Unit characteristics while on reserve missions

Does anyone know when a unit is on a reserve mission, does it use its
defence stats or its
offense stats when it reacts to an enemy attack?

Also if there is more than one unit on a reserve mission, will all
react, or only those necessary to deal with the threat? Will a more
powerful unit react to a more powerful threat, or is is just the unit
with the highest id number who reacts first?

Markus Armbruster wrote:

> All defenders use their defense stat, regardless how they got there.

Not that it matters, but my original idea when working out the reserve
mission scheme was that reacting units would use their offensive stats,
to counterattack against the invaders. That came from Ritter von Leeb's
book "Defense", based on his defensive schemes in WW1, which were
improved on during WW2 (special counterattacking units would hit the
invaders, after they had taken the sector and moved in, but before they
had time to dig in)

In empire practice it doesn't really matter I guess, you just prefer
units with high def stats for reserve missions to units with high off
stats. Like I would prefer having cavalry units on reserve missions to
counterattack with their high off stats, but since the empire code has
things the reverse of what they should be, cavs are no good for that
role (ooops, don't tell the fodders ...)

Actually the idea was more elaborate, if the invaders actually occupied
the sector, the idea was that all the invaders attacking forces would
be placed in that sector (instead of "move in?" as currently), and only
*then* would the reserve units counterattack, and the invaders would
use *half* their defense stats while the counterattackers used their
off stats. So the invader could attack and take a sector, which would
mean their entire attacking force would be inside the captured sector
butt naked and exposed to counterattack from the reacting units on
reserve missions, and those hapless invaders using only half their def
stats could then be annihilated or forced to retreat.

so there is more risk for the attacker, you have to commit the entire
attacking force and see it move into the conquered sector, and take the
risk that that entire force, fighting at half their defensive odds, may
be wiped out by an immediate counterattack ...

well that exhausted my brain so I will post it without editing, which
it probably needs ...