How do planetary militias work?

[Hellraiser]

That seems low, even for BT's notoriously undermanned militaries....  :-\

I was thinking it seemed low but I started w/ a pretty small population compared to most IS worlds.

When I compare it to Tikonov's population you do get those 80 regiments of militia that we saw in the 4th SW invasion.

[Daryk]

I can see it working on the high end, but the low end is a complete disaster.  A "small" mining outpost of 300,000 is certainly going to have more than 3 soldiers.

[ANS Kamas P81]

For real-world numbers of serving soldiers vs total population:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_number_of_military_and_paramilitary_personnel

That was a great resource in determining just how many troops a country has, and just how much of its population is under arms of various types.  While it may not be 100% accurate down to the trooper, it's more than enough to get average percentages for real-world situations: a country with conscription in wartime is going to have a sizably higher percentage than a volunteer-only nation at peace.  Case in point, the USA - a volunteer nation ostensibly at peacetime operations as of last year - only has 0.42% of its total population on active duty and another 0.23% in reserve units.  Compare that to a country like Israel, which conscripts heavily and is actively engaging in combat, with 2.01% of its population on active duty and another 5.62% in their reserves.

Of course, once you apply real-world numbers like those to BattleTech's populations...things get wonky.  But it's a place to start, even if you end up throwing it all out.  I found it a useful list, myself.

[Daryk]

It probably needs an inverse exponential term... the smaller the population, the higher the percentage under arms.

[DOC_Agren]

Are we talking full time militia now, or do we have part time Militia as well?

I assume most militia is part time service

[Daryk]

Gendarmes are full time, and they qualify as "militia" in my book.

[ANS Kamas P81]

Yeah, the country list treats those as Paramilitary forces, to take the gendarme example.  So you really have three types if you consider them as "active service," "reservists/militia/national guard," and "gendarmes/border guards" to pick from.

[Daryk]

Interesting... that makes sense.

[Hellraiser]

I can see it working on the high end, but the low end is a complete disaster.  A "small" mining outpost of 300,000 is certainly going to have more than 3 soldiers.

Agreed....but.

In theory, something that small, or perhaps with that specific of a focus, might not have any "militia" at all, but, instead, have a Line Infantry unit from the house there to protect the mining operation.

It also might be a situation where the "support" soldiers are MPs which makes sense for the basics of collecting miners that drank too much on their day off.

[Daryk]

Agreed on them being worth having a national unit there to defend them, but I daresay they'd also support that line unit with soldiers of their own.  Skin in the game is worth a LOT of will to fight...  ^-^

[DOC_Agren]

Yeah, the country list treats those as Paramilitary forces, to take the gendarme example.  So you really have three types if you consider them as "active service," "reservists/militia/national guard," and "gendarmes/border guards" to pick from.

And I think most of a planetary militia would be the reserves, that get called up as needed.

You will have a active service/cadre force..  reserves/national guard...  law enforcement (full time and reserves) but mostly count as green inf in a combat operation.

[Daryk]

Green infantry is good enough to call in coordinates for indirect fire...  8)

[DOC_Agren]

Green infantry is good enough to call in coordinates for indirect fire...  8)

yeah..  that going to work well.  8)

[Minemech]

Free Worlds League: Static Defense Units - size/strength varies by planet due to local funding.  Fits local conditions - armor, infantry, conventional air, naval, submarine, artillery

The way I understood it was that Static Defense Units were neither a militia nor a line unit, but rather a federal or provincial support structure containing non-line units--militia might be subsumed into this command, but were the branch itself was not militia. One of the personalities in the House Marik Sourcebook was in fact an officer in a static defense unit and a Marik-Brett. Static Defense Units represented a federal or provincial investment in having a prefabricated and ready defense structure for a planet that had charge over a planet's militia but also had charge over non-line regiments, and plausibly over line units in defense design, but not over the implementation of defense during an attack, which fell to the line, or militia commander (Whoever was in charge of the planetary defense). This fit in with the description of the Free Worlds League having an uncanny knack for defending against impossible odds as there was always and experienced adult who knew how to defend well sitting next to regulars and to the militia. This is why the units were listed as support units in the old Sourcebook.

 EDIT: I will note that the Field Manual strictly conflicts with the Sourcebook's explanation on this topic, which actually creates other problems. It is not a read between the lines issue and would make for a fair question for the writers. I guess it could be justified under Thomas's reforms but transforming them from support to infantry in a Successor State chock full of infantry is weird.

 EDIT: There also could be more than one type of planetary defense unit within the jargon.

[Hamilcar Barca]

Hi Guys,

I had posted a generic PDF as well as their tactics and deployment schedule. I hope this helps.

Hamilcar Barca
https://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php?topic=80249.msg1907593#msg1907593

[Maephi13]

Kaumberg has the most extensive strictly militia force I can think of. The Kaumberg Planetary Guard has (as of 3145) A reinforced Mech Battalion, A reinforced Vehicle Battalion, A Fighter Wing, 8-9 Infantry Battalions, and a full Bluewater Fleet. They're a Lyran world, but the actual makeup of the KPG is similar to how the FWL operates with half of each houses forces avaliable for off world deployment (sector defense) and the other half allowed/required to stay on Kaumberg at all times.

Specific numbers as to individual house contributions are in the Touring the Stars PDF for Kaumberg.

[Hellraiser]

Kaumberg has the most extensive strictly militia force I can think of. The Kaumberg Planetary Guard has (as of 3145) A reinforced Mech Battalion, A reinforced Vehicle Battalion, A Fighter Wing, 8-9 Infantry Battalions, and a full Bluewater Fleet. They're a Lyran world, but the actual makeup of the KPG is similar to how the FWL operates with half of each houses forces avaliable for off world deployment (sector defense) and the other half allowed/required to stay on Kaumberg at all times.

Specific numbers as to individual house contributions are in the Touring the Stars PDF for Kaumberg.

Woodstock militia had a full Mech Regiment during Operation: GUERRERO.
No idea about additional assets, but the mechs was a Regiment IIRC.

[Maephi13]

Woodstock militia had a full Mech Regiment during Operation: GUERRERO.
No idea about additional assets, but the mechs was a Regiment IIRC.

It was, but IIRC much of it was agrimech pilots and their mechs. I think that still makes it the largest purely mech force, but I've not seen a militia with as much combined forces as Kaumberg. At least, not one that is strictly a militia. Clan Solahma and Sibko forces are frequently thrown in the meat grinder with an astronomical number of (bad for clan) forces. Seems like every other fight during the ilclan era so far is somebody kicking a Salohma/Sibko ad hoc militia in the teeth.

[Daryk]

Those kinds of units are designed to be kicked in the teeth.

[Hellraiser]

It was, but IIRC much of it was agrimech pilots and their mechs. I think that still makes it the largest purely mech force, but I've not seen a militia with as much combined forces as Kaumberg.

Are you sure about the Agrimechs?  It's been a while since I read those novels but the main character was in a Warhammer.

There was a world with a Regiment++ of Agromechs, Pike, not Militia per se, but in the Wo39 they did all mobilize from their Mining/Jobs to face the FC invaders.

As for bigger than Kaumberg, check Tikonov in the 4SW,   or,  Luthien/NewAvalon in the Clan Invasion/Jihad, but those are capitals so the raw #s are sick.

[Maephi13]

Are you sure about the Agrimechs?  It's been a while since I read those novels but the main character was in a Warhammer.

Bred for War yea? And yes, plenty of regular mechs, there were just also a lot of agrimech pilots.

[Daryk]

I built a fairly substantial militia for Glenmora on a mere 151M initial capital investment (linked in my sig block), so bigger units for militia seem totally reasonable to me.

[Colt Ward]

Bred for War yea? And yes, plenty of regular mechs, there were just also a lot of agrimech pilots.

So?  If you are talking weekend warriors that is not a surprise- but it would ALSO mean their mechwarriors SHOULD get a boost on their piloting skills.