Some questions about Falklands

[Wolfgang]

Jumping in here (i got up early lol)

Command Range and Leadership:
Well a platoon leader is usually a Lieutenant or sometimes even a non-commissioned officer like a Sergeant. Those are basically entry level officer ranks and the LT is likely the only who has had formal leadership training in that unit. I don't think a platoon of 20-40 men would feel too inspired if he was issuing commands from a 100 or more meters away (in the rear with the gear). Their leader needs to be up front with his men and women making decisions there. The lack of that presence in their immediate vicinity would impact morale and cohesion. How would a grunt appreciate their leader telling them to say... assault a dug-in enemy position if he's barking that out over a radio from the comfort of his foxhole 200m away? How much faith would they put in their orders if they're not sure their leader is even aware of their immediate situation?

In cinema, numerous examples of this effect on morale, leadership and range can be evidenced.

Unit Status

Generally you will see a unit move through the various states of morale and cohesion as their effectiveness is degraded by enemy fire: Disrupted, then pinned, then demoralized. How fast that happens depends partly on their starting Morale.
In exceptional cases you might see a unit go from Disrupted or good order directly to demoralized. A flamethrower is good at doing that.

In reverse: Demoralized units can 'heal' up to Disrupted or better depending on their situation and often bypass the pinned state in doing so. Maintaining a Pinned status on a unit pretty much requires the active participation of an enemy unit with a LOS to the pinned unit. Disrupted and Demoralized units don't neccessarily really require that active enemy los for them to maintain that status.

For instance:
It's a beautiful sunny morning on the Eastern Front... An average unit fresh from infantry training, advances into open terrain from the safety of their overnight positions in a treeline, a hidden enemy MG suddenly opens fire on them, they immediately drop To Ground, a bit confused, they just lost one of their guys - where's that fire coming from?? Should they continue their advance? Where's their leader? Who else is hurt? They decide to move forward a little bit more, and little more slowly. Then the MG lets loose a 2nd burst on them and another buddy has just been hit, and suddenly they lose cohesion - they are disrupted. Their morale is starting to look a little shaky. Where is that leader of theirs?? Has anyone figured out where the fire is coming from?? Should they continue their advance?? The MG releases a 3rd burst on them and now they are pinned. Stopped cold. They've just lost yet another guy and their LT, fresh out of officer school, is nowhere to be seen... probably still in the treeline a 100m behind them... who knows?? Now what do they do?? If they stick their heads up or move they will get shot. They could stay put where they're at and wait... maybe their leader will show up (if he hasn't been shot) and tell em what to do OR maybe they could turn their backs to the enemy and retreat - which would surely cause them to become demoralized.

They decide to retreat but become totally demoralized in the process. They make it back to that treeline and move further into the woods to escape any chance of being seen by the enemy. 10 minutes later... maybe they've manage to self-rally or their leader has shown up to rally them. They're still a little disrupted and their morale is not quite what it was before, but at least they're capable of moving forward again. Maybe if they rest some more, they will regain their cohesion... on the other hand - maybe they can't quite recover to such a confident state and just move out anyhow, still disrupted but ready to try again.