Question on 2-squad-defense

[reinselc]

I was reading a PBEM AAR and I saw this term used. What exactly does it mean? Having 2 small units in a base on defense is better than 1 big unit?

Thanks for any help. I have just started playing this thing again and want to get good enough to PBEM.

[kilowatts]

Assuming that you're the one defending the 2-squad defense is a BAAAD thing. If you're playing as the Allies you will get a lot of it.

Here's the general picture, I'm sure LST or Capt Harlock will have actual numbers. Basically when resolving ground combat the game looks at the experience and readiness of the participating units. For experience the game generates a random number between 1 and 100. If this number is greater than the units experience then their comabt strength is reduced (Halved?). UNITS WITH LESS THAN 50 EXPERIENCE HAVE TO MAKE THIS CHECK TWICE. If a unit fails both checks then it's strength is likely to be quartered.

This can lead to a situation where the units strength is effectively reduced to zero for all units in the base. In this case the game places a lower limit on the combat strength for the whole base. This minimum value is 2 squads. Even if you don't have combat units in the base at all you get 2 squads.

Many of the early allied units have experience levels of 25, or below. A unit with 25 experience has a 56% chance it will fail both experience checks. A unit with 15 experience has an 72% chance of failing both checks.

HTH

Mike

[Capt. Harlock]

ORIGINAL: reinselc

I was reading a PBEM AAR and I saw this term used. What exactly does it mean? Having 2 small units in a base on defense is better than 1 big unit?

The number of squads and the number of units are two different things. All LCU's are made up of squads of infantrymen (about ten or twelve men) plus guns and Armored Fighting Vehicles (AFV) if available. The smallest LCU in Pacific War (besides special units like engineers) is the battalion, which usually has 30 or more squads. Units that have taken heavy losses will have fewer squads.

As Kilowatts points out above, the game multiplies the number of squads by various factors such as experience, readiness, leader ability, etc. To avoid dividing by zero, the effective number of squads is never reduced below two.

Incidentally, the original docs are mistaken about low experience: it's even worse than quoted in the manual. A unit must have at least 55 experience to be immune from failing the first check, and 72 experience to be immune from the second check. For this reason, units with less than 20 experience are pretty much useless in combat.