SG2 forces

Derk said:

Just thinking about the number of minimi's, I recall the bravo-two-zero
distribution. 8 men, 4 M16/203, 4 Minimi. It's a thought for how to run
special forces type operations.

==> As our resident spec ops vet, Los took great pains to point out to
me
how overloaded these guys were with kit (now he didn't specifically
refer to
the weapons loadout, so I'm perhaps inferring something untrue). If you
are
on a sneak and peak or a sneak and blow-sh*t-up mission, it is important
to
be armed to protect yourself, but that might have been overkill. Perhaps
more of them would have gotten away from their firefights if they hadn't
been lugging everything under the sun (even after they lost their
initial
kit). The other issue is of course that they were badly prepared and
allowed
that to happen (their comms setup/etc). 

Then again, with special forces, you could make a case for running them
as
8 individuals.

==> I've run FMAS "SF escort the dissident out of country" with a
platoon
pursuing 8 SF elites (elite/vet mix) and their scientist/dissident. It
was
bloody, but they succeeded in the mission, losing 5 of 8 SF soldiers,
and
only due to the fact the enemy aggressively attacked, close assaulting
and
destroying their reargaurd in the last couple of turns so they could
take
the "river/border" crossing under fire. The SF soldiers then bravely
sacrificed themselves to suck up enemey overwatch fire until the enemy
had
mostly shot off, and then they ran the scientist across. I think 2 SF
were
captured, 2 or 3 escaped, the others were killed. The scientist got
away. 

==> I've also run SF in small 4 man squads vs. other troops in SG. So it
will work there too. 

==> SG lets you do a lot of things because it is a semi-realistic
portrayal
of the world. (semi!). You don't have points to restrict you because
such
systems can be flawed. (Frankly, without any bias ahead of time, I
expect
the FMAS point system to be flawed regardless of how well they work
it...
DS2 is good, but has problems... and FMAS has far more variables....).
It
makes the game harder to setup for new folks (hard to gauge equality),
but
once you get playing 4 or 5 games, you get a feel for things. And in the
real world, you could have 8 SAWs.... you'd just need to have a truck
following you with ammo....

==> Note in FMAS, we've talked about limiting the SAW by imposing a
movement
penalty (even the newer ones aren't that light... and if you are loaded
up
with ammo too...) especially considering the gyroharnesses and stuff we
can
see on most GZG figs. Assume that the movement rate for troops in SG
accounts for "waiting for the SAW or GMS" whereas in FMAS, that is more
of a
thinking action. 

==> Plus, if you shoot half decently with a rifle, and you actually want
to
hit something, you'd prefer a rifle. The SAW is great for sustained area
fire, but accuracy is the bane of MGs and SAWs. The Bren was probably
only a
mediocre LMG because of its low mag cap and its accuracy.... you want to
suppress an area or engage waves of targets with a SAW. If you want to
hit a
small target, get a rifle...  this is part of what limits squads in real
life...