[Boh] Lets Talk Armies
Day 1,990, 19:27
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Published in United Kingdom 
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by
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by Bohemond4
Dear friends and readers,
It is a known fact the damage of the British Military lacks direction and a proper interaction with the Ministry of Defence. There are a number of ways to rectify this, I will outline my ideas that, in a more idealistic world, would help mitigate issues with damage control and their ilk.
It is also known that the UK cannot afford to run a National Military Force run and directed solely by the government, and reliance on independent supplies for a National Army is not the best solution as any drop in supply would immediately be targeted, rightly or wrongly, to the government and the Ministry in particular.
Ministry of Defence
The Ministry of Defence is the lynchpin on which my ideas rest. The activity, or lack thereof, of this Ministry will make or break the Ministry’s effectiveness and therefore the effectiveness of the entire UK Military.
In essence, the Ministry and the Minister(s) in particular work as conducters making sure that the Ministry and the various MU work together in coherence and harmony. They act as the official liason for the Military with the Prime Minister. The Ministry is also responsible for the facilitation of educatory materials to do with war and public explanations for choices of battles.
The expanded role of the Ministry will become more apparent as my ideas are laid in more detail, but the general idea is one of activity and being a conductor or administrator of the entire Military. In some parts, we already have this, but I do not think that It is enough currently as it stands. At the moment, all one needs to do is set orders and maybe supply tanks. This is, clearly only the bare minimum of the role. The Ministry’s role will revolve around two key concepts: Communication and Co-ordnation.
The first step on improved communication is mass messaging of commanders and possibly Captains with the latest orders so that all know where to send damage. As well as this, the UK Armed Forces should have all commanders as part of an IRC channel and a private MU Commanders subforum where they can meet with the Minister of Defence and members of Cabinet. Activity from commanders here means that there is yet another point of contact, but, importantly, that commanders can build a mutual respect and rapport with one another. This will improve the output of our military.
Now, I can hear the cogs ticking over in your mind as you think “hang on…but isn’t this merely what the Ministry should be doing?” Yes, this is the case which brings me to my more radical ideas on the Military and where the need for co-ordination comes into play.
Regiment by Regiment
It is no good having massive Military Units dealing a load of damage only for poor co-ordination, lack of activity or a weak i9nternal command. Ideally, we want a Unit to deal a lot of damage and be co-ordinated, but this is generally not possible. So, what is the better solution? Damage in one MU or co-ordination and effective damage control? I propose the latter is the better for our purposes. The UK deals on average 4 billion damage in a week/month period. This is miniscule compared to Poland or Serbia, they have entire MU that deal more damage in the same period. What this means for us is that for our damage to be effective it must be co-ordinated and applied appropriately. All too often you see people tanking when the wall is at 80% in our favour and the battle nearly won. This is a waste of damage.
The Military Units that impress me the most are those who can deal a solid amount of influence and apply it to the point where it is needed. Case in point is probably Tank Nation, although I can think of a lot more immediately on the top of my head, and Units that have the potential to be more.
So, what do these Military Units do differently to larger ones that makes them able to control their damage, well, simply put, the smaller the unit the easier it is to direct their damage. This is reflected in the RL military where the smallest unit is the fire team, in fact the entire Infantry is built around these teams building on top of each other and integrating until you have one large Armed Force made up of a number of regiments, battalions, companies, platoons and fire teams.
We do not need to get as small as fire teams, but what I have come to the conclusion is that small, hard-hitting active units hit where needed better than large, less active units. The ideal size of these units is to be around 30 members, the limit in one of these internal units, all of whom can be put into one message chain so they know where to hit. This is a close knit unit where you know everyone in the Unit and presumably get on with everyone. Again, I point to Tank Nation and the Royal Army Dental Corps as cases in point.
My proposal, therefore, is that the bulk of our damage and active citizens are in these units run jointly by the Chief of the General Staff, a career appointment that typically rolls over from month to month and the Minister of Defence who is responsible for overall direction of the Military. These Units will probably number around a dozen, maybe a few more than that, with no more than roughly 60 members. These MU can be uber supplied, or not, political or apolitical, formal or informal. What they all will have in common is working with the MoD and not actively recruiting new players immediately upon their arrival.
But what about the newcomers, then, and the less active? I propose that on joining, as part of the welcome message, is a link to join an apolitical Military Unit which supplies limited supplies based on actively fighting. This Unit is commanded by the MoD for that month and is not designed to provide effective controlled damage, but be a safe place where we know the damage is going to where the government directs it. This damage will be less impactful in the short-term, but for those logging in and fighting their DO it is impactful upon the battle for the extra damage it brings in.
These are my musings on the Military. I open the floor to this discussion and see what others think, and if you have other ideas throw them into the ring. Especially around the control of damage and communication.
Cheers
Bohemond4 MP
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Comments
What you propose is insulting to those of us that have spent countless dollars and hours to construct MU's that are fair and welcoming to ALL, and not just to the elites and the players that shift around to take advantage of higher supply.
Most of what you have posted has been done in the past. We had direct messages about orders for months. It goes by the wayside because a) it is time-consuming, and b) the people who typically take on the MoD role are often high up in MU commands anyway and the job becomes redundant.
Personally I think it is sickening to suggest that some players will receive extra supply on the backs of all the other average players who pay gov taxes. I also contest the fact that these smaller MU's are somehow better placed to deal damage when the last strikes have consistently had higher attendance (and higher damage) from the larger MU's.
Truthfully, the government has done crap all to enhance the UK's fighting ability. It has been proven to be feeble and anemic in its ability to organize anything long-lasting and consistent. It is also not in a financial position to really do anything, and that is not likely to change.
More communication = YAY
A stockpool of supplies to feed allies and for times of need = YAY
Proper foreign policy = YAY
Fair and equitable treatment for all MU's that abide by the agreement to not unduly favour one group over another = YAY
Special treatment for supposedly 'superior' groups paid for by taxes paid by all players? NO THANKS
I explicitly stated we could not afford supplies and so that was never part of the idea at all...I would oppose that myself. There is no way we can spend money on supplying MU as a government, but, we can work on improving our damage control and, to be honest, we need to.
Legion has the advantage of a lot of players, so they always have enough hitting in the strikes.
Funky Militia : 10 (37😵
Woldy's Warriors : 4 (36😵
Royal Navy : 19 (18😵
Prinny Squad : 1 (11😵
The Legion : 19 (8😵
Liberty : 4 (6😵
Thats the breakdown, TN had more hitting when they were in the AFG. we have 8% of our membership taking part. RN had a higher % than us but the same number, so, we are not doing the best. Higher damage comes from more D4 players, or 'oldfags' being present, besides, scheduled strikes are near on pointless when the point needed to tip a battle might have been 3 hours prior. Or on another day. I believe that MU are more effective when they have a better community, and the larger the MU the harder this is to achieve.
Now, a large MU with active regiments can work, I just have yet to see it from the UK. To be fair to Legion, I would suggest them for new players without hesitation, but for those looking to gain more community, I would direct them elsewhere. Indeed, my final point about the new player MU is my shakiest idea (espec with MoD as a commander) and could easily change without me worrying about it too much.
I don't intend to disrespect anything you at the Legion have built, remember I backed you guys throughout BigAnts terms, but what does the AFG do other than free advertising, being apolitical and striking on a Sunday?
To be honest, I don't ever expect to see my ideas take of the ground, I just wanted to open some neutral discussion on them.
Thanks for the response.
Realistically, you can only ever have it one of two ways - you can have a small group of people that are heavily funded (a la TN), or you can have a larger group that serves everyone. The upside of the former is that you have a better chance of 'community' as you say, the downside is that it is necessarily exclusive and only serves older and powerful players.
The advantage of the latter is that it serves to help new players grow and gives a stable and reliable pool of damage that raises the max output of the UK. It might not be focused damage, but it is damage nonetheless. The downside is as you have said; it is bulkier and more difficult to target.
I just take exception to statements that make it seem like larger units are not doing enough to create community or are inferior because they don't offer 'enough' supply. The numbers dictate that units like TN will always be niche and small. If Legion were structured as they are, we would offer even more supply. It just isn't feasible when you have 150+ people on supply.
Others have said this below, but it is also unlikely that you will ever have a useful mobile-type group in the UK. We just don't have the numbers or the time coverage.
Elle, Tank nation is NOT heavily funded. In fact the only supplies I see a when I rank or level up or get a BH/CH/TP medal.
Anyone is welcome at any level and if they are short a simple shout on the MU feed gets you what you need.
The reason Tank Nation is effective is pride, pride in what we do and pride in the achievements of our fellow. We are not part of an anonymous amorphous blob like the Legion. I'm sure the same is tru for RN, The Dentists, Funky etc. etc. All small units and all effective.
The biggest point missed is Game Mechanics.
Unless a player is active 24/7 orders cant be updated constantly, this goes for MoD, MU Leaders or Captains. Thus during the period of wrong DO's being set, Damage is wasted.
I love being a Captain and try to keep orders upto date, but that means being VERY active and also relying on those above doing the same. But even my activity doesn't involve me sitting here at the screen 24/7
//This Unit is commanded by the MoD for that month and is not designed to provide effective controlled damage, but be a safe place where we know the damage is going to where the government directs it.//
Unfortunately the eUK's current political scene will ensure that this is just a total baww-fest unless the MoD happens to be a player with known political impartiality (and we have few of those). *sigh*
On the subject of order-dissemination, my view is that so ling as orders are clear and decisive from the top then Captains should always be included. It makes no sense to rely on a few Commanders to be online when there is a wider pool of Captains who can at least ensure their own regiments are well-directed.
😁agreed with the above point - I also mentioned above in reply to Roz that I would drop the MoD command tbf
I would like to admit that this would be my ideal, but I recognise the impracticalities of it. In fact, it would call for an expansion of the MoD. This is why single regiments are the best, you can have people on who can update orders at all times, or enough, pending on time zones.
Voted, just nice to see a well written article stimulating debate instead of accusations and trolling. Myself my interest in this game is taking a serious back seat to real life but always have time to read your articles Bo
This makes sense, voted
I would argue that MUs like tank nation are efficient because of the active,fighting orientated, people that are drawn to them or that they aim to attract rather than their size. In fact you could almost say the reason they're small is because of the expectation for high activity and damage rather than the other way around.
At the end of the day there's a certain spread of players in the UK, varying on activity, willingness to tank, attention paid to the wider game and where to hit etc. Small active MU's appeal to active fighting players and can create an atmosphere that enhances that, I've always been impressed with them and we should encourage them (National strikes are a good way of doing that). But I don't think its the size of the unit itself that creates that.
For example Carlini and others in Legion have tried hard to make the regiments more distinct and like smaller MU's with communities, goals etc. but because of the diversity of players involved its hard to create that atmosphere (my experience anyway). In other words its very hard to force.
On the other hand scheme's like the tier-ing of supplies based on activity had a significant impact on overall damage outlay (and therefore activity) for the large unit.
Agreed that communication is key to directing damage effectively and we should always be looking to improve it wherever possible. But I'm not sure if lots of small units would be better for communication? It almost seems to create more distinct branches on the command tree = more places for it to get lost
Last time I was a captain (quite a while ago) the mass PM for Captains was really useful and made sure that I was always aware of the latest MOD orders as soon as they were issued. But if that's too much effort to to be sustainable I understand.
woah shit that was a long ramble, sorry : P
tl;dr
- Inactive players are going to be inactive whichever size unit they'r in
-maximising communication as far is practical and maybe encouraging innovation in MU's is about all I can see is possible for MoD
Alzo: "Voted, just nice to see a well written article stimulating debate instead of accusations and trolling." x2
As a Captain in Legion, I have found it near impossible to stimulate some form of community.
I think a lot of it, at the end of the day, comes down to how much effort the military leadership puts in across the board to get things moving and theres a lot that can be done in our current framework to start improving our output.
@ Roslin, TN heavily funded? who told you that, more like Legion is or how can it supply 300+ members?
again Legion havein ago at smaller hard hitting MUs.
Slight variation on a idea I had. I'm a massive fan of small MU's. We are just better. But we pretty much have the idea already. Ignore TUP Family, PA and British Army, and we have the setup you are asking for. Legion and RN as the catch all MU's with Dental Corps, Tank Nation and Dragoons, etc taking up the other roles. You just need to get more coordination among TWO, MoD, CO's and Captains.
We also had a list of about 40-50 odd guys all willing to be part of a mobile PM task force. Why not utilize that, not only does it allow guys to stay within their respective communities, it would also get them mingling with others they may not come into contact with.
Mobile Task force, one of the actual good ideas "BA" had when in power, was a shame it never got utilized further
It was actually my idea....
I believe Talon is looking at starting something up, but with an actual MU after he finishes as SG
but yea, it is a good idea
I don't think it would quite work wit a actual MU. I wouldn't leave DC but i'd happily fight where directed .