Brandon replied to me: > >>> You could treat the battlesuit platoon much the same way that the > >>> US Army used independent tank companies (or even platoons) attached > >>> to infantry companies. > > > > Sorry, that should be 'infantry divisions', not 'infantry > > companies'.
FM 17-18 from 1994, ch. 4 describes the light armor platoon operating with a light infantry battalion, and the problems and solutions that brings. > I don't think the battlesuits will be spread out evenly. I think they > would be deployed where needed, which means, possibly, that one infantry > company might get all of them, or they might all be held in reserve at > the battalion HQ. But there could also be a situation where each company needs a few suits as a rapid reaction force in "their" area of operations. The battlesuits could be used on point, because of their armor and sensors, or as the base of fire, because of their heavy weapons and ammo load. It might even be thinkable to send a single suit to each platoon, if it is used carefully. A lone suit would be very vulnerable, but the same applies to a lone Stinger team -- that doesn't mean it can't be attached to a platoon patrol. > >> A 9-suit platoon has 24 troops and 40 tons/$5.2M of vehicles. > >> A 14-suit platoon has 40 troops and 64 tons/$8.5M of vehicles, > >> with one more squad, a deputy commander, and a second C3I van. > >> Without the transport trucks, that becomes 13 and 22 tons, > >> respectively. > > What is your breakdown of support (non-suited troops) in a battlesuit > platoon? Each suit gets a pilot and a truck driver/mechanic. The HQ gets a truck driver, the platoon sergeant, an armorer, and three commo guys to talk to the supported unit(s) and the suits. > >> So there are Private Pete, Corporal Charles and Sergeant Sam > >> in the platoon. On Monday they do two-suit teams and Pete > >> reports to Charles. On Tuesday it is three-suit teams and > >> Pete reports directly to Sam. At 0-dark-30 on Wednesday the > >> enemy pulls a surprise and Charles shouts for his team to > >> counterattack. > >> > >> So what does Pete do now? On paper the chain of command is > >> clear. In the confusion, even clear things get difficult. > > > Pete counter-attacts. Is Sam has superior information on the > situation, he can order the team to stop the counter-attack. Before he went to sleep, Pete was attached to Sam's team. So shouldn't he wait for orders from Sam or orders re-attaching him to Charles? Either I'm being obtuse re practical command in small units, or I made my point about the pitfalls. Regards, Onno _______________________________________________ GurpsNet-L mailing list <[email protected]> http://mail.sjgames.com/mailman/listinfo/gurpsnet-l
