New Finnish OOB

[Zipuli]

Koh said:
I must say, this is quite impressive. You've clearly put a lot of work in this and as far as I can tell the formations are way more accurate than in the standard OOB. I was thinking of doing one of these myself so I wouldn't have to change things manually every time I create a scenario for myself to enjoy, but with this I don't have to. Just a few questions and suggestions for the hopefully upcoming new version:

- Special Jaegers are classed as commandos, which is of course accurate, but given how they are also para trained would paratroops be a more appropriate classification? I mean as far as I know, commandos don't get the "less casualties while paradropping" bonus. And the commandos bonus for passing difficult terrain is, from what I've experienced, really not that useful.

- The infantry and jaeger (90, not 05) formations have radios way too often. The only radios they have are the FO radios and a few others in a company. Now I keep seeing radios on individual squads way too often. Is this a balancing issue?

- 95 S 58-61M platoons should actually have four apilas patrols. And speaking of APILAS patrols, the amount of APILAS and KES seem to be reversed. Shouldn't they be carrying 3 APILAS and 6 KES? Again, this seems to be a balancing issue as 6 HEAT seems to be the standard load for anti tank patrols, but wouldn't the KES rounds compensate for this?

- Also on the topic of 95 S 58-61M, I read that you are planning on adding laser range finders for 95 S 58-61Ms. However even if they would be issued those, it would be one per platoon. Both mustis having them would be somewhat wrong. But then again, most of the possible target areas would probably be pre-sighted before the battle so that wouldn't actually be so wrong.

- Infantry and Infantry Bn AT Companies lack their AAMGs. Infantry company has two, AT Company three. Adding them shouldn't upset the balance too much and would also give them some of the much needed close range anti air defence.

And as a final note, I really enjoyed the scenarios you made for this OOB. The terrain and usage of troops was amongst the most realistic ones I've seen in scenarios involving Finland.

And Jaeger Business really, really reminded me an awful lot of an attack excercise we did in the army. My money is on you based this on something you yourself did once.

Looking forward for the next version
- Koh

Thanks, I really have put some time and thought on this one...

-Good point about the specjgrs... I really haven't used them so they had less attention from me
-The makers stated that "radio" is used not only for the radio itself, but also to represent certain leadership attributes... So the current numbers are there to "simulate" good leadership instead of having a radio in your back. In one of the first versions I had realistic radio numbers, but changed when I read about the full meaning of "radio"
-About APILAS -patrols, yes, it's a balancing issue. All finnish infantry RPG -numbers are what I find best balance between "what they really carry" and "what they have with them". I think an example is needed here: An APILAS patrol usually would actually carry 3 APILAS and 3 KES, as more than that quite well immobilizes you. But the rest of the weapons are somewhere close by where you will get them quickly -> in attack they are in the APC/IFV or truck that moves with you, or with the company's supply-platoon (that the game doesn't model) that moves with the company's attack. In prep defence there are the ammo "foxholes" and so on. So a patrol has more ammo ready in few seconds than they actually carry on their backs. I use 6 APILAS and 3 KES as it's the APILAS that is the main weapon and KES would be most likely in the sections rather than the "mules" carrying them APILAS and AT-mines etc.
-About the Musti LRF, it adds a lot to the price of the unit (my current version in development has them) but also makes first-shot hit propability a lot higher - as it should be as those weapons are not (anymore) used in attack but rather in prep defence where ranges are pre-measured either by the weapon crew or the supporting FOs. Also now that Musti is making a come back in the training I suppose LRFs are not out of the question. Anyways they also can be understood more of the defence preparations than physical LRF in hand of the weapon commander...
-True about the AAMGs, I've added and deleted them every now and then because I cannot decide which is the best way, as especially the jaeger formations (org 90-91) do have them, but wether they are installed on the Pasi's or mounts depends on mission, leader, situation etc. -> I will look into this
-"My money is on you based this on something you yourself did once." Money well placed

After a longer pause again, now that v.4.0 is out, I will update the OOB with some stuff, including anything v4.0 has added - I haven't yet installed the newest version... Downloading now.

Zip

PS. I will also take a critical look at the radios, again as I noticed while playing that there is a big change in how the game now plays!