Re: Cheese factor

"Bell, Brian K (Contractor)" wrote:
> I was using a Company as follows:
> 1 Command Squad (not Platoon) of 4
> 3 Rifle Platoons
>   Platoon = 2 squads of 4
> 1 PA Platoon
>   PA Platoon = 1 squad of 6
> 
> I was thinking, somewhat, of what I could field with the figures I
> purchased. I could field a company of:
> 1 Command Platoon of 8
> 3 Rifle Platoons of 8
> 2 PA Squad of 4
> 1 PA Command Squad of 4
> 
> So it would have a RCC of
> Rifle Squad		  5 pts (2 for SL + 3 grunts @ 1)
> Platoon Command Squad   5 pts (2 for PL + 3 grunts @ 1)
> PA Squad		  9 pts (3 for PASL + 3 PA @ 2)
> PA Command Squad	 11 pts (5 for PAPL + 3 PA @ 2)
> CO Command Squad	 10 pts (7 for CL + 3 grunts @ 1)
> 
> Rifle Platoon 	 10 pts (1 PL Command Squad + 1 Rifle Squad)
> PA Platoon		 29 pts (1 PAPL Command Squad + 2 PA Squad)
> CO Command Platoon	 15 pts (1 CO Squad + 1 Rifle Squad)
> Company		 74 pts (3 Rifle Plt + 1 PA Plt + 1 Cmp Command
Plt --
> 44 figures)

I can see what you're getting at - my quibble is that the force you're
fielding is probably a little too small to justify the 'company' tag and
the associated extra command level (and the _huge_ advantage that
confers in additional activations).

> My company has 44 figures, yours has 136 figures. Another reason why
terms
> like "company" or "squad" need further investigation for balancing.

Agreed. However, IMHO 44 men is still a little small to be called a
company. In real world forces the sizes of squads and platoons does vary
but the overall size of a company ends up being about the same - there
just ends up being more small squads, or fewer large ones (I'm prepared
to be corrected on this one by those with real military experience).

> Using your figures I would be able to field...what...A mixed Platoon?
> 1 Command squad of 8 rifle
> 3 Squad of 8 rifle
> 2 PA Squad of 6 PA
> So PL would be worth 7 (1+.10*(31 rifle + 12 PA))
> And the cost of the mixed platoon would be 67 (27+26+14). So there is
a 7
> point difference in the way my squads would be organized (represents
the
> loss of 1 command level).

I'd call it a reinforced platoon.

Just thinking about it in terms of activations available, my
organisation would have one activation per squad (6) plus another two
possible by using the PL to activate squads (although that would mean
that the command squad itself couldn't do anything). So the maximum
number of squad activations is effectively seven. 

In your organisation, each rifle squad could activate itself, then the
PL could activate itself and the other squad in the platoon. That's
three squad activations per platoon (12 in total). Then the CL could
activate two of the PLs who then activate themselves plus their other
squad - another four squad activations. And then the command rifle squad
gets its own activation. So your organisation could perform 17(!) squad
activations per turn, activating 2 squads three times, 4 squads twice
and three once. Only the company commander's own squad wouldn't be
activated since he's busy telling everyone else what to do !

7 points probably isn't enough to represent the advantage of having this
extra comand level. How about costing the command figures in terms of
the number of activations they can potentially create ? Make one
activation worth 5 points, so an SL is worth 6 (1 for the man and 5 for
his command level). A PL is worth 11 (1 + 10 for his ability to activate
two squads). A CC is then worth 21 because he can effectively cause four
squads to be activated by passing to PLs who then pass activations down
to squads. This is roughly what the leaders are worth in my full size
company, but would bump your mini company up to :

Rifle Squad		9 pts (6 for SL + 3 grunts @ 1)
Platoon Command Squad  14 pts (11 for PL + 3 grunts @ 1)
PA Squad	       13 pts (7 for PASL + 3 PA @ 2)
PA Command Squad       18 pts (12 for PAPL + 3 PA @ 2)
CO Command Squad       24 pts (21 for CL + 3 grunts @ 1)

Rifle Platoon	       23 pts (1 PL Command Squad + 1 Rifle Squad)
PA Platoon	       44 pts (1 PAPL Command Squad + 2 PA Squad)
CO Command Platoon     33 pts (1 CO Squad + 1 Rifle Squad)
Company 	      146 pts (3 Rifle Plt + 1 PA Plt + 1 Cmp Command
Plt)

As a reinforced platoon with one platoon command squad (18 pts), 2 6-man
PA squads (17 each) and 3 rifle squads (13 each) it would be worth 91
pts. This difference would more accurately reflect the huge advantage in
command structure that your company organisation has.

> And yes, if you have a larger organization, the leadership values
increase.
> This represents (somewhat) the power of command activation. The more
> soldiers you can command activate (directly or indirectly), the higher
the
> Rough Comparison Cost of the leader.

Sound idea in principle. It should reflect the worth of commanders in
SG2. Their worth shouldn't be understated, however.

> Anyway, it is untested.

Understood; it's an interesting idea and worth pursuing.

Tony
 
-----------------------------
Tony Francis
Senior Software Engineer
Kuju Entertainment