Part I. Terminology of Command
So you’ve decided to become a person that controls a lot of NPCs, an Officer, how about an SF, or a CO, an XO, or maybe even an NCO. Now you might be going, I’m not familiar with all these terms… Don’t worry, I’m about to explain them.
There are a number of different terms and acronyms that are linked with command, for ease I’ll divide them into a couple simple categories.
Basics: Here are the general terms that are tossed around in military circles.
Infantry: Also known as leg-infantry, infantry basically are a formation of armed men, I should also mention that an infantry formation often times includes unarmored vehicles and crew service weapons. Large infantry formations may include armor and artillery attachments as well.
Motorized Infantry: Infantry that are assigned trucks for rapid transport.
Mechanized Infantry: Infantry that are carried into battle inside APCs or IFVs.
Armor: A formation of armored vehicles, larger formations will include attachments of artillery and infantry formations. A Panzer division wasn’t composed entirely of tanks after all.
Artillery: The big guns of a ground battle, artillery are almost always attached to larger formations.
Armored Vehicles: These are vehicles that are meant for combat, they can not be destroyed by small arms fire. Examples in star wars would be the T Series of Tanks, AT-ATs, 1-M tanks and the like.
Unarmored Vehicles: These are vehicles that are meant either for scouting or supply, they can be destroyed relatively easily by concentrated small arms fire. Examples of these units include repulsor trucks, AT-STs and speeder bikes.
Small Arms: If you can hold it in your hand it’s a small arm, rifles, pistols, grenades, they’re all these things.
IFV – Infantry Fighting Vehicle: An Armored Vehicle that can carry infantry into battle and has ports to enable the infantry to fire their personal weapons while inside.
APC – Armored Personnel Carrier: Identical to an IFV but doesn’t have the ports to let the infantrymen fight from inside the vehicle.
MBT – Main Battle Tank: Typically a swift, heavily armored vehicle that does not carry any infantry and is meant for attacking hard targets.
Commandos: Small specially trained formations meant for sneak attacks, they’re synonymous with Special Forces.
Soft Targets: Men, trucks, artillery, most lightly armored and unarmored vehicles.
Hard Targets: Armored vehicles like tanks and emplaced structures like bunkers, pillboxes, mobile artillery and hardened artillery.
Unit: A team or formation that is either composed of smaller teams and formations or individual men or vehicles.
Suppressing Fire: A unit is attacking a unit by firing in the general area of the unit attempting to force the unit to seek cover and keep it from returning fire.
Suppressed: A unit is under fire and is attempting find cover from which to return fire.
Pinned: A unit is no longer able to return fire or move for fear of taking damage.
Routed: A unit has lost all cohesion and is fleeing the battlefield in panic.
Reply
