More MC Tactics and Strategies!

[Mowgli]

Their really should be no difference digging in except with or without an engineer.  A Bn digs in, each Co digging in and Bn HQ has spare people to do so, mostly a slit trench, maybe, if they choose to do it.  I've never seen it done.  It's more important to get the essentials running and rely on camouflage to hide.  Anyway, a Co digging is no different than a Bn.  The Co is still digging for the Co, not the Bn.  They are still digging the same area, the change being casualties suffered or not.

Well the problem is that the improved position that has been dug by a company can be taken over and used for full effect by a btn. So a company digs in for a batalion (or for several batalions, in fact, depending on the max. stacking limit).

Also, I guess players would start using recon units (which are typically company-sized only) primarily for preparing positions. Not sure if this would be ideal.

And as it is listed above, a single company of non-engineers has a very high chance (75%) to create improved positions per turn. These would be the type of measures you describe (basic slit trenches, camouflage). Engineers/btn level units start to become more important when it comes to trenches (level 2 fortifications), which is realistic as these represent more sophisticated field works. I suppose that batalions (Warsaw Pact) would have some kind of organic engineer sections with them, so it makes sense that these are capable of creating those more sophisticated fortifications. And if the battalions are split up into companies, as in NATO's case, these engineer units are represented by separate engineer companies. So I don't have a big problem with the "size" of the unit being a factor for dig-in chances. For me, size does not represent actual unit size, but rather the question whether the engineer support can act independently of the btns. For WP (btn-sized units), it is always implicit in the units; for NATO, it's explicit, respresented by separate engineer companies.

Btw. Are you the youtube "Combat Mission" Josey Wales? :)