Command and control question from a newbie

[jonp]

All,

I read the manual and I still do not fully understand command and control between units. Can someone point me to a link/message where they go through and explain everything. Mind you, I do not have prior knowledge of squads/platoons/etc.

Enclosed are three screenshots that I would like to ask a few questions :

1) I have a unit in my first pic and it says he is not in contact (by the red dot, right?) with anyone. Why is that? From the pics, it looks like he should be in contact with the tanks right next to him

2) With the bottom two pics, what is this telling me? Is one of the tanks in control of the other? I do not undertand what the four lines mean in the lower left. I realize it means something about being in command, but exactly what does that mean?

3) What is the HQ button for on the sillouete? Does that mean that I have a HQ unit driving the tank?

4) What is the hiearchy of control : squad, platoon, etc, etc?

Thx for helping

jonpfl

['Card]

1. The red dot means he's out of contact with his headquarters (commanding) unit, which means it will take him a lot longer to execute the orders you give him.

2. The orange line going off to the left of him means he's going to be moving into that building to his left. The lines are movement intentions, with the color of the line showing what kind of movement (slow, fast, hunt, etc.). The lines don't have anything to do with command and control.

3. That HQ means that the tank commander is also (in this case) the troop commander. See the gold bar on the left? That's his rank insignia. It means he's a Second Lieutenant and he's in charge of the troop.

4. Heirarchy (from smallest to highest, with usual commander rank):

Remember, these are just estimates.

Fire Team (Corporal or Sergeant) - two teams make a squad.

Squad (Sergeant or Staff Sergeant) - four squads make a platoon.

Platoon (1st or 2nd Lieutenant) - four platoons make a company.

Company (Captain) - five companies make a battalion.

Battalion (Lieutenant Colonel) - four or five battalions make a brigade.

Brigade (Colonel) - three or four brigades make a division.

Division (General)

[jonp]

Originally posted by 'Card:

1. The red dot means he's out of contact with his headquarters (commanding) unit, which means it will take him a lot longer to execute the orders you give him.

2. The orange line going off to the left of him means he's going to be moving into that building to his left. The lines are movement intentions, with the color of the line showing what kind of movement (slow, fast, hunt, etc.). The lines don't have anything to do with command and control.

3. That HQ means that the tank commander is also (in this case) the troop commander. See the gold bar on the left? That's his rank insignia. It means he's a Second Lieutenant and he's in charge of the troop.

4. Heirarchy (from smallest to highest, with usual commander rank):

Remember, these are just estimates.

Fire Team (Corporal or Sergeant) - two teams make a squad.

Squad (Sergeant or Staff Sergeant) - four squads make a platoon.

Platoon (1st or 2nd Lieutenant) - four platoons make a company.

Company (Captain) - five companies make a battalion.

Battalion (Lieutenant Colonel) - four or five battalions make a brigade.

Brigade (Colonel) - three or four brigades make a division.

Division (General)

How come my spotter (in first picture) is not in command of anything? He is right next to the tanks. To the left, it has "A Troop" listed which leads me to believe his commanding officer is the tank.

Also, is that list of names in any sort of order?

Thx

jonpfl

[zwobot]

What is this scenario you took the screenshots from jonp? It looks like Ambush Alley with Army units, where did you get it?

The unit in the first screenshot is a forward observer, he is not in contact with his superior because he is moving. Once he stops moving C2 will be reestablished by radio (if the superior officer is farther away) or by voice or handsignal. You can see who belongs to the forward observer C2 wise by selecting him and watching the rest of the icons: light blue icons belong to him (or vice versa) and slightly greyed out blue icons belong to different platoons or companies.

[jonp]

Originally posted by zwobot:

What is this scenario you took the screenshots from jonp? It looks like Ambush Alley with Army units, where did you get it?

The unit in the first screenshot is a forward observer, he is not in contact with his superior because he is moving. Once he stops moving C2 will be reestablished by radio (if the superior officer is farther away) or by voice or handsignal. You can see who belongs to the forward observer C2 wise by selecting him and watching the rest of the icons: light blue icons belong to him (or vice versa) and slightly greyed out blue icons belong to different platoons or companies.

I got this scenario from cmmods.com

It is called "Encounter at something beginning with an A"

Oh, so if he is moving, he cannot maintain contact with his superiors? Also, is that list in any order (like is the topmost thing the most important unit)?

Thx

jonpfl

[zwobot]

The top most entry in the list is just the direct superior to the selected unit. The second entry is the superior unit to the superior unit and so on.

As long as everything is green insiide this list you are fine.

If the first entry is red that means that the selected unit is not in contact with it's superior unit; when the second or third entry is red that means that the superior unit is not in contact with it's superior unit and so on.

[SlowMotion]

I recently saw something that is probably caused by this new C&C of CMSF. It looked very strange to me, maybe this could be tweaked a bit?

In a test scenario I had a group of Bradleys, Humvees and infantry on the blue side. The red had quite a bit infantry. In setup phase blue side was on one side of a ridge, the red was on the other. Neither side could see each other.

Then I moved 3 of the Bradleys and the infantry to enemy contact. After some time 2 Bradleys were destroyed and later the last one in panic. I decided to move more Bradleys to enemy contact.

*******************

To my surprise these units that hadn't even seen the enemy yet, were all in panic. Some even abandoned their vehicles. Is this because they had a well working C&C connection to units that were fighting? There's something on page 73 of the manual that sort of describes this, but it looked very strange. The enemy here had very little antitank capability if any (the 2 Bradleys were destroyed by mines), so why did those reserve units panic??? I'd understand the panic if the opponent had real tanks or similar, but in this case panic is exaggeration.

*******************

[ December 25, 2007, 03:31 AM: Message edited by: SlowMotion ]

[jonp]

Originally posted by zwobot:

The top most entry in the list is just the direct superior to the selected unit. The second entry is the superior unit to the superior unit and so on.

As long as everything is green insiide this list you are fine.

If the first entry is red that means that the selected unit is not in contact with it's superior unit; when the second or third entry is red that means that the superior unit is not in contact with it's superior unit and so on.

How come my forward observer cannot talk to his superiors via a radio? I thought all US troops had radios? Is it because I took casulties in that squad and the guy who survived did not have the radio? I would assume he would have contact with the tank right in front of him regardless if he is moving or not.

If my CO is in a tank and I am walking/running near it, I should still be in visual contact, right?

Thx

jonpfl