Re: Medics in SG2

Adrian spake thusly upon matters weighty: 

> Some thoughts about medics in SG2.  (by the way, has this been
discussed
> before?)

AFAIK, No. 

> We've been using medics as part of the command squad in SG2 platoons,
but
> after considering how medics are used, I thought this wasn't a good
idea.
> Medics are usually assigned at the platoon or company level, but don't
stay
> with the platoon or company commander during combat - they move around
when
> the fighting starts to attend to the wounded.  I suggested a
modification
> to our TOEs to my group, and an attendant "house rule":

In general, this issue sort of exists with Platoon Sergeants too, 
which is why I think they should be treated as individuals who can 
attach/detach themselves from squads at their convenience. Our Pltn 
Warrant used to make his presence felt in many places throughout the 
Pltn during an ex. 
 
> Platoon TOE (this is generic, to demonstrate what I mean)
> 
> Command Squad:  Officer, Signaller(maybe EW specialist), SAW gunner,
trooper
> Medic Team:  Medic, medic assistant (both with standard weapon)
> 3 Rifle Squads
> 
> The command squad of four could have an additional 2 troopers, or
sometimes
> what I do is attach a marksman team to the platoon (a model with
sniper
> rifle, another with laser target designator or regular rifle - the
second
> model is the spotter).  The marksman team is treated as a seperate
element
> within the platoon, but does not use the sniper rules.

Someone earlier proposed some sniper rules for "Squad Attached 
Snipers". A brief recap went something like

(Pardon any misquote)

Sniper fires either separately (as a normal sniper for 
hit/casualty determination - this is similar to HW or GMS firing 
separately) or as part of the squad (in which case the snipers FP 
dice is added to the squad fire and he fires with the range bands of 
the squad). If the sniper's FP die and the unit quality die exceed 
the range die of the defender, sniper picks his casualty. If only 
one of these two dice (exclusive of the other squad FP or HW FP die 
present) beats the range die, then a random casualty is determined. 
Then squad fire casualties are resolved, and the sniper FP die is NOT 
included in this calculation. These snipers cannot go into hiding 
(as they are attached to a squad). 

  The medic team is
> also treated as a separate element and acts independantly from the
command
> team (can be reactivated, etc.).  The medic team can move to aid rifle
> squads when reorganizing and checking/treating their casualties.  The
> platoon size does not increase - this just distributes the manpower a
> little differently.

A separate unit? It'll have weak morale (kill the cas-aid or the 
medic and the remaining one will probably evac....). 
 
> "Medic Team Rule"  - a medic normally adds +1 to the roll to see what
> happens to unknown casualties when the medic's squad reorganizes.  A
medic
> team can provide this benefit to a squad by moving within unit
coherency
> prior to the squad taking its reorganize action.  The medic team can
then
> on subsequent turns move to provide the same benefit to other squads.

I'd say the presence of the medic is not just required, but it costs 
the medic formation an action. So you have:

Medic: Action 1. Move to within integrity distance of unit you want 
to help. Action 2: Aide Unit. 
Other Unit: Action 1. Re-org (including treat wounded). 
 
> This way, you have the benefit of a medic available to each of the
squads
> in the platoon, and the command squad is not tied up providing medical
> services... What used to happen was that the command squad would be
busy
> commanding (transferring actions, calling artillery, using EW, etc.)
and
> the medic would never be used unless the command squad itself took
> casualties.  The overall combat ability of the platoon is not changed
> dramatically - platoon command squads usually don't do much fighting
in our
> games anyway, but at the same time you aren't stacking the platoon
with
> more "shooty" elements that unbalance the game.

Now, I've seen the command squad tied into a number of HW like SAWs, 
so your command squad is a 'covering fire' element for the manouvre 
squads (a weap det). In this configuration, command squads do see 
action fairly frequently. 

  The medic team (and the
> marksman team if used) add to the ability of the platoon, but this is
> balanced by the fact that they don't have any ability to absorb
punishment
> (one casualty in a two-person team and you take confidence tests with
a big
> penalty - the team is much more likely to suffer from morale problems)

I like it. 
 
> Thoughts???

Write it out nice, apply any mods from comments, and publish it to 
some of the SG2 sites like the unofficial SG2 WWW site. I'll use 
them when I get the chance. 

Here's a question: 2185 - Do medics travel armed? Or should we have 
some unarmed figures from each of the nationalities for medics? 

Tom. 
/************************************************
Thomas Barclay		     
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Fax: (613) 831-8255

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