Fleet unit

A Fleet unit is a fleet-rebuild placeholder — a ship slot in a fleet that has been destroyed (or is scheduled to be replaced) and tracks the rebuild work. The fleet reconstitution system uses these to maintain fleet composition over time.

Inheritance: None — fleetunit is its own root datatype.

Properties

Property	Type	Description
`.exists`	bool	Fleet unit exists
`.object`	controllable	The actual ship for this unit (set after rebuild completes)
`.toplevelcommander`	controllable	Fleet commander (the unit belongs to this fleet)
`.owner`	faction	Fleet owner
`.macro`	macro	Macro to reconstruct
`.loadout`	loadout	Loadout to apply on rebuild
`.build`	build	Active rebuild task (null if not yet building)

Fleet-side accessors

The fleet itself exposes its units via:

Controllable property	Description
`.fleetunit`	The fleet unit this object IS (if it’s a rebuild)
`.fleetunits`	List of ALL fleet units for the fleet

So Ship.fleetunit tells you the unit this ship is filling; Fleet.fleetunits tells you all unit slots.

Common patterns

”How many units of the fleet are missing"

<set_value name="$Missing" exact="0"/>

<do_for_each name="$unit"
    in="$Fleet.fleetunits">
    <do_if value="not @$unit.object">
        <set_value name="$Missing"
            operation="add" exact="1"/>
    </do_if>
</do_for_each>

<write_to_logbook
    text="$Fleet.knownname + ' missing '
        + $Missing + ' units'"/>

"Trigger rebuild for a destroyed unit”

There’s no public <rebuild_fleet_unit> action — the engine handles this when a class.ship with a .fleetunit reference is destroyed and .toplevelcommander is a fleet commander. The fleet-reconstitution MD framework (fleet_reconstitution.xml) drives this:

<!-- Vanilla framework checks every X seconds: -->
<do_for_each name="$unit" in="$Fleet.fleetunits">
    <do_if value="not @$unit.object
        and not @$unit.build">
        <!-- needs rebuild — find a shipyard via canbuildmacro/canbuildclass -->
        <!-- see Shipyard / Wharf -->
    </do_if>
</do_for_each>

Common gotchas

⚠ .object is null until rebuild completes. A fleet unit can exist without a physical ship. Always null-check.
⚠ .build is null until a rebuild starts. Without an active build, the unit is “lost and waiting for someone to reconstruct it”.
⚠ Fleet units only exist for ships destroyed FROM a fleet. Random destroyed ships don’t get a fleet unit. The original ship must have been part of a fleet via .fleet.commander.
⚠ .macro and .loadout are the rebuild target. Engine reconstitution uses these — don’t try to reassign mid-rebuild.
⚠ Fleet reconstitution depends on Shipyard.canbuildmacro / .canbuildclass. A fleet unit needing an XL won’t rebuild if no shipyard can build that XL class. See Shipyard.

Architectural context

Fleet reconstitution pipeline: Architectural overview Fleet reconstitution — fleet_reconstitution.xml checks fleet composition, identifies missing units, finds compatible shipyards, dispatches builds.
Fleet vs subordinate distinction: Architectural overview Fleet structure — fleets have a .fleet.commander; subordinates have a .commander. Fleet units exist only at the fleet level.

Ship — what fills fleet unit slots.
Build — .build accessor.
Macro — .macro to rebuild.
Loadout — .loadout to apply.
Faction — fleet owner.
Shipyard / Wharf — where rebuilds happen.