Squad Leader Archive

I think what a lot of people have wrong with squad leaders is that they are combat professionals. They shouldn't be considered "combat support" personnel because squad leaders are front line soldiers! However, the concept of adding special weapons or special combat actions is misguided. However, since squad leaders are grizzled veterans they should have significant personal combat bonuses. What is missing is that what makes a group of fighters an effective combat force is a squad leader. The squad leader give such large benefits to the group, that the squad leader should be the immediate priority target for an opposing force. These are my proposed changes to the profession:

(1) << split between tactics and leadership>> Defense: Squad leaders should have significant ranged and melee bonuses as other elite professions do.

(2)<<implemented under tactics>> Equipment: Squad leaders in the real world don't have better weapons or equipment. In fact, their weapons are usually the most standard weapons. However, their expertise with their equipment is usually the best. This would be best supported through massive reductions in encumbrance of armor. Applied to weapons, this would include reduced HAM penalties, and increased effective minimum damage for weapons theyare certified in. To reduce the dabblers, require that all level I skills must be learned for better equipment efficiency, and this would increase as the skill tree increases evenly. This would make the best conventional weapon in terms of base weapons stats, the level II weapons of the marksman branch which have high HAM and a very large min damage to max damage range. As a tradeoff, the squad leader would have tomaster marksmanship, master scout, and unarmed combat IV and Field

(3) <<under strategy>>Pre-battle: Much of the squad leaders ability comes in the planning of assaults and defenses. He should be able to designate fields of fire and priority targets. The members of squad should then get bonuses when firing within the field of fire or upon priority targets. The squad leader would only be able to designate targets when he is not being attacked directly. The ability to designate multiple priority targets would come with additional abilities (e.g. one priority fires at novice moving to 5 priority fires at master). The priority fires would be stackable. This would be much more effective than volley fires, and more realistic.

(4) << to be implemented in the leadership tree>> Battlefield Presence: The squad leader is usually up front with his squad. A squad benefits from proximity of the squad leader. Perhaps this be a pool of melee and ranged attacked bonuses. (starting at say +80 accuracy, +40 weapon speed, +20 ranged defense, and +20 melee defensefor novice andfive times that amountfor master). This pool would be distributed evenly among the squad (e.g. a novice squad leader would lead four people with the effectiveness that a master would over a full group). This bonus would only be in effect for as long as the squad leader is conscious. The incapacitation of the squad leader would result in the immediate loss of battlefield presence.Personnel that stray away from the squad leader should also lose this benefit (e.g. effective range ofa circle ofwith a radius of 35m).

(5) << to be implemented under the Mobility tree>> the squad leader should provide defenses against posture changing changing attacks, as well to stunned and dizzy.