Cross-attachment question

[Grumbler]

How; with the cross attach button. Why; because it will give you an advantage, unless your opponent does it also. When; Sometimes it works out that you have sections that are stand alone, meaning they have no link up the chain of command. By attaching the non-zero units to a platoon, they come under the command link of their 'new' platoon.
I also like to make "Tiger" platoons. I will take a company and sort out the most experienced units in that company and cross attach them into one platoon under the most experienced leader(zero). I think it weakens the over-all performance of the company, but having a real kick ass platoon can be a game winner, sometimes.
I also do it to add muscle to scout formations. It never hurts a scout team to have a MBT included to provide a little direct fire support. Having a MBT that shares the same zero means it should always be nearby.
Remember, playing the game you move and fire units, but you should ALWAYS do so as part of a formation. Move units, think formations. If you find that your formations are scattered all over the map, you are prolly getting whooped up on.
Now if you are getting spanked because you have your formations spread to far, or if your formations are spread to far because you are getting spanked is a matter of opinion. Never the less, you are getting whooped up on. I play for fun not profit, so I am not focused on the win-loss thingie, I do however, hold the opinion that getting your brains beat in isn't much fun. That is why I'm kind to rookies and will surrender once it becomes obvious to me that I cannot win a battle.
The cross attachment feature helps one keep their formations together, since if a unit isn't part of a formation, it cannot be 'together' with that formation.
Some times the game will do it for you. If you examine the OOB's you will find that a lot of the soviet stuff come in two flavors. Plain is just a rifle platoon. Fancy is that rifle platoon with crew served weapons added. Look at the buy menu and you will see some sort of Weapons Company, or rifle Battalion support. They are called different things. That is what the Battalion looks like BEFORE the rifle platoon gets upgraded from plain to fancy. The crew served weapons added to the rifle platoon come from that battalion support formation.
Cross attachment should be part of your overall plan. Your plan should include a general idea of where each company is going and what the platoons will be doing when they get there. I nearly always buy the plain formations so can break up the weapons platoons and cross-attach them to match their mission. Others do it different. That is something you will have to figure out. What works for you might not be what works for me, or General SP, or Red Devil, just to pick on somebody else.