NationStates Jolt Archive

I've done very limited army RPing because of a general lack of comfort with or knowledge of the organising that goes into an army. I'll be the first to admit that my skills with regard to having to organise and plan ground combat are not where I'd like them to be. That's one reason I've decided to RP my army as being inexperienced. I am also somewhat limited in the sense of knowing how to organise an air force, but I've done well enough with aerial combat RPs that I have chosen a slightly different tact with how I portray aerial forces.

While I feel fairly comfortable with naval combat RPing and have written an explanation of a naval carrier task force that surprised an ex-Navy friend of mine when she realised I wrote it as a civilian, I am trying to work on improving my army combat RPing skills. Besides taking part in combat RPs or military exercise RPing, I am also looking toward creating the kind of organisation that will make plausible sense for RPing.

Here's what I've come up with so far when it comes to organising my army. Constructive feedback would be helpful, particularly if you can shed some light on how to implement units of mechanised infantry. Bear in mind it says nothing for mechanised infantry or armoured personnel carriers or logistics personnel like cooks, ambulances, etc. I'm trying to work on those too:

1 section = 10 soldiers, commanded by a Corporal
1 squad = 3 sections, commanded by a Master Sergeant (30 soldiers)
1 platoon = 3 squads, commanded by a Lieutenant(100 soldiers)
1 company = 4 platoons, commanded by a Captain (400 soldiers)
1 battalion = 3 companies, commanded by a Lt. Colonel (1,250 soldiers)
1 brigade/regiment = 4 batallions, commanded by a Major General* (5,000 soldiers)
1 division = 3 brigades, commanded by a Brigadier General* (15,000 soldiers)
1 corps = 3-5 divisions, commanded by a Lt. General* (45,000-75,000 soldiers)
1 army = 2 corps, commanded by a Field Marshall# (90,000-150,000 soldiers)
1 theatre = 2 armies, commanded by a General of the Armies # (180,000-300,000 soldiers)

* The ranks of Brigadier General and Major General are inverted in the Incorporated Sarzonian Army.
# Currently, the highest ranking in-field officer in the ISA is a Lieutenant General.

This is formate I use for my military organisation:
http://www.militarydial.com/army-force-structure.htm

Mechanised infantry is infantry that is outfitted with AFV(armoured fighting vehicles). Mechanised infantry is commonly used to in a similar fashion to horse calvary.
A HUMVEE or Bradley, the more common AFV, can carry about 10 people
Personel carriers carry about 30-40 people, depending on weaponry, but are unarmoured.

These are both usefull for logistics
http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=393153
http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=275828
A cook can deal with about 1 platoon, a medic can deal with a squad

Here's a website that might help:

http://usmilitary.about.com/od/army/l/blchancommand.htm

There's also, at the top of the page, links to Air Force, Navy and Marine Chain of Command/Organization. Its certainly helped me in the past.

However, don't feel tied to the numbers, you'll crack up if you want a bigger military. For instance, you don't have to have your Division numbers between 10,000 and 15,000, you could go for 8000 or even 20,000, if you don't stray too far then this model works quite well, down to the very smallest element.

I find M'soft Excel spreadsheets work fairly well for organization. You set out your manpower numbers first, so in Column's it would go OFFICER____SOLDIERS___OTHERS, 'others' would be cooks, logistics etc.
Then, after 'OTHERS' you could have vehicles or whatever you need.
Rows, down the left hand side of the screen, could be something like:

1st Airborne Division_

and then in the row next to that you could have the number of Brigades in that Divsion so:

1st Airborne Division___3 BRIGADES

or:
OFFICERS____SOLDIERS___OTHERS
1st Airborne Divsion___1st Brigade 500 3000 1500
2nd Brigade 500 3000 1500
3rd Brigade 500 3000 1500

As you can imagine it would be a lot better with Excel, but i hope that gives you some ideas. You see if everything is in excel you can track your deployed units by using different Fonts etc. Its quite practical to use really.

BTW, you might want to replace 'Theatre' with 'Task Force', i suppose it sounds better.

Good luck.

OoC: Sarzonia, I hope you don't mind if I very loosely use your system of ranks, thanks!

OoC: Sarzonia, I hope you don't mind if I very loosely use your system of ranks, thanks!Go right ahead, lol.

I had a thread asking for help with this, and I was offered some great tips. Want me to dig up the link?Yeah, go ahead.

Go right ahead, lol.

OoC: Thanks again!

If you have MSN Sarz feel free to contact me or email me at:

ginrumi1@hotmail.com

I am more than happy to look over it and give you some help with it.

Well you certainly live up to your name.

Sarz I will post my military here but it still needs work though but it should help.

You may want to modify it with a Lieutenent commanding a platoon and a Captian commanding a company. Squad and section are used interchangibly by most armies, and are broken down into fireteams of 3-6 men. But that doesn't really matter. But as you have it, you have an NCO commanding a platoon two and a half times the size of mine =)

In general, I would argue against a pentagonal organization, oir even stating absolutely how many soldiers are in each level of organization. A Rifle battalion will have a very different number of troops than a tank destroyer battalion, or an engineering battalion. The problem with pentagonal command structures (5 subsiduary units under a single commander) is that either each individual unit is going to be too small to do anything, or the whole arrangement will be unweildy and put too much strain on the commander. Also it makes keeping a reserve a little tricky. Most armies use triangular or square formations, because then you can deploy two thirds of your units at the front while you keep one third behind to act as a reserve or exploit breakthroughs. Sometimes a fourth support unit will be added, so an armour regiment might contain three armoured battalions and a support battalion consisting of a logistics company, HQ company, Engineering company, and possibly some artillery or SAMs. Conversly, if you have two line battalions to the regiment, you either need to deploy all troops forward, or keep half back as a reserve... not good. With four line units, you end up with only a quarter of your troops in reserve, which gets a little risky.

At the platoon level, three tanks have been determaned to be the optimum number, though many armies use four tanks per platoon so if one gets knocked out, there will still be three operational.


Mechanized infantry- Every vehicle has a section of, say 10 men. 5 vehciles makes a platoon of 5 vehicles and 50 men. 3 platoons and a command section makes a company of 16 vehicles and 155 men. Three companies, an armoured company, and a command platoon gives you a battalion with 16 AFVs, 45 APCs, 450 infantrymen, 8 command vehicles, and a staff of about 40.

As for logistivs, create a seperate TO for them, and assign, for example, a 120 vehicle company to the mech battalion. If you want to know more about my army structure, which is worked out from the platoon level up to corps, including everything from earthmoving machines to medevac helecopters and mobile field hospitals, IM me.

I would suggest you at Heavy weapon teams for more fire power.

http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=408096

There. I hope it helps...its a bit more organized but it needs work still so...

http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=408096

There. I hope it helps...its a bit more organized but it needs work still so...
You need bridging equipment, earthmoving machines, tank carriers, tankers, mineclearing vehicles, trucks to tow the infantry giuns, more trucks generally, ambulences, field hospitals, command vehicles, ELINT eqiipment, air defence, radar support...


Add a heavy weapions team to the mech battalion I outlined? The infantry in the APCs have an APC to act as heavy weapons, can store ATGMs inside, and have a company of tanks to back them up.

*made major changes to organisation*

I'm somewhere between the number 50 (Anchorman) and number 1 (donald trump)...

Oops!
That's serve me right for having two very different forums opened at once.
I just posted about haircuts on this forum, and pointed out that more then one army is usually called an army group on a random discussion forum thread about haircuts!

I was wondering about what Donald Trump had to do with my army, lol.

I know the designation for more than one army is usually army group, but I've also seen it called theatre and I prefer that title. I've also seen "regiment" used along with brigade, but I use brigade at all times.

Regiment is different from brigade, in that while they are both made up of battalions, battalions in a regiment don't fight as a regiment, whereas battalions in a brigade come from different regiments.
If I remember correctly!
However, you are, of course, free to use any terms you wish.
Cobdenia's army layout is our NSWiki site (link in sig), if you wish to compare!

1 section = 10 soldiers, commanded by a Corporal
1 squad = 3 sections, commanded by a Master Sergeant (30 soldiers)
1 platoon = 3 squads, commanded by a Lieutenant(100 soldiers)
1 company = 4 platoons, commanded by a Captain (400 soldiers)
1 battalion = 3 companies, commanded by a Lt. Colonel (1,250 soldiers)
1 brigade/regiment = 4 batallions, commanded by a Major General* (5,000 soldiers)
1 division = 3 brigades, commanded by a Brigadier General* (15,000 soldiers)
1 corps = 3-5 divisions, commanded by a Lt. General* (45,000-75,000 soldiers)
1 army = 2 corps, commanded by a Field Marshall# (90,000-150,000 soldiers)
1 theatre = 2 armies, commanded by a General of the Armies # (180,000-300,000 soldiers)

* The ranks of Brigadier General and Major General are inverted in the Incorporated Sarzonian Army.
# Currently, the highest ranking in-field officer in the ISA is a Lieutenant General.

Three points:
1 What of all the combat support and service units you need?
2 Platoons rarely exceed 50.
3 Brigadier Generals are generally named such because they command brigades. Of course quirks like that make your military uniquily yours, but an explanation of the reversal would be usefula and interesting. :D

Here:s another good site:

http://globalsecurity.org/military/agency/army/intro.htm

This is quite good, although it's a bit British and a bit WWII...
British Divisional Organisation (http://www.stormpages.com/garyjkennedy/British/british_divisional_organisations.htm)

Three points:
1 What of all the combat support and service units you need?
2 Platoons rarely exceed 50.
3 Brigadier Generals are generally named such because they command brigades. Of course quirks like that make your military uniquily yours, but an explanation of the reversal would be usefula and interesting. :DThat was just a list of pure combat troops. Support wasn't included, but will be in the final numbers.

I'll probably revert to normal rankings once I complete my army's reforms. :D

When actually organizing your armies - troop numbers, commanding officers, vehicles and equipment - you typically don't want to go below a Regimental or Battalion size. Otherwise, things become terribly time consuming (plus things don't typically varry between the smaller units as much).

Other than that, Daistallia 2104 mentioned the quirks that I saw. Also, squads should probably be shrunk down a bit (I use squads of 11 because I'm unique.) Squads of 30 though are quite large.

On a final note, you can use attached "regiments," "battalions," or "companies" to ease things ou a bit when it come to air-defense and supply units. I mean, do you really need to designate a specific SAM or truck to a specific platoon, seeing as they will be operating ahead of the moveable range of that unit/equipment?

Anyway, good to see people trying to organize better. Lord knows I need to do some work, but at least I have things broken down a little bit.

I probably won't break it down into that much detail after I complete my final organisation that I'm going to be happy with or simply live with in RPs, but I still wanted to get the parameters knocked down before I went too deeply into ground combat RPing.

I'll probably do an updated military with my standardised MBT, IFV, APC, etc. and my rifle once I get the specs written up. I've already decided which of my aircraft to use as standard bearers for my air force, and my navy's pretty much set.

Section and squad are analogous terms. Squad is American, whereas section is British/Commonwealth.

In my army:
Infantry
Fireteam = 2 soldiers
Fire group = 2 fireteams, directed by a lance corporal (4 soldiers total)
Section = 2 fire groups, led by a corporal (9-10 men)
Platoon = 3 sections, 1 weapons detail, commanded by a lieutenant, led by a sergeant (up to about 40 men)
Company = 3 platoons, 1 heavy weapons platoon, CO is a major, DCO is a captain, top NCO is a company sergeant-major or colour sergeant (staff sergeant) (up to about 150 men, maybe more)
Battalion = 3 rifle companies, other units; CO is a lieutenant colonel, DCO is a major, top NCO is a warrant officer (600-1,000 men, the later figure for a "battle group")
Brigade = 3 rifle battalions, 1 armoured battalion, other units; CO is a brigadier general, DCO is a colonel (about 4,000-6,000 men [with full battalions])
Division = 3 brigades; CO is a major-general (15,000-20,000 men, possibly more)
Corps = 2 or more divisions (up to 5 divisions if necessary, but normal cap is at four); CO is a lieutenant-general (100,000 men approximately)
Army = 2 or more corps; CO is a general
Army Group = 2 or more armies; CO is a field marshal or general
Front or Military District = 2 or more army groups; CO is a field marshal

Artillery
Battery = 3-6 pieces (rocket artillery, field guns, or self-propelled)
Battalion/Regiment = 12-24 pieces (3-4 batteries)
Brigade = 3-4 battalions/regiments

Armour
Troop/Platoon = 2-4 vehicles
Squadron/Company = 3-4 troops/platoons
Regiment/Battalion = 2+ squadrons/companies
Brigade = 3 armoured regiments/battalions, 1 infantry battalion
Division = 3 armoured brigades, 1 infantry brigade

For my Republican army(Which is soon to be the Army of the Confederate Republic of Inkana), I use the following:

Squad: 4-5 Men, commanded by a Corporal
Section: Two Squads, commanded by a Lance Corporal(9-10 men)
Platoon: Two Squads, One Heavy Section Commanded by a Lieutenant(about 30 men)
Company: Three Platoons, One Heavy Weapons Platoon, Commanded by a Captain(About 350 men)
Battalion: Three Companies, commanded by a Major(about 700 Men)
Regiment: Two Battalions, commanded by either a Colonel, or Lieutenant-Colonel(About 1500 men)
Division: 10 Regiments, Commanded by either a Lance or Grenadier General(about 15,000 men)
Corps: Three or more Divisions, commanded by a Lance Marshall(30,000-50,000 men)
Army: Two or more Corps, commanded by a Field Marshall(50,00-200,000 men)
Army Group:Two or more Armies, Commanded by a GeneralFeldMarshall(200,000-1 million men,)

My Army/Marine Military Organization:

Infantry:

Fireteam: 5 men, Commanded by a Corporal
Squad: 10 men Commanded by a Squad Sergeant
Platoon: 5 squads Commanded by a Platoon Sergeant (50)
Company: 2 platoons Commanded by a Lieutenant (100)
Battalion: 5 Companies, Commanded by a Major (500)
Regiment: 2 Battalions, Commanded by a Colonel (1000)
Brigade: 5 Regiments, Commanded by a Brigadier General (5000)
Division: 3 Reigiments, Commanded by a Lieutenant General (15000)
Army: 5 Divisions (75000) Commanded by a General
Army Group: 5 Armies (375,000) Commanded by a Major General

Armor:
Armored Squad: 2 Vehicles, Commanded by a Squad Sergeant
Armored Platoon: 10 Vehicles, Commanded by an Armored Platoon Sergeant
Armored Company: 50 Vehicles, Commanded by an Armored Lieutenant
Armored Battalion: 300 Vehicles Commanded by an Armored Colonel
Armored Regiment: 1500 Vehicles, Commanded by a Tank Brigadier General
Armored Division: 3000 Vehicles, Commanded by a Tank General
Tank Army: 15000 Vehicles, Commanded by a Tank Major General
Tank Army Group: 75,000 Vehicles, Commanded by a Tank Marshal.

Artillery:
Artillery Battery: 5 Pieces, Commanded by an Artillery Sergeant
Artillery Platoon: 25 Pieces, Commanded by an Artillery Lieutenant
Artillery Company: 50 Pieces, Commanded by an Artillery Major
Artillery Battalion: 200 Pieces, Commanded by an Artillery Colonel
Artillery Regiment: 400 Pieces, Commanded by an Artillery Brigadier General
Artillery Division: 800 Pieces, Commanded by an Artillery General.
Artillery Army: 4000 Pieces, Commanded by an Artillery Major General.
Artillery Army Group: 20,000 Pieces, Commanded by an Artillery Marshal.

Section and squad are analogous terms. Squad is American, whereas section is British/Commonwealth.

In my army:
Infantry
Fireteam = 2 soldiers
Fire group = 2 fireteams, directed by a lance corporal (4 soldiers total)
Section = 2 fire groups, led by a corporal (9-10 men)
Platoon = 3 sections, 1 weapons detail, commanded by a lieutenant, led by a sergeant (up to about 40 men)
Company = 3 platoons, 1 heavy weapons platoon, CO is a major, DCO is a captain, top NCO is a company sergeant-major or colour sergeant (staff sergeant) (up to about 150 men, maybe more)
Battalion = 3 rifle companies, other units; CO is a lieutenant colonel, DCO is a major, top NCO is a warrant officer (600-1,000 men, the later figure for a "battle group")
Brigade = 3 rifle battalions, 1 armoured battalion, other units; CO is a brigadier general, DCO is a colonel (about 4,000-6,000 men [with full battalions])
Division = 3 brigades; CO is a major-general (15,000-20,000 men, possibly more)
Corps = 2 or more divisions (up to 5 divisions if necessary, but normal cap is at four); CO is a lieutenant-general (100,000 men approximately)
Army = 2 or more corps; CO is a general
Army Group = 2 or more armies; CO is a field marshal or general
Front or Military District = 2 or more army groups; CO is a field marshal

Artillery
Battery = 3-6 pieces (rocket artillery, field guns, or self-propelled)
Battalion/Regiment = 12-24 pieces (3-4 batteries)
Brigade = 3-4 battalions/regiments

Armour
Troop/Platoon = 2-4 vehicles
Squadron/Company = 3-4 troops/platoons
Regiment/Battalion = 2+ squadrons/companies
Brigade = 3 armoured regiments/battalions, 1 infantry battalion
Division = 3 armoured brigades, 1 infantry brigadeCan I "borrow" this organisation?

and propose a combat exercise RP?

Sorry to spam your thread, Sarzonia, but I may do the same after this whole fiasco with my invasion - which I have only hinted at, but whatever, is over. At the least, I'm going to use your model as a basis for revisions of mine, Isselmere.

OOC: Hmm, quite interesting, might as well list my personal preference:

Standard Army Infantry Organization:

Fireteam: 4 soldiers (typically one leader, one rifleman, one grenadier, and one automatic rifleman/machine gunner)
Squad: 13 soldiers (with one squad leader) or 7-9 if mechanized
Platoon: 4 squads with GPMG, light mortar, sniper/advanced marksman, and rocket support, or 4 tanks
Company: 3-4 platoons with HMG, anti-aircraft, medium mortar, ELINT (ELectric INTelligence), and ATGM support, or 18 tanks
Battalion: 3 companies with one headquarters company, or 58 tanks
Brigade: 3 battalions (mechanized brigade consists of 2 infantry battalions and 1 armour battalion; reverse for armoured brigade)
Division: 3 brigades (or 2 in the case of light infantry; mechanized infantry division consists of two mechanized brigades and one armour brigade; reverse for armoured division)
Corps: 4-6 divisions with 1 cavalry regiment (generally half armoured, half mechanized infantry)
Group Army: 2-4 corps (cross between Army and Army Group)
Army Group: 3-4 corps

On the brigade level, artillery and army aviation support is also common, while combat support and support (such as engineers and logistics/transportation) are most common on the division level. On the corps and army levels, there are also other additions such as artillery, anti-aircaft artillery/air defence brigades, and support/logistics elements.

Bloody hell, I'll follow the crowd and post my organization. I tried to have a more concrete setup for each division type (currently there are only two, Infantry and Armored), but leave higher organization in a more open format. You'll see.

**Also, note: These are entirely my creation. I used no website to help in the development of a Novikovian Division. I'm proud of that, even if they do suck.

Infantry Division
(Combat Strength: 11.000 men, 156 guns, and 80 armored vehicles)

1 Division = 3 Regiments & 1 Supporting Battalion
1 Regiment = 3 Battalions
1 Battalion = 5 Companies
1 Company = 4 Platoons
1 Platoon = 5 Squads
1 Squad = 11 Combat Soldiers

In each squad, men are armed with the HK G36 Assault Rifle or Uzi 9mm SMG as a primary weapon, depending on their secondary load, a Glock 9mm as a sidearm, and a specialized secondary weapon. The only man not carrying one of these weapons is the machinegunner, who's sole responsability is the PKM machinegun. The Uzi is carried by almost half of each squad because of it's light weight, allowing those squadmembers to utilize heavier weapons such as the squad mortar and AT-4. These specialized weapons distributed throughout each squad are as follows:

1 PKM Heavy Machinegun
1 RPG-7 Light Anti-Tank Weapon
1 SA-7 Man-Portable SAM
1 AT-4 Heavy Anti-Tank Weapon (Barrel and Tripod are distributed between two men)
1 51mm Mortar (Fireing Base and Tube are distributed between two men)

All other men in the squad, those not carrying special weapons, carry additional ammunition for their squadmembers.

Artilery is attached at a battalion level, with 1 batteries (12 guns each) going to each battalion and an aditional 1 battery attached to each regiment. These artilery pieces are deployed on the regimental/battalion commander's orders, though they are sometimes made available at lower levels, typically in extreme cases.

Additionally, one under-strength squadron of tanks is attached to each battalion, with 5 PT-76s or SPW-05s and 3 Type-80s or Type-03s each.

Finally, air defense is attached to each division on a divisional level, with 150 SA-13s and 200 SA-11s, as well as 100 88mm Anti-Aircraft Artilery Pieces, 100 40mm Mobile Flak Batteies, and 100 20mm Mobile Flak Batteries, giving a good level of defense, particularly against low-level attack aircraft.

Armoured Divisions:
(Combat Strength: 5.720 men, 204 guns and 318 armored vehicles.)

1 Division = 2 Regiments & 1 Infantry Regiment & Divisional Reserve
1 Regiment = 2 Battalions & 2 Mixed Companies
1 Battalion = 5 Mixed Companies
1 Mixed Company = 2 Infantry Platoons & 1 Armoured Squadron
1 Infantry Platoon = 5 Squads
1 Squad = 11 men
1 Armoured Squadron = 11 Armored Vehicles

Armor is attached on a company level, with each armored group supported by 110 infantrymen deployed in the standard squad formation. An additional reserve of of 30 armored vehicles is attached to the full division. Finally, a standard infantry regiment (see Infantry Division layout), is attached for additional infantry reserves.

Artilery is attached with 2 batteries linked to each Battalion, another battery attached to each Regiment, and another three batteries attached on a divisional level.

Air defense is attached just like it is for each infantry division.

Combat Armies

Combat armies are formed when multiple divisions - generally five or more - are joined together under a theater command. Theater commands are established before troops are deployed to any combat theater, and those command units are structured from a pool of senior officers in the military. There has never been the need for a perminant orginization larger than a Division because Novikovian troops will never be forced to enter combat wihtout due warning, unless fighting on their home soil, in which case theater command will be provided by the C.-in-C. of Novikov's Military.

When established, these Theater (Army) commands are capable of forming corps commands in order to alleviate strain on the theater command structure, but this is rare.

---

Yes, like I said, it's terrible.

Can I "borrow" this organisation?

and propose a combat exercise RP?
Certainly. Most of it is derived from either the US Army or British and Commonwealth armies. The British tend to put majors in charge of companies as they have greater experience and would, therefore, have a better idea of where to use the more potent weapons available to a company commander.

As for a combat exercise RP, I'd love to, but unfortunately (*curses loudly and frequently at the amount of work facing me*) I've two storefronts to revitalise (including posting "ready made (ground) units"), a couple of very large pieces I have to write (which I foolishly believe I'll finish by the end of this week - ha!), and need to provide Inkana with a proper reply on his civil war RP, so I'll have to beg off for now. Hopefully, I will have some time soon for a exercise. I'm certain it would be great fun.

OOC: Interesting, though I think that there are still some noticable flaws, as you simply don't need many of the things listed on a squad level where small unit tactics are more common. The only thing your men will need will be probably a rifle (or a rifle with a grenade launcher for grenadiers, and a SAW for the automatic rifleman), and while SMGs are nice weapons, they are still speciality weapons - meaning that you still don't often see them except in special situations. Using a sidearm also complicates logistics, as you'll increase the types of ammunition to two, though pretty much there's no point in getting a sidearm as all it does is take up the space that should be taken by extra rifle ammo and supplies.

As well, in regards to heavy weapons, though I have seen some incorporating rockets at the squad level (which I don't object and sometimes practices it myself), incorporating heavy weapons such as heavy machine guns and anti-tank munitions are virtually pointless considering the squad's role and the fact that you simply don't need that much firepower, and that such weapons tends to be used at the platoon level. In addition, things like ehavy machine guns, MANPADS, and mortars are crew-served weapons, which means that you got more than one man manning the weapon (for the machine gun, for example, it varies between 2-3, with only one being the actual gunner, while the rest carries things such as ammunition, spare parts, etc.)

As well, in regards to air defence, your best bet is the use of anti-aircraft missiles, as using a large amount of anti-aircraft guns and MANPADS with absolutely no medium-range air defence means that while you got a good low-altitude coverage, at medium to high altitudes your divisions will be doomed by the use of jet aircraft at these altitudes. As well, heavy anti-aircraft guns such as the 88mm are much less effective against faster targets such as jet aircraft, which is also why large nations IRL (UUSR and USA are the primary examples) gradually replaced the heavy anti-aircraft guns of their medium-to-high altitude air defences with missiles in the 50s and 60s.

Another thing to consider about division-level air defence is your doctrine, as to how each branch of your military will support each other. This is also often reflected in army organization, especially in the area of air defence. American Army units tends to have a lack of a dense medium-range air defence coverage due to their reliance on the achievment of air superiority by the USAF, whereas the Soviets relies on a wide array of missiles and self-propelled anti-aircraft guns.

[OOC: Thank you for your kind and astute observations. Let me begin by explaining the purpose of the squad in Novikov's Armed Forces.

Much like other mixed units - partucularly motorized infantry units, which provide a little bit of everything - the Novikovian military is based around the concept that its units ought to be self-sufficent fighting forces, capable fo preforming a wide variety of roles. This is most aptly demonstrated in the Novikovian Infantry Squad and, on a larger scale, the Armored Division. I will get to the latter in a moment.

First, the premise of the infantry squad. The infantry squad is intended, in Novikov, to be versitale and capable of operating without support. Because of this, it has adopeted a wide variety of weapons - some of which are being gradually phased out - in order to allow it to perform, on a smaller scale, the duties of anti-tank, air-defense, and artilery batteries.

The basis behind this stems from the Novikovian Civil War, some twenty years ago, and the varried fighting which took place during the conflict. In the conflict, soldiers - many times paramilitary - operated on their own in the field. Organization was at a minimum - field units typically were only under the loose control of commanders. Without the ability to call upon specialized units such as artilery support, the smaller groups of men looked for an easy way of taking that support with them.

From this practice arose the multi-purpose squad, with a simmilar premise in mind. Each squad is intended to stand alone, combat effective in any situation - to some degree - and packing more firepower than its foreign contemporaries. The squad also has a home-defense aplication in mind, where scenarions of possible invasion leave disorganized or shattered units behind enemy lines - perhaps after a complete takeover of the country. These units are then intended to form the core of a resistance unit, and carry out a wide range of functons.

Limitations are apparent, but historical example and a perhaps false notion of the greater benifits in regard to home defense keep Novikov's infantry squads heavily armed and capable of filling many roles.

(Plus, this made it necessary for only one type of squad, not three or four. That's less work for my poor brain.)

In a simmilar fashion, the Novikovian Armored Division is capable of filling the roles of any normal defensive unit. The reason behind this lies in the use of both standard Infantry and Armored-Infantry Units, as well as purely armored squadrons. The infantry units are able to fill a wide variety of roles - notably short-range exploitation, holding, and rear/flank guard. The purely armored units act as small insturments of rupture, as well as mobile strongpoints when on the defensive, and this power to rupture enemy lines in capitalized on by attaching Armored-Infantry units to purely armored columns. These infantry units serve the role of exploitation and close-in defense for their supporting tanks.

(Yes, I realize I just described the premise of any armored division since the WWII... Things don't cange much.)]

[OOC: Oh, and in regards to air-defense, I have a large attachment of SAMs on a divisional level (350 individual launch platforms is rather formidable), with both a low/mid-altitude (SA-13) and high-altitude (SA-11) capability. The Air-Defense guns are secondary - another carry over from the Novikovian Civil War - and I am looking into replacing them with more mobile ZSU-23 and ZSU-30 units.

All suggestions are appreciated.]