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Commanders On Map


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What advantages/bonuses are gained by having Battalion and/or Company commanders on the field? I was just setting up my forces for a PBEM quick battle and need those extra ~90-100 points from removing company COs. I have always wondered what the player really gains by having those guys on map with your forces other than just filling in the realistic TOE.

I suspected that having these guys on map would speed up artillery delivery times but I have not seen this at all in limited testing. Maybe only under certain conditions?

Is there some moral bonus for subordinate units that might help in battle vs not having them around?

If you gave a battalion/company/platoon commander a +2 Leadership rating, does this benefit anyone other than the HQ team itself?

If a company or battalion commander fills in for a platoon HQ is everything equal, are the squads gaining the same bonuses?

Lastly and chiefly, are they worth purchasing vs other direct combat/utility units when you have limited points to work with for a QB?

Name any advantages OTHER than those below you might know of.

1) Temporary C2 link for units out of HQ contact

2) Artillery & Air Support spotters

3) Field medics

4) Ammo bearers (through aquire/sharing system)

5) Scouts

6) Terrain objective holders

7) Makeshift combat infantry

8) Heavy/Special weapon recovery from fallen (lil' gamey)

9) Bait / Decoy (Gamey for these units)

C2 and its benefits in CMSF and CMBN have always been slightly mysterious to me.

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They're the central hub to all C2 between units. If a battalion commander gets killed (and the XO does not take over), units from different companies won't be able to communicate with each other.

This means longer spotting times, i.e. time to see an enemy unit that has not been spotted yet, even if another unit already located that enemy unit.

Also if an enemy unit is spotted twice by two different units without a C2 link, that enemy unit will generate two <?> icons, making it much harder to judge the enemy's disposition.

Calling in on-board fire support will also not be possible if the link passes through the Btn HQ.

Calling in off-board artillery might also suffer delays, depending on whether the spotter is a subordinate of the Btn HQ or not.

And lastly all units suffer morale penalties because the C2 link is not as strong (they don't feel part of a greater whole so to speak).

Except for points 1-3, to me it seems all the other "uses" are actually a very bad way of using those units. The way HQ units work is one of the biggest changes from CMx1 although the one that is the least noticeable. You don't see the benefits unless they are actually gone.

Of course this also depends on the level of fog of war you are playing on.

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Great info and just what I was looking for to justify their presence on the field. I've been playing the CMx2 system since CMSF was released and never really understood all the downsides to cutting them out of formations.

Also if an enemy unit is spotted twice by two different units without a C2 link, that enemy unit will generate two <?> icons, making it much harder to judge the enemy's disposition.

Interesting, I always thought that units would generate their own <?> icons regardless if they were in C2 or not.

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As noted, Coy and Bn HQ are far too important in the C2 chain to use for risky jobs like scouting.

As for the advantages of having them on-map, as opposed to off-map and abstracted by radio link, I think your 1 - Additional command unit and 2 - Artillery spotter are the big ones.

Since Company HQs can command any unit of the Company they command, I often use them to command an overwatch group of MGs and Mortars while the rest of my platoons move forward. On the defense, the extra HQ can add an additional command point and give you more deployment options, while still keeping everyone in C2.

FO work kind of speaks for itself -- often, my Plt HQs are up close, embroiled in the fighting, so it's the Company HQ a bit further back that ends up doing the spotting for the Company or Battalion mortars.

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Interesting, I always thought that units would generate their own <?> icons regardless if they were in C2 or not.

I mean when you don't have any unit selected, when you have the aggregated knowledge of all the troops. I find that when playing as red in CMSF, it is very hard to accurately judge where blue forces are, when playing as blue on the other hand you usually have a fairly good idea.

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