For the benefit of A Military Themed Traveller Campaign I'm thinking of writing up would you agree that Very Minor General is A Appropriate Rank in The Defence Forces of Bryni when he or she commands 100 97 man strong Companies of Regular Soldiers and 20 48 Strong Platoons of Elite Troops?
Is Very Minor General a appropiate rank?
- Thread starter JMISBEST
- Start date
Condottiere
Emperor Mongoose
Sure.
One Star General - Minor General.
Two Star General - Major General.
Three Star General - Left (Behind) General, instead of the Rear (Guard) General.
Four Star General - the Right (Honourable) General, being a right General, as opposed to the previous wrong generals.
One Star General - Minor General.
Two Star General - Major General.
Three Star General - Left (Behind) General, instead of the Rear (Guard) General.
Four Star General - the Right (Honourable) General, being a right General, as opposed to the previous wrong generals.
"Very Minor General" is not a rank at all, much less an "appropriate" one.
That said, you're talking about the CO of a force of approximately 10,000 soldiers, roughly 1,000 of which are "elite" (for whatever that may mean in this particular organization). A unit that size is normally a division, and would normally be commanded by a major general (and no, the title has no relationship to "minor" anything).
All of this is easily researchable if you have access to the internet - two inquiries to Google provided confirmation of this in a matter of seconds. You might at least try...
That said, you're talking about the CO of a force of approximately 10,000 soldiers, roughly 1,000 of which are "elite" (for whatever that may mean in this particular organization). A unit that size is normally a division, and would normally be commanded by a major general (and no, the title has no relationship to "minor" anything).
All of this is easily researchable if you have access to the internet - two inquiries to Google provided confirmation of this in a matter of seconds. You might at least try...
A
Anonymous
Guest
Galadrion said:
The French system is much saner. Their rank is “General de division” for a division CO.
JMISBEST said:
At 100 men per company those are relatively understrength compared to modern military today. A normal company is around 120 - 140 personnel. You have to remember to include your support elements in the company because they are meant to operate independently at times, thus they need that.
And 100 companies need some other sort of organization. A company is the basic building block (technically a squad is, but let's not get that devolved). You have essentially 10,000 troops there, so that would make it a division. The rank of "very minor general" would probably never exist anywhere because no general would like to be called "very minor".
Divisions are made up of regiments/brigades, and regiments are made up of battalions, which are made up of companies.If a company is commanded by a captain, and a brigade by a colonel (sometimes a one-star general), then it's possible your 'very minor' general could command all these troops. There is a wikipedia reference on units and commander rank levels here - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Division_(military)#Infantry_division
Condottiere
Emperor Mongoose
A minor division, considering that one could range from five to twenty five thousand troops, combat and support.
A
Anonymous
Guest
Wonder what the support to combat ratio is for TL 12+?
In world war 2 it was 10 support (chefs, mechanics, postal etc) for each soldier.
Today is less, partly because of automation and partly because they outsource logistics to civilians so they don't count for army numbers, despite being on the base.
The Broadsword mercenary cruiser carries no additional support staff if i remember rightly (though the ship itself has has engineers but they probably don't know how to fix battledress).
When GW first started Space Marines, every marine was a combatant and they did their own logistics. 1,000 marines in a chapter meant 1,000 literally, totally and 1,000 boltguns on the field. Then they added chapter serfs to drive the tanks and carry all the prayer scrolls.
In world war 2 it was 10 support (chefs, mechanics, postal etc) for each soldier.
Today is less, partly because of automation and partly because they outsource logistics to civilians so they don't count for army numbers, despite being on the base.
The Broadsword mercenary cruiser carries no additional support staff if i remember rightly (though the ship itself has has engineers but they probably don't know how to fix battledress).
When GW first started Space Marines, every marine was a combatant and they did their own logistics. 1,000 marines in a chapter meant 1,000 literally, totally and 1,000 boltguns on the field. Then they added chapter serfs to drive the tanks and carry all the prayer scrolls.
Condottiere
Emperor Mongoose
I think it was Heinlein who mentioned that in Vietnam it was one to ten (or was it one to twelve?), with more officers than corporals.
Modern tacticians have to understand that even rear areas aren't immune from attack, so essentially, everyone could be considered a combatant.
Modern tacticians have to understand that even rear areas aren't immune from attack, so essentially, everyone could be considered a combatant.
