How Would You Define 'Distrupted' ?

[Liebchen]

Obviously there is an academic definition for 'disrupted', but how would one look at it in military terms in real life as well as the scope of PzC?

For instance we can all probably agree that in real life and within game, a 'broken' unit has no more will to fight and has lost combat effectiveness due to some combination of lack of leadership, man power, ammo and/or morale.  And in PzC that is evident and mathematically reflected by the reduction of the values of those specific variables.  

It's also evident that a disrupted unit loses some part of it's combat effectiveness but in terms of relating that condition to real life, what exactly does that mean?  Does it mean that vital communications have been cut?  Does it mean that a majority of the men in the unit become temporarily panicked/shocked or fatigued?  Does it mean there is a fundamental logistics issue?  Bottom line what is the real world combat equivalent to 'disrupted' that relates to the game?  

I have a hard time getting my head around it when in PzC you can have an almost full strength unit that becomes disrupted but has no hits on morale and/or fatigue and that is fully supplied.  And the consequences of being disrupted are quite dramatic...  attack values cut in half, no ability to assault or dig in as well as a host of other game mechanics that I don't fully understand just yet.

Please don't misunderstand me... I'm not suggesting that the status of disruption is a fundamental problem for the play-ability of PzC.  But it is a pretty pivotal game mechanic that the tactics and strategies of the game are hinged on.  I just want to understand it more and find a way to relate it to real world combat in order to deepen the immersiveness and appreciation of the game.

Very interested to hear others thoughts on this.

-Mark

Well, if I ever see a '1 Man/D' result, I assume that the CO got hit, or the radioman along with his radio.

I see 'disruption' as a combination of being pinned down, communications break down, loss of psychological momentum to keep at it. NCO gets hit: do the troops keep it together, do they understand what they need to do? Can the next in charge reestablish comms with the LT or HQ?

Injuries can also potentially bog a unit down. They might get involved in tying off stumps and getting the stretchers and stretcher bearers set up for the slog back to the advanced aid station. 

There are all sorts of interpretations for what might cause a unit to lose cohesion and/or focus.