Weirdo Zone Army

Insignia

     The Weirdo Zone Army is the most elite ground combat force in the Known Universe. Recieving the best training and best equipment that the Weirdo Zone can provide, the Weirdo Zone Army is a corps of volunteers from across the Weirdo Zone and beyond.

PURPOSE

     The Weirdo Zone Army is the WZMS's ground combat arm. While dependent upon the Navy for transport, the Army is specifically trained for ground combat tactics that the Naval Marines lack. Soldiers are trained in conventional warfare, small-scale tactics, guerilla warfare, hand-to-hand combat, brawling, marksmanship, and the use of every possible type of weapon. The Army also consists of the vehicles required to mount a successful ground campaign, ranging from Airborne Armored Personnel Carriers to heavy tanks and self-propelled guns to the heavy BATAV and Panzermench walkers.
     The Army is also responsible for the defensive garrisons on most Weirdo Zone worlds. As naval conflicts almost never occur in the Weirdo Zone's interior these days, the Army practically has free reign in this area.

ORGANIZATION

     The Army is organized into independent Regimental Combat Teams consisting of infantry, armor, and walkers. RCTs are very large forces that are usually carried only by Naval battleships and heavy troop cruisers. As RCTs are attached to specific ships, and these ships are controlled by the Navy, their theaters of combat are decided upon by the Navy. This makes sense; the Navy is responsible for long-range strategic planning of what star systems to hit and when; when the RCTs are dropped on the target all ground combat control reverts to the ranking Army officer.
     Again, RCTs are big. Often they will be split up by company to various ships in the same group. The RCT still fights together, it only travels seperately. This avoids the possibility of destroying an entire RCT with the loss of one ship. Another advantage is that sometimes a full RCT is not needed in combat, so smaller sections can be sent where they are needed.
     Once in combat, RCTs are not as cohesive as some may imagine. Standard tactical doctrine suggests that one RCT should be capable of taking a moderately defended planet. As an RCT only consists of about 3,500 men, this is a high order. It is achieved through the use of mobility. Specific units of squad or platoon size are inserted into the combat area, with each unit having a specific objective. Once the objective is completed, the forces are extracted to fight somewhere else. There are usually no fixed lines in an Army offensive. Some would ask, then, what is the use of the heavy artillery the Army has? The heavy artillery is used as needed to soften up enemy positions. It has been known that a few platoons of big guns have supported a single infantry squad. Tanks are used as shock troops and vehicle killers, usually having a few infantry squads in support. Walkers are used either like extremely mobile tanks or as oversized infantry, depending on the type and situation. All forces are capable of full mobility.
     How is full mobility achieved? Navy heavy-lifters can heft around armor and walkers. Infantry are often dropped into combat using one-man disposable ablative drop capsules. They can also be carried by the Advanced Armored Personnel Carrier (AAPC). AAPCs are cheap triphibian vehicles capable of traveling through air, space, water, or on the ground. While poorly armed and moderately armored, they are fast and are in their prime when used to ferry troops from one battle to the next. The AAPC, while not the prettiest sight, is the mobile backbone of the Weirdo Zone Army.

SIZE

    The Weirdo Zone Army is made up of five million front-line regiments with an additional fifty million regiments in reserve.  This equals 18,152,500,000 front-line troops and 181,525,000,000 reserve troops, which add up for a total fighting force of 199,677,500,000 troopers.  Command structure and support adds a negligent portion as it is incorporated into the fighting total--everyone fights, from the highest major general to the lowliest PSC cook.
    While a 200 billion-being army looks big on paper, it is very small when compared to its enemies.  The Reavers have a total population of 3,570,000,000,000,000,000; one-fifth (750,000,000,000,000,000) of which is assumed to be made up of Reaver Warriors.  The Warriors outnumber the Army by more than 3.7 million to one.  The only way the Weirdo Zone Army is capable of defeating the expansive Reavers is through better technology, better equipment, better deployment, and better strategy.  It is very rare that the Weirdo Zone meets the enemy at 3.7 million to 1 odds, and it will do its best to avoid ever doing so.
    Defensively, every (major) member world of the Weirdo Zone may have a regiment stationed on it if it so chooses, in addition to its native militias.  The number of garrison troops is classified.

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