Motorcycle platoons versus rifle platoons

[osiris_slith]

Hi All

In the current game set up a Motorcycle unit repersents 6 motrcycles. That means a motorcycle platoon has a maximum of 12 men assuming 2 men per motorcyle. A regular Rifle platoon with a 6SP which is loaded on to a 6SP truck assuming 10 troops per truck that means 60 troops are represented in 6 SP points in a regular rifle platoon but only 12 in a 6SP motorcyle platoon which at times can be just as hard to kill

A German motorcycle platoon has 12 motorcycles per platoon. please see
Panzer-Aufklärungskompanie (Kraftrad) K.St.N.1112 (gp.) (1.11.1943)

I think the motorcycle platoons might need to be tweaked

Rene

[cw58]

Hi Rene,

Quoting from the unit text file (EF v1.0):

"P01201
This unit represents a standard 1939-43 rifle platoon. It generally consisted of around 50 men armed with rifles, a few submachineguns, one light machinegun per squad, and a 50mm light mortar. For game purposes the platoon is also assumed to have an Anti-Tank rifle attached from its parent company. Unlike other armies, the Germans considered the machinegun - not the rifle - to be the prime infantry weapon, and based all their infantry tactics around it.

P01219
This unit represents a motorcycle platoon. Generally, it was an infantry platoon that had been assigned motorcycles to increase their mobility so that they could keep pace with armor. The goal was to provide an inexpensive form of transportation, as the construction of halftracks was never able to keep up with demand. They were issued a variety of brands, which included the traditional two-wheeled model and sidecars. Often they were part of a reconnaissance company, and worked with other forms of motorized infantry to scout for the main force. Typically, 35-40 men made up a platoon and they were issued around 9-12 motorcycles. They were armed with all types of small arms, which included rifles, grenades and light machineguns."

From the descriptions above, it seems to me that Tiller & Co. considered a rifle platoon and motorcycle platoon as more or less equal in strength and firepower. Whether this is historically accurate or not, I don't know[&:] And I'm not disagreeing with you either, just letting you know that the original designers seemed to think that's the way it should be. Maybe they should be "tweaked".

Currently, I'm experimenting with 4SP motorcycle platoons with 6SP motorcycles. With the motorcycles capable of movement without riders (like horses) and weak attack values as per v1.04. The idea being that part of the motorcycle platoon stays with the motorcycles. This also has the benefit (IMO) of forcing the MC platoon to be used more in a recon role rather than a regular rifle platoon. Again, probably not historically accurate (not meaning the recon part), but so far I like the way it plays. [:)]

Wade

[osiris_slith]

HI Wade

I think thats a brilliant idea[&o]..I think maybe even make it a 3SP but 4SP is good..what about not having the motorcyle platoon dismount at all?

Rene

[cw58]

Yeah, that could work. That's what I like about this game; there's so many different things you can do, different ideas you can try.

Wade

[countblue]

I like to throw in that the average Motorcycleplatoon men had (were supposed to have) more submachineguns instead of the standard rifle compared to regular Infantry platoons. Shorter barrels make them easier to transport.
Keep in mind that a german submachinegun has a much closer fring range (100m at most) than the Infantry rifle Mauser K98(1000m), thus the long range firepower compared to a regular infantry platoon would be a bit reduced.
CB