StarDestroyer.Net BBS

A thread for when we start putting these together.

Military Forces of The Unified Kingdoms of Hawai'i, Tahiti, Fiji & Samoa:
(this post will be marked as complete when finished)
Royal Hawai'ian Army:
Active Duty:
1st Royal Guards Regiment "Red Shirts" - one regular infantry battalion trained in personnel and location protection against asymmetrical threats, coup deterrence, and ceremonial duties around the Royal Palace and for parades. Also has an adjundant Cavalry Squadron and Horse Artillery battery with 105mm guns for a grand total of 1,300 personnel. Operates with light armored vehicles and mobile AAA/SAM units.

2nd Intervention Regiment "Kamehameha's Own" - three active-duty battalions, one of counter-terrorism specialists about 850 strong, one of Artillery about 900 strong, and one 1,200 personnel strong specialist peacekeeping battalion. A total of 3,400 personnel including support units. Artillery equipment deployed on major islands & includes MRLS batteries, and SPGs.

4th Amphibious Regiment "The Turtles" - two active-duty battalions, both cross-trained on air & sea insertion each 900 strong. A total of 2200 personnel including support units.

SAS Regiment - Includes Headquarters Support Wing, Training Wing, A SAS Squadron, B SAS Squadron, Commando Squadron, & Engineer Operations Troop.

Military Police and Sovereignty Enforcement Regiment - Military police personnel and understrength sovereignty presence active duty companies on major islands other than O'ahu and platoons on all the other inhabited islands, as well as small presence squads on minor uninhabited islands for special law enforcement and presence duties. 2,400 strong.

Reserve:
1st Territorial Brigade: 4 x Territorial Battalions on O'ahu + 1st Territorial Artillery Battalion (anti-air & anti-surface artillery). Sometimes activated for disaster relief.

2nd Territorial Brigade: 4 x Territorial battalions, one each on Maui, Hawaii, and Kauai, with a fourth split up between the minor islands. Also has the 2nd Territorial Artillery Battalion (AAA, MRLS, & SPGs), with prepared revetments each on Maui, Hawaii, and Kauai, and no presence on the other islands. Sometimes activated for disaster relief.

3rd Territorial Brigade: 3 x Territorial battalions, one each on Savai'i and Upolu with the third on Tahiti, plus three mixed batteries of AAA, MRLS & & SPGs with prepared revetments on each island. Headquarters in Apia.

Royal Fijian Army:
Active:
3rdRoyal Fijian Regiment (Light) - Two active duty motorized battalions with attached artillery units, 900 personnel each, 2200 total.
Royal Fijian Army Air Corps:
Multiple Squadrons of helicopters (the same types as in service with the Royal Hawai'ian Air Force for support of the Royal Hawai'ian Army)
One Squadron of Textron Scorpions
Reserve:
4th Territorial Brigade: 3 x Territorial battalions + 3rd Territorial Artillery Battalion (AAA + SPGs).

Royal Hawai'ian Air Force:
Fixed Wing:

• ~120 F-14D+
• ~70 Light Fighters (A-4SUs being replaced with A-50 airframes) Assigned to Trainer, Strike, Acrobatic & Reserve formations
• 20 Trainers (two seat props, such as a PC-9 or a Super Tucano)
• 10 EKC-777 AWACS-Tankers
• 8 KC-777 Combi Tanker-Transports
• 20 Sea Vixen analogs (previous heavy fighter), assigned to EW & multi-engine/tandem training missions
• 8 KC-390 Tanker-Transports (tasked with support of helicopter operations)
• 1 E-Jet 195 VIP transport
• 2 Boeing 747-400ER VIP Transports

Rotary Wing:

• ~12 Training Helos
• ~20 Attack Helos (AH-64D Analog)
• ~20 Light Helos
• ~12 Chinooks
• ~24 Blackhawks

Air Defense Division:

• 3 Patriot Battalions with THAAD Batteries
• 3 Other SAM Battalions
• 'Many' Hawk-Z class SAM launchers
• 60+ 40mm twin AAA mounts
• Full IADS for the main island chain, with subsidiary installations on Samoa, Fiji, & Tahiti.
• J/FPS-5 class Radars on O'ahu, Hawai'i, & Viti Levu.
• AEGIS-ASHORE Class Radars on other major islands (Maui, Kauai, Upolu, ect)

Base Security & Military Police Regiment

Royal Hawai'ian Navy:
Ships:

• BB-3 Chiefess-Apostle Kapi'olani (mod-Alaska, updated):
  
• Kû Uaki Class (Mod Burke Flight 3 Level 3) Destroyer (3 built):
  
• King Class (Mod Iver Huitfeldt) Destroyer (5 built, one option not yet exercised):
  
• Nēnē Class (Damen OPV 2600, evolved) OPV (7 built, 2 under construction):
  
• Hilo Class (Mod Fort-2 Class)AOR (2 Built: Hilo & Kona)
• Endurance Class LPD (2 built)
  
• Joint Support Ship (Likely "Maui Class", not yet commissioned)
  
• Two Kauai Class AOR (mod Fort 2 Class):
  
• 16 IPVs:
  
• One Steel-Screw-Sloop (for training)
• Nai'a Class SSKN (5 built, option for 6th, ordered from Tiangao
  
• 8 Minewarfare ships:
  
• Various small survey craft, Bouy tenders, ect. (not totalling more than 20 ships and 20k tons displacement

Other units:

• Fleet Air Arm:
  • ~24 Tianguon Y-8(ASW)
  • ~15 MQ-4C Triton (MPA Support)
  • ~12 Tianguon Y-8(CSAR)
  • 8 KC-390s
  • 10 Dornier Seawings Seastar
  • 8 Sea Vixen multi-engine trainers
  • 10 LA-250 Seawolf basic and amphibious trainers.
  • Assorted helicopters to fill out ASW & support missions as needed.
• Royal Hawaiian Navy Security Force.
• Underwater Demolitions Group.
• Base and Ship Security Battalion
• Military Police Group.
• Combat engineering group.
• Defensive Missile Battalions: Mounting Hsiung Feng III & projected to get LRASM, These units (of which only one some are active at any one time) are tasked with fixed defense of the islands.

Royal Tahitian Navy:
Ships:

• Two mod-Shikishima class OPVs (Tasked with escort of nuclear cargo ships)
• 4 IPVs
• One modern Sail training ship

Other units:

• Base and Ship Security Battalion
• Military Police Group.
• Defensive Missile Batteries (3): Mounting Hsiung Feng III & projected to get LRASM
• One squadron of R3Y type planes for SAR and transport

Nuclear Protection Service:

Two battalions of MPs cross-trained as civilian police for protection of nuclear infrastructure including research facilities & power generation. Often cross-trained with RTN on nuclear cargo protection.

Royal Health Service:

The Royal Health Service, in conjunction with the Royal Navies maintain two dedicated hospital ships, of which one is always active. The Royal Yacht (a former small ocean liner) is designed with the majority of the space convertible to hospital configuration. In addition both LPDs are capable of receiving containerized hospital spaces. The final element of the RHS is a small force of aircraft ranging from small amphibians to a quartet of wide-bodies for medical and disaster response.


Heijiake:

Naval PMC based out of Fiji (per Kingdom law, no PMCs are allowed to have forces on O'ahu). Black jackets in dress uniform. The units of Heijiake train with the Royal Fijian Army/Army Air Corps regularly. Training with/against Royal Hawai'ian Navy occurs regularly, but less frequently.
Heijiake operates three CSGs and three ARGs. The ARGs each operate a Dual tram line LHA, an LPD, LSD , AKE, SSKN, & a two DDGs while the CSGs are one CVN, two DDGs, one AOE & one SSKN (this is the standard RHN SSKN but with a motor rated for a higher output).

Note: All Hawai'ian based PMCs are able to be called up in a time of war to defend the crown. This has never been used, but remains on the books. The payment for this retainer is done via basing rights on Vanua Levu.

I've got my preliminary information up on a personal wiki page: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/408 ... index.html . I don't have numbers for anything yet though.

The military of the Kingdom of Corona (not complete):

The Ministry of the Armed Forces:

6,000 personnel.
100 vehicles.
3 aircraft.

The Army:

25,000 soldiers including 2,500 elite commandos.
2 bases.
5,000 vehicles including 120 tanks.
240 pieces of artillery.
48 anti-aircraft guns.

The Navy:

5,000 soldiers including 500 elite commandos.
3 bases.
1,000 vehicles.
1 Poseidon class cruiser. The flagship.
3 Monarch class destroyers.
4 Rapier class submarines.
4 Guardian class minesweepers.
9 Jefferson class transport ships.
2 Legion class transport ships (old).
36 anti-aircraft guns.
22 helicopters.

The Air Force:

1,000 soldiers including 100 elite commandos.
2 bases.
12 Black Falcon fighters.
8 cargo/passenger planes.
25 helicopters.
4 spy planes.
24 anti-aircraft guns.

The Guard:

500 of the best soldiers in Corona.
100 vehicles.

The Department of Intelligence:

100 personel.
20 vehicles.
3 aircraft.

Other information:

Population: 18 million people.
GDP: 453 billion dollars.

Ok, whilst I don't have an exactly detailed OrBat set up yet (I'll be working with Thanas to draft one in the next few days) I can at least present some basic details:

The Royal Orion Army: Whilst originally a relatively conventional army, the current force is more akin to an oversized Marine/Airborne force, with a great emphasis on being able to deploy troops rapidly (with support from the Navy or Air Force). Vehicles used are generally the same as the British Army of real life, with the exception of a) being larger and b) the attached Air Corps operates it's own fixed-wing planes along with helicopters. They use the Tiger helo gunship, the A-10A, the AC-130 and the V-22 (plus others, possibly, not sure yet). The A-10s and AC-130's are license-built, the Tiger and Osprey are purchased with a view to license-building once they have been properly evaluated.

The Orion Air Force: In it's present form the OAF operates F-15O's, F-16's (various variants), E-767, plus C-5's, A400M's , and assorted other support planes. The fighters are license built whilst the E-767 is a native design. The OAF is primarily tasked with defending Orion and supporting the Army and Navy. The OAF is also responsible for maintaining and upgrading the Orion's Shield early warning system on Mt. Erebus and the associated massive numbers of SAM launchers around the coast and inland at key facilities.

The Orion Space Forces: The newest service. Created during the 1960's to oversee the space program, the OSF are responsible for all satellite launches, both civilian and military and control them from their headquarters inside Mt. Erebus (co-located with a number of other command facilities). They also oversee joint efforts with other space programs, and there have been rumors of armed satellite designs but there is no concrete information.

The Royal Navy of Orion: The Senior Service and by far the most powerful. Vessel prefix RONS (Royal Orion Navy Ship). Currently operates 3 CVN's of a similar design to Enterprise, although these are slated to be retired soon. 3 new CVN's have been ordered but have been delayed, so negotiations are underway with Rheinland to purchase 3 carriers as a stopgap. Both the stopgap carriers and the native-built vessels operate a license-built F/A-18 variant with some other support planes (AWACS and ASW, not sure exactly what yet).

The RNoO also operates a small group (at least 4, possibly 6) of modernised super-dreadnoughts, based on the Lion-class (but expanded in a similar way to the American Montana's, namely, larger displacement, a 4th turret and larger powerplant). These have been upgraded to current standards by the inclusion of armoured box launchers for cruise missiles, CIWS systems, and the removal of the secondary battery; each turret and barbette has been replaced with armoured VLS for SAM's, giving each dreadnought a comparable anti-aircraft capability to an AEGIS destroyer. Modern communications and radar complete the package. These ships are getting long in the teeth and are slated to be replaced within the next few years by an equal number of new-built ships based on a design collaboration with Arcadia.

The RNoO operates no cruiser-scale warships, instead using Arleigh Burke class AEGIS destroyers for escorts, although newer Type-45 destroyers are beginning to replace them. A new ASW frigate design is being worked on to replace the aging Type-23 frigates currently in service.

The Submarine Service comprises, at present, 24 SSN's (equivalent to British Trafalgar class boats) that, in the next few years, will be replaced on a one-for-one basis by Astute-analogues. The sub service also operates 8 SSGN's (British Vanguard class derivative).

Finally, Naval Aviation operates the P-3 (being replaced by P-8) in a recon role. Naval Strike Aircraft consist of two wings of modernised, license built Tu-22M's.

Phew.

Annual Report: The Military of the United Kingdoms of Arcadia, 2000/2014*

Anything in Italics and underlined is translated from Arcadian, as I don't want to make up an entirely new language.

Royal Arcadian Army:
Always the smallest service in Arcadia, the Army receives limited funding in comparison to the Navy and Air Force. The Royal Army is designed primarily to defend the homeland, with little capability to invade other nations. As such, the Royal Army is equipped primarily for fighting a defensive war.

Organization:

Standing Army:

The main force of the Royal Army. Split into Five Armies, one for each Main Island, and the final as a reserve and for defending the smaller islands.

Reserves:
*TBD*

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Equipment:

Infantry:
Assume FN weapons for the majority produced, maybe a few foreign designs.

Armored/Support Units, Standing Army:
M3 Fencer (RL Equivalent: Leclerc MBT)
IT* M5 Strider (RL Equivalent: Dardo IFV )
SPA* A4 Hammer (No RL Equivalent)
Various support vehicles; trucks, scouts, anti-aircraft and the like.

A/S Units, Reserve Army:
*TBD*

Aerial Support Division:
GSH* Shark (RL Equivalent: RAH-66 Comanche )
RCH* Hawk (RL Equivalent: ARH-70 Arapaho )
UTH* Phoenix (No RL Equivalent)
A-8 Falcon (No RL Equivalent)

Key:
IT: Infantry Transport
SPA: Self-Propelled Artillery
GSH: Gunship Helicopter
RCH: Recon Helicopter
UTH: Utility Helicopter

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Royal Arcadian Air Force:
The youngest of the Arcadian services, the Air Force is second only to the Navy. This is due in large part to its purpose in defending the homeland. Because of this and the primarily defensive nature of the Arcadian military in general, the Air Force has a focus on fighter aircraft. Bombers are relegated to second-line duty at best.

However, due to the Navy retaining most of the Arcadian developmental budget, the Air Force has yet to develop a Fifth Generation fighter program. There are talks in place to, perhaps, purchase foreign designs, but Arcadia operates Gen 4 aircraft for the time being, with increasing numbers of modernized Gen 4.5 craft entering service.

Organization:
*TBD*

Designs, Primary Use:
FA-39 Griffin--primary Arcadian fighter aircraft. Currently being modernized to Gen 4.5 standard, to better compete with newer foreign designs. (RL Equivalent: JAS 39 Gripen )
IA-20 Tiger--primary interceptor, developed for fast and accurate interception of enemy bomber and transport aircraft, as far from Arcadian shores as possible. (RL Equivalent: F-20 Tigershark
*TBD*

000000000000000000000000000000000

Royal Arcadian Navy:

As befits an island nation, the Royal Arcadian Navy is the largest single service in the Arcadian Military. With most of the budget going into funding the navy, it also possesses the most advanced technology of any Arcadian forces. This is perhaps misleading however, as most nations consider the Navy to be anachronistic with its continued focus on heavy gun battleships (the cruiser force has been fully transferred to missile designs however). This is in addition to the Navy being, technically, split into four different forces.

Each individual Kingdom (and the Empire of Glacia) maintain their own forces, only united in the greater Navy for combat purposes. As a result, it is not uncommon for vessels to fly their Kingdom's flag, as opposed to the United Kingdom's flag, leading to no small amount of confusion.

Organization:

Royal Navy: The combined fleet, typically only called up in wartime. Prefix: HArMS (His/Her Arcadian Majesty's Ship)

Glacian Imperial Navy: Largest of the individual navies. Prefix: IGS (Imperial Glacian Ship).

Kingdom of Mannar Navy: *Size TBD* Prefix: MKS (Mannaren Kingdom Ship)

Royal Larena Fleet: *Size TBD* Prefix: HLrMS (His/Her Larenan Majesty's Ship)

Sarana Royal Navy: Smallest of the fleets. Prefix: RSS (Royal Saranen Ship)

Equipment:
As previously stated, the Arcadian Navy is heavily tilted towards old-fashioned big-gun warships. As such, there is a large focus on battleships, leading to Naval Aviation suffering somewhat.

Battleships:
Gustav I-Class Nuclear Battleship: Four currently in service, three serving as the flagships for the Three Kingdoms, with the fourth coming from Glacia. These vessels rotate the Flag of the Combined Fleet. Currently the name ship, MKS Gustav I holds that honor, though this will be rotated to the RSS Michael III in 2005/2019. (RL Equivalent: Modernized Montana-class, with the Iowa style upgrades and a nuclear powerplant )

Anne IV-class: *number TBD* (RL Equivalent: Modernized Littorio-class, slightly upsized to allow for greater armor protection) )

IGS Irene I: First Arcadian Dreadnought, ceremonial flagship of Glacia. Basically Arcadia's Constitution, aside from the Flagship thing.

Cruisers:
*TBD*

Destroyers/Frigates:
*TBD*

Naval Aviation:
Lana VI-class CVN--The current Arcadian carrier design. Smaller than Rheinlandic carriers, as befits a design developed primarily to give cover to fleets on the rare occasions that Arcadian forces are required to leave the homeland. (RL Equivalent: Charles de Gaulle, perhaps slightly larger...maybe )
NFA-17 Rattlesnake--primary fighter aircraft for the Naval Aviation forces. *design TBD*
*other aircraft TBD*

- removed -

Armed Forces of the Democratic People's Republic of Komradistan


Army
Heavily mechanized, due to the strong oil industry in Komradistan. Conscription-based.

Air Force
A potent aggressor with cutting-edge equipment, including fifth-generation stealth fighters. It fields no 'strategic bombers', to evade the ire of Rheinland and others, instead fielding a strong arm of 'naval bombers' that sometimes deliver heavy strikes inland.

Navy
Seeing somewhat less investment than the battlelines of the old Royal Navy that aimed to utterly dominate the seas, the Red Navy focuses on the ability to deliver reinforcements to one warzone at a time. Lacks battleships, though does have a class of cruiser with autoloading heavy cannons to provide sustained fire support.

The Confederation of the Apelians

Quick Facts:
Flag: A gold circle inside a larger silver circle on a deep blue field, symbolizing the Sun, a shield, and the sea, respectively. In military ensigns the gold circle is replaced by crossed spears.
Official Language: High Hellene
Recognized Languages: Low Hellene, Turkish
Government: Elective constitutional monarchy with a unitary legislature.
Tyrant: His Majesty Brakidas VII, Tyrant of the Apelians
Head of the Convocate: Lord Alexandros, Duke of the Causeway
Voice of the People: Sarpedon Baros, Headsman of the Guild of Teamsters
Population: Roughly 180,000,000
Gross Domestic Product: Roughly $4.5 trillion
GDP per capita: Roughly $25,000
Currency: Drachma

The Apelian Armed Forces
The armed forces of the Confederation are divided into the Armies, Fleets, and Air Forces of the Tyrant, to differentiate them from the (no longer extant) private armies historically maintained by high aristocrats and wealthy merchants. Currently, annual spending on the military, including procurement, upkeep, salaries and benefits, and militarily-useful industrial projects amounts to roughly $450 billion annually, or 10% GDP, accounting for perhaps two-fifths of total government spending. A system of universal conscription is in place; on reaching his or her 21st birthday, an Apelian citizen must spend two years as a member of the armed forces or assist in the construction, medical, or education sectors, followed by four years in the reserves in the case of military service.

The Armies of the Tyrant
The Armies of the Tyrant currently employs over 600,000 active-duty personnel, including the Constabulary Forces. A further million are in the ready reserves. There are currently five corps each of four divisions in operation, although a further eight divisions retain ‘caretaker’ companies, which keep the flags and honors of the units active. One division in each corps is an armored division; the rest are mechanized infantry, although only half are equipped with first-line vehicles and weapons. There are enough second-line vehicles for about a quarter of the reserves; the rest would be dangerously outgunned by modern units if mobilized. First Division, First Corps is a purely administrative unit including all Apelian special forces troops.
Main Battle Tank, 1st-line: Akhilleus IV.2 (read: Indian Arjun Mk. II MBT), Akhilleus IV (read: Indian Arjun MBT)
Main Battle Tank, 2nd-line: Akhilleus III (read: modernized T-72).
Main Battle Tank, reserves: Akhilleus II (read: 80s-tech T-62), Akhilleus (read: Indian Vijayanta)
IFV, 1st-line: Hoplite IFV (read: Indian Abhay, slightly downgraded to early-2000s tech), Peltast II.2 (read: BMP-3)
IFV, 2nd-line: Peltast II.2 (read: BMP-2)
IFV, reserves: Peltast (read: BMP-1)
[Other vehicles & equipment TBA, roughly 1990s baseline tech standard, with newer purchases in a few areas.]

The Navies of the Tyrant
The Navies of the Tyrant are decidedly less important to the nation than his Armies or Air Forces, but still retain a respectable blue-water capability to supplement the swarms of light corvettes and river gunboats it uses to maintain brown and green-water superiority. Naval aircraft are, broadly speaking, navalized versions of Air Forces craft, which have been adapted with varying degrees of success.
N.B. The modern Apelian navy developed during the dreadnought era and does not use the frigate classification. Instead, large surface warships are battlecruisers or heavy cruisers, medium-sized ones are light cruisers, and the smallest oceangoing ships are classified as destroyers.

2 Carrier Battle Groups, each including a Lance-class (read: heavily modernized Nimitz) carrier as well as one heavy missile cruiser, two lighter air defense cruisers, and three or four multirole destroyers.

3 Amphibious Assault Groups, each based around two Swarm-class (read: Wasp-class) assault ships and a heavy cruiser and including between one and three smaller warships for air defence.

2 Submarine Strike Groups of three nuclear and three conventional-powered attack submarines as well as two nuclear-powered missile-armed boats.

320 assorted FACs, littoral combat craft, corvettes, gunboats, and torpedo boats of wildly differing classes and levels of modernization resulting from uneven funding and inattention among the naval command structure.
[Detailed listings TBA]

The Air Forces of the Tyrant
The Air Forces of the Tyrant operate some active 1,300 aircraft, most fairly modern, and maintains nearly as many in reserve (although most of these are approaching total obsolescence and are in uncertain condition anyway). Its newest fighter is the K-47 Javelin (read: HAL Tejas), and plans are being drawn up to replace the entire fighter fleet with Javelins if they should perform well over the next few years. For the meantime the service operates a menagerie of domestic and foreign designs, mainly fighters and attack aircraft, but including a small force of medium-range stealth bombers.
[Detailed listings TBA]


History of the Confederation of the Apelians
Apelia is a constitutional hereditary monarchy occupying the northern Apelian Peninsula and several surrounding islands. It is inhabited primarily by ethnic Apelians, traditionally divided into three tribes, the Dorians, the Aeolians, and the Ionians, although intermarriage and the passage of time has blurred the lines between the tribes to a very great degree. As late as 500 BC the Apelians were only one of many related ethnic groups with similar cultures on the peninsula, called the Hellenic cultures, but migration, political changes, and simple demographic drift pushed the others into insignificance. ‘Apelia’ is a contracted form of the original Hellenic term ‘ethnos ap’helion’, meaning ‘people of/from the Sun.’ This appears to have been a geographic term in distant prehistory; anthropologists now believe the ancestors of the Apelians migrated from modern Cabelon or Travancore before settling on the Apelian Peninsula in roughly 3300 B.C. They would have traveled due West, following the sun, whence the name.


First Omnian Wars and the Four Strong Tyrants
The modern Apelian state dates back nearly two thousand years, to the Great League formed by the cities and tribes of the peninsula to resist an Omnian invasion. Called the Great League to distinguish it from the smaller leagues that had come before, this alliance managed to throw back the Omnian armies in a series of bloody defensive actions along the craggy southern coast. Still, the soldiers of Om outnumbered the Apelians by a staggering factor and would have rallied if a young commander from the city of Theadona hadn’t captured the invasion’s commander and ten thousand slave soldiers by scattering the Omnian troops in a daring night attack by his tribal scout cavalry that sent them fleeing directly into the waiting arms of his heavy infantry, forced-marched into position the night before. The terrified, demoralized Omnians surrendered with light casualties, swearing loyalty to their captor personally. This action, more than any other, has been called the start of Apelian unity.

This commander, Brakidas by name, thus found himself in possession of a private army which he immediately set about forging into the most formidable in Apelia. This raised eyebrows all over the peninsula, but the middle of a war with Omnia was hardly a time to question free soldiers. Brakidas and his army would see extensive combat against Omnian reinforcements during the next campaign season, during which he developed the combined-arms tactics he would become famous for – his traditional Apelian hoplites would fix the enemy in place while light infantry (peltasts) and cavalry moved to envelope, break, and pursue. This last stage was something of a new innovation in peninsular warfare; Brakidas’ uniquely-good relationship with the hill tribes allowed him to field many more cavalry than contemporary Apelian commanders, who were limited to mainly infantry forces.

After two more Omnian armies had been shattered in the mountain passes, the Great League called its commanders home to consider the possibility of invading the disputed territories between Apelia-proper and the Omnian heartland—modern-day Eretz Muqaddasah. Brakidas, notably, was not invited. Modern historians suspect that the League Council was growing concerned about Brakidas’ increasing popularity with the troops in the field and was considering ordering him arrested, but no records from the Council’s deliberations survive. In any case, Brakidas appears to have suspected something of the sort, because a month after the other commanders were recalled he addressed the remaining officers, reminding them of his service to the Apelian nation (the first recorded mention of a single Apelian nation, as opposed to the usual formulas ‘the cities of the Apelians,’ or ‘the Apelians and their cities’), of the battles they had fought and won, and of his loyalty to the men under his command. The armies vowed to support Brakidas if the League tried to arrest him, and Brakidas-leaving most of the national contingents to defend the passes-returned to Apelia with perhaps fifteen thousand troops, including his captured Omnians.

What happened next is difficult to piece together, since records from the time period are usually either incomplete or obviously propaganda. It can be safely said the Brakidas arrived at the city of Nelion, leaving his men to camp outside the city, and entered with only a few bodyguards. He addressed the League Council in private, and the next day he was declared Tyrant of the Apelians by a slim majority of the councilors. It was not a universally-popular; twenty councilors were arrested by Brakidas’ cavalry as they tried to flee the city, and several more managed to escape, leading to ten years of low-intensity warfare to bring the peninsula under Brakidas’ rule.

This same period saw massive public-works projects to tie the Apelian states together, usually built by Omnian prisoners of war or the former armies of vanquished rebel cities. When Brakidas died thirty years later in 12 AD at the age of 62, Apelia was a centralized state with a network of post roads, a small but professional standing army (the successors of Brakidas’ Omnians), and a thriving new capital city at Olounos (from ‘olou ethnou,’ or ‘of/for the whole people’). Most importantly, he left a capable successor and a uniquely meritocratic form of monarchy. In Brakidas’ Apelia, the new ruler was elected from among the royal family by the high nobility and representatives of the leading trade guilds and professional associations. It has become tradition for the monarch to support the candidacy of one of his children, but technically any member of the royal family down to the king or queen’s cousins are eligible. By Brakidas’ own decree, the new monarch must also have been born and brought up in Apelia, be sound of mind and body (with a special exemption for non-crippling injuries, or any wound suffered in defense of the realm), and not have committed any grave offense to the gods.

Over the next century, the next three tyrants (Sarpedon, Brakidas II, and Brakidas III) led Apelia to prosperity in peace and war, extending its control over modern Eretz Muqaddasah and spreading trade networks across the northern coast of Austrafrica. For this reason they are referred to with Brakidas I as the Four Strong Tyrants, and it was during their reigns that some (primarily Apelian) historians claim that Apelian settlers colonized what would become San Dorado. There is an ongoing and vicious debate on the subject, however. Apelia was significantly aided in this expansion by the hill tribes’ development of a simple stirrup, which allowed Apelian armies to field the first effective lancer cavalry in Austrafrica. Tyrant Brakidas III (called the Centaur) was a particular cavalry enthusiast, having been fostered among the Thrakes tribe in central Apelia. He reformed the royal bodyguards, the Companions, as armored lancers, and the nobility’s emulation of the Companions led to the introduction of a feudal system of levies to Apelia. Previously, the citizen-hoplites of the cities had been the best Apelian troops, and their replacement signaled the end of the great age of the city as the preeminent factor in Apelian life. It would not regain its dominant position until the Industrial Revolution.

Under the feudal system, Apelia entered a long period of stagnation and eventual decline. The nobility developed extensive holdings in the countryside and elected weaker and weaker tyrants, attempting to keep as much power to themselves as possible, at the same time as Omnia began to look hungrily northward again. By 350 AD Eretz Muqaddasah was entirely under Omnian control, though Apelian cavalry mounted frequent raids from the massive Causeway Forts which guarded the mountain passes. These forts, built up over a century and a half, were effectively impenetrable to a pre-gunpowder army, and would have the honor of never being taken by an enemy. Even had the forts been less impressive, Omnia had no desire to face a repeat of the last time it had tried to attack through the mountains, and began building a massive fleet instead.


Second Omnian Wars and the Apelian Civil War
This was not a good idea. Apelian ships had been ranging all over the known world for the past two centuries, and constant low-level skirmishing between rival trading cities had honed Apelian naval tactics to a razor-sharp edge. The primary Apelian warship of the third century AD was a heavy-built trireme, junk-rigged, with a bronze or brazen-iron ram at the front. Some models sported ‘castles’ at the stern and bow, on which ballistae or flame projectors were mounted, and for battle the hulls were covered with wet oxhides to combat flaming missiles. The Omnian ships, however, were ungainly and clumsy, glorified troops transports only occasionally mounting more than two banks of oars and without the expert crews that the Apelians could recruit from the trading cities, particularly Olounos, Isthmos, and Attica. In April of 357 the Apelians met the Omnian fleet just south of the Aegis Islands and crushed them in a three-day running battle, capturing dozens of ships and killing nearly all the invasion troops. It would be centuries before Apelia would be directly threatened with invasion again, which was very fortunate.

The Battles of the Aegis exposed a growing flaw in the Apelian social fabric. The trade cities had been marginalized for decades by the warrior aristocracy, but that aristocracy had been utterly unable to defend Apelia from this most recent threat. The traders, captains, and oarsmen’s guilds would no longer stand for the aristocracy’s domination of the country, particularly its monopoly on the elections of the tyrant. The traders began hiring mercenaries from all over the known world, and their warships began drilling for amphibious assaults in a very pointed way. The situation erupted, ironically enough, at the very gathering meant to resolve it; the Duke of the Causeway, who controlled most of the border region and oversaw the garrison of the Causeway Forts (making him the most visible, if not the most powerful of the aristocracy) invited the high nobility and leading traders to his fortress at Chrusitari for a peace conference of sorts. It was indicative of the feebleness of the tyrant in this period that he was not invited. Each attendee brought his bodyguard, of course, and it was inevitable that a brawl should break out in such a climate and with so many armed men from opposing camps around, and on the third day of the conference one soldier knifed another over a game of dice. Before long the castle was in flames, dozens of worthies were dead, and the Apelian Civil War had begun.

Ten years of brutal warfare later, the nation’s treasuries were exhausted, its granaries were empty, and its armies were bled dry. When Tyrant Patroklos died in early 370 none of the major nobles or traders sent a representative to the election. Apelia might have disintegrated then and there, but the tyrant’s youngest son Akios, known to history as the Great, refused to allow his nation to fail while he could prevent it. With his father’s Companion cavalry, he went out into the streets of Olounos and addressed the people of the city. He asked for their help in ending the civil war, promising a return to the peace, prosperity, and greatness Apelia had known under his ancestors. He made them swear a solemn oath before all the gods to submit their differences to the tyrant instead of taking up arms, except in direst need. This would become a founding principle of Apelian life, one of the so-called Three Great Oaths – this, the Oath to the Tyrant; the Oath to the Gods, to guard their holy places and not to offend them deliberately; and the Oath to the Soul, to behave with honor in all things. Through the winter Akios oversaw the training of a new royal army, the old one having largely defected to the nobles or traders by this point, and met with every important person in the area. He declared the civil war an affront to the gods, and offered forgiveness to any commander who would bring his troops back under the central government. Through sheer force of personality he was able to persuade enough of the area’s lesser nobles and magnates to lay down their arms that when the Duke of the Cliffs (a rich region of the north coast) came to conquer Olounos for his faction, the tyrant’s army outnumbered his by two to one. In a brilliant stroke of tactical insight, Akios managed to pin the Duke’s army against Olounos’ high stone walls and crush it utterly, killing the rebellious Duke personally in single combat while the armies fought around them.

This stunning victory gave the young tyrant enough influence to call a new peace conference at Olounos, and nearly all the major magnates and nobles attended. Gathering them all in the election chamber of the royal palace, Akios opened the meeting not with the traditional host-gifts of salt, wine, and bread, but with a final demand to lay down their arms and swear the Oath to the Tyrant. When the attendees refused, royal soldiers burst out of hiding and slaughtered them all. Most of their armies surrendered and swore the oath, but it would take five long years before all of Apelia was pacified again. After two more years, during which Akios worked to support the rule of law and knit the shattered country back together again, Akios called the nobles and merchants together again. These were the sons, brothers, and uncles of men he had murdered, no matter his justification, and they were not friendly to the tyrant. Also present were representatives of the common people, one per city and one per farming district, chosen by lot.

Akios did a remarkable thing. He called on the assembly to elect a new tyrant, recommending his older brother Diomedes. He was a good choice; the merchants knew him to be a just man and a strong supporter of the navy and foreign trade in general, the nobles knew him to be Tyrant Patroklos’ preferred choice of successor, and the common people had benefited from his charitable works all through the past fifteen years. His election was announced later that same day, and was nearly unanimous. Akios addressed the assembly one last time, offering his apologies for his actions at the peace conference, and saying that although he had done what was necessary for Apelia, he could never forgive himself for his impious actions. At that, he fell on his sword, bringing an end to the life of perhaps the most remarkable man ever to rule Apelia.

Under Diomedes and his heirs, the nation prospered once more. Never again would civil war be allowed to threaten the state, as every citizen swore the Oath to the Tyrant on coming of age. Apelian trade had suffered as a result of the war, and the nation’s merchants would not regain their former prominence, but under a more equal distribution of influence the rich, the poor, and the aristocracy worked mostly together for the benefit of all. Omnia, just entering its own period of internal strife, would not threaten the Apelian homeland again until 1324, and Apelian troops occupied much of Eretz Muqaddasah over the next few centuries, building forts and roads. Much of the area would change hands several times, but the line of fortifications established along the line of the Muqaddasah River would largely hold firm. The intervening centuries would have their own struggles, upsets, and developments, but the essential character and borders of the Apelian state would remain broadly stable throughout the period, and so they are outside the scope of this document.


Third Omnian Wars and the Isolation Period
1324 changed all that. Omnian engineers had struck upon the design for a crude bombard in their latest civil wars, and the re-united domains of the Great God Om turned their new artillery north, accompanied by what has been called the first modern army. Emir Agha Kemal Khan Omaturk, the emperor’s uncle and finest general, had managed to organize a highly-effective logistics service to support his great guns, which had the side benefit of allowing him to field a massive army of two hundred thousand men and keep them fed and watered. This was the force that marched for Eretz Muqaddasah in late 1324, and only its slow speed gave Apelia the chance to reinforce their forts and prepare to receive the Omnian hammerblow. Despite all their preparations the Miqaddasah Lines fell quickly, unable to withstand the huge stone balls fired from the Omnian bombards, and the Apelian troops had to fight a series of running battles all the way back to the Causeway Forts, where broken terrain made it too risky to set up the huge cannon, as Apelian raiders could have easily destroyed them in the night. The next few years saw Apelia frantically developing a domestic cannon industry, making much lighter guns that could be moved around the mountain passes more easily. Thus rearmed, the Apelian troops managed to push Emir Kemal out of the mountains, but were unable to break out into the hill country east of them. Finally, in 1335, Omnia pulled back to the rebuilt Muqaddasah Line, where some of Emir Kemal’s bombards can still be seen. The region between the Muqaddasah River and the Causeway Forts fell into a kind of lawless demilitarization, with both Apelia and Omnia claiming it but neither willing to risk a war to enforce that claim. A period of uneasy peace began, strengthened into outright friendship when the first American and Eurasian adventurers began to appear in the early 1500s. There had been little inter-continental contact before, since reliable ocean-going ships had not been developed, but it immediately became clear that arms technology had progressed much faster outside of Austrafrica. Matchlock and wheel-lock muskets superior to local designs, stronger steels, and better powder compositions began to spread quickly, mostly supplied by San Dorado, then as now the dominant trading power in the region. Omnia suffered greatly in this period as disgruntled nobles and unhappy peasants alike staged a series of revolts that the extra-continental powers took advantage of to establish spheres of influence, much as they were doing in Umeria and along the northern coast of Austrafrica. Apelia as largely spared this, since there was little internal dissent to exploit, but it entered a profoundly isolationist mindset and refused to allow any more contact with the outside world than was absolutely necessary.

This was excellent for Apelian culture, and some of its finest plays and novels are from this period. Agathon’s great Epic of the Tyrant, about Akios I, was published in 1567, and the comedies of Petrakles (performed from about 1560 to 1580) still delight audiences today. Apelian food developed as well, as new spices and plants were allowed into the country, especially the potato, tomato, and various peppers. Apelia would remain isolated throughout the next century and a half, before emerging under Tyrant Akhilleus in 1712 to discover that Eretz Muqaddasah was rapidly slipping into chaos as Omnian rebels and foreign adventurers alike carved out mini-kingdoms outside the reach of the weak central government. Apelian troops swarmed out of their forts to restore order, but were humiliated in the First and Second Battles of the Muqaddasah Road by rebel forces with modern cannon and muskets. An intense period of re-armament began, which saw Apelian domestic arms production modernized and expanded. Within ten years Apelian workshops produced fifteen thousand muskets a year, which would double over the next decade. Unfortunately, these would be rendered obsolete almost immediately by the introduction in Britonia of the Pattern 1722 musket, called the Brown Bess, which would remain unsurpassed and largely unchanged for the next century. Apelian troops discovered the superiority of this weapon on their second attempt to pacify Eretz Muqaddasah, when the pocket kingdom of the Britonian adventurer John Nash defeated an Apelian division in the hills west of the old river forts.


Industrialization and the Fourth Omnian Wars
Again, Apelia rearmed, selling its old guns to the Omnian throne at a steep price. The Omnians managed to restore a semblance of order to their territories and prevent the expansion of the foreign spheres of influence, but the region had acquired a reputation for weakness and the foreign sharks continued circling. Eretz Muqaddasah, by 1800, was largely under the rule of Nash’s Kingdom of the River, now ruled by his son James. Using foreign mercenaries, Nash attempted to expand his domains south in Omnia proper, and met with victory after victory as Omnian troops pulled back before his modern guns.

It was a trap. The Omnian throne had its savior in a second brilliant Omaturk leader, the distant descendant of Emir Kemal. Emir Ahmet Khan Omaturk - General Omaturk, as he insisted on being called, in the foreign fashion – had deliberately drawn the Riverine troops south, to the end of a massively long supply train. All during the retreat his son had been in Olounos, convincing the Apelian tyrant that the time was right to avenge the nation’s humiliation by Nash. In January 1801, Apelian troops – this time with modern weaponry, rigid discipline, and a national hunger for revenge—poured over the border. At the same time the Riverine troops found their supply trains captured or burned by irregular Omnian forces, at the same time as fresh troops from the south attacked their frontline positions in corps-level strength. Nash’s troops fled north, taking horrendous losses to the fierce Omnian irregulars, before meeting Apelian troops coming south. They surrendered in droves, preferring captivity in Apelia to Omnian revenge for their harsh occupation of its territory.

The alliance immediately began to disintegrate. Apelia, confident in its modern weaponry, refused to return eastern Eretz Muqaddasah to Omnian control, demanding a ceasefire in place. General Omaturk refused, naturally, and furthermore demanded that Apelian surrender its Riverine prisoners for trial in Omnia. When Apelia refused to return either the territory or the prisoners, the Omnian army went on the offensive again, capturing enough Apelian artillery to supplement their outdated cannon and driving the Apelian forces back through sheer elan. The Apelian army was taken by surprise and incompetently led, and fell back in disorder, finally holding at their ancient positions along the Muqaddasash River. The population was shocked by this defeat, and Tyrant Eurus was forced to sue for peace on Omnia’s terms. Eretz Muqaddasah was returned to Omnian control, except for a thin band of territory just east of the mountains.

The region was quiet through much of the nineteenth century. While Omnian and Apelian industry continued to grow and politicians kept the old grudges fresh, neither nation really had the stomach for another war. Omnia would not have a commander of General Omaturk’s caliber until the middle of the twenthieth century, and in Apelia the merchant classes continued to elect tyrants who favored peace with Omnia in the name of their business interests. The military, still led by the old warrior aristocrats, seethed, but could do very little besides keeping their guns modern and their swords sharp. Omnia, meanwhile, sank into decline—the nation rested on its collective laurels, and foreign bribes kept its government weak and divided. By the turn of the century Omnia was widely known as ‘the sick man of Austrafrica,’ too large to be invaded but too weak to defend its economic exclusion zones or trade rights. Still, relations in the region were peaceful, if strained. The situation was untenable, of course.


Fifth Omnian War/Austrafrican War and Mandatory Eretz Muqaddasah
The Eighty Years War in Eurasia was a call to arms for both the traditional powers of Austrafrica. At last, it seemed, the colonial powers were turning on each other. Omnia saw a chance to expel the foreign interests from its soil, and Apelia had long been eyeing the rich colonies and protectorates of the other nations. 1908 to 1935 saw massive expansions in the Omnian and Apelian navies, the adoption of new weapons, armored forces, and aircraft. Tensions rose dangerously high, and when Apelia finally declared war on Corona over its colonial holdings, it was almost a relief. Omnia quickly declared for Corona, eager for a chance to fight the traditional ally, and while the Shinran declaration was rather more worrying, sentiment in Apelia was broadly positive. At last, the long-awaited war had come.

It started off very well for Apelia. Its navy managed to command the sea around the Coronan colonies long enough to land troops, and its aircraft and tanks quickly broke through the Omnian lines in Eretz Muqaddasah. Shinran warships arrived soon after, however, and shore bombardments from their heavy guns allowed the Omnians enough time to pull back and dig in along the Muqaddasash River, in a strangely inevitable confrontation on land that had already seen dozens of battles between the two great regional powers. Most of Apelia’s navy was recalled to defend the coasts from the Shinran fleet, leaving only a few old battleships to hold the supply lines to the Coronan colonies open. Still, events continued in Apelia’s favor, with the Omnian troops being pushed out of their river forts by heavy bombing and daring night raids by Apelian commandos. The Omnians had used the time Shinran bombardment bought them well, though, and instead of the swift mechanized push to the south Apelia had expected, they found more lines of trenches, blockhouses, and tank traps. The fighting in Eretz Muqaddasah quickly turned into a meatgrinder—the Apelians always advancing but never quickly enough to overtake the Omnian fortification crews. Behind each trench line was another trench line, and behind that was another. Casualties were horrendous on both sides, and the fighting was brutal even by the standards of those two ancient enemies.

Meanwhile, the naval war was not going well. Corona’s navy was small but modern and very professional, and the reduced forces Apelia could use to oppose it were quickly sunk or penned up in captured colonial ports. The supplies of the expeditionary force began to run thin, leading Apelia to try to supply them by air—diverting vital production from fighters and ground-attack aircraft at a time when new Shinran planes began to arrive in Omnian airbases. The Apelians, who had enjoyed air superiority over Eretz Muqaddasah all through the war, began to find their planes outnumbered, if not outperformed for the first time, and had to conserve fuel as supply dumps behind the line were bombed daily. Many military historians have theorized that if Shinra or Omnia had been willing to attempt a strategic bombing campaign, Apelia would have collapsed within three years, but air attacks were limited to military targets only. Unfortunately for Apelia, those military targets included the main fleet yards at Isthmos. Three modern and four old-style battleships, two battlecruisers, one fleet and two light carriers were sunk at anchor, although hundreds of Allied aircraft were destroyed in some of the bloodiest air battles of the war, spread over a week of fighting. By the end of the Battle of Isthmos Yard on March 14th, 1938, the Apelian navy was finished as a fighting force.

Just as all seemed lost, the army finally succeeded in breaking through the Omnian lines in a concentrated armored thrust, with tank divisions fanning out to exploit the breakthrough as motorized infantry units drove hard to capture Omnian supply dumps and command centers. Entire divisions found themselves surrounded and gave up their arms. The remaining Omnian troops had no choice but to pull back to the Omnian heartland, occupying the dense fortifications along the border with Eretz Muqaddasah. The Apelian army had no stomach for another grueling slog through heavily-defended territory, and dug in outside of artillery range.

Almost the opposite position was true in the Coronan colonies. Apelian forces had been pushed back by local troops stiffened with Coronan regulars and Shinran Marines, concentrated in a few pockets around the port cities. Allied planes began to shoot down their supply drops in large numbers, and the situation seemed grim. Finally, exhausted and bankrupt, Omnia sued for peace, granting Eretz Muqaddasah to Apelia in exchange for the return of a few small islands occupied by Apelia during the wars with Nash’s Kingdom of the River. Almost immediately, Apelia paid a large settlement to Corona, offered trade concession to Shinra, and renounced all claims on the Coronan colonies. Every participant except Omnia argued, with some justification, that it had won the war—Corona had kept its colonies, Shinra had defended its ally, and Apelia had finally secured all the resources of the peninsula for itself.

The postwar years were hard for Apelia. So many troops and so much treasure had been lost in the war and the settlement that it was impossible to hold Eretz Muqaddasah as part of Apelia proper, and in any case the local population was too culturally-different to make it a viable proposition anyway. Eventually, Tyrant Alexandros hit upon the idea of making the region a separate possession of the Apelian throne, free to manage its own internal policies and only dependent on Apelia for guidance in military and foreign affairs. The local nobility was largely amenable to the idea, and the dissenters had no desire to face the battle-hardened Apelian army, so the arrangement continues to this day. The Muqaddashi people send delegates to the tyrannical elections in Apelia, but otherwise there is very little in the way of legal ties between the two countries. Eretz Muqaddasah is garrisoned by units sworn to the tyrant and officially part of the Apelian military, but they are almost to a man locally-raised.

Recovery from the war took decades, although access to the oil and mineral reserves in Eretz Muqaddasah helped speed up the process. Remarkably, Apelian society stayed largely stable throughout the second half of the twentieth century, although there are indications that the same will not be true for the twenty-first. Blogging and crowdsourcing has caught on in a big way in Apelia, as it dovetails nicely with traditional ideas of depending on personal relationships, and the two seem set to upset the established business community in ways that are only now becoming clear. Still, though, the tyranny remains strong, and the traditional pyramid of the merchants, the nobles, and the commoners are still able to keep most citizens satisfied with their government most of the time.

In lieu of my OrBat, which I'm still needing to put together and which my headache is making it hard to focus on, I'll list the general gist of each service as I'd like it.

Cascadian Army: The Shield of the Republic. The Army carries much prestige in the southern areas of Cascadia especially. Currently consists of 15 active duty divisions and 9 reservist divisions. Selective Service is employed to fill out formations if recruiting does not fill needs. The Army is very well equipped and manned and has three armored divisions, not including armored units in the infantry divisions and the armored cavalry. Two airborne divisions and one light division provide rapid deployment capacity in conjunction with Air Force Airlift.

Air Force: Quality over quantity is the current watchword. Tactical air power is considered the most iimportant along with national air defense. A small strategic bomber force capable of ALCM and smart weapon deployment is maintained, but are not considered likely to survive in the battlespace of a continental war with Klavostan. 5th Generation stealth fighters are planned for tactical air power and interception.

Air Guard: The Air Guard, distinct from the Army and the Air Force, exists to protec Cascadian airspace. They control the country's SAM sites and air defense radar network. They closely liaise with both the Army and Air Force to ensure rapid interception of incoming air attacks and the defense of air defense installations.

Navy: The Cascadian Navy has always been a vital part of the country, ever since the days of sail, with Cascadian overseas commerce being a vital part of the economy. In the modern day Cascadia's Navy is maintained to ensure a controlling position in the Pacific, using 10 100,000T nuclear-powered aircraft carriers as the centerpieces (9 in active service, 1 undergoing re-fueling, new construction for ships being decommissioned). The Cascadian Marine Corps, as part of the Navy, exists to be a rapid deployment force on foreign shores, primarily aiding in humanitarian operations when not used for combat; they number around 90,000 active personnel and 30,000 inactive. The spearhead of Marine deployments are carried from LHD-type ships and accompanying LPDs, which are built in equal number to the CVNs. The Cascadian Navy, to save on the costs of building escorts for these ships, deploys them alongside carrier battle groups in what are designated Joint Carrier Operation Groups (JCOGs).

Coast Guard: Attached to the Treasury in peacetime and the Navy in wartime, the Coast Guard mans cutters and helicopters for coastal defense and search and rescue, including anti-smuggling patrols.

National Guard: Each state and republic in the Union controls its own forces in the National Guard. They are a mix of volunteers, former regular army personnel, and in some cases draftees who train regularly to be used in local emergency or wartime. National Guard units include FAC squadrons in coastal states, infantry and specialist troops, secondary air defense sites, and pilots flying Reservist air unit equipment. During war time the relevant units are relegated to the appropriate service while in peacetime they are under the command of the governors of the states and republics.

Final note: the distinction between states and republics internally is that states are the Eurasian settler-majority parts of the Union while the republics are the First Nations.

I'm actually honestly anticipating a defense budget of around $400 billion or 5% of GDP as a minimum, as I've got a defended 1,200km border to worry about, plus South American commitments, plus Pacific interests, and at minimum I have a rocky relationship with Komradistan and don't like Orion too much either (even if we both like Commies even less). And there's always the need to protect Cascadian commercial interests in places like New Britonia or the Subcontinent.

CHAMPA ORBAT: Rough as a boar's arse version:

Throughout, troop number (and boots) refers to all roles, especially support, back room and engineering support roles. The Champan Republican forces try and keep investment as much 'in-house' as they can. Besides, they've a large rolling conscript population to keep trained. Every year, as the climax of their service, there are games between 2 districts refereed by a third. Since most of the population passes through conscription, there's a certain amount of local pride at stake here.
The exact nature of the game varies, typically alternating between a war game and a crisis. All too often nature provides a real version of the latter.

During times of crisis, the Corps will control the situation and the military arms will report to them. In times of war, the reverse is true. A certain amount of cross training is expected. A soldier should know what to do with a sand bag, while a corpsman should be able to strip a rifle.


Assumes:
$12000 GDP/capita
$3.978E+11 GDP
6% mil budget


Army:
Budget on boots $1.30E+09
Budget for toys $3.47E+09
Troop numbers 108,300
Toys:
50 heavy tanks, 50 experimental hovercraft apcs, 2000+ light, amphibious APCs. A further 750+ chassis with anti-aircraft, tank destroyer and field artillery variants. 50% of conscripts trained as light guerilla forces , with typical spread of light personal weaponry.
The Champan landscape is not kind to heavy vehicles off road, so the universal doctrine is to force the invader off road and let the mud swallow them.


Navy:
Budget on boots $7.80E+08
Budget for toys $5.19E+09
Troop numbers 65,000
Toys:
8 Frigates 30+ patrol boats 6 mine sweeper class 3 fuel tankers. 3 experimental remote control mine sweepers converted from old fishing smacks.
A typical small brown water navy with some very limited green water capabilities.

Airforce:
Budget on boots $5.20E+08
Budget for toys $6.74E+08
Troop numbers 43,320
Toys: 32 last generation interceptors, 56 helicopters, mostly in a gunship configuration
Much to the frustration of their officer class, the air force is largely a rump organisation operating with out dated tools and weaponry. Simply maintaining parity in air superiority is too expensive, and so, like the army, the decision has been made to avoid head on battles.


Land Corps (the Shovels)
Budget on boots $2.64E+09
Budget for toys $2.13E+09
Troop numbers 220,000
Toys:
Mostly worker gangs. 400 construction trucks, 100 bulldozers, 20 large roller compactors, 60 cement lorries. Facilities to match. 2 mobile hospitals, storage and deployment of emergency shelters
The sheer mass of muscle available to the Corps has probably slowed modernization behind what would be optimal. Still, ditch digging is good for the character, no?

Water Corps ( The buffalos)
Budget on boots $1.85E+09
Budget for toys $3.52E+09
Troop numbers 154,000
Toys: 6 large dredgers. 1 hospital ship, 3 emergency aid tankers (fuel, food ect). 2 channel cutters. 2 mobile pilling rigs. 40+ minor dredge and maintenance barges

Air Corps (The Kites)
Budget on boots $7.92E+08
Budget for toys $9.99E+08
Troop numbers 66,000
Toys: meterological stations and blimps. 8x resuce helicopters, small drone research facility for search and resuce

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/641 ... t_001.xlsx

Notes on Cascadian Military:

Army cut from 15 active duty divisions to eight.
Navy has only 3 LHDs for South American and North American operations, joined by supporting LPDs; primary mission is crisis support and humanitarian assistance. LHDs are used on readiness deployment schedule that keeps them in port more often than other vessels. Marine Corps cut to 50,000 active.

The Cascadian Air Force has roughly 1,400 combat aircraft, including bombers, and another 1,000 support aircraft (tankers, airlift, AWACS, trainers), active and reserve. Does not count army aviation helos or USAF helos. Note that the US figures for these are 2,000+ combat aircraft and 2,500 support.


I'm basing these figures and my prior ones on examination of Thanas' OrBat and the consideration that my defense commitments are similar in naval terms, slightly more needy in air force terms, and rather more necessary in army terms. I spend roughly $160 billion more on defense per annum than he does, (~3% for Rheinland, ~5% for Cascadia). (For comparison, by this report the USN got the biggest share of the FY2014 budget with $155 billion.).

Note that I did go overboard with 15 divisions in the army and 9 LHDs, so I will take opinions and critique on this.

Basics of all services now done. Detailed Air Force and Air Guard OrBat is up next.



United States of Cascadia



Commander-in-Chief: Alexander W. Penton, POTUSC
Secretary of Defense: Alejandro L. Perez
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff: Fleet Admiral Charles G. O'Connor (USCN)
Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff: General of the Air Force Logan Bannerman (USCAF)

The leadership of the Cascadian military is constitutionally defined as coming from the President as Commander-in-Chief.

Following Great War reforms, the Department of Defense was formed, a small branch with the purpose of keeping the President from being overwhelmed by the three service department secretaries established by the formation of the Cascadian Air Force in 1927 and the Air Guard in 1936. The Secretary of Defense and his relatively small office of analysts and planners act as a buffer for the President, allowing every day data to be collected, analyzed, and organized without burdening the President's staff. While some attempts have been made to increase the power and size of the Defense Department - notably by Democrat Defense Secretary Robert McNamara in the Johnson Administration, before the South Pacific War with Orion embarrassed the newly "improved" DoD - it has usually been kept trim by Congressional budget restrictions and Presidential existence.

The Stalwart Party is known for continually trying to dissolve the organization, dismissing it as an institution that was made to limit the Army.

Since 1955 it has been the common practice of Cascadia for the heads of the Joint Chiefs to be considered five-star officers.

Cascadian Navy

Founded in the 1740s after the War of Independence, the Cascadian Navy has seen its fortunes rise and fall over the years. It has fought hard and known victory and defeat through the wars of the 19th and 20th Centuries, with glorious victories like the Battle of the Polynesian Sea and horrible defeats like the loss of Home Fleet off La Paz. For years it was the third service, behind the Army and Air Force, required to make do with older and older ships with only a small trickle of reinforcements. But twenty years of relative detente with Klavostan has seen the Navy return to a leading role in the Cascadian nation, one that it hopes to continue on through the 21st Century.

Command Structure

Secretary of the Navy: Robert J. Dale
Chief of Naval Operations: Admiral Henry Maran
Vice-Chief of Naval Operations: Admiral Nicholas Andersen
Commandant of the Marine Corps: General John Stewart
Commander-in-Chief West Pacific (1st Fleet): Vice Admiral Jack Leander
Commander-in-Chief South Pacific (2nd Fleet): Vice Admiral Oliver Hendell
Commander-in-Chief North Pacific (3rd Fleet): Vice Admiral Karl Stark
Commander-in-Chief of Naval Aviation: Vice Admiral Marcus Snow
Commander-in-Chief of Surface Combat Command: Vice Admiral Allen Shabari
Commander-in-Chief of Submarine Command: Rear Admiral (Upper) Bart Mancuso


Capital Ship List:

Aircraft Carriers

The pride and heart of the Cascadian Navy. From Defiant onward design changes have been minor, although the Navy considers each new group a new class. Standard defense equipment includes four machine gun mounts, 2 CIWS mounts, 2 RAM missiles, 2 supersonic anti-air missiles, and port and starboard hedgehog ATORP launchers. Testing has been successfully completed on new countermeasure anti-torpedo systems and the Navy expects to install them on all carriers save those due to decommission in the next ten years. Currently the Chief Joseph and Martin Kemmish are the only ships installed with the SSTD system, with USS Intrepid undergoing installation while in RCOH. Depending upon naval budgets, every carrier will start having SSTD installed by 2015.

Although the Enterprise is lighter, all the carriers listed have a carrying capacity of up to 90 aircraft, fixed wing and helicopter.

Enterprise-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier (92,000T)
USS Enterprise CVN-34 (commissioned 1960, to be decommissioned in 2016)

Defiant-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier (100,000T)
USS Defiant CVN-36 (commissioned 1971, to be decommissioned in 2021)
USS Reprisal CVN-37 (commissioned 1976, to be decommissioned in 2026)
USS Audacious CVN-38 (commissioned 1981, to be decommissioned in 2031)

Intrepid-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier (100,000T)
USS Intrepid CVN-39 (commissioned 1988, undergoing RCOH)
USS Republic CVN-40 (commissioned 1994)
USS Ranger CVN-41 (commissioned 1998)

John Quincy Adams-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier (100,000T)
USS John Quincy Adams CVN-42 (commissioned 2003)
USS Chief Joseph CVN-43 (commissioned 2008)

Martin Kemmish-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier (100,000T)
USS Martin Kemmish CVN-44 (commissioned 2013)
USS Enterprise CVN-45 (under construction, scheduled to enter service 2016)
USS Defiant CVN-46 (ordered, scheduled to enter service 2021)
USS Reprisal CVN-47 (planned, scheduled to enter service 2026)

CVX-48 Concept Design
CVX(N)-48 (planned, scheduled to enter service 2031)

Amphibious Operations Ships
Olympia-class amphibious assault ship (40,000T)
USS Leyte LHA-4 (commissioned 1990, possibly decommissioned in 2015)

Cascadia-class amphibious assault ship (42,000T)
USS Cascadia LHD-1 (commissioned 2005}
USS Constitution LHD-2 (commissioned 2010)
USS Constellation LHD-3 (to be commissioned 2015)
USS Concordia LHD-4 (to be commissioned 2020-2022)
LHD-5 (proposed)
LHD-6 (proposed)

Guided Missile Submarines
Sovereign-class guided missile submarine (16,000T surfaced)
USS Sovereign SSGN-1 (commissioned 2004)
USS Superb SSGN-2 (commissioned 2008)
USS Sentinel SSGN-3 (commissioned 2013)
USS Salish SSGN-4 (to be commissioned 2016-2018 depending upon budget)

Non-Capital Ship List:

Missile Cruisers
Columbia-class guided missile cruiser (13,000T)
USS Columbia CG-24
USS Yukon CG-25
USS Alyeska CG-26
USS Olympia CG-27
USS Oregon CG-28
USS Navajo CG-29
USS Nimíipuu CG-30
USS California CG-31

Comanche-class nuclear-powered guided missile cruiser (14,000T)
USS Comanche CGN-32
USS Apache CGN-33
USS Chinook CGN-34
USS Shoshone CGN-35
USS Paiute CGN-36 (under construction, to be commissioned 2016)
USS Sonora CGN-37 (ordered)
CGN-38 (planned)
CGN-39 (planned)
CGN-40 (proposed)
CGN-41 (proposed)

Missile Destroyers

Nathan Mackensen-class destroyer (8,400T) x 20 (decommissioning starting in 2016)

Enrique Royas-class destroyer (9,000T) x 25

Thomas Perry-class nuclear-powered destroyer (9,750T) x 12 (4 under construction to be commissioned 2014-2016, 6 ordered for 2016-2018, 10 planned, 16 proposed)

Frigates

George S. Patton Jr.-class ASW frigate (4,000T) x 30 (decommissioning starting in 2014, 3 per year)

John Lawton-class AA frigate (4,200T) x 10 (decommissioning 2 per year)

Angelo de la Cruz-class multirole frigate (5,200T) x 20

Darius Wolf-class nuclear-powered multirole frigate (6,000T) x 2 (commissioning 3 per year to 2024, rate increase to 4 proposed starting 2017)

Attack Submarines

Los Angeles-class nuclear-powered attack submarine (6,000T Surface) x 32 (decommissioning commencing in 2016, 2 per year)

Nautilus-class nuclear-powered attack submarine (7,000T Surface) x 16

Trigger-class nuclear-powered attack submarine (7,900T Surface) x 14 (commissioning 1 per year until 2020, 2 per year until 2030)

Light Surface Combat Ships

Tokitae-class multi-role corvette (2,500T) x 4 (12 to be commissioned 2014-2018)

Amphibious Operations Support

Bremerton-class Amphibious Transport Dock (11,000T)
USS Pocatello LPD-5 (decommissioning in 2017)
USS Ciudad Juarez LPD-6 (decommissioning in 2018)

Seattle-class Amphibious Transport Dock (16,000T)
USS Seattle LPD-10
USS Quincy LPD-11 (under construction, scheduled to enter service in 2017)
USS Oakland LPD-12 (under construction, scheduled to enter service in 2018)
LPD-13 (proposed)
LPD-14 (proposed)
LPD-15 (proposed)

Whidbey Island-class Dock Landing Ship (16,700T)
USS Whidbey Island LSD-24
USS Unalak Island LSD-25
USS San Juan Island LSD-26
USS Lopez Island LSD-27
USS Orca Island LSD-28
USS Johnstone Island LSD-29
LSD-30 (proposed)
LSD-31 (proposed)
LSD-32 (proposed)



Auxiliary Ship List:

Note: Auxiliary supply ships use full weight for tonnage listing, not light or empty.

Fleet Replenishment

Columbia River-class Replenishment Ship (50,000T) x 10

Blackfish Sound-class Oiler (42,000T) x 13

Settlers' Creek-class Replenishment Ship (Dry Goods) (40,000T) x 12

Fleet Support

Excellence-class Mine Warfare Ship (1,300T) x 10

Port Charlotte-class Salvage & Recovery Ship x 4

Mercy-class Hospital Ship
CRNS Mercy
CRNS Compassion
CRNS Comfort

Other Auxiliaries

Cascadia maintains a number of vessels such as ocean surveillance ships which are primarily crewed by civilians and perform support operations.

Naval Aviation

Active Aircraft

Aircraft active in the Navy, including Marine Corps units. Those not embarked on vessels are used in shore units or for training.

NF-12F Sea Kite Air Superiority Fighter x 300 (think modernized Tomcat)
NMF-16B Sea Shrike Multi-Role Fighter x 180, to be replaced by NMF-21
NSF-16C Super Shrike Strike Fighter x 300 (Dedicated Air Strike fighter)
NEA-16D Prowler Electronic Warfare Aircraft x 90
NMF-21C Sea Hawk (navalized light 5th Gen Fighter) x 0, procurement to begin in 2014FY
NS-3 Hunter ASW Aircraft x 100
NE-3B Hawkeye Airborne Early Warning Aircraft x 60
NTC-3 Hauler Naval Transport Aircraft x 32
P-1 Nimrod (P-3 Orion counterpart) x 75, being replaced by P-2
P-2 Neptune (P-8 Poseidon counterpart) x 6, replacing P-1
MH-20 Utility Helicopter x 350 (MH-60 counterpart)
SH-20 ASW Helicopter x 400 (SH-60 counterpart)
LH-14 Transport Helicopter x 100 (CH-46 counterpart, being phased out of service)
LH-16 Heavy Lift Helicopter x 120 (CH-53 counterpart)
LHT-4 Helicopter x 40 (V-22 counterpart)
AH-23 Attack Helicopter x 120 (Cobra counterpart)
AH-24 Attack Helicopter x 6 (Viper counterpart) (just delivered for evaluation and testing)

Reserve Aircraft

NF-12D Sea Kite x 60
NMF-16A Sea Shrike x 120
NMF-16B Sea Shrike x 80
LH-14 x 200 (being phased out of service)



Unit Organization

The Carrier Battle Groups of the Cascadian Navy typically consist of a carrier, a missile cruiser, at least three missile destroyers, at least three frigates (a mix of ASW and AA capability), and two SSNs. A Columbia River-class Replenishment Ship is attached to all CVBGs. Oilers and Dry Good Replenishment ships are attached to carriers as needed. Additional DESRONs and SUBRONs are assigned to escort duty as is considered necessary.

Amphibious Operations Groups are centered around LHD and LHA type ships. They consist of the amphibious operations vessel, a guided missile cruiser, at least two missile destroyers, at least three frigates with all capabilities accounted for, and at least two SSNs. As with CVBGs, additional escorts are assigned as is considered needed. Unlike CVBGs, AOGs are kept in port for longer periods at imminent readiness status, with one AOG forward deployed to Sydney Harbor Naval Base in the Patagonian Falklands.

When required, a Joint Operation Group (JOG) is formed, with a CVBG and AOG operating in tandem. This is usually during exercises as there are no longer enough AOGs to maintain the same pace of operations as CVBGs.

DESRONs are formed of five vessels, usually 2-3 destroyers and the other ships being frigates. Sydney Harbor NB, Chuuk NB, and Strathclyde NB on Nova Scotia are all home bases for forward-deployed DESRONs, where tender and support vessels support their operations.

SUBRONs are formed of four to six SSNs. Like DESRONs, some are stationed at the forward Naval Bases.

CINCSUBCOM commands the three existing SSGNs directly, which are deployed independently. Blue and Gold crew rotation is used to ensure that two subs are available at any given time.

CINCNAVAIR is commanding officer of all Navy air wings.


Carrier Battle Groups

CVN Standard Embarked Air Wing:
NSF-14C x 24
NF-12F x 24
NMF-14B x 12
NEA-14D x 6
NE-2B x 4
NTC-2 x 2
MH-20 x 4
SH-20 x 6

LHD Standard Embarked Air Wing:
LH-16 x 16
LHT-4 x 4
AH-8 x 8
SH-20 x 4

LHA Standard Embarked Air Wing: (Leyte)
LH-14 x 20
LH-16 x 11
AH-8 x 8
SH-20 x 4

Home Ports for Capital Ships:
Santa Magdalena Naval Base, Baja
USS Defiant
USS Reprisal
USS Ranger
USS Cascadia

Alameda Naval Base, California
USS Republic
USS Audacious
USS Chief Joseph
USS Leyte

Bremerton Naval Base, Olympia
USS Enterprise
USS John Quincy Adams
USS Martin Kemmish
USS Sovereign

Mare Island Naval Shipyard, California
USS Intrepid (RCOH)
USS Enterprise Under Construction)

Strathclyde Naval Base, New Hebridia
USS Sentinel

Sydney Harbor Naval Base, Falkland Islands, Republic of Patagonia
USS Constitution
USS Superb


Cascadian Marine Corps


Commandant of the Marine Corps: General John Stewart
Vice Commandant of the Marine Corps: Lieutenant General Joshua Carter

The Cascadian Marine Corps has existed since 1730, when the Continental Congress first organized a naval force to protect the shores of Cascadia. It saw light action in the War of Independence and conflicts with the First Nations of the northern coasts. A Marine company proved vital in the storming of Castello de San Marco in southern California during the New Granadian War - the site is now named for Captain Johnathan Pendleton and serves as the largest training base for the Marine Corps in the southern half of the country.

The Marine Corps came into its own during the Great War. With the Navy trying desperately to hold the lines to beleaguered Fuso open, the Marine Corps essentially became the country's second army, growing to a size of 250,000 before the war ended and enduring heavy fighting across the Pacific Theater. Marines were used in the amphibious invasions of occupied Fuso islands to open a path for Fuso Army troops to reclaim their homeland. Three Marine divisions were eventually used in the invasion of New Britonia in 1946.

Since the war the Marine Corps has seen its size cut down. At times it has swollen back to 150,000, but for the last thirty years it has been kept down to below 100,000; today only 70,000 men and women serve as active duty Marines. They are stationed to defend the Union's remaining overseas bases and serve as the land component for the AOGs of the Navy.

Due to the small size of the Corps, the three Marine Divisions only exist as paper formations; provisionally the 1st Division is considered the force on the mainland and Marine regiments off-shore (and on Nova Scotia) are 2nd Division. The Regiments that make up the Marine Corps are flexible formations built around moving ashore from helicopter or landing craft. 3rd Division is for reserves and training.

(Note: Following List is for main combat formations, support units are divvied among them)
1st Marine Regiment
Post: 1st AOG (USS Cascadia AOG)

2nd Marine Regiment
Post: 2nd AOG (USS Constitution AOG)

3rd Marine Regiment
Post: 3rd AOG (USS Leyte AOG)

8th Marine Regiment
Post: Camp Pendleton, California

9th Marine Regiment
Post: Camp Wallace, New Caledonia

10th Marine Regiment "The Rock of the Pacific"
Post: Chuuk Naval Base, Chuuk Atoll, Polynesian Sea

13th Marine Regiment (Artillery)
HQ: Camp Pendleton, California
Note: 13th Marine is deployed where necessary to help major combat operations, individual batteries can be deployed as-needed to various regiments)





Cascadian Army

Founded by the Continental Congress, the Cascadian Army has fought hard in every war the Cascadian nation has waged. It reached its apogee in 1945 as what might have been the mightiest army in the world at that point, with Cascadian armored divisions penetrating deep into Klavostan while other army forces were occupying Britonian colonies in South America and preparing for the taking of New Britonia. Following the war and post-war draw-downs, the Army had a second peak in the 1970s and 1980s, reaching 26 divisions at one point as Cascadia prepared for the threat of all-out war with the People's Republic of Komradistan aka Klavostan. With the detentè of the 90s the Army has been shrunk to an active strength of eight divisions, nine independent brigades/regiments, and two special forces regiments, numbering around 375,000 men and women in active duty.

Of the eight remaining divisions, two are considered part of the Republic Guard Corps, divisions and regiments with long and storied histories in the Army.


Command Structure

Secretary of War: Vincente D. R. Carazza
Army Chief of Staff: General Marcos Vincenza
Army Vice-Chief of Staff: General Anthony Hunt
Army Forces Command: General Alexander Forthwright
Army Training and Doctrine Command: General Pedro Alaya
Army Material Command: General Peter MacIntyre
Army Special Operations Command: Lieutenant General Alejandro Hiciano

Equipment Listing:

Active Vehicle List:
1,800 MBT-2B Running Bull (M1A2 equivalent)
100 MBT-3 Patton (theoretical M2 equivalent, combines technology of Japanese Type 10 with size of Abrams M1A3), being built to replace MBT-2B in major units
2,400 AC-5 O'Connor IFVs
1,000 AC-4 Carranzo APCs
1,200 SPG-14 Crusader SPAV (Self-Propelled Artillery Vehicle)
600 SPG-12 Paladin SPAV
800 SPR-8 Priest MLRS
600 AM-9 Archer Tactical SAM Vehicle
500 AH-24 Thunder Attack Helicopters
100 AH-18 Hydra Attack Helicopters
300 CH-15 Cargo Helicopters
1,000 UH-20 Utility Helicopters
100 MH-20 Medical Evac Helicopters

Doesn't include bridging gear, combat engineer vehicles, transports, and other non-combat support vehicles

Reserve Vehicle List:
2,000 MBT-2A (M1A1)
4,000 MBT-2 (M1)
3,000 MBT-1 Amaro (M60 equivalent)
1,000 AC-5 IFVs
3,000 AC-4 APCs
1,000 SPG-14s
4,000 SPG-12s
2,000 SPG-11s
1,000 AM-9s
600 AM-7s
600 AH-18s
150 CH-15s
1,000 UH-20s
Doesn't include bridging gear, combat engineer vehicles, transports, and other non-combat support vehicles


Order of Battle

In addition to combat brigades listed, there are also a number of support units in each division for support services. Each brigade includes battalions of special troops, and usually has seven battalions overall when counting the cavalry squadron, artillery battalion, special troops battalion, and support battalion. Special troops functions include anti-air defense, engineers, and logistics support.

Combined Arms Squadrons/Battalions are a combination of 2 armored companies/troops with 2 mechanized infantry companies/troops with an HQ company.

Combat Brigade types are as follows:
Infantry: Light infantry moved by either motorized transport, airmobile transport by helo, or by foot march.
Mechanized Infantry: Infantry with attached IFVs/APCs for quick maneuver on the battlefield. Commonly it will be one mechanized infantry battalion, one combined arms battalion, and one infantry battalion, but in units not on the Klavostani border mechanized infantry will be one mechanized infantry battalion and two infantry battalions.
Heavy Infantry: Two combined arms battalions and one battalion of infantry.
Armored Brigade: Two armored battalions, one mechanized infantry, although independent armored brigades will sometimes replace one armored battalion with a combined arms battalion.
Aviation Brigade: Battalions from an aviation regiment using attack helicopters to support ground forces.

Third Army "Patton's Own"
CO: General Benjamin Layas
HQ: Leyland Army Base, Tucson, Arizona

3rd Army is the most important Army in the country, as it wields the major share of Cascadia's armor and artillery and will be the force to face any conflict with Klavostan. With five divisions and three major independent brigades or regiments, its role is to hold the line against a Klavostani invasion and buy time for reinforcements using mobile defense tactics.

The positioning of 3rd Army is no accident. in the Great War, 3rd Army was organized under dashing Army commander George S. Patton Jr., who counter-attacked the Klavostani on the Colorado and reversed the tide of the war with his brilliant maneuver tactics. Patton's 3rd Army went on to be the main force in every major offensive of the war and would enter the Klavostani capital in 1946 when Klavostan lay beaten.

II Corps
CO: Lieutenant General Christopher Maxwell III
HQ: Garza Army Base, Hermosillo, Sonora

1st Cascadian Guards Division "The Tricolor Guard"
3 Mechanized Infantry Brigades
1 Heavy Infantry Brigade
1 Army Aviation Brigade

2nd Armored Division "Hell on Wheels"
1 Mechanized Infantry Brigade
1 Heavy Infantry Brigade
2 Armored Brigades
1 Army Aviation Brigade

4th Infantry Division "The Iron Wall"
2 Infantry Brigades
2 Heavy Infantry Brigades
1 Army Aviation Brigade

11th Armored Cavalry Regiment "The Blackhorses"
2 Combined Arms Squadrons
1 Armored Recon Squadron
1 Artillery Battalion
1 Support Squadron

II Corps Artillery Brigade
1 Battalion of MLRS Artillery
1 Battalion of Self-Propelled Gun Artillery
1 Battalion of Tactical Anti-Air Defense Artillery

VII Corps
CO: Lieutenant General Ramon Gonzaga
HQ: McClusky Army Base, Camargo, Rio Del Norte

2nd Cascadian Guards Division "Lions of San Felipe"
1 Infantry Brigade
2 Mechanized Infantry Brigades
1 Heavy Infantry Brigade
1 Army Aviation Brigade

66th Infantry Division "Double Sixes"
2 Infantry Brigades
1 Mechanized Infantry Brigade
1 Heavy infantry Brigade
1 Army Aviation Brigade

2nd Cascadian Guards Armored Brigade "Deuces Wild"
2 Combined Arms Battalions
1 Armored Battalion
1 Artillery Battalion
1 Army Aviation Battalion
1 Support Battalion

8th Armored Cavalry Regiment "The Sunhawks"
2 Combined Arms Squadrons
1 Armored Recon Squadron
1 Artillery Battalion
1 Support Squadron

VII Corps Artillery Brigade
1 Battalion of MLRS Artillery
1 Battalion of Self-Propelled Gun Artillery
1 Battalion of Tactical Anti-Air Defense Artillery

7th Army "Strength of the North"
CO: General Matthew Lighthorse
HQ: Black Kettle Army Base, Cheyenne Republic

In the Great War, 7th Army was drawn primarily from enlistees and draftees of the northern states and republics above the 49th parallel. Then as now, the northern areas of the country tended to have the most ethnically mixed populations of First Nations and Eurasian settlers, mostly farmers and laborers accustomed to tough lives. Given the population the resulting army had multiple First Nations and settler populations of different origins, prompting the unit's nickname of "Strength of the North". The 7th Army served proudly in First Army Group in the Southern Theater, where under General Lucien Running Bull they participated in the 1943 offensive into Sonora that saw the liberation of Durango and the annihilation of Klavostan's Central Army Front. 7th Army was retained during the drawdowns of the Cascadian Army, being re-assigned to the northern part of the continent to watch the borders of the Great Plains Republic and Dreisgrond. It consists of three infantry divisions and 2 independent brigades.

I Corps
CO: Lieutenant General Juan Jimenez
HQ: Pelling Army Base, Republic of the Utes

1st Infantry Division "The Big Red One"
2 Infantry Brigades
1 Mechanized Brigade
1 Heavy Brigade
1 Army Aviation Brigade

3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment "Pride of the Sioux"
2 Combined Arms Squadrons
1 Armored Recon Squadron
1 Artillery Battalion
1 Support Squadron

I Corps Artillery Brigade
1 Battalion of MLRS Artillery
1 Battalion of Self-Propelled Gun Artillery
1 Battalion of Tactical Anti-Air Defense Artillery


V Corps
CO: Lieutenant General Michael Running Bull
HQ: Calgary Army Base, Alberta

2nd Infantry Division "Rock of the Colorado"
2 Infantry Brigades
1 Mechanized Brigade
1 Heavy Brigade
1 Army Aviation Brigade

3rd Infantry Division "Thunder and Lightning"
2 Infantry Brigades
1 Mechanized Brigade
1 Heavy Brigade
1 Army Aviation Brigade

44th Infantry Brigade "Northern Light"
2 Infantry Battalions (Motorized)
1 Infantry Battalion (Airmobile)
1 Airborne Cavalry Reconnassiance Troop
1 Special Troops Battalion
1 Artillery Battalion
1 Army Aviation Battalion
1 Support Battalion

V Corps Artillery Brigade
1 Battalion of MLRS Artillery
1 Battalion of Self-Propelled Gun Artillery
1 Battalion of Tactical Anti-Air Defense Artillery


9th Army "O'Connor's Boys"
CO: General John Murray
HQ: MacLean Army Base, Lomond, New Hebridia

9th Army is the command unit for all Cascadian Army personnel not on the mainland of North America. This is primarily for troops stationed to Nova Scotia or, if necessary, New Britonia or Fuso, but it also includes the Airborne forces. Due to the drawdown of the Cascadian Army, the 9th Army is little more than a Corps and does not have active Corps commands under it.

9th Army was drawn from the Alaskan and Nova Scotian areas of Cascadia to defend Nova Scotia from Britonian attack and prepare for the inevitable invasion of New Britonia. When the invasion came in 1946, General Richard O'Connor led the 9th to victory in the campaign for Prince William Island and the advance on the mainland. His death before the New Britonian capital of Windsor from an enemy aircraft's bombing attack fueled the men of his command to finish off New Britonia's desperate defenses; 9th Army became the primary force behind the overrunning of the country and remained as the occupation army's command until 1969 when the Treaty of Withdrawal was ratified.

81st (Airborne) Division 1st Brigade "Screaming Eagles"
1 Cavalry Squadron
3 Parachute Infantry Battalions
1 Airborne Artillery Battalion
1 Engineer Battalion
1 Support Battalion

Due to army drawdowns, the 81st Airborne Division was put into reserve status with just one active brigade, although the divisional linage will persist with 1st Brigade 81st Division. They are deployed as-needed to ensure the safety of Cascadian citizens.

28th Infantry Regiment (Brigade) "Free Highlanders Regiment"
HQ: MacLean Army Base, Lomond, New Hebridia
1 Infantry Battalion
1 Mechanized Infantry Battalion
1 Combined Arms Battalion
1 Support Battalion
1 Special Troops Battalion
1 Cavalry Squadron
1 Artillery Battalion

The 28th Infantry Regiment, now officially at brigade size, is the traditional garrison regiment of the island of Nova Scotia. It got its start as the Free Highlanders Regiment in the days of the short-lived Republic of Nova Scotia, becoming the main force of resistance against Britonian forces and the loyalist companies they brought together in support. During the Pacific War they participated in the Battle of Murray River, where the Highlanders were the one Nova Scotian militia regiment that did not break under the attack of the Britonian redcoats. Half of the regiment perished or were captured holding the line and allowing the allied Cascadian troops to escape. After Nova Scotia joined the Cascadian States as the states of New Hebridia and new Caledonia, the Free highlanders Regiment was inducted into the Cascadian Army as the 28th infantry Regiment.

The 28th was part of 9th Army as an infantry brigade of the 20th Division when the invasion of New Britonia came. It won several battle honors, including two Presidential Unit Citations, for heroism.


1st Cascadian Guards Regiment "The Greencoats"
HQ: Adams Army Base, Portland, Federal District
2 Infantry Battalions
1 Combined Arms Battalion
1 Support Battalion
1 Special Troops Battalion
1 Cavalry Squadron
1 Artillery Battalion

The leading regiment of the Cascadian Guards Corps, the 1st Guards Regiment are the only regiment in the Army authorized to wear the 18th Century "Greencoats" combat dress of the old Continental Army, which is done on ceremonial occasions. Although their role as guards of the federal officials ended with the Army Reform Act of 1910, the unit remains based at Adams Army Base to be used as a rapid response force. Air Force airlift assets can be used to move the 1st Guards to any territory within range, to aid in crisis resolution or peacekeeping.


9th Infantry Regiment "The Union Regiment"
HQ: Jefferson Army Base, San Jose, California
2 Infantry Battalions
1 Combined Arms Battalion
1 Support Battalion
1 Special Troops Battalion
1 Cavalry Squadron
1 Artillery Battalion

The oldest permanent regiment in the Army, the 9th Infantry Regiment was created by Act of the Continental Congress in 1732, after General Washington's victory at the Battle of Astoria secured the Columbia River and re-opened communications between the northern and southern colonies. The Union Regiment was to be made up of companies of from each colony in proportion, creating a symbol of the unity of the Continental Colonies. It went on to victory at Georgetown, Charlottesville, and Vancouver, and would participate in many battles cross the history of the nation up to the South Pacific War with Orion. Although it is impossible to ensure every single state and republic of the Union is represented in the unit, diversity is still celebrated amongst the members of the 9th. The 9th, like the 1st Guards Regiment, are used for rapid response to a crisis.


Special Forces Command
HQ: Rosario Army Base, Bakersfield, California
CO: General Eugene Black Bear

Special Forces Command oversees the Army's special forces command: two battalions of Army Rangers, the Arctic Guards, and the Special Operations Company. All of these units fall under Special Forces Command at Rosario Army Base in California. Practically, they are stationed in various army bases around the country, with one company of Rangers and a special forces team permanently kept at Fort Lewis on West Falkland Island as part of South America Forces Command.

They often crosstrain with the Navy's SEAL forces and Marine Corps Recon.


12th Army (Army Reserves Command)
HQ: Adams Army Base, Portland, Federal District
CO: General Hadrian Causewell

The Cascadian Army's reservist commands are considered part of 12th Army. Reservists train once a month on weekends and one month a year to retain shape. They are the first subject to call up in mobilization.

In 1984 the Cascadian Army Reserves hit their peak size, with 1,200,000 personnel. Today they are less than half that size, at approximately 555,000 men and women, as the result of the army drawdowns. There are 12 reservist divisions, organized by area of the country, that would take the field as ten infantry divisions, an armored division, and an airborne division. Most individual regiments of the Regular Army would be the focal points of these divisions in mobilization.


5th Army (Army National Guard Command)
HQ: Jefferson Army Base, San Francisco, California
CO: General Gregory Becker

The 5th Army is responsible for National Guard formations, working with state and republic authorities to ensure their proper training and the provision of necessary reserve equipment for that purpose in conjunction with the home states/republics. In the event of war National Guard formations will report to 5th Army HQ until allocated to field forces.

The current National Guard stands at about 300,000 men and women who train on the same schedule as reservists. There are only 4 organized divisions for manning by National Guard units as many states only have enough personnel for brigades or regiments due to the disproportionate number of National Guards units being support battalions of one form or another.



Cascadian Air Force

Command Structure

Secretary of the Air Services: Charles Sinclair
Air Force Chief of Staff: General Lewis Sampson
Air Force Vice-Chief of Staff: General Simon Lake
Commander, Tactical Air Command: General Tabitha Michaels
Commander, Strategic Air Command: General Rodrigo Camaran
Commander, Airlift Command: General Lewis Blackfoot


The Cascadian Air Force was formed in 1927, directed to control the nation's air assets after Congress determined that the Army was not keeping its Air Corps up to date. The Air Force fired the imagination of the populace in the 1930s, which air advocates seized upon to ensure the prestige of their service and gain leverage in interservice rivalries (including a failed attempt to seize control of naval aviation). The founding of the Air Guard in 1936 under the Air Force Department seemed to bolster the Air Force's power to new heights, allowing it to focus on the offensive mission.

The opening of war with Klavostan proved a trial by fire. After early difficulties the Air Force rallied, aided by new and powerful bomber and fighter aircraft developed by Cascadia's growing aircraft industry. By war's end Cascadia's fighters had swept those of Klavostan, Nippon, and Britonia from the skies of the Americas and North Pacific. Armadas of Cascadian bombers had incinerated the cities of Nippon and flattened those of Klavostan.

The Air Force today remains as a major service, but it has endured difficult times in the past two decades, caught between the resurgence of the Navy on one end and the Army's consistant support from an entire political party on the other. Procurement problems and wild budget shifts between new governments caused wasteful procurement practices and unnecessary reductions. The only thing going for the Air Force today, it's said, are the new stealth aircraft of the 5th Generation, which are embraced as the future of the service.

Equipment Listing:

The designation for combat aircraft is as follows:

F = Fighter
A = Attack Fighter (Attack Aircraft)
SF = Strike Fighter
MF = Multi-role Fighter
B = Bomber
SB = Stealth Bomber

Active Vehicle List:

F-14C Eagle (F-15C counterpart) x 60, to be phased out by 2015
SF-14D Strike Eagle (F-15E counterpart) x 40, to be phased out by 2015
SF-14F Strike Eagle (F-15K/SG counterpart) x 100, shifting to reserves in 2016-2020
MF-14I Stealth Eagle (F-15SE counterpart w/ improved stealth characteristics) x 40, replacing SF-14 models)
F-15D Hawk (F-17 Cobra counterpart) x 220
F-20 Raptor (5th Gen Heavy Fighter) x 100, replacing F-14C
MF-21A Sparrowhawk (5th Gen Light Fighter) x 20, to replace F-15
A-11B Warthog (A-10 counterpart) x 60, being replaced
A-18 Wolverine (4.75 Gen Attack Aircraft) x 120, replacing A-11B
B-40F Stratofortress (B-52 counterpart) x 60
B-1B Lancer (B-1 counterpart) x 80
SB-2 Sheppard (Stealth Strategic Bomber) x 20
AT-60G Spooky (AC-130) x 16
T-60D McDonnell (C-130 x 160
T-60H McDonnell (C-130J) x 60
T-64B Galaxy (C-5) x 12
T-65 Douglas (C-17) x 140
E-2 Skywatcher (E-3 Sentry) x 14
E-4 Skywatcher (AWACS based on 767 chassis) x 6
GE-4 Skyeye (JSTARS) x 4
K-2B Stratotanker (KC-135 counterpart, being phased out of service) x 176
K-5C Pegasus (KC-46, replacing K-2B) x 12
VC-3 VIP Transport (VC-25 counterpart, Cascadian Air Force One) x 2
HH-20G Search and Rescue Chopper (HH-60G Pave Hawk counterpart) x 60
HH-20L Search and Rescue Chopper (HH-60U counterpart) x 4
UH-18J Dewey (UH-1N Twin Huey counterpart) x 40
UH-18K Dewey-Trainer (UH-1T Iroquois counterpart) x 14

Plus another 80 assorted minor aircraft in surveillance, training, and short-range cargo roles.


Reserve Aircraft

F-14C x 30, to be phased out by 2020
SF-14D x 60, to be phased out by 2020
F-15C x 150
A-11B x 60
B-40F x 30
B-1B (B-1 counterpart) x 20
T-60Dl (C-130) x 60
T-64B (C-5) x 4
T-65 (C-17) x 40
GE-4 (JSTARS) x 2
K-2B (KC-135 counterpart, being phased out of service) x 25
HH-20G (HH-60G Pave Hawk counterpart) x 20
UH-18J (UH-1N Twin Huey counterpart) x 100
UH-18K (UH-1T Iroquois counterpart) x 20




Cascadian Air Guard


Secretary of the Air Services: Charles Sinclair
Assistant Secretary of the Air Services for the Air Guard: Corrine White Crow
Commandant of the Air Guard: General Susan Meriwether
Vice-Commandant of the Air Guard: General Pedro H. Martinez
Commander Air Guard Defense Forces: General Francine Heller
Commander Air Guard Support Forces: General Jeremy Smythe
Air Guard Interceptor Command: Lieutenant General Mariano Hernando Angleton
Air Guard Missile Command: Lieutenant General Natima Lopala


The Air Guard was formed at the outset of the Great War, in response to fears of "the Bomber threat" and the belief that bombers would level entire cities in a single afternoon. Believing the Air Force alone was insufficient to deal with this threat, miliary advisors to the Congress advised that a specialized arm of the Air Services should be formed to protect the skies of Cascadia from enemy threat, a service wholly dedicated to this vital role. The Army and Navy of Cascadia were opposed, vehemently so, on the grounds that this would essentially give the Air Force a second vote in national defense concerns; in the end, the compromise was to establish the Air Guard in a status similar to both the Marine Corps and the Coast Guard; an armed service, but part of an established department. The Department of the Air Forces was re-organized into the Department of the Air Services.

Through the Great War the men and women of the Air Guard fought to protect Cascadian skies from Britonian and Klavostani bombers, manning radar installations, anti-air artillery emplacements, and fighters to shoot down enemy incursions. The Air Guard became the first military service in history to openly accept women into combat roles, sorely needing the manpower, with several women ending the war in the officer corps having commanded anti-air artillery or fighter squadrons. Most were mustered out when the war ended; in a landmark court case of Popova v. the Department of Defense the Supreme Court ruled that women could not be summarily discharged on account of their gender, opening the way for women to remain in the Air Guard and eventually allowing for the opening of all the services to female servicemembers.

The Air Guard's primary purpose is the protection fo the air over Cascadia and its adjacent waters. For this purpose it controls patrol aircraft, interceptors, AWACs, and surface-to-air missile batteries beyond tactical range.

They made history in 2013 when President Penton appointed General Susan Meriwether as Commandant, making the Air Guard the first Cascadian armed service to be led by a woman.


Equipment Listing:

Although designated with Fs like Air Force fighters, the Air Guard's fighters are all interceptor aircraft first and foremost.

Active Aircraft List:

F-11C Skylancer (advanced F-12 counterpart) x 200, being replaced by F-22
F-14D Eagle x 60, to be replaced by F-20B
F-15C Hawk x 100, to be replaced by F-21B
F-20B Sky Raptor x 0, Tests complete, procurement to begin 2015FY subject to Congressional approval
F-21B Skyhawk x 0, procurement to begin 2014
F-22 Skyfire (5th Gen interceptor design) x 0, in final testing, procurement to begin by 2016
E-2 Skywatcher (E-3 Sentry) x 3
E-4 Skywatcher (AWACS based on 767 chassis) x 4
HH-20G Search and Rescue Chopper (HH-60G Pave Hawk counterpart) x 40

Plus 28 non-combat trainers and cargo aircraft


Reserve Aircraft

F-12C x 14
F-14D x 20
F-15C x 26


SAM missile systems in active use

AM-8 Guardian (Long Range System)
AM-5 (Medium-to-Long Range)
AM-6 (Medium Range, Mobile)




Cascadian Coast Guard

Commandant of the Coast Guard: Admiral Douglas Howe

The Cascadian Coast Guard maintains aircraft and sea-going vessels for watching the nation's coasts. They are primarily employed in responding to civilian distress calls and S&R operations. They also act as law enforcement by dealing with smuggling and illegal activities on the coasts.

The Coast Guard is considered part of the Department of the Treasury in peacetime. They are, however, an armed service, and recognized as such.

Similarly, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has a small group of 300 commissioned officers who are considered a uniformed service of Cascadia.

Just a note I will be revising my orbat once I get home and reserving this space for it. Getting more natural lifecycles and accounting for the reserve changes.

Provisional OrBAt, subject to change at any time prior to game start without notice (insert additional legalese here):

Kingdom of Orion Order of Battle

Royal Orion Navy

Capital Ships:

Spirit of Orion­-class Aircraft Carrier (CVN-65 equivalent):

RONS Spirit of Orion

Victorious-class Aircraft Carrier (Early Nimitiz-class equivalent):

RONS Victorious
RONS Triumphant

Lucifer-class Aircraft Carrier (Gerald Ford equivalent,)

RONS Lucifer (building, will replace Spirit of Orion in 2015)
RONS Archangel (building, will replace Victorious in 2017)
RONS Reaper (planned, will replace Triumphant in 2019)

Rigel-class modernized battleship (improved Lion­-class):

RONS Rigel
RONS Victory
RONS Valiant
RONS John P. Wallace (named for Admiral of the Fleet John Wallace, CINC in the early 20th century, credited with making the RON an effective fighting force (OOC named for my grandfather, Paddy, who once won a game of Battleships by hiding his fleet in his pocket))
RONS Indomitable
RONS Betelgeuse (heavily damaged, repaired and preserved as museum ship)

Guardian-class BBN's (new design, ordered to replace Rigel's)

RONS Guardian (ordered, building to begin 2014, expected delivery 2017)
RONS Illustrious (ordered, building to begin 2014, expected delivery 2017)
RONS Thunderer (ordered, building to begin 2016, expected delivery 2019)
RONS John P. Wallace (ordered, building to begin 2016, expected delivery 2019)
ROSN Indefatigable (ordered, building to begin 2016, expected delivery 2019)

Assault Ships:

Bulwark-class LPDs:

RONS Bulwark
RONS Vanguard
RONS Liberator

Intrepid-class LHDs:

RONS Intrepid
RONS Fearless
RONS Audacious

Cruisers/Destroyers/Frigates:

16 x Sentinel-class Air Defence Cruisers (US Ticonderoga equivalents)

30 x Adamant-class destroyers (US Arleigh Burke Flight III equivalents)

10 x Dauntless-class destroyers (UK Type-45 equivalents)
Total destroyer force: 40, Dauntless's are replacing Adamants on a one-for-one basis

32 x Sentry-class ASW frigates (UK Type-23 equivalents)

Assorted minesweepers, tankers, UNREp ships, etc

Submarine Force:

28 x Ghost-class SSN's (UK Trafalgar equivalents)

4 x Spirit-class SSN's (UK Astute equivalents)
Total SSN force: 32, Spirits replacing Ghosts on one-for-one basis

8 x Avenger-class SSGN's (based on UK Vanguard class)

The RON aims to maintain 1 Carrier Task Force and 1-2 Surface Action Groups at sea at all times. Typical force compositions are thus:

Carrier Task Force:
1 x Fleet Carrier
1 x LHD Assault Ship
1 x LPD Assault Ship
2 x Air-Defence Cruisers
5 x DDG's
4 x ASW Frigates
2 x SSN

Surface Action Group:
1 x Modernized BB
2 x Air-Defence Cruisers
5 x DDG's
4 x ASW Frigates
2 x SSN

In addition, at all times at least 5 additional SSNs and 2-3 SSGN's are on roving patrol.

Naval Aviation:

6 Squadrons (12 places each) of modernized Tu-22M Backfires
4 Squadrons (12 planes each) of P-3 Orion's and British Nimrod aircraft

Army of Orion:

1st Armoured Division (British modern-day equipment)

2nd Airborne Divison

3rd Airborne Division

4th Mechanized Division

5th Mechanized Division

6th Commando Division (Note: usually divided into three Brigades, one of which is at sea in the RON's assault ships)

Assorted Special Forces (SAS/2 Para etc)

Army Air Corps:

4 Squadrons of A-10A's for CAS
6 Squadrons of F-16 variants
2 Squadron of AC-130's
Assorted helicopters (Tiger gunship plus others)

Royal Air Force:

10 Squadrons of F-15O's (license-built)
2 Squadrons of F-22's (beginning to replace the F-15's)
2 Squadron of E-767 AWACS
2 Recon Squadron (ELINT planes, recon planes, etc)

Orion Space Forces

At least 3 photo-recon satellites in orbit (KH-11 equivalent)
At least 2 RORSAT-equivalent satellites in orbit
At least 5 ELINT satellites in orbit

Dreisgrond OrBat:

Defense Spending: ~5.25% of GDP
Defense Budget: $245 Billion

Army Budget: $80 Billion
Air Force Budget: $70 Billion
Naval Budget: $95 Billion

Versahinveld OrBat:

Defense Spending: ~3.5% of GDP
Defense Budget: $42.5 Billion/year

Army Budget: $17.5 Billion
Air Force Budget: $15 Billion
Naval Budget: $10 Billion

“When in battle and in doubt, find something that needs knocked out.”
-Belkan maxim of aggressiveness


The Armed Forces of the Republic of Belkan
Text from Jones’ World Militaries



Historical Overview
The Belkan military is unique in that it, at one point, was effectively a state owned business that served on the campaigns of other nations via the services of soldiers and officers alike. The exact cause for such an occurrence is a subject of debate among scholars, but it is generally agreed that it was the logical conclusion to a prior century of noble owned mercenary bands. Regardless of the Belkan military’s ultimate origins, it swiftly became a force dependent on and famous for its use of pikemen in battle alongside other forces worldwide. Warhorses were rare to the Belkan countryside, and so infantrymen made up the overwhelming component of the Belkan military for much of its history.

After introduction of firearms, the Belkan military readily switched to the use of muskets, creating largely homogenous regiments of soldiers that could be easily transported to their relevant customers. Dragoons were later also employed for a time (often to serve as police forces, no less) but only saw significant use on the continent of Austafrica. Cannons, while known to the Belkan homeland, were seldom employed by the Belkans themselves abroad so as to maximize the distance covered on their marches and minimize their supply trains. Though rarely was this a concern in practice, as the Belkan regiments commonly fought alongside others whom supplied cannons for them.

Towards the mid 19th Century, however, the Belkan military fell into serious decline as increasingly more lethal and complicated weapons began to render the traditional Belkan way of fighting obsolete or outright suicidal. While the Belkans later adapted to the development of bolt action and self-loading firearms with impressive speed, their inability to manufacture modern artillery left them unable to compete with increasingly self sufficient foreign military units. By the early 20th Century, the anachronism of Belkan soldiery reached its cataclysmic end as they their few remaining contracts took them to theaters rife with guerilla warfare which they were ill adapted for. While few soldiers fell to the bullets of insurgents, many instead fell to diseases acquired in horrendous tropical warzones before a flu epidemic in the Belkan countryside (almost certainly brought home by returning soldiers) wiped out a considerable percentage of the adult male population.

With the threat of losing the military entirely looming over the heads of Belkan’s parliament of nobles and its de facto monarch, the decision was made to institute sweeping reforms that opened up service to women (albeit gradually) and modernized the aging armed forces. State operated economic plans resulted in the opening of several factories (including the nation’s first airplane production plant), but the shortage of capital in Belkan and the lack of expertise in the relevant industries needed for international competiveness made the reforms modernization side of the reforms increasingly ineffectual as Belkan’s national debt continues to pile up to this day.

The Belkan Army
Summary
The largest of the two branches of the Belkan armed forces, the Belkan Army is a largely impotent overwhelmingly dependent on foreign suppliers for all but its small arms. Officers beyond the rank of lieutenant are invariably from the nation’s noble clans, and they are famous for enforcing discipline via the use of unadorned wooden truncheons that symbolize their ranks as much as their traditional arming swords do. Officers are trained at the nation’s singular large academy in its capital city of Galm (known simply as The Academy), and the fact that most noblemen are expected to serve in the military as a career has provided Belkan with an unusually large cadre of officers. This has led to problems involving large numbers of idle officers in the past, and several mutinies came to a head in the late 19th Century until dragoons under the employ of loyal noblemen suppressed officers demanding full employment, wartime pay, pensions and other items. The last mutiny was put down in 1911, but the devastation of the noble population since that time has largely removed the threat.

While conscription is not in force, more and more commoners are finding themselves enlist for the benefits of food, clothing and housing in a country known chiefly for its pervasive poverty and income inequality. The situation in Belkan today mirrors a larger manpower surplus it had int the late 19th Century. Faced with might otherwise be armed subjects whom would rebel if left to their own devices in their barracks, the Belkan army instituted a series of civil engineering projects which began with the construction of then modern fortifications around Galm circa 1876. A railroad quickly followed, and attempts at irrigation were made prior to the century’s end, but the plagues of the early 20th Century and a decades long reduction in manpower

While armored fighting vehicles are in use among the Belkans, most are antiquated pieces unsuited for combat against modern forces. At the publishing of this book, Belkan doctrine focused primarily on the use of motorized and mechanized infantry with tanks and airplanes providing support. A severe shortage of APCs and IFVs has long hurt the nation’s prospects in potential wars, and its tanks are using increasingly impotent rifled cannons.

The Belkan Army also handles its own air assets, with locally built turboprop craft providing the principle means of firepower. Air defense is handled primarily by anti-aircraft guns, though a hand full of aging fighter craft bought from the neighboring country of Umeria provide point defense and secondary ground attack capabilities. Second hand helicopters purchased from the Kingdom of Orion have also found themselves fitted out to entire regiments to great praise, and talks of a domestically built rotary wing craft in the nation’s sole aircraft manufacturing plant have obtained considerable weight.

Organization
The Belkan Army is home to around 100,000 active soldiers whom live within various walled off bases scattered throughout the countryside at strategic locations with the largest concentration around the capital. Theoretically, the number of forces in reserves is half again as high, but Belkan has never needed to deploy men in such a manner in the past and only retains officers in anything resembling a reserve. The First Vizier’s Army General Staff, like the Navy General Staff, reports to confusingly titled Vizier of the Armed Forces whom is appointed for life by the First Vizier with approval by parliament.

The Army is furthermore divided up into 3 corps (unimaginatively entitled 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Corps) largely identical to each other, though often with their various units spread out. Such a system replaced the previously cumbersome arrangement of specialized regimental building blocks that persisted until around 1930. A lack of vehicles within the Belkan arsenal and a chronic shortage of artillery systems have left them looking for new suppliers, especially given the lackluster performance of their current, “off road” vehicles.

Known Heavy Equipment (Incomplete)
-Appx. 1,000 Char 4 main battle tanks bought used from various nations (equivalent to the T-54/55 series).
-Roughly 1,500 Dragoon wheeled infantry fighting vehicles, built locally (equivalent to the Pandur I w/ 20mm autocannon).
-Appx. 5,000 P325 series licensed built off road vehicles (an underpowered equivalent to the Peugeot P4).
- Over 500 P365 series trucks (equivalent to the M34 2 ½ ton truck).
-Appx. 500 towed, 105 field howitzers (equivalent ot the M101 howitzer).
-Appx .50 Char4/AA self propelled anti-aircraft guns (equivalent to the ZSU-23-4 Shilka).
-Over 100 locally built Mu-50 light attack craft (equivalent to the Embraer EMB 314 Super Tucano, no frills attached).
-100 Caracal H8 utility helicopters, bought used (equivalent to the original Westland Lynx).
-Appx. 100 MeE-8 jet powered fighter craft (equivalent to the MiG-21 Fishbed)

The Belkan Navy
Summary

The Belkan Navy is a very recent innovation, having been formed only within the last one hundred and fifty years. Wooden sailing ships had disappeared almost entirely from Belkan waters with the elimination of their last forests by the 15th Century, and foreign vessels held a monopoly for the chartering of all ocean maritime travel for generations.
The introduction of steam engines and cheap steel, however, put Belkan into a hopeful ship building boom that lasted a depressingly short period of time. The lack of good harbors put a cap on the number and size of slipways the Belkan shipbuilding industry could integrate, and the increasing size of warships meant that Belkan was stuck building modest torpedo-boat destroyers. While destroyers remained the largest military surface ships till the introduction of guided missiles, the use of submarines in war abroad provoked Belkan to move into the niche market of diesel-electric patrol submarines as best it could. While output is quite low, customers few and a great degree of foreign parts are still required for their outfitting, submarines are perhaps the sole military export of Belkan larger than a machine gun.

Nevertheless, the Belkan Navy is solely concerned with the patrolling of its own borders, and its inventory of surface ships are almost totally focused on the tasks of anti-submarine warfare and minesweeping. Belkan’s fisheries have been the subject of international disputes in recent history, and the country’s few ships capable of operating far from the coast have found themselves cautiously guarding the Belkan fishing fleets against harassment by its larger neighbors.

Disposition
-6 Kestrel class frigates (equivalent to the Oliver Hazard Perry class of frigates).
-8 Byron class mine-sweepers
-8 Catfish class submarines (equivalent to the Type 209 class of submarines)
-10 Talisman class gunboats (equivalent to the Asheville class)

---

Shinra Republic Navy
Aircraft Carriers
Raiden class Nuclear Powered Aircraft Carrier (CVN)
SRS Raiden (CVN-50) [Replaced by CVN-59, 2010]
SRS Fenrir (CVN-51) [Estimated replacement by CVN-60, 2014]
SRS Titan (CVN-52)
SRS Ifrit (CVN-53)
SRS Shiva (CVN-54)
SRS Odin (CVN-55) [Finishing RCOH, 2014]
SRS Phoenix (CVN-56) [Beginning RCOH, 2014]
SRS Ragnarok (CVN-57)
SRS Cerberus (CVN-58)
SRS Chimaera (CVN-59)

Bahamut class Nuclear Powered Aircraft Carrier (CVN)
PCU Bahamut (CVN-60) [Estimated to enter service 2014]
Leviathan (CVN-61) [Under construction, estimated completion 2016; estimated to enter service 2018]

Auxiliary Ships
White Wind class Hospital Ship
SRS White Wind (AH-4)
SRS Healing Wind (AH-5)

Preliminary Orbat

Union of Orthodox Catholic Socialist Republics

Leader: Stana "Ferramenta" Oktyabrinaya

System of Government : Socialist Theocracy

Government
The UOCSR is lead by the President of the UOCSR and her ministers who run the various ministries.The important ministries are: Ministry of Church Affairs and Justice, which deals with affairs of the Church and ensuring compliance with Canon Laws; Ministry of Industry, whose role is to rejuvenate and rebuild the industry of the UOCSR; Ministry of Trade, which regulates the trade of goods inside and outside of the UOCSR; Ministry of Science, which is charged with lifting up the technology and science level of the UOCSR; Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which of course deals with foreign affairs; Ministry of Welfare, which runs the hospitals and manages the affairs of the people; Ministry of War, which administers the armies, navies and air forces; and Ministry of Interior Security, which controls police and border forces.

Under the Ministry of Church Affairs and the Church, the Organization for Doctrinal Compliance was formed with the expressed wish and desire to ensure compliance to Church Doctrine. Officers of the Organization for Doctrinal Compliance are clergymen with the power to ensure the that citizens complied with Church Doctrine and were given powers to judge and administer the necessary punishments to those who failed to comply with Doctrine. Many were sentenced to hard labour in the penal colonies to serve out their penance.

Below the Presidential cabinet of ministers is the Supreme Council of the Republics where elected representatives of the various republics gather to debate policy proposed by the Presidential cabinet

Economy

Size: 6 trillion
Population: 600 million

The economy of the UOCSR is dominated by heavy industry, natural resource extraction, light industries such as semiconductors, nanotechnology and electronics. Services remains weak and mostly limited to engineering and logistics services because of the state abhorrence for the financial industry. Through a combination of state and foreign investment, the UOCSR economy has recovered and expanded far beyond the pre-revolution level, ensuring a degree of prosperity for all.

Military
Tracing its current roots to the Daedalean military and then the Army of the Cross, the Armed Forces of the Union of Orthodox Catholic Socialist Republics is currently led by General Erakles who is the Marshal of the Armed Forces. The UOCSR armed forces strongly believes in a deep echelon defense with multiple layers of defence networks. This has proven to be quite successful in recent times when combating Kagarian incursions. As a result, the UOCSR has one of the densest air defence networks in the world, as well as a underwater sonar network that scans for any submarine within 200 nautical miles from its shores.

Army

The UOCSR is divided between 6 military districts: The Western, Southern, MidWest-Northern, MidEast-Northern, Eastern and Central military district. Active professional army manpower stands at ~250,000 men. Conscript army stands at ~250,000 men. The professional army uses the most advanced equipment available, while the conscript army mostly operates hand-me-downs.

Equipment
Main Battle Tank: Armata T-99 (55 tonne tank, with some attributes taken from the Japanese Type 10, American M1A3 and Korean K-2, including advanced modular armor, advanced electric drive train), T-90MS (Introduced in the late 80s), T-64M

Artillery: Earthquake Armata (New Generation MRLS), Tornado-G/S with modular reloading, Smerch with modular reloading, Koalition-SV Armata, MSTA-S, TOS-1, 2S3 Akatsiya 152mm

AFV: Armata AFV, Bumerang AFV, BTR-90, BMP-3, BMPT AFV, BMP-2

Helicopter: Mi-28N, Ka-52, Mi-38, Mi-26, Ka-60, Ka-31

UAV: IAI Searcher I/II, IAI Harpy II, IAI Panther, IAI Bird-eye

Rocketry/Missiles: Kh-101, Iskander-M/K, Kh-SD (JASSM-ER analog), Klub family, Yahkhont, new-gen hypersonic projectile, new-gen loitering cruise missile.

Air Force
The Air Force is charged with control of the skies above the UOCSR and to provide the army with air cover and defence. It also operates the Integrated Air Defence Systems, and all the various radar installations that surround the country. The Air Force also operates bombers for various strike missiles into enemy territory. There are some 2,800 planes of various types serving in the UOCSR Air Force. The UOCSR also maintains a reserve formation of pilots which will be called upon to man additional aircraft in war.

Mass Radar Installations: Telnet OTH-SW radar, DARYAL-UM radar, Volga radar, Voronezh radar

Air Defence Systems: S-500, S-400, S300PMU3

Fighter Aircraft (~1,600 aircraft): Su-50 (120 aircraft), Su-53 (Su-34 analog of the Su-50, 24 aircraft), MiG-39 (MiG LFI, 36 aicraft), Su-35BM, MiG-35, Su-34, MiG-41 (MiG 7.01, 120 aircraft), MiG-31T(Maximum possible design with Titanium/composite hull, 120 aircraft), Su-39, Su-27SM, MiG-29SMT, Yak-130 trainer

Bombers (~320 aircraft + 80 in Naval Aviation): T-4MS, Tu-160, Tu-22M

UAV: MiG-SKAT (Stealth UAV with Global hawk characteristics with multi-mission payload), IAI Eitan


Transport arm
(~800 aircraft)
Refueling: IL-76, An-124

AWAC: A-50M, An-124-AEW, An-380C4I (A380 analog with JSTAR equipment)

Transports: IL-76, IL-476, An-124-400, An-124-500, An-225-100, An-225-200

Helicopter Transports: Mi-17, Mi-26, Mi-38

Navy


The Navy is not as large as some of its contemporaries, but it is large enough to perform offensive strikes at the enemy. It also operates a fairly large submarine fleet, both diesel and nuclear. The UOCSR Navy has declared that it intends to within 15 years build a respectable carrier fleet and make the UOCSR government has indicated that the Navy shall receive priority spending for the next 15 years. The Navy also maintains a SOSUS type network along the coast and far into the deep ocean.

Submarines
Diesel Attack Submarines: 24 Kilo I/II (Kilo II has pumpjet propulsion), 12 Amur-1350 class (enlarged S1000 with full electric drive and AIP, 18 on order)

Nuclear Attack Submarines: 16 Sierra II/III class, 32 Akula I/II/III class, 12 Yasen Project 885M I (12 Yasen II on order), Komsomolets advanced Titanium submarine (initial batch of 4 on order)

SSGN: 12 Oscar I/II (First generation SSGN. To be decommissioned), 12 Borei-M class (Second Generation SSGN), 4 Advanced Typhoon I (Typhoon class with pumpjets, 4 II class on order. Strategic SSGN)

Miscellaneous: DSRV, rescue submarines, research submarines


Surface Warships
Frigate: 24 Pr. 910 Frigate (SURTASS ASW frigates), 12 Admiral Gorshkov class (12 on order)

Destroyer: 24 S-300F class(Project 21956, rough Arleigh Burke Flight I analogs), 24 S-400F (Project 21956, rough Arleigh Burke Flight IIA analogs), 12 S-500F (Nuclear Destroyer, a total of 36 will be built)

Corvettes: 24 Steregushchy class (S-400F light), 6 Gremyashchy class (S-500F light, 36 more in production)

Cruiser: 4 Kirov class (S-400F), 4 S-500F Nuclear Cruisers (14 on order)

Carriers: 2 Ulyanovsk Nuclear Carriers, 2 Kuznetsov carriers, 2 New Gen Carriers under construction)

LPA: 2 Pr 11780 Kherson, 4x Canberra type LPD on order

Others: Zubr landing craft, Uragan hydrofoils

Naval Aviation: 3 Ulyanovsk flight groups, 3 St. Pawelburg Flight groups in training, 3 Kuznetsov flight groups using MiG-29KM, Su-33KM, Su-50K, MiG-39K, Tu-22M, Tu-142, Tu-160

Icebreaker: 12 Arktika class, 4 New Gen Nuclear Icebreakers under construction

Miscellaneous: oilers, tankers, supply ships etc.

Overview


Mission


Doctrine


Naval Surface Warfare Echelon Order of Battle

Capital Ships

3 Skylark-class aircraft carriers:
USS Skylark
USS Sunbird
USS Shrike

60000 tons, oil-fired. Unrefueled range of 13000 km. Top speed 54 km/h
Carries ~70 aircraft.

The first two carriers of this type, Skylark and Sunbird, were commissioned in 1980 and 1984 after the Umerian Navy had gained some degree of experience with the WWII-surplus carrier Dawn Bird. A third carrier, arguably a related subclass, the Shrike, was completed in 2009; the long delay was caused by massive naval expenditure on the Guard-the-North atomic rocket cruisers.

Shrike possesses an unusual keel design reputedly intended to help protect against under-the-keel explosions from mines and homing torpedoes. Skylark and Sunbird have been extensively refitted with modern electronics as part of their midlife refits in the recent past.


1 Violet Crown-subclass helicopter carrier:
USS Violet Crown

60000 tons, oil-fired. Unrefueled range of 13000 km. Top speed 54 km/h.

This was a helicopter/VTOL subclass of the Skylark-class, commissioned in 1991 as the centerpiece of the Umerian Navy's sole amphibious warfare taskforce. While it is unusual if not unprecedented to devote a full-sized carrier to VTOL craft, this does have significant advantages from the point of view of providing support for triphibious operations. Violet Crown has well developed command and control centers for triphibious operations, and can host a large force of troop transport helicopters and tiltrotors to transfer soldiers directly from a troopship to shoreside landing zones.

In addition, Violet Crown retains the ability to field the VTOL variant of the Super Chariot fighter, thus remaining at least semi-functional as an aircraft carrier.


5 Guard-the-North-class atomic rocket cruisers:
USS Guard-the-North
USS Guard-the-South
USS Guard-the-East
USS Guard-the-West
USS Guard-the-People

40000 tons, atomic-powered. 58 km/hr top speed. Splinter armor over Main armament of 6 Vindicator launchers (eight rounds per), and 4 Shipwreck heavy cruise missile launchers (seven rounds per). Secondary armament of 420 cold-launch VLS cells, 2x2 21cm TT, two triple 18.0 cm guns. Tertiary armament of two double 10.7 cm guns, defensive torpedoes, and a eight-module Perturbed-Hornet's-Nest CIWS system. Can carry up to six ASW helicopters or a smaller number of heavier rotor aircraft.

Constructed at extreme expense by the Umerian Navy over a twenty year period, commissioning in 1993, 1998, 2000, 2003, and 2005, these are one of the larger modern surface combatants now extant, though far from the only attempt by naval architects to reverse the WWII verdict of carrier superiority.

The Guard-the-Norths carry heavy antiship cruise and medium range 'Vindicator' ballistic missiles, along with hundreds of conventional cold-launch VLS missiles in an innovative "chain-launch" system designed to improve deck protection over the missile magazines, and allow the missiles to be protected by the ship's thick anti-torpedo 'crumple zones.'

The Umerians' Shield-of-Heavenly-Wisdom integrated air defense system was originally intended for the Guard-the-Norths and is well suited to make use of the atomic rocket cruiser's numerous and extremely diverse radars and antiair warfare suite. The class also pioneered several sonar developments in the Umerian Navy, and overall battle management proved a serious challenge; reportedly including extensive work with foreign contractors on Guard-the-North and to a lesser extent Guard-the-East and Guard-the-South.


Escort Combatants


20 Perpetual-Spring-class missile destroyers

9300 tons, gas turbine propulsion, top speed ~57 km/hr. Main armament consists of 8 Scrub-Brush antiship missiles, 16 Vicious-Hawk light antiship missiles, and 96 general-purpose cold launch VLS. Secondary armament of Shark-D ASROC, defensive torpedoes, a 10.7 cm naval rifle, and a three-module Perturbed-Hornet's-Nest system. Carries two ASW helicopters.

These ships carry a downsized version of the Shield-of-Heavenly-Wisdom air defense system, the Umerian answer to AEGIS.

14 City-over-Wave-class missile destroyers

7930 tons, steam propulsion, top speed 57 km/hr. Main armament of 8 Vicious-Hawk light antiship missiles, and a twin-arm launcher for 40 extended range Venerable-Propriety SAMs. Secondary armament of Shark-C ASROC, defensive torpedoes, a 10.7 cm naval rifle, and a two-module Perturbed-Hornet's-Nest system. Carries an ASW helicopter.

This design predates the Umerian Navy's transition to phased array radars and vertical launch missile systems. However, they are among the most advanced ships ever designed without those features, at a time when most navies were already making the transition. The initial design used the best electronics that could be obtained at the time, and further updates to battle management and radar intercept software were added in the 1990s and early 2000s. The class is expected to remain in service for at least another decade, possibly two, despite use of seemingly archaic steam turbine propulsion.

A close relative of the final form of the City-over-Wave's basic AAW suite is used on the thoroughly modern Kalash the Conqueror-class frigates.


9 Deep-Drains-class missile destroyers.

4200 tons, steam propulsion, top speed 54 km/hr, range 9000 km at 37 km/hr.

Armament: Twin-arm launcher for Venerable-Propriety SAM. 10.7 cm automatic cannon. Defensive torpedoes, Shark-C ASROC, 8x Vicious-Hawk light antiship missiles.

The Deep-Drains underwent extensive electronics refits during the 1980s, and are capable of time-sharing radar data much like a modern AEGIS-type vessel and intercept multiple targets simultaneously, but to an inferior degree, much like the more modern City-over-Waves.

Despite a service life extension program and electronics retrofit, the physical limits of these ships' weapon systems makes them inferior platforms for a modern air combat environment. Moreover, their aging steam plants struggle to maintain high speed. As further modern ships enter service, the Deep-Drains are to be retired soon, as they require nearly as many crewmen as a modern Shield-of-Heavenly-Wisdom destroyer with twice the tonnage and several times more raw firepower.


28 Kalash the Conqueror-class frigates

4500 tons, gas propulsion, top speed ~54 km/hr. Main armament consists of 8 Vicious-Hawk light antiship missiles. Secondary armament of 40 general-purpose cold launch VLS, Shark-D ASROC, defensive torpedoes, a 10.7 cm naval rifle, and a two-module Perturbed-Hornet's-Nest system. Carries two ASW helicopters.

These newest frigates are intended to serve as the primary antisubmarine warfare escorts of the 21st century Umerian Navy, although they are roughly as capable at anti-air warfare as the 20th century Umerian destroyer classes.


26 Persistence-class frigates

2700 tons, steam propulsion, 48 km/hr (sloow). Main armament of 1 10.7 cm naval rifles, 1 single-arm launcher for 16 Venerable-Propriety naval SAMs. Secondary armament: 1 Shark-B ASROC module with 8 cells with 16 reloads, defensive torpedoes. Carries an ASW helicopter.

A marginal upgrade on the Hunter-class, these ships replaced the second 10.7 cm gun with a naval SAM launcher. However, they are still a distinctly dated design, and it is planned to fully replace the class in frontline service with the more modern Kalash-the-Conqueror-class.

The Persistence-class is the last class built by the Umerian Navy to use a conventional-fired steam turbine plant. With the last ship of the class having commissioned in 1995, it is speculated that the Umerian Navy may be the last major navy on Tellus to fully abandon steam plants in its conventional-fired warships.


18 Hunter-class frigates

2650 tons, steam propulsion, 46 km/hr (sloow). Main armament of 2 10.7 cm naval rifles, 1 Shark-B ASROC module with 8 cells and 16 reloads, defensive torpedoes. Carries an ASW helicopter.

These ships are slated for retirement in the immediate future, as there are now sufficient of the vastly more capable modern frigates to replace them. The earliest Hunter-class specimens, which were first laid down in the early 1960s, already have been retired.


Naval Air Fleet Order of Battle

135 Super Chariot light fighters

The uprated wing pylons of the Super Chariot make it able to carry a number of antiship munitions that were too heavy to be used safely on the original 1986-vintage Chariot without damaging the aircraft. Electronics updates allow the Super Chariot to integrate more fully with satellite, airborne early warning, and ship-based air defense radar and fire control networks.

The Super Chariot is now the Umerian Navy's frontline naval aviation fighter, to go with the Super Buccaneer strike aircraft.

44 Osprey antisubmarine warfare tiltrotors

Top speed 500 km/hr, empty weight 15000 kg, MTOW 25000 kg, combat radius ~730 km, ferry range 3500 km with internal auxiliary tankage.

Designed in light of worldwide advances in tiltrotor and verical takeoff technology in the 1970s, the Osprey never fully replaced ASW helicopters on Navy surface ships due to deck space constraints. While the cargo and troop transport tiltrotors on which the Osprey is based were never very successful for aviation over land, the Osprey itself has proven a quite satisfactory alternative to jet ASW planes in naval service.

129 Chariot light fighters

Native-built single-engine 4th generation light fighter. Top speed Mach 2.1. Exists in VTOL, STOVL, and CTOL variants. 2x500 kg and 2x700 kg munitions.

The Chariot fighter was originally intended as a dual-service aircraft for both Air Force and Navy, and has proven effective in both roles. While the three frontline Umerian carriers all have fully functional CATOBAR system, the VTOL variant of the Chariot proved highly suitable for operation aboard the similarly sized helicopter carrier Violet Crown, as a replacement for the Snow Leopard jump jet that can perform air superiority missions more effectively.

132 Super Sea Raider 'Buccaneer' strike fighters

Combat radius 1350 km. Capable of speeds up to Mach 1.8 at altitude. Armament: gun, two IR-seeking missiles, 2 x 2500-kg class munitions.

Two competing designs were offered for a fourth-generation replacement for the Raider strike fighter: one a new needle-nosed, delta-winged bomber known as “Marauder,” and the other a sharply upgraded, up-engined derivative of the Sea Raider called “Super Sea Raider” or, colloquially, ‘Pirate’ or ‘Buccaneer.’ The new design was three tonnes heavier and 1.5 meters longer, with considerable extra space devoted to fuel for extended range.

Unanswered questions about navalizing the Marauder airframe for carrier duty led the Navy to procure the ‘Buccaneer’ instead. The basic doctrinal role of the ‘Buccaneer’ is unchanged from its predecessor, revolving around delivery of a pair of heavy 53cm antiship torpedoes or mediumweight antiship missiles. This has led international analysts to dub it “the last of the torpedo bombers."

Production on the type has been slow but continuous since the early 1980s, as it remains the Umerian Navy’s strike aircraft. The design has evolved to the extent that there are several recognizable “blocks” of aircraft, and a good deal of the factory’s work consists of modifying existing airframes consistent with the later blocks. Some aircraft have been modified multiple times. Common variants include Buccaneers equipped for 'buddy tanking' transfer of fuel between aircraft in flight, and an electronic warfare version.

23 Gannet airborne early warning aircraft

Twin-turboprop AEW plane. Top speed ~650 km/hr. Endurance of six hours at 450 km/hr cruising speed. Ceiling ~11000 m.

Based on extensive modifications of a light cargo aircraft in widespread use by the State Postal Service. While bulky for service aboard Umerian carriers, the Gannet manages to perform acceptably. It is a replacement for the grossly unsatisfactory 'Vigilant Bell' AEW planes tested aboard Dawn Bird.

~35 Spectre heavy fighters

Twin-engine swing-wing heavy fighter-bomber. 8500 kg payload, 680 km combat radius.

Variant of the Apelian ‘Phantom’ fighter. Large number purchased 1967-73, and a few more in the late 1970s, totaling 174 airframes. The Air Force fielded these up through the late 1990s, retiring them completely only after aircraft superior for both interception and strike missions became available.

A significant portion of the Umerian Spectres still had considerable longevity left in their airframes at the end of their service lives; a few dozen are still used in Air Guard formations, or for training, aggressor missions, and systems testing.

Retired Aircraft

Snow Leopard

Operated by the Navy as a trial strike fighter off Dawn Bird; since replaced fully by the Chariot light fighter.

(Sea) Raider

Considerable number used for both land-based antiship strike and early carrier operations, since fully replaced by the Super Raider and other aircraft. Known for being the only combat aircraft ever to fly at an altitude of below local ground level.

Vigilant Bell

Airborne early warning variant of the A-1 Skyraider, a post-WWII single-engine propeller attack aircraft. Operated briefly off Dawn Bird during the early trial and experimentation phase of Umerian carrier aviation.

A-4 Skyhawk

Small number used for trial and early carrier operations on USS Dawn Bird, a surplus WWII aircraft carrier of forty thousand tons, since retired and scrapped.

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Overview


Mission


Doctrine


Order of Battle

4 Vimana strategic bombers

Variable geometry, Mach 2.2 bomber. 15000 m service ceiling, 35000 kg ordnance. 1000 km/h cruising speed. ~10000 km range without midair refueling.

124 Comet-D interceptors

License-produced version of the upgraded J-10 fighter. Twin-engine Mach 3.5 interceptor. 2500 km combat radius. Five Viper or Meteor air-to-air missiles.

Further incremental updates to the Comet airframe were made in 2005. Engine software optimization. Considerable effort went into avionics upgrades so that Comet-D fighters can be integrated into a broader and more flexible battlefield environment. Modest RCS reduction.

126 Comet-Ds have been produced to date; one was lost due to a malfunction in the flight control software on takeoff in 2006, and one to an electrical fire in 2012.

121+44 Revenant-A/B stealth fighters

Stealth fighter. Subsonic cruise, top speed Mach 1.8. 3000 kg of munitions. Ceiling ~14500 meters.

May be the original intended model for the Revenant fighter, supported by the rapidity with which 44 of the surviving 58 Revenant-As were retrofitted. Revenant-A had effectively no air to air capability whatsoever, while Revenant-B's air to air avionics capability is unknown.

124 airframes had been produced as of December 31, 2013, with three lost in accidents.

~1200 Super Chariot light fighters

This is, essentially, a 4.5th generation version of the Chariot fighter, with a slightly uprated engine, and optimization of the airframe to reduce radar cross-section and improve durability. These upgrades also permitted enough weight improvement that the inner wing pylons could be uprated to carry 1000 kg munitions. Aside from this, the aircraft’s basic performance is largely unchanged.

It proved impractical to fully convert the earlier Chariot airframes to the ‘Super Chariot’ standard, though partial conversions aimed at lifetime extension have proven moderately successful.

143 Comet-C interceptors

License-produced version of the upgraded J-10 fighter. Twin-engine Mach 3.5 interceptor. 2500 km combat radius. Five Viper or Meteor air-to-air missiles.

146 Comet-C aircraft were manufactured between 1993 and 2004. Two have been lost in landing accidents, and one in collision with a tanker aircraft in 2010.

~1300 Chariot light fighters

Native-built single-engine 4th generation light fighter. Top speed Mach 2.1. Exists in VTOL, STOVL, and CTOL variants. 2x500 kg and 2x700 kg munitions.

Entering production in 1986, Chariot was the basis of intense national pride among the Umerian military and society in general, as a native-designed aircraft capable of competing on viable terms with any fighter then in production. Agile, reliable, and immediately distinguished by its delta wings and large delta canards, the Chariot has become the symbol of the Umerian Air Force. Over 1500 airframes were produced through intense industrial effort in a fourteen year period prior to the retooling of the production lines for the updated 4.5th generation model. The great majority remain in service.

72 Celestial-Bowman maritime patrol aircraft

Four engine turboprop. Combat radius 2500 km to a three-hour patrol spot. Carries 9000 kg of munitions, including rocket pods, guided missiles, sonobuoys, mines, light torpedoes, and depth charges.

Used for maritime patrol, reconnaissance, antiship, and antisubmarine warfare aircraft. Convincing the Air Force to pay and operate them is widely regarded as one of the greatest victories in Umerian naval history. 78 were built.

Design work on a new MPA intended to share parts commonality with new transport, tanker, and airborne electronic warfare platforms is underway.

218 Marauder strike fighters

Twin engine strike aircraft. Mach 2.35 at 12000 m, Mach 1.1+ at sea level. Combat radius 1400 km with low-altitude approach to target. Armament: 2700 kg internal carriage, 1800 kg external.

115 of the 379-plane production run were lost to accidents, mostly crashes. Seventeen more were shot down in the 1991 Peninsular War. Including attritional loss of the older airframes due to stress and heavy usage, there are now 218 Marauders in Umerian Air Force service, with a number of others decommissioned and kept in boneyard storage.

35 Comet-B interceptors

License-produced version of the Comet-A fighter. Twin-engine Mach 3.2 interceptor. 2000 km combat radius. Three Firebird air-to-air missiles.

The design is essentially identical to the Comet-A, save for an upgraded radar designed to work with improved missiles. At that time, the Umerian Air Force still imported the missiles (designated ‘Firebird’ in Umerian service); a native air to air missile capable of matching the Firebird’s performance was not available until 1994.

A total of 118 Comet-Bs were built, with production tapering off rapidly after 1986 and not picking up again until the factory was retooled for the 1993 “Super Comet” upgrade program.

Out of the 50 operational airframes, 35 remain in service with the second line interceptor squadrons. The others were reskinned and refitted as Comet-R reconnaissance aircraft.

~35 Spectre heavy fighters

Twin-engine swing-wing heavy fighter-bomber. 8500 kg payload, 680 km combat radius.

Variant of the Apelian ‘Phantom’ fighter. Large number purchased 1967-73, and a few more in the late 1970s, totaling 174 airframes. The Air Force fielded these up through the late 1990s, retiring them completely only after aircraft superior for both interception and strike missions became available.

A significant portion of the Umerian Spectres still had considerable longevity left in their airframes at the end of their service lives; a few dozen are still used in Air Guard formations, or for training, aggressor missions, and systems testing.

53 Typhoon Bombers

Four-engine turboprop bomber, 18000 kg payload, 14000 km unrefueled range.

Several have been retired due to airframe senility, with a few suffering accidents. The 53 remaining airframes are mainly used as a platform for air-launched cruise missiles, as the Typhoon bomber has virtually no ability to penetrate modern air defenses, despite extensive modification with ECM systems.

The Typhoon has the dubious honor of being the loudest military aircraft on Tellus.

Retired Aircraft

Revenant-A
Stealth fighter. Subsonic cruise, top speed Mach 1.8. 3000 kg of munitions. Ceiling ~14500 meters. Utterly incapable of dogfighting.

Avionics and air-to-air capability in all Revenant-As has been upgraded to the Revenant-B standard, excluding a handful of airframes kept for testing.

Snow Leopard

V/STOL subsonic fighter. ~370 km combat radius.

Originally a second generation VTOL jet design from Helix Industies, known as the Harrier; license-produced after Umeria leased the production line tooling.

All surviving Snow Leopard airframes were retired or sold off in the 1990s as the Chariot fleet expanded.

Comet-A

Twin-engine Mach 3.2 interceptor. 2000 km combat radius. Three Hueg Falcon air-to-air missiles.

43 surviving airframes (after accident losses) were retired in the 1990s. Seven were reskinned and refitted as Comet-R strategic reconnaissance planes.

Spectre

102 airframes retired due to fatigue or as spare parts reserve.

Raider

Twin-engine subsonic strike aircraft. 5000 kg payload, 1200 km combat radius. First combat aircraft designed by the Technocracy.

263 surviving airframes, minus combat losses. Some cannibalization for spares, as some regional Air Guard formations still use them. Common as museum exhibits.

Typhoon

8 bombers deadlined due to metal fatigue and cannibalized for spare parts. Remainder being watched nervously for same)

A-4 Skyhawk

UAF's first jet bomber. 192 purchased, minus losses. All but a handful have been knocked down for spares and/or sold overseas; a few are still found in museums or as trainers).

Noncombat Aircraft

52 Model 141 EW Aircraft

The Umerian Air Force standardized on the Model 141 for all AWACS, ELINT, JSTARS, and mobile command center needs as early as 1971. It was some years before the first prototype AWACS aircraft could fully demonstrate that, even with the most finely drilled men in the world, it was impossible to keep track of radar imagery of a complex aerial battlespace using abaci, slide rules, and a very long roll of chart paper.

But after a few false starts, a proliferation of variants on the Model 141 airframe proved very versatile and effective at providing for the Umerian military's command, control, communications, and electronic intelligence needs.

~30 Model 143 Tanker Aircraft

A Model 141 transport converted as a tanker.

~70 Model 141 Cargo Aircraft

Four engine jet transport. Empty weight 65000 kg, MTOW 147000 kg. Top speed 900 km/h, ferry range 9800 km, ceiling 12500 m.

One of two dominant domestic Umerian cargo and passenger aircraft design for medium and long-haul flights. Also used widely by State Air Transport. The other, the Model 139, is designed to be drafted into military service, but is widely regarded by the air transport arm as inferior to the Air Force's own Model 141s.

~75 Model 128 Cargo Aircraft

Four engine turboprop transport. Empty weight 35500 kg, MTOW 61000 kg. Cruising speed 550 km/hr, ceiling 10500 m, range 5500 km.

Reverse-engineered copy of the UOCSR's An-12 transport aircraft. Umerian government paid a considerable settlement to the UOCSR regarding theft of design rights and agreed to pay licensing fees. Several senior members of the Bureau of Aviation Industry were reprimanded or sent to corrective labor camps over the incident.

Negotiations of the licensing rights are still underway for an attempted design of a new, more fuel-efficient variant with a range extended by as much as 50%- which, ironically, would finally make it marginally capable of flying between the two countries.