Someone requested this, so a look at how you can do random units in History Dad.

Option 1- Random support units

This option works well if you start with a standard platoon and want to add a few extra units to back them up. 

This is a simple roll of a D6 twice with the units being quite open ended. Let's say I have a British infantry platoon as my core (an easy choice since that happens to be what I am painting right now).

I decide to roll up two random support units for a game. The first roll is a 3 and 5 resulting in a tank, tank destroyer or assault gun. The second roll is a pair of 6s giving me off map support.

Now the exact choice is up to me. I suggest in the book that you actually cycle your collection so the first time you roll a tank, pick whatever you might like. Then the next time you roll a tank in a future game, pick a different tank in your collection until you have gone through them all. In this case, the only thing I have at hand is a Sherman so a Sherman it is. Off map support should be scaled to the force in question. For a platoon, its probably just a couple 3" mortars. 

Option 2 - Random platoons

If you want to randomise the platoon itself, you can also do that. Lets say for this game, I want a random German foe. The first roll determines the number of squads and what strength they are at. There are three tables depending on manpower. Germans in 44 are probably short on manpower so we will use that table. I roll a 5 so they get 2 full squads and 1 reduced squad. 

If this was an attack/defend scenario the defender would roll twice and pick the lower roll while the attacker rolls twice and picks the higher. 

This can also be done with tank platoons which will tell you the class and number. On some results a platoon of rare or breakdown prone tanks must make do with one vehicle less. (For a sample roll, I get a 5 meaning heavy/infantry tanks. For Germans that presumably means its Tiger time. The platoon size roll gives me 3 vehicles, but since Tigers would certainly fit the rare moniker, they would only get 2).

We also want to randomise the quality and morale of the Germans. You can roll per squad. To keep it simple I just roll for the platoon. We are going to say these Germans are second rate troops but holding the line. A 6 and a 5 gives me Veteran squads with a 4+ Morale. 

That may sound funny if they were supposed to be second rate, but that is a measure of the overall formation they are part of. Pick through a battalion of Volksgrenadier and we can find a handful of squads that have plenty of veterans (or veteran NCOs more likely), just like an elite unit will have some inexperienced rookies.