10-06-2018, 06:38 AM | #11 |
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Buffalo, New York
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Re: Utility of a Master Tactician
Why not run a thought experiment? Stat up a samarai unit, and have a go at it with a professional modern military unit. Give the low tech unit a numerical advantage and see what happens. That should be a good test of the GURPS MASS COMBAT rules no?
Question? Skill 24 tactics. Is that modern tactics or TL 5 tactics? |
10-06-2018, 08:35 AM | #12 | |
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Wellington, NZ
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Re: Utility of a Master Tactician
Quote:
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Rupert Boleyn "A pessimist is an optimist with a sense of history." |
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10-06-2018, 08:37 AM | #13 | |
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Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Southeast NC
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Re: Utility of a Master Tactician
Quote:
Add more samurai, and the rules no longer value Tactics much. The commander would need to use Strategy, instead.
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10-06-2018, 09:48 AM | #14 | |
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Lawrence, KS
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Re: Utility of a Master Tactician
Quote:
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10-06-2018, 11:11 AM | #15 |
Join Date: Feb 2016
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Re: Utility of a Master Tactician
Let's put the samurai to the side and compare two equivalent companies of contemporary infantry (the largest group you can reasonably influence with Tactics at TL8, as you can use it through one intermediary). Imagine the impact of one company led by a junior CO with Tactics-12 against one company led by a senior NCO with Tactics-24 (we will assume the captain of the second company understands well enough that his or her job is to push paperwork while their senior NCO gets the job done). What difference could we expect in performance when they are facing each other in combat (either combat exercises or real combat)?
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10-06-2018, 12:52 PM | #16 | |
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Buffalo, New York
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Re: Utility of a Master Tactician
Quote:
That the Samurai would need three other individuals to manage the whole campaign is what makes it interesting. Then the issue of the narrative rests its ugly head. Page 27 of GURPS MASS COMBAT talks about narrative in the form of operations. What are the Sword armed individuals doing and why? What is the objective for both sides? Let's call this a time travel scenario or maybe a dimensional gate issue where one side comes through and finds itself squaring off against a TL disparate foe. 500 TL 5 forces vs 250 TL 8 forces hardly seems fair to the TL 5 team, but that is more or less what the original poster hypothesized. When up against a single element CAS helicopter, plus a platoon of IFVs plus a headquarters element in addition to regular infantry - not to mention these units are night vision equipped units seem to give the more modern unit a lot of edges. With armor, air, 3CI, and fire superiority - don't know if one can treat armor as cavalry bonus as well (doubt it), and the engagement will be heavily weighted in favor of the higher tech unit where the final strategy roll is made. Assuming well trained officers leading the TL 8 unit, that becomes a contest of 14 vs GT's skill of 18. Modified skill however, will start at 26 vs 18 before one even takes on the bonus for troop strength. Assuming average rolls for both commanders, in 30 minutes of battle, per GURPS MASS COMBAT, the battle results based solely upon edges and skill result in 25% casualties for TL 5 elements vs 5% casualties for TL 8 elements. This of course ignores all other aspects as to who has surprise, who has position advantages, etc. Note that I didn't include artillery bonuses on the premise that perhaps a unit of 250 men might not have it. Againg, this related to GURPS MASS COMBAT. As for either of Strategy or Tactics not being TL based seems striking odd. How can a person who has never been exposed to TL 8 doctrines and capabilities predict what a TL 8 commanding officer do if he can't understand what the opposing side is capable of? But, that's a discussion for another time. |
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10-06-2018, 05:13 PM | #17 | |
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: The Land of Enchantment
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Re: Utility of a Master Tactician
Quote:
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I'd need to get a grant and go shoot a thousand goats to figure it out. |
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10-06-2018, 06:11 PM | #18 | ||
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Wellington, NZ
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Re: Utility of a Master Tactician
Quote:
A platoon is a more reasonable unit - the Platoon Officer Commanding orders around squad leader/section commanders, and they order round their men. Even then it's a bit marginal, as squads/sections tend to be split into fire-teams or groups that are ordered as units to ease the workload of the leader/commander, who has the most soldiers directly subordinate to them of any position in the army (and who is a junior NCO or junior Sergeant with only a few years experience). So we're looking at the Platoon OC, usually a Lieutenant's slot, as being the master tactician's place, commanding about 35 people. Quote:
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10-06-2018, 08:21 PM | #19 |
Join Date: Feb 2016
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Re: Utility of a Master Tactician
In my military experience, junior officers told senior NCOs what they wanted done (strategy) and let the senior NCOs figure out how it was done (tactics) while the junior officers buggered off to do paperwork while the enlisted did the work. There is not an O-3 on Earth that knows half as much about tactics as an E-7 unless they came up from the enlisted ranks. Honestly, those were the best officers because they knew to stay out of the way.
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10-07-2018, 12:50 AM | #20 |
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Wellington, NZ
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Re: Utility of a Master Tactician
Interestingly, the Strategy skill gives no guidance as to the scale at which it applies instead of tactics.
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Rupert Boleyn "A pessimist is an optimist with a sense of history." |
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