Alternative promotion and rank system

[steve_m203]

Disclaimer: I understand that the XCOM games are, well, games, and not a reflection of real military organisations.

Ever looked at your roster of soldiers and thought 'I better get my last captain promoted; I only have 9 majors and 11 colonels'? If you play XCOm then, yeah, you probably have. And in the game that would be super, but in any real military it would be top heavy and bat-guano crazy.

Militaries are meant to be a bit pyramidy with one top dog and a couple of trusted seniors, and more and more at each rank as you go down the pyramid. Who is in charge when an op has six colonels? But those promotions are how you get special abilities; this is a game after all.

So what would be another way to ensure your XCOM army lost none of its strength but also had a slightly more realistic structure? Or does a similar game already exist with a more realistic rank and promotion system?

[Amanoob105]

Who is in charge when you have six colonels? The Commandy one!
It seems, modern tech + 20 years of advances + alien tech + The Commandy Ones Special Chair (Legacy DLC for details) = being able to command your troops in real time on the battlefield.

The way I see it is more.
Because this organisation isn't a real military and more of a ragtag group of freedom fighters, what's left of any ex military, militia fighters and (lets be honest here) terrorists the use of ranks is likely more just a way to show who's been serving the longest and as a form of moral booster (also bragging rights for some personal moral boosting) based off of the old worlds military ranking system.
So while it may come with a form of seniority over others, it likely doesn't come with much in the way of the ability to give orders and seems like it's likely just a sign of respect.

[mk11]

There is only ever one person in charge and that is you the Commander. With only a 6-man team there is hardly a command structure. The names of the ranks grate a bit and I suspect you can find something that renames them to suit yourself.

Long war for XCOM 1 included command ranks separate from the skill level. Don't know if there is something similar for XCOM 2.

[Azure]

I think there are mods that change it around, its a cosmetic thing over all

[ElPrezCBF]

As others have said, you're the commander. Since it's just a game, the rank system simply provides an easy way to track your soldiers' skill progress so you know exactly when they max out their skills. Probably the only thing realistic about it is the use of alternative rank names for certain classes like psi soldiers and templars, similar to how armies have generals and their equivalent in the navy would be called admirals instead.

[megansweden]

Long War 2 / LWOTC changes the rank system, Squaddie through a bunch of various Sergeant ranks (I forget which is the highest - Master Seargent?). And then you have separate Officer training that you unlock in the GTS. Officers have various perks and buffs they give to a squad and can give "command" to grant an action point to a soldier. On top of their standard class perks.

[steve_m203]

Sounds like LWOTC has it covered. Might have to try it some time. Thanks!

[Fredericks of Cursewood]

I tend to run 2 officers in a LWotC game. Squads can be up to 14, so most soldiers are squadie up to Master Sergeant.

One is Senior officer and the other is a junior officer who serves in the senior officers absence.