[MaxWilson]

Okay, Jim. I agree with your and Sector 24's point that 50/50 attacker/defender goes first would not be satisfactory. (I guess you were concentrating on the 50/50 scenario and not on the broader picture.) I still like the idea of squad-level initiative for thematic reasons, but Ironhawk dislikes that for valid reasons and some other people might too. Since I haven't ever actually been bitten by this problem in my SP games, I won't be worrying too much about this in the near future.

I hate the idea of alternating, though. It's neither thematic nor a solution to the current problem--you'll simply scramble to find low-numbered casters and lots of high-numbered chaff casters to pad them with. Look to BattleTech for an example of how those kinds of systems play out; I think it's artificial.

-Max