[RFE] (Stratcon) Incentivize logical construction of Patrol Combat Teams

[HobbitDerrick]

Enhancement Type *

Improvement to Existing Feature

Brief Description of Enhancement *

Request

I am requesting a change to the mechanics of the Patrol Combat Team Role. Instead of simply revealing adjacent hexes when deployed to the Area of Operations, a check would be made to determine the patrol length (how many extra days this patrol will take). I think it's preferable to reveal the adjacent hexes once these extra days have been spent on patrol, but if it simplifies implementation it wouldn't be too bad for hexes to be revealed when the roll is made and then have the Patrol Team "pay off patrol debt".

My feeling is that it would help to modify the check by considering:

• The Patrol Team commander's Strategy skill.
• The cruising/walking MP of the team's slowest element.
• The cruising/walking MP of the team's fastest element.
• Specialized equipment such as Active Probe and the Improved Sensors quirk
• The Administration skill of personnel assigned to Admin/Command

It may be helpful to also apply penalties to the check based on:

• OpFor's experience level
• OpFor's equipment rating

It is important that the player have information about the patrol's status:

1. a pop-up that explains how many days the patrol will take would be justified.
2. If hexes are not revealed until the patrol is completed, a pop-up at this stage may be desirable.

It might look good if these informative pop-ups were framed as communications from the commander of the Patrol Team. In both cases, it's probably best to let the player opt out of future messages by check-box, as with the "nag" messages.

Finally, it may be desirable to have a "critical failure" result that leads to the Patrol being intercepted.

Discussion

The Combat Teams design does a good job of encouraging the player to choose appropriate elements for most roles. Maneuver teams need to be capable and have a degree of mobility, Frontline teams can focus on fighting power, etc. However, Patrol Teams are an unhappy exception. I enjoy the meme of Steiner Scout Lances as much as anyone else - and these shouldn't be banned! - but the simulation should reward logical composition of Patrol teams.

In proposing the relevant factors, I thought that using the Strategy skill would help to differentiate between command specialties - a good Patrol leader isn't necessarily skilled in a battle. It also makes sense that Strategy plays a role in a mission that covers a lot of ground. My suggestion to use the slowest and fastest element MPs instead of the average reflects the importance of having an overall mobile unit (which the slowest element affects) and having a high peak mobility (which the fastest element represents). Admin/Command is called into this calculation because they seem to represent (at least in part) analysts working from the unit's base to improve performance.

Use Cases or Rationale

No response

Attach Files

No response

MekHQ Suite Version *

V0.50.03-SNAPSHOT

Final Verification

• I confirm this request hasn't already been submitted (checked the tracker)
• I've discussed or asked about this enhancement on MegaMek Discord
• I’m opening this on the correct repo (MegaMek, MegaMekLab, or MekHQ)

[IllianiCBT]

This wouldn’t be a good fit, if I’m reading your suggestion correctly. StratCon sectors are so small even a radius 2 scout is a huge impact. We’d likely end up in scenarios where the player deploys once and explores 2/3 of the sector.

[HobbitDerrick]

I've probably explained it badly.

My suggestion is that a Patrol Team's scouting reveals as many hexes as it does now, but that the time spent on deployment varies depending on the makeup of the Patrol Team. (I.e. I'm asking for a change so that a lance of Battlemasters takes longer to reveal the hexes around them than a star of Fire Moths would.)

[IllianiCBT]

Ah I see, that makes a lot more sense. I'll have a think on it.