Conventional Infantry 201: SLDF M960 Light Infantry Platoons

[Fireangel]

SLDF M960 Light Infantry Platoons

Until we have a board for conventional infantry designs, I'm placing this here.

In the 200-series of articles, we'll be constructing hard-number conventional infantry units.

See also Conventional infantry 101.




From Conventional Infantry unit discussion, a SLDF Light Rifle Platoon; the basic foundation of all SLDF formations and the model for all Successor State infantry formations ever since. These platoons will be found in every single SLDF unit and facility anywhere the SLDF has presence.

The foundation of the platoon is the seven-trooper squad, itself built on two fire-and maneuver teams, with the squad's NCO (a Sergeant or Corporal) integrating into one of the two. All troopers, including the NCO, are armed with the Mauser 960 system, with no secondary or support weapons.

A foot, motorized, or (BT) mechanized platoon consists of four squads (although wheeled and mechanized platoons by necessity have fewer rifles per squad, as detailed below).

Jump squads consist of three squads.


Foot Platoons: The baseline, the vast majority of SLDF infantry encountered will be of this type. At times, they are paired with APCs, such as the Ripper VTOL, in order to form mechanized cavalry units, but light infantry platoons are rarely permanently paired in such a manner.

Motorized Platoons: These light patrol/scouting units protect heavier units in the field and patrol the perimeter of SLDF facilities. Well-suited to transport, these light units are often transported as part of divisional maneuvers.

Jump Platoons: Commonly deployed as scouting/pathfinder units ahead of an assault, the generic usefulness of the M960 makes these platoons ideal for a wide variety of situations, as opposed to their more specialized heavy jump platoon counterparts (which are often protected by these light units).

(BT) Mechanized Platoons: Light units of this sort are relatively uncommon in the SLDF, since their most common functions generally rely on heavy platoons of the type, or armed with more specialized equipment. The fact that these units have more substantial transport requirements usually confines them to garrison functions, rather than offensive operations.

Tracked: These platoons are generally paired with field gun or artillery units that use similar motive types. They can also me used to represent said artillery units when they don't have access to their long guns.

Wheeled: Commonly used to patrol in civilian populated areas, light wheeled platoons are used to tow field guns and artillery. They are also used to patrol areas that are larger than what can be comfortably covered by motorized platoons. light wheeled platoons are often used for crowd control when more specialized units are unavailable.

Unlike tracked units, where each of the four vehicles has a mount that can be used by the driver to use his or her weapon while driving, the driver of a wheeled infantry squad vehicle has no weapon besides a simple sidearm for use when not driving. As a consequence, a wheeled infantry squad only has six functioning infantry troopers, with the seventh being considered "part of the vehicle" and thus non-existent as far as the TW rules are concerned.

Hover: M960-armed light hover platoons are rare sights; more often, the M960 is used as a secondary weapon, with lighter weapons being the norm. Still, such platoons are not unknown, being used as recon and patrol assets in regions where hover capabilities are desireable, such as in swampy regions or island chains. Non-specialized hover infantry platoons are rarely deployed as scouts during offensive operations, since the SLDF prefers light hover vehicles, such as the Gabriel, or more specialized platoons, reserving basic infantry functions to hover or VTOL APC-mobile foot infantry.


--Armament--

A plain-vanilla 7-trooper light SLDF squad armed exclusively with Mauser 960s has a damage output of 28 x 0.93 = 26.04, rounded normally to 26. If split into squads, each individual squad has a damage output of 7 x 0.93 = 6.51, rounded normally to 7. Yes, this does mean that when deployed as squads, the overall damage is greater than that of a single-unit 4-squad platoon.

Code: [Select]

Range modifiers are:
(Range category: 2)

0   = -2
1-2 =  0
3-4 = +2
5-6 = +4

Damage per trooper is:

28 troopers: 26
27 troopers: 25
26 troopers: 24
25 troopers: 23
24 troopers: 22
23 troopers: 21
22 troopers: 20
21 troopers: 20
20 troopers: 19
19 troopers: 18
18 troopers: 17
17 troopers: 16
16 troopers: 15
15 troopers: 14
14 troopers: 13
13 troopers: 12
12 troopers: 11
11 troopers: 10
10 troopers: 9
9 troopers: 8
8 troopers: 7
7 troopers: 7
6 troopers: 6
5 troopers: 5
4 troopers: 4
3 troopers: 3
2 troopers: 2
1 trooper: 1

BV 2.0 (TM)(calculated by hand; YMMV):

Foot (28 troopers):                 167
Motorized (28 troopers):            241
Jump (21 troopers):                 183
Mechanized (tracked) (28 troopers): 138
Mechanized (wheeled) (24 troopers): 119
Mechanized (hover) (20 troopers):   131

When equipped with Divisor 2 body armor kits, BV 2.0 is as follows:

Foot (28 troopers):                 189
Motorized (28 troopers):            276
Jump (21 troopers):                 212
Mechanized (tracked) (28 troopers): 174
Mechanized (wheeled) (24 troopers): 149
Mechanized (hover) (20 troopers):   167



[mikecj]

TAG'd

[Daryk]

Are there stats for the original Star League armor kit anywhere?  Given that the ComStar kit (supposedly derived from, but not as good as the original) has a divisor of two, I'd expect the Star League kit to be two as well.

[Liam's Ghost]

It's a one. The armor seems to focus more on gadgets than protection. The helmet is packed with sensor systems, and the cargo jacket incorporates a high capacity satchel battery.

(it can be found in the A Time of War companion)

[Fireangel]

Are there stats for the original Star League armor kit anywhere?  Given that the ComStar kit (supposedly derived from, but not as good as the original) has a divisor of two, I'd expect the Star League kit to be two as well.

It's a one. The armor seems to focus more on gadgets than protection. The helmet is packed with sensor systems, and the cargo jacket incorporates a high capacity satchel battery.

(it can be found in the A Time of War companion)

This.

It may seem odd, but the standard SLDF armor kit has a divisor of 1. I'd imagine that they did have access to heavier armor, but these would be used by heavier (and specialized) infantry types.


I'll add that these light platoons are really scary; a potential 26 points of damage in 2-point clusters is nothing to sneeze at. Heck, a single squad does as much damage as a full-on 28-trooper BMR-era rifle platoon at three times the range!

[Giovanni Blasini]

Your motorized light platoon is what I've been using for my Niops Segway infantry.

This does bring up an interesting question I've been trying to figure out, though, for heavier platoons.  The support particle cannon is a secondary support weapon with a crew of five, and 2 tracked MP - it's basically a 1.8 ton light tracked vehicle (like a tankette or universal carrier) with a crew of 5.

What's weird is that, with a crew of 5, it doesn't fit well in your typical squad, and I'd assume it would drop your platoon's MP down to 2, since that's all it moves, but I can't find anything clearly in the rules that confirm that.  I also can't figure out how they'd actually be organized.  Thoughts?

[Fireangel]

This does bring up an interesting question I've been trying to figure out, though, for heavier platoons.  The support particle cannon is a secondary support weapon with a crew of five, and 2 tracked MP - it's basically a 1.8 ton light tracked vehicle (like a tankette or universal carrier) with a crew of 5.

What's weird is that, with a crew of 5, it doesn't fit well in your typical squad, and I'd assume it would drop your platoon's MP down to 2, since that's all it moves, but I can't find anything clearly in the rules that confirm that.  I also can't figure out how they'd actually be organized.  Thoughts?

It seems to me what whomever wrote the exception rule  for the Support Particle Cannon did not pay much attention to the conventional infantry construction rules.

Let’s look at the weapon:

Support Weapon:

Particle Cannon (Support)*
Tech (Rating): IS/Clan (E)
Class/Type (damage type): Medium/Support (Energy)
Base Range: 3
Damage (each): 1.58
Weight of weapon/ammo (shots): 1,800.0 kg / 25 kg (150)
Crew: 5
* The Support Particle Cannon is considered to be a vehicle in itself, with an effective MP of 2 (Tracked); it may thus only be employed by Motorized/Mechanized (Tracked) infantry platoons.

It can only be used as a secondary (support) weapon by Motorized infantry platoons or Tracked Mechanized infantry platoons.

TechManual pp. 145 states unequivocally that the maximum squad size for a Mechanized (tracked) platoon is 7 troopers, with a maximum of 28 troopers per platoon.

Since each Mechanized (tracked) squad is functionally a single vehicle (Ibid. pp. 155), and since the weapon has a crew requirement of 5; we can safely conclude that a Mechanized (tracked) infantry squad can have only one Support Particle Cannon. Normally, this would allow the squad/platoon to have 3 MP, but the weapon itself dictates an MP of 2; which would make it the exception to the tracked infantry’s movement profile of 3 MP across the board.

Range for the tracked squad/platoon would be dictated by the secondary weapons, which could be problematic, depending on faction and era, since few non-support infantry weapons can match the range of 3 of the Support Particle Cannon (and most of these are faction-specific), and none exceeds this range.

On the other hand, Motorized squads may have up to 10 troopers, meaning that a squad may field up to two Support Particle Cannon. As a heavy squad/platoon (i.e. it has two support weapons per squad), the unit would have 2 MP regardless of the specific rule. The Motorized platoon would also have a range profile of 3, regardless of the range of its primary weapons.

Organization?

By the special nature of the Support Particle Cannon, any faction fielding in a heavy Motorized platoon will have to build the platoon around the weapon, rather than the other way around. This could be acceptable, since in-universe, it would be seen more as a field gun vehicle than as an infantry element. Organization is simple: 1-3 squads composed of two Support Particle Cannon each, with one trooper manning the weapon and the others providing support fire. Larger, non-standard units (like Marian Centuries) would follow the pattern under the oversize platoon rule.

Single-Support Particle Cannon “standard” platoons, whether Mechanized (tracked) or Motorized, can follow more conventional type-and-faction-based organization:

A Mechanized (tracked) or Motorized 5-trooper squad will be a single Support Particle Cannon “vehicle” in which all its crew ride; If the Mechanized squad has 6-7 troopers, the extra two can be easily accommodated on the vehicle, keeping the one-vehicle per Mechanized squad standard. On the other hand, a Motorized single-Support Particle Cannon squad with 6-10 troopers might actually have secondary vehicles to accommodate the additional troopers (and justify its anti-‘mech capability).

The Support Particle Cannon seems particularly well suited for the clans, though. For the clans in particular, I might consider a slight modification to the construction process, if a heavy platoon (point) is desired:

Instead of making the point a single (rules-built) platoon of five single-support weapon 5-trooper squads, make the point as a 20-trooper (rules-built) platoon of two 10-trooper, two Support Particle Cannon squads, and a separate 5-trooper single-squad platoon with a single Support Particle Cannon; in-universe this point would indistinguishable from a five-squad 25-trooper point.


I home this reads as clearly as I think I’m writing it!

[Daryk]

This.

It may seem odd, but the standard SLDF armor kit has a divisor of 1. I'd imagine that they did have access to heavier armor, but these would be used by heavier (and specialized) infantry types.
*snip*

Odd indeed.  Per the stats on page 174, it seems the kit should have a divisor of 2 and be encumbering per the stacking armor rules in AToW (page 188; the fatigues get you to 14, then the cargo jacket should add at least one more since it's on the torso).  It looks to me like the table on page 195 forgot to add in the cargo jacket.  A more elegant solution would have been to make the fatigues 15 and add the cargo jacket's ability to increase carrying capacity.  What I really want to know is how they crammed a 3 kg HC Satchel Battery into a 100 gram jacket.  If these haven't been asked before, I'll post it to the errata thread tonight after work.

[Fireangel]

What I really want to know is how they crammed a 3 kg HC Satchel Battery into a 100 gram jacket.

It's SLDF Lostech Magic^TM  O0

[Daryk]

LOL.. you should sig that...  ;D

More seriously, mitchberthelson posted an errata about the cargo jacket in 2013, though didn't link the issue to the divisor on page 195.  Thinking about it more over the course of the day has led me to modify the more elegant solution outlined above:

1) Incorporate the load bearing capability into the fatigues.
2) Fluff the HC Satchel Battery as removable "Combined Protection and Power (CPP)" plates, similar to the ESAPI plates I was issued when I went to Iraq.  The plates should certainly increase the protection over 15 (i.e., above the threshold for a 2 divisor), but I'm torn as to whether they should be encumbering or not.  On one hand, it could be taken as stacking armor, and should be encumbering on that basis.  On the other, this is SLDF gear, and supposedly superior to the ComStar armor kit.  If ComStar was unable to manufacture the plates, they would logically find another way to increase the protection (perhaps simple ballistic inserts), and we already know they went with an alternate (and less capable) power system for the helmet.

How's that for SLDF Lostech Magic^TM?

[Fireangel]

Actually, I have no problem with an SLDF divisor of 1 and C* having divisor 2 battle rattle; the SLDF was vastly larger and needed to outfit many, many more troopers for a vastly wider variety of roles.

OTOH, C* is a relatively tiny force; pre-Jihad, their troopers needed every force multiplying edge they could get. During the Jihad, it's a combat force (both sides), so even the lightest troopers will wear the best they can get.

Like I said, I don't have a problem with the SLDF's line troops wearing divisor 2 kit. I've some bones to pick with the BV formula for divisor 2 armor... but I think that this is going to make the platoons some of the most BV expensive infantry units this side of the Wobbies!

[Daryk]

That's one of the reasons I suggested doing the extra protection as insert plates.  Everyone would get the same fatigues, but lower tier forces just wouldn't get the plates (much like how things are done now).  They probably wouldn't get the gucci helmet either.  The Star League was known for being fabulously wealthy, so making the extra protection merely a matter of money makes sense.

[Giovanni Blasini]

It seems to me what whomever wrote the exception rule  for the Support Particle Cannon did not pay much attention to the conventional infantry construction rules.

Let’s look at the weapon:

Support Weapon:

Particle Cannon (Support)*
Tech (Rating): IS/Clan (E)
Class/Type (damage type): Medium/Support (Energy)
Base Range: 3
Damage (each): 1.58
Weight of weapon/ammo (shots): 1,800.0 kg / 25 kg (150)
Crew: 5
* The Support Particle Cannon is considered to be a vehicle in itself, with an effective MP of 2 (Tracked); it may thus only be employed by Motorized/Mechanized (Tracked) infantry platoons.

It can only be used as a secondary (support) weapon by Motorized infantry platoons or Tracked Mechanized infantry platoons.

TechManual pp. 145 states unequivocally that the maximum squad size for a Mechanized (tracked) platoon is 7 troopers, with a maximum of 28 troopers per platoon.

Since each Mechanized (tracked) squad is functionally a single vehicle (Ibid. pp. 155), and since the weapon has a crew requirement of 5; we can safely conclude that a Mechanized (tracked) infantry squad can have only one Support Particle Cannon. Normally, this would allow the squad/platoon to have 3 MP, but the weapon itself dictates an MP of 2; which would make it the exception to the tracked infantry’s movement profile of 3 MP across the board.

Range for the tracked squad/platoon would be dictated by the secondary weapons, which could be problematic, depending on faction and era, since few non-support infantry weapons can match the range of 3 of the Support Particle Cannon (and most of these are faction-specific), and none exceeds this range.

On the other hand, Motorized squads may have up to 10 troopers, meaning that a squad may field up to two Support Particle Cannon. As a heavy squad/platoon (i.e. it has two support weapons per squad), the unit would have 2 MP regardless of the specific rule. The Motorized platoon would also have a range profile of 3, regardless of the range of its primary weapons.

Organization?

By the special nature of the Support Particle Cannon, any faction fielding in a heavy Motorized platoon will have to build the platoon around the weapon, rather than the other way around. This could be acceptable, since in-universe, it would be seen more as a field gun vehicle than as an infantry element. Organization is simple: 1-3 squads composed of two Support Particle Cannon each, with one trooper manning the weapon and the others providing support fire. Larger, non-standard units (like Marian Centuries) would follow the pattern under the oversize platoon rule.

Single-Support Particle Cannon “standard” platoons, whether Mechanized (tracked) or Motorized, can follow more conventional type-and-faction-based organization:

A Mechanized (tracked) or Motorized 5-trooper squad will be a single Support Particle Cannon “vehicle” in which all its crew ride; If the Mechanized squad has 6-7 troopers, the extra two can be easily accommodated on the vehicle, keeping the one-vehicle per Mechanized squad standard. On the other hand, a Motorized single-Support Particle Cannon squad with 6-10 troopers might actually have secondary vehicles to accommodate the additional troopers (and justify its anti-‘mech capability).

The Support Particle Cannon seems particularly well suited for the clans, though. For the clans in particular, I might consider a slight modification to the construction process, if a heavy platoon (point) is desired:

Instead of making the point a single (rules-built) platoon of five single-support weapon 5-trooper squads, make the point as a 20-trooper (rules-built) platoon of two 10-trooper, two Support Particle Cannon squads, and a separate 5-trooper single-squad platoon with a single Support Particle Cannon; in-universe this point would indistinguishable from a five-squad 25-trooper point.


I home this reads as clearly as I think I’m writing it!

Ended up giving this a try with a 30-person platoon of three 10-person "squads".  At that point, I figure each fire team has their own vehicle.  Results were...impressive: a full platoon can do 32 points out to 9 hexes.  Planning my own thread for Niops infantry at some point.  Want me to save 'em for that?

[Liam's Ghost]

Ended up giving this a try with a 30-person platoon of three 10-person "squads".  At that point, I figure each fire team has their own vehicle.  Results were...impressive: a full platoon can do 32 points out to 9 hexes.  Planning my own thread for Niops infantry at some point.  Want me to save 'em for that?

Thirty man platoons? Throw on a couple of field Gauss Rifles.  ;D

[Giovanni Blasini]

Thirty man platoons? Throw on a couple of field Gauss Rifles.  ;D

I was debating between those and Thumpers. Artillery is allowed under field guns, right?

If not, you could also do six light AC/5s, with each towed by a support PPC carrier (for DA Niops, not SLDF).

[Fireangel]

Ended up giving this a try with a 30-person platoon of three 10-person "squads".  At that point, I figure each fire team has their own vehicle.  Results were...impressive: a full platoon can do 32 points out to 9 hexes. 

What did you use for primary armament?

Planning my own thread for Niops infantry at some point.  Want me to save 'em for that?

Looking forward to the article! O0

[Giovanni Blasini]

What did you use for primary armament?

Looking forward to the article! O0

Thanks!

Per ten-man squad, I had eight Mauser 960s and two Support PPCs.  For the full 30-trooper platoon, that worked out to (0.93*24)+(1.58*6) = 31.8, which averaged to 1.06 per trooper.  That was what I originally got with MegaMekLab, but I verified it on paper.  Debating giving them 2 divisor armor as heavy infantry on top of that, too.

[Daryk]

Cool... that gets to 10.6, rounded to 11 per squad.  Very nice!

[Liam's Ghost]

I was debating between those and Thumpers. Artillery is allowed under field guns, right?

Field artillery uses separate rules. You only get one artillery piece and you only have one mobility point.

Though with thirty guys you could go all the way to a long tom.

If not, you could also do six light AC/5s, with each towed by a support PPC carrier (for DA Niops, not SLDF).

The Taurian Concordat apparently beat you to that set up. That's basically how the Taurian field gun unit in TRO 3085 is set up, except with autorifles and lighter body armor.

[Giovanni Blasini]

Field artillery uses separate rules. You only get one artillery piece and you only have one mobility point.

Though with thirty guys you could go all the way to a long tom.

The Taurian Concordat apparently beat you to that set up. That's basically how the Taurian field gun unit in TRO 3085 is set up, except with autorifles and lighter body armor.

Taurians get all the fun toys, including their Marine environmental suits.

[Fireangel]

Thanks!

Per ten-man squad, I had eight Mauser 960s and two Support PPCs.  For the full 30-trooper platoon, that worked out to (0.93*24)+(1.58*6) = 31.8, which averaged to 1.06 per trooper.  That was what I originally got with MegaMekLab, but I verified it on paper.  Debating giving them 2 divisor armor as heavy infantry on top of that, too.

Does MegaMekLab calculate BV?

[Giovanni Blasini]

Does MegaMekLab calculate BV?

Yes, and also cost.  It doesn't provide full platoon damage, just average damage per trooper, though.

[Fireangel]

Hm. MegaMekLab needs MegaMek to work, doesn't it?  :-\

[Liam's Ghost]

Hm. MegaMekLab needs MegaMek to work, doesn't it?  :-\

Nope, they can be downloaded independently.

[Fireangel]

I was debating between those and Thumpers. Artillery is allowed under field guns, right?

Field artillery uses separate rules. You only get one artillery piece and you only have one mobility point.

Though with thirty guys you could go all the way to a long tom.

I prefer Thumpers over Long Toms; more ammo per ton (each platoon gets just one ton of ammo) and fewer tonnage issues with bridges. They are also more survivable, remaining active after taking more hits than a Long Tom.


As far as construction goes, the only real difference is what LG said: they have 1 MP regardless of motive type, and the entire platoon can have only one tube. Field guns have full MP and can have as many tubes as they can crew.

That being said, field artillery and field guns fill completely different roles in the battlefield. The key is to determine what you want it for.

[Fireangel]

Did Divisor 2 armor BV by hand (added to OP):


When equipped with Divisor 2 body armor kits, BV 2.0 is as follows:

Foot (28 troopers):                          189
Motorized (28 troopers):                   276
Jump (21 troopers):                         212
Mechanized (tracked) (28 troopers):  174
Mechanized (wheeled) (24 troopers): 149
Mechanized (hover) (20 troopers):     167

[truetanker]

TAGed.

Also

I was debating between those and Thumpers. Artillery is allowed under field guns, right?

Why not TAV-1's? Sure they are Thor-clones, but they were bought in quantities. Plus you can account the use of MORE Mobile PPC support!

TT

[Fireangel]

TAGed.

Also
Why not TAV-1's? Sure they are Thor-clones, but they were bought in quantities. Plus you can account the use of MORE Mobile PPC support!

TT

TAV-1s are combat vehicles. We are talking about conventional, towed, infantry-crewed field artillery.

[truetanker]

So what's stopping you from having BOTH?

 O:-) >:D

TT

[Fireangel]

So what's stopping you from having BOTH?

 O:-) >:D

TT

Nothing, but they fit two different niches and we are discussing infantry here.