Dismounting

[chris h]

Can you dismount Cavalry and M/c troops?

[Griefbringer]

If you mean the basic unit classes, then no - the riders cannot abandon their mounts.

However, a number of OOBs split cavalry and motorcycle formations into two components: actual cavalry/motorcycle units, which act as transports, and separate infantry units that can be transported by the cavalry/motorcycle units as passengers.

For example the German OOB has two types of motorcycle formations: ones with dismountable component (formations 036, 037, 038) and ones with pure motorcycle component (formations 100, 101).

[Griefbringer]

Similarly in the German OOB you can also find cavalry units with pure cavalry component, and cavalry units with separate infantry and cavalry transport components.

Sometimes you can even find the two types combined into a single formation, such as is the case with the basic Kavallerie Zug (formation 292). This consists of three cavalry units (always fighting mounted), three small LMG teams (infantry) and a cavalry transport team that can move the LMG teams around the battlefield.

[Dion]

What are the motorcycle and calvery formations that can dismount called? Don't know where to look for unit numbers.

[scorpio_rocks]

Mobhack allows you to see (and adjust) formations.

36 = Kradschutzen MG
37 = KradschutzenZug
38 = KradschutzenKom

etc

[Griefbringer]

I used the Mobhack formation numbers for brevity. Apologies for those not familiar with Mobhack, though I would recommend checking it out - it is a very handy tool for finding info about units and formations.

[DRG]

Don't know where to look for unit numbers.

GameOptions--> Misc --> Show ID numbers = YES

you will see Formation numbers for formations and unit number for units in the formations


http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=13833&stc=1&d=1435432624


http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=13834&stc=1&d=1435432668
From the GG


Show ID Numbers- Sets the game to show the unit and formation numbers in the game. Generally this is for OOB designers use, but it is very useful for reporting bugs to the design team, as you can then say "Unit 123 - Sherman V" which will point us to the exact unit in question, especially if there are several Sherman V's in that OOB.



It's been like that since we added GameOptions. Before that you had to manually change the INI


Don

[Griefbringer]

Thanks for pointing that out Don - I just realised that I have actually never tried out that option (testing it now for the first time).

And back to the original topic, in case somebody wants more dismountable German cavalry, there are at least the following formations to choose from:
- Formation 412: Unbrittn Kav Kp
- Formation 409: Unbritn Kav Zug
- Formation 411: Kav LMG Grp
- Formation 388: Kav MG Zug

I have never tried these formation myself, though they tend to look rather brittle, so use them with care.

They could make for an interesting formation to use in a special scenario, for example when pitted against Soviet partisans. That was one of the roles where the Germans tended to employ their cavalry in WWII.

[Griefbringer]

I forgot to add that in some OOBs those cavalry transports can be purchased as separate formations, for example in German OOB they are formations 324 (Kav Transport) and 325 (Kav Transp Zug), with transport capacity of 10 per unit.

You can then use those to transport around normal infantry units bought separately. This way you can provide cavalry units eg. with scouts that can dismount (mounted scouts being notoriously bad in staying hidden), though in most cases those scouts would be better served with a kubelwagen. That said, in certain forms of difficult terrain cavalry can have advantage over wheeled vehicles, since the horses cannot be immobilised by terrain (at least in this game). Also they do not leave burning wrecks on the map...

Just don't expect the cavalry transports to survive for long should they come under fire.