....was I the only one reminded of the tontine that Colonel Potter was part of in "Old Soldiers" in M*A*S*H? A lot of the elements seemed to share in common with that episode: Old group of battle survivors, usually affable/good natured CO in bad mood and snapping at people, CO turns out to be the last survivor of a tontine and drinks with his subordinates/new friends. Was this an intentional homage? Or was it just a coincidence? Anyone ever ask Dayton or Kevin about it?
The creators of SCE have made no secret of the fact that Gold was directly based on Colonel Potter, and that M*A*S*H was a major influence on the series as a whole. (My brief for writing Tev when I introduced the character in Aftermath was "Charles Emerson Winchester the Tellarite.") So yeah, I'm sure the tontine reference was intentional.
Everything Christopher said above is accurate. Dayton, Kevin, and I all agreed to do an "Old Soldiers" pastiche when we relaunched Corps of Engineers.