First off, thanks to everyone who helped me out with my query on SGII tactics.
Your advice made a lot of sense.
I may soon be getting a *bunch* of OOP figs in a trade, and I know that
certain types of troops in SGII are not represented by models in the line of
figs to which the figs in the trade belong. So, I'll probably do a bunch of
conversions. The question is, what conversions?
As far as I can tell, these are the special unpowered infantry troop types,
the rough number that I think ought to be present in a given force, and where
they ought to be located, organizationally. Please
tell me if you disagree, and why - this is just a rough guess at this
point.
Sniper - one per platoon at most. Independant unit? Detached element?
EW - one per platoon at most, in the command squad, plus one in the
company command squad.
Heavy Weapons (IAVR, GMS/P, etc) - one per squad (a total of one, not
one of each kind).
Support Weapon (SAW) - one per squad.
Medic - one per platoon at most. In command squad? Another in the
company command squad?
Drone team - one per platoon at most. Independant unit?
Crew-served weapons - one per platoon at most. Independant unit.
What'd I miss?
Thanks!
> On Mon, 8 Nov 1999, Steven M Goode wrote:
> I may soon be getting a *bunch* of OOP figs in a trade, and I know
If you want some conversion advice, see
<http://warbard.iwarp.com/sg2figures.html> - it's got some notes on a
variety of conversions I did to GZG 15mm troops, including snipers, EW,
medics, and heavy weapons.
> As far as I can tell, these are the special unpowered infantry troop
Definitly one/plt at most. Maybe only one/company, because snipers are
very powerful. Run them as independants.
> EW - one per platoon at most, in the command squad, plus one in the
Sounds about right. This is how mine run.
> Heavy Weapons (IAVR, GMS/P, etc) - one per squad (a total of one, not
One GMS/P per squad, certainly. Anyone can carry an IAVR, though - so
some/all of your riflemen can have IAVRs as well, and probably should.
> Support Weapon (SAW) - one per squad.
At least one/squad. Maybe two, depending.
> Medic - one per platoon at most. In command squad? Another in the
I'd be tempted to run Medics as independant single figures - nominally
with the company command squad, but detached for action.
> Drone team - one per platoon at most. Independant unit?
One/plt or less - these guys would probably be from the company level,
attatched to a specific plt for an operation. Independant, again.
> Crew-served weapons - one per platoon at most. Independant unit.
Yes, and yes.
> What'd I miss?
That seems to be everything - have fun with the conversions, and let us
know how they went.
> Steven M Goode wrote:
... snip ...
My ideas, mostly based on current trends.
> Sniper - one per platoon at most. Independant unit? Detached
Usually one team per company these days, but getting more common. A detachable
part of the support squad.
> EW - one per platoon at most, in the command squad, plus one in the
Alternatively they could be independent specialists.
> Heavy Weapons (IAVR, GMS/P, etc) - one per squad (a total of one, not
GMS yes, IAVR - one per trooper?
> Support Weapon (SAW) - one per squad.
Or two per squad
> Medic - one per platoon at most. In command squad? Another in the
In platoon command squad, but detachable. Often nominal second in command.
> Drone team - one per platoon at most. Independant unit?
Independant specialists
> Crew-served weapons - one per platoon at most. Independant unit.
Independant specialists
---
Hi Steve,
As a best guide to start with you should really look at the provided platoon
lists in the back of the SGII rules.
EW is something that can take a bit of getting used to in the game and
scenario wise you should place it carefully as it may bog the game down.
Consider the 'tech' level of your forces too; Militia troops are unlikley to
have access to EW whereas Hi-Tek like New Israeli should have it in
abundance!
Snipers - in SG the Sniper can severly unbalance all but well planned
scenarios. In reality you should expect to find true snipers at only Battalion
level (maybe two or three sniper teams at most in an Infantry Battalion) SF
likely have more. It is often a misnomer to call a soldier with a scoped rifle
a Sniper; the military Sniper is a highly trained specialist operating very
much independantly from a Company sized group.
SAWs - I've been using the SAW in my OU orbat nowadays as a very light
FPd6/IMPd10 weapon but running two per squad. IAVRs carried by every
other man except the commander. Works well and adds a unique flavour without
giving unbalancing gameplay.
FLAMERS - don't forget these little beauties in assault squads. Bruce
Matthews has an Islamic Fed organisation that includes two assault squads each
with a flamer trooper for close work! Works well!
Some more food for thought.
Owen G
> -----Original Message-----
> Sniper - one per platoon at most. Independant unit? Detached
Check out the Sniper rules in the SG rulebook - they are good for this.
Owen's comments about the relative rarity indicate the highly specialized
training, etc that goes into making "real" military snipers. However, what
you do find in some armies is the use of marksmen - regular riflemen who
are probably better than average shots, equipped with heavier rifles with
telescopic sights than the regular infantrymen, but assigned to infantry
units. The idea behind this is to provide a bit more accurate long rante
firepower to an infantry formation, but without the specialized training that
goes into making a sniper. These are used quite differently tactically too.
For SG, I've used this concept in a number of games, and it works well to give
smaller infantry units a bit of extra "oomph" without, as Owen pointed out,
running into the unbalancing potential of "real" snipers as per the SG rules.
What we do is have a "marksman" assigned to an infantry squad, or in a small
team of his own, and he uses rules that work basically like this:
Fire him as you would a support weapon firing on it's own; ie he requires a
separate fire action to use in the "marksman" role and you don't fire anything
else with him. His "firepower" would be that of the sniper rifle he's carrying
(see the back of the SG rulebook for examples of the various sniper rifles)
and his "quality" is that of the squad he's in. He gets 12" rangebands
(benefit of the sights) but does not get the other special benefits of the
sniper as per the rules (ie getting a "hit" result with only one of his two
die exceeding the defense roll, etc). He can't pick out targets in the unit
he's shooting at. Alternately, you might say he can pick out specific targets
(ie the SGT or EW trooper or SAW gunner) in a
target squad, but only if he hits within his first range-band or two.
The only real advantage of this trooper over a regular support weapon is that
he gets better range - and in a big squad, it gives you the option of an
extra individual weapon to fire separately from the squad fire. If he is used
WITH the squad's fire, then he just counts as a regular rifleman.
This works quite well, and adds a bit of interest to infantry units,
without the huge advantages a "real" sniper gets - particularly if you
let the marksman pick targets when he's in close...
> EW - one per platoon at most, in the command squad, plus one in the
Me too. We've tried it with higher concentrations of ew, and find that the
game gets totally bogged down with everyone rolling ew/counter ew every
turn, and because so many of the command unit reactivations get stopped, the
game slows down. I suggest limiting ew to one, or maybe two ew units per side
in almost all games where it's used, unless there's a specific scenario driven
reason to have more. Keeps things flowing fast that way.
> Heavy Weapons (IAVR, GMS/P, etc) - one per squad (a total of one, not
Though that depends on the doctrine of the army you're playing, and their
supply situation, etc. It isn't much fun if you decide that you have a super
army and each trooper carries IAVR as well as the squad having it's
SAW plus a GMS/P, etc etc etc. That gets to be a bit much. If you're
going to carry a bunch of IAVR's, then for "game balance" reasons lower the
numbers of your other heavy weapons.
<snip>
> Medic - one per platoon at most. In command squad? Another in the
I do this regularly. I have 2-trooper medic teams assigned at Platoon
or
Company HQ level in my NAC force. I use the NAC female medic/ammo
carrier figure who has a box in one hand as the medic, and a rifleman as her
assistant. They act as a separate "squad" in my formation, and can move around
the battlefield as needed to provice medical services. The rules say that if
you have a medic with a squad that takes a reorganize action, you get the
benefit of the medic. The way we play the separate medic team is that the
medic team has to move into unit coherency with the squad they're going to
help prior to that squad taking the reorg action, but when the reorg happens,
the medic team does not become part of the bigger squad. They can then be off
to help someone else on their next activation. This works well.
<snip>
> Crew-served weapons - one per platoon at most. Independant unit.
unless there are reasons (scenario driven) why they should have more. If
you have an attacking light-infantry unit who jumped into an LZ 10
klicks from a target and have been humping for a few hours to stage an
improvized attack, they might not want to be carrying a big automatic grenade
launcher with them at all. If you have a platoon assigned to defend a set
position from a known oncoming attack, maybe they're assigned more crew served
weapons from their higher headquarters, and have them dug in.
I've played several games where we've run a company on the attack versus a
platoon on defense, and we usually give the platoon some extra stuff to defend
with, including mines, better positions, dummy markers, and crew served
weapons. Makes for an interesting (though usually bloody) battle.
Have fun with it all!!!