Prev: Re: Some FT rules ideas(Longish) Next: Re: EFSB

Stargrunt II question

From: Thomas Barclay <Thomas.Barclay@s...>
Date: Wed, 21 Jan 1998 18:01:07 -0500
Subject: Stargrunt II question

I know this is the FT newsgroup.... but I'm hoping someone can 
address this. Is it just me or is there something missing in SGII.

Scenario:
2 clumps of cover 70 m apart (7"). 
Infantry squad A (Red team) in clump 1. 
Infantry squad B (Blue team) in clump 2. 

A has been setup in a defensive position, but could not (for whatever 
reason) engage squad B before it got to clump 2. Squad B is advancing 
in Advance-To-Contact mode (bounding up and down... standard combat 
move) assuming enemy nearby (maybe other units of force engaged 
nearby). Maybe it knows A is in the clump ahead. A's officer has 
issued the order: Shoot the enemy when they leave the woods to move 
advance on our As position. Several turns pass while B does nothing, 
A waits for them to move to 'swat them like a bug'. B then (during 
its activation) does a combat move (rolls a 3 lets say) stops 10m in 
front of As woodsedge position and opens up with a fire action, 
tearing A apart. Now, A was just sitting there waiting to swat B when 
B moved, but since B didn't perform 2 move actions, they had to let B 
run 60 m IN PLAIN SIGHT and then conduct a round of fire combat AT 
THEIR POSITION WITHOUT RETURNING FIRE. Hmmm.... methinks I see a 
problem. 

My question: Have I missed something in the current rules? I suspect 
not. I think what the game is missing is a Gaurd/Overwatch action of 
some sort that will allow a unit to basically watch a line of 
approach and say "fire when you see the whites of their eyes boys" or 
"shoot anything that moves over there!". In real life, my experience 
with even small squads setup in such situations is that the moving 
unit (moving towards a stationary unit aware of their approach and 
waiting for them locked and loaded) is that the moving unit would get 
totally annihilated (a platoon fire is something to see, but even a 
squad with C7s and Minimis could put out enough fire to destroy 
another squad moving across the open like that) and definitely the 
moving unit definitely couldn't move up and then conduct a close 
range fire action before being chewed to bits.....its usually a bad 
idea to move within the unobstructed line of sight of an enemy unit 
which can fire upon you and which is inclined to!

I have several ideas for such an overwatch implementation which I'm 
willing to share if anyone is interested, or if I haven't overlooked 
some way to handle things within the context of existing rules. 

BTW, all complaints to the contrary (and there are few), Stargrunt II 
is an excellent system which seems to not only offer flexibility and 
ease of play, but covers most oddball situations you might expect to 
need. Kudos to the GZG crew!

Thomas. 

/************************************************
Thomas Barclay
Software Specialist
Police Communications Systems
Software Kinetics Ltd.
66 Iber Road, Stittsville
Ontario, Canada, K2S 1E7
Reception: (613) 831-0888
PBX: (613) 831-2018
My Extension: 2034
Fax: (613) 831-8255
Our Web Page: http://www.sofkin.ca
**************************************************/


Prev: Re: Some FT rules ideas(Longish) Next: Re: EFSB