Falkenburg's Legion, CoDominion, and stats (Long)

It didn't take as long as I thought it would!

For those that may be interested, here is my attempt at a write up for ground
combat with and against Falkenburg's Legion. My focus is a bit more on
Stargrunt than DS since most of the combat in the books is infantry oriented
(and using DS2 makes for a really slow infantry game). A lot of the statistics
I have used for the weapons and vehicles certainly could be done differently.
In my defense, all I can say is that I tried to stay as close to the RULES as
possible and not come up with new systems or house
rules while still giving the FEEL of the books.   The books this
information is based on (Prince of Mercenaries, Falkenburg's Legion, Go Tell
The Spartans, Prince of Sparta) are by Jerry Pournelle (with S. M. Stirling as
co-author for the last two) and published by Baen Books in the U.S.  No
infringement on their copyrights is intended.

Weapons and Military Units of Jerry Pournelle's CoDominion Universe circa 2100
CE (for Dirtside II and Stargrunt II)

Notes on Infantry Weapons

The standard personal arm of just about any force with any money appears to
be a semi-automatic rifle firing a high velocity 7mm round mated to an
advanced electronic targeting system. Some troops are also armed with
magazine-fed grenade launchers (which may or may not be integral with a
rifle) and others have sniper rifles. A few troops have shotguns or
sub-machineguns, while some specialists are armed with either  large
caliber
semiautomatic handguns or rapid-firing machine-pistols.  Most
well-equipped
infantry carry man-portable one-shot anti-armor missiles.  Two types of
machineguns are mentioned (conventional and gatling-type).  I assume
that the conventional machineguns are mostly utilized as squad automatic
weapons while the gatling guns are generally used by heavy weapon teams.
Mortars in the 8 cm range seem to be the standard infantry support weapon.
Well equipped troops tend to be protected by a combination of nemourlon and
synthetic leather armor which is very effective against light or slow rounds
and shrapnel. Standard helmets have basic communication gear, hearing
protection, and vision enhancement built into them, though expensive helmets
have additional features was well while cheap helmets have fewer capabilities.

Notes on Supporting Arms

Artillery tends to be either mortars or rockets, though conventional "tube"
artillery is also used. Size ranges from the 82 mm light (rifled) mortars to
155 mm guns and even larger rockets. Most artillery fires "smart" munitions,
but all artillery is represented as being fairly accurate. Self propelled
artillery is available but most appears to be towed. Armored vehicles tend to
be on the light side, with armor vulnerable to infantry carried missiles. The
main armament for these vehicles range from 15mm heavy machineguns to 135mm
cannon. VTOL aircraft (both helicopters and other types) are used for
transport, reconnaissance, ELINT, and attack duties. Kinetic orbital
bombardment is an option for forces lucky enough to have space vessel support.
Observation satellites are used, but appear to
be very expensive.  Space-to-ground assault shuttles are also available
for the lucky few, but appear to require large bodies of water to land on.

Dirtside II / Stargrunt II Weapon Statistics

10mm Pistol is FP 1 Impact d8 (Close only, bonus in CA)

MicroUzi is FP 3 Impact d6 (Close only, bonus in CA)

SMG is FP 3 Impact d10--longer barrel/more velocity than 10mm pistol
(Close only, bonus in CA)

Rifles are FP2 (due to targeting system, not rate-of-fire) Impact d10

Rifle/GL Combinations are FP 3 Impact d10

Grenade Launchers are FP 2 Impact d8

Machineguns are FP d8 Impact d10

Heavy Machineguns are FP d8 Impact d12

Gatling Machineguns are FP d12 (very large ammunition capacity) Impact d12

IAVR/Buzzbombs are FP d10 Impact d12*
(but some IAVR are actually more like single-shot GMS/P since they are
guided)

Peltast Sniper Rifle is FP d8 Impact d12 x 2

Conventional Sniper rifle is FP d8 Impact d10

Nemourlon Armor (complete suit) d8 protection Nemourlon Armor (partial suit)
d6 protection Synthileather Battledress d4 protection

Spartan Von Alderheim Works "Battlecar"
Size 2, CFE, High Mobility Wheeled, Armor 1 all-around, No Fire
Control, Basic sensors 15mm Gatling version: Gatling MG as above (in turret)
(as LAD and 2 APSW in DS2)
15mm MG + GL version:  HMG + auto-grenade launcher (in turret) (as 3
APSW in DS2) APC version: pintel mount HMG plus 10 troopers (command version
similar)

Spartan Von Alderheim Works "Cataphract"
Size 2, CFE, Fast Tracked, Armor 2/1 R, Basic FC (early version),
Enhanced FC (late version), Basic sensors (early version), Enhanced sensors
(late version)
Rapid-fire 76mm version: turreted RFAC-2, pintel mount gatling MG
(also counts as LAD)
125mm version: turreted HKP-3, pintel mount HMG
APC: pintel mount HMG plus 10 troopers
155mm Gun-Howitzer version:  size 3 (large, boxy turret), Medium
artillery, pintel HMG

Falkenberg's Utility Helicopter Size 2, FGP (actually CFE with high power
rating), Armor 1, No FC, Enhanced Sensors Basic ECM, 1 gatling MG (door gun),
10 troopers

Barton's Bulldogs' "Leopard"
Size 3, CFE, Fast Tracked, Armor 3/2, Enhanced FC, Enhanced sensors
RFAC-2 in turret (actually an Enhanced ADS), pintel mount standard
MG

Bronson's "Suslov" Size 2, CFE, Fast Tracked, Armor 1, Enhanced FC, Basic
sensors
HKP-3, pintel mount gatling MG (counts as LAD also)

Spartan and CoDominion VTOL Size 5, FGP (see above note on helicopter), Armor
1, Enhanced sensors, superior ECM
Armed:  2 GMS/H (superior FC) Fwd, 6 gatling MG (2 fwd, 2 RS, 2 LS)
(counts as 2 LAD) Troop Carrier: 2 Gatling MG (door guns), 24 troopers
ELINT:  Several E-warfare stations, Superior sensors, C3 suite

Friedlander "Panzer" (very iffy--as NO real info given in books)
Size 3, CFE, Fast Tracked, Armor 3/2, Enhanced FC, Enhanced Sensors,
Basic ECM
HKP-4 and coax Gatling MG in turret, pintel mount gatling MG (counts
as LAD)

Friedlander APC (same note as above)
Size 3, CFE, Fast Tracked, Armor 2/1, Enhanced FC, Enhanced Sensors,
Basic ECM
RFAC-1 and coax HMG in turret, pintel mount gatling MG (counts as
LAD), 10 troopers

Friedlander 155mm SPG Size 3, CFE, Fast Tracked, Armor 1, Basic Sensors,
Medium Artillery, pintel gatling MG (counts as LAD)

Friedlander 105mm SPG Size 2, CFE, Fast Tracked, Armor 1, Basic Sensors, Light
Artillery, pintel gatling MG (counts as LAD)

Or, to give the Friedlanders more of a Slammers feel, make'm fast hovers
(requires engine change to HMT)--I think this is somewhat justified as
there are hovertrucks in widespread use even on backwaters like Santiago.

CoDominion Tank (a little less iffy than Friedlander data, but not by much)
Size 3, CFE, Fast Tracked, Armor 3/2, Superior FC, Basic Sensors,
Superior ECM
HKP-4 and coax Gatling MG in turret, pintel mount gatling MG (counts as
LAD)

All vehicles listed above should have one level of stealth (though the CoDo
issue units could argue for 2 levels, I think) unless being used as
Police/Milice vehicles since camouflage should count for something.

Organization

Falkenberg's Legion, Royal Spartan, and CoDominion Marine Infantry units are
organized similarly and organization appears to be "square" rather than
"triangular."

The lowest level infantry unit is the Maniple of 5 men. Next up is the Section
of 12 men. This is followed by the Platoon (I assume that is made up of two
sections plus a HQ maniple). Next comes a Company (4 line platoons and a
support section?) of approximately 120 troops. Then comes the Battalion (4
line companies plus a weapons company) of approximately 600 troops. Finally,
the Regiment (or Legion), which in the case of Falkenburg's Legion means:

5 (was 4 before the Sparta deployment) Line Battalions 1 Artillery Battalion 1
Scout Troop 1 Sapper Battalion 1 Weapons Battalion (including an Aviation
Troop) 1 HQ Company 1 Medical Section

Field organization is actually based upon the line units, with attachments
from the specialty formations to fill them out.

Royal Spartan artillery is organized into batteries, with each (127mm Rocket
anyway) battery consisting of 3 six-barreled launchers.

No decent information is given about the Friedlanders except that a mixed
battalion of 105mm and 155mm self propelled guns is probably either 24 or 36
tubes. I'll guess 36 tubes and assume that the Friedlanders use a triangular
organization. 4 guns per battery, 3 batteries per company, and 3 companies (2
medium, 1 light or the reverse) per artillery battalion.
Assuming their tanks are organized similarly--4 tanks per platoon, three
platoons plus an HQ of two tanks makes up a company, three companies plus an
HQ platoon of two tanks and some supply/services vehicles makes up a
battalion.

Even less information is given on Covenanter organization (all we know is that
they are infantry). Try something like current UK organization?

Anyway, those are my thoughts. Any other views on this out there?

Rob

Interesting that we both came up with similar stats for the cataphract, only a
couple things I'd disagree on there:

1. On the 76mm gun version, despite the "Rapid fire" reference in the book, an
RFAC 2 seems a bit weak. I went with an HKPor HVC 3. The 125 mm gun

mentioned in Go Tell the Spartans was the Arty vehicle, not a direct fire
weapon, I made it light arty, keeping it on the class 2 chassis. I don't
recall a 155 mm version (OK, I used the phrase 155mm when I first posted on
this topic, but that was in error.)

2. For the CoDo tank, based on the excerpt at the end of GTtS when they're
fighting the CoDo Marines in Sparta City, I'd say you could argue for a
class 4 vehicle/class 5 weapon, but it could go either way there.  Other

than that, What I REMEMBER seems ti jive with what you came up with, though
it's been a while.

Brian B

----Original Message Follows----
From: RWHofrich@aol.com

Spartan Von Alderheim Works "Cataphract"
Size 2, CFE, Fast Tracked, Armor 2/1 R, Basic FC (early version),
Enhanced FC (late version), Basic sensors (early version), Enhanced sensors
(late version)
Rapid-fire 76mm version: turreted RFAC-2, pintel mount gatling MG
(also counts as LAD)
125mm version: turreted HKP-3, pintel mount HMG
APC: pintel mount HMG plus 10 troopers
155mm Gun-Howitzer version:  size 3 (large, boxy turret), Medium
artillery, pintel HMG

CoDominion Tank (a little less iffy than Friedlander data, but not by much)
Size 3, CFE, Fast Tracked, Armor 3/2, Superior FC, Basic Sensors,
Superior ECM
HKP-4 and coax Gatling MG in turret, pintel mount gatling MG (counts as
LAD)

Any other views on this out there?

Rob

In a message dated 3/17/00 7:26:07 PM Eastern Standard Time,
> bbilderback@hotmail.com writes:

> Interesting that we both came up with similar stats for the

The 125mm gun mentioned was listed as a 125 mm Rocket Howitzer. What the
heck is a "Rocket Howitzer?"  I assumed a low-velocity gun giving a
boost to
a hyper-velocity rocket--a neat way to achieve high velocity with very
low recoil (important since it was mounted on a light vehicle). Maybe I'm
stretching things, but a single barrel/rail 125mm rocket launcher for
indirect fire seemed to be a real waste of material to me. That plus the fact
that the Royal Spartan towed rocket artillery used 127mm ammunition (not
125mm) from 6-barreled launchers sort of convinced me--why have two
weapons (125 mm vs 127 mm rockets) that are that close in size and (probably)
effect? Unless, of course, they were completely DIFFERENT in employment and
effect.

And they do specifically mention the 155mm version of the Cataphract in the
last book (and that it has a very large boxy turret).

> 2. For the CoDo tank, based on the excerpt at the end of GTtS when
Other
> than that, What I REMEMBER seems ti jive with what you came up with,

The fact that the CoDO has to ship EVERYTHING argued for the smallest
practical size in that case. Especially since just about everyone else's
stuff was so small--for example I made the Suslov a size 2, but it MUST
be no more than 4 tons (maximum cargo limit of the assault lander that carried
one to Tanith), which is probably more like size 1. I had to make it size 2

bacause it was armed with a 135mm gun--something that sounded like more
than a HKP 2.

Any, that's why I gave the ratings I did. I do have the advantage of having
just read the whole series back-to-back, which I didn't do the first
time I read this stuff. Still, a lot of the info is vague so your mileage may
(and probably will) vary.

I gave lots of the vehicles a LAD capability since everyone did their best to
keep aircraft out of combat, suggesting that there would be REALLY heavy

losses if they didn't. LAD was the closest thing I could come up with that
would have some effect on aircraft and not take up an entire vehicle's weapons
fit.

Anyone come up with ideas for the Covenanters?

Rob

I don't know, I just always was under the impression that the word
"Howitzer" implied indirect fire/artillery.

As for the CoDo tanks, point taken.

Brian B

----Original Message Follows----
From: RWHofrich@aol.com

The 125mm gun mentioned was listed as a 125 mm Rocket Howitzer. What the
heck is a "Rocket Howitzer?"  I assumed a low-velocity gun giving a
boost to
a hyper-velocity rocket--a neat way to achieve high velocity with very
low recoil (important since it was mounted on a light vehicle). Maybe I'm
stretching things, but a single barrel/rail 125mm rocket launcher for
indirect fire seemed to be a real waste of material to me. That plus the fact
that the Royal Spartan towed rocket artillery used 127mm ammunition

(not
125mm) from 6-barreled launchers sort of convinced me--why have two
weapons (125 mm vs 127 mm rockets) that are that close in size and (probably)
effect? Unless, of course, they were completely DIFFERENT in employment and
effect.

And they do specifically mention the 155mm version of the Cataphract in the
last book (and that it has a very large boxy turret).

The fact that the CoDO has to ship EVERYTHING argued for the smallest
practical size in that case. Especially since just about everyone else's stuff
was so small