Advice sought on Cost Calculator

[Suhiir]

I'd like some opinions/advice.
I've created 3 alternate platoon structures to hopefully allow folks to pick the style of play that best suits them.
But of course the total unit costs vary.

Should I "adjust" the costs of the sub units so that the total cost of each platoon becomes the same (or at least very close) or leave it as is?


Rifle Platoon 142 points, 6 units, 52 men
3 x Rifle Squad 31 points each (14 men, M14 Rifle , BAR(3), M79 GL, Marksman Rifle)
2 x MMG Team 17 points each (4 men, M60 MMG, M16 SAW, Hand Grenade)
1 x AT Team 15 points (2 man, M72 LAW, M16 SAW, Hand Grenade)

Rifle Platoon+ 155 points, 7 units, 56 men
1 x HQ Sec 13 points (4 men, M14 Rifle, Thompson SMG, Pistol, Hand Grenade)
3 x Rifle Squad 31 points each (14 men, M14 Rifle, BAR(3), M79 GL, Marksman Rifle)
2 x MMG Team 17 points each (4 men, M60 MMG, M16 SAW, Hand Grenade)
1 x AT Team 15 points (2 man, M72 LAW, M16 SAW, Hand Grenade)

Rifle Platoon- 127 points, 4 units, 56 men
1 x Support Squad 34 points (14 men, M60 MMG, M60 MMG, M72 LAW, Marksman Rifle)
3 x Rifle Squad 31 points each (14 men, M14 Rifle, BAR(3), M79 GL, Marksman Rifle)

[thatguy96]

I would suggest you just leave it. Let people play test it and see how they feel it works.

Otherwise I'm a bit confused by the weapon options here, with it looking like three generations of arms all together in the same units. Did USMC units really have M14s and BARs and M16s and M60s all at the same time? Did the assistants in machine gun sections have HBAR M16s? I mean, I dunno, but I am curious.

[Suhiir]

The USMC tends to get new gear a year or two after the US Army and converted from M1's to M14's about 1962 and from M14's to M16's about 1969. M14's have never been totally dropped from the TO&E tho and are still in use for some specific applications.

When the USMC finally got the M60 machineguns in about 1967 they were extremely unhappy with them and officially hung on to their BAR's until 1969 and unofficially much longer.

Since the M60 was suppose to replace both the BAR and M1919 MMG they tended to continue to use the BAR at the squad level and converted to the M60 at the platoon/company level.

The M14A1 SAW was also an extremely unpopular piece of gear and they used it only when they had to.

As to the M16's in the MG and AT sections that's just a matter of the unit creation. To simplify things for myself I have the MG units converting from the M1919 to the M60 and from M1's/M2's to M16 at the same time. Since both equipment changes happened within a couple of years of each other.

As it happens the units I selected were for 1967 so yes at that time they had a true mish-mash of weapons.

Heck, we still had M20 3.5" Bazookas in our storerooms in 1984 *chuckles*