Re: DirtSide II Rules suggestions (Long)

Man you love bookkeeping! <G>

Comments:
-What is the purpose of a Squad leader in DS2? A squad is a stand. Do
you
mean this leader is the one to be platoon (unit) leader when the actual
one
gets waxed? This all seems like a lot of trouble. Do you really want to
buy
all your leaders down to the squad level before every campaign? That
means
you have to track who is where the whole time. Othan than that, the Org
level chart is fine (of course Brigade and Div. leaders would probably
only
ever exist on paper unless you played some kind of breakthrough
scenario).

-Your promote/demote table is too much. Who wants to track every kill
and
check for every unit?! A better way to go I think is with a simpler
version
based on the final situation at battles end. A unit with great losses
rolls
with negative modifiers, etc. Even a leader that had his/her unit break
and
run shouldn't necessarily get demoted. The leader and the unit got
blooded,
now have some experience, and hopefully will be better next time they
get
shot at. Maybe each player can award a couple "Valor" and "Cowardice"
chits
during the game for leaders that do something particulary well or
poorly.
Also, unless you assume each battle fought is only one of many that were
*really* fought, promoting/demoting leaders after every battle is a bit
much (although the experience level should certainly change). Some 2LT
ends
up COL after four battles. Talk about fast track!

Just a few thoughts anyway. I do like the idea of getting a consistent
point cost across the three games.

Paul

At 11:50 AM 5/14/97 PDT, you wrote:
>Hello,
>	 Given the incredible power of leaders in DirtSide II,
especially
>when senior leaders can cause a cascade effect and activate the entire
army
>in one turn, I think we need to cost out the benefits these guys bring
to
>the battlefield, particularly if you are playing in a campeign.
>	 The other issue is replacing leaders.	Normally there may be a
few
>leaders from the staff like the Executive Officer or the Adjutant, but
quite
>often you have to conduct a battlefield promotion of someone from a
>composite element.  My family history showed me how a forward observer
>junior officer can become the Commanding Officer is certain
circumstances...
>	 The Inverse Peter principle becomes very important in warfare.
>After the Japanese lost their best pilots and wing commanders, they had
to
>do the best they could by plugging in people where they could.  There
are
>many historical examples where an army lost its abilities as it lost
leaders...
>	 Therefore, I propose the following structure of leaders.  An
>excellent leader for a squad can be a good Platoon leader but a poor
Company
>Commander and so on up the chain.
>		   Organizational level
>Leader type  Cost  Squad   Platoon  Company  Battalion  Brigade 
Division
>	 A    20    Poor(3) 
>	 B    40    Good(2) Poor(3)
>	 C    60    Excel(1)Good(2)  Poor(3)
>	 D    80	    Excel(1) Good(2)  Poor(3)	 
>	 E   100		     Excel(1) Good(2)	 Poor(3) 
>	 F   120			      Excel(1)	 Good(2) 
Poor(3)
>	 G   150					 Excel(1)
Good(2)
>	 H   180						 
Excel(1)
>
>	 All Commanders must be in a communications Command Post to
affect
>units not adjacent to them.
>	 There is also an advantage to buying extra leaders for squads. 
This
>means a squad can act on its own without the rest of the Platoon, etc.
>	 Now you should also be able to promote and demote your leaders
>during a campeign.
>
>Die Roll
>1 or less	 Demote 	 Roll if unit survived a Confidence
check
>2		 Retain 	 +1 Per enemy unit checked (Cumulative)
>3		 Retain 	 +1 per enemy unit routed (Cumulative)
>4		 Retain 	 +1 per enemy unit Destroyed
>5		 Retain 	 -1 per failed Confidence check
>6 or More	 Promote	 -1 if unit routed
>
>	 These rolls are used for each leader at the level of
orgaization he
>commands.  So a Company Commander does not roll if only one of his
platoons
>destroyed one enemy platoon.  The Company Commander does roll if his
Company
>checked/routed/destroyed an enemy company, each of his Platoon
Commanders
>will roll if their platoons also affected a platoon, and so on.
>	 The same table can be used for the confidence rating of a
>squad/platoon.  However, Green and Yellow(untrained) units add 3 to
their
>die roll.
>
>	 I also think that we need a cost multiple for force quality
ratings.
>Use these multiples to determine final cost for your forces.
>
>Confidence Rating	 Quality Die	 Cost Multiple
>Elite			 D12		 2.0
>Veteran		 D10		 1.7
>Regular		 D8		 1.4
>Green			 D6		 1.0
>Untrained		 D4		 0.7
>
>	 The reason for this is simple, an Elite Regular squad is as
>effective in fire power as a Regular Powered Armor squad.
>
>	 Finally, here are some weapons from SGII that I think can be
>reflected at the Platoon level in DSII and be costed out, each weapon
draws
>one chit unless fired at infantry:
>
>Weapon/Cost		 Ranges/Effect		 Versus Inf
>			 Close	 Medium Long
>Plasma Gun Man Portable 2	 4	 6
>Cost:8 		 All	 Red	 Yellow  Yellow(3 chits)
>Automatic Grenade Lau	 4	 6	 8
>Cost:3 		 half	 Yellow  half	 Yellow(3 chits)
>			 Value		 Value
>			 Red/Yellow	 Red/Yellow
>IAVR				 4
>Cost:3 			 R/Y (draw 2)
>Multipe Launch Pod	 6	 12	 18
>Cost:6 		 Half Value Red/Yellow	 Half Yellow (3 chits)
>
>	 Using the parent units from DSII you can point out you forces
for
>SGII using these as well.  All these weapons are in addition to
whatever
>standard dice are rolled for that squad.
>
>	 I would apreciate your feedback,
>					 Phil P.
>
>
>

-----
Paul J. Calvi Jr.
tanker@rahul.net

"Objective, Offense, Mass, Economy of Force, Maneuver, Unity of Command,
Security, Surprise, Simplicity"

15SEP16