Author Topic: Reunification War and numbers  (Read 4926 times)

avon1985

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Reunification War and numbers
« on: 24 August 2011, 19:38:31 »
Ok got my copy of Reunification War in the mail today and immediately started devouring it.  Now i really am enjoying it but the number of regiments they talk about seems really low.  300 regiments, which I figure is only the mech regiments, would only be 50 mech divisions worth of troops.  Now I know Kerensky at the start of the 2nd Periphery war had over 125 mech divisions and three times that in infantry divisions plus independent regiment.  More that 1500 regiments all told in just the SLDF.  So is it just me or does the 300 seem really low for some reason?

Kojak

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Re: Reunification War and numbers
« Reply #1 on: 24 August 2011, 19:48:43 »
The SLDF was practically a brand-new organization at the outset of the Reunification War, so no, it actually seems about right. By the time Kerensky was the Commanding General, the SLDF had been around for about another century and a half, and that's certainly plenty of time to build up.


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JPArbiter

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Re: Reunification War and numbers
« Reply #2 on: 24 August 2011, 19:48:55 »
this was when the Star League was new, in fact the book covers that in might of the league
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avon1985

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Re: Reunification War and numbers
« Reply #3 on: 24 August 2011, 19:58:58 »
this was when the Star League was new, in fact the book covers that in might of the league

I read that part and I'm ok with that there were only that many regiments it just seems a low number for a realm coming out of the "age of war"  yet with 150 of relative peace the build up there army more than 500%.  Just seems a bit weird thats all.

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Re: Reunification War and numbers
« Reply #4 on: 24 August 2011, 20:01:05 »
Ok got my copy of Reunification War in the mail today and immediately started devouring it.  Now i really am enjoying it but the number of regiments they talk about seems really low.  300 regiments, which I figure is only the mech regiments, would only be 50 mech divisions worth of troops.  Now I know Kerensky at the start of the 2nd Periphery war had over 125 mech divisions and three times that in infantry divisions plus independent regiment.  More that 1500 regiments all told in just the SLDF.  So is it just me or does the 300 seem really low for some reason?

The Star League Source Book indicates that the SLDF went into the Reunification War with 270 regiments. It got MUCH bigger in later centuries.
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I am Belch II

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Re: Reunification War and numbers
« Reply #5 on: 25 August 2011, 02:39:43 »
The Star League Source Book indicates that the SLDF went into the Reunification War with 270 regiments. It got MUCH bigger in later centuries.

270 Regiments didn't  it got over 2000 Regiments before the end. The Warships went from 500 to over 2500 warships. 
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Øystein

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Re: Reunification War and numbers
« Reply #6 on: 25 August 2011, 02:50:19 »
Just as a note.

In general we don't count infantry regiments (or armor regiments) when we sum of the strengths of various militaries. The exact number of conventional regiments have never been (nor will be) nailed down.

Archangel

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Re: Reunification War and numbers
« Reply #7 on: 25 August 2011, 04:50:39 »
I read that part and I'm ok with that there were only that many regiments it just seems a low number for a realm coming out of the "age of war"  yet with 150 of relative peace the build up there army more than 500%.  Just seems a bit weird thats all.

Page 26 of the RW should clarify things.  The SLDF was deployed to the Periphery shortly after it was founded and was still in the early stages of organizing itself.  The HAF was to form the core of the SLDF.  Any HAF unit not absorbed was dismissed.  In addition, to ensure the superiority of the SLDF, all the Great Houses were forced to dismiss large numbers of troops.
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mikecj

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Re: Reunification War and numbers
« Reply #8 on: 25 August 2011, 12:05:02 »
Not to mention each House contributed numerous regiments to be broken up and distributed in the new SLDF formations.  House Davion gave up the remnants of the Terran March Brigade as their contribution
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I am Belch II

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Re: Reunification War and numbers
« Reply #9 on: 25 August 2011, 12:32:29 »
There was also a huge buildup of military in the 2650's to the fall of the Star League, that probably increased the size really really quick.
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Re: Reunification War and numbers
« Reply #10 on: 25 August 2011, 13:11:08 »
I read that part and I'm ok with that there were only that many regiments it just seems a low number for a realm coming out of the "age of war"  yet with 150 of relative peace the build up there army more than 500%.  Just seems a bit weird thats all.

Not really. That's 150 years of collected tax revenue, military spending and actually being able to enforce the Star League's will. The huge growth of the SLDF went hand in hand with the Star League's prosperity. Plus, the Reunification War was a mess, with the SLDF already growing towards the end, why throw the brakes? There's a reason why the early part of the 27th century saw massive growth...the wheels were already turning. Stopping it would have probably caused more harm than good.
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Re: Reunification War and numbers
« Reply #11 on: 29 August 2011, 08:55:36 »
Just as a note.

In general we don't count infantry regiments (or armor regiments) when we sum of the strengths of various militaries. The exact number of conventional regiments have never been (nor will be) nailed down.

Sad ya'll don't note that, there are plenty of heavy tanks with more firepower than most mechs, and a heavy tank regiment would pretty much always maul light mech battalion.... BV wise.  Many 3025 level heavy tanks (60-75 tons) are around 1000 BV... right up there with medium mechs.

There are a couple instances of these numbers being published which are, IMO, invaluable:
20 Year Update FRR:  15 Mech, 32 Tank, 97 Infantry (over half mechanized), and 62 militia regiments
Original Marik Book:  60 Mech Regiments, 700 non-mech regiments (about 400 infantry, 80 armor, and 100-150 special battalions)
Tikonov Free Republic:  3 mech regiments, 18 Armor Regiments, ~36 Infantry Regiments
SLDF book with all the divisions (2254 Mech Regiments (8% LAM), 2317 Conventional Regiments (24% artillery), 1673 Aerospace Wings (32% Transport, 32% Conventional), 2665 Infantry Regiments (13% Engineer)
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