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| War Realism | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Aug 6 2014, 03:33 PM (114 Views) | |
| Ironside | Aug 6 2014, 03:33 PM Post #1 |
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Index 1. Supply and Logistics 2. Military Organisation 3. Commanding an Army 4. Terrain 5. How Big Can my Armed Forces Be? Up to http://w11.9th June 2014 - 01:24 AM Edited by Ironside, Aug 6 2014, 03:53 PM.
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| Ironside | Aug 6 2014, 03:35 PM Post #2 |
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Supply and Logistics One of the great 19th Century military commanders once said, "An army marches on its stomach" Bonaparte realised the importance of keeping his army well supplied. Today little has changed except that fuel has now replaced food as the item of primary importance. However supply is often overlooked in military planning, in reality the two go hand in hand. So what should a commander consider while organising a military operation of any size. This can be broke down into 6 main considerations. 1. Distance This may be the most obvious concern. You can only strike at a distance within the range of your vehicles. Usually you would not wish to launch an operation that is more than half the range of your transport aircraft. For example the C-130 Hercules is the most commonly operated transport aircraft in the world, it has an effective range of approximately 3,800 km. Unless you have access to friendly bases within the theatre of operations that would mean you can only get troops and equipment to a theatre approx. 1,900km away. This is because otherwise the mission becomes one way and therefore very expensive. Clearly this range can be increased with the installation of internal tanks, however if this is done the carrying capacity is decreased significantly. Furthermore even air to air refuelling needs careful consideration as it has to be remembered the refuelling aircraft also needs to have enough fuel to get home. Ships offer a very different alternative. They have a much greater range and can carry a significant amount of supplies and extra fuel. Land vehicles too will need to be carefully used. They need either a fuel depot, which you will not have in enemy territory or fuel trucks following along. These don't magically appear in theatres of war, they need to be brought with you. 2.Timing Troops, boats and aircraft do not magically teleport to a theatre of conflict. Everything takes time. From requesting an air-strike in a theatre like Afghanistan can take around 4 minutes unless it is part of a pre-determined strike. You will need to move assets over the distances you have already considered. The C-130 you've decided to deploy to its maximum range will take around 3 and a half hours to get there. A war ship you are moving from one theatre to another will take much longer to arrive, for example a modern warship travels at around 30knots flat out (53kmh)so to cover 1000km around 18hours. It is likely your ships will take days to reach the combat zone. 3.Space This does not refer to Star Wars. Ships, aircraft etc only contain so much space. You find most military vehicles run out of space before they run out of weight carrying ability. A C-130 has a load capacity of around 33,000kg. They regularly flew to Afghanistan full with 3 Humvees on board. The combined weight of these vehicles is around 8,000 kg. This leaves around 25,000kg of weight. You are not though going to fit anymore vehicles onboard. You therefore need to take into account the physical dimensions of what your trying to transport as well as its weight. One Amphibious Warfare ship is not going to be able to transport a whole division and have landing craft to get them ashore. To put this into context, during the D-Day landings of World War Two an estimated 4,126 landing craft where used, this allowed around 100,000 men to attempt to land on the beaches. This was only possible because of the short distance they were operating from away from a home base. You will not launch an invasion of this size from several hundreds km's away. 4.Movement It is not always possible to travel in straight lines. Aircraft have to consider flying around the airspace of neighbours. Should you choose to fly through without declaring an intent and getting permission expect the aircraft to be shot down. Ships too can not travel in straight lines. Underwater hazards, territorial waters and the movement of neutral ships must be considered, this in some cases can add several hundred KM's onto your distance. Troops on the ground to can not travel in straight lines. There are obstacles to cross, be it rivers, canyons, marshland etc. Tanks may appear like they will go anywhere but they struggle to operate in wooded country. Four wheel drive vehicles can not despite what the companies TV advert would have you think get anywhere. 5. Cover This can refer to a number of elements. The most important is air cover. The vast majority of modern wars are won by the side that has the best air cover. If you are on home turf this gives you an advantage as your surface to air defences will help your air force subdue any attackers. Meanwhile should you be on the offensive you would first aim to subdue these defences. This will in all likelihood cost you in terms of things like cruise missiles fired from ships or land bases (refer back to distance) or you will have to sacrifice aircraft and pilots. Stealth aircraft are not, despite what the name suggests, invisible to RADAR. Cover also covers ships. They need an air defence umbrella. This is provided in two ways, one is by the use of ships such as Destroyers and Frigates. The second is by using aircraft launched from aircraft carriers. If you move a ship with no escort it will get blown up by enemy aircraft. In terms of group forces cover is not forever. You may be hiding behind the thickest wall known but a carefully targeted air strike will kill you. Bullets will destroy concrete eventually. This is why in a fire fight you don't stay in one place. In modern warfare even carefully constructed defensive positions like bunkers and fox holes will be damaged by air power. 6.Other Factors Your ammunition is not infinite. Should you be invading your ammunition needs to come from somewhere. The enemy may not be using the same calibre ammunition so don't rely on taking it off their dead or from their depots. You may have to take their weapons but remember you will be unfamiliar with their operation. The more men you use the slower an invasion will be. The fewer men you use the more difficult the invasion will be. Planning is a careful balancing act. This is because of the supply of equipment. More men means more fuel consumed moving them around, keeping your aircraft above them and the boats moving. This requires space and weight in your vehicles. How to put this all together 1. Consider what equipment you have and whether you can actually get it to the combat zone in one piece. If not do not attack. 2. Once your equipment is there consider what support it needs to keep it operational, that means mechanics, engineers, batteries, electricity, fuel and ammunition. That's even before we think of fresh water and rations for the men. 3. Work out how you will keep your supply line operating. Once established this becomes the life blood of your forces. You should look at securing air-fields, this will not necessarily give you large amounts of fuel as most enemy forces would before giving up the airfield blow the runway and ruin the fuel. You should also secure a beach head if conducting an amphibious assault, if you race inland all that will happen is the enemy will attack your supply line and then your army is done for. 4. Now you know how to get there and how you can stay there work out how you will deal with enemy air assets. 5. Have an exit plan. You may know how you will get there but no plan survives contact with the enemy, things will go wrong. Have a plan to get your assets home. They are expensive and don't grow on trees. Edited by Ironside, Aug 6 2014, 03:38 PM.
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| Ironside | Aug 6 2014, 03:44 PM Post #3 |
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Military Organisation o fully understand how warfare would realistically be fought in the modern era, you must first understand how military organization works. This is required to appropiately allocated your military assests to the front lines, and know how to appropriately spread your forces evenly across the frontlines. Military Organization(courtesy of wikipedia) fireteam: 4 A fireteam is a small military unit of infantry. It is the second smallest unit in the militaries that use it (smallest are support teams such as machine gun teams, mortar teams, sniper teams, or military working dog teams) squad/section: 8–13 In military terminology, a squad is a small military unit led by a non-commissioned officer (NCO) that is subordinate to an infantry platoon. platoon: 26–64 A platoon is a military unit typically composed of two to four sections or squads depending on the nationality, branch of service, and mission type. company: 80–225 A company is a military unit, typically consisting of 80–250 soldiers and usually commanded by a captain or a major. Most companies are formed of three to six platoons although the exact number may vary by country, unit type, and structure. Several companies are grouped to form a battalion or regiment, the latter of which is sometimes formed by several battalions. battalion: 300–1,300 A battalion is a military unit with 300 to 1,200 soldiers that usually consists of two to seven companies and is commanded by either a lieutenant colonel or a colonel regiment/brigade: 3,000–5,000 A brigade is a major tactical military formation that is typically composed of three to six battalions plus supporting elements. It is roughly equivalent to an enlarged or reinforced regiment. Three or more brigades constitute a division. division: 10,000–15,000 A division is a large military unit or formation, usually consisting of between 10,000 and 30,000 soldiers. In most armies, a division is composed of several regiments or brigades; in turn, several divisions typically make up a corps. In most modern militaries, a division tends to be the smallest combined arms unit capable of independent operations; this is due to its self-sustaining role as a unit with a range of combat troops and suitable combat support forces, which can be divided into various organic combinations. corps: 20,000–45,000 A corps is either a large military formation composed of two or more divisions, or an administrative grouping of troops within an armed force with a common function, such as Artillery or Signals. Corps may also refer to a particular unit or a particular branch of service field army: 80,000–200,000 A field army (or numbered army or simply army) is a military formation in many armed forces, composed of two or more corps and may be subordinate to an army group. Likewise, air armies are equivalent formation within some air forces. army group: 400,000–1,000,000 An army group is a military organization consisting of several field armies, which is self-sufficient for indefinite periods. It is usually responsible for a particular geographic area. An army group is the largest field organization handled by a single commander—usually a full General or Field Marshal—and it generally includes between 400,000 and 1,000,000 soldiers. army region: 1,000,000–3,000,000 A geographical region in which an army works within. theater: 3,000,000–10,000,000 In warfare, a theater (US English) or theatre (British English) is an area or place in which important military events occur or are progressing. A theater can include the entirety of the air, space, land and sea area that is or that may potentially become involved in war operations. |
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| Ironside | Aug 6 2014, 03:45 PM Post #4 |
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Commanding an Army What we really want to focus on is Companies, Brigades, Divisions and Corps. All of these military assets are essential, you must know their functions, and you must know their capabilities. In an event of attacking, you may want to use Corps or a Division depending on your Army size. A Corps will derive from a Field Army, and a Division will derive from a Corps. Sending a Corps in means you'll be sending in a total of 20,000 to 45,000 troops, this includes tank operators, artillery, and other positions other than infantry. A Corps also means that these 20,000 to 45,000 troops come from Divisions, which also can consist of infantry, tanks, artillery and etc. Divisions can perform operations individually, seperating from a Corps gives you more flexibility in manuvering your forces and let's you commit to more across a wider scope. This spreads your forces out, allowing them to be in more that one spot. Meaning you'll control more land and assets, thus stretching you're reach and power. Establishing the front lines in essential, this is to know your boundaries and where to attack to the enemies, it's also the chaotic battle ground of hell that can extend for ever if you let it. Corps and Divisions will establish frontlines, by engaging enemy Divisions and Corps. However, there won't be up to 45,000 troops and taks fighting in a huge field at the same time. Fighting will take place among Companies, Brigades and Platoons, all these assets come from Divisions. Think of Divisions and Corps as ways of mobility and command centers for these Platoons, Batallions, Brigades and Companies. Brigades are the command centers for companies, batallions and platoons. An example that could be used to simplify things is: In the Napoleonic Wars, Regiments(Brigades) went onto the battlefield with 3,000 to 5,000 men strong. However, a line of battle(which is lining up and shooting at each other) usually consisted of two lines of men, not only would it be hard to maintain a two rank 5,000 man firing line, but it would be disorganized, and just utterly confusing. So these 5,000 men would seperate into battalions, and these battalions of up to one thousand men would seperate into companies. These companies would be up to 300 men strong, from these companies firing lines were formed successfully of two ranks. To be more precise, at times ranks would be organized into platoons, platoons sized up to 100 men were usually skirmishers. Anything lower would be artillery pieces, which took about 4 to 6 men to man each. Napoleonic armies as a whole ranged from 300,000 men strong to 50,000 men strong(don't trust me on that). If you apply all that to modern rp warfare, then you're one step to creating the ultimate warfare realism. |
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| Ironside | Aug 6 2014, 03:47 PM Post #5 |
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Knowing the type of terrain you place your army on is vital to victory. Mountains, for example, can block off certain areas, making it unnecessary to station troops within the inaccessible area. This deployment strategy can be applied with other formidable environmental features as well, such as forests and cliffs. In the former instance, dense vegetation can provide concealment for tactical movements such as setting up an ambush. Elevation is vital, in a case when you have troops at higher ground, or artillery, gravity works in your favor. If you were to be stationed below, troops who were firing upon you from a higher elevation, you're chances of winning that fight is very low to impossible. In an instance of you being the invading party, it is always recommended on knowing the type of terrain you'll be fighting on. From knowing the terrain, you can observe what kind of terrain enemy forces are stationed on, from this knowledge you can begin to formulate a better battle plan and know what type of military assets are best use for a particular situation due to terrain. This also helps in knowing routes to take, when moving forces terrain is essential, whether it's already by a set path like a road, or your own route. Elevation and density of enviromental obstacles is important to moving forces, it determines when your forces will arrive from point A to B, and if some of your assets are able to move from A to B. In an event of defense, terrain is your best friend. As a defender you have the advantage of gaining high ground before the attacker can even reach you. Let's say, for example that you're defending in your homeland. You already have the homefield advantage of knowing what type of terrain you're dealing with. Thus, you know how to set up defenses accordingly to terrain more aproppiately than an invading force would. If you end up having to defend yourself on foreign land, knowing your terrain is reliant on observing the foriegn terrain before hand. Like invading, you want to observe before you fully commit. The ideal position is to be in as far as terrain elevation, is to be higher than the enemy. A force at a lower position would have to expend more resources and use about 2x the amount of force compared to the high elevated force. Which means if you are hitting enemy forces at higher elevation than you, then you better pack a huge punch to deal with those hill campers, especially if they have, air, artillery and armor support. |
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| Ironside | Aug 6 2014, 03:50 PM Post #6 |
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Military Size Guidelines It should be noted these are not definite rules, the numbers will vary depending on the age, technical standard and availability of equipment, therefore this is just a rough guide for anyone interested. Military Size Guidelines: Country Population: 50 Million minimum, 500 Million Maximun Military Population Average: 0.5 %, Cap: 1% Budget Average: 2.5%, Cap 5% It is assumed each nation will start with 0.5% of their population in the military with 2.5% of GDP for budget. You may increase the size and quality of your military buy adjusting up to the caps. If you have 1% population and 2.5% you are China. If you have 1% population and less than 2.5% GDP you are North Korea. If you have 5% Budget and greater than 0.5% Population, you are the USA. If you have 5% GDP and greater than 0.3% population, you are a NATO country. If you have less than 0.5% population and less than 2.5% GDP you are a failed state. Rough estimate for naval size is 1 Naval Vessel per 1 Million in population. This includes everything from patrol vessels and firefighting ships to aircraft carriers. Rough estimate for air force size is 1 combat aircraft per 50 air force personnel. Rough estimate for army size is combat troops equal to 10% of total army personnel. Rough Estimate of Support Costs: NAVAL Aircraft Carriers: -Cost Per Year: 12 billion -Buy/Build: 5 billion Submarines: -Cost Per Year: 25 million -Buy/Build: 2-3 billion Destroyers: -Cost Per Year: 450 million -Buy/Build: 1,800 million Frigates: -Cost Per Year: 300 million -Buy/Build: 1,600 million Corvettes: -Cost Per Year: 150 million -Buy/Build: 1,500 million Amphibious Vessels: -Cost Per Year: 50 million -Buy/Build: 1,200 million GROUND FORCES -Cost of 5,000 troops per year: 5-7 billion, 1.5 million each soldier. -Cost of 100 Armored Vehicles Per Year(humvee, mrap, dingo ,etc): 400 million, 4 million per -Cost of 100 Tanks per year: 600 million, 6 milion per tank. AIR -Averege cost per year of fighter/multirole: 800 million to 1 billion -Heavy Bomber cost per year: 2 billion -Light Bomber cost per year: 1.5 billion |
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