Keeping or Changing Rank in T2K

[Legbreaker]

Originally Posted by Targan

Nowhere in the original T2K rules does it say that rank should be ignored or that it should be obeyed.

Not quite true.
I'm sure most of us can remember the narrative during the breakout from Kalisz in which the "crazy artillery captain" wanted their LAV-25 to run shotgun for his ammo train, but "the major had the rank"...

Originally Posted by Targan

I think the feeling would be among both the characters and the players in my campaign that if they ignored rank they would be no better than the maurauders they regularly destroy.

And I wholeheartedly agree with that statement. The vast majority of PCs are combat veterans who've been in the military for a VERY long time. Only a tiny proportion are draftees in my experience - almost all are volunteers and so are much more likely to accept military chain of command even after things begin to fall apart.

For non-draftee or militia PCs to ignore the chain of command is more a reflection on the player than the character in my opinion.