Strength
Overview
A soldier's strength controls how much weight a soldier can carry before being encumbered. Once encumbered, a penalty is applied to the refresh rate of the soldier's Time Unit at the start of the next turn. Strength also controls the throwing distance of objects.
Each point of strength represents a unit of weight that a soldier can carry. A rifle clip for example costs 3 units of strength. These weight values are used in conjunction with the soldier's strength level to determine how far the object can be thrown.
Refer to the section on Item Weights for more information on individual item weights.
Starting Values
New recruits will always begin with a value between 20 and 40.
Improvement
Strength points are awarded at the end of missions any time at least one primary action is performed. Just one action is enough - additional ones do not cause more Strength points to be awarded.
The possible points earned are dependent on your current Strength. At recruit minimum (20 Strength), an average of 6.0 points are earned (range 0 - 12). Thus, while your soldiers may be weak initially, they can usually reach a reasonable level within a few combat missions. Points awarded after missions slope evenly down to where, at cap minus one (69), an average of 1.0 points are earned (range 0 - 2).
Unlike real life, carrying heavy weights throughout a mission has no effect on Strength improvement (sigh). All this does is give you an encumbrance penalty at the start of the next combat turn. Only primary actions cause Strength to increase.
Maximum Caps
A soldier's Strength is capped at 70. It is possible to 'overflow' the cap by one point on the last combat when you reach it. On average, you have a 33% chance of getting capped at 71 instead of 70. Once at 70+, all Strength improvements cease.
See Also
