EAW oob design question.

[FM WarB]

The Which should I buy thread was veering off to this topic, so I thought to start new one.
I've been poring through oobs, as I await the delivery of games. The Blenheim oob for FIW has three French and two British armies. The names start French A and British A. This leads to two questions:
1) After French A or British A, can you name them anything you want, eg. I Corps or Clinton's Division?
2) Can the British have more than one British A army in 1776?

 

[AlAmos]

1) yes 2) yes

The "British A", and "French A" tells the program which 'side' you're working with, and what level you're starting with.

(For those not familiar the EAW engine has four command levels: A; D; B; and R.)

The intent JT had when designing the series was for A level to be army, D level to be division; B level to be brigade, and R level to be regiment, but nothing in the game prevents players to use those levels for other formations.

I have made scenarios where I gave a company a leader and two units (platoons) which I grouped under the R level. I then bundled the R level companies under the B level even though it was only a battalion or regiment. I then put two regiments into a brigade using the D level. So the A, D, B, and R letters are codes to help the program to understand the relationship between units and leaders.

As we know, many Indain tribes were allied with the French during the F&IW. These tribes did not take orders, per se, from the French, however. So, I have made OOB files where the French have a B level Brigade, and four other 'French' armies ... which are R level Indian formations. it looks kind of like this....

French B Brigade Artois
Begin
End
French R Huron
Begin
End
French R Chippewa
Begin
End

etc, etc, with the proper leader and units added inbetween the Begin/End statements.

This engine is very flexible, and very friendly to tinkering and exploring.

Have fun.

 

[FM WarB]

Thanks Al.
I noticed a couple of other things. I saw an oob that started, with D level not A, and subordinated another D level formation under the First, higher formation. I dont believe same code letter subordination is possible in nappy games; just how much can you do in EAW games? I.E. can you start with A, then have a D, with a D nested below the first D?
I noticed what seem to be Indian leaders coded with K, not rhe usual L. What exactly is this K?
Warren

 

[AlAmos]

D nesting within a D should cause problems.

K leaders has the program look for a different leader 3D graphic.

 

[FM WarB]

D nesting within a D should cause problems.

I saw this in the 58.oob, included in the official HPS latest update for FIW.