Re: [SG2} House Rules for Fire Team Units

The GZG Digest wrote on 4/7/2005 1:00 AM:
 > Date: Wed, 6 Apr 2005 13:20:47 -0400
 > From: "laserlight@quixnet.net" <laserlight@quixnet.net>

 >>I propose another rule. The squad leader _must_ be within integrity
 >>
 >> range of at least one fire team.
 >
 > Or "must be within integrity range in order to transfer an
activation"

I can live with that, but there are others that would disagree, since 
Transfer Actions have a communication component in them if the action is

being transferred from a distance. It is nice and simple, though.

It also gets around the problem of giving the squad leader a free move 
so that he can stay with an advancing squad. Squad Leaders would expend 
actions just like any other unit.

It does one other thing, too: adds tactical complexity. You have a squad

assaulting an enemy position. Typically you'd suppress the enemy with 
one fire team and move around the enemy's flank with the other fire 
team. What do you do with the Squad Leader? Does he go with the maneuver

unit or stay with the firing unit? If he stays with the firing unit, do 
you attach him to it (giving a bonus to their firepower) or do you leave

him unattached (so he can transfer actions?).

(For the record, I think the smart thing to do would be to have the 
Squad Leader stay back with the firing unit. In an ideal situation you 
would activate the SL first. You'd transfer an action to the firing unit

to attack the enemy position, and maybe go IP, and you'd transfer an 
action to the maneuver unit to move with two actions. Next, you would 
activate your firing unit to lay down more suppressing fire on the 
enemy. Finally, you'd activate the maneuver unit to move, and hopefully 
fire on the suppressed enemy from a flanking position.)

Integrity range is pretty short: 6". That's not a very long distance 
when it comes to the sort of flanking attack I describe above. One thing

I've been toying with is giving units an integrity range equal to their 
Quality Die type. So, Greens would have 6" integrity range, Regulars 
would have 8" integrity range, Veterans would have 10" integrity range, 
etc. If we force squad leaders to be within integrity range in order to 
transfer their actions, I think this rule would help.

I guess we need to codify these rules into some sort of coherent form. 
Let's see if I've got it straight:

PLAYTEST RULES - SG2 FIRE TEAMS

ORGANIZATION
A squad consists of one squad leader and a number of fire teams 
(typically 2 or 3). Each fire team has a designated fire team leader. 
The squad leader is an independent figure and uses the independent 
figure rules.

A fire team is activated like a "squad" unit in regular SG2. It has its 
own Confidence Marker. It has its own Quality Marker, but all fire teams

in a squad have the same Quality Die type, though each fire team can 
have different leadership values. For instance, if you had a Veteran 
squad consisting of two fire teams, both fire teams and the squad leader

would be of Veteran quality. The Leadership Values for all three could 
be different, or they could all be the same.

If the game does not specify Quality Chits, draw chits randomly for each

_squad_ as per the random quality rules in the rule book. The chit drawn

will represent the quality and leadership value of the squad leader. 
Once all squad leaders have a chit, separate the chits by colour. 
Randomly draw a quality chit for each fire team from the pile that 
matches the squad leader's quality.

Example: You have a platoon of three squads, with each squad consisting 
of two fire teams. You draw Quality Markers: a Green 1, a Regular 2, and

a Veteran 2. Squad 1's squad leader is Green 1. Squad 2's squad leader 
is Regular 2. Squad 3's squad leader is Veteran 2. Now, separate the 
chits into piles so that each pile has the same colour. For Squad 1's 
fire teams draw two chits from the green pile. For Squad 2's fire teams 
draw two chits from the blue (Regular) pile. For Squad 3's fire teams 
draw two chits from the orange (Veteran) pile.

Each fire team gets its own Confidence Marker, as does the squad leader.

Unless otherwise designated by a scenario, all fire teams within a squad

and the squad leader start with the same Confidence Level. Determine a 
squad's beginning Confidence Level as per the SG2 rules.

It's possible for different squads on one side to have different 
Motivation Levels. In these cases, the squad leader and all fire teams 
within a squad would have the same Motivation Level.

In almost all ways, the fire team is treated just like a squad in 
regular SG2, with exceptions listed below.

Squad leaders are treated like independent figures, as per the 
independent figure rules in the SG2 rule book, with one exception. Squad

leaders are allowed to Transfer Actions to their fire teams, allowing 
the fire team to be activated for two actions. This is the same as a 
platoon command unit transferring an action to a squad in regular SG2.

UNIT INTEGRITY
The SG2 Unit Integrity rules apply to individual fire teams, and not to 
squads. In other words, the figures within a fire team must be within 
the integrity range of the fire team leader (6"), or within 2" of 
another squad member, as per the SG2 rules.

Squad Leaders have a special type of Unit Integrity known as "Squad 
Integrity". Squad Integrity range is 6".

Squad Integrity is different from unit integrity. The ramifications of 
squad integrity are explained below.

ACTIONS
Fire Teams receive two actions when they are activated, just like any 
unit in SG2. They can do anything that a squad can do in regular SG2.

Squad Leaders are treated like independent figures.

Squad Leaders can Transfer Actions to their fire teams, allowing the 
activation of the fire team (giving the fire team 2 actions). This works

the same way as a platoon commander transferring actions to a squad in 
regular SG2 but with one exception. The squad leader must be within 
Squad Integrity range of a fire team leader in order to transfer an 
action. If one fire team is outside of his Squad Integrity range, he may

not transfer an action to it.

Squad may join or leave one of their fire teams at will. If they join a 
fire team, they are treated as part of that fire team, with the 
firepower of the squad leader's weapon added to that of the rest of the 
squad. However, when a squad leader is part of a fire team he may no 
longer transfer actions. If he uses one action to leave a fire team that

he belonged to, he may immediately transfer his last action to either of

his fire teams.

Remember that if you make a communication roll directly to a fire team 
from a higher level unit, you must apply a +1 modifier to the fire 
team's Quality Level for skipping the squad leader. This could happen if

a platoon commander transfers an action directly to a fire team, or if a

fire team tries to call in for artillery support, etc. This is not a new

rule, but players have to be aware of this.

CONFIDENCE TESTS
Fire Teams make Confidence Tests under the same circumstances as squads 
in regular SG2. If a fire team leader becomes a casualty, the fire team 
must make a 4/3/2 Confidence Test (for Low/Medium/High motivation 
troops), just like a squad would have to make in regular SG2 if the 
squad leader became a casualty.

There are some additions to the Confidence Test rules:

1. If a fire team is outside of Squad Integrity range, apply a +2/+1/+0 
modifier (for Low/Medium/High motivation troops) to all Confidence
Tests.

2. If a squad leader becomes a casualty, all fire teams must make 4/3/2 
Confidence Test.

3. All fire teams in a squad, and the squad leader, must make a 4/3/1 
Confidence Test if the squad in total takes more casualties in one 
attack than it has figures remaining. Example: A squad of Medium 
Motivation consists of two fire teams with 4 figures and a squad leader.

Fire Team 1 loses three figures, and Fire Team 2 loses two figures from 
an artillery attack. Fire Team 1, Fire Team 2 and the squad leader must 
each make a Threat Level 4 Confidence Test (TL 3 for the squad 
casualties at Medium Motivation, with a TL +1 for coming under artillery

attack).

As per the regular SG2 rules, if two Confidence Tests can be applied at 
once, choose the worst test and roll once. For instance, in the above 
example Fire Team 2 took casualties. For Medium Motivation troops this 
would be a TL1 with a +1 modifier due to the artillery attack. Instead 
of rolling a TL2 test for the fire team's casualties and then a TL4 test

for the squad's casualties, the fire team makes a single Confidence Test

using the worst Threat Level.

NOTE: It is recommended that you use the Morale modifications from the 
HyperBear web site 
(http://www.hyperbear.com/sg2/sg2-house-rules-morale.html). If you use 
those rules, number 3 -- above -- is modified as follows: All fire teams

in a squad, and the squad leader, must make a 4/3/1 Confidence Test if 
the squad suffers casualties greater than or equal to the number of 
figures remaining in the unit. Additionally, all fire teams and the 
squad leader make a 4/3/1 Confidence Test if the squad as a whole has 
lost 50% or more of its strength as casualties.

CLOSE ASSAULT
The Close Assault rules from the SG2 rule book apply, with the following

modifications.

When attacking, a player may choose to close assault with some or all of

a squad's fire teams.

If a player is attacking with an entire squad, the player makes a single

Confidence Test for the squad using the squad leader's Quality Level. If

the squad passes the test, all fire teams in the squad -- and the squad 
leader -- join the Close Assault. If the test fails, all of the squad's 
fire teams and the squad leader have their Confidence Level dropped, and

none of the fire teams may take part in the Close Assault.

If a player is attacking with part of a squad, only those elements 
taking part have to make a Confidence Test. In this case each element 
must make their own Confidence Test. If a squad leader was to take part 
in a close assault, and the squad leader passes his Confidence Test but 
none of the other fire teams passed, the squad leader may choose not to 
take part in he close assault.

Example a squad consists of a squad leader and two fire teams. The squad

leader and one of the fire teams is taking part in a Close Assault. The 
squad leader and the fire team must make their own Confidence Tests. If 
the fire team passes the Confidence Test but the squad leader fails, the

fire team still conducts the assault. If the fire team fails its test 
but the squad leader passes his, the player may choose whether or not 
the squad leader takes part in the assault.

When defending against a close assault, make Confidence Tests for each 
defending fire team, and each defending squad leader. If all of a squad 
leader's fire teams involuntarily withdraw, the squad leader may 
voluntarily withdraw with them.

OPTION: As written above, the attacker must make a single roll for a 
squad if the entire squad is defending, while the defender must roll for

each fire team individually even if the entire squad is defending. In 
both of these cases, allow the player to decide if he wants to roll for 
each element of the squad individually, or if he wants to make a single 
roll for the entire squad.

Questions:

1. Do we give squad leaders an integrity range equal to the squad 
leader's quality die type? If we do, should we give the fire teams the 
same integrity range to be consistent? Should the extended integrity 
range apply to all units, or only units with communications gear?

2. If we give squad leaders an extended integrity range for the purpose 
of transferring actions, should a communication roll be required for 
transfers beyond 6"?

3. Should a fire team make a 4/3/2 Confidence Test if the fire team 
leader becomes a casualty? Obviously from the rules, above, I'm leaning 
that way, but I can see arguments against it.

I think I covered everything we talked about.

Allan

-- 

Allan Goodall	    http://www.hyperbear.com
agoodall@att.net    agoodall@hyperbear.com