MTSG (March to The Sound of Guns) only ever affects Corps and/or Army Stacks in neighboring regions.
An Army Stack is a Stack containing a leader with Army Command status, even if the leader is the only unit in the Stack.
A Corps Stack is a Stack containing a leader with a Corps Command, even if the leader is the only unit in the Stack.
If a unit is inside an Army or Corps Stack, and your remove it from that Stack--by dragging it outside of the Stack and dropping it onto a different Stack or into the open area of the same or a different region--it ceases to be a part of that original Stack, and is then outside the Chain of Command of that original Army or Corps Stack.
lightbrave wrote:Ok, Glitch is my current opponent and we need a good answer to this questions as it effects both of us. There was current battle at Holly Springs. Its the city just southeast of Memphis. Before the battle I had 1 Corps at Holly Springs and 1 Corps at Memphis. Each had a Corps commander. I also had Johnston (Commander of those 2 Corps) sitting in the Memphis area. He was a stack by himself but was commander of the 2 mentioned Corps. When my opponent attacked, he hit my Corps at Holly Springs. Both of my Corps took part in the battle but Johnston was never in command. After I sent the turn back to my opponent, I tried to see if it was just a fluke, however, I ran the turn 2 more times (without changing anything) and the results of the battle changed but Johnston never took command. I tried a 3rd re-run and the only thing I changed was I moved Johnston from Memphis to Holly Springs (still a stack by himself) and he took command of the battle. I really don't understand this. If my Corps in Memphis made it to the battle then how did Johnston never make it on all 3 turns?
Johnston is not the command of those two Corps Stacks, he is the Army Commander with those two Corps Stacks attached to his Army Command.
Johnston's Army Stack is in Memphis can never MTSG to Holly Springs, which is two region distant from Memphis.
lightbrave wrote:The reason I just don't have Johnston as the commander of one of the Corps stacks is because both of my Corps commanders have a better defensive rating. In fact, the only reason I want him in the battle is for the potential "Surprise Bonus Effect he gives.
Check the tool-tip of Johnston's Surpriser Ability in the element detail window (click on Johnston's Stack, then on his unit in the Stack Panel, then on Johnston's NATO symbol in the Unit Detain Panel to the right of the Stack Panel to open Johnston's element detail window). IIRC it only pertains to small stacks and only when attacking, but I might be wrong.
lightbrave wrote:On a side note, as to one of my opponents questions, would it be better if Johnston doesn't take command if he is going to lower the stats of my Corps commanders in the first place?
Do you mean, would it be better were Johnston not in command during a battle? That would depend on the Posture of the Stacks. If Johnston is in OP (Offensive Posture), his '4' OP value is used; if he is in DP, his '2' DP value is used. Compare them to the Corps Commander's OP and DP values to discover which value is better. But, even if the OP or DP of the Corps Commander were better, an Army Commander adds a bonus to combat. I don't recall the calculation, but IIRC the presence of the Army Commander adds 3% to the Offensive or Defensive values of the fighting elements, depending on the posture of the Army Commander, and thus all forces in the battle of that faction.
lightbrave wrote:Am i suppose to put Johnston on a certain posture for him to move to an adjacent region to take command?
No, but IIRC there is a small bonus for a stack checking to MTSG if it is in OP.
MTSG takes into account how long it would hypothetically take the MTSG'ing Stack to actually move from its current location to the battle location. The quicker the move, the more greater the probability of success.
So, if Johnston has the Rail Movement SO (Special Orders) selected--and if he is alone in a stack, why not, because leaders do not cost anything to move by rail--, and there is a viable rail link between the MTSG'ing Stack's region and the battle region, it will greatly increase the chances of success.