TE Ramblings

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Mobius 1
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TE Ramblings

Post by Mobius 1 »

This is a move-over of all my OOC ramblings, some on specific topics in the verse, others on general sci-fi and storytelling. What follows for the first three or four or five or whatever posts from the original thread. It's rather funny, considering that, right after discussing pruning TE, I'm forced to the issue.

***

Partly inspired by Siege’s OOC CSW discussion thread, this thread will serve as a catalogue of my ramblings on my big masterpiece, Total Extinction. Be in explanations of never-explained or defined in-universe and out-of-verse jargon, the various topics within the war raging at the center of the timeline, or various bit not relating to TE but instead picking apart and providing guides on the subject of “akshun” and it’s common scenes. Some of the post will be rewrites of my notes, some will be written straight for this thread. Consider this the TE blog, so to speak.

On the Reinvention of Total Extinction

Here we are, at a literary crossroads. Ignoring the massive amount of articles, both new and rewrites that are backlogged, I have two ways to go from here. For those of you that don’t have a clue about the verse, the Apocalypse Arc pretty much, no, totally wrapped up the main TE storyline- that of the Ark invasion and the threat to the very survival of the human race. Peace, as of mid 2572, reigns in the TE-verse. And here comes the crossroads- I started the main TE superarc relatively late in the general scheme of the in-verse war. The humans were turning a page, beginning to fight hope. Ford can express this far better than I, but futility is not a trait I write well. Sure, my characters will almost always face incredibly odds, but you have the feeling they just maybe, just maybe, be able to pull it off. And to go before that page turn means ten years, in-verse time of sheer buttkicking on the side of the invaders. Trillions of lives lost. Hundreds of planets burned. Sure, there were successes, but they were in the form of simply holding off the horde (figurative, of course, the Ark aren’t that kind of lame villain), so civilians could escape in time. That was a big thing in that era of TE. Easly’s rumored Avalon campaign, mentioned briefly in Apoc, was an example of this- against the odds, and without backing, he managed to sow enough chaos amongst enemy lines to save almost a trillion lives.

But that’s the bleak light. And there’s not a limitless amount of room for such stories. That leaves the bleak, the loss. Mind you, pretty much all the For The Win perpetrated before the First Siege of New California was on an extremely small scale, or involved a great sacrifice- a single sniper shot placed by Sarah Grissom-McDonnell, or the unexpected assassination of a small-time Warmaster by a left-behind Marine. The stuff you see in Apoc and Phoenix Rising simply didn’t happen in the first decade. That means, by standard, a fairly realistic writing style applied to the early years. That means no “akshun”, or if there is, it’s in absolutely miniscule amounts. People die. Things don’t explode every five seconds. The villains are ten times more cunning, and we don’t have the experience, in universe, of a hard-fought ten years to finally draw an offensive from. We’re fighting an enemy of the likes we’ve never met- one that will completely overpower us. They’ve got us in numbers. In tech. In tactics. In firepower. That’s a pretty standard theme of bleak that’s all over science fiction these days. And my focus on the distant light has been what I hope could separate me from the obvious comparisons to the most popular invasion story today and main inspiration of this verse, Halo. So you can see the difficulty in writing story in the past.

No, I’m not denying the era needs fleshing out. It’s the core period in TE, the main focus of the verse, storywise. That’s absolutely obvious- at least articles will let me do it in cold hard fact. However, my absolutely massive dislike of writing articles leaves me at the happy medium- War Interviews. The very fact that it’s in first person means the person narrating survived the war, but can also provide first hand accounts of the most important turning points of the war while capturing the feeling of hopelessness in ways no article could. Of course, the occasional article could be begrudged for a large overview to show the flow of the war.

That’s good, but what’s currently on the tables for fleshing out the war? Well, I’ve planned out and am a couple pages into a extra-length special War Interview featuring Ian “Dusk” Smith, Booted’s character. Consider it something of an origin story, and not only for Smith, but that’s all I’m saying. I’m hoping to emphasize the theme of horror especially- a good two thirds of the story is spent outside a besieged base with an unknown number of unknown baddies ripping through patrols outside the fort when it locked down. Even more, the monsters aren’t all Nahktars.

That leads us to path two, something I’d putting just as much if not more into following. Booted, Siege, and Ford, who have already given me the best ideas for the verse, and are my biggest supporters, are currently writing or already have wrote out post war storylines (Tiberous, Secret Sunday, and Justice respectively) that setting up the climate of peace and how fragile it is amongst the new alliance. They’re all somehow leading up to the hinted twenty-year later mark in the TE timeline, two decades after the end of Apoc. Some old characters will return in auxiliary positions in terms of storyline, more powerful positions in term of in-universe power structure. Some will be hard-drinking vets who just want to be left alone to drown in their sorrows. They aren’t the focus. The focus, so to speak, is on a “new guard” of characters, sent on their own suicide missions, heroes in the making.

This focus comes to a head in the upcoming twenty year later arc entitled Overheat. Yup, there you go. The Apoc sequel is named Overheat. Well, I like it. This time, the master team is Leo Bateau’s Meisters, intelligence superagents with fledgling psionic powers and a strong grounding in the tried and true akshun styles. When you’ve got a guy who took on a ten-foot galaxy-dominating cyborg with a rocket launcher in each hand in CQC as a teacher, you’ve got a damn good teacher. Consider Overheat in two parts, weaving together a couple plotlines. Part one involves a race to apprehend a mysterious teleporter who seems to have stolen the FTL route from here to the Andromeda galaxy- which can’t be good, considering the dim idea we have of what’s watching on the other side. Things can only go to hell from there, as this arc kicks off what can only be the beginning of the second era in TE, one of intergalactic proportions.

Rest assured, I have my work cut out for me in what I’d call TE 2.0 if I didn’t hate the phrase.



The No Light-Speed Limit Highway

FTL travel, in my opinion, is something that should be explained fully in terms of rules and conventions, yet waved away in terms of science. Say what happens, not why. It’s not so much to avoid butchering science, so as to avoid talking out of your ass. Even smooth pseudoscience stills sounds like crap.

That’s the case with the slipstreams in the TEverse. The best metaphor I can work with in explaining this to you is that of the highway, in the simplest sense of the slipstream. You slip into the stream, and speed away down it to until you get to where you need to go. They aren’t universe-spanning lines, either- they have definite beginnings and ends. This means its usually easier to slip into the stream in the general area of where this invisible FTL superhighway begins/ends rather than forcing your way in. The larger the stream (they vary), the more traffic in can handle at once- large groups, like fleet usually travel as one, and only the bigger streams can handle that big a rip they open. Likewise, some streams are so small that only missiles or non-lifeform-carrying vessels can run them.

The highway-like nature of these “routes” has a profound effect on storytelling, when it comes to an invasion story. Your opponents can’t just jump straight to your capital and win in five seconds, moreover, even if they know where your capital is, they won’t be able to touch it for a century or two at sublight speeds. No, they need the slipstream routes so they can pop in. This gives a massive advantage to the defender- they just have to settle their guns around the general area of the end-funnel of the slipstream. I should have added this earlier, but you can only rip along the length of the stream, you cannot leave it under you hit the end once you enter it. This isn’t as big of a problem as it sounds, as streams are pretty numerous with the exception of the abovementioned fleet-level “superstreams”, plus your sensors can usually tell where exactly in the galactic scheme the stream ends.

The “Standard” speed for running the streams is usually a lightyear a minute, which makes slipstreams extremely useful for inter-planet jaunts. Military drives are sometimes faster, the fastest running a four years a minutes, which is impressive. At most, you could cross the galaxy’s diameter- one hundred thousand lightyears- in a little over two weeks, which is also good. There’s a reason for this from a storytelling perspective- unless you’re a verse like Trek that spends its time on stuff like personal conflicts on board your boat, you work out a cleaner story, jumping straight to your action, having quick strategic responses over system and sector-length distances, instead of a lightning campaign taking advantage of the slowly tailing FTL counterattacks.

It’s certainly interesting how you can tailor your verse for ease of storytelling, when you think about it.


Roleplaying, Universe Mores, and Story Adjustment

The other day, I had some time on my hands (When don’t I?), and decided to convert the TE characters into GURPS character format. Confused? Let me give you a little background, as the subject I’m about to embark on is rather large.

I RP online beyond the OZ, using the GURPS system. I mostly use it for the freeform point-based character creation system, which lets you start from the ground up instead of randomly rolling your die for attributes and then being stuck with XPing up some crapping character. That, and I’m too bloody cheap to go out and buy the seventeen types of multisided die. Mostly I like my simple white six-siders, the mundane type you get in monopoly. Everybody has those.

So, I was wondering about the subject of universe standards when I was doing this, and decided to embark on a simple experiment when I converted the characters. My thoughts were, how would the TE characters match up on the points level- I knew their point totals would be rather high, but how much of it is accounting for universal standards?

A twenty-five point character in GURPS would be, at most, someone from real life, the flesh and blood world. You, me, that guy down the street, we’re pretty average. The basic, standard, recommended total is one hundred points. “Cinematic” campaigns are usually at 200 points. Supers, Black Ops, and Psionics can run anywhere from 300 to 500 points.

Seth Halcyon, the benchmark for high point totals, came in at a whopping 631 points. That’s humongous, right? Surely wanked? That a step back for a moment. Psi powers are truly expensive in GURPS, mostly the power levels (Psi powers are though of in terms and skill separately- shoving an elephant around or guiding a coin through a slot, at each extreme end of the spectrum), and Halcyon has some massive power levels, which are repeated for every psi type he has- blinking, telepathy, and telekinesis. So, lop off his psi powers, and he’s around ~400 points.

Jak Easly, the main character of TE, came in at 404, not counting the psionic burst or his cybernetics (which are horribly complicated to calculate). That’s pretty good, right? Bateau was around the same range, at 395, which his skill points dumped into battlesuit instead of piloting. Sarah came in at 316, and Ian at a low 255.

That’s pretty high, but not out of the range of cinematic range. These guys are, after all, the best of the best of the best in their verse. But, everyone in the TE verse who’s a PC has a certain set of point-sucking advantages: Combat Reflexes, Very Fit, Very Rapid Healing, High Pain Threshold, Patron, Ally Group, Military Rank, and of course, Hard to Kill and Rapier Wit. That’s a massive package of ~140 points. 140 points in universe norms. Lop that off, and you’ve got some pretty standard guys. They’re all in the 150-250 range, which makes them positively standard for a cinematic campaign. Easly and Halcyon are the highest at 250, but that’s usually the top for a non-military, non-super campaign.

So, what have we learned? When you quantify your characters and account for universal norms- who can’t dual wield, who can’t take on twenty henchmen- our characters are merely the best of the best, not wanked. As Ford said, it’s not wanked when everybody’s doing it.

On a separate note, this leads me into a rant of general RPing. I absolutely despise strict point or money total enforcers. I usually run in 200-point adventures online, and I find it’s far better to allow a twenty-point leeway in either direction for character allowances. It allows greater room for character, who, instead of lopping off that driving skill you could have used, or having to waste points upping a character who works as a 185 guy, are just as varied as real life.

The main complaint against the above argument is that the PCs will automatically just go straight for the 220 just to wank their characters. I disagree. True RPer’s don’t give a crap if their character is only 10% underpowered- they’re here to roleplay. Not all people are lameass slashers (the RPG term for a wanking noob who just wants to play dungeon plots), some put their effort into becoming and interesting character with an interesting backstory. That’s where it’s at, not in point totals. The same goes with money; it’s ten points to double your wealth in GURPS. But what if we only need one hundred or five hundred dollars, instead of the extra thousand (One thousand in money is the standard for fantasy games, fifteen thousand for modern and beyond, which isn’t a problem). But when you’ve got a $700 broadsword and have no extra money for armor, or simple personal basics, because you either have to dump ten points for a extra thousand you won’t use two thirds of, or simply go naked into battle. Why not spend an extra character point for one hundred extra bucks? But no, let’s stick to the rules as hard as we can. And that’s what ruins RPing more today than even slashers.

So what if you’re running a campaign with psions, and your fighter/thug NPCs provided in the booklet would get curbstomped by a car-tossing psion (I once managed to pull off a psion with both high skill and high power in only two hundred points, mostly though getting a wheelchair. Thankfully, I was a car-tosser, not a Xavier ripoff.)? Do you want to arbitrarily limit your PCs in their use of their powers, even knock off their power levels through GM’s fiat? That’s the sign of a bad GM, in my opinion. A true GM needs to be flexible- hell, I’ve done a fair bit of GMing in the last year or two, and it’s a job based on trust. Instead of ruling through fiat, simply rachet up, adjust the story to your characters? Those NPCs getting curmstomped? Up them a hundred points. Or send in twenty more of them. Adjust to your characters, don’t make them adjust to you.

That brings it all back to TE and akshun storytelling. It’s not fun when your characters, the heroes, are the only ones dual-wielding rocket launchers, with villains helpless before you (That’s why Kurt Wimmer films suck. Yes, I’m looking at you, Ultraviolet.). Instead, make the universal norms apply to henchmen as well. Seth Halcyon was arguably the verse’s most powerful psion. The Tyrax was bloody indestructible. Adamson made Wolverine cry. That’s good storytelling, and it’s good villain technique.

I’ll save a rant on “Proper Care and Feeding of Villains” for another day, but all state a couple of thoughts-

Villains should, at the least, be equal to the heroes. Heroes shouldn’t simply power though villains, with the only thing marking the villains as better than their generic henchmen the fact that they stayed alive for thirty seconds instead of ten. Heros should beat villains through brains, and almost always through a trick. The frayed rope holding up the platform the villain is standing up can be shot, the fatal flaw of the villain can be exploited. That’s how 90% of villain takedowns in fiction work, and there’s a reason. It’s far a far better feeling to know our heroes are clever dogs than forces of nature with no equal.

Oh, and as a thought, the Overheat Chapter name list. “D” refers to time, second names are backup chapter names. Have fun.

1- D-148 Hours
2- Feeding Frenzy (D-139)/Into the Lair
3- The Best Defense (D-124)/Home Court
4- Broken Arrow (D-122)/Splinter
5- Sitting Duck (D-121)/Duel
6- Ghosts of Future Past (D-73)/Derelict
7- Spectrum (D+49)/Grey Sky
8- Before I Forget (D+52)/Dusk
9- Ace in the Hole (D+53)/Flying Blind
10- Overheat (D+54)/Root of all Evil

Since TE isn’t really being revised, just being pruned and expanded liked all verses do, regardless of 2.0 and 3.0 and etcetera, but it does require a large, large amount of expansion and a large, large amount of pruning, the latter preferably done with a chainsaw. Here is a rough to-do list.

Polities/Species

ISA/Humanity

Basically, sum up the fact that the ISA is composed of the ISA itself and twenty-something semi- or fully autonomous human polities, as well as a half dozen unnamed alien races

Ark

Political organization, expand of the Nahktar article, as well as a list of prominent non-Nahk races- Uroks, Terinas, etc.

Frok’tar

War with Ark, Political organization represents economic houses. Sample races, and recent schism during ISA/Ark War.

Minor Powers- Scorpia Rewrite, Deinonj and Seccarian

Not really minor powers, just small in story terms up to TEO and beyond. The Deinonj will be expanded, and their full array of fearsome powers detailed, as well as the unique Seccarian relationship with the Deinonj and the groundwork of the TEO/I invasion.

Cartography of the Stars

New Cal/New Wales
Zrmahk
Avalonian Ring

History

General strategy/Flow of War

Relationship between ISA expansion and Ark takedown, contrast Agnar and Trego.

Post-war setup

The Union/New Space Order and its various organizations and setups.

Avalonian Ring Campaign/Battle of Five Suns/Havoc

My third project beyond the Dusk origin snap and TEO/I. This is mid 2580s, so I’m dubbing it “classic” TE, one of the few (only) circumstances you’ll see humanity stand up to the Ark prior to the First Siege, and where our major characters intersect. Easly, Bateau, Sarah, Smith, Adamson, Halcyon, and unnamed Storm Commandos are revolve around the final fall of Trego’s predecessor, Agnar, as well as the former’s final rise to power.

Characters

Meisters- Karras, Wall, Fletcher/Connor and his crew.

The Overheat/Inferno people.

303rd

Yay for solid bios, ya know? I'd also like to do a full timeline of the Tyrax program, and its downfall.

The Tech and Tools of War

ISAF thread rewrite-
- Arrowhead
- Brute Hope/Tyranno-class
- Spartan/Lincoln-class
- Guns
- Armors
- Spec Op groups
Ark thread rewrite-
- Juet’lak
- Valkryie
- Guns
- Gunship
- APC
Minor weapons- Sec, Scorp, Frok

This second-biggest area of cleanup, if only for the sheer volume of stuff that needs rewrites- not deletion, just a competent revision.

Literature

Overheat/Inferno- The two (so far) post-war epics for TE, with their own singular war themselves.

-Dusk SuperWarInt
-Battle of Five Suns- Classic TE

Also, note that this part of TE is the part under the need of greatest sense-slap. A good 75% of these snaps will be going out the window, and good riddance.
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Artemis
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Re: TE Ramblings

Post by Artemis »

This all looks very well-thought-out, Mobius. I'm really interested to read about these first ten years of the war.
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Re: TE Ramblings

Post by Mobius 1 »

The military plays a huge part in TE, but I've never really explicitly defined the organization beyond the general ideas in the TE nations thread and various storylines. Well, let me go ahead and do this now.

ISA ranks are pretty much equivalent to modern USA ranks. No need to reinvent the wheel here, folks. There are a few significant changes- 'Grand' ranks take the place of five star general/admirals of the navy/air force/marine corps, and for the air force, 'Marshall' is the O-6 through O-10 rank signifier. I'll go into battle philosophy in a lot more depth is later TE nation articles, but the ISA military works as a highly mobile strategic-level force: both the marine corps and air force operates out of the navy. Individual systems and sectors maintain a, well, system and sector level army/national guard.

Now, grand military organization is bit too much to handle at this point, but reading the SDNworld redux has pretty much given some excellent text on organization of the lower levels of organization- divisions and the like. CmdrWilkens of SDN did all this, so credit goes where credit due. A second note: obviously, when it comes to weapons and armor designations, things are a bit different over six hundred years.
CmdrWilkens on Divisions wrote:The USMC from Division on Down
Now Complete
For those who care to know:


Right now the ideal USMC division doesn’t exist :D. That being said what is presented below is a roughly idealized modern USMC Division. What that means is that all battalions have all of their companies, all regiments have all of their battalions and all of them are in logical order. The real USMC organization looks a bit different especially in Recon and Artillery but mostly because those units are in flux. Also this has been idealized for uniform equipment distribution which, especially with Artillery currently, is not the case (Artillery units are currently replacing M198 with M777 and there are some units transitioning to HIMARS). Also in the current USMC organization certain additional combat elements (Force Recon and ANGLICO are consider MEF assets not controlled by the Division.

1. Headquarters Battalion (1501x Personnel)
a. Division Headquarters (337x Personnel)
b. Headquarters and Services Company (173x Personnel)
c. Communications Company (339x Personnel)
d. Truck Company 'A' (225x Personnel)
e. Truck Company 'B' (225x Personnel)
f. MP Company (151x Personnel)
g. Division Band (51x Personnel)

2. Tank Battalion [58x M1A1, 12x M88A2, 4x M60A1, 838x personnel]
a. Headquarters and Services Company (494x personnel)
1. Headquarters (Co, XO, SgtMaj)
2. S-1 Admin (24x Personnel)
3. S-2 Intel (2x Personnel)
4. S-3 Operations (13x Personnel)
5. S-4 Supply/Logistics (13x Personnel)
6. Chow Section (23x Personnel)
7. Medical Section (30x Personnel)
8. Chaplain (2x Personnel)
9. Tank Section (2x M1A1, 8x Crew)
10. Bridge Section (4x M60A1 AVLB, 8x Crew)
11. Scout Platoon (6x HMMWV (2x AT, 2xM2, 2x Mk19) 24x Scouts)
12. Comms Platoon (45x Personnel)
13. Anti-Tank Platoon (24x HMMWV (AT), 69x Crew, 6x Maint)
14. MotorT Platoon (94x Personnel)
15. Maintenance Platoon (2x M88A2, 87x Personnel)
16. Supply Platoon (37x Personnel)
17. Company Headquarters (5x Personnel)

b. Alpha' or 'A' Company [12x M1A1, 2x M88, 86x Personnel]
1. Headquarters Section (CO, XO, 1Sgt)
2. Operations Section (Ops Chief, 4x Radio, 4x Recon/Runner)
3. Maint Section (2x M88A2, Maint Chief, Armorer, 13x Maint)
4. Tank Section (2x M1A1, 8x Crew)
5. 1st Platoon (4x Tank, 16x Crew)
6. 2nd Platoon (4x Tank, 16x Crew)
7. 3rd Platoon (4x Tank, 16X Crew)

c. 'Bravo' or 'B' Company [12x M1A1, 2x M88, 86x Personnel]
d. 'Charlie' or 'C' Company [12x M1A1, 2x M88, 86x Personnel]
e. 'Delta' or 'D' Company [12x M1A1, 2x M88, 86x Personnel]


3. Light Armor Reconnaissance Battalion (60x LAV-25, 16x LAV-AT, 16x LAV-L, 10x LAV-C2, 8x LAV-M, 6x LAV-R, 970x personnel)
a. Headquarters and Services Company (418 personnel)
1. Headquarters (Co, XO, SgtMaj)
2. S-1 Admin (25x Personnel)
3. S-2 Intel (6x Personnel)
4. S-3 Operations (15x Personnel)
5. S-4 Supply/Logistics (11x Personnel)
6. Communications Platoon (36x Personnel)
7. Maintenance Platoon (8x LAV-R, 72x Personnel)
8. Services Platoon (incl Chow) (47x Personnel)
9. MotorT Platoon (8x LAV-25, 6x LAV-C2, 2x LAV-L, 121x Personnel)
10. Medical Section (67x Personnel)
11. Chaplain (2x Personnel)
12. Company Headquarters (5x Personnel)

b. 'Alpha' or 'A' Company (13x LAV-25, 2x LAV-M, 2x LAV-AT, 1x LAV-R, 2x LAV-L, 1x LAV-C2, 138 Personnel)
1. Headquarters Section (1x LAV-25, 1x LAV-C2, CO, XO, 1Sgt, CoGySgt, 5x Crew)
2. Logistics Section (2x LAV-L, 1x LAV-R, Maint Cheif, 16x Crew, 4x Scouts)
3. Antitank Section (2x LAV-AT, 10x Crew)
4. Mortar Section (2x LAV-M, 12x Crew)
5. 1st Platoon (4x LAV-25, 12x Crew, 12x Scouts)
6. 2nd Platoon (4x LAV-25, 12x Crew, 12x Scout)
7. 3rd Platoon (4x LAV-25, 12x Crew, 12x Scouts)

c. 'Bravo' or 'B' Company (13x LAV-25, 2x LAV-M, 2x LAV-AT, 1x LAV-R, 2x LAV-L, 1x LAV-C2, 138 Personnel)
d. 'Charlie' or 'C' Company (13x LAV-25, 2x LAV-M, 2x LAV-AT, 1x LAV-R, 2x LAV-L, 1x LAV-C2, 138 Personnel)
e. 'Delta' or 'D' Company (13x LAV-25, 2x LAV-M, 2x LAV-AT, 1x LAV-R, 2x LAV-L, 1x LAV-C2, 138 Personnel)


4. Reconnaissance Battalion (382x Personnel)
a. Headquarters and Services Company (62x Personnel)
1. Headquarters (CO, XO, SgtMaj)
2. S-1 Admin (3x Personnel)
3. S-2 Intel (3x Personnel)
4. S-3 Operations (8x Personnel)
5. Amphibious Equipment (5x Personnel)
6. Diving Section (5x Personnel)
7. S-4 Supply/Logistics (16x Personnel)
8. Medical Section (11x Personnel)
9. Communications Section (9x Personnel)

b. 'Alpha' or 'A' Company (80x Personnel)
1. Company Headquarters (11x Personnel)
2. 1st Platoon (23x Personnel)
3. 2nd Platoon (23x Personnel)
4. 3rd Platoon (23x Personnel)

c. 'Bravo or 'B' Company (80x Personnel)
d. 'Charlie' or 'C' Company (80x Personnel)
e. 'Delta] or 'D' Company (80x Personnel)


5. Assault Amphibian Battalion (212x AAVP7A1, 14x AAVC7A1, 6x AAVR7A1, 1171x Personnel)
a. Headquarters and Services Company (387x Personnel)
1. Headquarters (CO, XO, SgtMaj)
2. S-1 Admin (29x Personnel)
3. S-2 Intel (2x Personnel)
4. S-3 Operations (6x personnel)
5. S-4 Logistics (10x Personnel)
6. Communications Section (27x Personnel)
7. Medical Section (20x Personnel)
8. Chaplain Section (3x Personnel)
9. MotorT Section (24x Personnel)
10. Supply Section (25x Personnel)
11. Maintenance Platoon (2x AAVR7A1, 81x Personnel)
12. Support Platoon (24x AAVP&A1, 65x personnel)
13. Mobility/Counter-Mobility Platoon (24x AAVP7A1, 75x Personnel)
14. Company Headquarters (2x AAVC7A1, 16x Personnel)

b. 'Alpha' or 'A' Company (41x AAVP7A1, 3x AAVC7A1, 1x AAVR7A1, 196x personnel)
1. Headquarters Section (18x Personnel)
2. Communications Section (7x Personnel)
3. Maintenance Section (1x AAVR7A1, 29x Personnel)
4. AMTRAC Section (4x AAVP7A1, 13x Personnel)
5. 1st Platoon (1x AAVC7A1, 12x AAVP7A1, 38x Personnel)
6. 2nd Platoon (1x AAVC7A1, 12x AAVP7A1, 38x Personnel)
7. 3rd Platoon (1x AAVC7A1, 12x AAVP7A1, 38x Personnel)

c. 'Bravo' or 'B' Company (41x AAVP7A1, 3x AAVC7A1, 1x AAVR7A1, 196x personnel)
d. 'Charlie' or 'C' Company (41x AAVP7A1, 3x AAVC7A1, 1x AAVR7A1, 196x personnel)
e. 'Delta' or 'D' Company (41x AAVP7A1, 3x AAVC7A1, 1x AAVR7A1, 196x personnel)


6. Combat Engineer Battalion (892x personnel)
a. Headquarters and Services Company (177x Personnel)
1. Headquarters Section (incl S1 thru S-4) (65x Personnel)
2. Chow Section (22x Personnel)
3. Supply Platoon (17x Personnel)
4. Communications Platoon (40x Personnel)
5. Medical Section (26x personnel)
6. Chaplain (2x Personnel)
7. Company Headquarters (5x Personnel)

b. Engineer Support Company (259x Personnel)
a. Headquarters (5x Personnel)
b. Engineer Equipment Platoon (85x Personnel)
c. MotorT Platoon (85x Personnel)
d. Utilities Platoon (84x Personnel)

c. Engineer Company 'A' (114 Personnel)
0. Headquarters (6x Personnel)
1. 1st Platoon (36x Personnel)
2. 2nd Platoon (36x Personnel)
3. 3rd Platoon (36x Personnel)

d. Engineer Company 'B' (114x Personnel)
e. Engineer Company 'C' (114x Personnel)
f. Engineer Company 'D' (114x Personnel)


7. 1st Infantry Regiment (4121x Personnel)
a. Headquarters Company (273x personnel)
0. Headquarters (CO, XO, SgtMaj)
1. S-1 Admin (10x Personnel)
2. S-2 Intel (15x Personnel, UAV Section)
3. S-3 Operations (17x Personnel)
4. S-4 Logistics (12x Personnel)
5. Medical (1x Personnel)
6. Chaplain (2x Personnel)
7. Communications Platoon (81x Personnel)
8. Anti-tank Platoon (85x Personnel)
9. Mess Section (5x Personnel)
10. MotorT Section (20x Personnel)
11. Supply Section (9x Personnel)
12. Company Headquarters (12x Personnel)

b. 1st Infantry Battalion (962x Personnel)
0. Headquarters and Services Company (269x Personnel)
a. Headquarters (Co, XO, SgtMaj)
b. S-1 Admin (27x Personnel)
c. S-2 Intel incl Scout/Sniper Platoon(4x Personnel 18x Snipers)
d. S-3 Operations (13x Personnel)
e. S-4 Logistics (7x Personnel)
f. Communications Platoon (61x Personnel)
g. Services Platoon (59x Personnel)
h. Chaplain Section (2x personnel)
i. Medical Platoon (67x Personnel)
j. Company Headquarters (6x Personnel)

1. 'Alpha' or 'A' Company (182x personnel)
a. Company Headquarters (CO, XO, 1Sgt, CoGySgt)
b. 1st Platoon (43x Personnel)
c. 2nd Platoon (43x Personnel)
d. 3rd Platoon (43x Personnel)
e. Weapons Platoon (3x HMG, 3x 60mm Mortar, 3x Javelin AT, 47x Personnel)

2. 'Bravo' or 'B' Company (182x personnel)
3. 'Charlie or 'C' Company (182x personnel)
4. 'Weapons' Company (147x Personnel)
a. Company Headquarters (CO, XO, 1Sgt, CoGySgt)
b. Mortar Section (8x 81mm mortar, 69x Personnel)
c. Antiarmor Section (4x TOW, 8x Javelin, 42x Personnel)
d. Heavy Machine Gun Platoon (6x HMG, 28x Personnel)

c. 2nd Infantry Battalion (962x Personnel)
0. Headquarters and Services Company (269x Personnel)
1. 'Echo' or 'E' Company (182x personnel)
2. 'Foxtrot' or 'F' Company (182x personnel)
3. 'Golf' or 'G' Company (182x personnel)
4. 'Weapons' Company (147x Personnel)

d. 3rd Infantry Battalion (962x Personnel)
0. Headquarters and Services Company (269x Personnel)
1. 'India' or 'I' Company (182x personnel)
2. 'Kilo' or 'K' Company (182x personnel)
3. 'Lima' or 'L' Company (182x personnel)
4. 'Weapons' Company (147x Personnel)

e. 1st Infantry Battalion 4th Regiment(962x Personnel)
0. Headquarters and Services Company (269x Personnel)
1. 'Alpha' or 'A' Company (182x personnel)
2. 'Bravo' or 'B' Company (182x personnel)
3. 'Charlie' or 'C' Company (182x personnel)
4. 'Weapons' Company (147x Personnel)

8.
9. 2nd Infantry Regiment (4121x Personnel)
a. Headquarters and Services Company [273 x personnel]
b. 1st Infantry Battalion (962x Personnel)
0. Headquarters and Services Company (269x Personnel)
1. 'Alpha' or 'A' Company (182x personnel)
2. 'Bravo' or 'B' Company (182x personnel)
3. 'Charlie' or 'C' Company (182x personnel)
4. 'Weapons' Company (147x Personnel)

c. 2nd Infantry Battalion (962x Personnel)
0. Headquarters and Services Company (269x Personnel)
1. 'Echo' or 'E' Company (182x personnel)
2. 'Foxtrot' or 'F' Company (182x personnel)
3. 'Golf' or 'G' Company (182x personnel)
4. 'Weapons' Company (147x Personnel)

d. 3rd Infantry Battalion (962x Personnel)
0. Headquarters and Services Company (269x Personnel)
1. 'India' or 'I' Company (182x personnel)
2. 'Kilo' or 'K' Company (182x personnel)
3. 'Lima' or 'L' Company (182x personnel)
4. 'Weapons' Company (147x Personnel)

e. 2nd Infantry Battalion 4th Regiment(962x Personnel)
0. Headquarters and Services Company (269x Personnel)
1. 'Echo' or 'E' Company (182x personnel)
2. 'Foxtrot' or 'F' Company (182x personnel)
3. 'Golf' or 'G' Company (182x personnel)
4. 'Weapons' Company (147x Personnel)

10.
11. 3rd Infantry Regiment (4121x Personnel)
a. Headquarters and Services Company [273 x personnel]
b. 1st Infantry Battalion (962x Personnel)
0. Headquarters and Services Company (269x Personnel)
1. 'Alpha' or 'A' Company (182x personnel)
2. 'Bravo' or 'B' Company (182x personnel)
3. 'Charlie' or 'C' Company (182x personnel)
4. 'Weapons' Company (147x Personnel)

c. 2nd Infantry Battalion (962x Personnel)
0. Headquarters and Services Company (269x Personnel)
1. 'Echo' or 'E' Company (182x personnel)
2. 'Foxtrot' or 'F' Company (182x personnel)
3. 'Golf' or 'G' Company (182x personnel)
4. 'Weapons' Company (147x Personnel)

d. 3rd Infantry Battalion (962x Personnel)
0. Headquarters and Services Company (269x Personnel)
1. 'India' or 'I' Company (182x personnel)
2. 'Kilo' or 'K' Company (182x personnel)
3. 'Lima' or 'L' Company (182x personnel)
4. 'Weapons' Company (147x Personnel)

e. 3rd Infantry Battalion 4th Regiment(962x Personnel)
0. Headquarters and Services Company (269x Personnel)
1. 'India' or 'I' Company (182x personnel)
2. 'Kilo' or 'K' Company (182x personnel)
3. 'Lima' or 'L' Company (182x personnel)
4. 'Weapons' Company (147x Personnel)

12.
13. Artillery Regiment (96x M777, 3430x Personnel)
a. Headquarters Battery (386x Personnel)
0. Regimental Headquarters (Co, XO, SgtMaj)
1. S-1 Admin (8x Personnel)
2. S-2 Intel (7x Personnel)
3. S-3 Operations (17x Personnel)
4. S-4 Logistics (15x Personnel)
5. Medical Section (3x Personnel)
6. Chaplain (2x Personnel)
7. Counterbattery Radar Platoon (45x Personnel)
8. Fire Support Coordination Section (14x Personnel)
9. Aerial Observation Section (18x Personnel)
10. Meteorological Section (26x Personnel)
11. Communications Platoon (99x Personnel)
12. Supply Section (11x Personnel)
13. Chow Section (8x Personnel)
14. MotorT Section (48x Personnel)
15. Engineer Equipment Platoon (42x Personnel)
16. Battery Headquarters (19x Personnel)

b. 1st Battalion (24x M777, 749x Personnel)
. Headquarters Battery (209x Personnel)
1. Battalion Headquarters (CO, XO, SgtMaj)
2. S-1 Admin (19x Personnel)
3. S-2 Intel (3x Personnel)
4. S-3 Operations (18x Personnel)
5. S-4 Logistics/Service Platoon (70x Personnel)
6. Survey Section (11x Personnel)
7. Liaison Section (9x Personnel)
8. Naval Gunfire Section (27x Personnel)
9. Medical Section (2x Personnel)
10. Chaplain (2x Personnel)
11. Communications Platoon (34x Personnel)
12. Battery Headquarters (10x Personnel)

a. 'Alpha' or 'A' Battery (6x M777, 135x Personnel)
0. Battery Headquarters (5x Personnel)
1. Communications Section (16x Personnel)
2. Maintenance Section (11x Personnel)
3. Medical Section (3x Personnel)
4. Liaison Section (18x Personnel)
5. Ammo Section (17x Personnel)
6. Firing Section Headquarters/ FDC (17x Personnel)
7. 1st Gun Section (1x M777 8x Personnel)
8. 2nd Gun Section (1x M777 8x Personnel)
9. 3rd Gun Section (1x M777 8x Personnel)
10. 4th Gun Section (1x M777 8x Personnel)
11. 5th Gun Section (1x M777 8x Personnel)
12. 6th Gun Section (1x M777 8x Personnel)

b. 'Bravo' or 'B' Battery (6x M777, 135x Personnel)
c. ''Charlie' or 'C' Battery (6x M777, 135x Personnel)
d. 'Delta' or 'D' Battery (6x M777, 135x Personnel)

c. 2nd Battalion (24x M777, 749x Personnel)
. Headquarters Battery (209x Personnel)
a. 'Echo' or 'E' Battery (6x M777, 135x Personnel)
b. 'Foxtrot' or 'F' Battery (6x M777, 135x Personnel)
c. 'Golf' or 'G' Battery (6x M777, 135x Personnel)
d. 'Hotel' or 'H' Battery (6x M777, 135x Personnel)

d. 3rd Battalion (24x M777, 749x Personnel)
. Headquarters Battery (209x Personnel)
a. 'India' of 'I' Battery (6x M777, 135x Personnel)
b. 'Juliet' or 'J' Battery (6x M777, 135x Personnel)
c. 'Kilo' or 'K' Battery (6x M777, 135x Personnel)
d. 'Lima' or 'L' Battery (6x M777, 135x Personnel)

e. 5th Battlion (24x M777, 749x Personnel)
. Headquarters Battery (209x Personnel)
a. 'Mike' or 'M' Battery (6x M777, 135x Personnel)
b. 'Romeo' or 'R' Battery (6x M777, 135x Personnel)
c. 'Sierra' or 'S' Battery (6x M777, 135x Personnel)
d. 'Tango' or 'T' Battery (6x M777, 135x Personnel)


Grand Total: 21547x Personnel, 96x M777, 212x AAVP7A1, 14x AAVC7A1, 6x AAVR7A1, 60x LAV-25, 16x LAV-AT, 16x LAV-L, 10x LAV-C2, 8x LAV-M, 6x LAV-R, 58x M1A1, 12x M88A2, 4x M60A1)
Now, for those who were wondering, Coyote has the dish on companies, platoons, and squads:
Coyote has the dish, man wrote:Fire Team: 4 Soldiers:
1 Team Leader (Junior NCO) with rifle
1 Grenadier with Rifle/Grenade Launcher
1 Light Machinegunner
1 MG assistant with rifle


Light Infantry Squad: 13 Soldiers:
1 Squad Leader (NCO) with rifle
1st team (w/machinegun)
2nd team (w/machinegun)
3rd team (w/RPG)


Platoon: 42 Soldiers:
1 Platoon Leader (1st or 2nd Lt.) + Driver
1 Platoon SGT.
3 Squads


Company: 184 Soldiers in all per Infantry Company:
3 Infantry Platoons (42 Soldiers each = 126 Soldiers)
1 Weapons Platoon (+ 42)
1 Headquarters Section: (16 Soldiers)

-five medics (one attached to each rifle platoon and the senior corpsman with the company headquarters)
-an administrative clerk
-a police sergeant (typically holding the rank of corporal or sergeant)
-a training NCO
-a Commo NCO
-a CBRN NCO
-a first sergeant + driver
-an Executive Officer (XO), typically a first lieutenant, + driver
-a Commanding Officer (CO), typically a captain, + driver


==============================================


WEAPONS COMPANY:
Fire Team: 3 Soldiers:
1 Team Leader (Junior NCO) with rifle
1 Heavy Weapons Operator (ATGM; MANPADS; ATGL; HMG; etc)
1 Heavy Weapons assistant gunner with rifle
1 Heavy Weapons assistant gunner (or driver) with rifle


Squad: 13 Soldiers:
1 Squad Leader (NCO) with rifle
1st team (w/Heavy Wpn)
2nd team (w/machinegun)
3rd team (w/RPG)


Platoon: 42 Soldiers:
1 Platoon Leader (1st or 2nd Lt.) + Driver
1 Platoon SGT.
3 Squads


Company: 184 Soldiers in all per Infantry Weapons Company:
3 Infantry Platoons (42 Soldiers each = 126 Soldiers)
1 Weapons Platoon (+ 42)
1 Headquarters Section: (16 Soldiers)

-five medics (one attached to each rifle platoon and the senior corpsman with the company headquarters)
-an administrative clerk
-a police sergeant (typically holding the rank of corporal or sergeant)
-a training NCO
-a Commo NCO
-a CBRN NCO
-a first sergeant + driver
-an Executive Officer (XO), typically a first lieutenant, + driver
-a Commanding Officer (CO), typically a captain, + driver


==============================================


HEADQUARTERS COMPANY: 87 Soldiers
Headquarters Platoon--
Soldier Teams from S-1, S-2, S-3 (12 Soldiers, typically 1 officer; 1 NCO; 2 EMs)
The CBRN (Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear) Defense & Recon section (1 Officer; 1 NCO; 2 EMs: 4 Soldiers)
The Chaplain section (one chaplain and an enlisted religious program specialist)(2 Soldiers)

Communications Platoon--
Radiomen, Wiremen, Techs, Data Networkers, and associated staff (Typically 1 Squad: 13 Soldiers)

Service Platoon--
S-4, Motor Transportation, Food Service, armorers, and Supply (Platoon of about 42 Soldiers)

Sniper Section--
2 Teams of Snipers (Sniper teams are 2-man teams): 4 Soldiers

Battalion Medical Platoon--
Provides the Battalion Aid Station, or BAS.
The BAS is staffed entirely by Medical Officers (two medical doctors) and 8 Medics (10 Soldiers)
Now, the only thing out of all of this I'd note is, in the TEverse, special operations groups come in and screw all this up: squads when it comes to TE specops is a variable, offhand word, as a squad can be anythng from five Storm Commandos to 12 pilot-commandos.
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Magister Militum
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Re: TE Ramblings

Post by Magister Militum »

The guys over at SDN usually know what they're talking about when it comes to military matters, so that is a pretty good place to start when it comes to fleshing out the ISA's TOE (Table of Organization and Equipment). However, I would suggest that you consider streching out your rank structure a bit to take into account the growth in size and organization of an interstellar military like that of the ISA would go through.
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Re: TE Ramblings

Post by Mobius 1 »

Which is almost certainly why I posted here, in the OOC thread, instead of in the Nation thread. I'd need some tips on the subject.
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Re: TE Ramblings

Post by Mobius 1 »

Well, in keeping with the scale of sci-fi verse, Militum and I have determined that each officer rank (LT, Cap't, Maj, LC/Colonel, Gen.) will in fact be a subset of ranks depending upon service and position. It's been hinted at before- Senior Captains in Apoc- but this is where I'd implement. I'd certainly need to work out the structure per service, but this should ease the problem.
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Re: TE Ramblings

Post by Booted Vulture »

Interesting as that is. I'm more interested in the Ark's structure and eventually, the way the two forces are eventually combined into the NUA.
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Re: TE Ramblings

Post by Ford Prefect »

Booted Vulture wrote:Interesting as that is. I'm more interested in the Ark's structure and eventually, the way the two forces are eventually combined into the NUA.
The NUA is made up of more than just the Ark military and the ISAF; the Scorp are a major part of it, as are the Frok'tar. The Union is everyone. You know, excluding dissidents, but the Tyrax was a good motivator.

As you can imagine, this makes it the single largest exercise in paperwork in TE history. ;)
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