Author: Dr Jone Brown
To: Department of History
Subject: Order of Battle
Author: Dr Jone Brown
To: Department of History
Subject: Order of Battle
Kyrnomacek's military is divided into three primary branches:
The Kyrnomacek Ground Army
The Kyrnomacek Space Navy
The Kyrnomacek Special Forces
Each branch is comprised of a set number of vehicles and individuals who perform their function to the best of their ability. This is an overview of the organization of these men and equipment.
The organization of the Kyrnomacek Ground Army is very similar to the organization found in the armies of other Gergic powers due to shared priorities in the field. This is convenient for predicting the size and strength of enemy forces and allows for minor deviations in this pattern to prove valuable at throwing off enemy intel.
Generally, divisions are comprised of lesser organizations on a multitude that reflects the purpose. It is essential that transportation is efficient and convenient, so the number of individuals in a battalion is equivalent to the maximum safe load of a general-purpose Universalis-Class Transport Ship (1,000 individuals, not including crew). This does not mean an entire battalion will be transported in the same transport ship due to the imposed weight and the losses sustained should the ship be downed or otherwise compromised.
In a standard infantry division, 20 battalions comprising of 5 200 man companies each make up the division for a grand total of 20,000 individuals in an infantry division. Each company consists of 8 artillery crews, with 5 men in a crew for every one towed artillery piece for a total of 40 on artillery duty. Four 5-man squads are used for recon and forward movement. An additional 90 are divided into 6 15 man general combat squads, and the rest remain on logistical duty (operating trucks, keeping track of ammunition expense, etc). Towed artillery typically refers to the DB-4 155mm howitzer, a staple design originating from Old Terra that has been found to be sufficiently effective in most scenarios. Mortars, rocket artillery, and other howitzers may be substituted if needed however. The number of trucks required depends on availability, need, and whether orbital drops are more convenient.
A specialized artillery division for siegebreaking and saturation fire is slightly larger at 24,000 individuals, divided into a similar format of 24 battalions of 4 250 man companies. In these companies, the number of 5-man towed artillery crews is 14, leaving 6 12-man general combat or recon squads and the rest for logistics and support. Additionally, one or two battalions may be substituted for a tank brigade to operate self-propelled guns (see below).
An armored division is larger than an artillery division at 25,000 individuals, comprising of 25 1,000 man tank brigades that consist of 2 infantry companies and 3 armored companies each. Each armored company is 200 strong, with roughly half devoted to crewing armored vehicles. "Armored vehicles" refers to any vehicle that possesses armor and a combat role, including tanks, armored trucks, infantry fighting vehicles, and more. Lighter vehicles are crewed by 4-5 individuals, while heavier vehicles may require up to 15 crewmembers. The number of vehicle crews depends on the vehicles used, which in turn are dependent on the operations of the brigade. However, the number of individuals crewing armored vehicles is typically 100 at most, allowing for 5 12-man combat/recon squads for support and 40 logistical workers. Towed artillery may be present, but in such instances the tanks are towing artillery pieces on the behalf of another company in the same task force.
The heaviest and most controversial standard division is the mechanicus division (or mech division), fielding mechs used to stride over rough terrain and support heavy weaponry that a standard wheeled or tracked vehicle could not support. A mechanicus division is 10,000 strong and heavily reliant on infantry support, so 6 of its 4 battalions are standard infantry battalions. The remaining four battalions are 1,000-man mechanicus brigades. From there, each brigade will contain 4 250-man companies similar in design to armored companies, allotting roughly the same number of individuals in crew, support, recon, and logistics roles. An exception can be made in the case of heavier mechs, due to their considerable crew size. In this case, a brigade will instead contain 2 400-man heavy mech companies and 1 200 man light mech company or infantry company depending on need. A heavy mech company is roughly double the size of its lighter counterparts, with 200 allotted to pilot typically between 10-5 heavy mechs in a company, 3 10-man recon squads, and the rest focused on providing for the gargantuan logistical needs of a heavy mech. Infantry support typically comes from another company.
For atmospheric and low-orbit superiority, low-orbit and air-breathing craft (depending on the planet's atmosphere and weather) may be deployed for close air support, interception, or strategic bombing. Thus this requires the organization of "air wings", which exist in four different varieties: air superiority, close air support, recon, and strategic bombing. An air wing is a very loose classification, consisting of up to 100 craft of a specific primary role. Due to their specialization, multiple air wings of different missions are used in the same operations, such as the case of air superiority fighters escorting bombers. Craft may either be deployed from terrestrial facilities or specifically-designed "carrier" ships if the craft can tolerate vacuum use. In the case of the latter, craft may be used for naval operations, though this typically occurs in engagements very close to relevant celestial bodies.
It is believed this system is at least the basis of most Gerg land armies, with some caveats of course. Non-Gerg factions tend to differ in organization however, utilizing more simple division compositions due to a reliance on overwhelming numbers over superior firepower. For example, Hagbeadi formations are configured on a need-to basis. If a thousand Hagbeadi units are required to hold a position, a thousand Hagbeadi units will be sent to hold a position. Commanders love it and logistical officers hate it. Threshers on the other hand have a system of organizing soldiers more similar to Gerg formations, with ten individuals in a squad, ten squads in a company, ten companies in a battalion, ten battalions in a division. It is very simple, but makes it more difficult to deploy units that are not purely infantry.
The Kyrnomacek Space Navy's (KSN's) order of battle can be compared to a "simplified" version of the Kyrnomacek Ground Army's order of battle. While this philosophy is not as widespread in the Gergosphere as the army's, it has not diminished the effectiveness of the KSN.
The KSN's main backbone is its capital ships, a devastating volley can cripple an enemy fleet before it has time to react. However this makes the KSN's formations particularly vulnerable to surgical strikes or even out of combat mishaps that can compromise the most powerful elements of a fleet. For this reason, great effort is undertaken to ensure the survival of capital ships, and that the remaining fleet may still be effective should a key ship be damaged or destroyed.
The KSN fields four different types of fleets: patrol fleets, area denial fleets, firepower fleets, and subspace fleets.
A patrol fleet is a fleet that does as the name suggests, patrol a region of space for enemy naval activity and harass any interlopers until a more fitting response can be made. The bulk of such fleets are destroyers, equipped with long-ranged telemancers and space mines that are laid in hot spots to delay the enemy, even if they are not immediately detected. Typically, 5-15 destroyers will make up the bulk of a patrol fleet, with a roughly equal number of corvettes and 4-8 subspace ships for support. 1 or 2 light cruisers may also appear, depending on the expected situation, but only the fastest models are typically outfitted for patrol duty, such as the Veric-Class Cruiser.
An area denial fleet is what one may think of when they imagine a proper space fleet. By merely being in an area, an area denial fleet will deter lesser incursions, hold its own against other fleets of similar role, and respond to any problems in hours or days, given a range of 20-50 light years. Thus, it would only make sense for this fleet to be equipped with the finest anti-ship technology Kyrnomacek has to offer. A typical area denial fleet will be led by 1-3 battleships and 5-8 heavy cruisers, typically spaced out to prevent the enemy from wiping a cluster of ships in one fell swoop. 10-15 light cruisers, 15-20 destroyers, up to 40 corvettes, and hundreds of logistics ships are also brought in alongside larger ships for screening, recon, and forward observation. Rarely, one or two artillery ships may join the other capital ships if they are to be escorted or if they are outfitted for anti-ship combat. If the fleet is the spearhead to an interstellar invasion or is intended to seize a star system, hundreds of transport ships may come in tow for landing and boarding operations.
A firepower fleet is similar to that of an area denial fleet in firepower, but is focused on orbital bombardment of planets and siegebreaking rather than space combat. The composition is similar, though corvettes are typically absent unless to delay enemy fleets and light cruisers are only used for surgical strikes and screening. The standard number of artillery ships in a firepower fleet is 2-4, but can be up to 6, and the number of battleships and heavy cruisers is roughly equivalent to that of an area denial fleet.
A subspace fleet is a fleet designed specifically to exploit the value of the largest counter to the KSN's modus operandi: subspace ships. A subspace ship can slip into KSN formations undetected, deliver heavy damage to a ship and leave as quickly as it came (an issue addressed with the existence of escort ships). For this reason, a subspace fleet is typically small and contains 6-12 subspace ships, which may operate spaced out or in a "wolfpack" formation to maximize damage to enemy ships. A roughly equal number of corvettes may be presented to support subspace ships or distract the enemy while subspace ships complete their mission.
An "armada" officially refers to three fleets in a formation, but the term has also been used to describe any formation utilizing multiple fleets. The layout of an armada is flexible and depends on the purpose of the formation. The most common armada layout are two area denial fleets and one patrol fleet for the spearhead of an invasion, two patrol fleets and one subspace fleet for passive patrol and defense, and two area denial fleets and one firepower fleet for activity inside a star system. Armadas consisting of heavier ships are often escorted by armadas consisting of smaller ship.
While the details of other Gergic fleet composition is not fully understood at the current moment, historically fleets would rely on striking first. The Clementinans for instance would launch saturation anti-ship missile swarms to overwhelm point-defense systems and devastate smaller ships. Clementinan area denial fleets would also be much more willing to bring artillery ships to the frontlines to knock out capital ships, a strategy that produced mixed results when subspace ships are counted in. Reports from the Bletcher region indicates that the current Gergic naval philosophy consists of swift hunter-destroyer action rather than decisive battles, in which fleets will attempt to bait one another into vulnerable positions and exploit such windows. As the Bletchers lack the industrial capability to reliably produce capital ships, this "space guerilla warfare" system has worked well for them against enemies reliant on capital ships, such as us. The Hagbeadi on the other hand appear to have forgone larger ships entirely, preferring to use massive swarms of corvette-analogous bio-ships that can be mass produced and often outnumber their enemies up to 18:1.
Under construction