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"Imagine yourself in a suburban town that has been abandoned by most of its inhabitants. Those few that remain are likely to take a shot at you, but the real danger is from explosive shells that fall from the sky at seemingly random intervals. Your only protection is to seek shelter in ruined buildings or to dig a hole in the rain-sodden ground. You have not had a hot meal or a bath for five weeks, and are subsisting on cold food out of a can or pouch. Your small group of ragged companions waits for instructions to come over a radio. You will be told to move either in one direction where there are fewer explosions and people shooting at you, or in another direction where there is more mayhem. Your only escape from this nightmare is to receive an injury or be killed."
-- James F Dunnigan, 'How to Make War'
About half of 2300AD player characters have served time in the Ground Military, which is the single commonest career, and are therefore ex-soldiers. This handout expands on the basic information known to all characters to detail military equipment, character skills, common missions and tactics, and the most commonly encountered regular military units -- the Foreign Legion.
Military encounters in the 2300AD campaign focus on squad-level
infantry skirmishes: The ortillery barrage has lifted, the X-wing gunships
have gone home, and your personnel carrier has just dropped you off in
front of "Bugs, Mr Rico! Zillions of 'em!". This is because
crouching in a foxhole waiting for a mortar bomb to get you just isn't
much fun to role-play.
"The rifle is a sweet tool, and it gives of its best even in inexperienced hands."
-- C.S. Forester, 'Brown on Resolution'
Rifles come in three flavours: conventional, binary propellant, or gauss. The technology is geared towards making ammunition weigh less; this means you can carry more of it, so you can use automatic fire. The theory is that soldiers with automatic weapons feel more confident, so they are more likely to get up and do something; and the less confident can spray areas with autofire, often without sticking their heads up to aim. The professional sees autofire as 'a ticket across the street' -- a way of keeping the enemy's head down, represented in the game by forced NPC duckbacks -- and avoids it to save ammo where he can.
Conventional rifles ( Old Civil technology) fire small-calibre caseless rounds like the contemporary German G-11; the bullet is embedded in a solid rectangular block of propellant. You don't carry the 20th-century brass case, so the ammunition weighs less. The bullet itself has a dense metallic core, surrounded by a nonmetallic composite sheath ( which is stripped off if the round hits a hard target), surrounded in turn by a teflon sabot ( which abrades away as the round reaches the weapon muzzle). These features give high muzzle velocity ( which needs a broad-based bullet for the explosion to push against) with high penetration ( which needs a long, thin bullet striking the target).
Binary propellant rifles ( New Civil/Old Military technology) fire an identical bullet to conventional rifles, but the solid propellant is replaced by two gasses, which are stable when stored separately in bottles in the rifle stock, but volatile when mixed in the chamber. This eliminates the stabiliser in a conventional round ( which makes the ammo safe to store and carry, and makes up much of its bulk), thus reducing weight further.
Gauss rifles ( New Military technology) are linear magnetic accelerators which fire fin-stabilised flechettes. There is no propellant as such; the magazine contains a small battery which powers the gun.
Almost all rifles are 'bullpup' designs like the 20th-century's SA-80
( British) or FA-MAS ( French). This makes the gun shorter, and so
less likely to catch in the door when jumping in and out of vehicles.
Shorter guns are less accurate ( reduced sight radius), so they have optical
sights fitted to compensate. Rifles are generally gyrostabilised
to make them more controllable when firing bursts; the latest models fire
bursts at a lower muzzle velocity than single shots to help this.
"Be not afraid of any man, no matter what his size; just buy a Colt revolver, and I will equalise."
-- 19th Century Advertising Slogan
Handguns come in two flavours: Revolvers ( fed from a revolving cylinder) and automatics ( fed from a clip). All of them fire caseless rounds; binary propellant and gauss versions were tried, but weren't worth the expense. Handguns have a short range and limited stopping power, so they are more a status symbol than a weapon; but they are the best weapon for short-range self-defence against a surprise attack, as you can carry them all the time, ready them quickly, and stop the enemy before he comes into physical contact with you.
Revolvers are normally carried with the firing pin resting on an empty chamber, so they don't fire accidentally if dropped; if you do that with an automatic, you must work the slide to chamber a round before firing. Professionals expecting trouble usually carry an automatic, with a round already chambered, the hammer cocked, and the safety catch on ( 'cocked and locked'); they are trained to fire three rounds at each target, twice at the body ( the 'double tap') and once at the head ( in case of concealed body armour).
Stunners are used by police forces as nonlethal riot control weapons;
these are usually pistols and project focussed ultrahigh frequency sound
with sufficient energy to stun the target. They need a clear path
of air to the target's ears, and so will not work in vacuum or against
opponents with airtight armoured helmets.
"We're going to need bigger guns, John. Really BIG ****ing guns!"
-- from the movie 'Split Second' ( just after the speaker first sees the monster)
The infantry squad is built around small teams each responsible for a heavy weapon. The theory is that while an individual soldier will take cover, not action, when the shooting starts, heavy weapon operators reassure each other and so are more likely to shoot back. There are several types of heavy weapons:
Autoguns, including machineguns and light autocannon, are similar to rifles, but their heavier construction allows them to fire more and longer bursts before they overheat.
Sniper rifles are issued at squad level to compensate for the reduced ranges of 24th century rifles and machineguns. Quite often they are lasers; these use high-efficiency liquid metallic suspension ( LMS) battery packs pumping a fast-discharge homopolar generator, which stores energy in a rapidly-spinning ( 50,000 rpm) flywheel until it has enough for a 0.01 second pulse. The ones which aren't lasers have laser sights ( the ones that put a little red dot on the target showing where the round will strike).
Plasma guns use a laser ignition system to superheat a hydrogen fuel
pellet to a plasma state. The plasma is contained in the weapon briefly,
then allowed to escape through a magnetically focussed field along the
barrel; the high velocity bolt is initially about 2 mm across, but dissipates
rapidly as it travels; this is minimised by firing a laser beam first to
create a tunnel of heated air to the target, down which the bolt rides.
Each round of ammo has a battery to pump the weapon's laser ignition and
pathfinder beams, and a fuel pellet. After firing, the rounds are
ejected; the spent rounds are very hot, with molten centres, and can burn
nearby allies.
So what does all this stuff do to your tender pink ( or brown, or yellow) bod?
Bullets do damage in two ways. Either they hit a bone and shatter it, in which case more muzzle energy does more damage; or they tumble through soft tissues, in which case the longer they are in relation to their width, the more of you gets chewed up. Pistol bullets are short, fat ones with low muzzle energy, so they hurt less either way.
Gauss rifle needles slide through the gaps in the weave of your body armour, then bend into hook shapes and scythe their way through your flesh.
Lasers inflict damage by producing such rapid temperature changes in the target surface that it explodes ( imagine exploding a potato in a microwave, only much faster).
Take heart, however; if you can get to a hospital within the 'Golden
Hour' -- the first 60 minutes after injury -- you have a 95% chance of
survival. This is why you like to have an air ambulance on hand and
a field surgery not far off. Besides, the other side don't want to
kill you. Kill one man and you remove one man from the battlefield;
wound him seriously and you remove him, and several others to look after
him.
Soldiers wear body armour; not to protect them from rifles, although good armour will stop a pistol bullet, but to protect them from the shell fragments ( usually from the humble mortar) that cause 80% of casualties. This is not for altruistic reasons; while a guerilla can be trained to operate an assault rifle effectively in a short time ( much less time than it takes to learn how to use a sword properly), a chap who can use all your weapons, radios, tactics etc. is a significant training investment -- another few hundred Livres spent on a flak jacket is worthwhile insurance. Armour can be nonrigid, rigid, or inertial.
Nonrigid armour ( similar to the modern kevlar flak jacket) is made of a tough, flexible material which resists punctures and spreads out the energy from an impact over a large area of your body. This means that when you are hit, you get a big bruise instead of a large hole. It doesn't inhibit your movement as much as other types of armour.
Rigid armour is made of solid pieces ( think of the Imperial Stormtroopers from Star Wars, or the Colonial Marines in Aliens).
Inertial armour is flexible like nonrigid armour, but goes momentarily stiff when struck by a fast-moving bullet or shell fragment.
Military armour is usually a helmet and torso armour of some kind, for
several reasons. First, anyone will go down if a round is put into
his 'body T' -- draw an imaginary line between the temples, and from the
middle of this draw another down through the nose to the base of the sternum
( hit locations 1 and 2 in game terms -- the fatal wound areas).
Second, limb armour heavy enough to protect you is too thick to allow easy
movement. Armour is hot, heavy, and uncomfortable; you don't wear
it unless you're expecting trouble.
To give you some idea how your character relates to various grades of NPCs, here are the skills they would usually have. Skills are cumulative; even a senior NCO was a recruit once, and so has those skills too.
Recruit: Combat Rifle-0, First Aid-0, Endurance 8 or more. Someone who has been through a couple of months of basic training; in countries with National Service or something similar, every adult male has done this.
Trained Soldier: As Recruit, plus Sidearm-0, Melee-0, and skill level one in something useful. Those still on active service have at least Endurance 10, Strength 9, Dexterity 9, Intelligence 9. These people are the bulk of infantry squads.
NCO: As Trained Soldier, probably also has Bureaucracy-1, Leader-1, Tactics-1. These are the result of training courses, so someone rising by battlefield promotions might not have them.
Officer: As Trained Soldier, probably also has Bureaucracy-1, Leader-1, Tactics-2 if he gained his commission through an academy; someone with a battlefield commission might not have those skills.
Special Forces: As Trained Soldier, plus Combat Rifle-3, Melee-3, Demolitions-2, Ground Vehicle-3, First Aid-2, Forward Observer-2, Mechanical-1, Stealth-3, Tactics-3, Survival-3; also has at least Endurance 13, Strength 10, Dexterity 10, Intelligence 10. Many Special Forces troopers take a reduction in rank to serve in such a prestigious unit, so they could well have officer skills as well.
Aircrew: As Trained Soldier, plus Sidearm-1, Aircraft-2. These are the people driving the X-wing helicopters that drop Special Forces teams off and pick them up; they may or may not have NCO or Officer skills.
For game purposes, Tactics is the skill of planning and controlling battles. It allows you some knowledge of what happens on the modern battlefield, and how to deal with it.
No Skill: You've seen a few movies. Most of what you think you know is wrong.
Level 0: An experienced soldier. You know better than to surrender; the enemy doesn't want to feed and guard prisoners, especially when many of his own men are wounded. You know that reckless bravery doesn't help anything; it just gets you killed. You know that defence is easier than attack; let the NPCs start something!
Level 1: A professional NCO. Given time ( about a day) and resources, you dig in and wire in your command whenever it stops. This means foxholes, shelters, sensors, communications, and barricades are prepared; heavy weapons are set up to be fired blind through smoke, fog or darkness at likely attacks; artillery fire is preregistered on targets, in case a bombardment is needed; the party is drilled on where everything is, how to abandon the position if necessary, and where to meet up if separated.
Level 2: You have been through the equivalent of infantry officer training. You know basic tactics, and can dispose a party to meet most threats.
Level 3+: You can identify the weak spots in enemy defences and break through or destroy them with minimal losses.
Recon is the skill of using terrain in such a way as to observe hostile units without being seen yourself, and estimating enemy strength from a number of small clues. As a rule of thumb, 10% to 20% of the enemy's strength, disposition and capabilities are revealed each day.
No Skill: "Combat walker? What combat walker?"
Level 0: "Many combat walkers pass this way. Speak with forked plasma cannon. Ugh."
Level 1: "French walkers in squad strength have come this way in the past week."
Level 2: "Eight BH-21 walkers came by two days ago. We're facing front-line French troops, possibly the Foreign Legion; they'll have backup."
Level 3: "Eight French BH-21Cs came through here day before yesterday.
That's the space combat variant, so they must be a Navy landing party.
That means they have at least a cruiser upstairs, and probably a company
of Marines down here. One of them has a limp from a damaged leg servo,
I'd guess they've been in a fight recently."
There isn't a lot to add to Major Rogers' orders as far as basic
tactics go.
Most military operations on the frontier are classic special forces operations, primarily because it costs so much to get troops to the combat zone that you send relatively small numbers of the very best you have. When you need numbers for some reason, you arm and train the local farmers and miners, giving rise to guerilla forces. There are six basic types of mission:
Vous etes soldats pour mourir, et je vous envoie la ou l'on meurt.
( You became soldiers to die, and I will send you where you can die.)
-- General Francois Oscar de Negrier, 1883.
Since 1831, the Foreign Legion has seen almost continuous action in the
service of France. Its main missions are garrison duty and road building
in remote outposts, from the Sahara and Indochina in the 19th century to
the 24th century colonies among the stars; during wartime, Legionnaires
are used as shock troops. Although Legionnaires come from all over
the world, the Legion is an extension of French national policy, and always
uses standard contemporary French weapons, organisation, and equipment,
with the exception of the famous white kepi, which since the 1950s has
been worn only on ceremonial occasions. Both Jerry Pournelle's Falkenberg's
Mercenary Legion and David Drake's Hammer's Slammers are explicitly
based on the Foreign Legion, and worth reading as accounts of SF Legionnaires.
The Legion is perceived as the most valuable fighting unit in the French army. As such, it has no shortage of volunteers, and the days of accepting criminals on the run or gentlemen escaping wives or debts are long gone; any applicant with a criminal record is turned down, although minor misdemeanours may be overlooked if the candidate looks promising. The officer corps is drawn from the cream of the French military academies, and is mostly royalist, Catholic, and conservative.
The British or American volunteer may have romantic illusions fuelled by Beau Geste and similar works of fiction, but the average Legionnaire is of southern European or Germanic descent and signs up for more pragmatic reasons. Many enlist to claim the French citizenship granted after five years' service; a number enlist simply because they want to fight, and can be certain that the Legion will give them the opportunity; finally, soldiers who fought against the French and lost are often offered the chance to redeem themselves by joining the Legion -- in the late 1940s, for example, nearly 60% of Legionnaires were Germans, largely ex-SS troopers.
Recruits need not speak French on enlistment, but if they don't, they are paired with a French speaker and expected to learn the language quickly from him. In theory, French natives are not permitted to enlist in the Legion, but it is an open secret that many do so under Belgian or Swiss pseudonyms. Once trained, they regain their true identity. Since banks refuse to open accounts for anonymous clients, and any Legionnaire may have enlisted under a pseudonym, Legionnaires have no bank accounts for their first five years of service and are always paid in cash.
Tiens! Voila du boudin, voila du boudin, voila du boudin,
Pour les Alsaciens, les Suisses et les Lorrains.
Pour les Belges y en a plus, pour les Belges y en a plus.
Ces sont des tireurs au cul.( Look! There is some black pudding,
For the Alsatians, the Swiss and the Lorraines.
There's none for the Belgians.
They're rotten shots.)
-- Le Boudin, the Legion's marching song
The Legion's traditions make it uniquely suited as a unit in which player characters serve.
The Legion looks after its own. Legionnaires wanted for minor offences such as unpaid alimony have been known to be transferred out of police jurisdiction at the critical moment; ex-Legionnaires form groups reminiscent of freemasonry wherever they settle in numbers; and the Legion maintains rest homes for its wounded and pensioners, free of charge. The Legion's unofficial motto is 'legio patria nostra' -- the Legion is our fatherland.
The Legion displays irrational courage, and will suffer extraordinary losses to achieve its objectives. Of the 9,000 Legionnaires sent to fight for Queen Isabella II in the Spanish Civil War of 1833-9, some 220 marched back into France; of the 44,000 who served in the First World War, 31,000 were killed or wounded; of over 5,000 arrayed against 80,000 Vietminh at the final battle for Dien Bien Phu in 1954, three returned to French lines. The classic example, and the action defining the Legion's view of itself, is the battle of Camerone on 30 April 1863, whose anniversary is still celebrated at every Legion base. Captain Danjou and 64 Legionnaires were ordered to Camerone to keep the highway between Mexico City and Vera Cruz open for a supply convoy. Attacked by 2,000 Mexicans, the Legionnaires held out for nine hours; the battle ended at six PM, when the five surviving Legionnaires fixed bayonets and charged the 1,700 surviving Mexicans, with predictable results. The convoy got through.
The Legion is ruthless, and will do whatever it takes to achieve its objectives. The annihilation of Berber women, children and livestock at Djebel Baddou in 1933, and the routine torture of suspected terrorists in Algeria in the late 1950s are examples.
The Legion is ingenious in improvising comfortable quarters and takes
its pleasures seriously. The sack of the Russian wine cellars in
Sevastopol in 1831 is famous in Legion legend; the mobile brothel accompanying
the Legion during the Morrocan campaigns of the 1920s is another case in
point.
This article was prepared for Challenge magazine, but the publication folded with the demise of GDW before I had it in a fit state for submission. ( A tip of the hat is due to Andy Bird, who titled his player handouts "What every knight knows", "What every Iscin knows", and so on.)