NationStates Jolt Archive

I´ve been thinking about posting tips from RL military, to give the people tips how to add more flavor in their RP´s, so they can write bit more than just numbers. Would there be any need for this? How the average trooper feels and acts, in RL etc.

Regards
Rubberduckistan

Tag. :)

Nireva, I consider that as a yes. I´ll start writing later in the evening. Now off I go. :)

Nireva, I consider that as a yes. I´ll start writing later in the evening. Now off I go. :)

Yeah. It's yes. :p
Anyway. I think I got those pretty well. As I like making storys. :p

Ok, caveat first. This is just attempt to bring realistic flavor to RP´s containing armed conflict, and you can use whatever you wish. That said, lets start by looking the individual soldier, their armanent and equipment, plus basic unit, squad.

Having looked few armies made up in NS, one starts to wonder how the individual soldier can haul that much weaponry, let alone ammo for those.
Realistically basic infantryman carries one assault rifle and 4 or more clips of ammo. He might have attached grenade launcher, or maybe single-shot anti-tank weapon or two. Handguns are not normally used by regular infantry, but
soldiers may bring their own as backup. They usually stick with the standard ammo of the army, since exotic calibers cause problems with ammo supply.

Here is the regular Rubberduckistani Infantry Squad:

Squad leader: Sergeant armed with AK-74M+Nikonov Optics (to ease target
identification during the battle, and thus directing the
fire of the squad.)
Fire Team Alpha: FT Leader: Junior Sergeant with AK-74M+GP30 GL
Firesupport Sniper: Private with SVD
Machinegunner: Private with PKM
Rifleman: Private with AK-74M plus carries 3 belts for
PKM

Fire Team Bravo: FT Leader: Junior Sergeant: AK-74M+GP30 GL
RPG-man: Private: RPG-7V+AK-74M
Rifleman: Private: AK-74M plus carries 4 rounds to RPG
Automatic Rifleman: Private with RPK-74M

Now, that´s just fictional rifle squad, loosely based on real life squads.
Note that heavier weapons need additional soldiers to carry ammunition for them. Machineguns in particular are hungry beasts.
Additional equipment weights up to 25kg, coming from protective vests, inserts to vests, water, food, backpag, additional clothing if operating in difficult climates, etc. Normal soldier does not carry 5 different weapons in the field. Why should he? Need sniping? Platoon or at least company has snipers. Fire support from machineguns? There should be machinegunners in squad, right? Single soldier is not expected to win a war by himself, that´s why there are those units for.

Now, pardon my poor English, that concludes the rant for this day. Tomorrow
a bit from mindset of a soldier. :)

[OOC: Good, good. I would also request your work at a little at the mentality of previous eras of warfare as well in the next section, as we are not exactly Modern Tech.]

Go for it. I'm getting real tired of reading war RPs that end up becoming rehashes of WWI where the powers in question end up building trench lines that stretch for god-knows how long and millions of soldiers end up dying in retarded charges across the no-man's land.

Go for it. I'm getting real tired of reading war RPs that end up becoming rehashes of WWI where the powers in question end up building trench lines that stretch for god-knows how long and millions of soldiers end up dying in retarded charges across the no-man's land.

A WWI style battle can be just as harrowing and entertaining as anything else if it is done correctly. Soldiers in WWI had thoughts and feelings as much as modern soldiers do.

I believe you first should bomb them to hell. After that, a nice little blitzkrieg or a parachute drop in the middle of a bombing. Get them confused, my opinion though...

Here is the regular Rubberduckistani Infantry Squad:

Squad leader: Sergeant armed with AK-74M+Nikonov Optics (to ease target
idetification during the battle, and thus directing the
fire of the squad.)
Fire Team Alpha: FT Leader: Junior Sergeant with AK-74M+GP30 GL
Firesupport Sniper: Private with SVD
Machinegunner: Private with PKM
Rifleman: Private with AK-74M plus carries 3 belts for
PKM

Fire Team Bravo: FT Leader: Junior Sergeant: AK-74M+GP30 GL
RPG-man: Private: RPG-7V+AK-74M
Rifleman: Private: AK-74M plus carries 4 rounds to RPG
Automatic Rifleman: Private with RPK-74M


Interesting... my own infantry units are organized in this manner:

Squad Leader -
Rank: At least Staff Sergeant, usually a 2nd LT or above trained in the Tyrandis Military Academy (think West Point)
Weapon: M-8 carbine in parasniper configuration
Special Equipment: 12x50 binoculars

Fireteam Alpha -

FT Leader -
Rank: At least Sergeant
Weapon: M-8 carbine in standard configuration
Special Equipment: 12x50 binoculars

Rifleman -
Rank: Private-Sergeant
Weapon: M-8 carbine in standard configuration

Grenadier -
Rank: Private-Sergeant
Weapon: M-8 carbine in standard configuration w/ undermounted 40mm grenade launcher

Automatic Rifleman -
Rank: Private-Sergeant
Weapon: M-8 carbine in SAW configuration or a M-240B machinegun

Fireteam Bravo -

[same as FTA]

Fireteam Charlie (sniper team)-

FT Leader -
Rank: At least Sergeant
Weapon: M-8 carbine in parasniper configuration
Special Equipment: 12x50 binoculars

Advanced Marksman -
Rank: Private-Sergeant
Weapon: USN Mk. 12 Mod 0 Special Purpose Rifle
Special Equipment: Ghille Suit

OOC: I would agree with that. Also people generally say that you can't have massive battles with massive numbers of troops. However the Battle of the Marne consisted of over 2,000,000 from three different nations over a 200km front.

EDIT: The agreement was to GE's post which was the latest when I pressed reply.

Nirevan team;

35 men each team.
5 squads
Every squad have 7 men.

1 Medic. [Private-corporal]
1 LAW-soldier. [Private-corporal]
1 Officer [leader] [Sergeant-Lieteunant]
1-2 Machinegunner [Private-corporal]
3-4 basic soldiers. [Private-sergeant]

And my soldiers use L-85's. Usually.
Of course there can be expections.

1x own weapon.
3x extra-ammo. [Expect LAW-soldier has only 2.]
2-3x frags
0-2x smoke grenades.
Plus;
Officer; Binoculars.
Sergeant; Binoculars.

By the way, usually machinegunner carrys own ammo.
And with me, every soldier carrys pistol, if he wants.

@Tyrandis. Yes, that´s just my personal view of the squad. Not all armies even have the squad-level sniper. :) Also, in Duckistani Army the squad Firesupport Sniper fights as part of the squad, and under its protection, acting as poor-mans "smartweapon" for squad leader. But like I said, everyone on his own. I guess your AT-weaponry is distributed "as-needed"
basis?

NE et al. I´ll try to cover the feeling of previous wars also, if at all possible.
:) WWI was real butchery, but it also saw the evolution of warfare in later years, as the need to break the stalemate become more obvious. This including shorter and more suprising artillery barrages. Infiltration tactics aka German Stosstruppen, the original Stormtroopers. Tank warfare. Napoleonic warfare saw rise of mass-mobilization etc.

EDIT: This was for Tyrandis´s post, but I was too slow. Ooops....

Infiltration only worked because the British trenches were undermanned...

Praetonia, so it usually goes. Something works because your opponent does not have something. ;) *British officer rises from the trenches* I say old chap. Would you Jerries stop doing that? As you can see, we are sorely undermanned, so what you do is hardly sporting. If you don´t desist, I must call our tanks to deal with you. *Germans panicking* Nein, nein, panzerkraftwagen...... :D

What Im saying is that infiltration doesnt mean the end of trench warfare. I know it broke through the British lines, but that was due to special circumstances, not anything inherently wrong with the trench system.

Praetonia. Let us not argue about that here, ok? I admit your point. :)

[OOC: EFO is Estimated Field Operation (time spent on the actual battlefield) and ECR is Estimated Casualty Rate (injury/death ratio)]

Standard Infantry Group
1 Dictation Officer
5 Strike Teams
- One Team Leader
- Three Infantryman
- One Field Medic
- One Grenadier
2 Sentry Teams
- One Team Leader
- Two Sentries
- One Field Medic
- One Battle Engineer
41 Men total

Dictation Officer - Command
Rank: Seargant - Lieutenant
EFO: 35%
ECR: 1:10
Equipment: Radio communications unit, rapier, automatic rifle w/bayonet, binoculars, extra ammo
Duty: Relay orders to troops, oversee field operations

Strike Team Leader - Command
Rank: Corporal - Seargant
EFO: 55%
ECR: 1:8
Equipment: Radio communications unit, automatic rifle w/bayonet, binoculars, medical kit, personal pistol
Duty: Lead and command teams on a personal basis

Infantryman - Combat
Rank: Private
EFO: 85%
ECR: 1:4
Equipment: Automatic rifle w/bayonet
Duty: Grunt of the infantry

Field Medic - Support
Rank: Private - Corporal
EFO: 45%
ECR: 1:6
Equipment: Personal pistol, medical kit, extra ammo
Duty: Provide extra support to infantry

Grenadier - Combat
Rank: Corporal
EFO: 85%
ECR: 1:5
Equipment: Machinegun, grenades, extra ammo
Duty: Provide powerful offensive power

Sentry - Support
Rank: Corporal
EFO: 25%
ECR: 1:7
Equipment: Bionculars, long-range rifle, extra ammo, personal pistol
Duty: Provide support from pivotal locations and keep locations under Imperial control

Field Engineer - Support
Rank: Corporal - Seargant
EFO: 15%
ECR: 1:11
Equipment: Personal pistol, machinery tools, repair kits, extra ammo, radio communications unit
Duty: Install and maintain machinery and mounted weapons

In most RL conflicts of the latter age, Infiltration tactics have been paramount, most notably in Korean and Vietnam wars; and in these wars there were not many great "Battles" across one front with many soldiers fighting at once - at least in not in comparison to the world wars. This is, very crudely put(military types can elaborate, perhaps?) because you rarely have an exact fix on the enemys position unless they have a great conventional force of aircraft and armour that radars can pick up, or if you have daring and well-routined scouts who can find them for you.

Thus, you have a decent idea of what land you control, and what land your enemy controls, but there's no real "line" to be held or fought for, rather a great many small groups skirmishing until one side suffers enough in the way of manpower or supplies that they have to withdraw. The larger battles usually occur when a strongpoint, hill or city is in a vital strategic position, and therefore important to hold for both sides. Then the position will be reinforced by those who have it, and besieged or assaulted by those who want it.

Now, this just doesn't work wonders in the NS world because everyone has squillions of troopers, often turning warfare into a bizzarre high-tech version of WW1 where advanced munitions and equipment slaughter personnel in the millions. Not that there's anything wrong with it, but I like the more gritty, personal battle with less troops better.

@Tyrandis. Yes, that´s just my personal view of the squad. Not all armies even have the squad-level sniper. :) Also, in Duckistani Army the squad Firesupport Sniper fights as part of the squad, and under its protection, acting as poor-mans "smartweapon" for squad leader. But like I said, everyone on his own. I guess your AT-weaponry is distributed "as-needed"
basis?


Yup. Since my entire military doctrine is based around light, fast infantry, I generally issue each rifleman an AT-4/MBT LAW to deal with armor. Either that, or I attach a Javelin missile unit to the squad.

Also, for medics, I find that training each individual Soldier in basic medical skills (somewhat like the U.S Army's 91W class) is more effective than using specially-trained medics, simply because if your medic dies, your casualties/injured are screwed beyond all reason.

Todays topic is what drives average soldier. He may be patriotic, and doing his duty to Country, Party, etc. Or he may be in it just for the money, or has no other choice than to serve or die. Common misconception, among those who have not been in the army, is that the soldier craves for battle. That they get their kicks from killing people. There might be psychotic people who do, just as there is among the normal people, but normal veterans, whom I have talked about, don´t go bragging about it. Young and inexperienced troops, who are yet to face their "Babtism by Fire" or even experienced troops who had it easy, can show overconfidence. What normal soldier usually
wants, is the food and warm and dry place to sleep. To quote Terry Prachett:"Professional soldier may think of the battle. But *really* professional soldier thinks about food and place to sleep, since he knows there is no shortage of fighting, but there is a shortage of food and sleep."
And this is true. After the last promotion from squad leader to company sergeant-major, who is in charge of supplying the unit, I found it true. Typical grunt is indeed happy as a hog in a hay, when he gets good warm meal, dry and warm place to sleep, and maybe good chance to wash him/herself. (More of this in "Supplying the units")

So, how to play your green troops in game. Think how they might react to unexpected situation, like counterattack, ambush, suddenly noticing they are surrounded and cut-off. Will they panic, freeze, surrender, or do their leaders rally them and organize the effective action? What is troops morale, what they have been told about enemy, and does the reality contradict with this?
Remember, the troops are not thoughtless robots, who march to their deaths
blindly. Even if you use some other troops to enforce the attack, they might break and run, so your "blocking units" might need to administer some instant field justice. And that might lead to hatred among the regular units against the "politicals."

Ok, enough of that rant. Sleeptime. :)