending on which individual becomes the casualty. If for example the sole survivor of a squad is Sgt Cane who had a +2 Leadership modifier at the beginning, the Squad will still have the +2 Leadership modifier. However if the sole survivor is Private Pants then the Leadership modifier is likely to have changed to -1 or -2. The the other soft factors will remain the same as they were at the beginning because they apply to the unit as a collective.
 

The Coy XO definitely takes over if the Coy Commander goes down.
A Bttn XO does not appear take over if the Bttn Commander goes down.
It would seem as if from @Bulletpoint's post that the Asst Plt Ldr behaves more like a Bttn XO than a Coy XO.
I have no idea or explanation as why it is like this.
 
As for a leader attributes passing down to his subordinate units - this categorically does not happen. I explain this in my post The Relationship between Soft Factors, Morale & Fatigue
To conceptualise this, imagine the leadership modifier is exactly the same as the fitness modifier with respect to who it affects.
An unfit Platoon HQ that gets out of breath walking up a hill does not mean that all of the squads under their command get out of breath walking up the hill. 
The same for Leadership. A Plt Leader who has a -2 Leadership modifier only applies that modifier to the rest of the Platoon HQ. The squads are dependent on the leadership modifier of their individual Squad Leaders (or team leaders when split).
I think this gets confusing for people because of 2 reasons.
1. The Leadership modifier is the only soft factor that can dynamically change as a result of casualties.
2. It is the only one of the factors that is applied to individuals as opposed to the team as a whole. Experience, Fitness and Motivation remain the same for a unit throughout the game irrespective of which individual within the team becomes a casualty.
What I mean here is that a unit with +2 Motivation, Veteran Experience and is Fit at the start of the game will still have +2 Motivation, Veteran Experience and be Fit at the end, even if all but one member is killed and the unit is Rattled and Exhausted.  Leadership, however, will change depending on which individual becomes the casualty. If for example the sole survivor of a squad is Sgt Cane who had a +2 Leadership modifier at the beginning, the Squad will still have the +2 Leadership modifier. However if the sole survivor is Private Pants then the Leadership modifier is likely to have changed to -1 or -2. The the other soft factors will remain the same as they were at the beginning because they apply to the unit as a collective.
 

I find Regular and Green units, especially, much steadier when in C2. And while I kind of wish that platoon leaders' abilities affected their squads, they still do indirectly--a better-quality Platoon HQ will hold up better under fire, allowing it to keep its squads in C2 more effectively.
@Josey Wales, thank you for the great explanation!
I just tried this by pulling up a scenario (CMBN MG Sacrifice for a New Religion) and killing a US Rifle Battalion CO. The XO did immediately take over.
I also tried killing a German SS Aufklarungs Platoon CO (in CMFB December Morning), and I found the same thing that @Bulletpoint did--the HQ Support Team's leader did not take over. However, I also noticed that the guy in charge of that team is labeled "Team Leader" rather than "Executive Officer" in the lower-left-hand green text that describes everyone's current activities. So I wonder if he's a different type of assistant. When I've seen "Assistants" take over, whether at platoon, company, or battalion level, they're always the "Executive Officer" type rather than "Team Leader." The difference is subtle because on the UI display down below they're both labeled "Asst," but they're different roles.
So it seems to me this behavior is intended, and the Aufklarungs Platoon HQ Support Team leader is NOT really considered an assistant platoon leader. He's just a team leader/assistant squad leader, so ineligible to take over a platoon. This would make sense, since the Aufklarungs platoons are already commanded by NCOs (Hauptscharführer) rather than officers. The HQ Support Team leaders are even more junior by two ranks (Scharführer). As I understand it that's more like a squad leader's rank than a platoon sergeant's. By contrast, SS PzGd platoons, which do have Executive Officers who can take over, are commanded by officers.

Thanks @Josey Wales.  This is one of your best explanations yet.  Each time you are asked to explain it I think you get a little better .  +1 

The Coy XO definitely takes over if the Coy Commander goes down.
A Bttn XO does not appear take over if the Bttn Commander goes down.
It would seem as if from @Bulletpoint's post that the Asst Plt Ldr behaves more like a Bttn XO than a Coy XO.
I have no idea or explanation as why it is like this.
 
As for a leader attributes passing down to his subordinate units - this categorically does not happen. I explain this in my post The Relationship between Soft Factors, Morale & Fatigue
To conceptualise this, imagine the leadership modifier is exactly the same as the fitness modifier with respect to who it affects.
An unfit Platoon HQ that gets out of breath walking up a hill does not mean that all of the squads under their command get out of breath walking up the hill. 
The same for Leadership. A Plt Leader who has a -2 Leadership modifier only applies that modifier to the rest of the Platoon HQ. The squads are dependent on the leadership modifier of their individual Squad Leaders (or team leaders when split).
I think this gets confusing for people because of 2 reasons.
1. The Leadership modifier is the only soft factor that can dynamically change as a result of casualties.
2. It is the only one of the factors that is applied to individuals as opposed to the team as a whole. Experience, Fitness and Motivation remain the same for a unit throughout the game irrespective of which individual within the team becomes a casualty.
What I mean here is that a unit with +2 Motivation, Veteran Experience and is Fit at the start of the game will still have +2 Motivation, Veteran Experience and be Fit at the end, even if all but one member is killed and the unit is Rattled and Exhausted.  Leadership, however, will change depending on which individual becomes the casualty. If for example the sole survivor of a squad is Sgt Cane who had a +2 Leadership modifier at the beginning, the Squad will still have the +2 Leadership modifier. However if the sole survivor is Private Pants then the Leadership modifier is likely to have changed to -1 or -2. The the other soft factors will remain the same as they were at the beginning because they apply to the unit as a collective.
 

The Coy XO definitely takes over if the Coy Commander goes down.
A Bttn XO does not appear take over if the Bttn Commander goes down.
It would seem as if from @Bulletpoint's post that the Asst Plt Ldr behaves more like a Bttn XO than a Coy XO.
I have no idea or explanation as why it is like this.
 
As for a leader attributes passing down to his subordinate units - this categorically does not happen. I explain this in my post The Relationship between Soft Factors, Morale & Fatigue
To conceptualise this, imagine the leadership modifier is exactly the same as the fitness modifier with respect to who it affects.
An unfit Platoon HQ that gets out of breath walking up a hill does not mean that all of the squads under their command get out of breath walking up the hill. 
The same for Leadership. A Plt Leader who has a -2 Leadership modifier only applies that modifier to the rest of the Platoon HQ. The squads are dependent on the leadership modifier of their individual Squad Leaders (or team leaders when split).
I think this gets confusing for people because of 2 reasons.
1. The Leadership modifier is the only soft factor that can dynamically change as a result of casualties.
2. It is the only one of the factors that is applied to individuals as opposed to the team as a whole. Experience, Fitness and Motivation remain the same for a unit throughout the game irrespective of which individual within the team becomes a casualty.
What I mean here is that a unit with +2 Motivation, Veteran Experience and is Fit at the start of the game will still have +2 Motivation, Veteran Experience and be Fit at the end, even if all but one member is killed and the unit is Rattled and Exhausted.  Leadership, however, will change depending on which individual becomes the casualty. If for example the sole survivor of a squad is Sgt Cane who had a +2 Leadership modifier at the beginning, the Squad will still have the +2 Leadership modifier. However if the sole survivor is Private Pants then the Leadership modifier is likely to have changed to -1 or -2. The the other soft factors will remain the same as they were at the beginning because they apply to the unit as a collective.
 

@11:48 "I see troops but I'm not sure if they are enemy""
Quickly brings up 'genuine WW2 GPS map' showing his exact location and brightly coloured moving markers.
Sigh!!!
 

@axxe good work. It ties in with my own findings. Fatigue has no noticeable effect on spotting or shooting. The only factor which does is experience. 

@axxe good work. It ties in with my own findings. Fatigue has no noticeable effect on spotting or shooting. The only factor which does is experience. 

Surplus US Army invisibility clothing sometimes comes up for sale

 

 

A fact to which I can readily attest, min ven!  However, the therapy sessions are going much better now and my catatonic fits occur less often . . .
To the points already raised, I suppose it really does depend on what phase you're in at the moment.  Competitive H2H are best served by Meeting Engagements.  Attack and Defense require skills at planning, flexibility in responses, and fortitude in play.  CM games effectively allow players to explore all those approaches as it suits them.  These are games that certainly keep you from getting into any kind of rut.

I go through phases. I feel as if I understand reasonably well how to put together an attack so at the moment I prefer defensive battles. I find mounting a good defense to be technically very challenging. With a defensive battle you pretty much play the game before the first turn, especially if you lack mobility. I would argue that as a defender you need to be more thorough in your METT-T and OCOKA analysis than when attacking as you will typically lack flexibility after the game starts.

Ah no. The soft factors of training, motivation and leadership are what controls how soldiers perform - not the name of their branch. So, Veteran High motivation troops lead by +2 leader behave the same as any other troops so endowed. Weapons make a difference too of course - cannot forget that. The difference you experience in game will be due to the settings of those factors not because of the branch of service in the name in the UI.
I am seriously hoping that @c3k is doing what he does so well and yanking your chain.

MINUTE 18
Let this be a warning to you.., if you are playing a modern game and keep your armored assets in the same position for more than a turn or two this is what will happen.  Death can come from anywhere... it was only a matter of time before I got those two tanks.  They hadn’t moved really since they came in as reinforcements, eight turns ago for the Challenger and 13! Turns for the Leopard.  Even in WW2 if you position your vehicles in non-hulldown positions and leave them there, you will have to pay the price eventually.
 
First to fall to a Javelin, his remaining Challenger…

…then another Jav Team took out his last remaining tank, the Leopard 2A4.

As time expired, another Javelin had just started its downward plunge on a Marder.

Baneman is pushing several infantry teams and another Warrior towards my ridgeline.  Also in view is a Scimitar that has been in that position since very early in the game.  This move seems kind of desperate to me, it’s too weak to be able to do anything really worthwhile.  It is however, the correct solution, too little too late though... he needs to push as much combat power as he can muster as close to me as he can.. one or two vehicles and a few teams will not be able to do much against what I have in the area.

The Bradley at BP1 is taking the infantry under fire, but the Warrior IFV drove by without incident.

Shown in this image on the reverse slope of HILL 41.1 and HILL 42 are four Bradleys and their dismounts… There are another three Bradleys in this area as well, plus a BMP-3 and two BMP-2s.  They can all reorient as required, I have the interior lines.

Here is an overview of the situation in the north.
NOTES:
The BMP-3 Platoon is taking up overwatch positions on OBJ DIAMOND.. I suspect he has a Fennek and a Warrior IFV in this objective, or nearby.   The LAVs are gathering all of the dismounts, Syrian and USMC and then will move to the Assembly Area for an attack on FARM 011 and 012.  Two Scimitars were last seen in this area.  They will be supported by the T-90 section. My reserve is starting to move forward to get into jump off positions for their eventual attack into EA1... but this has yet to be decided, and I may push them on another axis, toward FARM 002 perhaps. BP-1 and the Javelin teams on the ridgeline will be a support by fire position for any attacks.
 
As can be seen in the Blood Board, he has a lot of combat power remaining.. I am not taking anything for granted:

MINUTE 17
First up, some mortar porn:

Another action filled minute… sadly I think this will be the last turn report post from me until next Wednesday.  Sorry, heading to the Caribbean.   
That being said, I think I am leaving you with another very exciting and action packed turn.

There were two Javelin kills this turn; a Warrior IFV…

…and a Marder.

I had a Bradley near HILL 42.0 loading two Javelin teams that were close to falling under the artillery hitting that hill.  While in the midst of loading this Bradley spotted one of the Warrior IFVs from the platoon that crossed the river and is very close to my ridgeline. 
Not only did they knock out the IFV, they also spotted an AT team shortly after and took them out as well.

The Abrams pulled into a new position in BP1 and almost instantly spotted another Marder…

Note in the background, the Javelin team that knocked out the Challenger two minutes ago now has spots on both of Baneman’s remaining tanks, the Challenger and the Leopard 2A4.  Time ran out before it could launch... next turn could be interesting!

In the T-90 platoon battle position, the T-90 HQ vehicle received a laser warning and pulled out of the line... unfortunately, right into the guns of Baneman’s Challenger… why, oh why couldn’t it simply have reversed a little bit? 

Good advice for sure.
Hummm, some incorrect info there or perhaps just unclear.
Using the target command will *not* cause the unit to fire at the end. I have not tried target briefly since testing so I forgot if it behaves differently.
To have success with the hull down command you need to keep a few things in mind.
1 - Use the hull down move order with a target command to indicate where you want to be hull down too. No *not* use the other method - see point 2.
2 - place the hull down way point to a location you would be ok with your vehicle moving to - just in case. If you make a boo boo or miss read the terrain. (see point 3) your vehicle may reach the end of the hull down command. Make sure if that happens it will not be a total disaster.
3 - Make sure the way point before the hull down command has no visability to the location you want to be hull down too.
4 - check your exposure to other locations. It sucks to get a perfect hull down position only to realize that you are totally exposed from another angle. Guess where Murphy's law says the enemy will be then.
When I faithfully follow those points I end up with a vehicle in a good position more than 9 times out of 10.
 
Yep, I am very happy with this new command.

I think this is a good place to stop for a bit and discuss my tactics and approach to this fight.  From the beginning I had a two phase plan (not including recon), and it hinged on my Javelin teams.
The Reconnaissance Phase was just supposed to tie the enemy down, and entice him into moving as much combat power as possible into Engagement Area 1 (EA1).  During this phase of the action I intended to gather as much information as possible and recover the enemy order of battle, identify his intent, etc. I only really engaged the enemy with my two LAV-ATs (which I subsequently lost), the Syrian ATGM team (a failure so far), and a couple LAVs I was hoping they would attrit the enemy recon elements but at this they failed, only being able to destroy one Fennek The enemy did feel comfortable enough to move a lot of his combat power into EA1, and did not seem to hold back a reserve.  PHASE I - the first phase of the actual battle proper started when I received my Main Body reinforcements.  The intent was to move two platoons of Bradleys into KT2, dismount Javelin teams and kill as many enemy vehicles as possible, mainly with dismounted Javelin teams. Note, once inside EA1, it is going to be very tough for Baneman to extricate his armor and IFVs, especially as more and more Javelin teams come on line I actually have four Javelin teams in overwatch positions at this stage in the battle with a few more still to deploy. Baneman continues to move vehicles into EA1 and especially toward the Ruined Farm Battle Position 1 (BP1)  has been an unexpected boon for me, and really is turning out to be the most important terrain in the AO so far.  A good majority of the enemy vehicles killed came from this position The Bradleys that are on the reverse slope of KT2 (two platoons) are a local reserve, and will join in any attack I make with my main reserve, but on a different axis to spread the enemy and keep him from shifting elements The intent is to engage the enemy with as few units as possible and still cause serious harm, most of my combat power will be husbanded for PHASE II.  I want him rocking back on his heels when I hit him with my main combat power. PHASE II - this is the Main Attack phase of the action.  I have identified a few key avenues of attack but have yet to decide how I am going to attack The elements in EA1 are the main target Isolating and eliminating the enemy units at OBJ DIAMOND, FARM 002, and the FARM 011-012 complex are lower priorities All elements not in the KT2 and BP1 positions will join in this effort, including: USMC Recon dismounts and LAVs x2 BMP-3 Mech Infantry platoons x1 Syrian dismounted infantry platoon  x1 Bradley platoon and Bradley Company HQ element (five vehicles with dismounts, the BFIST will be kept in the rear area) T-90 Platoon Ultimate goal is to eliminate or mitigate the enemy armor threat to such an extent that I can start to clear DUMAYR and all of the red colored objectives (see image above) of all enemy irregular elements I am currently still in PHASE I, but am starting to plan for PHASE II.  More to come as I complete my analysis and decide on a course of action.
 

MINUTE 16
REINFORCEMENTS
The Rear Guard troops arrived in the AO after this turn, these are the final reinforcements.  Following is an overview of what just arrived:
Two platoons of BMP-3s.
I have found the missing Warrior platoon.  At least two of the IFVs are on my side of the river near Point 35.9… interesting.  They can cause some mischief from there.  I am moving a few assets that way and will wait to see what he plans to do with them.  I suspect he will dismount his infantry and attempt to infiltrate my position.

Here is an overview of movements this turn... I have pulled the four LAVs from BP1, I think the Jav team, the Abrams and the Bradley there can handle that position.
The LAV's are driving quickly to join the dismounted infantry platoons, the USMC recon and the dismounted BMP-3 platoon.. I underestimated the distances involved and I need to mount the Syrian infantry and move them to the center position with the marines and the T-90s.  The LAVs, Marine recon troops, and Syrian infantry will assemble and start to move toward FARM 11 and 12.
I sent one BMP-3 platoon deep and they will turn the corner and attempt to get eyes on OBJ DIAMOND, where I suspect I will eventually find a Fennek and a Warrior IFV.  I do think this is where the artillery hitting the rear slopes of HILL 42 is being called in from.  

Oh, and T-90s (and Russian tanks in general) appear to be the pretty good armor to use against infantry, as can be seen by this event (It does appear that Baneman has not read the Masked Movement post on my Blog):

So at least the T-90 platoon is a capable Syrian formation...  that is good to see and makes me feel a little better. 
Thought you would appreciate what I have in reserve, these units are waiting for events to develop a bit further before I commit them.

Sounds like another no -- you keep typing your rants while dodging the fact you throw out immature accusations but lack the fortitude to put your money where your mouth is. Someone is the child here, I'm not sure it's me. 

Sounds like another no. Not surprised. Again: put your money where your mouth is, or pound sand.