Changing Skirmisher formations

[Jack ONeill]

The attachment screen0043.jpg is no longer available

DaV,

Here's the semi-final product. Line soldiers 3 yards apart. Reserve sections up on the line. Still can't figure out how to integrate them into the main unit battleline. However, what we have now is a useable skirmish formation that doesn't take half an hour to deploy or re-deploy in the face of threats.

Thoughts and comments please.

Jack B)

[Marching Thru Georgia]

Jack,
To put the skirmishers into your formation(s), the 1st row of the formation would contain something like this: (100-0-0-0-DRIL_Lvl6_Inf_Skirmish-1)N where N is the appropriate sprite number. This would place the skirmishers 100 yd. in front of the main body. If you are going to have more than one skirmish regiment in the front, you may need to add a number for the second variable to prevent overlap, such as: (100-50-0-0-DRIL_Lvl6_Inf_Skirmish-1)N. This would tell the program that the skirmishers are 50 yd. wide. Whether to add this 2nd value or not will depend on the column spacing of the main body of your formation. Trial and error is best here.

Out of curiosity, how do you utilize them for road marches?

[Davinci]

Jack - I would say that the drills file would have to be one of the most complicated files in the Logistics folder.

If you are only using one uniform per regiment in the Napoleon Mod - do not use a number like this (0-0-2). This will cause the unit to not fire their musket.

Instead, use something like this (0-0-1), or (0-0-1)25

davinci

[gunship24]

The skirmish formation in the stock game is a big difference from the one used in the other game. Even in the Nap mod i moved the reserve forward a bit because they were kinda in the way back there. But i agree it is big and only really useful and aesthetically pleasing for units of about 30-40 sprites, anything larger and it takes up too much space and takes forever to wheel.

[Jack ONeill]

All,

Many apologies for the confusion. When I said the Main unit battleline, I was referring to the Skirmisher unit, not the brigade to which it belongs originally. As can be seen in the photos, in the new skirmish line formation, the "Reserve Sections" are the two groups of men standing 3 ranks deep. I cannot quite figure out how to get those sprites into the rest of the unit so there is really just one line of men, not including the NCO/file closers and Standard bearer sprites. Otherwise, I like what I've got here, so far.

DaV - the number I'm using is something like (0-3-1) or something like it. I'm at work and don't have my game comp here, so I'm guessing a bit. I'm sure that is close. I'll run a small action tonite and see if they shoot.

MTG - For units, (usually a Division), moving down a road without Cavalry to scout ahead, I will detach a Light Infantry/Voltigeur/Legere/Jager battalion from the nearest French/Bavarian/Austrian brigade that has one. I will push them out in front of the main body probably as much as 400 yards ahead. I control them directly but don't TC them because I want them to react to enemy units if they stumble upon each other. This wonderful game allows single Battalions or Squadrons to move on the roads by themselves, so its worth doing. I keep an eye on them since I am literally the next unit behind them. If they run into the enemy, I'll kick them out into Skrimish order and engage, generally waiting until the enemy closes towards them.
This will allow me a bit of time to shake out the Division into a battleline and advance. This works with ACW troops as well. I try to find the smallest unit to be skirmishers, but that was before the new formation. I'll be running tests on it the next few days and report back. Right now, the new formation is limited to the NAP Mod. I'm not sure if it can move over to the ACW side, since they have multiple uniforms in each unit.

Gunship - Completely agree. Just too huge to make it worthwhile.

Jack B)

[Marching Thru Georgia]

Ah, you detach them and control them individually. I hadn't thought of that.

It shouldn't be hard to get rid of the extra rows of men in your formation. Attach the formation to a post and I'll smooth it out for you.

[Jack ONeill]

MTG,

Yeah, it was the best I could come up with. Surprises always suck. The French Divisions don't have attached Cavalry in the Stock OOBs. I've changed that in some of the Modded ones, but a definite disadvantage. The Austrians don't always have them either, but I'll weasel out on that by making sure I'm not the lead Division on the road. HA! However, the AI seems to leave out the enemy Horse when I use "Balance Forces" as the French.

I'll post the Logistics file when I get home tonight. Thanks.

Jack B)

[Davinci]

Jack - I agree with MTG , once you post your file, I'm sure someone can figure out the reserve troops.

The only thing that I can think of would be the middle number is being used.

Something like (0-3-1)50

I have never been able to get the middle number to work, but I haven't fooled around with these numbers in quite a while, so something could have changed.

Hey, if you can figure out this drills file, well that you place you farther ahead of the pack than myself, I gave up on figuring this out a long time ago.

davinci

[Jack ONeill]

The attachment drills_2012-02-14.csv is no longer available

MTG and DaV,

Here's the file. Appreciate the effort. Also, I went back to 4 yards between men. Looks better and actually works. They shoot, too. They did exactly what I wanted. Opened fire, stood long enough to force the Austrians to deploy then fell back when pushed. This allowed the formed French infantry time to deploy. Sweet.

Jack B)

[Marching Thru Georgia]

Jack,
Does the mod have 2 different types of skirmisher sprites? That's how it is currently set up. Also, I will need to place those extra soldiers in a second row in order to keep the line the same length.

Here is the file with the clumps of men removed. I changed all of them to sprite #1.

The attachment drills.csv is no longer available