COMBAT TEAM! Or how to break a wargame.

So I am continuing on with playtesting and writing of my "Combat Team!" rules, loosely based off EPIC: Armageddon.  So far, so good.  I had a few questions come up recently that I was able to solve with some reading and some rounds of play.

First - should Armor stands and infantry stands have Rates of Fire (multiple dice) when shooting?
This was solved after literally 2 short engagements.  This is overkill in a BIG way.  Not only could a company of tanks sit back and shoot enemy infantry to death in cover, but the better tank stands annihilated everything in their path.  It wasn't a satisfying result.  

Back to single-shot firing, but the entire unit still fires at once.  Yes, you still get your buckets of dice (actually 5 or 6).

Second - should infantry stands have multiple hits during play?

This is a tough one that I have not resolved yet.  This slows play down somewhat because infantry stands most likely survive a round of close combat and if they are on the losing side, they will break off and withdraw.  That is a realistic result, however.  Most infantry units breaking off an attack do so because of the intensity of the fire, casualties, and will to survive.  Up until this came around, one close combat round was enough to attrit a company or kill enough stands that it was non-mission capable and would most likely fail its morale check after it reached breakpoint.

This 2 hit rule makes infantry very powerful.  Here's an example of play with the 2 hit rule in effect:

I played a short game of Combat Team! this morning with a company of British Paras (5 stands plus a 57mm AT gun) defending a hedge-row line against 2 full strength German SS Companies (10 stands of infantry). (regulars though, not elite).  The German companies, as a result of shrewd British orders, overwatch fire, successive German assaults, and good rolling were almost totally wiped out.  Granted the British were in cover, the Germans were not.  Also the British were on overwatch, the Germans were on Close Assault orders.  But is this a realistic result?  Good military planning says you should have about 3:1 odds in favor of the attacker in a close assault.  

The Germans had no Artillery or heavy weapons with them (besides the "support weapon" dice roll each infantry stand has)

The Germans were able to score hits (using the 2 hit infantry stand rule) on each British stand.  Had this been the "old way" the British stands taking hits would have been eliminated if they failed their cover save.  (4+ for hedgerow)

I am going to reluctantly keep the 2 stand rule for now.  Granted, the "hits" an infantry formation takes have no effect on morale.  Which bugs me but it screws up the numbers.  So only removal of stands counts towards breakpoint, and not "hits."

I also am going to test out a new order - SUPPRESS.  Units can attempt to suppress enemy stands both armor and infantry to soften them up for an assault.  I think this would relieve some pressure on the attacking stands but to suppress a unit, you have to actively shoot at it with the intent of suppressing it.  This is a HUGE departure from most "modern" (20th century and beyond) wargaming rules where suppression is a "result" from a die roll that's "not bad" but not good enough to kill a stand.

I am thinking about SUPPRESS allowing you to shoot like on OVERWATCH or ATTACK BY FIRE where you don't move but you get a +1 to hit modifier to your shooting.  For each hit you score, enemy stands must pass a morale check or they have to sit in place until the end of THEIR next turn.  Suppression has no impact on casualties, breakpoint or morale checks.

Well that's all for now.  Going to have a go with more Germans at that hedgerow and see if I can break those Paras!  Let's hope so - the future of the rules depend on it!