NationStates Jolt Archive

"General, I'm not entirely positive that I understand what you are proposing," said a young Senator who had abstained from serving his country.

"It's quite simple, I assure you. Before, every division had a headquarters, but it was little more than communications gear and a relatively small staff. Now, not only will divisional headquarters be the standard company, but it will directly enfold under its aegis the division's MI, MP, and Signals battalions; thus the new name of 'Division Troops'. Manuever -that is, combat- regiments have been redesigned to independantly pursue contact with the enemy with little more than the word 'go', no more going through division HQ for fire support or anything of that nature, how that is accomplished I will explain in more detail soon. Aviation regiments remain mostly the same, although there have been slight changes in composition where the actual helo units are concerned and aviation support units have been integrated. Remaining support units have been integrated into the DSR, which stands for Division Support Regiment, I shouldn't have to explain to you how the DSRs are composed as a line item example is in the packet in front of you.

Before I go on, the Army has decided to move to a 4 manuever regiment format, instead of the current three. This will balance the division's overall available firepower and will allow the division to more readily split itself into tactically viable fighting force. Now, onto the regiments; each manuever regiment will have a headquarters in the form of a Regiment Special Troops battalion, three to four manuever battalions, a field artillery battalion, and a Regiment Support battalion. Estimated size is between two and four thousand per regiment, but we're still nailing that down.

Any other questions, Senators? I'm sure there are some, given the wealth of new information in front of you. If you don't know where to start, I would suggest with what interests you most.


[As a note to other RPers, this is just my way of presenting my armed forces in their newly revised form. This will continue later today and probably into the next few days. Please refrain from IC comments, as this is a closed session of the Imperial Senate.]

"General, something about the Corps alignments confuses me," said a Senator who had served as an officer in the Imperial Marines. "It lists the Shock divisions and Royal Guard divisions as seperate, yet I know they're one and the same."

The General grinned, "Right now they are indeed one and the same, however we plan for that to change. You see, the Shock and Dragoon divisions' doctrines and composition are complementary, but because Shock divisions have always served as the Guard it has not been possible to deploy them meaningfully. So, by adding divisions we free up our most powerful primary force."

The Senator nodded, "Okay, I can buy that, but what exactly are these new Royal Guard divisions?"

"They represent what is probably the Army's most effective combined arms force. As it stands on the drawing board, each division will have four manuever regiments with each regiment having under its command four manuever battalions; an air assault battalion, an armoured battalion, a mechanized infantry battalion, and an SSG battalion," the General watched the shocked faces of the Senators as they heard the last one.

For the longest time the Senate had clamoured for more special forces capability, but at the cost of the larger ground forces. Now they were getting their wish, but with the caveat that those battalions came with the general Imperial Army expansion.


[OOC comments are welcome. I especially want some comments on the inclusion of special forces units into the order of battle of a conventional land warfare force.]

"General, these experimental, erm, em-tass units look impressive, but they're certainly expensive. I mean, over a million dollars for something that only a single person will occupy? That seems excessive given the fact that you have already proposed expanding the Army by... 256 manuever battalions from nineteen hundred and twenty," this Senator was famous for her almost extreme, at least by Scandavian standards, liberalism and anti-military attitudes.

The General produced his most charming 1000-watt smile and began, "Ah, the MTAS, now known simply as the Tactical Assault Suit. You have to understand, Senator, that on average it take a million dollars a year to support a soldiers and each of these units will replace a weapons section. So yes, these are very expensive, but the cost is justifiable when the Army is saving money and reducing the number of soldiers in that one area."

"And what of this new generation of battle armour? There appears to be no appreciable difference between these new prototypes and what is currently in use," the cheerfully mocking way in which she had been shot down by, in her mind, a mere military officer had wounded her pride and now she was fishing for digs.

"The new materials and construction methods will result in cost savings in the long run and soldiers who've tested these new units have said they greatly prefer the new units to the old ones for the simple fact that they are more comfortable to use," there were murmurs of approvement from those Senators who had operated the Imperium's battle armour, which cause the liberal Senator to adopt a baleful expression.

[Again, OOC comments welcome.]

[No comments at all? Nothing you guys want to know that I can explain OOC?]

OOC: I'll take a stab at this.

(1) What's so special about these new units?

(2) If assault suits are your thing, WHY ARE YOU NOT BUYING MY BEAUTIFUL CHILDREN (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?p=9748368)? They're bargain-priced, even!

[
1) Do you mean the battle armour or the reorganization?
2) I've always designed my own BA and these heavy assault suits were a logical progression.
]

One of the Lords' few Conservative Association Senators began, "General, I applaud the job the Imperial armed forces, and the Arms in particular, have been doing to keep the Imperium safe from trangressors, but I am concerned about this statement in the 'Strategic Objectives' section. It reads: The aim of the Imperial Army in the near future, in concordance with the Empress' wishes and the expressed majority of the People as represented in both Houses of the Senate, has been to identify and prepare areas to be brought under the Imperium's circle of enfluence. While initial stages are expected to be peaceful in the military context, the Imperial Army and the rest of the armed forces should expect to repel armed opposition to the Imperium's growing land borders and to undertake the classic strategic mission of forcing the Imperium's political will upon any potential advesaries through the use of arms.

"To be perfectly frank, General, this sounds as if you're preparing for a protracted campaign against several enemies, possibly at once. I can't imagine the Army would be willing to risk damage to the motherland for potential material gain."

"Preparing for, yes. Expecting or wanting, not really. Most conquests by any empire have been opposed rather vigorously in the past and if we are to conduct such a campaign then we should take heed of history and prepare for it," the General replied.

"So you admit that the Imperial Army is unilaterally planning for expansionistic campaigns in the near future," the accusatory tone irked the General somewhat.

"A good military organization plans for all things, no matter how far-fetched they may seem. For example, we have plans for dealing with armies filled with orkish hordes and dragons, yet nobody has reported such fantastical creatures to the ISS or ESS," came the retort.

The Senator conceded with a nod. "Point well taken, but it appears from this report that you are taking the possibility of imperialist conquests somewhat more seriously than an army pulled out of Tolkien's wonderful books. So, the question remains, why?"

"Because the Empress and the People have expressed interest in such endevours, and in the end the Imperial Army takes its orders from the Crown," there was a finality to the proclamation that was deliberately designed to dissuage further comment.

"Very well, I believe I have all that I need. Have a good day, General."

[Yep, yep, yep. The Imperium is going expansionist, but if you aren't in Haven you don't have to wory overmuch right now.]

OOC: Consider this an unofficial support from OMASC for the Imperium's shift of doctrine. A bit more serious however, why 4 manuever regiments? Having a 2/2 reserve might be too extraneous; on the other hand, a 1/4 reserve ratio might be too low.

[Because the US Army is going to a 4-brigade division format and I just like the idea enough to copy it.]

OOC: I've got to echo Omz's skepticism about a four brigade-division alignment... the three brigade-division lineup has been designed for the purposes that Omz expressed: Namely, sending two brigades into an attack function and leaving yourself enough strength in reserve if you need to defend. A four brigade-division setup leaves you too weak for an effective attack if you send two brigades and saps too much of your reserve if you only keep one brigade back. I personally don't feel comfortable doing something just because the US Army is doing it. I'm sure there's a good reason for their realignment, but going from a four to a three sounds like something I'd do as part of my reforms.

I like your mentioning the fact that an army has to prepare for ANYTHING, even the far-fetched. It's like the U.S. preparing battle plans for a war against the United Kingdom between World Wars I and II. We know that's never going to happen nowadays, but at least it gives the strategists something to do to keep their skills sharp. Hell, there's practically zero chance that Praetonia and I will ever go to war, but I have an idea of what I'd have to do if I fought him.

You might want to push that as a means to reassure nervous allies or neutrals when there's something IC to work with.

[I believe I answered your questions in a satisfactory manner of AIM, no?]

[OOC: Yes you did.]

Now it was the Aerospace Force's turn, "Marshal, compared to the Army your wishlist is refreshingly short. However, I have noticed the price tag on your bomber acquisitions: 3 trillion dollars. That's a little under two times the entire budget of the Aerospace Force, so I hope you can understand my shock when I saw this report in front of me.

"Senator, please understand that the total cost is for around 6,000 airframes. That averages to a little over half a billion per bomber, which is not bad at all given how technologically advanced they are. As it is, the cost is going to be spread over many years and OMASC has granted an 80% reduction in royalties and local production rights. The cost should be more than manageable," explained the IAF Marshal.

The Senator who had raised the object had no choice but to acknowledge a good point, "Very well, you have convinced me. Not that I needed much in the way of that anyway."

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"General, it is good to see that the Marines have no yearning for more of their expensive hover vehicles. In fact, the only thing I note is a request for the newer battle armour and a rejection of the Tactical Assault Suits. Why?" It was, as the officers in the room had begun calling her, the Liberal Bitch again.

The Imperial Marine two-star quickly answered, "The TAS, as much of a mechanical marvel as it is, does not currently fit into our amphibious assault doctrine. Our infantry is content with simply getting better versions of what it already has."

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"Admiral, I have to say, I was at the very least expecting a request for more warships, yet there is nothing here beyond the yearly resupply requests," The Bitch hated the Imperial Navy because it was, in her view, such a monetary sinkhole when the funds could go to more social spending.

"The Imperial Navy is considering its position and debating the acquisition of more ships. At this time, however, I do not anticipate such requests in the near future," the glare from the Admiral spoke of past spats over funds to the military in general, and the navy specifically.


[And that pretty much wraps up this RP. Questions are still welcome, of course.]