During my light research into the back ground of Operation Hump set in 1965 in Vietnam for the Lock N Load Tactical system, I decided to check in on army formation structure so I could write a bit more knowledgably.  The squad in those days [ November 1965] was comprised of two fireteams all armed with the new M16, ostensibly Fireteam A & B. Each team with a M60, an ammo chap, and a grenadier for a total of 6 men across the two teams. With an additional five split 3 in A and 2 in B one of which would be the ‘squad leader’ for a total of 11 men.

Now in many games MG’s are allocated to some squads and not others. Same for, depending upon period GL’s etc. So what is the rationale for ‘adding’ MG counters?
If in this instance all squads have two MGs anyway.

 

Is it a ‘ get cool stuff and kit’ thing? Or are ‘actual firepower’ ratings too much for the game balance?

Got me to thinking.

Especially for modern, if each squad had an inherent FP for riflemen  [say 2] and you could then allow that squad to technically fire maybe up to twice at the same or other units with a MG rating, or combine them even. You could even allow two GL shots.

Most MGs seem to be worth a squad of ‘riflemen’ , so a fully loaded squad in the above case would have a FP of 6 if all its capabilities were used. Just seems simpler, and more realistic? But maybe not well balanced for game play and subject to gamey hacking by rules lawyers?

Well, I’ll be curious now to look at other tactical games and see how they handle things.

How do you think todays tactical games model firepower at the squad level?