21.1.2 ABSORBING REPLACEMENTS
Replacement chits are used in two (2) ways:
• absorbed into multiple elements that have each lost one or
more strength points,
• used to create entire battalion-sized elements that can be
merged into Brigade Units that have lost an entire element.
I think i understand how the replacements are absorbed as I found the below information on one of the forums here but still have one question (which i have at the end).
A replacement chit is an element of that unit type. Unfortunately not every type of element contains the same number of hits. Here is a list:
infantry, militia and cavalry: 20 hits per replacement chit
light infantry: 15 hits per replacement chit
tanks, artillery, armoured cars : 8 hits per replacement chit
supply trains: 6 hits per replacement chit
engineers: 4 hits per replacement chit
aircraft: 12 hits per replacement chit
Reinforcement chits get applied automatically. There are two important limitations though:
1. The unit must be in a region with a town, city or depot (depots speed the replacement process up considerably).
2. The unit may not move during the turn.
Question:
I understand how a unit that has some hits missing from its elements get replaced; however, taking what the manual states & that info from another post, I wanted to make sure I understood how a completely destroyed element gets replaced.
In other words, if an Unit has 4 elements with 3 of them taking hvy losses, but it has also completely lost its 4th element, I understand how the 1st, 2nd, & 3rd elements get their replacement.
1st Element has only 2 Str left
2nd Element has only 4 Str left
3rd Element has only 3 Str left
4th Element is completely dead/has no Str
However, I wanted to make sure that the ONLY way to replace that "dead/lost" 4th element is to merge another unit with the same type of element that was lost?