EFGT Organisation and Equipment

[Carl]

IMPORTANT: Going to need to do 2 posts so give my chance to place the second (including formatting), first before replying, i'll drop a third post in when done.

Okay the following is an organisational chart for the Earth Force Ground Troops. Mostly I’m looking for feedback from anyone with relevant experience/knowledge on weather the basics are sensible.

My main reason for looking for feedback on this first is partly because of how much time the Lore’s likely to take a fair while to write down. At the same time this is no longer just a world building exercise, I’m hoping to build my own tabletop army level system off the setting, and for that a good idea of the types and degree of commonality of various weapons is pretty vital to effective balance.

Armour elements are missing from the Organisational level lists, however that’s purely because I haven’t finished planning out all the details of the EFGT’s armour and armour employment doctrine. Armour would typically, (mechanization attachments aside), be attached in standardised formats at the Battalion and/or Division levels, I just haven’t listed it because of how WIP that part of their organization is.

Logistics Elements and FortCom elements are unlisted for similar reasons.

I don’t want to go too deep into the Lore just here for the setting, partly because I’ve only got the basics roughed out, and partly because even those basics would probably take up far more space than this entire post. The basic setting is a futuristic magic-tech setting where advanced technology, advanced magic, and combinations of the two exist alongside each other. That said for the EFGT Magi, (magic users), Fallen, and most forms of magical technology are not any part of standardised EFGT deployment. The only real commonly deployed magic using item is the shield systems used on virtually all AFV’s, (Ground and Aerospace), and as indirect fire protection at Forward Operating Bases. Even there most of the generators is 100% mundane, there’s just a couple of components being magically enhanced. Special issue gear can and is issued that’s more magically boosted, but it’s very much not part of any standard list for regular units. Special Operations Assault Squads, (SOAS), do make heavy use of such equipment in standard issue form, (mostly in their power armour power and actuation systems), but that’s because of the mission they’re primarily trained for.

As the term “Earth Force” suggests the setting is interstellar in nature. However there’s been a period between the early 21st centaury and the “current” 24th centaury date where both sides have had littlie contact and no organised warfare, so whilst power and materials science tech has evolved heavily, weaponry hasn’t much, so it’s very similar to the modern era in general form

The EFGT has two main descriptors for it’s smallest organisational unit. Squad and Section.

Section refers to a unit of the same size as a Squad, but attached in a specialised or support only role within a lager organisational structure. Squad Refers to the core unit of the larger organisational structure. Section my be prefixed by an Organisational Designator such as Platoon or Company. It should be noted that depending on the specific base organisational structure a specific asset may be a squad in one type, but a section in another.

Ranks are listed by numeral. So R-0 is the lowest Rank, with each increase in numeral being one increase in rank. This avoids having to assign names, (Another point up for debate internally).



Several Command Types exist. 3 basic types exist. Active Commands are commands that posses actual physical assets and oversee employment of those assets in theatre. At the oversight level they are also Admin Commands. Admin Commands are commands where individual units, (size varying as appropriate), oversee themselves on a day to day basis, with personnel above this level existing to provide the necessary administrative oversight. Most Admin Commands consist of units or assets not actually deployed on operations which must still be overseen on a limited basis whilst they train/are in storage/e.t.c. Paper Commands are Commands that exist on paper as an organisational tool, but have neither assigned units nor a requirement for any kind of admin oversight.

Infantry Command (InfCom): Infantry command is responsible for the oversight of all standard infantry squads both in the field and those currently in reserves at bases outside current theatre’s of operation. As a result it is both and Active and Admin Command. In it’s capacity as an Active Command it is also responsible for any manpower or other assets attached to it’s squads.

Logistics Command (LogCom): Logistics command is responsible for the oversight of all logistical units and any assigned assets both in the field and those currently in reserves at bases outside current theatre’s of operation. As a result it is both and Active and Admin Command. In it’s capacity as an Active Command it is also responsible for any manpower or other assets attached to it’s units.

Support Command (SupCom): Support Command provides administrative oversight of all section type units not currently attached to an Active Command. Support Command is an Admin command as units in the field are always attached to either Infantry Command or Support Command.

Fortification Command (FortCom): An Admin command responsible for the storage and maintenance of Forward Operating Base and Forward Command Post construction Assets such as power plants over-shield generators, weapons emplacements, e.t.c. Assets are always assigned to an Active Command in the field.

Tactical Command (TacCom): A paper command. Tactical Command is an organisational designation for commanders, and attached staff, guards, and FortCom assets that are used to establish any level of command base from a Forward Observation Post to a full blown Forward Operating Base. TacCom units are used where tactical command of a formation too large to effectively command “from the trenches” must be exercised. As such a suitable rank of Commander will be chosen along with an assembled staff, guard force, and FortCom assets to aid the commander in battlefield awareness. Deployment locations will vary with the exact size of the formation to be commanded. All Assets are drawn from an existing command to assemble the necessary unit, the TacCom designator exists solely to distinguish such Commanders and attached manpower and assets from standard “in the trenches” commanders.

Strategic Command (StratCom): Strategic Command is another Paper command, and other than the focus on Strategic level military Strategy decisions for their assigned Theatre of Operations is identical in basics of unit formation and the like to TacCom.



Wherever possible I’m going to list an approximate modern equivalent to the various weapons listed below here. Where there is none I’ll give a quick blurb. I have written a much longer piece and I’ll attach that at the bottom, but that more of a fluffy blurb than a serious document, (I did just enough research to give it what I hope is a veneer of plausibility). I’ll be using US stuff where possible as I imagine that will have the greatest familiarity here despite my own UK origins.

Some quick general notes on EFGT weaponry and gear:

Firstly as this is a futuristic setting advanced composites and ceramics and the like mean anywhere a weight reduction wouldn’t be detrimental due to simple mass considerations, (e.g. bullet weights, shrapnel weights, weapon weights for recoil purposes, e.t.c), they can significantly reduce the weight of components without compromising strength or thermal properties, (i.e. a barrels ability to absorb and dissipate heat).

Secondly much of the equipment and doctrine of employment of the EFGT has to take account of both advanced in body armour protection, and more importantly the high preponderance of Fallen in cultist forces. Without going too deep into the lore here, they can shrug of 50 cal frangible headshots quite readily. So heavy fragmentation and really big bullet masses are pretty much par for the course for them.

In the same vein, whilst I haven’t fully planned out the details of the EFGT’s AFV collection, I do have the basics of the tech changes worked out and a variety of factors means even a simple Humvee equivalent can absorb several missiles. Hence the high quantities carried.

Equipment is not fixed, the below specifics are just a general standard load out, actual load outs can be modified to suit specific needs.

Pistol = M11
SMG = MP5
Carbine = M4
Assault Rifle = M16
Under-Slung Launcher = M26 with micro grenade options
LMG = M249
SAR = M240
Light Marksmen Rifle = SEAL Recon Rifle
Medium Marksmen Rifle = Precision Sniper Rifle, (AKA Remington MSR)
Heavy Marksmen Rifle = M107
MMG = No direct equivalent, think of it as sitting between the M240 and the M134 Minigun in capabilities
HMG = M2 Browning
60mm Grenade Launcher = although of a larger calibre, it serves effectively the same function as the M32
LWGM = No direct equivalent, think of it as the capabilities of a Stinger and a Javelin in one missile
90mm Mortar = M252
10 Gauge Crew Served Automatic = XM307
MULE = Not actually a weapon, it’s a small, (smaller than a person), electrically driven all terrain transport unit. It serves a similar purpose to old school pack animals. Hence the name.




Standard Infantry Platoon:

7 Squads configured as follows:

Squad 1 (Lead Squad)

4 men per squad, (R-0), equipped with 1 x Pistol (100 Rds), 1 x Assault Rifle, (600Rds), 1x Under-slung Launcher (10 rounds), 2 Grenades (Type varies), Target Designator and Range-finding unit, Medium Marksmen Rifle ammo (100 Rds)

1 Squad Leader per squad (R-1), equipped with 1 x Pistol (100 Rds), 1 x Light Marksmen Rifle, (600Rds), 1 Grenade (Type varies), Target Designator and Range-finding unit, additional Comms gear.

1 Platoon Leader per squad, (R-2), equipped with 1 x Pistol (100 Rds), 1 x Carbine, (600Rds), 1x Under-slung Launcher (10 rounds), 2 Grenades (Type varies), Target Designator and Range-finding unit.

2 Men per squad, (R-0), equipped with 1 x Pistol (100 Rds), 1 x Medium Marksman Rifle (20 Rds), 1 x Carbine (600Rds).

Squad 2 -5

2 men per squad, (R-0), equipped with 1 x Pistol (100 Rds), 1 x Assault Rifle, (600Rds), 1x Under-slung Launcher (10 rounds), 2 Grenades (Type varies), Target Designator and Range-finding unit, LMG ammo (200 Rds)

3 men per squad, (R-0), equipped with 1 x Pistol (100 Rds), 1 x Assault Rifle, (600Rds), 1x Under-slung Launcher (10 rounds), 2 Grenades (Type varies), Target Designator and Range-finding unit, 60mm Grenade ammo (6 Rds)

1 Squad Leader per squad (R-1), equipped with 1 x Pistol (100 Rds), 1 x Light Marksmen Rifle, (600Rds), 1 Grenade (Type varies), Target Designator and Range-finding unit, additional Comms gear.

1 Man per squad, (R-0), equipped with 1 x Pistol (100 Rds), 1 x LMG (600Rds), 1x Under-slung Launcher (10 rounds), 2 Grenades (Type varies), Target Designator and Range-finding unit.

1 Man per squad, (R-0), equipped with 1 x SMG (200 Rds), 1 x 60mm Grenade Launcher (9 Rounds).

Squad 6 -7

2 men per squad, (R-0), equipped with 1 x Pistol (100 Rds), 1 x Assault Rifle, (600Rds), 1x Under-slung Launcher (10 rounds), 2 Grenades (Type varies), Target Designator and Range-finding unit, LMG ammo (300 Rds)

3 men per squad, (R-0), equipped with 1 x Pistol (100 Rds), 1 x Assault Rifle, (600Rds), 1x Under-slung Launcher (10 rounds), 2 Grenades (Type varies), Target Designator and Range-finding unit, SAR ammo (100 Rds)

1 Squad Leader per squad (R-1), equipped with 1 x Pistol (100 Rds), 1 x Light Marksmen Rifle, (600Rds), 1 Grenade (Type varies), Target Designator and Range-finding unit, additional Comms gear.

1 Man per squad, (R-0), equipped with 1 x Pistol (100 Rds), 1 x LMG (600Rds), 1x Under-slung Launcher (10 rounds), 2 Grenades (Type varies), Target Designator and Range-finding unit.

1 Man per squad, (R-0), equipped with 1 x Pistol (100 Rds), 1 x SAR (200 Rounds).


Missile Platoon Section:

7 Sections configured as follows:

Notes: Typically in the field the sections will split into 4 man fireteams. In the event that MULE’s are not suitable and other mechanisation is not available either the section is deployed as a single unit with half the sections launchers replaced by additional man carried ammo.

Sections 1-7

1 Section Leader per section, (R-1), equipped with 1 x Pistol (100 Rds), 1 x Carbine, (600Rds), 1x Under-slung Launcher (5 rounds), 1 Grenade (Type varies), Target Designator and Range-finding unit, LWGM ammo (2 Rds)

3 men per section, (R-0), equipped with 1 x Pistol (100 Rds), 1 x Carbine, (600Rds), 1x Under-slung Launcher (5 rounds), 1 Grenade (Type varies), Target Designator and Range-finding unit, LWGM ammo (2 Rds)

4 men per section, (R-0), equipped with 1 x Pistol (100 Rds), 1 x Carbine, (600Rds), 1x Under-slung Launcher (5 rounds), 1 Grenade (Type varies), Target Designator and Range-finding unit, LWGM Launcher (1 Rds)

2 MULE’s per section carrying LWGM ammo (16 Rds)

Crew Served Weapon Platoon Section:

7 Sections configured as follows:

Notes: Typically in the field the sections will split into 4 man fireteams. In the event that MULE’s are not suitable for the terrain and other mechanization is not available either the section is deployed as a single unit with half the sections crew served weapons replaced by additional man carried ammo. All crew served weapons disassemble into 4 man loads for easy carriage.

Section 1

1 Section Leader per section, (R-1), equipped with 1 x Pistol (100 Rds), 1 x Carbine, (600Rds), 1x Under-slung Launcher (5 rounds), 1 Grenade (Type varies), Target Designator and Range-finding unit

3 men per section, (R-0), equipped with 1 x Pistol (100 Rds), 1 x Carbine, (600Rds), 1x Under-slung Launcher (5 rounds), 1 Grenade (Type varies), Target Designator and Range-finding unit.

4 men per section, (R-0), equipped with 1 x Pistol (100 Rds), 1 x Carbine, (600Rds), 1x Under-slung Launcher (5 rounds), 1 Grenade (Type varies), Target Designator and Range-finding unit.

1 MULE carrying MMG ammo (10000 Rds)

1 MULE carrying 10 Gauge Ammo (1500 Rds)

1 MMG

1 10 Gauge Crew Served Automatic

Sections 2-5

1 Section Leader per section, (R-1), equipped with 1 x Pistol (100 Rds), 1 x Carbine, (600Rds), 1x Under-slung Launcher (5 rounds), 1 Grenade (Type varies), Target Designator and Range-finding unit

3 men per section, (R-0), equipped with 1 x Pistol (100 Rds), 1 x Carbine, (600Rds), 1x Under-slung Launcher (5 rounds), 1 Grenade (Type varies), Target Designator and Range-finding unit.

4 men per section, (R-0), equipped with 1 x Pistol (100 Rds), 1 x Carbine, (600Rds), 1x Under-slung Launcher (5 rounds), 1 Grenade (Type varies), Target Designator and Range-finding unit.

1 MULE carrying MMG ammo (10000 Rds)

1 MULE carrying 90mm Mortar Ammo (100 Rds)

1 MMG

1 90mm Mortar

Sections 6-7

1 Section Leader per section, (R-1), equipped with 1 x Pistol (100 Rds), 1 x Carbine, (600Rds), 1x Under-slung Launcher (5 rounds), 1 Grenade (Type varies), Target Designator and Range-finding unit

3 men per section, (R-0), equipped with 1 x Pistol (100 Rds), 1 x Carbine, (600Rds), 1x Under-slung Launcher (5 rounds), 1 Grenade (Type varies), Target Designator and Range-finding unit.

4 men per section, (R-0), equipped with 1 x Pistol (100 Rds), 1 x Carbine, (600Rds), 1x Under-slung Launcher (5 rounds), 1 Grenade (Type varies), Target Designator and Range-finding unit.

1 MULE carrying MMG ammo (10000 Rds)

1 MULE carrying HMG Ammo (2600 Rds)

1 MMG

1 HMG

Anti-Material Section:

3 men per section, (R-1), equipped with 1 x Pistol (100 Rds), 1 x Light Marksmen Rifle, (600Rds), 1 Grenade (Type varies), Target Designator and Range-finding unit, Heavy Marksmen Rifle ammo (60 Rds)

1 Section Leader per section (R-2), equipped with 1 x Pistol (100 Rds), 1 x Light Marksmen Rifle, (600Rds), 1 Grenade (Type varies), Target Designator and Range-finding unit, additional Comms gear.

4 Men per section, (R-1), equipped with 1 x SMG (200 Rds), 1 x Heavy Marksman Rifle (20 Rds).

Company Command Section

1 section configured as follows:

4 men per section, (R-0), equipped with 1 x Pistol (100 Rds), 1 x Assault Rifle, (600Rds), 1x Under-slung Launcher (10 rounds), 2 Grenades (Type varies), Target Designator and Range-finding unit, Medium Marksmen Rifle ammo (100 Rds)

1 Section Leader per section (R-2), equipped with 1 x Pistol (100 Rds), 1 x Light Marksmen Rifle, (600Rds), 1 Grenade (Type varies), Target Designator and Range-finding unit, additional Comms gear.

1 Company Commander per section, (R-3), equipped with 1 x Pistol (100 Rds), 1 x Carbine, (600Rds), 1x Under-slung Launcher (10 rounds), 2 Grenades (Type varies), Target Designator and Range-finding unit.

2 Men per section, (R-0), equipped with 1 x Pistol (100 Rds), 1 x Medium Marksman Rifle (20 Rds), 1 x Carbine (600Rds).


TacCom Headquarters Section:

Notes (1): TacCom Commanders are of a rank appropriate to the force they command, starting at a typical R4 for Battllions and increasing by force size from there.

Notes (2): Despite nominally only carrying an SMG with limited Ammo, practical field realities at the Battalion level mean the equipment load will often be equivalent to a Company Commanders.

1 TacCom Commander, (R-4+), equipped with 1 x SMG (200 Rds).

1 TacCom Commander Staff, (numbers and equipment varies with assignment).

2 Infantry Platoons Sections (As standard Infantry Platoon).

1 Crew Served Weapons Platoon Section.

Various Equipment, (numbers and equipment varies with assignment).






Notes: A Lesser Planetary Assault Force is typically the minimum force Level deployed to a single theatre, (planet), of operations. Typically they are deployed at a ratio of 1 force per 1 billion planetary inhabitants. Though this can be subject to change depending on various factors.

Infantry Company:

1 Company Command Section

5 Infantry Platoons

2 Missile Platoon Sections

1 Crew Served Weapons Platoon Section

4 Anti-Material Rifle Section’s


Infantry Battalion:

Notes: Although not listed it is common for AFV assets to be attached to such formations.

TacCom Headquarters Section

5 Infantry Company’s


Infantry Division:

TacCom Headquarters Section

5 Infantry Companies


Infantry Regiment:

5 Infantry Divisions


Infantry Corps:

5 Infantry Regiments


Infantry Army Group:

5 Infantry Corps


Infantry Grand Army Group:

5 Infantry Army Groups


Infantry Lesser Planetary Assault Force:

StratCom Headquarters Section

5 Infantry Grand Army Groups


Infantry Planetary Assault Force:

StratCom Headquarters Section

5 Infantry Lesser Planetary Assault Force’s


Infantry Grand Planetary Assault Force:

StratCom Headquarters Section

5 Infantry Planetary Assault Force’s

[Carl]

Below, (Second Post) is the equipment list in detail, please bear in mind once again that it's meant to posses a veneer of plausibility. Feel free to note any really egregious points but bear in mind i'm not expecting much of this, if any, to stand upto scrutiny from a gunsmith, i dont have the expertise to produce that kind of quality output.

4mm Round: The 4mm Round owes it’s origins to the Cultist war following the Stonehendge massacre. Originating somewhere in southeast asia it had been adopted by all surviving south east asian military powers by the end of the conflict. It is impossible to be sure precisely which cartridge was the base for this small calibre round but it was probably one of the standard rifle calibres at the time of the outbreak of hostilities. The exact reasoning behind the introduction of the cartridge have been lost with it’s precise origins but all major users in the aftermath stated several key reasons for retaining it. Namely it’s combination of lightweight weapons, lightweight ammo, and low recoil where perfectly suited to the small frames of their soldiers. At the same time the round produced surprisingly littlie heat or noise making it trivial to silence a weapon using it, or achieve rifle type weapons with high sustained automatic rates of fire. Additionally, the blunt force trauma effect against targets equipped with modern body armour was considered acceptable in comparison to larger intermediate calibre weapons, whilst the higher Automatic RoF and lighter ammunition was considered to provide a better suppression effect against all target types, and comparable wounding potential against un-armoured targets. The round is also noticeable for possessing extremely ballisticly efficient bullets. Whilst still somewhat less potent at mid ranges and noticeably less so at long ranges in comparison to intermediate calibre rounds it does retain excellent power over all short range engagement distances, and is possessed of extreme accuracy from nearly any length of barrel at all ranges it can be considered effective at.

The round survived to the modern era largely because it proved exceedingly popular with police and paramilitary forces for all the previously stated reasons, and so when the EFGT where formed via emergency draft it formed the most easily accessible automatic weapon for their initial use. Whilst superseded by the 6mm Calibre for general engagements due to that rounds superior mid and long range engagement capabilities it nonetheless remains the standard calibre for the variety of machine pistols and auto carbines that are used as backup weapons by the EFGT regular squads. In addition the 4mm full Assault rifle remains a popular weapon for close terrain engagements, particularly urban warfare. In these situations the incredibly low weight of it’s ammunition, (4Lb’s for a 240 Round belted box, for example), allow for a weapon that is able to achieve good sustained firing capacity whilst possessing superior handling characteristics in close quarters.


4mm Pistol: Light Machine pistol optimised for short range fighting only, poor accuracy at longer ranges however. Typically a 20 round straight magazine is used.

4mm Auto Carbine: Low RoF Automatic 4mm Rifle. Noticeable range falloffs compared to the standard assault rifle, but very light and thus highly suitable as a backup weapon. Acceptable close range firepower as well. Trades some damage for slightly better range and noticeably longer sustained firing capability and reduced recoil in comparison to 9mm SMG. Typically uses lightweight 100 round box magazine, but not compatible, (due to space issues), with the 240 round box magazine.

4mm Assault Rifle: A rotary breech weapon possessing an extreme maximum RoF, as well as selectable lower rates, it is generally fitted with a 240 round box magazine, though it will accept the smaller 100 round magazines as well. The weapon possesses equivalent short range characteristics to the 4mm Auto Carbine, but with better power at mid and long ranges, though it’s long range capability still leaves much to be desired. Also possessed of superior sustained firing and suppression capabilities.


9mm Round: The 9mm Parebellum round has remained a common selective fire pistol round since the early 20th centaury, and despite numerous power upgrades, many of the weapons utilising it have changed littlie since the end of the 20th centaury. Remaining the most popular ammunition with civilian pistol enthusiasts throughout the intervening years it was the obvious choice of cartridge when EFGT command decided on the balance of combat experience to seek out a heavier duty selective fire pistol round to replace the 4mm in front line selective fire backup weapons. Invariably this lead to a number of automatic weapons, (a limited number of police and paramilitary unit still favoured the calibre over the 4mm round), to be tested. These too where found to be decent weapons, trading the limited but still passable mid range performance of the 4mm round for far better stopping power at very close ranges. This quickly led to these weapons being adopted by units in urban environments who where regularly facing heavily armoured enemy combatants against which standard 4mm ammunition was at times not sufficiently powerful, even at close ranges. Though doing so carries a significant tradeoff in terms of sustained firing capability due to higher ammunition weights per bullet.

9mm Pistol: Semi-Automatic with good punch and short range ability plus enough range and accuracy to reach out a bit.

9mm SMG: provides decent short and short to mid range firepower in an automatic package. Not as accurate outside short ranges as a true assault rifle and more limited range bands. But a versatile weapon nonetheless.


12mm Round: A rare example of a round custom developed for the EFGT, (as apposed to an existing round lightly modified for their use), the 12mm Pistol cartridge is a development from the 6mm Rifle cartridge, being created by the simple expedient of cutting the cartridge at the base of the shoulder, and inserting a 12mm bullet, producing a simple effective large calibre cartridge. The round itself was developed at the request of the SOAS units who found existing backup weapons rather feeble in comparison to their mainline armaments. Weapons chambered in this calibre invariably have harsh recoil, and despite being typically designated as either pistols or machine pistols are typically much larger.

12mm Pistol: A 12mm Semi Auto pistol packing heavy duty rounds for use against heavy duty targets. Suffers in terms of harsh recoil, limited magazine and poorer accuracy for that power however.

12mm SMG: Heavy duty damage but again accuracy degrades rapidly and recoil is a very severe issue. Typically issued to Power Armoured units, as normal units find the recoil uncontrollable in automatic fire mode.

6mm Round: The history of the 6mm round is fairly well documented. During the cultists wars the existing western 5.56mm cartridge was found to have even more severe issues with stopping power than in prior conflicts. Whilst 7.62mm automatic rifles where issued in some cases as a stopgap there was clearly a need for a more potent round that was more controllable than the 7.62. The initial line of research focused on fitting larger rounds into the existing 5.56 mm casing but largely went nowhere, the results whilst more potent did not meet the requirements. With the need becoming ever more dire the focus shifted to the other common cartridge of the day. The 7.62mm NATO. By significantly cutting the length of the cartridge and necking it down to 6mm it proved possible to fire a heavier round than the 5.56mm at comparable velocity without excessive sacrificing of controllability as with a full power 7.62mm round.

When the EFGT where formed they initially used 4mm rifles as their default weapon, however it rapidly became clear that outside of close terrain engagements the 4mm rounds limited mid range performance was an issue. Whilst the 6mm had fallen out of favour with paramilitary and police units in the interim years, it remained a popular civil cartridge and was rapidly resurrected to provide the basis of a wide range of 6mm weaponry.

6mm Marksmen Rifle: The lightest of the marksmen rifles. The fully automatic capability is dropped in favour of an enhanced internal mechanism intended to eliminate mechanism induced inaccuracies. It retains the ability to fire selective bursts however. It is also fitted with an extended barrel, built in silencer and fully adjustable telescopic sight. It’s semi automatic and burst fire capabilities ensure it retains a decent RoF for a marksmen rifle, despite it’s lack of a fully automatic option. The combination of round, rifle, and silencer makes the weapon ideally suited to mid range selective fire support operations without giving away the firers position. Though the nature of the 6mm round limits its utility at extreme range and the round is not ideally suited to hardened targets, or other tough opponents.

6mm Assault Rifle: The basic rifle that is used by the EFGT regulars in most situations it represents a happy medium between stopping power, accuracy at range, and ammo weight make it perfect for most general duties. Compared to the 4mm it loses somewhat in RoF and thus also suppression capability. It is also somewhat less easy to point, but remains an easy to aim weapon despite this. Usually fitted with a 120 round double drum mag.

6mm LMG: Utilising what is effectively a scaled up 4mm Assault rifle rotary breech action the weapon possesses a high RoF and it’s marksmen rifle length barrel adds to the effective range and stopping power of the weapon. As the LMG, (Light Machine Gun for those wondering), designation suggests the weapon is intended as a lightweight form of sustained automatic fire support. It’s combination of round, barrel and action make it an excellent option for this with considerable stopping and suppression power, in an only modestly heavy weapon.

8.6mm Round: The 8.6mm round was technically around for much longer being a very minor modification of the pre-cultist war .338 Lapua Magnum round. The .338 had been a popular western sniper round even prior to the Cultist Wars, but the ever higher lethality demanded by that conflict cemented the round, and several other similar rounds in non-western parts of the world as an excellent sniper round. In the following years it became the common high portability Marksmen round of choice for police and paramilitary units, as well as high powered civilian shooters.

When the EFGT where formed their greatest stumbling block was the lack of a true medium calibre machinegun round for dedicated fire support roles. Given that they had already adopted the .338 calibre as a marksmen rifle round it was therefore natural they would develop a range of medium automatics as well. Minor modifications where made to cartridge and other specifics of the round to ensure it performed to adequate standards in these weapons, but these where minimal. The end result is the current 8.6mm round.

8.6mm Marksmen Rifle: This larger Rifle is distinctly separate from 8.6mm Automatics and is a semi-automatic design. The choice of round coupled with the simple basic design and scope make for a potent sniper weapon useful vs all but the hardest of infantry class targets. The weapon also possesses a suppressor, whilst not as effective as a full silencer, it does allow sniping at longer ranges with no fear of revealing the current position. At mid and close ranges however it is distinctly insufficient.

8.6mm SAR: the 8.6mm Simple Automatic Rifle, (SAR for short), was an attempt to provide the power of the 8.6mm round in as portable a package as possible, thus providing a partial replacement for the 6mm LMG, which although powerful, was not always sufficient in both range and stopping power. The design is largely successful, though a littlie heavy, and the recoil makes firing without the benefit of the bipod effectively impossible for regulars. As a result it is ironically far more common amongst the SOAS, whilst a littlie unwieldy even for power armoured troops at close range it makes an excellent larger calibre mid/long range automatic rifle for them. And when properly supported is ferociously dangerous. Even amongst the EFGT regulars it enjoyed a solid positive reception, it’s flaws merely mean it must play second fiddle to other weapons to some degree.

8.6m MMG: The 8.6mm Medium Machine Gun is a large very high rate of fire rotary breech weapon intended to provide sustained long range medium calibre fire support. The relatively large mechanism and need for an actively air-cooled barrel do make for an noticeably heavy weapon. This was one of the reasons the SAR was developed, at the cost of a marked reduction in RoF and sustained firing capability it was able to provide automatic medium calibre support in a more mobile package. Despite this development and the development of the 14.5mm HMG it remains a popular crew served weapon, it’s combination of RoF and medium calibre round make it both an excellent suppressive weapon as well as a potent killer vs a wide range of targets.

14.5mm Round: The 14.5mm round is second only to the 9mm in terms of age. A long standing Russian HMG round, it’s current iteration arose during the cultist wars where their developed a need for an even more powerful sniper round than those currently available, (other countries saw similar issues, but most got by with some form of 20mm anti-material rifle, or put up with the limitations of existing 50 calibre HMG rounds). The existing 14.5mm was the obvious cartridge but had some long range precision accuracy issues. As a result both cartridge and bullet where extensively modified to produce this heavy weight hard hitting round. Whilst rifles for it where heavy and even a perfect shot with high powered ammunition was not guaranteed to kill some targets, it was a significant step forward over the next best round available to the Russian military. Due to it’s sheer stopping it soon eclipsed the various 50 calibre rounds in the post war era, and as such remained the heavy duty round of choice for extremely high powered marksmen rifles. Naturally when the EFGT went looking for a high powered sniper round the 14.5mm was the natural choice, and it in turn led to the resurrection of HMG designs based on the round, whilst straight copies of very old Russian military hardware initially soon all new designs taking full advantage of materials advances emerged.

14.5mm Marksmen Rifle: The big boy of sniper weaponry the 14.5mm is a bolt action un-suppressed weapon, who’s hefty weight and recoil make it very awkward to use. However it is virtually the only non-collateral causing, (single man portable), weapon available to EFGT regular units that is capable of dealing with power armoured foes, or other equivalents.

14.5mm HMG: The 14.5mm HMG is a large calibre moderate RoF 14.5mm weapon. It’s combination of heavy duty actively cooled barrel, and large calibre round mean very few targets can safely endure it’s firepower for even a brief period, and fewer still for extended periods. This heavy duty firepower makes the weapon highly popular amongst all forces. Nonetheless it’s lower RoF and marginally higher weight do make it inferior in both the suppression role, and as a general purpose machine gun vs targets that do not require the full destructive power of the 14.5mm round, when compared to the 8.6mm MMG.


20 Gauge Round: The 20 Gauge shotgun calibre has been a popular weapon calibre for longer than any other size currently in the EFGT inventory. Though it is worth noting that the current round bears only a passing similarity to older rounds, being a scaled down form of the 10 Gauge calibre intended to be more controllable in a lighter weapon. The calibre was not originally part of the EFGT procurement programme. The request for a round of this type was not in fact placed until some time after the EFGT’s initial formation. At around this time period Cultist forces had begun utilising large numbers of fallen as shock troops. Whilst in more open battlefields this proved not to be as major an issue, (since a number of heavier weapons could be easily brought to bear), in closer combat environments such as urban area’s it proved rather problematic as those same heavier weapons where not easily brought to bear quickly in such tight confines. This lead to a requirement being issued. A number of different weapon and ammunition calibre possibilities where studied but ultimately the 20 Gauge won, in part because through the use of shot it could be easily used to great effect against lighter targets in a way the alternatives could not.

Like it’s larger 10 Gauge sibling the 20 Gauge is a long length, brass construction, rebated rim cartridge. Typically it is loaded with either tungsten 00 Buckshot or a HDFBBCW (High Density Finned Base, Ballistic Capped, Waddcutter) slug, usual shot and slug weights are in the 40 grams region with velocities being just slightly subsonic. This was felt to represent the best compromise between stopping power, accuracy and recoil. Due to this high per round weight however it has not replaced the 4mm or 9mm calibres and is typically used on a limited basis within the squad rather than as a full replacement for standard rifles or backup weapons.

20 Gauge Carbine: Despite it’s designation, carbine is perhaps a littlie misleading, as the weapon lacks any true automatic capability and is typically used with a rather small 5 round clip. The relatively simple and lightweight construction as well as the typically short 20 gauge barrel do however ensure a lightweight weapon. As a result it is commonly carried by so equipped squad members in the place of the 9mm SMG when a squad expects to need the heavier stopping power.

20 Gauge Automatic: The 20 Gauge Automatic whilst using the same length barrel as the Carbine uses a much stronger automatic capable mechanism and heavy weight barrel paired with a larger 30 round top feed magazine. The result is capable of delivering heavy duty automatic firepower at short range capable of impeding the toughest of targets. Despite it’s firepower and relatively modest weight compared to many weapons, the weight of ammo means it is rarely used as a direct rifle replacement, and whilst a variety of employment methods can and have been used depending on circumstances the typical usage seen most commonly is to replace a squads standard 6mm LMG with the weapon.

10 Gauge Round: The 10 gauge round was for all intents and purposes developed entirely for the SOAS for use in “Hard Contact” operations. These operations, dominated by heavy infantry on infantry combat with littlie or no AFV-G or AFV-A support, but with a marked disparity in numbers that disfavours the SOAS force’s whilst requiring them to launch a highly time sensitive assault on defended enemy positions is the most challenging test of men and equipment the EFGT know of. The close terrain that typifies such engagements coupled with the defensive nature of the opposition and lack of heavy supporting assets places an emphasis on pure infantry forces. It has been well known for centuries that whilst gunfire can and does achieve many kills, fragmentation explosives are by far the most effective and quick method of eliminating opposition in such an environment. Unfortunately friendly fire concerns have always prevented very close range or overly liberal use of such in close infantry on infantry engagements. The mass deployment of SOAS Power armour offered an opportunity however since light fragments could not damage even the weakest parts of such armour. This created it’s own problems however since existing hand grenades and 60mm man portable grenade launcher ordinance was designed to produce just such heavy fragments to aid in penetrating light obstacles and disabling unusually tough opponents such as Fallen. A lighter explosive system was required to do the job. The 10 Gauge round was the ultimate result of these efforts at producing a lighter, “mini-grenade”, the decision to classify it as a shotgun round being a mixture of counter-intelligence and simple practicality based on it’s use of a smooth bore design to facilitate fin-stabilised projectiles. Buckshot, typically Tungsten 0 Buckshot, was added later. Regardless of load mass is approximately 80 grams with a muzzle velocity of approximately half a kilometre per second. The micro-grenades use a ballisticlly capped boat-tailed finned base design, secondary factors mean the micro grenades have selectable fusing for impact, delay action, standoff, and timed fusing options. The fuses being micro electrical in nature allowing the explosive portion to be disabled on command, though genuine solid shot lacking any explosive is preferred where possible in situations that require it. Though not all weapons use the action, the design uses a rebated rim cartridge ideal for API Blowback operation, though even then recoil is harsh in most designs.

10 Gauge Underslung Launcher: Possessing a simple plastic 5 round revolver magazine with the breech forwards of the magazine and firing from an open bolt to facilitate this the design is a simple and efficient means to place the firepower in the hands of virtually every rifle equipped regular infantryman in the service. It’s combination of short barrel with lowered muzzle velocity and delayed recoil design make it respectably accurate and not too unwieldy in recoil, though accuracy at extreme range and maximum range suffer as a consequence.

10 Gauge Crew Served Automatic: A heavy modification of the 10 Gauge SOAS Assault Gun. The addition of a tripod, man load sized individual component groups, and a single feed ammunition system, feeding from belted ammunition allows the weapon to function as a crew served weapons system. It’s heavy weight ammo, meagre 300RMP rate of fire, and limited long range capability preclude mass deployment. Nonetheless it remains a popular weapon for it’s ability to flush even the hardiest defenders from cover.

10 Gauge SOAS Assault Gun: Effectively an oversized assault rifle, it’s sheer weight makes it virtually impossible for a normal soldier to wield, and if the API operation seriously limit’s experienced recoil, it is far from a mild weapon. Fitted with a 40 round top feed magazine with a secondary, (usually 5 round clip), side feed the weapon is capable of laying down a withering hail of fragmentation explosives whilst possessing the ability to rapidly switch to an alternate payload for specialised situations. In the hands of a SOAS power armoured trooper the weapon is easily pointable and is heavily favoured in all but the most open terrain. Though it remains customary for a unit to mix in at least a few “conventionally” equipped members to provide necessary long range firepower.

Heavy Ordinance:

60mm Grenade: The 60 mm Grenade, like most explosive ordinance had to be developed from scratch. There was initially much debate about the calibre with many preferring a smaller more portable size based off calibres commonly used by riot police. However simple harsh experience in the face of numerous shock troops encounters, particularly with fallen, made the development of a weapon with heavier fragmentation effect highly desirable. Creating a round with sufficient velocity whilst retaining acceptable recoil was not easy and much of the effort would lie with the weapons rather than the ammunition. Per round weight including the typically lightweight ceramic magazine section is in the 1.5kg range per round. The rounds use a mortar style design in which a short finned tail and rounded nose is used with the propellant encasing the tail with an igniter in the tail base itself. The igniter is in fact a 4mm round crimped into the base, thus allowing for easy replacement of faulty igniters. This design allows the ammunition to double as 60mm mortar rounds.

60mm Grenade Launcher: The standard man portable 60mm design for standard infantry squads. The design is reminiscent of the 10 Gauge underslung weapon. Though the ammunition is held in single non-flexible “links”, (usually carried in 3 round “clips”), it uses the same open bolt design with the same magazine aft of the breach configuration which allows the same relatively lightweight magazine construction. Likewise the Barrel, Magazine, and Action are mounted as a single unit on rollers within the weapon frame allowing them to recoil within it against a recoil spring. The Recoil system is specially designed to delay the experience recoil allowing the round to exit the barrel before it is experienced, thus improving accuracy. The feed system nominally feeds clips from the top to bottom of the weapon with sights mounted on the side of operators choice, however they can be rotated in less than 15 seconds to allow the feed to be from either side with the sights repositioned to the top of the weapon. This facilitates the use of bipod and tripod mounts to further buffer recoil allowing for higher sustained rates of fire. The frame and barrel may both be extended via an add on kit allowing a larger mortar bipod to be attached to the extended frame. The stock cover is removable and the stock frame to which it is attached folds out into a v-shaped base thus converting the weapon to a 60mm mortar configuration. Dedicated mortar sights are attached to the barrel extension. The weapons primary limitation is it’s high ammo weight, though with the full mortar conversion kit it approaches an all up weapon weight in the same region as a SAR.

SOAS 60mm Underslung Launcher: Designed for the SOAS units the design is effectively a standard 60mm launcher barrel and action in a new frame. This frame is suitable for attaching to the underside of SAR’s a similar weapons favoured by SOAS units, it lacks the recoil delay and dampening features, since these are not require by SOAS units, Feed is typically from a 5 round revolver style magazine with modified feed mechanism to facilitate, though it retains the ability to feed from straight clips as well. Due to the lack of stock it cannot be converted to a mortar however.

LWGM-MP: The LWGM-MP (Lightweight Guided Missile – Multi-Purpose), usually shortened to LWGM was the EFGT answer to the need for a man portable guided munitions able to engage both aerospace and ground targets alike. The warhead is a simple design with a multi-stage HEAT at it’s core surrounded by a further layer of high explosive and pre-scored casing to enhance shrapnel and blast damage effects. The missile uses broad band passive EM guidance able to lock onto targets by itself or with the aid of a laser designator. It is also capable of accepting local terrain update for nap of the earth flight and limited autonomous navigation, as well as having several pre-set options for it’s flight and attack profiles. Finally it can be fired in a ballistic mode where internal gyro’s and control surfaces will keep it on a direct line track away from the launcher, eliminating the need for super elevation. The propulsion is 3 stage. An initial low back blast booster kicks the round clear of the launcher before falling away. Once clear the main grain is ignited. The grain starts as a traditional rocket grain, however the oxidiser content of the grain rapidly becomes lean after around a half a second of operation. At this point the air intake baffle plates retract allowing air to flow into the rocket core at supersonic speeds converting the propulsion to ram-rocket for the remainder of the burn. The weapon form is of a lifting body design with fold out control surfaces. Rounds are supplied sealed inside individual canisters that can be loaded into a wide verity of launchers with the form designed to ensure that the canister can be inserted into the launcher in only one orientation so as to ensure the lifting body works as intended. Range is approximately 12KM against ground targets. Aerospace range depends on target heading, altitude, and speed at the time of launch.

LWGM Infantry Launcher: The standard LWGM launcher used by the infantry is a single tube design with integrated comms capability for missile updates and selectable firing modes. Whilst the weapon can be fired from the shoulder in both guided and ballistic modes the standard employment is to emplace it on it’s bipod, usually in a high angle mortar style configuration, though low angle emplacement is an option. Though backblast is minimal for the ordinance fired a deflection plate add on with variable angle is included to reduce dust kick up. The launcher also possesses an orbital asset positioning system, though provision is given for manual input in the event an orbital network is unavailable or disrupted. Standard procedure is to emplace the weapon in a suitable location, with the comms system tied into one or more pre-defined frequency’s. Once setup any infantryman with the appropriate equipment may request a fire mission from a mission specified number of launchers. Launchers are then selected in a nearest to target order and coordinated in launch time vs estimated transit times to achieve a simultaneous arrival on target.

90mm Mortar Round: Yet another round developed specifically for the EFGT. In form it is simple a scaled up 60mm grenade round. The same basic Mortar Style design is used with the same ignitor. Unlike the 60mm round however rounds can be manually removed from their individual magazine cartridges. Rounds are held within the cartridge by springed cams rather than breakaway holders. When the round is chambered the action depresses 2 studs on the exterior of the cartridge, releasing the round. Rounds are supplied in their cartridges with a full set of firing charges, however the charges are simple to add or remove, a round can thus be removed, it’s charge load reduced, and re-inserted into the cartridge in less than 15 seconds, this can even be done when the cartridge is being fed as part of a belt of belt of cartridges, (Belts are of the same solid design as the 60mm Grenade round).

90mm Crew Served Mortar: In basic configuration the design is similar to the 60mm Grenade Launcher in it’s mortar configuration. However it uses a dedicated baseplate, lacks the recoil delay mechanism, and the frame and barrel are single pieces rather than 2 sections each. It retains the recoil buffer and heavy duty muzzle brake however. The feed mechanism has been modified however. Instead of the rearward recoil directly actuating the feed system it compresses a piston against a spring. Unless the piston is fully released a springed cam at the rear of the action will retain the bolt in the rearmost position even if the lanyard operated sear is released. A second springed cam also ensures the action cannot cycle during recoil, holding the bolt to the rear until the weapon returns to battery. Lanyard operation is single action on the bolt sear and selectable double action on the piston sear. The weapon thus has 2 modes of feed operation. Mode 1 has the spring remain cocked after the bolt fully recoils, when the lanyard is pulled the lanyard sear disengages, whilst simultaneously disengaging the piston sear, thus releasing the cocked spring, this actuates the feed mechanism, loading the next round, once fully loaded the piston will be fully uncompressed thus releasing the bolt to chamber and fire the round before it actuates re-cocking the mechanism. Because the piston sear is double action the lanyard must be released and pulled again to fire another round. This mode of operation allows each rounds charge loadout to be altered right up to the moment the lanyard is pulled, since the next round in the mag is not chambered till it is pulled. Mode 2 causes the piston sear to permanently disengage. This means the round is chambered before the lanyard is pulled. Combined with the single action bolt sear this allows the weapon to operate in fully automatic mode with RoF being limited by the recoil buffer system cycle rate. A separate manual piston sear release exists, allowing a round to be manually chambered during mode changes, and a push stud disconnects the piston from the feed mechanism while depressed allowing a new mag to be manually chambered even if the weapon was last fired in Mode 1. A cocking handle allows the weapon to be cycled in the event of an ignitor failure with the unfired round returning to it’s magazine section.

[Carl]

Ok post away :).

[avr]

Implied but not stated is that the EFGT is American-style heavy infantry. Which in turn implies that there's a huge load of other carried gear besides the weapons listed, and that the structure is basically professional (as opposed to, say, Warhammer 40K). It's not clear whether the soldiers are conscripts, volunteers or a professional military class or caste. Care to describe these things?

The list of cartridges made my eyes bleed. I'm not sure who other than a gunsmith would care about 101 variations on bullets.

[Carl]

To go at your reply backwards. The detailed Ammo list started way back when i was gonna try for an RPG. Unfortunately after much wrangling i realized there was no practical way to make the varying ranges work. However i was most of the way through the document at the time so i saw no reason not to finish it.

At the same time my world building style is very much interconnected. One thing informs another. As a result i wanted a good idea of the capabilities of specific weapons before i began laying out my organisation charts as their mode of employment, (given power armor is not standard issue), would be dependent on factors such as weapon and ammo weights. And things like caliber choice where dictated by a combination of what would have been readily available when the EFGT whee formed, (it was something of an emergency that forced them to grab off-the-shelf hardware) and what i saw as necessary operational requirements.

That said the ability to customize unit equipment within certain ranges will be in, or at least that's the intent.

For the rest of your post:

1. Not sure what the typical ratio of AFV to infantry squads is in an american style army, (had real issues researching this), but EFGT are probably slightly more AFV heavy as a result of several factor's. Primarily amongst them being that only heavy non-man-portable missiles can achieve kills on stuff heavier than an IFV, and anything heavier than an armored car, (Humvee equivalent), is vulnerable to infantry portable ordinance in specific weak points only. So dedicated missile carrier's form a vital backbone to EFGT anti-armor doctrine, and these continue to exist alongside mechanization assets and direct and indirect fire support AFV's. Aerospace is also vastly different in this era, i'm still working out how they'd be employed.

2. Thought i'd added a note on this. Yes they can be assumed to carry stuff like rations, survival supplies, body armor, personal radios, e.t.c. I'm only listing stuff i wouldn't expect to be standard issue to all personnel. Though agin tech advances mean most of the stuff that can be lighter will be and body armor is more protective to boot.

3. EFGT is primarily volunteer, but there probably is limited conscription used when they don't get enough for a specific time period. Both sides have a lot of planets, (somewhere from several dozen to a couple hundred is my current working level), so they can raise fairly large forces on a volunteer basis.

4. Structure is very much professionally trained, though i chose not to divide the squads into fire teams as i figure the issue of Fallen shock troops, (Rough mental guesstimates say the equivalent of 1 EFGT platoon of them per EFGT equivalent company), makes firepower concentration vital.

That help?

[Mike_G]

You underestimate man portable anti armor weapons.

TOW, Javelin, even the old Dragon can kill AFVs reliably (depending on specifics, obviously) and smaller stuff like the SMAW, RPGs, and LAW rockets can kill or immobilize vehicles under the right circumstances.

Two guys in an ATV with a TOW launcher are a cheap way to scare the crap out of an enemy armored unit.

[Carl]

You underestimate man portable anti armor weapons.

TOW, Javelin, even the old Dragon can kill AFVs reliably (depending on specifics, obviously) and smaller stuff like the SMAW, RPGs, and LAW rockets can kill or immobilize vehicles under the right circumstances.

Two guys in an ATV with a TOW launcher are a cheap way to scare the crap out of an enemy armored unit.

Emphasis mine, an important point to remember is that this is explicitly set quite a bit into the future, and AFV's have both a form of energy shielding and CIWS systems and weapons tech has lagged massively behind material science advances.

To quantify the later, the equivalent would be trying to build a missile to penetrate the armor of a modern MBT/IFV with WW2 shaped charge designs. Getting through an MBT of theirs with a missile requires something the size of a Maverick missile, (for comparison), with their shaped charge designs, (which admittedly still are better than our's, just not in comparison to how much better their armor is than ours), which weighed in at 450Lb's+. Theirs would probably be lighter, but it would still be way too heavy for a man to carry.

Man portable missiles are there for taking down shields and screening heavier missiles. And even that's only workable because they can coordinate the fire of several dozen widely spaced launchers for simultaneous arrival along a single attack vector. Which is also one of the reasons missiles that are at least big enough to punch out an IFV, (they could build those at least, maybe even light tank killers though that would be much tougher and MBT killers are totally out of the question), aren't used by infantry, they'd never be man portable and long ranged enough to be usable like that, you just couldn't get enough launchers into a small enough area without them getting too tightly packed unless they had a fair amount of standoff capability.

Basically an armored car can be reliably punched out by a man portable shaped charge missile, An IFV has weakpoints but hitting them is highly unreliable, and Light tanks and MBT's need the heavy missiles no matter what. The number of missiles also scales sharply. these are just preliminary numbers atm but your looking at 9-10 light missiles, (i.e infantry portable), to take out a Humvee equivalent armored car. 25 light and 2 heavy, (vehicle portable only), to take out a Bradly equivalent IFV, 55 light and 4 heavy to punch out a light tank, (hard to name an equivalent), and around a 100 light and 4 heavy to punch out an MBT, (again no direct modern equivalent except in weight, their MBT seriously differs from ours).

Hope that clears things up.

[rs2excelsior]

I assume a division is supposed to be made up of 5 battalions, not 5 companies? Also, in any modern army (that I know of at least), a division is larger than a regiment/brigade. In the US, regiments still exist, but not as field units. A battalion could be the 1st Battalion of the 60th Infantry Regiment, but it deploys as part of a brigade which could very well not contain another battalion of that regiment.

If you want a fairly detailed description of modern US Army organization, you might want to look here (http://fas.org/man/dod-101/army/unit/toe/). It at least gets down to the Battalion level, and I believe gets somewhat into the company and platoon organization as well.

And here's a (very) rough overview of what you'll find there. The biggest thing in modern armies is combined arms. Each branch works well, but has weaknesses. You put them in close cooperation, and each covers the weaknesses of the others. So a rifle company will have a mortar section for close artillery support, as well as various heavy direct-fire weapons. A battalion will probably have its own light howitzer battery and a weapons platoon or company, which can be split up between the battalion's companies in combat. I believe the companies of most battalions are homogeneous, but you might find that armored battalions have a company of mechanized infantry, for example. It's at the brigade level that you really see the combined arms take effect. Here you have infantry and armored battalions, as well as heavier artillery batteries, dedicated air defense batteries, and logistical support (again, exactly what type and how much support depends on nationality--for example, the Soviet army had more decentralized air defense assets than the equivalent US army, while the US artillery was likewise more decentralized than its Soviet counterpart). Even if a brigade is specifically an Infantry or Armored Brigade, you'll still find both infantry and armor battalions (again, exact ratios depend on nationality and time period). A Brigade usually has 3-5 Battalions, and a Division will consist of 3-4 Brigades and a large number of assets. This will include artillery, air defense, reconnaissance, electronic warfare, helicopter, and command/control elements. Once you get up to Corps and larger organizations, it becomes a lot more fluid. A Corps is a collection of Divisions and various assets, usually all forces assigned to a particular area of operations (especially in the Cold War, where units were relatively stationary).

Also, an Army Group is a group of Armies, not of Corps. Stepping those designations back would get rid of the need for a "Grand Army Group."

[Carl]

I assume a division is supposed to be made up of 5 battalions, not 5 companies? Also, in any modern army (that I know of at least), a division is larger than a regiment/brigade. In the US, regiments still exist, but not as field units. A battalion could be the 1st Battalion of the 60th Infantry Regiment, but it deploys as part of a brigade which could very well not contain another battalion of that regiment.

If you want a fairly detailed description of modern US Army organization, you might want to look here. It at least gets down to the Battalion level, and I believe gets somewhat into the company and platoon organization as well.

Gonna need to take a while to work through that link so give me a bit of time, but i based my names loosely off what wiki said the order is, though there is a greater degree of stratification as I've made some terms that are equivalent IRL sequential instead, but that's a necessary part of making sure the top end is large enough to be useful in numbers terms. (A planet the size and population of earth would require the employment of 2 Grand Planetary Assault Forces for example

Regarding combined arms. I deliberately skipped the Logistics and armored elements because i'm still writing in the capabilities of those. I have general roles, (i believe the military term IRL is "required operational capabilities" :smallamused:), planned out, but between the energy shielding and CIWS systems i have to figure out quite a bit more than general armor levels and firepower. So it's gonna take a while and i still need to figure out how aerospace is gonna work, is giving me fits as the changed AFV environment greatly increases their vulnerability but their mobility advantage is much too large to just give up on.


And here's a (very) rough overview of what you'll find there. The biggest thing in modern armies is combined arms. Each branch works well, but has weaknesses. You put them in close cooperation, and each covers the weaknesses of the others. So a rifle company will have a mortar section for close artillery support, as well as various heavy direct-fire weapons. A battalion will probably have its own light howitzer battery and a weapons platoon or company, which can be split up between the battalion's companies in combat. I believe the companies of most battalions are homogeneous, but you might find that armored battalions have a company of mechanized infantry, for example. It's at the brigade level that you really see the combined arms take effect. Here you have infantry and armored battalions, as well as heavier artillery batteries, dedicated air defense batteries, and logistical support (again, exactly what type and how much support depends on nationality--for example, the Soviet army had more decentralized air defense assets than the equivalent US army, while the US artillery was likewise more decentralized than its Soviet counterpart). Even if a brigade is specifically an Infantry or Armored Brigade, you'll still find both infantry and armor battalions (again, exact ratios depend on nationality and time period). A Brigade usually has 3-5 Battalions, and a Division will consist of 3-4 Brigades and a large number of assets. This will include artillery, air defense, reconnaissance, electronic warfare, helicopter, and command/control elements. Once you get up to Corps and larger organizations, it becomes a lot more fluid. A Corps is a collection of Divisions and various assets, usually all forces assigned to a particular area of operations (especially in the Cold War, where units were relatively stationary).


As i noted above, things like the Corps matter is designed to extend the size of formations.

Regarding combined arm's. As allready noted i avoided the whole issue of armor and aerospace on purpose. Not because they're not supposed to be part of the units :).

Actually i'm more interested in what people make of the Platoon and Company sized formations, specifically because of the combined arms element there. The rest of the formations are there to lay out the structure, not really to represent the actual capabilities of those structures as they're missing their logistics and armor elements. Hopefully the bolding gets people to read that part :smallbiggrin:.

Specifically the Platoon is the minimum size of formation that can carry enough different types of standard single man portable weapons to provide interlocking fire support against a wide variety of targets to cover each squads individual weaknesses. It is a larger formation than modern Platoon's, but that's because of how the cultists heavy use of fallen, (the cultists who don't have the same worry and who have to worry more about SOAS units prefer to split into 3 man fire teams with an attached IMP), requires the smallest unit capable of independent action to have a rather high minimum firepower level.

Company is the minimum size of formation with the Crew served weapon asset's, missile assets, and anti-material rifle assets required to deploy the full capabilities of infantry portable weaponry in a single formation. And by extension the minimum size able to handle the full variety of enemy infantry assets and enemy light armor assets without outside support.

Everything above the company level i a level at which new armored and/or aerospace assets are integrated so that at somewhere around the division level there's some degree of all capabilities. Larger sizes beyond that either being strategic organisations only, or larger tactical amalgamations intended for especially large scale tactical operations.

Anyway gonna try and have a read of that link. Hope my reply helps understand things a bit better till then :).

[infinitetech]

interesting build, tho im not sure that i like the disparage between certain tech lvls

[Carl]

Sorry for the double post, been looking over that link and it's created some thoughts and new questions for you all to look over and think on and answer and other cool stuff.

I'm still working through a LOT of that stuff, it's hard to follow at times because there's so many acronym's, and the units aren't broken down too well in their specifics so it's hard to see what kind of manpower and equipment they have at the individual personnel level to achieve their goals and how this is split up amongst individual squads, (or whatever the unit equivalent is). I also took forever to realize the top half of the table is just a separate listing of every unit type that might appear in the subsequent division breakdowns as apposed to assets attached to every division in addition to the listed division specific stuff.

However i have noticed some interesting point's.

1. There's a lot more signals's and other "Command and Control" assets than i honestly expected. Unless in this case the term company refers to a formation with a much smaller personnel total than i'm thinking, (A rifle company has 108 rifleman, plus mortar team, antiarmor team, and hq section personnel, exact total personnel is not given though, will probably try digging for that). Could someone clarify what they do, is it just fire support request stuff? Or does the division commander really need that many people to break down whats happening for him.

Guess i need to discuss how i see the C&C networks working in those two cases for my setup. Give me time to make more observations and i'll drop it in at the bottom.

2. There's a lot more attached armor and suchlike than i thought their'd be outside of the mechanized and armored brigade's, same for helicopters in the non-airborne unit's and i didn't expected the mechanized to have so many MBT's attached. Then again until i saw this i wasn't expecting so many different division types. What i'd read about the divisional level was that it was supposed to have capabilities in all area's, being a non-specialized formation. This clearly isn't true in at least the US army.


This kind of brings me round to the one Infantry formation equipment list contained in there. Specifically that of a light infantry battalion, which also includes a total personnel count figure of 567 personnel. That info combined gives the following info:

US army light infantry battalion:

15 HMG’s, Ratio: 37.8 men per weapon

14 40mm Grenade machineguns, Ratio: 40.5 men per weapon

72 5.56mm LMG’s, Ratio: 7.88 men per weapon

18 Mortar’s, Ratio: 31.5 men per weapon

18 Shoulder Fired AT Guided Missiles, Ratio: 31.5 men per weapon

20 Vehicle Mounted AT Guided Missiles, Ratio: 28.35 men per weapon

38 Total AT Guided Missiles, Ratio: 14.92 men per weapon

The closest comparison in personnel in my organisational setup is the Company at 488 personnel with the following list:

1 Company has:

30 LMG’s, Ratio: 16.26 men per weapon

10 SAR’s, Ratio: 48.8 men per weapon

Total Man Portable MG’s, (SAR +LMG): 40, Ratio: 12.2 men per weapon

20 60mm Grenade Launchers, Ratio: 24.4 men per weapon

56 LWGM’s, Ratio: 8.71 men per weapon

4 90mm Mortar’s, Ratio: 122 men per weapon

7 MMG’s, Ratio: 69.7 men per weapon

2 HMG’s, Ratio: 244 men per weapon

Total Crew Served MG’s, (MMG + HMG): 9, 7 MMG’s, Ratio: 54.22 men per weapon

1 10 Gauge Crew Served Automatic, Ratio: 488 men per weapon


These numbers make for some interesting comparisons and notes.

The first surprise was the total lack of any M240's in the US infantry list, i'm guessing this is part of the whole "Light Infantry" thing though, and that in a standard infantry units they'd replace some of the M249's.

The other big surprise was just how many crew served weapons, particularly Grenade Machingun's there are to basic infantry, i was under the impression such slow to relocate weapons where generally disfavored for mobility reasons, and i'm honestly surprised at how many grenade machineguns there are, i was under the impression those where a primarily defensive system unsuited due to short range for aggressive advances that would require them to advance under fire to get into a position they could be setup in. Any comments on these observations would be welcome btw.

There is a notable lack of Mortars on my side in that comparison, however it's worth noting that the breakdown for the US Light Army Battalion is 6 60mm mortar's, 6 81mm mortar's, and 6 66mm mortar's, (the last of which i can find no info on anywhere). Whilst the 60mm grenade launchers used by the EFGT are almost certainly no match for a proper 60mm mortar design in their mortar mode, their greater numbers would certainly tend to compensate. There's still fewer 90mm than 81mm but it's still not as bad as initial numbers suggest.

The real problem however is very obvious. There's a vastly lower ratio of man portable machine guns to infantry in the overall unit. There's actually more total single man portable support weapons in the company than their is in the US battalion, (72 for the US, 88 for the EFGT Company), despite the smaller manpower count.

The problem is that 16 of those are anti-material rifles, and another 12 are Medium Marksmen rifles. So there's only 60 non-sniper class weapons in that classification, and a third of those are grenade launchers. Certainly those launchers offer a degree of high portability sustained explosive fragmentation fire at the platoon level that the US Light Infantry Battalion cannot match, and it was a very deliberate gearing choice on my part to work in a lot more of that kind of capability at the low levels of organisation. Again it's those damm Fallen the cultists like to use, they really distort EFGT doctrine on all levels. It actually makes Cultist infantry a somewhat more effective force man for man because they aren't limited in some ways by that need. Though the SOAS do create their ow distortion given the cultists are primarily on the defensive and the SOAS are the beach-head force for planetary assault's, (they more or less have to be, short of Alice herself leaving Earth they're the only force that can do it with any real hope of success).

One question i would like to raise that i should have thought of earlier is this: How practical is it to mix something like an LMG and an MMG (M249 and M240 in US service for equivalents), in the same firing unit? Would the differing ranges make dual same type more effective even if it hurt total sustained action capability from an ammo supply PoV?

On the other hand as expected the average AT guided missiles per man are much better ratio wise, which given my related comments on how many missiles it takes to kill an AFV is a kind of necessary point.

On a related note i found it interesting just how much anti-tank light armor support was directly attached. I hadn't really intended to attach those kinds of assets directly to Companies as part of their formal organisation, but the more i think about this the more i can see an argument for it, and the Armored Car concept is the most fleshed out of the AFV's, the rest are much more dependent on where the MBT ends up in armament terms than the armored car.


Okay C&C stuff:

I did say i'd touch on the C&C stuff.

First i want to address the first and by far the most obvious use, and the one entertainment certainly emphasizes the most, fire support requests.

This is virtually all handled by the target designator and rangefinding unit every soldier has. Whilst some types of fire support can only be called in by higher ranking individual's, the common stuff like laying missiles on AFV and Infantry units as well as designating target's for direct fire support from AFV's. There are feature's to make it virtually impossible for captured units to be misused on friendlies but whilst some of this is touched upon below it's by no means exhaustive i'm sure, (it's something I've given only a limited amount of detailed thought on TBH).

The basics of the system is that the range finding unit has it's own positional locator system, (including a crude if passable Internal Positioning System), and can between rangefinding and internal gyro's determine the position of whatever you aim the designator at. This saves it to one of several memory slots, (first empty), at this point by re-selecting that memory you can add one or more extra designations of the target to provide vector and velocity data on a moving target. In addition you can add threat data by selecting the type of target your designating and specifying what kind of nearby support it has, (a simple support level is assigned, you don't have to be ultra specific though the system provides for that as well as a matter of completeness for recon setups). For the sake of making computing calculations simpler, standard procedure is to attach support data for all nearby enemy assets to each report even if your also uploading data on some of those supporting assets as well.

Note that despite the above it's mostly just buttons and status light's, not some multi-function display monster.

Once you've done that you can upload the whole thing as a recon report or a fire support request, (a simple safety switch does exist in case you don;t want to broadcast your presence and there is the option to append a notation of that being on to the upload). At which point it will be broadcast and sent via the comms network, (more on that in a second), to a nearby available missile carrier class vehicle, (there are several grades based on different chassis with different methods of employment e.t.c.), which type of carrier will depend on the appended support data value. The missile carrier will then look at that, look at the other reports on local units and get a general feel for how much data processing the fire mission will take, if there's a lot of reports in that area that might be relevant, and that number exceeds what it can handle, it will kick it back into the comm net with a marker appended to it where the computers will kick it over to the nearest capable unit that's free. At which point it will collate those reports, ping friendly comms to check there's no friendlies too close, and then calculate the fire mission requirements and out of available assets determine a fire plan and then transmit that to necessary units with appended launch times for appropriate simultaneous arrival.

If a friendly unit is too close it will check see if those units have uploaded an appropriate marker to the system indicating they're in serious danger and need fire support regardless of local danger, (the range-finding unit has such a feature), of they haven't it puts a hold on the fire mission and kicks a notification to the affected unit, which they can use to send an override back to the coms net.

AFV's are capable of similar things but their on-board systems make it easier as they can automate several aspect's, just requiring the commander of the vehicle to confirm the data, (this is in fact one of his bigger jobs), by reviewing the sensor system snapshot used t make the ID.

At the same time the actual com net is made up of the coms systems of local AFV's with each unit being it's own node in a very large very redundant network. This is a somewhat direct consequence of the fact that in addition to direct-fire fire-support missions light tanks and MBT's are also supposed to provide other nearby forces with area CIWS fire-support utilizing their main gun systems. Whilst missile carriers provide heavy indirect fire support capability. Both thus have considerable comm requirements to allow them to coordinate with each other, and other AFV's to acquire targeting data and determine who's handling what targets with what weaponry, (it's not too different really to what a modern naval force at sea needs to coordinate defensive fire amongst multiple warships). As a result building in the capabilities needed to handle things like data uploads from rangefinder and designator units as well as voice comms isn't that much extra work.

In the same vein at some command level, (i'm thinking Platoon or Company Level, not sure which), the commander will have a little device, (i'm thinking something roughly IPad sized, though more durable obviously), which lets him simply upload basic status reports to the comms net via selecting various options for his units or groups thereof. I emphasis the "simple reports" aspect, i'm talking information about weather the units are advancing, retreating, holding their ground, and how heavily engaged they are, if they need resupply, med evac, or outright withdrawal due to losses. Local Commanders cna also send out a request to unit's either on an individual basis or an area basis to update their reports. It can't, (and isn't intended to), replace voice comms for a lot of situations, but it does mean a lot of basic info goes straight to the computers where it's fed directly to the Tac Com Commander which reduces his or her C&C control loop and delay factor on getting data. Voice comms are thus employed to provide more detailed reports when needed or to reporting situations beyond the common basics and such like.

This all ultimately feeds to the local Tac Com commander or commander's, (depending on the size of the operation, though more than a handful is very rare), plotting tables. Usually a single master table with an area of responsibility overview is used with auxiliary tables being used to pull up more detailed views. This effectively allows the Commander to use the computer supplied and filtered data to see where his units are, how they're doing, and get an approximate count on enemy forces near each part thereof, thus allowing him to effectively see many aspects of the battle without a human other than him and his line units being in the C&C loop. He does of course have a staff as noted, partly this is because outside of very small area's of responsibility he probably needs assistants to help him deal with detail points without losing sight of the bigger picture, and because he will need and also spontaneously receive more detailed reports on occasion, so he does need a comms staff to handle that, but i never envisaged him needing large numbers of dedicated comms vehicles or staff to handle large volumes of reports from field units as much of that is explicitly handled by and fed into the computers which then present their data directly to the Commander and his assistants.

A similar thing would apply with things like units needing resupply, med-evac, engineer's support, e.t.c., most of the common tasks will be achieved by the requiring unit generating a computer report request that gets routed directly to an appropriate authority who then handles the situation without comm staff getting too much involved.

Think i've covered everything i was gonna.