Talk to me about: Field Guns

[Calimehter]

I would be curious to hear an answer to this. If you were only able to pick 1 weapon system for a Field Gun unit (multiple platoons, maybe a company or battalion). Not knowing exactly the circumstances the unit would face, in effect you are basically committing yourself to using that for all predictable future battles, which weapon would you select for your Field Guns?

I guess I'm asking which weapon is the best generalist for a field gun.

I'd probably go with the LAC-5 if I could only pick one gun.  Mostly because it is small enough to be assigned to individual squads when spead-out deployment is called for, and just enough of a hit to make it hard to ignore. 

AC/2 would be a close second, and would probably go to #1 if it was known that there would be a lot of open spaces and long lines of sight . . . but I'm assuming that most infantry assignments would be to invest more built-up areas, and for that the LAC-5 hits the sweet spot for me.

[Gorgon]

I'd probably go with the LAC-5 if I could only pick one gun.  Mostly because it is small enough to be assigned to individual squads when spead-out deployment is called for, and just enough of a hit to make it hard to ignore. 

AC/2 would be a close second, and would probably go to #1 if it was known that there would be a lot of open spaces and long lines of sight . . . but I'm assuming that most infantry assignments would be to invest more built-up areas, and for that the LAC-5 hits the sweet spot for me.

That's actually a really good point I hadn't thought about before. I guess you could adapt the size of squads to match the weight of a standard AC/5, but for bigger guns, it will take two squads (or even the whole platoon) to handle one field gun.

[Alan Grant]

As far as platoon organization, for me it's just a given that the field gun platoon is organized differently than a typical infantry platoon.

I know for infantry construction rules, it's X squads and X members per squad and that determines how many support weapons it can have before there are MP deductions etc. I respect the construction rules to establish what'll be used on tabletop.

But I don't look at a field gun platoon with 3 AC-5s, 8 men each, and think in terms of the typical squads.

Those squads become gun crews/gunners. Some portion of the platoon perhaps becomes a fire direction center/team and some portion becomes the platoon command element/team or whatever your preferred team. Think platoon CO and senior NCO.

So a platoon with 3 AC-5s. It has 3 gun crews, 8 men each, lead by an NCO who is in charge of the handling and firing of the field gun. The remaining 4 men are the platoon CO and senior NCO and maybe 2 specialists with a focus on fire direction-specific communication. And/or they are observers and calling in battle damage assessment data. Akin to forward observations.

But I've even seen some players who like to interpret the gun crew size as including some of that stuff. I know a guy who insists you just don't need that many men to fire these weapons, who would take an 8-man crew like that and conclude you technically only need about half that to work the gun and ammunition, one to command the gun, and the rest are forward observers and fire direction/communication specialist.

I apply similar logic to a field artillery platoon. Some portion of the men are actually operating the field artillery piece, another portion are fire direction center, another portion are command/control.

Whatever your individual interpretation, the point being, I just abandon the 7-man squad principal and come up with something that organizationally fits better with the field gun or artillery piece.

[AlphaMirage]

Depending on how many ammo handlers you have you might actually need that many people. They are shooting ~50Kg of projectile/powder with each shot (for a basic AC/5) that is going to take 3-4 guys to handle, the rest probably run the gun. I agree with Grant though that the spare 4 of an SLDF standard platoon are probably going to be the comms and command guys that make sure everything runs smoothly. Field guns are operating on much less sophisticated platforms than they would with a tank or mech so there is probably more manual interface required that would otherwise be automated.

[Colt Ward]

I'd probably go with the LAC-5 if I could only pick one gun.  Mostly because it is small enough to be assigned to individual squads when spead-out deployment is called for, and just enough of a hit to make it hard to ignore. 

AC/2 would be a close second, and would probably go to #1 if it was known that there would be a lot of open spaces and long lines of sight . . . but I'm assuming that most infantry assignments would be to invest more built-up areas, and for that the LAC-5 hits the sweet spot for me.

I honestly would not break up a FG platoon for a few reasons . . .

#1 the extra ammo bins allow options

#2 by the time you start taking casualties knocking the gun out of service (you need the full crew to fire), you have already drawn down your ammo.  This helps the surviving guns stay in action as attrition just lets you extend your ammo

#3 a platoon's worth of guns is something enemy units will have to take seriously . . . a single 5 point popgun?  I can speed by that position and let my armor soak

[Calimehter]

I get the reasons for wanting to either reconfigure or ignore squad deployment options for a field gun platoon, especially for missions where Mechs or vehicles are the expected enemy (which covers most tabletop games).  The LAC-5 is still a decent choice here, especially as you can put enough into a platoon to force a piloting check.

If I was equipping a platoon without knowing the mission, though, I would still like to keep the option open to spread out into squads.  COIN and garrison duty aren't uncommon infantry assignments, and I would like the ability to cover more ground or support more than one rifle platoon should the need arise.

Maybe it isn't the most important consideration, but it is worth considering if you have to pick one gun type for a wide variety of unknown future missions.