Steve Jackson Games Forums - View Single Post - Folding Shovel / Entrenching Tool

johndallman · 11-10-2014, 03:10 PM

I think the distinction is between "The unit needs to have enough tools to use its manpower for digging", which has been true since the Romans took to fortifying each nightly camp, and "Each soldier needs to have a digging tool as part of his combat load."

The latter probably dates as a need from the advent of accurate long-range rifle fire, although it may not have been generally implemented until armies learned what machine guns could do a little later.

The former allows the tools to be part of the baggage-train, rather than in the combat load.

11-10-2014, 03:10 PM	#12
johndallman Night Watchman Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Cambridge, UK	Re: Folding Shovel / Entrenching Tool - quality rules and customization? I think the distinction is between "The unit needs to have enough tools to use its manpower for digging", which has been true since the Romans took to fortifying each nightly camp, and "Each soldier needs to have a digging tool as part of his combat load." The latter probably dates as a need from the advent of accurate long-range rifle fire, although it may not have been generally implemented until armies learned what machine guns could do a little later. The former allows the tools to be part of the baggage-train, rather than in the combat load.