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Join the Army!

In a lot of movies and stories, you’ll eventually come across the Military forces, in one form or another. Sometimes they are friends, sometimes they are foes. They range from Medieval-types, like from Lord of the Rings, to the Modern types, like those set in WW2, or Today, to the Futuristic-types, like those from Star Wars, and Starship Troopers, and everything in between.

The military has a long history, going back before recorded times. Originally, the military was just a bunch of people who picked up items that could be used to kill/injure, and fought to protect their tribe from an external threat – wild animals or rival tribes. Later, as technology improved, and populations expanded, the military, which had improved weapons, going from people armed with rock and clubs to spears and swords, and, eventually, to firearms, was used to expand the borders of the tribes, which brought them into conflict with other tribes, and their militaries. If the Military was going to be successful in its fight with another military, it would need several things – weapons, people who were trained to use them, money to pay these people, and the support of the people at Home.

Weapons are always important – without weapons, one is less likely to win in a fight, let alone a war. Whether the weapon is something as simple as a knife, or something more complex, like a semiautomatic handgun, having a weapon makes winning a fight easier. Of course, having a weapon isn’t always enough – you need people who are trained to use that weapon. A trained person is always preferable to an untrained person, as they are more effective when it comes to using that weapon. Money, or some form of currency, is also important – without it, one cannot acquire weapons or fighters, unless one fights for reasons other than money, and steals their weapons from the enemy. Support of the People is also important, as they will provide the Military with personnel and money, and if the military doesn’t have the support of the people, the military will not be very effective. In fact, this last factor is probably the most important – without People, you will have no Military to fight in the conflict, which will, eventually, end with your side defeated.

When it comes to the military, the question is how does one portray them – Heroes/Good Guys or Villains/Bad Guys? Well, that’s usually fairly simple – in many cases, the Invaders are the Bad Guys, and the Defenders are the Good Guys – although, this isn’t always so simple. It might be that the Invaders are actually the Good Guys, trying to free a country that has been ruled by an oppressive, and hated, dictator – such as when the US, along with others invaded Nazi-Occupied Europe – most stories tend to portray the Allies as the Good Guys, unless it was a Nazi-Propaganda film. In many cases, one can tell if the forces is Evil or Good by how they do business – Evil forces tend to go on Burning, Looting, and Raping sprees, while the Good forces try to help the locals – building bridges, schools, hospitals, and the like. Problem in real life is that, most every military force has a mixed bag – some of the military is honest, and virtuous, and others are corrupt and despicable, with many others caught in the middle.

Now, the question is, when it comes to your story, what type of military do you want?

Let’s start off with the Army of Thieves and Whores – these guys are the lowest of the lows – petty crooks, vagabonds, homeless, lawyers – the kinds of guys you wouldn’t expect to find in your professional army, especially lawyers. Many times, they might be the downtrodden who have decided to rise up against their oppressors, who employ the nice and neatly clothed professional military. Other times though, they are the guys who get drafted into the armed forces, and are used as cannon fodder to protect the more professional troops.

Then we have the Trading Bars for Stripes type of military – basically, why risk potentially valuable citizens, or soldiers, with important skills when you can send out a man who is either serving a life sentence or is on Death Row. After all, since the guy is a criminal, and is Condemned, Command has little trouble sleeping when he dies. In fact, the Starcraft series is filled with this, with many of the Human-Terran forces turning criminals, rebels, and political dissidents into expendable targets, and a lot of them get killed fighting other Terran forces, the bug-like Zerg, and robotic Protoss.

Then there’s the Ragtag Bunch of Misfits – similar to the Army of Thieves and Whores, just on a smaller scale. Basically, they are the proverbial group of weirdoes, who may, or may not, get along, that someone hires because, usually, no one else is available, or is crazy/desperate enough to do the job.

Next we have The Resistance/Remnant – Basically, after a hostile army takes over another country, citizens (the Resistance) may rise up, or the remains of that county’s former military (the Remnant), may continue the fight, until the invaders have been expelled.

There’s also the Militia/Reserve/Home Guard – These guys are, for the most part, citizens who are called to take up arms to defend their country. Usually the Reserve were once members of the Regular Military, who have served their Tour of Duty and are now civilians. Home Guard are people who are still part of the Military, like the US National Guard, who serve in times of Emergency. As for the Militia, one could say that they are citizens armed with whatever was at hand – from things like pitchforks and baseball bats to hunting rifles – to try and defend their homes.

Then you have your Regular Military – These guys are trained to fight for the country, well dressed, well armed, and are usually obedient. In many cases, these guys volunteered for duty, although others were, especially in the past, drafted into service.

There are other types of militaries, but the above examples should help you get started. Now, let’s talk about the different types of soldiers.

The Foot Soldier: Historically, these guys walked everywhere – all the way from Point A to Point B. Some were poor peasant types, others were professionals. Some carried spears, and others carried muskets, or whatever was the common weapon of the era. Of course, the fact that they walked everywhere meant that roads had to be built, along with bridges and the like. In fact, sometimes the ability to use bridges to cross raging rivers, and seas, could do more to impress the other side than simply marching. For instance, when Xerxes 1 of Persia decided to conquer Greece, he built a bridge, using old warships, that allowed him to move his army from Persian soil to Greek soil, fairly quickly, otherwise he’d of had to spend time conquering the area around the Black Sea, which would have added several years to his campaign. The fact that he was willing to build this bridge showed the Greeks just how serious he was to get revenge for his Grandfather’s defeat at the Battle of Marathon a hundred years prior. Other rulers have also done this – Ceaser built a bridge over the Rhine River while he was trying to conquer the Germanic tribes in the area – after which he attacked a nearby tribe, killed several of their warriors, crossed back over the bridge, and dismantled it – the message was very clear – We can go Anywhere We want, Anytime We want, and You can’t stop Us.

Cavalry: These are the guys who, in most Earth-based stories, ride on horses, and fight from horseback, although in Fantasy and Sci-Fi stories, they might fight on the backs of other large creatures. Usually wealthy warriors, who can care for such creatures, like nobility of Medieval-themed stories, are cavalry, but there are professional armies, like the United States Army from the Civil War, up until the 1930’s, that maintained a standing horse-mounted branch, until tanks became common.

Navy: Any nation that controls part of a large lake, or the ocean, requires a navy of some sort, if only to protect trade routes. As it is, the navy is needed to send soldiers to other parts of the world, especially in settings where transporting troops by air is not possible.

Air Force: Any story placed in a Modern setting, especially post WW2 or its equivalent, will have airplanes, meaning that the military will have their own, in the form of Fighters, Bombers, and Troop Transport.

Space Force: In stories with a Science Fiction, especially if set in the future, odds are good that there will be space travel, and just like with ocean and air transport, the space trade needs to be protected with space fighters and the like.

Now, that we have some of the basics out of the way, there’s a question of how your group your soldiers.

In some stories, the military is grouped by race. This might be because the force is more of an alliance of people with a mutual enemy, and each group has their own leader. Another possibility is that some have special abilities that would interfere with the other soldiers own abilities. Sometimes it’s symbolic of discrimination.

In other stories, the forces are integrated. One possibility is the force is really the remnants of other military forces that have been combined, or possibly a bunch of units that got lost and found each other instead, or they were all Prisoners of War who found themselves in the same camp, escaped, and now do guerilla warfare on the enemy. Another possibility is that society itself is integrated, or at least military society is.

In any case, it pays to do some Research. Study weapons, tactics, strategies, uniforms, read historical reports and documents, from both sides if possible. Also, remember this, soldiers are people, with the same sorts of hopes and dreams as everyone else. Of course, if you’re using robots, well, that’s for another Newsletter. Until next time.