Yes, they do
so what happens is (hope I haven't rambled too much)
1. 2+ Element Unit - Unit Custom Name list = Big Brigade, Model Custom Name List = 1st State Inf|2nd State Inf
- Unit Name comes from Custom Name list in unit file
- Element names come from Custom Name list in Model File
e.g. Unit name = Big Brigade, Elements Names = 1st State Inf and 2nd State Inf
2. Single Element Unit - Unit Custom Name list = Small Brigade, Model Custom Name List = 1st State Inf|2nd State Inf
- Unit Name comes from Custom Name list in unit file
- Element Name comes from Custom Name list in unit file
e.g Unit name Small Brigade, Element Name = Small Brigade
If you Brigade (merge) a single element into another Unit then the name is then available again and so can result in duplicate element names, so that pretty much means you can't allow merging of units if you want consistent naming and you need to manage Custom Names between model files and unit files if you want single elements Units and multi element units for the same Model.
An example is .. For the US Colored Troops Regiments, I have 3 Element Brigades and also Single Element Brigades (single Regiment units) defined
So I have the
Model Custom Name List in the model as 1st USCT|2, USCT|3rd USCT|6th USCT|7th USCT|8th USC|11th USCT|12th USCT|13th USCT|16th USCT etc
Single Element Unit Custom Name List as 4th USCT|5th USCT|9th USCT|10th USCT|14th USCT|15TH USCT etc
I have left gaps in the Model Custom Names so I can have unique names in the Unit List .. I don't allow the single element units to be brigaded since that would allow that name to be reused
My original master plan was to recruit all infantry as single element regiments and then allow merging into brigades .. but that didn't work as the names were reused once the regiments were merged ..
I have worked around the issue and am pretty happy with what I have, it's just that I did found it inconsistent that element names for the same model were being sourced from different places which made it hard to manage the names so there was no duplication
As you can see I care about Element Names .. you can only have so many 69th New York Inf running about the map