Post by Nishimura Takeo on Dec 18, 2013 0:22:44 GMT -5
Of note this is still a heavy WIP, I'll be updating as I can come up with ideas and such. Of note this will be based a bit off 1500s Japanese military, obviously at that point though they didn't have a standing army, it was more feudal like Medieval Europe. So due to that I'm using the Total War series (Numbers wise) as well as Roman military history as a baseline for the organization. I might incorporate some from the Japanese Self-Defense Force since that is pretty much what Ionian's military is. So now that, that has been settled MOVING ON
The military itself is made up of about 300-500k possibly of men and women and divided up accordingly. Of course, Ionia is governed by Elders, but the fact is even if it works in the case of civilian matters. A military needs to be centralized and so with that the Commander (til I can come up with a better name and that isn't a naval rank .-.) is the man in charge of overall placement of the forces. He pretty much sits behind a desk all day with a big map of Ionia, being a heavily manager like position in regards to also being in charge of supplies.
Locations of Armies
Northern Army
I Corps
II Corps
Central Army
III Corps
IV Corps
Southern Army
V Corps
VI Corps
Eastern Army
VII Corps
VIII Corps
Western Army
IX Corps
X Corps
Islands Army
XI Corps
XII Corps
I might end up changing some numbers so none of this is permanent, as is I might play around with the number of reserves that field armies have to use for exploiting breakthroughs or like curbing an enemy advance.
Military Chain of Command/Hierarchy
MORE TO COME IM REORGANIZING AGAIN
Average Number of Soldiers in a Given Unit
Regional Armies - 80,000
Corps - 40,000
Divisions - 10,000
Regiments - 2,500
Number of Armies
Regional Armies - 6
Corps - 12
Divisions - 48
Regiments - 192
Ranks
?!?!?!? - Overall leader of military (I NEED TA THINK OF NAME >:C )
Regional General - Regional Army
Lieutenant General - Corps
Major General - Divisions
Lieutenant - Regiments
How Does it Work?
So with this kinda revised thing setup. Each region is in charge of an area, and the region itself is made up of two provinces. The two provinces are protected each by one corps. This means that each province can be expected to have about 40k in strength. This allows enough room for both a front line as well as a back line of support and reserve units. The corps is then made up of four divisions, one of which is a reserve division. The divisions are then broken further into four regiments. From there it can be broken down further, but for the most part explaining those isn't as necessary, nor is the numbers.
Example Regional Army
Southern Army
Corps V
15th Infantry Division
20th Infantry Regiment
12th Infantry Regiment
5th Skirmishers Regiment
1st Support Regiment
7th Cavalry Division
21st Cavalry Regiment
13th Cavalry Regiment
10th Recon Cav Regiment
2nd Cavalry Regiment
1st Artillery Division
2nd Infantry Division
The Equipment/Units
As is Ionia is known for both its vast forests and mountainous regions as well as the many rivers that flow through. This of course gives Ionia a natural advantage when it comes to defensive battles as the terrain provides choke-points that can be easily used to their advantage. Add to that the fact that Ionia is an island nation and you have what could be considered a fortress in the right hands. Either way due to the nature of the terrain this means that Ionia would most likely have a large amount of infantry and given the mountains, possibly artillery as well. This doesn't mean that Ionia wouldn't have cavalry, far from it. So continuing on....
Yari (Spear) - The most basic and yet most practical weapon.
Katana - It's a motherfucking Katana
Bow - The basic skirmishing weapon. Mind you training to use one of these does take years in comparison to the matchlock.
Matchlock - A recent addition to the Ionian arsenal, while not having the rate of fire or accuracy of a man with a bow. Cost wise it is cheaper to give a recruit a gun then train him to use a bow. Of course the amount of men/women armed with bows outnumbers the matchlock armed soldiers by a large enough number.
I'm unsure as to what would be used artillery wise, could be anything from mangonels maybe even cannons, but their main purpose would be less for sieges and more for anti-personal. A recent bit of inspiration also led to the possibility of a Hwacha. LET IT RAIN ARROWS
Units
Yari Ashigaru - The basic ranker, they're usually serving on the front-line and are the most numerous unit on the field. They're usually the first to fight unless you count skirmishers.
Katana Regulars - This is part of the second-line, soldiers who pass certain marks in training get bumped up and sent to a training school.
Yari Regulars - Same overall thing, different school.
Yari Cavalry - Armed with a spear, this horsemen is used to break the line, sometimes in wedge formations.
Katana Cavalry - Armed with a katana, this is more of a heavy cavalry and can act as a fast moving unit that can fill up holes in the line or take advantage of weak flanks
Bow Cavalry - Able to fire off arrows mounted, they make great raiders and can be used for skirmishing or harassing the flanks as well.
Matchlock Regulars - They form the skirmish line in battles, firing in volleys.
Bow Regulars - Usually more common than the matchlock. While they require a lot more training and are usually picked out of people who have done it for years, they can deliver fast and accurate fire down. The difference of course is just in how time time it takes to get usage.
The Bow and Matchlock Arguement
Most old school Ionian generals would rather use bows over matchlocks, given it is the tradition. But a bow takes years to learn while the matchlock is just as simple as pointing and shooting, with some extras.
Note.
Yes I know Ashigaru are used to describe the peasants soldiers from Feudal Japan, but I thought it had a nice ring, and if I'm right it means lightfeet or footmen or something... ILL CHECK AGAIN OF COURSE but I think that's what wikipedia had... The names are of course subject to change, but this is the basis so far. I still need extras and of course to go into detail about the Ionian Guard, which I think I'll make it into a kinda... Placidium based thing maybe...
Ionian Combat Doctrine
While it is dependent on the person in charge their are some givens. As always skirmishing lines are made up of matchlock and bow armed soldiers, behind that would be spearmen, on the flanks would be cavalry, behind the main line would be a second line with spears on the flanks and swords in the center. The Ionian Guard is something I still need to decide on, but I've been thinking of everything from rearguard action, to a sorta tactical reserve, to a shock force, either way I'll come up with something hopefully acceptable.
The other thing is as far as cavalry goes they can be organized in different ways, one being lancers forming a wedge, inside the wedge is bow cavalry who fire suppression at the line, while the lancers meanwhile punch through. The basis with the bows being less about accuracy but more on fire rate. Bow cavalry of course can also be used alone as skirmishers or to harass the flanks in this case they'd fire with more accuracy. Finally katana cavalry can be considered the heavy cavalry and have the advantage of being able to stay in contact with the enemy without having to pull out for another charge.
Oh right and can't forget the light cavalry, usually used to take out routing enemies and for purposes of scouting.
I'll come up with more but good stopping point for now.
The military itself is made up of about 300-500k possibly of men and women and divided up accordingly. Of course, Ionia is governed by Elders, but the fact is even if it works in the case of civilian matters. A military needs to be centralized and so with that the Commander (til I can come up with a better name and that isn't a naval rank .-.) is the man in charge of overall placement of the forces. He pretty much sits behind a desk all day with a big map of Ionia, being a heavily manager like position in regards to also being in charge of supplies.
Locations of Armies
Northern Army
I Corps
II Corps
Central Army
III Corps
IV Corps
Southern Army
V Corps
VI Corps
Eastern Army
VII Corps
VIII Corps
Western Army
IX Corps
X Corps
Islands Army
XI Corps
XII Corps
I might end up changing some numbers so none of this is permanent, as is I might play around with the number of reserves that field armies have to use for exploiting breakthroughs or like curbing an enemy advance.
Military Chain of Command/Hierarchy
MORE TO COME IM REORGANIZING AGAIN
Average Number of Soldiers in a Given Unit
Regional Armies - 80,000
Corps - 40,000
Divisions - 10,000
Regiments - 2,500
Number of Armies
Regional Armies - 6
Corps - 12
Divisions - 48
Regiments - 192
Ranks
?!?!?!? - Overall leader of military (I NEED TA THINK OF NAME >:C )
Regional General - Regional Army
Lieutenant General - Corps
Major General - Divisions
Lieutenant - Regiments
How Does it Work?
So with this kinda revised thing setup. Each region is in charge of an area, and the region itself is made up of two provinces. The two provinces are protected each by one corps. This means that each province can be expected to have about 40k in strength. This allows enough room for both a front line as well as a back line of support and reserve units. The corps is then made up of four divisions, one of which is a reserve division. The divisions are then broken further into four regiments. From there it can be broken down further, but for the most part explaining those isn't as necessary, nor is the numbers.
Example Regional Army
Southern Army
Corps V
15th Infantry Division
20th Infantry Regiment
12th Infantry Regiment
5th Skirmishers Regiment
1st Support Regiment
7th Cavalry Division
21st Cavalry Regiment
13th Cavalry Regiment
10th Recon Cav Regiment
2nd Cavalry Regiment
1st Artillery Division
2nd Infantry Division
The Equipment/Units
As is Ionia is known for both its vast forests and mountainous regions as well as the many rivers that flow through. This of course gives Ionia a natural advantage when it comes to defensive battles as the terrain provides choke-points that can be easily used to their advantage. Add to that the fact that Ionia is an island nation and you have what could be considered a fortress in the right hands. Either way due to the nature of the terrain this means that Ionia would most likely have a large amount of infantry and given the mountains, possibly artillery as well. This doesn't mean that Ionia wouldn't have cavalry, far from it. So continuing on....
Yari (Spear) - The most basic and yet most practical weapon.
Katana - It's a motherfucking Katana
Bow - The basic skirmishing weapon. Mind you training to use one of these does take years in comparison to the matchlock.
Matchlock - A recent addition to the Ionian arsenal, while not having the rate of fire or accuracy of a man with a bow. Cost wise it is cheaper to give a recruit a gun then train him to use a bow. Of course the amount of men/women armed with bows outnumbers the matchlock armed soldiers by a large enough number.
I'm unsure as to what would be used artillery wise, could be anything from mangonels maybe even cannons, but their main purpose would be less for sieges and more for anti-personal. A recent bit of inspiration also led to the possibility of a Hwacha. LET IT RAIN ARROWS
Units
Yari Ashigaru - The basic ranker, they're usually serving on the front-line and are the most numerous unit on the field. They're usually the first to fight unless you count skirmishers.
Katana Regulars - This is part of the second-line, soldiers who pass certain marks in training get bumped up and sent to a training school.
Yari Regulars - Same overall thing, different school.
Yari Cavalry - Armed with a spear, this horsemen is used to break the line, sometimes in wedge formations.
Katana Cavalry - Armed with a katana, this is more of a heavy cavalry and can act as a fast moving unit that can fill up holes in the line or take advantage of weak flanks
Bow Cavalry - Able to fire off arrows mounted, they make great raiders and can be used for skirmishing or harassing the flanks as well.
Matchlock Regulars - They form the skirmish line in battles, firing in volleys.
Bow Regulars - Usually more common than the matchlock. While they require a lot more training and are usually picked out of people who have done it for years, they can deliver fast and accurate fire down. The difference of course is just in how time time it takes to get usage.
The Bow and Matchlock Arguement
Most old school Ionian generals would rather use bows over matchlocks, given it is the tradition. But a bow takes years to learn while the matchlock is just as simple as pointing and shooting, with some extras.
Note.
Yes I know Ashigaru are used to describe the peasants soldiers from Feudal Japan, but I thought it had a nice ring, and if I'm right it means lightfeet or footmen or something... ILL CHECK AGAIN OF COURSE but I think that's what wikipedia had... The names are of course subject to change, but this is the basis so far. I still need extras and of course to go into detail about the Ionian Guard, which I think I'll make it into a kinda... Placidium based thing maybe...
Ionian Combat Doctrine
While it is dependent on the person in charge their are some givens. As always skirmishing lines are made up of matchlock and bow armed soldiers, behind that would be spearmen, on the flanks would be cavalry, behind the main line would be a second line with spears on the flanks and swords in the center. The Ionian Guard is something I still need to decide on, but I've been thinking of everything from rearguard action, to a sorta tactical reserve, to a shock force, either way I'll come up with something hopefully acceptable.
The other thing is as far as cavalry goes they can be organized in different ways, one being lancers forming a wedge, inside the wedge is bow cavalry who fire suppression at the line, while the lancers meanwhile punch through. The basis with the bows being less about accuracy but more on fire rate. Bow cavalry of course can also be used alone as skirmishers or to harass the flanks in this case they'd fire with more accuracy. Finally katana cavalry can be considered the heavy cavalry and have the advantage of being able to stay in contact with the enemy without having to pull out for another charge.
Oh right and can't forget the light cavalry, usually used to take out routing enemies and for purposes of scouting.
I'll come up with more but good stopping point for now.