Thanks to Adrian Johnson for his input and insight
The objective of this article is to give a bit of advice to novice Stargrunt II players who would like to set up their first units. The following discussion is aimed at showing basic organizations for your Stargrunt II force.
One aspect to consider is whether you want to have a few tough units, or a larger number of brittle units. Every squad should have at least one support weapon--a SAW, auto-grenade launcher, plasma gun, or similar--so the most efficient squad TO (in game terms) for maximum firepower is 4 riflemen with FP3 weapons, plus the support weapon, for a total of five men. Once this squad starts taking casualties, however, it loses effectiveness quickly. An eight-man squad, by contrast, can operate effectively while under strength, and can also afford to carry around an extra support weapon. Of course, if you are building power armor squads you can discount this by a man or two per squad; if you include MICV drivers and gunners, then add a couple.
If the troops have organic transport, unit sizes will have to take into account the carrying capacity of their vehicles--there is not much point in having nine-man squads if you can only fit eight into the APC. Real squads also have a maximum size based on the number of soldiers a squad leader can control on the battlefield, and a minimum size based on the number of leaders available. Historical squads have ranged in size from three to thirteen soldiers. High quality troops such as SAS usually seem to use smaller units, so my own unofficial rule of thumb is: elites work in 4-5 man teams; regulars have 6-8 men; and greens have 10-12 troops to a squad.
A platoon will normally have three line squads, possibly four, plus the command squad. Putting more line squads into a platoon is unrealistic and also dilutes the value of the commander reactivation actions. When laying out the platoon TO&E, keep in mind the possibility of mixing squad types. Instead of having all units be rifle squads with machine guns, you may want to have an anti-bunker/anti-armor squad or a close-assault squad handy.
The command squad TO will depend on what you want it to do. If you feel the lieutenant's job is to stay out of trouble and direct his troops (transfer actions), then just give the HQ squad the platoon leader, a medic, an electronic warfare tech, and a couple of riflemen or shotgunners as bodyguards. If you envision the Old Man adding extra firepower at the crucial point, then include a SAW and a GMS/L or a single light mortar team; you should also consider making the platoon leader an individual (per the Leaders as Individuals rules at www.StarGrunt.ca) so the heavy weapons can keep firing while the leader transfers his actions elsewhere.
Assuming you are using normal infantry rather than PA, a bare minimum for a single platoon is going to be around 24 figures, with 30-36 more common. You will probably also want a few extras to provide for reinforcements, engineers, snipers, or other mission specialists--and as a start towards getting your second platoon!
Here are two different organizations for basic Stargrunt II platoons. The first is a true "bare bones" formation--it will not be too much fun if you make your platoon smaller or less-equipped than this. The second adds a bit of capability and durability. The first TO assumes that you want to buy the minimal number of figures necessary to have a force for a decent basic game; both assume that you are playing them as "leg" infantry, and not bothering with vehicles.
This gives you a minimal platoon with a command squad and three line rifle squads. Each of the rifle squads has a support weapon, and the platoon has a signaller and a medic so you can test out those rules. This is a basic organization, suitable for a game against other infantry. The unit has no anti-armour capability, but you can add this without purchasing any more figures by "issuing" the troops with two or three IAVRs per squad.
To summarize your figure purchase, you need 24 in total: 1 officer, 4 NCOs, 1 signaller, 1 medic, 3 SAW gunners, and 14 riflemen. The officer, NCOs, signaller and medic could all be regular riflemen that you designate separately in some way, although most of the Stargrunt II miniature lines have at least one NCO figure and many have Signallers and figures carrying something or looking a little different, that you could use for a medic.
This gives you a platoon with a command squad, an anti-tank squad, and three stronger rifle squads. You might try operating the medic and an aide as a separate two-figure team--this makes medics more effective than if they are stationed with the Platoon Commander. This organization requires the purchase of 36 figures instead of 24, but is more tactically flexible, and more interesting to play.
Options: If you do not plan to use vehicles, the weapons squad could use a different weapon, such as auto-grenade launchers or a Rapid Fire Auto Cannon. You could replace one of the rifle squads with an assault squad by changing the other "special weapons" (SAW, GMS/P, PIG) to Flame Throwers (some of the Stargrunt II figure lines--the Islamics, the FSE Legionnaires, and the "Mercenaries"--have "Flamer" carrying figures). You could delete one of the riflemen from the weapons squad and add a sniper