OsakanOne said:
Your diagram is almost unreadable to someone unfamiliar with the terms you're using:
I'm not sure what you're getting at here. Are you saying that because you don't have familiarity with the terms in use, the diagram is unreadable?
If that is so, then that's kinda the point. The point of a diagram is to explain what constitutes each level of heiarchy: how many of the next smallest unit in the heirachy compose that level in the heiarchy, how many power armors that is total, how many total personnel (this includes maintnence personnel) total, and the average rank of the person in charge of such a unit structure.
If I misunderstand what you're saying then could you reword it, or explain it differently to me.
OsakanOne said:
On a practical basis, a wing demonstrates the use of four to six units used together on a practical basis under a designation.
I'm not sure where you're getting this information at. The UOC has used a Wing as an organization of 1000 power armors both before and after it's seperation from the Yamataian Star Empire.
17th Kasairyu Power Armor Wing Wiki said:
Source
The Kasairyuu Wing is made up of 1000 power armors, reflecting the standard wing size in the fleet.
and from real life:
Military Organization: Heiarchy of Air Forces on Wikipedia said:
source
Wing/Group or Station 1,000-5,000 (no. of personnel)
Wing/Group 300-1,000 (no. of personnel)
Moving on:
OsakanOne said:
Companies, divisions and squadrons... People unfamiliar won't know what the higherarchy of this is.
And that is why this wiki article is being written. Before this, all a player playing in a power armor wing knows is that the wing size is 1000. That's nice, but I'd like for PCs to feel like they have an understanding of the Chain of Command within the Wing, who is over who and who is just another small leader. Additionally, it gives them a sense of where they fit in the big picture.
OsakanOne said:
You're putting numbers together that will never be practically deployed. Instructing a thousand powered-armor of that specification is ... The numbers become meaningless when you see them like this.
One death is a tragedy. One hundred is a statistic.
These numbers become meaningless very quickly beyond around forty.
First and foremost, judging by your statements here and above that you have not researched anything on the former 5XF or the current UOC. The entire Kasairyuu Power Armor Wing has been deployed in the past, on more than one occasion.
As for the meaning of the numbers... I have no clue what you're talking about. Saying that these numbers are meaningless equally implies that the raw numbers in it of themselves are meaningless. If you mean to say that these numbers aren't going to actually matter to PCs past 40, that really isn't up to you to decide is it?
I mean if you actually GMed a UOC plot that dealt with power armors in any way, perhaps that could mean something as you control the values of how many armors are deployed, what positions of influence the PCs can attain, etc. Since you don't, I really don't think you can say whether or not it matters.
----
On the names for the size of each unit in the heiarchy, I actually found myself in a unique situation. First, Power Armors serve roles similar to fighter craft in space, as infantry roles in space are greatly different than those on land. The massive unit called a "Wing", pulled from it's current UOC use and former 5XF use, had a very Air Force feel to it, I wanted to keep with that feel. However one also had to consider that in atmosphere Power Armors serve a primarily infantry role. This consider, breakdowns similar to an army were more desirable as Air Force designations tend to go from large to small rather abruptly and have significantly fewer aircraft (due to higher maintnence and lower munition capacity than a power armor) than a power armor wing does as it progresses lower on the heiarchy. Further, these breakdowns were impractical for an infantry roll and would leave most forces either larger than necessary or smaller than necessary.
I renamed or went with completely different designations in some cases to reflect the UOCs unique stance. The UOCPF does not have the same attitude toward it's troops as the YSE, Nepleslia, or even modern militaries. UOCPF troops are called peacekeepers, this is something heavily emphasized in the UOCPF page. Some of the designations were too militant sounding and, in my opinion, clashed with the feeling that the GMs and FMs that created the UOC were trying to instill.
One last thing to consider...modern militaries have heiarchies quite similar to this one. The wiki link I linked to above shows that clearly, and it can be viewed throughout worldwide Navies, Air Forces, and Armies. I'm attempting to emulate that so that GMs and Players can give a better sense of position within the military unit, role, and even have an easier way to decide how many troops to deploy. Without it Wing Commanders have to literally pick a number out of their rear ends between 1 and 1000 (well, 0 could count too) when it could be as easy as saying: "Send a Division." or "Send a Sqaudron."
As for the model for the table I actually took it from the wikipedia entry on military organization. If anyone has a suggestion to make it more 'readable' or 'understandable' I'd be willing to hear it.
edit: I updated the page a little. I expanded O/PO IC to Officer or Petty Officer in charge, and also reduced the total number of support personnel by a little.
