Changing a TG from one Task Force to Another

[Paul M (OP)]

I set up the Bureau of Interstellar Colonization as a second Taskforce.  I could assign officers to the staff no problem.  In the TG window I could assign it branches and assign TGs to those branches.  So from what I can tell BIC should have all my freighters and harvesters...but when I look at the individual task groups they are all still assigned to the Northern Coalition Naval Command (my original task force).

How do I get the Task Groups to be assigned to the other task force?

[Jorgen_CAB]

On the Task Group screen and in the "Naval Organization" tab you can create a hierarchy for the new fleet. You attach ships to one of the branches and then create a TG from these and it will belong to whatever fleet that branch belongs to.

[Paul M (OP)]

Unfortunately that doesn't seem to be working.  I have done so but they persist in being assigned to the other taskforce even though they are present in the Naval Organization listing for the task force I want them to be a part of.  When I open the task force window no task groups or ships are assigned to BIC they all remain part of the navy.  Colour me confused.

[Jumpp]

In the Task Groups window, in the top left corner there's a Details and Special Orders section.  The bottom element of that group is a Task Force pulldown that you can use to change the Task Force to which a given Task Group is assigned.

[Paul M (OP)]

I tried that too...it changes but if I move to another TG and then back to the original TG I change it is back to being a part of the Navy.  It worked once and that was when I moved something to BIC by accident then it first of all moved (when I didn't want it to) and then it also moved back.  I'm utterly baffled by what I must be doing wrong here.

[Paul M (OP)]

Ok this gets wierder.  When I look at a ship under the ship details button it has the right association.  The ships have been transfered to the right task force but the task groups have not...they are still associated with the old one.  I guess I have to delete and reform the task groups.  I'm puzzeled because what everyone said so far is how I would have expected it to work...so why it doesn't seems strange.

[Erik L]

Third tab of the F12 screen has what you need.

[Steve Walmsley]

Its a while since I played with this but I think task forces are assigned at the ship level now rather than the TG level. If you can find the old post that explains the Naval Organization tab that should contain the information you need.

Steve

[sloanjh]

In the Task Groups window, in the top left corner there's a Details and Special Orders section.  The bottom element of that group is a Task Force pulldown that you can use to change the Task Force to which a given Task Group is assigned.

Another point of information - as of a year or so ago this pull-down was bugged (when Steve put the TF organization tab in).  The process described of pulling a forming a new TG with the same ships from the TF organization tab was the correct one at that time.  I don't remember Steve announcing any changes to this procedure.

Note that I said "new TG".  My recollection is that there's no way to change an existing TG's TF - you create a new one with the same ships by using the TF organization tab.  So Paul saying "the task groups ... are still associated with the old one" leads me to think you're maybe not using the TF tab to create a new TG (the alternatives are imprecise language in what Paul means by "the task groups" or my recollection of this stuff being wrong ).

John

[Paul M (OP)]

Thank you for all the replies I have this issue sorted sort of...It is a lot more complex to do this than I would have imagined.

F12-Details and Special Orders, the TF selection does nothing...unfortunately.

The process to change a TG from one TF to the other so far as I can tell is as follows:

1. F12, select the TG you want to move, go to tab 4 "naval organization", if necessary create a new branch in the TF that you want the TG to be in.
2. Select the Branch you want and click "Add TG" to transfer all the ships of the TG to the right Branch in the TF
3. Select one ship in the organization list that you just transfered over and use the "create task groups/land parasites" line's button "ship only" (this creates a new TG in the right branch of the new TF)
4. Transfer the ships of the original TG to this new TG, delete the old TG, rename the new TG to the same name as the old one.

Anyone have a better way to do it?

[Jorgen_CAB]

No, that is how you do it. It was what I tried to explain above but I was probably not coherent enough to make much sense.

You can, however, split up TG from this one and the new will belong to the same Task Force. Or if you have one TG selected and you press new the new will belong to the same task force as the selected TG. At least I think it work like that.

I usually make extensive use of the "Naval Organization" tab, it make things so much easier to manage in the long run. It make you much more sane to be able to sort out complex organization structure through this screen.

I basically have one Reserve force TG for each task force where I place ships that are currently not in use for that Task Force. In the Naval Organizational tag I draw up a Hierarchy of the TO&E and can the select the Reserve Force TG and place ships into the proper branches and simply create the TG with the right name and content quickly. Also work very well for fighter squadrons/wings etc..

[Paul M (OP)]

I haven't been using it much since it fails to show the TG itself in the listing...I suppose I should just add in branches for that since they are relatively consistant.

it is slightly easier if there is only a single ship in the TG then you just select that ship and hit "ship only" it automatically deletes the old TG.

And Jordan your comment didn't get detailed enough for this old foggie.  I needed a few more "ah hah" moments before the fog cleared.  I have a generic "new construction" task group all my yards dump the ships into that helps a lot.

[Jorgen_CAB]

I might detail my way of doing it a little further and it might help you as well.

I practically do as you do, I have a single construction TF where all ships gets assigned to when created.

I also have one "Reserve" TG for each Task-force where I then assign every resource that I want to belong to that particular Task-force. This TG is obviously created in such a way that it is part if that said Task-force. When I move a ship from my construction TG to the Reserve TG the ship will then automatically belong to that Task-force.

In the "Naval Organizational" tab I do not include this Reserve TG since it is quite dynamic. What I do is to create all the TG and subgroups of those TG. Some ships are more or less permanently assigned to certain TG others (like escorts) are assigned when needed using the "Naval Organizational" tab. I then create the TG from the "Naval Organizational" tab and I have my TG ready to sail off into space.

I also organize sub groups under each TG if it has escorts or scouting elements that often break of from the TG.

One example might be like this...

RD1 - 1st Independent Recon Division
  RD1 - 2nd Cruiser Squadron
    RD1 - 2nd Cruiser Squadron - #1   (element #1)
      CA RSS Juggernaught
      CA RSS Juggernaught - Hangar space
        RD1 - 2nd Cruiser Squadron - Scout #11  (Element #1, detachment #1)
          SC Scout01
        RD1 - 2nd Cruiser Squadron - Scout #12  (Element #1, detachment #2)
          SC Scout02
        RD1 - 2nd Cruiser Squadron - INT #13  (Element #1, detachment #2)
          INT Interceptor01
          INT Interceptor02
          INT Interceptor03
          INT Interceptor04
          INT Interceptor05
    RD1 - 2nd Cruiser Squadron - #2
      FF - Rodrigues
      FF - Sebastian
      FFL - Valasquez
  RD1 - 3rd Recon Squadron
    RD1 - 3rd Recon Squadron - #1
      CL RSS Benedict
      CL RSS Benedict - Hangar space
        RD1 - 3rd Recon Squadron - Recon #11
          SC - Scout03
    RD1 - 3rd Recon Squadron - #2
      CL RSS Rangoon
      CL RSS Rangoon - Hangar space
        RD1 - 3rd Recon Squadron - Recon #21
          SC - Scout04

etc...

I don't have to place ships in the structure all the time, but the base structure don't really change all that much. Some element might even be empty at time even on missions, but they are there and can be filled quickly when needed.

The first letters in my naming standard are basically for ease of finding TG in the TG drop down list, this way they are always sorted in Task-force then Task-group then Task-group elements and last Task-group detachments.

It also give me a sense of military discipline when I play.  
      

[sloanjh]

3. Select one ship in the organization list that you just transfered over and use the "create task groups/land parasites" line's button "ship only" (this creates a new TG in the right branch of the new TF)
4. Transfer the ships of the original TG to this new TG, delete the old TG, rename the new TG to the same name as the old one.

You should be able to select the leaf node (that you just created) on the TF organization and create a TG from that, and it will pull in all the ships (at the location of the TG that is currently selected) into the new TG automagically.

Note that this is the reason for first selecting one ship - that will set the currently-selected TG to the one containing that ship, so it will pull ships from the correct location.

John

[Paul M (OP)]

John, I'm not sure I follow your advice exactly but I will play about a bit to see what I can accomplish.  At the moment I do the swap when the ICG hits earth and I can shuffle the ships over to "New Construction/Shakedown/Training" so I have only one ship in the task force.  I think what I need to do is add more branches to my organization tree and that may allow me to do what you suggest.  That naval organization tree isn't shall we say "intuitive."