Brigade Commanders

[PeterMac]

Still fairly new to this game, and have a few questions on the use of Brigade Commanders, and their effects. Not how to use them, I am OK with that, it is just where there are specific benefits. I have not found any information on this either in the game documentation, or in this forum.

Examples
1) Loose brigade in an army core
I understand that divisions get benefits from the Division commander, The Corp Commander, and the Army Commander, Presumeable a loose brigade attached directly to the Corp only gets benefit from the Corp Commander, and the Army Commander. If you attach a spare * General to the Brigade does this then work the same as a division, with the brigade getting benefit from the attached brigade Commander, the Corp Commander, and the Army Commander ??

2) Independant brigade stacked with 2 spare * Generals
In this case I assume that brigade would only benefit from the Force commander, the more senior of the 2 * Generals.
If lower ranking * General is attached to the brigade, would the brigade then benefit from both Commanders ? The Attached * General acting as Brigade Commander, and the other * General acting as Force Commander ??

Think I know how to check if there is any benefit in these cases, but would appreciate a definitive view from one of the experts.

[Major Tom]

Still fairly new to this game, and have a few questions on the use of Brigade Commanders, and their effects. Not how to use them, I am OK with that, it is just where there are specific benefits. I have not found any information on this either in the game documentation, or in this forum.

Examples
1) Loose brigade in an army core
I understand that divisions get benefits from the Division commander, The Corp Commander, and the Army Commander, Presumeable a loose brigade attached directly to the Corp only gets benefit from the Corp Commander, and the Army Commander. If you attach a spare * General to the Brigade does this then work the same as a division, with the brigade getting benefit from the attached brigade Commander, the Corp Commander, and the Army Commander ??

2) Independant brigade stacked with 2 spare * Generals
In this case I assume that brigade would only benefit from the Force commander, the more senior of the 2 * Generals.
If lower ranking * General is attached to the brigade, would the brigade then benefit from both Commanders ? The Attached * General acting as Brigade Commander, and the other * General acting as Force Commander ??

Think I know how to check if there is any benefit in these cases, but would appreciate a definitive view from one of the experts.

I wouldn't classify myself as one of the experts, but I do know how this works. And, it sounds like you understand the system pretty well. In fact, everything works exactly as you've described it.

Benefits are passed down like this:

For an army: Army Cmdr ---> Corps Cmdr ---> Unit.

For detatched units: Stack Cmdr ---> Unit.

The unit will also get a command benefit from its own commander if it is a division or brigade with embedded leader.

Stack (or Corps) commander passes down a combat bonus of 5% for each point of offensive/defensive rating to all units in the stack, including unled brigades. Unit commander (division or attached brigade) passes down 3% per point.

So, yes -- if you embed a leader with a brigade, and then stack it with a more senior leader, the unit will get both leader bonuses.

The bonus passed down from an Army commander to a subordinate corps within the command radius is a little more complicated. Instead of passing down a % modifier bassed on offense/defense, the army commander actually passes down a direct bonus to the corps commander's own offense/defense ratings. The bonus that's passed down is +0-3, randomized based on the army leader's own ratings (that's as precise as I know -- if someone has a more complete answer, I'd like to hear it).

The Army commander's Strategic rating is also passed down, but from a base of -2, so he can actually pass down a negative SR to subordinate corps if he has an SR of 2 or less.


The strategic bonus/penalty that's passed down looks like this:

• Army Commander SR = 4+
  [INDENT]
• 8% chance Corps commander gets +2 SR bonus.
• 58% chance Corps commander gets +1 SR bonus.
• 33% chance Corps commander gets 0 SR bonus.[/INDENT]
• Army Commander SR = 3
  [INDENT]
• 50% chance Corps commander gets +1 SR bonus.
• 50% chance Corps commander gets 0 SR bonus[/INDENT]
• Army Commander SR = 2
  [INDENT]
• 33% chance Corps commander gets 0 SR bonus.
• 66% chance Corps commander gets -1 SR penalty.[/INDENT]
• Army Commander SR = 1
  [INDENT]
• ??.[/INDENT]

I assume the offense/defense bonus looks similar but with higher results becasue there's no -2 factored in to the leader rating. If that's true, then the bonus for 2 offense/defense leader would match the bonus above for a 4+ strategic rating leader. The table must go higher, but I don't know the probability breakdown for bonuses beyond that.

[PeterMac]

Thanks for the quick response, pretty much confirms what I suspected, that with two leaders available, you are actually better off linking the brigade to the subordinate leader, rather than the one that will be Force commander, even if they have poorer stats. Brigade will get bonus from Force commander anyway.

[Major Tom]

Thanks for the quick response, pretty much confirms what I suspected, that with two leaders available, you are actually better off linking the brigade to the subordinate leader, rather than the one that will be Force commander, even if they have poorer stats. Brigade will get bonus from Force commander anyway.

Yeah, the only drawback is activation, if the senior commander has a lower strategic rating. But, you can always unstack the senior commander and just go with the active brigade commander if you need to make an attack. It's a bit gamey, but then, this is a game after all.

[bburns9]

This post helped me clarify things a little bit, but as a noob, I've got one remaining question.

I have a corps with 3 divisions. The corps commander is active, but 2 of the 3 division commanders are not. Does this essentially mean I'm assaulting with the one active division? Or do all the units enter the fight but with some sort of penalty for being inactive?

Thanks

[Major Tom]

This post helped me clarify things a little bit, but as a noob, I've got one remaining question.

I have a corps with 3 divisions. The corps commander is active, but 2 of the 3 division commanders are not. Does this essentially mean I'm assaulting with the one active division? Or do all the units enter the fight but with some sort of penalty for being inactive?

Thanks

No, activation is determined at the stack level (in this case, a Corps). The strategic ratings of subordinate commanders in a stack are unimportant. As long as the stack leader is active, the entire stack is active, and vice versa. So if you have active division commanders in a Corps stack and the corps commander is inactive, the whole stack is inactive. You would have to separate the active division from the corps to make use of the active division commander.

One thing I failed to mention in the above post -- for an independent division command, the unit does not get a double benefit form the leader as both stack commander and unit (division) commander (+5% and +3%). He onlygets the +5% as stack commander.

[bburns9]

No, activation is determined at the stack level (in this case, a Corps). The strategic ratings of subordinate commanders in a stack are unimportant. As long as the stack leader is active, the entire stack is active, and vice versa. So if you have active division commanders in a Corps stack and the corps commander is inactive, the whole stack is inactive. You would have to separate the active division from the corps to make use of the active division commander.

One thing I failed to mention in the above post -- for an independent division command, the unit does not get a double benefit form the leader as both stack commander and unit (division) commander (+5% and +3%). He onlygets the +5% as stack commander.

Thanks Major Tom. I've put off a few assaults in my campaign game for fear of having the lone active division in the corps get routed. I will now advance headlong into the fire!