Runners

[sonar]

Tried a little experiment.

1x company reg german inf, 1x 81mm spotter 1x runner(vet sharpshooter, ammo 2) for each plt, 3x runner for company hq.

Mission, a probe against american vet inf plt, in village, small hills and wooded.

One plt and heavy weapons section left hook, other two plts right hook.Used the runners to direct the battle.

Taking it that if the runners had visual contact with co. hq, then simple messages such as "in position" could be relayed while more complex ones would mean them having to be in command of co. hq to relay.

I also imposed a one minute delay for the excange of report/order.It made for an intresting scenario co-ordinating the attack under these conditions,taking into account timing and fatigue of the runners etc.

Maybe some of you tried something similar, if not give it a go.

I'm sure you will come up with your own interpretation of the "rules" I have made.

Oh, another rule I had was that the co.hq would inform the plt's of a move to a new position as in real life the plt's would not know where they were ortherwise.

[ May 03, 2008, 09:40 AM: Message edited by: sonar ]

[JasonC]

An interesting idea. It highlights how unrealistic the really monster size CM scenarios get, when you put a battalion to a regiment on one map, with one mind directing them all with godlike mutual intel and tiny command delays.

One reason I've always preferred reinforced company and lower scale, for CM games.

[dieseltaylor]

Large games work fine provided that they are primarily suited to tanks. Infantry has a lot of work arounds and problems in terms of of the game.

For maximum realism I think the one minute order turn and a minute for playback prevent the over clever use of the system. Becuase of lack of time most of the force has to be given fairly simple orders.

It does strike me it might be fun that a commander gives general orders working from his map to subordinates who individually move the[ir] companies of tanks and infantry. So the commander would receive reports from the company commanders and try to make sense of the information received.

Off board artillery is his alone to allocate though the spotters would report to him only. Could be highly amusing - and also stressful for the people concerned.

Company commanders probably ought to operate at level one at all times : ). Level three in church etc. So a touch of Iron man rules to add to the mix.

[jtcm]

Great idea, runners. How long did the company attack take ?

Sharpshooters as runners-- how about using crack tank hunters instead ?

Incidentally: how widespread were radios at the plt level for infantry in the various forces ? I imagine better in e.g. US army than Russian, but pure guess. Vague memory of radios (or lack thereof, but because of various snafus) in reading Keegan's Six Armies in Normandy, recounting US airborne in action (Ste Mere l'Eglise, maybe ? Something about Co assault against German plt in farmhouse taking very long because no radios, compared in Keeganesque style to defenders of La Haie Sainte at Waterloo ?)

[jtcm]

Double post

[Chappie]

I also like the idea of runners for the coy level to emphasis the importance command and control. Cool idea.

Same problem if you had some tank support I would think. Most tanks might have radio with comms with each other but did they have comms with a coy command?

For the larger forces have anyone ever used other players (humans) to command different elements on the same side. That is Player A commands one battlegroup while Player B another. Agree on the make up of each battlegroup , a mission objective then carries them out independently of each other. Or something along those lines. I’m sure it’s been done before just haven’t heard about. Although it would require at least 3-4 players in PBEM I guess.

Could be interesting to see how your comrade tackles their objective.

[sonar]

jtcm, I can't remember how long the attack took, I was just a quick run through late at night to test the system. What I can tell you is that it did take quite a bit longer.

I specificaly made the misson quite easy. The platoons were able to move into their positions without too much trouble, then runners were sent back to company hq to report this. The runners then rejoined their plts, with orders that the attack would commence at the end of the 81mm barrage.

Once the attack went in there was no real need for further orders as it was against a plt in a small village. On the move up to their attack position, 1st and 2nd rifle plts on the right flank came under fire from an enemy squad located outside the village about 150m at 2 0'clock.

I decided that both plts were to continue on to the objective, while the 2nd plt would provide flank security against this threat. I then concluded that the plt commanders would have to be near enough each other to work this out, so another two minutes were spent bringing them together to discuss this, as they would have to have done in reality.

What I noticed was that an attack will likely bog down in anthying but perfect conditions unless the co.hq. is "right up there" with his plts. There are so many potential events that will disrupt it's momentum.

The company would have to stay in pretty close contact on a small frontage. Attacks that are seen in loads of scenario set ups, where a company's plts are deployed hundreds of meters apart, or indeed that technique as a playing style, would be incapable of reacting quickly enough to the changing battle.

I did find it quite enjoyable, and would try it again in a tougher set up.

One other thing, my runners had plenty of room to manouvre (woods,hills). I think that on a map with less cover there could be a lot of,

" I'm sorry sir, but none of the runners have got through".

" Oh my God, they're walking into a trap, they'll be wiped out and all we can do is sit and watch".

p.s. I used snipers as it is only one man and he has binos to transmit visual orders over distance.

[ May 08, 2008, 03:33 PM: Message edited by: sonar ]

[undead reindeer cavalry]

a cool idea! i will try this out.