A Single Soldier . . . ?

[Gpig]

Would it be possible for BTS to make a unit in CM that is just ONE soldier? (And I don't mean now, as I know that CM:BO is currently closed for business/renovation.)

But theoretically speaking . . . I think it could be real neat to have a unit that is just one soldier. Infantry man. Whatever. You could add him under the "Support" section of the unit purchase window. Kind of like you'd add a 1 man sharpshooter unit.

The difference is that with this soldier unit, you could add demo charges. Fausts. Gammon Bombs. What-have-you. The possibilities for scenario designers would be great! Lone soldiers with special roles. They could represent historical figures. They could be spies, or assassins. (Probably outside the scope of CM, you could say.)

I thought of this because I made a scenario based on the WWII war movie, "The Eagle has Landed." The only unit I could pick to represent the german spy "Ms. Grey" had to be a "sharpshooter. She turns out in game play to be much less deadly than in the movie.

Of course, any single soldier would be just as fragile as any single sharpshooter. But they would have grenades (and whatever else you loaded them with).

I was just wondering if any of you think it "could" be possible to do.

Also, I seem to have heard that CM:BB will have an option in the unit editing section where you'll be able to add casualties to a unit, before the battle. (eg. Pick a 12 man squad and edit it down to 3 men, for your scenario.) This could do the trick. But I wonder if a reduced squad would incur a morale penalty at the beginning of the game? (Probably.) Anyone else heard about this and CM:BB?

And if this was a unit you could pick, I guess you could pick nothing but single soldier units, and make a little 12 man squad scenario. Heh heh.

Well, I rambled on. Eh? Sorry 'bout that. Got some down time here.

Gpig.

P.S. where does the word "Soldier" come from.

[ 12-10-2001: Message edited by: Gpig ]</p>

[D.]

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally post scripted by Gpig:

P.S. where does the word "Soldier" come from.

<hr></blockquote>

According to this here page its from the French soudier: To fight for pay.

It must be true. I read it on the web.

[L4Pilot]

Interesting idea (the one soldier unit.) Amother idea along the same lines would be a 2 man team (sans bazooka) just right for manning Observation Posts or scouting ahead. This unit would be assumed to have a walkie-talkie or field phone (in the case of an OP) connection. You might have to pay a little extra for it on a per-man basis, but it would be better than using split squads or anti tank teams for the same purpose.

Another way to do it would be to allow the splitting of HQ units for "detached duty." This would reflect being able to detach the platoon or company scouts. The leadership bonus would remain with the non-detached potion of the HQ and the disadvantage would be that the HQ would be that much more "fragile" i.e. close to elimination. This would put a limit on the number of listening posts that could be created, which is probably desirable.

And anyone interested in a man-to-man level WWII computer game, please email me. This isn't the place to discuss it, but I'm aware of one. And no, it's not GI Combat.

L4

"They who pound their swords into plowshares end up plowing for those who do not."

[JasonC]

Actually, the term "soldier" means "a guy who gets a solidus", a solidus being a coin. Originally solidus meant a particular coin, a gold penny from late Rome and Byzantium that weighed about 3 english pennies, or 4.5 grams, or .15 troy ounces. Which in metal content alone would be worth about $40 today. That would be the meaning of a "Greek", eastern empire solidus.

By the middle agesin the Latin west, the term "solidus" had come to mean "a shilling", effectively. Usually silver rather than gold coins were meant. A silver piece a day was a common soldier's wage. Silver of that weight would today be worth about 61 cents US, but the silver to gold exchange ratio back then might have made it more like $2.50.

[Affentitten]

I think it's all well and good to dream about single man Rambo units, but I mean, that's not what the game is really designed for. It's a battlefield simulation, not a first person shooter. There are plenty of other WW2 commando games where you can parachute into Colditz or whatever.

[109 Gustav]

I think somebody's been watching too many "Army of One" commercials.

[Jarmo]

1-2 man teams. Hey I like this idea.

They wouldn't even have to be purchaseable in QB's or anything..

[JasonC]

Am I the only one who remembers the "IT" project from the early 80s? Or that it was a spoof?

[Dave H]

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr> Am I the only one who remembers the "IT" project from the early 80s? Or that it was a spoof? <hr></blockquote>

Are you referring to the wargame where you could fight World War 2 with a counter for each individual soldier? Yeah, I had that, too. I kept the counters for my uncles and father-in-law. Figured nobody would notice. Somehow I never found time to play the entire campaign. It was pretty cool, but the rent for the warehouse to hold the boxes got a little steep.

[CMplayer]

A problem with that is that the CM interface shows you squads or teams, so this one soldier would be as likely to be targetted as an entire squad standing next to him, which means that he would be MUCH more likely to get killed or wounded than any particular soldier in the squad. He would really stick out as a target. If he was carrying a satchel charge or something else important, he can't be integrated into the squad in a more protected position, like they might do in RL.

[Gpig]

Well, maybe he could use the "sharpshooter" unit identification. (Neither a squad OR a team.)

Then he'd just be a "sharpshooter" with grenades who could also carry special weapons (Gammon/faust/RG etc.) and who'd defend himself just like a squad would. He might NOT be as stealthy as a regular sharpshooter, but I don't know why he couldn't be.

(As an added bonus, you could pick them by their weapon types. BARgunner. SMGgunner. Rifleman. Who wouldn't pick a couple of Thompson gunners to run around with satchel charges, behind enemy lines. Eh?) (But I'm sure they'd only last about as long as it took to spot them, if there were heavy enemy presence nearby.)

Anyhoo . . . just dreamin' I guess.

Gpig

[Wanderer]

"There are plenty of other WW2 commando games where you can parachute into Colditz or whatever."

Is there really a game where you can parachute into colditz?