These Infantry rules are designed for use with A Game of Armored Combat scale maps and combat units. The goal is to streamline infantry use in how they take and track damage and deal it back.
When generating infantry for a game, aside from the obligatory skill values, there will be three things required at set-up: Motive Type, Support Weapon Capacity and Type, and Protection Level.
Skills
Each squad still gets assigned a Gunnery and Anti-Mech skill value. Mechanized Squads will require an additional Driving skill assigned to them at the start of the game.
Motive Types
The motive types haven’t changed. They still follow the MP allotments and restrictions shown in Total Warfare. Jump Platoons are still limited to 3 squads. Mechanized Squads still have special defenses against small arms fire.
Support Weapons and Capacity
The important aspect for infantry when combating armored opponents is the support weapon. At the start of a game, when choosing your infantry, each squad will get a number of support weapons based on what title they carry: Suppression, Tactical, Support.
Suppression Infantry are squads that have no anti-armor support weapons, though they may still be carrying one or two support weapons which are great at dealing with other infantry or unarmored units. They have no effect on armored units, but can still damage other infantry squads.
Tactical Infantry are squads with a single anti-armor capable support weapon.
Support Infantry are squads with two anti-armor capable support weapons.
Support Weapon Options
It’s easy enough to leave the support weapon choices to what you find in Total Warfare. However, if you want a wider range of options, look to the Battle Armor Infantry Weapons list in Tech Manual. They have the static damage value you want as well as applicable ranges.
The stock support weapons from Total Warfare function as their counterparts of the same name on Mechs and Tanks and Battle Armor. The Machinegun has the same range bands of 1, 2, and 3 hexes for short, medium, and long ranges, and does two damage against armored units. The Laser Rifle is like a BA Small Laser, with a long range of 3 and doing 3 damage to armored units. An SRM goes out to nine hexes and does 2 damage. An LRM goes out to 21 hexes, has a hefty minimum range, and does only 1 damage.
You get the idea.
Note: I’ve tried looking for what the BA equivalent of a support rifle would be in Tech Manual, but nothing seemed to fit. So, for that one, treat it with the same range band values in TW, but it does 1 point.
When assigning weapons to a squad, it doesn’t have to share the same weapon as other squads in a platoon. Support Squads don’t even have to match weapons, either.
Protection
There’s one more classification label you need to give your infantry: Light, Medium, or Heavy
Light Infantry have only protection against small arms fire. On the armored battlefield, any attacks directed at Light Infantry ignore range band modifiers.
Standard Infantry have armor to protect them from small arms fire and give them some resistance to anti-armor weapon after effects. These guys follow the standard rules described here.
Heavy Infantry have the same armor as Standard Infantry, but they also have something of a trade secret that puts them at the top - light exoskeletons hidden under the armor plate. The weight capacity and support of the exoskeleton allows them to move and accurately fire their weapons at the same time. In the game, Heavy Infantry may move and fire the same turn.