Making a "baggage train with guards" unit . . .

[stockwellpete]

I need some help with this please.

I am writing some Viking scenarios where they are returning home with plunder and then are attacked on the way. At the moment baggage train units will just disperse when attacked and they appear to have no effect at all on army morale when lost. So I want baggage train units that behave like normal units, suffer losses and cohesion drops. So these will be baggage trains that are protected by some soldiers (a mixture of bondi and a few huscarls, so basically a defensive spearmen shieldwall unit of average, protected capability).

So how would I do this? Richard has said that it is possible to do it by re-classifying the baggage unit as "undrilled heavy foot" by making a new squads file with just the modded unit in it and by removing #REPLACE from the A1 cell. And then the game would use the vanilla squads file, plus that one extra unit. Apparently anyway, because I am completely lost by this stage.

So I have looked in the C Drive and found the main build of the game. It has 2 Squads files, one is shown as OpenOffice.org.XML 1.0 Spreadsheet and the other is a Microsoft Excel Worksheet. The baggage train entry is number 82 in the left hand column and then there are various values listed across the page.

i) So presumably I need to copy one of these Squad files from the main build and paste it in my scenario folder, do I? Which one should I copy? I have made no other changes to Squads files in any of these scenarios.
ii) Baggage train is listed as number 82 in the first column on the left (even though the IconID states "Elephants" ) So do I delete all the other units from this copied Squads file so I just have Baggage Train left?
iii) What numbers for that unit do I then change to get the defensive spearmen unit I require?
iv) I then delete #REPLACE from the A1 cell and leave it empty, do I?

Thanks in advance.

[Paul59]

I need some help with this please.

I am writing some Viking scenarios where they are returning home with plunder and then are attacked on the way. At the moment baggage train units will just disperse when attacked and they appear to have no effect at all on army morale when lost. So I want baggage train units that behave like normal units, suffer losses and cohesion drops. So these will be baggage trains that are protected by some soldiers (a mixture of bondi and a few huscarls, so basically a defensive spearmen shieldwall unit of average, protected capability).

So how would I do this? Richard has said that it is possible to do it by re-classifying the baggage unit as "undrilled heavy foot" by making a new squads file with just the modded unit in it and by removing #REPLACE from the A1 cell. And then the game would use the vanilla squads file, plus that one extra unit. Apparently anyway, because I am completely lost by this stage.

So I have looked in the C Drive and found the main build of the game. It has 2 Squads files, one is shown as OpenOffice.org.XML 1.0 Spreadsheet and the other is a Microsoft Excel Worksheet. The baggage train entry is number 82 in the left hand column and then there are various values listed across the page.

i) So presumably I need to copy one of these Squad files from the main build and paste it in my scenario folder, do I? Which one should I copy? I have made no other changes to Squads files in any of these scenarios.
ii) Baggage train is listed as number 82 in the first column on the left (even though the IconID states "Elephants" ) So do I delete all the other units from this copied Squads file so I just have Baggage Train left?
iii) What numbers for that unit do I then change to get the defensive spearmen unit I require?
iv) I then delete #REPLACE from the A1 cell and leave it empty, do I?

Thanks in advance.

Pete, I am assuming you can open the Squads.csv file, and read it? For some people that is a problem, as they don't have an appropriate program to open it with.

1) The Squads.csv is the only one that is read by the game, so that is the one you need.

2) Don't worry about the IconID stating "Elephants". The IconID value is irrelevant in FOG2, as far as I know. It is a carry over from Pike and Shot (and Battle Academy) where units used a separate icon picture for the UI. The UI graphics in FOG2 are generated by the 3D engine.

There are a number of different ways of achieving what you want. However, assuming you do not need normal Baggage Wagons in this scenario, you can just copy the whole Squads.csv file into your scenario folder and don't delete any of the other units.

3) On the baggage train's line, in column E, replace Train with Undrilled_Heavy_Foot.

In column L replace 0 with 36.

In column AD replace 120 with 480.

In column AE replace 200 with 600.

In column AF replace 0 with 50.

In column AG replace 0 with 100.

In column AH replace 0 with 100.

In column AZ replace 0 with 100.

4) No, leave the #REPLACE as it is. Your new Squads.csv file will then replace the normal one for your scenario.

Alternatively, you could delete the #REPLACE, and delete all the other units in the Squads.csv. The choice is yours, the result should be the same. The only benefit to doing it that way is if the vanilla Squads.csv file is updated in a future patch, your scenario will be able to use it.


cheers

Paul

PS: As I have never actually tried this particular unit edit myself I don't no for sure if it will work, but I see no reason why it wouldn't.

Just make sure you have copied and pasted the Squads.csv into your scenario folder before you start editing it!

[stockwellpete]

Thanks Paul. I will have a look at this tomorrow.

[stockwellpete]

Pete, I am assuming you can open the Squads.csv file, and read it? For some people that is a problem, as they don't have an appropriate program to open it with.

Is the Squads.csv file different from the two spreadsheet files I can see? If so, where would it be? I cannot see anything called Squads.csv.

[rbodleyscott]

Pete, I am assuming you can open the Squads.csv file, and read it? For some people that is a problem, as they don't have an appropriate program to open it with.

Is the Squads.csv file different from the two spreadsheet files I can see? If so, where would it be? I cannot see anything called Squads.csv.

Right click on each one and select Properties. One of them is the Squads.csv file, it is just that the non-Microsoft software on your system is calling them something else for reasons of its own.

Or just try opening each one. The one with colour coding is the .xlsx file, which the game does not actually use. The one without colour coding is the .csv file.

[stockwellpete]

Right click on each one and select Properties. One of them is the Squads.csv file, it is just that the non-Microsoft software on your system is calling them something else for reasons of its own.

Or just try opening each one. The one with colour coding is the .xlsx file, which the game does not actually use. The one without colour coding is the .csv file.

Ok, I have managed to do it, I think. It is a bit awkward to do, but one scenario seems to have changed OK. There are a couple more to look at this afternoon. Thanks.

[desicat]

Right click on each one and select Properties. One of them is the Squads.csv file, it is just that the non-Microsoft software on your system is calling them something else for reasons of its own.

Or just try opening each one. The one with colour coding is the .xlsx file, which the game does not actually use. The one without colour coding is the .csv file.

Ok, I have managed to do it, I think. It is a bit awkward to do, but one scenario seems to have changed OK. There are a couple more to look at this afternoon. Thanks.

How did this work out? Did you have any issues with attacks being defined as flank/rear?

[stockwellpete]

How did this work out? Did you have any issues with attacks being defined as flank/rear?

Yes, it was OK. I cannot remember having any flank or rear attacks, but the unit is just standard so it would suffer the same penalties, I think.

[Paul59]

Right click on each one and select Properties. One of them is the Squads.csv file, it is just that the non-Microsoft software on your system is calling them something else for reasons of its own.

Or just try opening each one. The one with colour coding is the .xlsx file, which the game does not actually use. The one without colour coding is the .csv file.

Ok, I have managed to do it, I think. It is a bit awkward to do, but one scenario seems to have changed OK. There are a couple more to look at this afternoon. Thanks.

How did this work out? Did you have any issues with attacks being defined as flank/rear?

If Pete changed the Type to Undrilled_Heavy_Foot like I suggested then I don't think there would be any issues with flank or rear attacks, unless there is a special script somewhere that exempts Baggage Waggons from flank/rear attacks. If there was he could probably fix that by renaming the unit in column A of the Squads.csv file.

[desicat]

So I wanted to try and add Hospital Carts with walking wounded to replace the Baggage Train in the Custom Campaign Choice #3 - escort through wooded territory.

Seems simple until one realizes that Baggage Carts are not on any army list, so putting them into the CSV file has no effect (I tried it). The MultiPartSkirmishTools script has the Choice #3, but no specific unit assignment of "Baggage Cart" that could be swapped out. I can't find the script that defines adding the Baggage Cart to the battle (skirmish type 7).

Any idea how to swap in a Hospital Cart with minimal defense for the totally defenseless Baggage Cart?

Could probably change the CSV in the Main build, but that is a no-no.

[rbodleyscott]

I can't find the script that defines adding the Baggage Cart to the battle (skirmish type 7).

DeployBaggageTrain() function in MoreScenarioTools.BSF

[desicat]

I can't find the script that defines adding the Baggage Cart to the battle (skirmish type 7).

DeployBaggageTrain() function in MoreScenarioTools.BSF

Works like a champ - thank you.