Greetings! Today we take a look at customizing your forces with the configurable army system and battlegrouping. Later in the week we will showcase Germany 1944 in its own dev blog, since attempting to combine the two dev blogs is far too crowded.
The Order of Battle System:
At the start of every game both teams select their nation and annual order of battle (OOB). The OOB provides a large pool of units to choose from and customize for your mission, but you will never be able to afford all of them. The largest scenarios are balanced to include approximately 10 divisions per side, while many OOBs include over 30 divisions in total, and that’s not even counting independent brigades, regiments, and battalions. Consider your objective and budget, then build an army that suits your needs. For instance, in in the rugged mountains of Sicily, specialist mountain infantry with plentiful air support will usually prevail over hordes of unsupported tanks. Likewise, only motorized and armored divisions have the mobility to control the desolate expanses of the Libyan desert.
Customizing Your Army:
You can alter the training level of units or even change their divisional attachment at the start of the game for a price (or discount by decreasing training level). Depending on your objective and playstyle, a larger army with lower average training might be preferable to a small army with extreme training, or vice versa. For example, let’s take a look at the British 6th Armoured Division in 1945 at Experienced or Elite training levels.
Likewise, you can change the attachment of units to move them between divisions. For instance, if predict your opponent will bring lots of armor, why not attach a few tank destroyer battalions to your infantry divisions? Or perhaps you want to solve the chronic infantry shortage of US armored divisions by cleaving a mechanized regiment off a division you are not bringing and reassigning it to a division that you have already purchased.
Here we’ve reassigned the 36th Armored Infantry Regiment from the 3rd Armored Division to the 1st Armored Division. The reassigned unit is automatically 10% more expensive, and sure this makes the 3rd Armored Division weaker, but if you don’t plan on bringing it that’s not a problem.
Battle Groups:
Once you’ve purchased your army you can remodel it in even greater detail if you desire. Most regiments can be broken down into their constituent battalions and these battalions can operate independently or be merged into new units called Battlegroups at any time during the game. Up to 3 stacking points or 7 units can be included in a Battlegroup. Units from separate divisions can be grouped together, but keep in mind they will lose their divisional leadership bonuses while grouped with units from other divisions. Let’s use our prior modifications to 1st Armored Division as a basis for experimentation.
Let's start off simple, we've attached an M3 Stuart light tank battalion to a pair of mechanized infantry battalions and an anti-tank gun platoon. This isn't a remarkably strong battlegroup, but at least it gives our infantry tank support.
Let's up the ante. Here we have combined a Sherman tank battalion, a mechanized infantry battalion, and a M7 self-propelled howitzer battalion into a single battlegroup. Infantry, armor, artillery - this unit has it all. It will always enjoy at least a +30% combat modifier from combined arms.
Now let's shake things up a bit more and take a look at a more exotic battlegroup. Maybe you're playing Germany 1944 and you've decided you really hate your opponent. Let's combine a King Tiger battalion with a Sturmpanzer IV battalion, and throw in mechanized panzergrenadiers as escorts. This terrifying little battlegroup will likely draw the attention of every bomber and field gun your opponent can spare, but it'll be fun while it lasts.
Experiment!
Between building your army, altering training, changing attachments, and building battlegroups, CAOS lets you shape your army to your will. The examples above barely scratch the surface. If you enjoy modifying your forces then the sheer diversity of units in CAOS will keep you experimenting for many hours. Even more so in co-op battles where we let you transfer units to your allies. If a single nation and year has hundreds of possible battlegroup combinations, imagine the combinations when you're trading units between different armies. Go forth and experiment!