Arcona Military

Alright...the Arcona Military Forces. In essence, there are two "main" ones...ground and space. That's fairly self-explanatory. The size of our space fleet isn't negotiable...it's all laid out by the DC. As for our ground forces...that's a little harder to determine. We do have some items from when the OHC was around, but not a whole lot. However, in terms of raw numbers, that's pretty much up in the air and this is one area I'd like worked upon.

Also, we need to discuss the actual make-up of our forces. Who are they? What species? Their background? Remember, the Clan itself isn't really a part of the "normal" running of the military. In times of war or in need, the lowliest Novice can supercede most of the actual military command. We're the "elite" so to speak. However, the military does run at all times. That means the force itself is fairly large (just think about the amount of people who have to run each starship). We also have fighter pilots...ground troops...snipers...gunners...drivers, etc.. Do we want a more droid-like army? Actual People? (my preference). And if that's the case...where did they come from?

I also see two other "factions" in the general military. This is an Intelligence division, and a more "elite" group. Intelligence is fairly straight-forward. This elite group would be non-dark jedi, but trained to withstand many of the force powers that can be used. They'd be answerable only to the Consul...a fancy Honour Guard basically.

With each faction, there will be a non-force user head (admiral, general, etc...) but there will also be a hierarchy of leaders on the dark jedi side in times of war. These titles will be completely honorary, but important fictionally.

Ok..this is all over the place. Sorry about that, but try and piece things together and we'll see what we come up with in terms of specifics.

Space Forces: As you say, set by the DC.

Ground Forces:

Mechs: I would imagine that whatever compliment of ground artillery specified as our Capital Ship being able to carry we "have" in one form or another. Would have to do some research on that one.

Infantry: At this stage of the game, the Arconan military is probably mainly comprised of whatever people(s) the Clan would be able to cull from the population of the planets under its sway. So that'll be part of the Dajorra Sysytem forum.

I don't think we have Stormtroopers anymore. Though they are iconic to the Star Wars Universe, unless the DC is allowing each Clan to have its own Cloning facility, or unless all the potential Soliders from Dajorra would be able to fit inside the Stormie armor, I think we should move away from that. Probably an art project: "Design The Arconan Soldier."

Initial thoughts.

-Vassan

Okay I’m new to this, but yeah, Conscripts seem the only reliable source of soldiers, which means the vast majority wouldn’t be career soldiers (think the Cyprus military) and little more than cannon fodder which I’m sure nobody is thrilled about, however without a dedicated training facility on a par with the Imperial Academy on Carida or Coruscant we couldn’t expect that level of discipline from line troops. As for compliments of support ships etc, well I’ve looked into what the Arcona flotilla would have, and they are as follows:

Carrack Cruisers:
5 TIE Fighters (oh joy, our domination will be supreme and unquestioned with these awesome displays of power and wealth)
Lancer Frigates:
2 Shuttles apiece, I’m guessing the book (The Essential Guide to Vehicles and Vessels means Lambda, as it says in the next sentence “carried troops and vehicles are always kept to a minimum”)
Corellian Corvettes:
Well, Ep3 suggests to us they have a hangar on the underside, whilst most written canon implies that they don’t have hangars, however the Wraith Squadron books detail a pair of Corvettes that have been extensively modified to hold up to a squadron of assorted fighters apiece in the tube-like protrusion running horizontally across the front of the ship (i.e. the Hammerhead of the ship on the underside, as if it were a face with the bridge viewscreen being the eyes and the hangar being the mouth)
Escort Carriers:
Pretty sure it’s a given they hold a full wing of fighters (72 ships divided into 6 squadrons of 12 fighters each).

As for troop and mechanical divisions, well that’s bloody hard to find out, truth be told, but I’ve only heard of heavy mechanical stuff such as AT-STs, AT-ATs and the likes being on board Acclamators or larger, which unfortunately we don’t have access to.

This suggests to me that in terms of a hardened military force, we would have something barely suited to a police force to keep the races subjugated and free the Force-users up to wreak havoc as they see fit.

As for the anti-Jedi, I personally like this a lot, but it’d be necessary to train them by-oooh, brainwave. The whole Arcona Army/Fleet could be trained by the members of the clan who are more military in their background, could get a RO out of that I’m sure or at least a fiction topic.

Lastly, the times-of-war hierarchy where the clan-members take control of forces a la the Jedi in the Clone wars, well in the clone wars cartoons and ANH it was General Kenobi as he was an established, proven Jedi Master and Commander Skywalker for a newly appointed Knight. I’ve drawn up a couple of ideas here that are meant to be totally [Expletive Deleted F-word]ed about with or disregarded if necessary, they’re just idle musings of a bored teenager

Journeymen:
Seer (as in they can predict when danger is coming and often provide insight that the average trooper wouldn’t have, but their military prowess is little more than the rank and file)

Equites:
Executor ([Expletive Deleted F-word]ing lethal in combat and have the edge of considerable force abilities, but lack the subtletites of the art of war possessed by the Elders)

Elders:
Overlord (wtfpwn lethal, force-sensitived to all hell and back, plus being able to see the eddies and currents of a war over a single battle, can see the grand plan as it were, almost Revan-esque in tactical prowess).

Just a few thoughts and the names I went for were blatantly stolen from various castes in the Yuuzhan Vong hierarchy and are only there as placeholders.

Ok...before we go any further, it should probably be known that the starshps themselves are basically empty of anything except starship stuff That means that we don't automatically have the set compliment of fighters and mechs. Our current fighter/mech force looks like this:

(8) TIE V38 Phantoms
(6) B-51 B-Wings
(6) E-Wings Model B
(51) TIE Interceptors

And I can't find the list of mech stuff. Suffice it to say, we don't have that much I'll have to ask Korras where the list is. However, all fighter/mech stuff are won through competitions and such. Hence, nothing if "given" but instead we have to "earn" everything. Of course, now that Arcona is running on all cylinders we have none of these competitions...but that's for another day

So basically, we don't have a ton to work with and capital ships that are fairly useless to us (Escort Carrier) for the time being. I'm currently re-working an Order of Battle for our fleet and I'll post it here when I have it done.

In terms of our actualy forces, there is currently no restrictions. I do remember that Kir and others were working on getting that finalized, but nothing's come out of it. As such, we're free to do whatever we want in that regard (within reason since we should never be a large military force..just not realistic).

That being said, I do agree with the "no stormtropper" idea. From how I see things, we will have a core of veterans that came with us when we left the EH. We have earned a couple more starshps since then, but the bulk of our fleet came from that time, so I'll assume the crews came as well, since they're loyal to the Clan and the Clan leadership left during that time.

So...we'll have more "imperial" captain, crews and a number of soldiers that came from the EH. The rest will have to be made up from indigenous species...and perhaps random others who may have stumbled onto us. We can also say we've "recruited" a number of people for our uses.

Just wondering if anyone knows anything about how a military organizes itself into groups? Platoons, squads, etc...? I can find this info online, but if someone is already familiar with it, then I'd like to start seeing if we can get specific numbers attached to our various planets and facilities.

Also, I think we should have a basic "uniform" for our military people. Like...the ground grunts have specific equipment and look. Naval people look the same...etc...what would each person be outfitted with basically. I don't want a rag-tag group but something cohesive.

In reference to the fighter lists, are these flown by the Arconans themselves or are specific ships assigned to specific squadrons, like Bas-Tyra? Also, as we have a full system to protect and traverse between, it strikes me that we'd need a fair number of shuttles too, do we have to buy those with points too or can we simply make em up as they're strictly speaking non-combat vessels?

As for the uniform I’ve prepared a couple of descriptions for the various branches:



Ground Forces:
The attire of the grunts of the Arcona Armed Forces is strictly utilitarian in appearance. The Rank and file wear a jacket of blast-dampening armour that, while not as strong as Plasteel armour made famous by the clone troopers and later the storm troopers of the empire, it does grant increased movement. Dark Grey in appearance, the only visible rank insignia is worn on a shoulder pad. Combat boots, a helmet and a utility belt all in either black or dark grey complete the ensemble. Usually, the standard infantryman is armed with an A295 Repeating Blaster Rifle as a primary weapon, a Kylan-3 Heavy Blaster Pistol as a side-arm and a set of three frag grenades to handle any breaching manoeuvres. Specialised troops such as snipers, technicians, communications specialists, slicers, demolition specialists and heavy weapon specialists would have different armaments to the usual grunt.

Starfighter Pilots:
The pilots of the Armed forces stick to a mostly imperial design, but instead of jet black flight-suits, life support units etc it has been re-coloured a dark blue. Again, insignia is only shown on the shoulder-pad. Squadron commanders often have a purple stripe running across their helmets, however this is not a requisite. They are usually equipped with a E-11B rifle as a side-arm in case of emergencies.

Navy:
The Rank and file of the Navy wear grey jumpsuits that wouldn’t look out of place on some of the more lax Imperial Starships or a highly militarised Mercenary Force. It is utilitarian and easily cleanable. Again, ranks are displayed on the left shoulder. Usually, the regular crew of ships aren’t armed unless they’re security officers, in which case they’d have a DH-17 sidearm.

Officers:
Officers of all three branches share the same vaguely Imperial Uniform that is matte-black and differ from the other uniforms in that they have proper rank insignia worn on the chest. Instead, their branch is signified on the shoulder with red for ground forces, blue for starfighter pilots, white for naval officers, and silver for the “admiralty” i.e. captains or higher.

The “Phalanx”:
Members of the specially-trained anti-Jedi elite have a non-descript uniform of a stylish matte black suit devoid of any insignia other than a muted green belt-buckle, showing their allegiance to the Consul. In terms of armament, they don’t seem to carry any obvious weaponry, however appearances can be deceiving.

Those descriptions are looking good. And others are free to jump in at any time as well *hint, hint*

As for the fighters..no, they're not assigned to any "specific" team. I will be assigning fighters, most likely, to specific houses should they want to use them for their own purposes during non-war times. But the fighters themselves are "seperate". This is of course since we no longer have those Order restrictions, so the Battleteams now are a mix of specialities.

I'm liking a lot of Sashar's ideas. Only issue I have with the Journeyman, Equite, Elder military leaders is actually having those people Good stuff though.

I'm hoping we all know our capital ships? http://members.optusnet.com.au/cjwescott/legacy/ships.htm

No record of what I chose from the OROS... it was in emails, which were lost when my PC died. *looking looking just keep looking, looking looking everywhere... fill my trailer with looking...*

2x AT-AT
2x AT-ST
2x HAET-221 Drop Ship
(News Archives, October 2005)

Troopers would be a mix of the three races we have under our sway (two on Eldar, and some of the Selenians - the Selenians seem a bit civilised for soldiers, though the Eldar races seem a bit used to fighting and civil wars). As far as I can tell, they are basically human.

And its getting late, so Ill leave it at that

I see several competitions/projects already with this thread:

GFX:
1. Design the Arconan Dress/Battle Uniforms

2. Design the "look" of the Selen race

3. Design the "look" of the Eldar

The latter two will lead to other projects, which will cross over into several other sections in the FicDev forums, specifically planetary info. But given that the bulk of the Arconan Military is made up of these two species, we still need to:

1. Write the Selenian description/history into a wiki entry

2. Write the Eldar description/history into a wiki entry

The current Selenian info entered into the wiki states:

"Selenians are humanoids, tall, blond haired mostly. They are a very calm race and slightly distant to surrounding world, concentrating mainly on the ecology of their planet and the work of their complex hydrodynamics. The Selenians have five major cities, though Arcona leaders only ever visit their capital of Estle. Originally, the Selenians migrated from another planet, fleeing another faction of their race."

So this needs to be expanded upon. Does anyone want to take a stab at embellishing what's on the DB Wiki? Should we initiate the above listed GFX comps between the RoS & GJW, or after the GJW?

Thanks guys!

And here’s my two cents…

I think a good way of tackling the dynamics of the Military is by giving ourselves a few questions to answer.

Structure? How are we going to structure our forces, regimentally or through battle groups and battalions? A bit pedantic I know, but I think if we have some sort of pre-ordained chain of command filling in the gaps with platoons etc. will be easier. In this light we will also need to address numbers, how many per squad (traditional ten or eight?) although I’m sure this will vary due to specialisation, i.e. specials operations units operating with smaller numbers.

Equipment? Sashar’s already touched on this with some great description and I’m liking the idea of out-sourcing some of the work (the competitions etc.) as it gives the Clan a sense of involvement whilst still gives the team control. Sash and me have worked up something similar for Soulfire Strike Team Wiki Page and I thought we could perhaps do the same (but less detailed) for the different types of squads. Maybe creating a couple of Companies that Arcona has founded that manufacture armour and weapons (this will help to give a real depth to our background which I think is vital).

Race? Keeping it mostly in system is a brilliant idea as I think we ought to tie ourselves closer to the indigenous people rather than having to think up an elaborate reason for why thousands of galactic species have descended upon us looking for careers as soldiers. However, with this in mind I think it would be more realistic to have some of the officer positions filled by ‘outsiders’ or Imperials (as Halcyon has mentioned) as we cannot expect the Selenians or the Eldarians to have developed sophisticated inter-planetary tactics and thus the issue of conscripts should be addressed. Non Player Characters with extensive backgrounds should be created for key people (admirals, ship captains etc.)

Home? We will also need to address the problem of were they are going to be stationed. Going with us using a military composed primarily of Eldarians and Selenians the temptation is to let them return to their homes on the planet when off duty, but we need to understand that this wouldn’t be the case in a real army, do we follow suit? Or do we op for something different?

How? How will our army operate? What are their specialities (interdiction? Occupation? Etc.) and normal operating modes? We ought to draw up an outline of how we operate in combat and to what conditions individual task forces operate.

Facilities? Every good army is backed by a network of facilities serving different purposes be that training the latest batch or recruits, producing weapons and ammunition or just the general things like surveliance and manning the planetary defence stations (we might want to even include defence satellites, outposts etc.). What do we want? Where is it? Who Runs it? What does it do? Those are the questions.

Structure? How are we going to structure our forces, regimentally or through battle groups and battalions? A bit pedantic I know, but I think if we have some sort of pre-ordained chain of command filling in the gaps with platoons etc. will be easier. In this light we will also need to address numbers, how many per squad (traditional ten or eight?) although I’m sure this will vary due to specialisation, i.e. specials operations units operating with smaller numbers.

Arcona is not a military superpower. We usually don't deploy forces at the regimental or battalion level. Instead, Arcona deploys smaller units of highly specialized and elite soldiers. Our mastery over the immaterial darkness makes our covert ops teams among the best (if not the best) in the Dark Brotherhood.

Equipment? Sashar’s already touched on this with some great description and I’m liking the idea of out-sourcing some of the work (the competitions etc.) as it gives the Clan a sense of involvement whilst still gives the team control. Sash and me have worked up something similar for Soulfire Strike Team Wiki Page and I thought we could perhaps do the same (but less detailed) for the different types of squads. Maybe creating a couple of Companies that Arcona has founded that manufacture armour and weapons (this will help to give a real depth to our background which I think is vital).



Arcona is probably the most technologically advanced of all the clans. We invest a tremendous amount of resources into research and development: specifically in the fields of cloaking/stealth, hyperdrives/sublight engines, ecm/sensor warfare, and communications/logistics. Our ground forces benefit from research in these fields as well.

How? How will our army operate? What are their specialities (interdiction? Occupation? Etc.) and normal operating modes? We ought to draw up an outline of how we operate in combat and to what conditions individual task forces operate.

Arcona prefers to strike from the shadows. We excel at hit-and-run attacks. We use stealth combined with superior mobility to outmaneuver our opponents. We also have one of the best logistical networks because most of our capital ships have modular capabilities and can be quickly retrofitted depending on their mission parameters. We also have a very reliable intelligence network. Direct confrontation is our weakness, and we tend to avoid straight-up fights unless a decisive victory is guaranteed.

Regardless of what we specialise in it would be foolish to think that we didn't have a horde of beings supporting us, are you expecting a handful of Dark Jedi to hold and run the adminitration of a populated space system the size of the Dajorra, not to mention continue with our oh so uber dark jedi stuff like meditation and running around chopping at things with lightsabers? I think not. Therefore it not only within the military wing of Arcona, I believe that every section of our rewrite ought to take into account the NPCs that help keep Arcona running from day to day, perhaps not in detail but a mention would provide a better fictional background to work from in competitions and the likes.