ColinWright
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Joined: 10/13/2005 Status: offline
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quote:
ORIGINAL: feldgrau quote:
ORIGINAL: ColinWright Either way, I would say. Two considerations: is the manpower more or less than the average squad? If they are twelve man squads to start with, for example, you might want to go with the latter of the two alternatives you've mentioned. Then what do you think of the offensive prowess of Swedes? If you think that basically their inner Viking is going to come out as soon as someone shoots at them, why then heavy rifle squads become more appropriate. Maybe tend more towards the rifle/light rifle end of things if you think that they're going to tend to hunker down and wait for orders. Then I think three regular rifle squads and the heavy weapons in separate slots is the best way to do it, as the Swedes rarely will have a chance to attack in this particular scenario, and as almost every man in the army is a conscript without that much battle experience. This also makes the force replacement pool more "realistic" as all squads are the same, which they were in reality, only with a few extra weapons added from the HQ now and then. Thanks for the answer! If anyone else has got anything to add, I'm all ears! /feldgrau You might want to go with light rifle -- just going by the performance of the Dutch in 1940. They were also 'conscripts without much battle experience,' and while they were often able to hold their ground, they usually proved unable to mount much of a counterattack. Of course, here you need to consider that the 'attack' rating as well as the 'defense' rating plays into the outcome of all combats -- regardless of the whether the unit as a whole is attacking or defending. Still, if the Swedes fight more or less like the Dutch did, they're going to be okay at resisting getting pushed out of the way but pretty deficient when it comes to doing much to recover ground once it is lost. A unit with light rifles rather than rifles is going to still be hard to move -- but less able to inflict losses on the enemy. What might also be worth looking at would be the behavior -- and the abilities and disabilities -- of the Norwegians in 1940. Different era and a different enemy, of course, but culturally, you've got about as good a match as you could ask for. It should give some leads as to how Swedish units would respond upon entering combat for the first time. ...in case you haven't already guessed, I'm inclined to weight 'soft' factors at least as heavily as how many MG's there were in each platoon, etc. A squad of raw recruits led by a sergeant who has never actually been under live fire are going to be less able to respond aggressively and effectively in combat than a more experienced formation -- even if the former have an MG 42 and the latter are stuck with a Lewis Gun.
< Message edited by ColinWright -- 8/28/2009 9:39:40 AM >
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