Ground Formations

[Marski]

I recreated a soviet motorized rifle battalion in aurora.

[Pedroig]

New game, new revision of my ground doctrine.

The basic garrison regiment is mostly the same... a bit lighter on logistics infantry:

Planetary Defense Regiment (5000 tons)
Regiment HQ  (Static-HQ5000, AR 3)
615 Infantry Troopers (Inf-PW, AR 1)
58 Anti-Tank Troopers (Inf-LAV, AR 1)
30 Supply Cache  (Inf-LOG-S, AR 1)
11 Anti-Tank Gun (Static-HAV, AR 1)

If I have the math right, I believe that gives the regiment intrinsic supply for 10 days of combat. Having mostly done peaceful buildup so far, I have no idea if that's high or low, but it seems like a decent ballpark.

I merged the Brigade command and STO weapons into one formation:

Planetary Defense Brigade (5000 tons)
Brigade HQ (Static-HQ25000, AR 3)
Siege Laser Emplacement (Static-20cm Laser, AR 1)
5 Orbital Laser Emplacement (Static-10cm Laser, AR 1)
5 Construction Truck (Vehicle-CONx2, AR 2)
74 Mortar Troopers (Inf-LB, AR 1)
10 Supply Cache (Inf-LOG-S, AR 1)
Subordinate Formations: 4 Planetary Defense Regiments

That solves my main concern, that having a regiment dedicated to STO weapons was just too extravagant (now instead of the STO guns costing more than twice as much as the rest of the brigade combined, it's "only" as much as the rest), not to mention cumbersome when it came to setting field positions. Plus, it gives me a convenient 25,000 ton formation I can drop on any given planet and have a decent versatile defense against minor attacks, or I can drop several to really fortify an important colony.

OTOH it means the expensive STO weapons are going to be in the support position instead of rear echelon - I'm not sure how I feel about that, since it increases the chance of losing them in ground combat. I could replace the light bombardment units with heavy/long range bombardment and make the whole formation rear echelon, but that would be less efficient (also I don't have those techs yet). Alternately, I could assume that once the enemy has landed the STO weapons have probably served their purpose anyways. Also I have to admit the idea of the enemy landing ground forces to deal with STO weapons is all sorts of thematic.

Two options, either make Battalions your front line troops, or put STO's Heavy AA and Heavy MB at the Division level.  I opted for the former, but am starting to lean towards the latter...

[Alsadius (OP)]

I'm on a new game, and I've changed up my design philosophy a bit. To make my force structure more flexible, and to make use of the commanders with <10k command skill, I've started adding standalone battalions into my force structure.

A standard division is 50k tons total, with 3-4 regiments(10k tons) as front-line combat forces, a divisional HQ section containing artillery(4k tons), and 3-8 battalion attachments. I'm planning a corps to be 300k tons, but I haven't built that high yet.

Garrison force:

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Garrison Regiment [GARR]
Transport Size: 9 994 tons
Build Cost: 284.3 BP
1x Zeus Regimental Command Vehicle (HVH-HQ10k-FFD)
1440x Rifle Section (INF-PW)
24x SAM Section (INF-LAA)
24x Machine Gun Section (INF-CAP)
24x AT Section (INF-LAV)
12x Coventry Anti-Aircraft Fortification (STA-LAA)
12x Kursk Anti-Tank Fortification (STA-MAV)
12x Sumter Anti-Infantry Fortification (STA-HCAP)
20x Supply Section (INF-LOGS)

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Garrison Division [GARD]
Transport Size: 3 970 tons
Build Cost: 218.9 BP
1x Cronus Divisional Command Vehicle(HVH-HQ50k-FFD)
144x Mortar Section (INF-LB)
12x Supply Truck (LVH-LOG)
The various attachment options are:

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Space Defense Battalion [STOB]
Transport Size: 1 892 tons
Build Cost: 311.4 BP
1x Battalion HQ Tent(INF-HQ2k)
2x Thunderbolt Planetary Defense Base(STA-20cm C4 Ultraviolet Laser, light armour)
4x Aegis Planetary Defense Base(STA-10cm Railgun V10/C3, light armour)

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Supply Battalion [LOGB]
Transport Size: 1 994 tons
Build Cost: 80.2 BP
1x Battalion HQ Tent(INF-HQ2k)
32x Supply Truck(LVH-LOG)

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Light Supply Battalion [LGSB]
Transport Size: 2 000 tons
Build Cost: 40.6 BP
1x Battalion HQ Tent(INF-HQ2k)
199x Supply Section(INF-LOGS)

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Flak Battalion [FLKB]
Transport Size: 1 942 tons
Build Cost: 76.9 BP
1x Battalion HQ Tent(INF-HQ2k)
12x Falcon Anti-Air Vehicle(HVH-2x HAA, light armour)
6x Supply Section(INF-LOGS)

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Bombardment Battalion [BOMB]
Transport Size: 1 970 tons
Build Cost: 79.2 BP
1x Battalion HQ Tent(INF-HQ2k)
20x Hera Bombardment Vehicle(VEH-2x MB, light armour)


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Construction Battalion [CONB]
Transport Size: 1 918 tons
Build Cost: 77.1 BP
1x Battalion HQ Tent(INF-HQ2k)
6x Forethought Entrenching Vehicle(VEH-2x CON, light armour)

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Spare HQ Tents [SHQB]
Transport Size: 2 000 tons
Build Cost: 160 BP
1x Division HQ Tent(INF-HQ50k)
30x Regimental HQ Tent(INF-HQ10k)
25x Battalion HQ Tent(INF-HQ2k)
That last one makes no sense in garrison usage, I'm sure, but it might see use in offensive formations when I build some of those. The STO units being lightly armoured feels a little wrong, but the cost to up-armour them rapidly got obscene, so I'd rather just build more of them.

[Pedroig]

An understanding question of how hierarchies work:


So in this example, 15th Brigade Infantry is in the Rear Echelon and can support any unit under it, including any additional sub-tiers made under the existing structure. (So If Platoons, Squads, and Fire Teams were added under each company they would still be "covered".  It can do counterbattery fire into enemy Rear Echelon with HB.
1st Battalion HQ can support only the units directly under its command.  If it has HB units (it does) it can do counterbattery fire into enemy Rear Echelon.  If it had LB units (it doesn't) it can support a unit under it during the attack phase versus the bombardment phase.
Under 1st Battalion there are 2 Assault Companies set to FL Attack, each one is being supported by a Defense Company, set to FL Defense, and a Support Company set to Support.  The theory being the LB's in the Defense Company and Support Company will fire in the attack phase, while the MB in Support Company will fire in the bombardment phase.
2nd Battalion HQ could support the listed units and any sub units placed under those existing units.  If it has HB units (it does) it can do counterbattery fire into enemy Rear Echelon.  If it had LB units (it doesn't) it can support a unit under it during the attack phase versus the bombardment phase. 
Under 2nd Battalion there are 2 support chains each one comprising of an Assault Company on FL Attack supported by a Defense Company on FL Defense supported by a Support Company on Support.  The theory being when the Assault Company attacks it only gets Defense Company support in attack phase, the Support Company will support the Defense Company if it gets attacked during both the attack phase and bombardment phase.

So the question:  Is my understanding correct?  Will both set-ups work per theory?  If not, why not?  And finally If I were to put some Defense Company and Support Company directly under 15th Brigade Infantry (so not in any Battalion) and had them set to FL Defense and Support respectively, would it provide a defensive benefit from "bleed through" breakthroughs which go through a Battalion or would it put the Brigade HQ closer to the "front lines" so to speak?

[the obelisk]

In my current game, I'm using three types of companies for the front lines.

Rifle Comapny
Transport Size: 1,612 tons
Build Cost: 48.5 BP
45x Rifleman '25
36x Weapons Expert '25 (PWI)
6x AT Team '25
9x Machine Gun Team '25
11x Logistics Team '25
3x Forward Observer '25
1x EM 50mm Cannon 25 (STA, HAV)
1x Com. Commander '25
2x MG 25 (STA, HCAP)
2x EM 20mm Cannon 25 (STA, MAV)

Cavalry Troop
Transport Size: 2,118 tons
Build Cost: 113.3 BP
3x Meerkat Forward Observer Truck (LVH, FFD)
1x Troop Command Vehicle (LVH)
10x Logistical Truck '25
6x Bobcat Assault Vehicle (VEH, 2x MAC)
18x Jackal Combat Vehicle (LVH, HCAP)

Armor Company
Transport Size: 1,926 tons
Build Cost: 123 BP
3x Meerkat Forward Observer Truck (LVH, FFD)
10x Logistical Truck '25
15x Tusk Main Battle Tank (VEH, MAV + HCAP)
1x Com. Command Tank '25 (LVH)

Three of a given type are grouped into a battalion with more logistics, light bombardment, and AA (Rifle and Cav use infantry for this, Armor uses medium vehicles with doubled up weapons).  Two rifle battalions and a cavalry squadron make an infantry regiment, while two armor battalions and a rifle battalion form an armor regiment.  The infantry regiment is primarily defensive, with the cavalry squadron giving it some light attack power, and a bit of a heavier punch coming from the Bobcats, while the Armor regiment is more offensive, bringing the heavier hitting tanks, but with a rifle battalion to make it a bit more flexible.
Brigades are either two infantry regiments or two armor regiments, along with a support regiment consisting of two artillery battalions (with two MB batteries and one MAA battery, soon to be upgraded to HB and HAA), and an engineer battalion made up of two engineer companies.

Last are the STO batteries:

Orbital Battery
Transport Size: 4,805 tons
Build Cost: 693.4 BP
1x Com. Commander '25
8x EM 10cm Orbital Gun 25
4x EM 12cm Orbital Gun 25
3x EM 15cm Orbital Gun 25

All railgun, they use a grouping of the three barrel sizes I had when I designed them for a mix of range and damage to penetrate armor vs repeated mass fire against missiles.  As I'm closing in on wrapping up some rushed weapons research that's set me up two tiers, these may wind up looking a bit different in the near future.

[consiefe]

I normally don't mix logistics elements with combat classes. I make dedicated logistics units who will linger either on the rear of same division or a special rear supply division in the army. This way I can field more concentrated firepower in my FL divisions. But definately a doctrine choice and I can see the other way around works as well.

[JOKER]

I normally don't mix logistics elements with combat classes. I make dedicated logistics units who will linger either on the rear of same division or a special rear supply division in the army. This way I can field more concentrated firepower in my FL divisions. But definately a doctrine choice and I can see the other way around works as well.

I noticed that, when a logistic unit with only logistic vehicles get completely consumed, the game throw out a "divided by 0" error.

[Migi]

I normally don't mix logistics elements with combat classes. I make dedicated logistics units who will linger either on the rear of same division or a special rear supply division in the army. This way I can field more concentrated firepower in my FL divisions. But definately a doctrine choice and I can see the other way around works as well.

I noticed that, when a logistic unit with only logistic vehicles get completely consumed, the game throw out a "divided by 0" error.

Then you should post it in the bug reports thread.