Unit perks are division-wide on major general?

[Bobby Fiasco]

It seems like on major general, when a unit levels up and I choose a perk for them, it gets applied to every unit in the division. This is my first MG campaign so... is this really the case? If so, I am officially whining!  

Why do I want artillery units to have stamina? And what about that far-sightedness perk for cavalry? Or different perks for different jobs, for that matter? 

[william1993]

I think it's both.  Like when a colonel gets promoted to brigadier or something, you can select perks. But that brigade loses those perks if that man dies or goes to division command.  But there are also corps commander perks for entire corps

[The Soldier]

As both the Union and the Confederates, all officers provide their brigade with a certain amount of experience based on their rank and experience.  It doesn't get very noticeable until Brigadier General for the Union or high-ranking Lt. Colonels for the Confederates - at those points, the brigade gets enough experience (the rookie's experience combined with the experience from the officer - Confederate rookies start with more experience) to instantly gain Vet 1 and can choose a perk.  Note that that experience stays with the officer - if he gets moved and replaced with a lower ranking officer, there's a chance you'll lose a perk.  However, also note that perks stay with that specific brigade - if you choose a perk, then lose experience by, say, taking huge losses or replacing the officer, the perk will not be reset, it'll be a greyed-out version that will get re-applied when the unit gains enough experience to get it back.

Also, Divisional commanders only add bonus Command to all the units under their division.  No perks.  Possibly the most useless position for an officer to take, as they only appear on the field when you combine a brigade and only gain experience at a normal rate when all the units in their division are engaged.  But, it's a necessary one for the army bureaucracy.

[Bobby Fiasco]

1 hour ago, The Soldier said:

As both the Union and the Confederates, all officers provide their brigade with a certain amount of experience based on their rank and experience.  It doesn't get very noticeable until Brigadier General for the Union or high-ranking Lt. Colonels for the Confederates - at those points, the brigade gets enough experience (the rookie's experience combined with the experience from the officer - Confederate rookies start with more experience) to instantly gain Vet 1 and can choose a perk.  Note that that experience stays with the officer - if he gets moved and replaced with a lower ranking officer, there's a chance you'll lose a perk.  However, also note that perks stay with that specific brigade - if you choose a perk, then lose experience by, say, taking huge losses or replacing the officer, the perk will not be reset, it'll be a greyed-out version that will get re-applied when the unit gains enough experience to get it back.

Also, Divisional commanders only add bonus Command to all the units under their division.  No perks.  Possibly the most useless position for an officer to take, as they only appear on the field when you combine a brigade and only gain experience at a normal rate when all the units in their division are engaged.  But, it's a necessary one for the army bureaucracy.

Thanks gang. I'm saying: after a battle I had three units level up to one star status, so I could choose morale or strength/conditioning for the infantry, and I believe artillery has the third choice of extra ammo.

I selected stamina for one unit and it automatically applied it to all of the others that had leveled up, against my will. Is this a bug?

[Hjalfnar_Feuerwolf]

Maybe your untis did already have that skill. The units you get after the tutorial missions have skills already, though they are often deactivated because of the losses sustained in the tutorial mission. By experience gained they are reactivated...possibly that happened? Otherwise no, that should not have happened and is possibly a bug.

[Bobby Fiasco]

Just now, Hjalfnar_Feuerwolf said:

Maybe your untis did already have that skill. The units you get after the tutorial missions have skills already, though they are often deactivated because of the losses sustained in the tutorial mission. By experience gained they are reactivated...possibly that happened? Otherwise no, that should not have happened and is possibly a bug.

Ah ha! I think that's what it was! These were the default units from Philipi. Thanks!

[Hjalfnar_Feuerwolf]

Protipp: I disbanded these units and set up new ones, because they had the wrong skills.

[JochenHeiden]

5 hours ago, The Soldier said:

 

Also, Divisional commanders only add bonus Command to all the units under their division.  No perks.  Possibly the most useless position for an officer to take, as they only appear on the field when you combine a brigade and only gain experience at a normal rate when all the units in their division are engaged.  But, it's a necessary one for the army bureaucracy.

What do you mean, combine brigades????  How do you combine brigades and make the division commander appear?!

[The Soldier]

To combine a brigade, both brigades must be in the same division as well as have a combined strength of no more than 2500 men.  Then just use the Combine Brigade command.  The unit will walk towards the other and create a new brigade.

[Andre Bolkonsky]

43 minutes ago, The Soldier said:

To combine a brigade, both brigades must be in the same division as well as have a combined strength of no more than 2500 men.  Then just use the Combine Brigade command.  The unit will walk towards the other and create a new brigade.

There is a morale penalty for Divisional Brigades these days, I add for the elucidation of the room. 

[Andre Bolkonsky]

6 hours ago, Hjalfnar_Feuerwolf said:

Protipp: I disbanded these units and set up new ones, because they had the wrong skills.

 

6 hours ago, Bobby Fiasco said:

Ah ha! I think that's what it was! These were the default units from Philipi. Thanks!

 

To clarify Hjalfnar's point;

In camp after Phillipi,  Lock up ALL new recruits in a few, new, green brigades. Get your Manpower down VERY, VERY LOW. 

Disband your one-star brigades. 

Reform your brigades, and each new brigade will have the cumulative XP of the group. Form a test brigade under a low ranking commander like a Lt. Col; if it has at least the one-star perk; you're good to go. If you're clever, you've saved the game and are testing to see how many men you can leave in Manpower Reserve and still maintain enough XP to pick up the perk. 

You can make new Cavalry, Skirmisher, Artillery or Infantry; all with that initial One-Star perk; right out of the box. 

Enjoy.