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Game Mechanics for Calling Support?

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DS615:
  I'm looking for opinions on good ways rules handle support for a game, like calling in reinforcements, artillery strikes, air support, air lift for extraction, etc.
  I've got a set of rules I wrote a while ago and I'm quite happy with for game play, but this aspect is lacking.  I've considered "cashing in" VP from previous games, generating points randomly, even a system where support is unlimited.
 
  I was hoping some of you had some good or favorite mechanics for handling such things?

nic-e:
What about a deck of cards with various effect?

or rolling on a table of results with a modifier based on your general/commanders skills? (eg : move your result 1 place up or down the table per value of x skill. ? )

Elbows:
What elements of support are you interested, and how far would you like to take it?  When I think support, I think a few things:

- What's the weather like?  Is the support available, are conditions conducive to its use?
- How accurate is the support and how readily available? (range, amount of artillery/etc. available)
- How long can air support loiter in the area --- are there defenses against it, is the area hostile or does the user have air superiority
- Do the models who want support have radios?  Is the reception good?  Is the support being tasked in other areas, or do you have a steady supply of on demand?
- In a modern conflict is the support allied or domestic --- can you communicate readily with the units providing support?
- How good is the person calling in support?  Is he a dedicate combat controller, or is the unit just a lieutenant pointing out a vague grid?
- If you're playing modern games, what is the RoE --- can the unit call in artillery if the baddies are in a populated town/near a religious building/international border, etc.

If you're calling in reserves, how readily available are they?  Did they get mined or ambushed on the way, etc.  The same line of questions emerges.  I think you can do some really cool tables before the game - determing weather, availability of support, accuracy, number of times you can call it in, etc.  I like to limit who can call it in, so you need officers or radios to do so - perhaps you must have line of sight...or you can blanket an area with less accuracy.

I do tend to enjoy support which is tough to get a hold of, or support which must be called and secretly aimed 1-2 turns in advance (i.e. time to target is lengthy, and the baddies may have moved by the time those rounds hit, etc.).  I do like artillery or mortar support to get better if it's called in several times on the same location (walking rounds in on target).

Lots of cool/fun stuff to consider.

MartinR:
As noted above, artillery and Air support tends to be fairly structured in all Armies since 1914. The likelihood of getting support and rapidity of response depends on the level of tasking (organic, direct support, general support) as well as the C3 procedures, ranging processes etc.

So a pre registered final protective fire from the  battalion mortar platoon will be almost instantaneous (once the call for fire gets through), a request for a battery of Corps 8" guns which isn't pre planned might take a few days once all the relevant authorisations have been obtained...

Most games simulate this sort of thing by throwing dice, although some require message passing up and down the chain of command. It partly  depends what level of game you are doing, how simulationist you want to be and how much in the way of pre planning.

robh:
Warwick Kinrade has an excellent approach in his "Kampfgruppe Normandy" and its successor "Battlegroup XXX" rules.
Artillery and Air are assets that can be purchased like any other troop, different levels of support are possible from regimental up to corps/army level with differing availability and accessibility.

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