[raginis]

<<<< NEW RULES >>>>>

I made some rudimentary modifications to the OOB (essentially imported some Western and generic "primitive" weapons, per suggestions, and created new squads that use them). From now on,the Marauder units will receive promotions based on experience, or demotions based on losses. The new rules are:

0. The first rule is that the rule for excessive casualties (resulting in a demotion) is checked before the rule for promotion. The same unit cannot be demoted and then promoted after the same battle.

1. A unit with 60 experience is eligible for promotion to a different type of militia unit - gives access to PPSh-1 submachine guns, molotovs, shotguns, and firebombs - primitive or older weapons.

2. A unit with 70 experience is eligible for promotion to a second-line infantry type unit, which may be equipped with Western weapons, to model the fact that Marauders now have access to a considerable amount of western equipment. Ammo for these weapons is reduced, per the suggestions above.

3. A unit with 80 experience is eligible for promotion to a first-line infantry unit, which again may have Western weapons. It may also be an Iraqi engineer squad, for example. Sufficient Marauders have perished to mines, and sufficient Western engineers have been defeated, such that one or two engineer squads could be fielded.

4. Should any unit reach 90 experience, it can become elite. At this point, it can be promoted to an elite-type Iraqi unit, or a modified unit (with Western Terminator-tier weapons). The Mountain platoon is "grandfathered" into this rule (meaning no demotions of Mountaineers if less than 90 experience), but if any Mountaineer unit is excessively damaged/eliminated, it has to be demoted/start over as a People's Army squad.

5. Any non-heavy-weapon Marauder unit that is lost in battle must start over as a basic People's Army squad, learning the ropes with nothing more than a Mosin or AK-47 and a few grenades. This includes scouts and the Mountain platoon. Snipers start over as mere sharpshooters, and will progress within their own hierarchy, already provided in the basic OOB.

6. Any non-heavy-weapon Marauder unit that loses 50%+ of its complement is reduced in rank by one, to reflect the fact that the Marauders replenish their forces from the available manpower - perhaps there are some Iraqi military stragglers around, but most of the time the only recruits available are completely raw young men. Therefore, a first-line infantry unit cannot simply be "repaired" - it must be replaced with a second-line infantry unit, to reflect an overall loss of experience. Replacing units carries its own in-game decrease of experience, further punishing excessive losses.

6. Heavy weapon units (grenade launchers, HMGs, mortars etc.) can be replaced as normal - loss of experience is a sufficient punishment.

Additionally, I will add some "dead" points to the force. For Battle 09, I've added a company of Republican Guard tanks as support units. After this battle, I will add a permanent force of "dead" points to the core. These units will not participate in the fighting, but will boost the total force points of the Marauders, which in turn should give extra points to AI. I don't want to simply set AI points at some arbitrary figure in the Preferences, because my understanding is that the AI will then get that amount of points for EVERY battle, regardless of its posture. I do want AI strength to vary depending on mission type, and this is my workaround (suggestions welcome).