Overegging the pudding? Some further thoughts about Strength Points

After writing about how my proposed method of calculating Strength Points could be applied to a divisional-sized formation, I realised that such a formation was ideal for a division vs. division battle but was just too large for an operational-level battle unless one had a very large grid and a lot of time and patience. Each division had just too many units represented on the tabletop!

For example, a Russian rifle division comprised eight separate elements/units ... and if a player was going to have to command a corps of three such division plus corps assets, they would be handling about thirty units. Trying to keep track of the SPs for that many units during a game would be a mammoth task and would have taken away some of the enjoyment players expect from their wargaming. They are there to wargame, not to be bean counters!

As the optimum number of units players seem to be happy to handle during a wargame is about twelve, I had to have a bit of a re-think. In my enthusiasm, I had fallen into the trap of trying to be too clever ... so I went back to the drawing board. The basic unit now represents regiment/brigade or divisional command & supply units, and these are grouped together to form divisions. These may in turn be grouped together under a corps and/or army command & supply unit.

The command & supply units represent the formation's 'tail', including the headquarters and the formation's own supply organisation. The latter is intended to 'hold' the supplies the formation needs to fight, and will hopefully be replenished during the logistics stage of each day's fighting.

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The rules now read as follows:

• Units represent regiments/brigades or command & supply units.
• Before the battle begins, each unit is allocated a Strength Point (SP) value that is based on its training, equipment, and experience.
• This is calculated by adding (or subtracting) numerical values that represent the differing levels of training, equipment, and experience to the basic unit Strength Point value
• Basic Strength Point value for all units: 2
• The additional numerical values are:
• Equipped with obsolete weaponry: -1
• Poor quality General*: +0
• Poor quality infantry and cavalry: +0
• Average quality General*: +1
• Conscript infantry and cavalry: +1
• Motorised/mechanised: +1
• Good quality General*: +2
• Equipped with light AFVs: +2
• Regular infantry and cavalry: +2
• Artillery (for every 36 guns in the unit): +2
• Exceptional quality General*: +3
• Equipped with medium AFVs: +3
• Elite infantry: +3
• Equipped with heavy AFVs: +4
• Note: No unit's total SP value can exceed 6.
• Note: The starred (*) additions to the basic Strength Point value only apply to command & supply units.

Examples

• A regular Russian rifle division led by an average quality general will include:
• Three rifle regiments (each with 4 SPs [2 + 2 = 4])
• An artillery regiment with 36 guns (with 4 SPs [2 + 2 = 4])
• A command & supply unit (with 3 SPs [2 + 1 = 3])
• It has a total of 19 SPs (4 + 4 + 4 + 4 + 3 = 19) and will reach its Exhaustion Point when it has lost 7 SPs.
• A conscript Russian rifle division led by an exceptional quality general will include:
• Three rifle regiments (each with 3 SPs [2 + 1 = 3])
• An artillery regiment with 36 guns (with 4 SPs [2 + 2 = 4])
• A command & supply unit (with 5 SPs [2 + 3 = 5])
• It has a total of 18 SPs (3 + 3 + 3 + 4 + 5 = 18) and will reach its Exhaustion Point when it has lost 6 SPs.
• A poor-quality Russian rifle division armed with obsolete weapons and led by a poor-quality general will included:
• Three rifle regiments (each with 1 SP [2 - 1 + 0 = 1])
• An artillery regiment with 36 obsolete guns (with 3 SPs [2 - 1 + 2 = 3])
• A command & supply unit (with 2 SPs [2 + 0 = 2])
• It has a total of 8 SPs (1 + 1 + 1 + 3 + 2 = 8) and will reach its Exhaustion Point when it has lost 3 SPs.
• A conscript Hungarian infantry division led by a poor-quality general will include:
• Two infantry regiments (each with 3 SPs [2 + 1 = 3])
• An artillery regiment with 36 obsolete guns (with 3 SPs [2 - 1 + 2 = 3])
• A command & supply unit (with 2 SPs [2 + 0 = 2])
• It has a total of 11 SPs (3 + 3 +3 + 2 = 11) and will reach its Exhaustion Point when it has lost 4 SPs.
• An elite German panzer division led by an exceptional general will include:
• Two panzer regiments equipped with medium AFVs (each with 5 SPs [2 + 3 = 5])
• An elite motorised infantry regiment (with 6 SPs [2 + 1 + 3 = 6])
• A motorised artillery regiment with 36 guns (with 5 SPs [2 + 1 + 2 = 5])
• A motorised command and supply unit (with 6 SPs [2 + 1 + 3 = 6])
• It has a total of 27 SPs (5 + 5+ 6 + 5 + 6 = 27) and will reach its Exhaustion Point when it has lost 9 SPs.