RE: SG II House Rules - longish post

> Unit Integrity is one of those 'setting dependent' bits that can shift
> around depending on what you're trying to simulate.  Heinleinesque
Powered
> Armour fight dispersed kilometres wide while modern armour doctrine
puts a
> tank and his 'wingman' in considerably closer querters.  Integrity
seems
> more dependent on how fast the elements in question can move than any
> fixed means of decision (and is one of the truly minor places I think
> SGII/DSII can be improved upon).

I think this may have more to do with Tactical Doctrine and unit caps 
than with speed alone. But speed is definitely an issue. So is unit 
equipment, tactical doctrine, and unit quality. (Spec Forces tend to 
be better able to operate right down to the individual level, and 
better able to coordinate even complex actions with minimal 
guidance).

Fer example - Heinlein-esque PA couldn't fight close together as a 
rule because of the types of employment they had and because of the 
types of weapons they were deploying.....

> A better means of deciding how dispersed is 'out of organization' may
be
> to multiply the Quality Die by some numberss of metres (then scale to
> liking).  Renegade Legion grav tanks may operate seperated by QD *
100m,
> giving the highly skilled units the ability to envelop almost by
> themselves and holding the less experienced troops together to strike
> in-force.  A group of low-tech militia may disperse QD * 3m before
being
> considered disorganized, keeping them bunched together because of lack
of
> ample coordinating communication.  A squad of powered armour may can
> disperse QD * 10m, due to the better range and control of their arms
and
> their constant locational beacons.

Interesting idea. I kind of like a more flexible definition of unit 
integrity which reflects the type of unit, the quality of the unit, 
etc. 

Does anyone still play RL? I have to admit I loved Centurion! 
 
> (Note, I consider the lack of a dispersed platoon/squad's ability to
> co-ordinate fire a /good/ thing.  The coordination as a 'single unit'
is
> part of why that one /can/ Reorg squads into much larger squads; with
the
> use of Command actions, this can be done frighteningly quickly
> (Command->Reorg/Move, Squad Actions->Fire/Fire, Next turn:
> Command->Reorg/Move.))

Hmm. I agree and I disagree. Here we see the distinction between 
'logical grouping for fire' and 'grouping for integrity' if you will. 
In real life, you might call the prep for an ambush a re-org action 
where you co-ordinate who fires first (thus initiating the ambush) 
and what conditions they'll fire under and what the responsibilities 
of everyone in the ambush will be, whereas that is not a 'reorg into 
one big unit'. Your squads can still be dispersed, but (for ambush 
purposes) they are functioning as one big logical unit. I think maybe 
a Re-Org action should be involved in setting up the ambush, and 
possibly communications tasks and unit quality rolls, but once the 
ambush is set up, it isn't necessary for ambushers to do Comms to 
initaiiate the ambush unless that was the method of initiation.... 
(ie 'Initiate fire on receipt of code group GREEN ECHO STAR on 
TacFreq One'). Instead, units could take the fire directive off of a 
support weapon opening up, a flare going up, or an enemy unit 
reaching a given location.

Of course, if you want to be nasty, I can suggest that some ambushes 
are screwed up by pre-mature firing (maybe a leadership check).

What we haven't covered here is another interesting point: You get 
reaction fire when people try to close with you.... yet you don't get 
a reaction roll to go IP (*HIT THE DIRT!*) when someone opens up on 
you in the open. I hate to say it, but the default behaviour of any 
Infanteer I've met when ambushed in the open is to eat dirt and 
reduce his or her target profile.....

Just some thoughts :)	

Tom
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