The Unit model proposed below is not a final model in any way. It assumes the availability of a unit editor feature although it could be shoe horned into other systems. For the most part players of Clash will be maneuvering Task Force's around the map, these TF's will consist of units made up of combat elements. It is envisaged that the average unit will be the equivalent of a division in modern terms and a legion in ancient terms. (approx- 5000 men) The system though willl allow for larger units and smaller units to handle player's options. (A minimum of 2000 men seems possible at the low end while allowing no real maximum. The disadvantage of huge units is the effect of disasters and disease and in later days bombardment. A further disadvantage is a command modifier for units that are simply too large for the comm tech of the day to handle.) The combat elements of a unit are best described as the battalions / cohorts / squadrons of the unit.

I will outline the TF model structure, then the unit structure followed by the element structure below -

Task Force structure
 

Name	This would be either a generic name or one given by the player. In some governments it may be named after the commander, while others may use patriotic jargon, and others may use names based on locality. EG. Wellingtons army, 6th Red Banner Army, Army of the eastern wind, Byelorussian front, etc.
Leader	A link to a leader. The leader stats will be given below although they will obviosly be affected by the character model.
Supply	The current supply level of the TF.
Dispersion	The spread of the units within the TF. This is based on doctrine and cultural values. The supply state of the force also effects this value. (A highly disciplined army that moves in a single group that carries its own supplies does not require massive dispersion to live off the land etc, A horde that needs forage while travelling will be heavily dispersed) The value is a limit on the speed with which a force can deploy for combat.
Standing	The military state that the TF is operating in. The values are Defend, Delay, Advance, Attack, Assault. The standing of the TF will be used to indicate to the AI the level of comitment and tactics that should be used by the TF. Defending TF's have been told to hold the square. Delaying TF's will engage in combat but will attempt to not become decisively engaged. Advancing TF's are simply moving and will not attempt to engage enemies heavily. TF's which are attacking are executing probes and attempting to gain a superiority over the enemy. Assaulting TF's are attempting to disloge the enemy from a square with a lot of determination.
Scouting rating	The combined scouting rating of all units within the TF. This value is used during the scouting phases of battle.
Engineering rating	The combined engineering ratings of all units within the TF. This value is used in the establishment of fortifications and other construction upon the battlefield.
Unit links	Unit identifier	A link to a Unit.
	Unit standing	The unit standing a unit is considered to be either in reserve, supporting or in the front line. Each standing uses supplies differently and recovers from losses at different rates. Each standing also has different effects on the combat abilities of units. A unit in reserve is not engaged in combat at all and is considered far enough behind the lines to be unaffected by combat. A supporting unit lends bombardment support to frontline units while still being far enough back to be unaffected by normal combat. A frontline unit is directly engaged with the enemy. The main rule of deployment - There must be more units in the frontline than the support line

As seen the TF definition holds information that is used by the AI for decision making. I am not certain if this is something we should be looking at, but, standing is something that I believe a player should be able to set, and if it can be done easily that would make it easy to include.

Some additional standings may be available to certain governments, eg. No retreat, Total assault. Of course these additional standings could be covered by the ones we already have combined with certain civilisation social effects. Defend orders to a fanatical civ may always be considered no retreat orders.
 
 

Unit Structure
 

Name	As with the TF this would either be constructed from social/historical names dependent on various factors. Of course the player should be able to over ride the name with their own. Examples 1st infantry division, Guards armoured, Division of RA, 20th legion etc. Most of the flamboyant names for units through history have actually been at the combat element level in the scale we are using.
Unit type	This is a representational value only. It is used to determine how the unit should be displayed on the map and in any battle replays, if we have these. It is determined from the element mix of the unit if 1/2 +1 of the unit is mounted on horses the unit is represented as riding horses, the same for vehicles etc.
Strategic Movement	The Speed of the unit at the main map level this is dependant upon the slowest moving element in the unit. For Ship and Air units this is actually the maximum combat range of the unit. (When this value signifies range some elements may not be able toreach the target and so will not be included in the attack, this applies to units of mixed elements)
Mobility	This is the battlefield mobility of the unit. The value is used to determine a range of things including the ability to withdraw and pursuit. The unit value is the average of the units elements mobility value.Here are 2 examples 1) A Mongol cavalry unit is made up of 6 light (mob 12) and 3 heavy (mob 9) cavalry elements, its unit mobility is 99/9 = 11 2) A British infantry division from late WW1 has 9 infantry (mob 8) elements as well as a scouting element (mob 12), 3 supporting light artillery elements (mob 5), a medium artillery element(mob 1) a communications element (mob 6) and a services element (mob 3). 109 / 16 = 6.8 which rounds off to 6.
Morale	The morale of the unit
Dispersal	The degree of dispersal of the unit. This value is used when the unit is under bombardment attack. The value is equal to the avg defence of the unit * 2. A legion will have a dispersal value of 6 while a modern light infantry division will have a value of 20 or higher.
Basic supply	Minimum supply required to remain effective. This is close to a cost of maintenance per turn. If the unit is engaged in combat this cost goes up. If a unit is not given its full supply it will begin to lose effectiveness, the exact rate of loss of effectiveness is not yet determined. (I favour a value 2/3rds that of the short fall percentage, if no supplies are reaching the unit it acts with a 2/3rds decrease on its efficiency) A unit can use extra supplies to repair elements and if in reserve can rebuild destroyed elements.
Skill level	The degree of training and efficiency of use that the unit has with its weapons. This value will range from 0-5 with values being equated to Raw, Basic, Skilled, Expert, Elite. The value can fluctuate depending on battle casualties and time in training so fractional values will exist. (only rounded whole numbers will be used for examples)
Experience	This is a value added to training level and morale signifying the fact the unit has been through battle before and knows some of the tricks when operating under fire and won't be as badly affected. Values range from 0-5 and are used like skill values. the equated values are Green, Experienced, Seasoned, Veteran and Hardened.
Unit strength	This is a value equal to the percentage strength of the unit when compared to the unit as originally constructed. The value is for both representational purposes and for the AI to use in determining if a unit should be moved to reserve duties and repair.
Elements	Identifier	A link to the standard element this refers to.
	Basic deployment	An unit is made up of several types of elements these are service, support and front line. Most of the combat action falls on the front line elements, support elements like artillery and battlefield communications are not directly under fire, service elements generally experience combat through bombardment unless things are really going bad.If the number of front line elements is reduced to less than the support and service elements then a support or service element becomes a front line element.
	Original #	This is the original number in the unit.
	Current #	This is the current number in the unit. ( the difference obviously being losses )
	Current hits	This is the carry over damage that is currently effecting the elements of this type within the unit.

The stats above are for units in the field, the template unit that the unit is constructed from will contain such things as production cost and manpower used etc.
 
 

Element definition
 

Name	This is a generic name describing the element. Some good examples are Heavy Cav, Knight, Hussars, Grenadier, Fusilier etc. This is up to the player although some racial defaults etc may be given as options.
Identifier	This is a code identifying this particular element structure, it would be possible to have 2 similarly named elements but with slightly different structures.
Element type	This identifies the type of element, at present this is broken into Man based, Ground Combat Vehicle, Water Combat Vehicle, Air Combat Vehicle and Space Combat Vehicle. These are shortened to Man, GCV, WCV, ACV and SCV. This value identifies what firepower values are used when engaging the element in combat.
Strategic Movement	This is the speed at which the element would be able to move at on the main map. This value is used as a limit on the movement of units as the unit can only move as fast as its slowest element. For WCV's and ACV's this is actually the combat range of the element
Mobility	This is the battlefield mobility of the element. It is a factor based on the ability of the element to move across a battlefield in its standard fighting order. As such this value is fairly low throughout the early periods of the game for most infantry as they are limited by their tactical formations. In these periods it is the chariot and the horse which had great mobility. With the introduction of vehicles and looser formations etc mobility improves, most vehicles though have severe restrictions on the mobility in close terrains. So in later periods Infantry is more mobile then vehicles in close terrain etc.
Defence	This is the elements defence value. This value includes all the things that make a target harder to hit, things like dispersion and use of shields and personal armour. This value tends to go up at a rate similar to the improvement in firepower, meaning like level troops will have similar losses but disparate level troops will have much different loss rates.
Base supply cost	The minimum supply to maintain the element.
Production Cost	The Basic production cost of the elements material. The actual element would exist as soon as the produced material is wedded with trained personnel.
Personnel Cost	The man power that is used in the creation of the element.
Rebuild supply	If the element has been damaged it can be rebuilt using this supply cost per hit. If the unit has been destroyed it costs double to rebuild.
Armour	Armour is used to reduce the effects of any hit on the element in some cases it will negate them altogether. The armour value is a direct divisive factor on attacking firepower. A value of 2 halves incoming firepower while a value of 10 divides it by 10. No unit may have a armour rating less than 1 but 1 has no practical effect. If armour reduces firepower to below 1 then no attack is resolved. It has been suggested that the value could be used differently so that instead of being a direct divisor it may be a power in a formula like 2/3 ^ N. The direct divisor was put forward for simplicities sake and to allways allow at least a portion of the firepower to be effective.
Element strength	This is the strength of the element. each strength point of the element equates to approximately 100 men. In a element design process all elements start with strength 4. The player then applies certain modifiers to them such as making them larger or adding certain support weapons or adding other capacities.(Normally the element gains additional strength with each add on. It is possible though for a strength 4 unit to be given support weapons, anti-tank and anti-air add on's but it will only have a basic firepower equivalent to a strength 1 element.)
Assault	For Man and GCV element types this is the very close range combat firepower rating of the element. It generally includes everthing at under 20 metres range. For WCV this is the ramming value of the vessel
Bombardment	This is the bombardment value of the element. The value is used as a effectiveness measure when bombarding.
Bombardment Range	This is the Range at which bombardment can be carried out. It uses 10Km steps.
The type values listed below are repeatd for each range and target type. Land combat uses only the 4 named values (short, medium, long and distant(distant being used for supporting fire)) other combat types use numeric values representing 10Km range steps.
Type values	Range	Generally this will be either a named value or a number representing the range in ten Km steps. A artillery battallion may have 4 named values and several numeric values. If there are gaps in any numeric sequence then the next highest range number and firepower is assumed to apply. EG. A battleship has range ratings of 1,2,3,8,28. The ranges cover the usage of various weapons onboard, the first three being gun ranges with the various guns and the next 2 being for medium range missiles and lon range missiles respectively. (Using a modernised IOWA as an example)
	Firepower	For each range a certain firepower value applies
	Armour Pen	For each range a certain armour negation factor applies. (EG. a GCV has armour of 3 if it is hit by fire with a AP of 2 its armour is reduced to 1)
Specials	A list of element special abilities examples include, Skirmishing, Scouting, Refueling, Service, Communications and Engineering. There are sure to be others suggested.

We can construct individual elements in a unit creator by picking from available tech applications and picking from various options. An example of this could be the creation of a class of British dreadnought, in the unit creator we have the choice of - three speeds, 3 main gun sizes, the number of gun mounts, the number of guns, secondary guns, anti aircraft guns, whether scout aircraft are available, Endurance and 5 armour levels. The computer determines a relative cost for said vessels and determines construction duration. Another example would be the development of a new French tank class where we have the choice of 3 main guns, 3 speeds, 3 armour levels, an overall size and endurance, and whether it has a radio or not. The final example will be a Byzantine soldier, he has the option of 3 CC weapons, 3 levels of armour, and a horse or not and whether he has a bow or not.

A brief list of weapons includes the following (Italics mean that they come in several variants dependent on incremental technology) - Swords, Spears, Pikes, Halberds, Lances, Javelins, Slings, Bows, Crossbows, Arquebus, Musket, Rifle, Machinegun, Sub-machinegun, Bombard, Cannon, Field Gun, Heavy Gun, Rockets, Missiles, Bombs. This list can easily be expanded on and is by no means definitive. A set of Armour techs and basic military doctrines can be similarly formed.

Anyway what we end up with at the conclusion of designing a combat element is a new building block for your armies. In most cases the new element must replace an older element. This forces the upgrade of older elements. It is envisaged that the number of available elements will remain low, normally no more than 15 for each element type.