Question: Leader abuilities

[BigDuke66]

Hi can anyone tell me what area each leader ability is used for?
At first it seems obvious but that is not the case.
What about:
-Mortar units using the rifles, "Inf" or "Art"?
-Infantry units using rifle grenades, "Inf" or "Art"?
-MGs firing indirect fire, "Inf" or "Art"?
-SP artillery firing direct fire, "Arm" or "Art"?
-Armored halftracks with MGs, at guns or artillery, "Inf", "Arm" or "Art"?
etc.

[Mobhack]

SSI never explained these in their pamphlet that came with the game, other than some bot about high leader ratings being able to "coach" a subordinate who was close by when firing.

I have the code, but have never been bothered to read through tens of thousands of lines to figure out what exactly does what.

So basically, if you're really interested in such details then you could always set up some test scenarios and run a few hundred test runs to see if something has any particularly observable effect or not that is statistically significant over basic experience itself.

Arty command rating (+ experience) is about the only really significant one - on both sides of the firer/observer equation - as regards to speed of calling in indirect fires.

Otherwise - a high leader rating is basically good in some way, but can really be safely ignored by the player other than keeping formation leaders close by firing units (3 hexes or so perhaps).

[Imp]

Just my guess but experience is the most important factor. I don't bother ever looking at Inf Art & Arm ratings as I think the changes are subtle.
However Leader ratings are based on their major use Inf, Art or Arm so in a campaign don't switch units to a different unit type.
i.e. Mortar to a squad would retain good Art & poor Inf skills.

They may factor as more chance of a "critical hit" or slightly increased damage.

Taking artillery
Experience controls lead time & the ability of off map units to counter battery fire, if very high also ROF so gains extra shot(s)
70 exp CBF a lot less than 80 exp as a general rule so reserve your long range best exp off map unit for CB fire.

Higher Art rating as far as I know means there is a very slight chance the fire may be more effective. Hi Art rating for the spotter may mean better grouping if it has eyes on the target.

May be wrong but seem to remember this from somewhere years back. I certainly don't bother looking at the ratings apart from on the odd occasion experience for off board arty.
Or very rarely if I am moving adjacent to the enemy or searching for him I may try to use the best exp unit.

[Mobhack]

The Command ratings only help "coach" a unit in direct fire if a leader of higher command rating is nearby, by a percentage point or so. The unit does not fail a test in a few tests, is all. It is not that useful, and so not a stat I have ever bothered to worry about since SP 1 days, even before I got the code to review.

Art CMD for an observer or indirect fire unit does have a noticeable effect - but only for time to call in fires. It has eff-all effect on indirect accuracy etc. So changing a non arty/non observer to a FOO or indirect piece is not a good idea.

Other than that - ignore the thing as not a great deal of use. Only worth worrying about if you are an OCD afflicted rivet-counter. It may make a 2-3% hit chance change in 1 in 20 shots, if your platoon is packed into 3 hexes from the leader, so only really of minor statistical effect of the sort you might have to replay a scenario 1000 times and record every shot fired to notice any trend.

In fact the command ratings are of such little significance in game terms that I may simply remove them from display, thus saving us the bother of the occasional query that comes up every 3-5 years from somebody who has actually noticed the pesky things. A "bright idea" from the original SSI design team that has little or no practical use is all they were, really. The game could then track these internally without bothering the end user.