Been a lot of reaction to this already, but I'd better start by answering
the original query....
> [OOC. Sending your letter that way was fine but I am not sure if you are
> expecting me to do anything in the game.
No, I wasn't, because as you point out, it isn't possible so far as these
particular house rules are concerned (though it is possible for Colonels to
dismiss members of their regiment in other games I'm aware of). It was
primarily a means of letting David know that I was too pushed for time this
month to indulge in a lengthy press duel ;-)
> I am not sure what powers I have as a
> colonel. I cannot remove a character from the regiment. I cannot send
someone
> on a more dangerous mission. If you are expecting me do something other
than
> reply to press and there is something that I can do please let me know]
As Shaun pointed out, yanking the chain of the your CO can lead to
unfortunate consequences in a military milieu, and in a role-playing sense I
don't think it would detract from the game if the same were true in banana
to an extent. I remember AdM getting a right royal chewing out from GC when
he was a Major serving as GC's aide for making disparaging remarks about two
_NPC_ Generals in the process of praising a PC. (AdM's reaction was to
apologise profusely whilst I was submitting some anonymous press implying
that AdM's criticisms were perfectly valid ;-)
I personally wouldn't have a problem with Colonels being able to dismiss
characters from their regiments - more useful as a threat than in its actual
execution of course. At the moment they have no means at all to enforce
discipline really.
The idea of CO's being able to modify the bravery roll of a subordinate (as
a way of 'volunteering' them for perilous missions) was one I suggested to
Greg fairly recently, as another means of punishing insubordination -
something totally in keeping with the 'real world', as Shaun pointed out.
Maybe something along the lines of once per campaign being able to adjust
the bravery modifier of one PC to the same extent as the death modifier for
the rank of the PC doing the adjusting - so that it would be more dangerous
to piss off a full general than it would a mere brigadier?
-Paul
