German infantry squad split options

[Archijerej]

Hello everyone!

I’ve recently watched a video of SLIM's tactical series for CM (which I highly recommend to everyone) and it confirmed some of the issues I’ve had with the German squad organization in the game. Basically, the current system does not provide the same flexibility that American and British squads have and does not allow a player to employ some of the historical techniques used by the German squad in battle. So, instead of just bitching about it, I’ve decided  to put forward some suggestions and reasoning behind them.

 

What I would like to see is three team slots within the German squad that would allow it to be split as follows:

 

1)      Team  1:

 

-          The Squad Leader

 

-          Two riflemen that are used as scout team (Kar98k)

 

Such a team would allow the leader to travel ahead of his squad with the scouts (of course, the ability to create a 2-man scout team would be retained) as demonstrated in the following training film:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5st9WmXMm7M

 

This option would be useful  for American squad as well (British player can do this already). Squad leader should not be tied to one spot and should be able to act more independently. Remember that he has glasses!

 

2)      Team  2:

 

-          Rifle grenadier

 

-          Two riflemen (those who may be armed with semi-automatic rifles)

 

3)      Team 3:

 

3-man lmg team, as prescribed by H.Dv. 130/2a Infantry Training Manual. Also can be seen in the linked training film.

 

This would allow more flexibility with base of fire element. Player can use only his lmg team, or he can also add a rifle grenadier using Assault team split command.

 

Here are some further advantages of this system:

 

-          It allows an additional team of spotters. As far as I know only teams, not individual soldiers, spot in the game .

 

-          It prevents soldiers from bunching up and allows to simulate authentic movement techniques and formations. This is important, since the engine is abstracted in this regard.

 

-          It facilitates use of terrain and foxholes.

 

So, let me know what do you think. Are those ideas helpful? Would it be possible to include them in a patch? 

 

Edited February 10, 2016 by Archijerej

[Michael Emrys]

As far as I know only teams, not individual soldiers, spot in the game .

I believe that to be incorrect. The status report in the lower left corner of the screen describes what each member of the squad or team is doing, and they are not all spotting all the time. Also, when drawing a targeting order, a gray line indicates that only some members of a crew, team, or squad can see the target.

[I forgot to say that otherwise, your suggestion strikes me as a good one.]

Michael

Edited February 10, 2016 by Michael Emrys

[Baneman]

I believe that to be incorrect. The status report in the lower left corner of the screen describes what each member of the squad or team is doing, and they are not all spotting all the time. Also, when drawing a targeting order, a gray line indicates that only some members of a crew, team, or squad can see the target.

Yes, spotting is done per set of eyeballs. So individual team members, crewmembers etc.

[General Jack Ripper]

Being able to split off a Scout Team that contains the Squad Leader, for the sole purpose of observation, would be a nice feature.

Or, at the very least, having the Squad Leader part with his precious binoculars for a few minutes while detaching a Scout Team would be nice too.

As far as the training film goes, I can't speak to that because I do not comprehend the German language. There are German squads in the game that can split into three teams, usually among the special purpose troops such as Airborne and Panzergrenadiers. In my TTP video, I wanted to highlight the standard infantry platoon. Anything demonstrated using a British, or American three-team squad would still be valid with any German squad able to split three teams.

[Archijerej]

Being able to split off a Scout Team that contains the Squad Leader, for the sole purpose of observation, would be a nice feature.

Or, at the very least, having the Squad Leader part with his precious binoculars for a few minutes while detaching a Scout Team would be nice too.

Yes, that would be very helpful. I'm currently reading a training collection of combat examples for a German infantry squad and it was quite common for the bulk of the squad to remain in full cover, while the leader was observing and aquiring targets.

As far as the training film goes, I can't speak to that because I do not comprehend the German language. 

Me neither :D. I know enough German military terminology though to be able to understand most of what's going on.