Re: Some advice

On Wed, 19 Feb 2003 14:12:56 -0800, "Bradley, Jason (US - Minneapolis)"
<jabradley@deloitte.com> wrote:

> Does anyone have any
>suggestions for vehicles I could use?	Also, suggestions for squad
>compositions and numbers would be helpful, I am not sure what size a
force
>should be for a good sized game.

A good sized game to begin with is about a platoon in size per side.
That's
one command squad and three or four squads, plus a vehicle per each
(since you
want a mechanized force). For a single evening, or afternoon long game
you can
play at about 2 platoons per side. A company is generally 3 platoons per
side
plus additional special weapons forces. I find a company is a bit big
(it
results in a _long_ game) but you might want the extra squads in a two
platoon
game. Somewhere along the lines of 80 or so figures per side will keep
you
_more_ than adequately set up for a fair bit of time.

I suggest sitting down and working out your organization first. I
typically
have three squads, a command squad, a PA squad, and maybe a missile
and/or EW
and/or medic team per platoon. Since the PA move on their own, I'll need
a
minimum of 4 vehicles, and a maximum of 6 or 7 vehicles for the platoon.
You
want to figure out how big each squad is, and what support weapons they
have.
My NSL look pretty much like the ones in the back of the book, but my
Japanese
have two SAWs per squad and either a missileer or one or two attached
missile
teams. Figuring out the organization will let you know how many figures
you
will need as far as support weapons and leaders go.

For vehicles, there aren't a lot of 15mm vehicle suppliers. I usually
kitbash
Rocco minitank vehicles. They are plastic, but they come preassembled
and are
very good for kitbashing. I don't know of any vehicle that would match
the
Slammers' open topped combat cars, but you can easily convert regular
tanks or
other vehicles into GEVs and/or anti-grav vehicles.

You probably want 1 APC per regular squad and one for the command squad.
You
can make do with putting a small command squad in with a regular squad
sharing
an APC. You can also put the command squad and any additional teams (EW,
Forward Observer, medic, etc.) in one vehicle, if you want to keep the
number
of models to buy down to a more managable level. Otherwise, at some
point
you'll start to consider giving each team its own vehicle.

Allan Goodall		     http://www.hyperbear.com

"We come into the world and take our chances
 Fate is just the weight of circumstances
 That's the way that Lady Luck dances
 Roll the bones." - N. Peart