Questions about platoons

[Mgellis]

As I understand it, the size of platoons can vary greatly, but tend to be about 30-50 people. But a lot of the platoons in Command are only 12 or 16 people. Most platoons aren't this small (and I don't think there are many squads or sections that go up to 16 people). And some platoons are larger. I'm sure there was a good reason why so many platoons were set at 12 or 16 people, but I confess I don't know what it is.

What I'm curious about is this...some platoons are clearly set at the historical norm (e.g., 3 or 4 tanks = 1 platoon), so building a company or a battalion isn't that hard. You just use the same number of real units. But what do you do about infantry? Say you're trying to drop a couple of companies of paratroopers into an area where they can dispose of bad guys...do you calculate a company based on the number of people (so you end up with maybe 8-12 "platoons" in your company) or do you build the company according to normal military organization, with about 3-4 platoons in the company (which makes the company only about 40-60 people)? Some other way?

I'm curious how people have handled this issue.

[DWReese]

You are correct, a company usually consists of 3 or 4 platoons, and a platoon usually consists of 3 or 4 squads. The total number of personnel in a platoon is, as you said, about 25-50 people.

You likely already know this, but for the benefit of those who may not, a captain is usually in charge of a company; a lieutenant is usually in charge of a platoon. A sergeant is usually in charge of a squad, with a corporal serving as an alternate squad leader.

I believe that the game made smaller platoons for some units because it is beneficial to split a platoon-sized unit in half, due to damage, etc. It's easy to work with smaller numbers. In fact, for transport, etc., some platoons may consist of too many people to be transported in the a/c or boat.

I actually like how they gave addressed this.

[BDukes]

As I understand it, the size of platoons can vary greatly, but tend to be about 30-50 people. But a lot of the platoons in Command are only 12 or 16 people. Most platoons aren't this small (and I don't think there are many squads or sections that go up to 16 people). And some platoons are larger. I'm sure there was a good reason why so many platoons were set at 12 or 16 people, but I confess I don't know what it is.

What I'm curious about is this...some platoons are clearly set at the historical norm (e.g., 3 or 4 tanks = 1 platoon), so building a company or a battalion isn't that hard. You just use the same number of real units. But what do you do about infantry? Say you're trying to drop a couple of companies of paratroopers into an area where they can dispose of bad guys...do you calculate a company based on the number of people (so you end up with maybe 8-12 "platoons" in your company) or do you build the company according to normal military organization, with about 3-4 platoons in the company (which makes the company only about 40-60 people)? Some other way?

I'm curious how people have handled this issue.

I address what kind of unit/target they are. If they are a facility target and my scope is small I'll use platoons or sections or maybe even single unit ground units. If they are used as markers, I'll use bigger facility units. If I want something in the middle, I pick a facility with a reasonable dispersal radius (distances between mounts) that and add 7.62, 12.7m, inf anti-tank mounts/sections.

[Quixotic1917]

Largely I just design around it.

Ground units in general and the non-mechanized light infantry platoons in particular exist in game for basically two reasons imo: firstly to be dropped onto objective points, and secondly to be shot at. I think of them as a cargo item, not an actual fighting unit in their own right.

When I need light infantry to actually shoot or be shot at, I prefer the “infantry company” facility, (2273) which has a bit more staying power and also organic mortars. Also makes for a bit more of an engaging target in the ground game because the best move is either to rush them with tanks or to shell them from father than they can shell you (just like light infantry in real life.)

If I ever need to actually represent a platoon I use the mechanized/motorized infantry units. They are actually platoon sized and are just as capable of being targets as they are of moving onto on objective area. Can’t say it’s come up very much though aside from some JFEO scenarios.

[SunlitZelkova]

I don't think it matters for two reasons.

First, CMO's gunfire model is geared towards naval artillery duels rather than firefights with rifles and machine guns. I have experimented with the "rifleman" ground units (not facilities) and found it can be pretty silly trying to make them fight in an urban environment at house-to-house kinds of ranges. Some riflemen literally shot off their entire ammo load without hitting anything, despite the position of the unit being exactly clear and right in front of them, in a manner reminiscent of the famous pistol duel in The Naked Gun series of comedy movies. The weapon endgame calculations indicated they were missing by tens of meters even though the targets were only 10-20 meters in front of them, and wind/sea state was 0.

Second, the exact number of personnel doesn't really matter itself. The "infantry/AT section" common across all default platoon facilities only has a single 7.62mm machine gun anyways, making the number of personnel largely irrelevant. This is important because CMO's gunfire model also doesn't do well when firing off large volleys of rounds, slowing down the game even when only a few units are involved.

I also find the exact number of personnel not that important because realistically, a combat unit is going to have a large number of support units moving behind it, meaning it doesn't really matter how many infantry are exactly present onboard an LHA because you have to set aside space for things like signal, engineer, headquarters, medical, supply, and other units anyways.