Austrian OOB, old and new

[Shan]

DRG said:
Don't get "creative" with this. Follow the procedure used in other OOB's and other OOB's do not have ammo trucks in Mech infantry companies OR "command" sections with three men. You might as well just name them "kill me first" and be done with it

If you're building this with the intention of sharing it with a few dozen players by all means build it however you like. However if you are building it with the idea of *maybe* offering it as a candidate for "Official OOB" status where 10,000 people will see and use it then follow the procedures used in the existing OOB .
Don

Thanks Don - we're just starting with this, so that's why I was asking... our intention should be to follow the rules and try to make it an official candidate as a long-term goal - it will be alot of work and that should be useful for everyone of course.

So - Siddhi - what do we do with all the command and XO sections, etc? We'd better only have one company command section (classes as Recce, +3 Exp/Morale?) with more men, as with other OOBs, is that acceptable? The 5-men support sections could be left as they are... but we'd better rename them to avoid misunderstandings - they are only lightly armed and not used for fire support, only supply, right?

For your own scenarios you could modify that anyway if you want a 100% correct force.

[Shan]

Plasmakrab,

we'll have to wait for Siddhi's reply on that, but I'd keep the snipers separate to retain flexibility and just have HQ units with more men but no extra weapons... also, he might be able to tell you more about the sniper taining in the standard Jaeger company, but for infiltration and SF work we have the Jagdkommando units, both active and militia, which will be included later.

[PlasmaKrab]

Thing is, you have 3 mech sections, 3 APCs, 2 gun APCs, 2 command sections (CO & XO), 2 AT teams, 2 snipers...
Total of 14 units, a bit over the top for a platoon.
For now I have modelled it this way:

-Unit 1: "Pzgrenadier Sqd", CO (class 70, 7 men, AUG/sniper/CG/grenade)
-Unit 2: Saurer 4K7FA-GA (class 122, 20mm)
-Unit 3: "Pzgrenadier Sqd", XO (class 70, 7 men, AUG/sniper/CG/grenade)
-Unit 4: Saurer 4K7FA-GA (class 122, 20mm)
-Unit 5: "Pzgrenadier Sqd", combat sec (class 69, 8 men, AUG/LMG/LAW/grenade)
-Unit 6: Saurer 4K7FA (class 25, 12.7mm)
-Unit 7: "Pzgrenadier Sqd", combat sec (class 69, 8 men, AUG/LMG/LAW/grenade)
-Unit 8: Saurer 4K7FA (class 25, 12.7mm)
-Unit 9: "Pzgrenadier Sqd", combat sec (class 69, 8 men, AUG/LMG/LAW/grenade)
-Unit 10: Saurer 4K7FA (class 25, 12.7mm)

As such, there is no place for more separate units, sadly.
And as Don said, 2-3-men command squads will always be priority targets and easier to kill. Merging them with the 4-men CG team gives already more resilience.

[Shan]

PlasmaKrab said:
Thing is, you have 3 mech sections, 3 APCs, 2 gun APCs, 2 command sections (CO & XO), 2 AT teams, 2 snipers...
Total of 14 units, a bit over the top for a platoon.
For now I have modelled it this way:

-Unit 1: "Pzgrenadier Sqd", CO (class 70, 7 men, AUG/sniper/CG/grenade)
-Unit 2: Saurer 4K7FA-GA (class 122, 20mm)
-Unit 3: "Pzgrenadier Sqd", XO (class 70, 7 men, AUG/sniper/CG/grenade)
-Unit 4: Saurer 4K7FA-GA (class 122, 20mm)
-Unit 5: "Pzgrenadier Sqd", combat sec (class 69, 8 men, AUG/LMG/LAW/grenade)
-Unit 6: Saurer 4K7FA (class 25, 12.7mm)
-Unit 7: "Pzgrenadier Sqd", combat sec (class 69, 8 men, AUG/LMG/LAW/grenade)
-Unit 8: Saurer 4K7FA (class 25, 12.7mm)
-Unit 9: "Pzgrenadier Sqd", combat sec (class 69, 8 men, AUG/LMG/LAW/grenade)
-Unit 10: Saurer 4K7FA (class 25, 12.7mm)

As such, there is no place for more separate units, sadly.
And as Don said, 2-3-men command squads will always be priority targets and easier to kill. Merging them with the 4-men CG team gives already more resilience.

You are right, I just modeled the Jaeger company and found that a Jaeger platoon, as Siddhi proposed, would have 12 sections, including the vehicles... 10 is the maximum... we have to reduce that- and given the poor radios, most units would constantly be out of contact,,,

[PlasmaKrab]

You're right, Shan, the Jaeger platoon will be tough.
Two versions can pass as such though: the dismounted platoon (without trucks) and one without CG teams (kind of "Jaeger Plt -AT").
For the motorized version, I'd advise to go about the same way as with the Panzergrenadiere, make an agglomerate command section with 9-10 men and StG/sniper/CG/grenade, and keep a single AT team and a single sniper separate. Leaves room for three trucks.
Now the Pandur platoon is another matter.

Radios is not much of a problem. Command sections are of a separate class that gets high radio rating early on. The average sections are left without much of a chance to get a radio until recent years, and so the platoon must operate within shouting distance (spread over 10 hexes is reasonable for 4 sections), but can operate independently away from HQ.

[narwan]

Just for the record, the common practice in OB's is (or should be) to incorporate platoon and company level snipers into the squads, not as seperate units. That's becasue these function as part of a larger group (the squad) and not as free agents. The russians in their mech platoons for example have a support section that includes a sniper rifle. That's the platoon sniper incorporated into the squad. Seperate sniper units should be used to represent those snipers who operate independently. There is a grey area though, as the russian para-platoons for example have a separate independent sniper.

Narwan

[PlasmaKrab]

The problem with integrating snipers into squads (particularly in the Russian motor rifles) is the number of weapon slots. When you have to deal with a squad with AK-74s, one or two PKs, one RPG-7, the odd RPG-18, at least 2 BG-15 plus hand grenades, you don't want to top that with a sniper rifle or MANPADS.
As far as I'm concerned, I've modeled the Russian BMP/BTR platoon with three identical squads (AK/PK/RPG/grenade) plus a separate sniper and a separate SAM (optional). Notice that standard separate SAM team is 2 men, and that standard snipers are generally highly-trained units not consistent with the Russian doctrine. So both sniper and SAM I've copied into new mech infantry unit classes, both with a crew of 1 and a size of 1 (reduced concealment ability).
I'm not 100% satisfied with it, since both separate 1-man units tend to die a lot.

If you look, the official US OOB uses a similar trick for mech units regarding Dragon/Javelin teams.