Sod talk:
For sods, I said earlier that having different kinds of sod would be best, both to spread the risk of UWM having something that's supereffective against any one thing, and because having options is always nice. After mulling it over, here's what I came up with (note: probably too late to use for this mission, but maybe for future large-scale battles/missions like this):
Light infantry: Genemodded Sods
regular sods, but genemodded by Doc to be al-round better than their UWM counterparts.
Lightly armored, like UMW sods (though their genemods help a bit in their survivability.
Armed with low-tier Armory stuff, with some mid-tier things sprinkled in where necessary (e.g. gauss rifles and metal baton or monorazor)
Have some specialists in a squad, though usually formed into specialist-squads (e.g. sniper squad with modified gauss rifles instead of a sniper for every team).
These form the bulk of out army, and can be used in a variety of roles: backing up assault, garrisoning, maintaining a military presence where needed. They are cheap enough we can afford to station them all around.
Medium infantry: upgraded robobody sods
robobody sods, but with integrated exoskeleton. If possible, the one the Mk.II has (because extra dex bonus, though not sure if this counts without the rocket pods).
Has better armor than previous sods: not full battlesuit plate, but enough to survive a few gauss round impacts or concentrated laser fire, should give at least some protection to mid-tier weapons (so a quick sweep of cutting laser shouldn't cut the trooper in two, but a slow controlled sweep would do significant damage). Exact thickness and cost would be decided after VR testing. The exoskeleton helps with carrying the armor while retaining mobility.
Have an attachment port for either a jump pack (standard option, used most often), Mk.II pods (when more mobility is really necessary, not used standard to cut costs) or special equipment.
Armed with mid-tier Armory stuff, with some high-tier things or special equipment where necessary (e.g. rocket rifles/those sibilus things, kinetic amp as standard)
Also have some specialist squads, but upgraded forms of their genemod counterparts (e.g. robobody sniper squad carries Lesho instead of modified gauss rifle for the genemod sods)
These are focused attackers (as in, are very good at straight combat), there are way less of them than genemod sods (like say, 1 of these for every 5-10 of previous) and are used when we know there'll be heavy combat, or defending really important areas where we know the enemy will attack (or used to counterattack and flank the attackers). The reason I wouldn't make these our standard troopers is because you sometimes just need some boots on the ground, just to project a military presence or light garrisoning. these robosods would be good, but too expensive for such tasks, whereas genemod sods would be perfect (but less reliable in heavy combat).
Elite infantry: synthflesh sods
synthflesh bodies, standard ones
Good armor, but lightweight (maybe a bit Avatar armor to complement innate sythflesh protectiveness)
Armed with high-tier weapons (like coils guns and tesla sabres)
Even less numerous than previous (say 1 of these per 10-20 robobody sods) but almost no cost spared, these are for getting mission-critical objectives or. Pack the meanest punch in a small package.
A reason to do it like this is to have easy to use options: if you just go with genemod sods or standard robobody sods, it'll be unclear when to use which one, whereas now their roles are much clearer: elite sods for sabotage/high risk missions, assault sods for main combat and important objectives, genemod sods for everything else and backing up previous two.
Oh, and for stuff like battlesuit troops, I think it's better to add these to squads when necessary instead of standard, to cut costs and increase flexibility (otherwise you couldn't order a squad into a building without the battlesuit troopers always staying behind and being useless. But if you know what kind of battle to expect, you just add a battlesuit (or other specialized equipment, like gunner bots) to individual squads. Or create a full battlesuit squad, if it's needed).
Example engagement:
We need to take a big city with multiple objectives. First, the synthflesh sods infiltrate and take out critical locations (e.g. generators powering defense grid). Then the robosods attack, with help from armored units and backed-up by genemod sods. The,, once they breach the defensive line, genemod sods squads fan out and flank enemies/take lesser objectives (like communications tower), while the robosods continue the main assault (capturing the command base).
After the battle, the UWM tries to take back its city.
Synthflesh sods guard the main building or stay ready for quick counterattack, robosods defend the places the enemy will most likely attack from, while genemod sods support the above two. Luckily, the genemod sods are cheap/numerous enough to also place some squads all over town, to engage in stalling urban combat should the enemy break though or attack from an unexpected angle.
Specialized equipment (like battlesuits or drone pallets) are issued to either of the different flavor of sod, depending on need.
If we want, this could be the basic template for the whole ARM military.
Opinions?
and @ piecewise: is this doable, or are there game- or background-related reasons this wouldn't work/you wouldn't be ok for this?
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Topic: TINKER: Miya's Hubris (Read 229790 times)