First, you have to decide how much gear you want your PCs to have. Once you've made that decision, you can figure out how to slant the quantity and quality of starting gear to suit your prefense.
I prefer a "gear-lite" party. In my experience, it makes encounters more suspensful and intense. If a party with a Tankbreaker, three or four LAWs, and a M2 Bradley with TOW IIs encounters a T-72, there's not much suspense. If the party only has small arms and maybe one RPG rocket, it's a much more challenging fight. Also, if the party starts out "gear-lite", winning fights and capturing gear is much more rewarding.
Once you decide whether you want your players well or poorly equiped, you can lower their starting cash and/or prohibit the purchase of certain stuff. When I started my PoV campaign, I allowed players only what they could carry (in terms of personal weapons and equipment) and then gave the group a reduced cash pool with which to purchase party gear. They were then given a menu of HW they could purchase using the pool. They had to debate the merits of each system and come to a consensus as to how the spend the money.
I also often give new players the "either-or" option- i.e. you can have either NVGs OR a radio, but not both. That sort of thing.
It's all about balance.
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