 August 21, 2011 - 5:49am | This is just me trying to get the details right. Over in the Royal Marines of Clarion thread I've been plugging away at the Mercy Mission to Madderly's Star adventure-BTW thanks Shadowshack for the name. I need to throw out some numbers of troops for a small expedition that is not meant to conquer Ki-kit just halt the killing and rescue the vrusk. Adventure focuses on a squad of Royal Marines which are part of a company of RM that are sent as a sort of Naval infantry (they catch the really interesting jobs). Bulk of the troops will be Royal Guard. What I unsure of is what would be a realistic number of troops to send? Yeah a lot probably depends on population and terrain and mission. What I really want is that it sound like a reasonable number for a limited mission police action/ mercy mission (and yes I aware the "police action" is politician speak for not declaring war when it resolution is war) I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
 August 21, 2011 - 6:06am | It probably depends on the size of the perceived threat, remember in 'Aliens' they sent in just 1 squad of marines to deal with the threat, which doesn't really sound like much of a responce. For your police action at least a platoon sized force depending on mission. If it's just a rescue raid a squad would be fine, but if just a little more needs to be done then you'd up the force to a platoon. Can't see sending in an entire company for this unless you plan on taking and holding onto any dirt. In every age, in every place, the deeds of men remain the same. |
August 21, 2011 - 6:24am | Some specifics: RG will have 1 mortar platoon (4teams). 4-6 attack helicopters (Royal Guard) some number of transport helicopter (RM will have 3) APCs much like the one in aliens are available unsure of the number and a few command vehicles. Buddy of mine tells me that he was in a slim division in Cosovo. I'm not sure I wanted that many. I'd love to hear input on this. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
August 21, 2011 - 6:34am | Yeah they're going to take and hold the Naar starport. I wrote it as the first action of the Royal Guard so that they are an experienced force by the time of SW1. I suppose its a matter of scale, how many rebells, how many vrusk civilians. Terrain and geographic scale. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
August 21, 2011 - 12:43pm | I would assume that for every group of men X amount must be support personelle. That vehicles require a certain amount of support. Anyone know any rough rule of thumb numbers? I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
 August 25, 2011 - 10:45am | More complicated vehicles, like helicopters, need something like 4x as many maintainers as operators. Ground forces put 10% of their manpower into maintenance, and 5% into headquarters as a rule of thumb. If you are operating far from home, you need more bodies to maintain the lines of supply. The US military is often derided for its high "tooth-to-tail" ratio, but that is what allows it to move forces around the globe with minimal effort. In this case, you're talking about the first time the RM/RG are moving off their own world in force, so I'd expect a lot of improvisation and screw-ups. Broad numbers, though, I'd go with 1/5 to 1/4 of your raw manpower will end up in support functions, either by design or by drafting from the line troops. Will there be armed Vrusk to bring in, as well? Locals who have armed themselves as an emergency militia as well as any corporate police that have survived? |
August 25, 2011 - 11:23am | @ Putraack: thanks for the ratio I just had no clue what it should be; but then I may be overthinking this- the PCs only really need to know what their mission is a lot of other facts are extraneous. Yes I like the idea of armed vrusk security personnel to bring in, some possibilities for three way fire fight somewhere along the way. I also realized the other day in a conversation with w00t that there is no Pan Gal language at this point in histroy. Vrusk and learn Anglo and dralasite but cant speak them and vice versa for the others. I'm also leaning toward no polyvox on the equipment list. This almost makes a linguist a must. I was thinking that the RM/RG troopers might be given a card with basic vrusk words on it but then I remembered humans can speak vrusk. Perhaps there is a preprogramed device that they push a button and speak into and then it translates to vrusk but with really complicated concepts it breaks down. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
August 25, 2011 - 6:40pm | I only thought of this after signing off last time: the planetside half of the spaceport won't be in a city, will it? I've been thinking it was, but if it's off in the middle of nowhere, or even partway there, that makes the defender's job a lot easier. Assuming that the downport is located in a fairly flat and unforested area, the defenders should be able to see anyone trying to get close enough to attack them. Even more so, if they have aerial and/or orbital observation. That way, they can call indirect fires on attackers and hustle reserves to the threatened area. Having thought through that, I would feel a lot more confident about the ability of a battalion-plus to hold against unorganized opposition. Otherwise, I'd be agreeing with your friend that you need a lot more troops. |
