{"submission_id":"931556","keywords":[{"keyword_id":"1421","keyword_name":"military","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"1563"},{"keyword_id":"267384","keyword_name":"panzers","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"6"},{"keyword_id":"27344","keyword_name":"rl","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"49"},{"keyword_id":"75168","keyword_name":"strategy","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"62"},{"keyword_id":"222385","keyword_name":"takomen","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"57"},{"keyword_id":"6978","keyword_name":"warfare","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"95"}],"hidden":"f","scraps":"f","favorite":"f","favorites_count":"2","create_datetime":"2015-09-15 22:57:38.987273+02","create_datetime_usertime":"15 Sep 2015 22:57 CEST","last_file_update_datetime":"2015-09-17 17:28:03.798298+02","last_file_update_datetime_usertime":"17 Sep 2015 17:28 CEST","username":"Roketsune","user_id":"9038","user_icon_file_name":"76298_Darosne_darosne_icon.gif","user_icon_url_large":"https://nl.ib.metapix.net/usericons/large/76/76298_Darosne_darosne_icon.gif","user_icon_url_medium":"https://nl.ib.metapix.net/usericons/medium/76/76298_Darosne_darosne_icon.gif","user_icon_url_small":"https://nl.ib.metapix.net/usericons/small/76/76298_Darosne_darosne_icon.gif","file_name":"1275941_Roketsune_weapons_and_organizations.rtf","file_url_full":"https://nl.ib.metapix.net/files/full/1275/1275941_Roketsune_weapons_and_organizations.rtf","file_url_screen":"https://nl.ib.metapix.net/files/screen/1275/1275941_Roketsune_weapons_and_organizations.rtf","file_url_preview":"https://nl.ib.metapix.net/files/preview/1275/1275941_Roketsune_weapons_and_organizations.rtf","files":[{"file_id":"1275941","file_name":"1275941_Roketsune_weapons_and_organizations.rtf","file_url_full":"https://nl.ib.metapix.net/files/full/1275/1275941_Roketsune_weapons_and_organizations.rtf","file_url_screen":"https://nl.ib.metapix.net/files/screen/1275/1275941_Roketsune_weapons_and_organizations.rtf","file_url_preview":"https://nl.ib.metapix.net/files/preview/1275/1275941_Roketsune_weapons_and_organizations.rtf","mimetype":"text/rtf","submission_id":"931556","user_id":"9038","submission_file_order":"0","full_size_x":null,"full_size_y":null,"screen_size_x":null,"screen_size_y":null,"preview_size_x":null,"preview_size_y":null,"initial_file_md5":"13f8b0323c5755d5000e885b16d905d7","full_file_md5":"13f8b0323c5755d5000e885b16d905d7","large_file_md5":"","small_file_md5":"","thumbnail_md5":"","deleted":"f","create_datetime":"2015-09-17 17:28:03.798298+02","create_datetime_usertime":"17 Sep 2015 17:28 CEST"}],"pools":[{"pool_id":"32108","name":"Literary- World of Takomen","description":"Detailed core documentation of the various aspects, concepts, history, and personalities of my fursona's world and their Great War.","count":"5","submission_left_submission_id":"931459","submission_left_file_name":"1274049_Roketsune_people.rtf","submission_right_submission_id":"931552","submission_right_file_name":"1274097_Roketsune_warfare.rtf"}],"description":"Over the last 2-3 years, various ideas have occurred. Many of them pertain to the combat aspect of the universe: weapons, locations, and organizations. If you're curious about what role the Commander panzer serves, the specifications of the oft mentioned flagship of Kantaria, or what exactly Central Combatant Command does, this document is for you. \n","description_bbcode_parsed":"Over the last 2-3 years, various ideas have occurred. Many of them pertain to the combat aspect of the universe: weapons, locations, and organizations. If you're curious about what role the Commander panzer serves, the specifications of the oft mentioned flagship of Kantaria, or what exactly Central Combatant Command does, this document is for you.
","writing":"[b][u]Weapons Platforms[/u][/b]\n\n[b]Procyonidae[/b] Flagship of Kantaria and largest warship on Takomen\n\nFirst, I will give the various specifications I have envisioned, then describe the ship in greater detail. Primary weapons are intended and designed for anti-surface long-range work but can be repurposed for defense, and are massively reinforced. Secondary weapons are moderately useful for anti-surface tasks but are primarily designed for point-defense of self and others, and are moderately reinforced. Tertiary weapons are intended exclusively as point-defense weapons except in highly unusual circumstances (which the flagship especially should never be in), and are lightly armored but independently powered. Some of the tertiary weapons are capable of firing shells either chemically (powder and the like) or electromagnetically (railguns). The former mode is employed if it will be sufficient and there is a dire need to conserve weapons energy consumption, or if a turret is rendered incapable of using EM propulsion (damage or malfunction).\n\n[u]Displacement[/u]: 150k metric tons \n[u]Crew Compliment[/u]: 3,000 (includes everything from gun crews to counselors)\n[u]Primary Weapons[/u]: 40x 700 mm electromagnetic (railguns) howitzers in 10 turrets, max range 450 km\n 5x large dual-purpose (can fire small and large) missile launchers, max range 2k+ km; large ordnance includes conventional and nuclear ICBMs, small includes point-defense rockets during emergencies\n[u]Secondary Weapons[/u]: 30x 300 mm EM howitzers in 10 turrets, max range 290 km\n[u]Tertiary Weapons[/u]: 15x interceptor aircraft\n 20x 100 mm chemical/EM howitzers in 10 turrets, max range 130/40 km \n 20x 30 mm chemical/EM autocannons in 10 turrets, max range 40/5 km\n 10x 5 MW energy cannons, max effective range 350 km\n 20x 2.5 MW energy cannons, max effective range 190 km\n[u]Armor Thickness[/u]: Exterior Belt: 220 mm\n Interior Belt (protects critical areas): 50-100 mm\n Deck: 270 mm\n Primary Turrets: 400 mm\n Secondary Turrets: 120-250 mm\n Tertiary Turrets: 0-75 mm\n[u]Mobility[/u]: up to 65 km/h cruising, up to 95 km/h flank speed\n[u]Power Plants[/u]: 5x atomic reactors\n\nThe Procyonidae is the personification of strength and majesty for Kantaria. Wherever it goes, the spirits of Kantarian and Likurian soldiers are bolstered, and those it engages with its devastating broadsides cringe in terror. It is by far the most advanced and most destructive single warship on the entire planet. It can engage entire fleets, conduct earth-shaking shore bombardment for marines and ground troops, and fend off many squadrons of aircraft, all by itself if need be. It is far from invincible and is almost always escorted by at least a few large vessels and more smaller ones, but it will at the very least make a battle more evenly matched when it closes within range of the targets.\n\nThe Procyonidae is the third flagship of the Kantarian Naval Command (second if you discount the Karentan, a battlecruiser rather than a capital ship). Roketsune is an extremely capable strategist, but he is also rather capricious and dismissive of conventions, so he was not at all above naming their best and most modern vessel after his species (technically it's the Family within which raccoons and other species fall) rather than some grand ideal or battle with which all could identify. But, hey, the name sounds and looks so beautiful! Anyway, Kantaria needed and desired a super-battleship which was capable of projecting a tremendous amount of offensive force with or without large-scale support, a vessel which would be the culmination of their industrial and technological progress as well as their maritime heritage. Thus, Roketsune ordered the design and construction of a warship close to thrice as large as the typical battleship and for a massive diversion of manpower and resources to expeditiously complete it. \n\nThe changing flagships of Kantaria reflect my stages of development IRL, as my rapid maturation and knowledge of such also meant Kantaria was undergoing a similar rise in power and effectiveness. Originally, I didn't envision my fursona leading battles, but a human variant of myself which combined traits of he and myself IRL. In 2012 and early 2013, I was frightened, immature, and routinely injured myself with my anguished blundering. Thus, it was fitting that Kantaria's best warship was a battlecruiser which was frequently severely damaged in defensive withdrawals, particularly around the time of my last relapse. At about April-June of 2013 I had gained some measure of awareness and stability, and had also started to transform my appearance towards what it is now. When I had acquired my tail and shirt and other things and started going out in public like this, I imagined Kantaria constructing and launching its first true battleship. As I'm a furry and I was looking like a furry and furries serve in the Kantarian forces, it was aptly named the Pawesome (again, Roketsune would have no problems choosing such an odd name). An even better flagship was completed and hurriedly launched on 30 November 2013, my first year of sobriety and when I started wearing a skirt (maybe I should have delayed it until after I started acquiring stockings and the like). Since then, as I have developed and acquired various items, the Procyonidae has been very extensively upgraded, much of the current structure not being the original.\n\nThere are major differences between the two ships besides size. The Pawesome was designed as a very heavily armored, extremely mobile, and defensive warship, capable of rapidly entering a zone and protecting itself and others with its many chemical howitzers and then withdrawing. Kantaria was fighting for survival during the extremely trying times of 2013 when Bengaria made a great push to retake the country with Wesitarian assistance, and it was quite often unable to fight and win pitched battles even at sea. They wanted a ship that could cover other vessels and inland units or draw the aggression of many surrounding forces, and also launch rapid hit-and-run operations. As time went on and Kantaria strengthened, it was deemed necessary to possess a flagship which was extremely offensive in design and purpose, to be so powerful that its destructive capability was also its primary form of defense (a concept which I learned in EVE Online, which I spoke of in another submission). It would not be as heavily armored or mobile, since it was supposed to fight at extreme ranges. No longer were defensive and skirmishing tactics and systems sufficient. I imagined the Pawesome as having 7-10 600 mm main cannons and dozens of chemically fired smaller secondary and tertiary guns, which was substantially weaker than the average gun-based capital ship. \n\nThe Procyonidae is largely a fictional reflection of my person, particularly while outside the house. Every time I leave (which I hate doing much more than usual during summer), I envision the Procyonidae leaving its home port of Marietta. Whenever I acquire new field accoutrements or fashion accessories, the flagship has been upgraded in some regard. I have imagined it becoming more powerful as various items are procured or I attain further knowledge and awareness in general. I also fantasize about it being in action when I do certain things from home or I must deal with negative developments (particularly if they are home-related). Acting to achieve objectives are the firing of its main cannons at surface targets, distressing thoughts or developments play out as defensive fire from its huge and versatile arsenal. \n\nTypically, the Procyonidae and the fleet in general will sortie during a day or night and attempt to achieve whatever objectives they have, then return for repairs and resupply. The Procyonidae generally gets priority (also has priority in resupply and upgrades) and is immediately worked on when it returns. Its level of armor damage and subsystem conditions are representations of my physical and emotional condition. Actually, both times at my furry convention was when the ship was most severely damaged and almost had to withdraw from the line of battle. In 2014 it was primarily emotional distress from one incident, and in 2015 it was both emotional and physical. Rest and the resolution of stressors will correspond to repairs done. I suppose if I ever had a nervous breakdown or critical illness while outside that would be represented by a hull breach and the need for emergency and extensive repairs (not even the flagship is designed to deal with large ordnance crashing into interior bulkheads). \n\nThe Procyonidae is more or less invincible partially due to its awe-striking arsenal, but mostly because it's the flagship and their chief officer is on it during virtually every sortie. Whenever it is in serious danger and being overwhelmed, more fire support and air cover is commanded. It has sufficient armor and emergency defensive capabilities to guarantee it will survive intact while that support is en route unless Roketsune orders something suicidally stupid (the closest he came to that was taking on the home base of Kalobol with little preparation or support). The rest of the military will drop whatever its doing if it has to in defense of their flagship and its beloved strategist. I imagine there are many officers who would wish he would stay in a normal command bunker rather than gallivant with the rest of the fleet, but he insists on being on the front lines in naval battles (though he'd make the worst infantryman ever). \n\nCombat within and near the Procyonidae is unique. Firstly, unless nuclear weapons struck the ship or you were in outer areas, you would not be aware the ship was in combat without the aural and visual warnings. Its size paired with modern armor make impacts even by capital shells rather insignificant, and since the bridge has its own armor belt, they only feel strategic nuclear impacts. Active and ferocious combat is eerily serene within the ship. Secondly, just outside the ship, it is particularly loud and bright. While incoming ordnance that isn't downed before reaching it add to it greatly, the Procyonidae can fire 70 large cannons (80 if you count the special energy ones) at medium to extreme ranges, and another 70 at low to medium ranges primarily defensively. Having them all going off at once would probably give an extremely pretty fireworks show if you disregard the extreme lethality and decibel levels. It is very similar to what you would expect watching a WW2 battleship in combat, only much larger in scale and more modern.The other end of the display, of course, would be far more explosive and infernal.\n\n[b]Pawesome[/b] Temporary flagship of Kantaria, first capital ship produced by Kantaria\n\n[u]Displacement[/u]: 55k metric tons\n[u]Crew Compliment[/u]: 1,000 (includes everything from gun crews to counselors)\n[u]Primary Weapons[/u]: 7x 600 mm EM howitzers in 7 turrets, max range 400 km\n 5x medium-sized missile launch tubes, max range 1k km+; can fire medium-sized missiles of either conventional or nuclear type\n[u]Secondary Weapons[/u]: 7x 200 mm EM howitzers in 7 turrets, max range 200 km\n[u]Tertiary Weapons[/u]: 30x 150 mm chemical howitzers in 10 turrets, max range 50 km\n 30x 30 mm chemical autocannons in 15 turrets, max range 5 km\n 14x 3 MW energy cannons, max effective range 200 km\n[u]Armor Thickness[/u]: Exterior Belt: 280 mm\n Internal Belt (protects critical areas): 50 mm\n Deck: 310 mm\n Primary Turrets: 310 mm\n Secondary Turrets: 100-150 mm\n Tertiary Turrets: 25-100 mm\n[u]Mobility[/u]: up to 73 km/h cruising, up to 125 km/h flank speed\n[u]Power Plants[/u]: 2x atomic reactors\n\nAs Kantaria took more and more of its original territory from the Bengarians and its military morphed from a revolutionary militia to a modern comprehensive army, it became increasingly capable of producing large warships. During 2012 and much of 2013, Kantaria was strong enough to seize territory, but not strong enough to consistently wage and win pitched battles even at sea. The need for a warship which would not only serve as the flagship of the burgeoning naval contingent, but could rapidly maneuver to critical dangerous locations and provide shore bombardment as well as overwhelming defense, also rose. Naval doctrine stressed mobility and defensive support at this time rather than overwhelming offensive firepower due to the severe disparity in numbers and industrial capacity. Thus, a battleship (they call them Tier 4s, but they are akin to battleships) with a very high proportion of defensive cannons and very strong armor was designed and commissioned. \n\nThe name and time of completion was inspired by me being a furry and starting the transition to furry femboi. At about April or May of 2013 I got my tail and a furry shirt, and started seeing a hairdresser and changed my hair style from ponytail to free-flowing. I naturally imagined this increased boldness as a new phase in Kantarian naval history. The canon explanations for the name are: many Terran volunteers were furries and Roketsune thought it was a swell idea to name their flagship in honor of them and recognition of their majority anthro population. I'm sure many officers objected to such a seemingly frivolous name, but this is a vicarious and headstrong femboi we're talking about. At this time, actually, I imagined a human variant of my persona leading the fleet rather than Roketsune, and there was no serious or established storyline. Thus, in retrospect, I don't see Roketsune as actually leading the fleet in this vessel.\n\nDue to naval doctrine and the needs of the time, the Pawesome was given extraordinarily thick armor for its size and speed. Its role was to charge into an area, cover other ships or units on the ground with its massive array of unpowered cannons (this conserves energy and simplifies repair at the expense of range and shell speed) while under very heavy fire, and withdraw successfully when the time came. It was not designed to stand off against and repel large naval forces, but instead to hurt the enemy as they withdrew or conducted ambushes, and protect marines as they landed. It was to be on the very front of naval engagements, unlike the less armored Procyonidae. The RL inspiration for this doctrine and role was my frailty and confusion in life in general back then as compared to now (though I seem even more anxiety-prone now, I suspect due to knowledge of what is harmful to me). I didn't feel very strong and couldn't sustain an effort or project as well. I felt I was doing the equivalent of periodic sallies to ambush the enemy and then quickly retreating rather than meeting my 'internal foes' head-on in major battles. \n\nThe Pawesome has seen many battles and has taken collectively a tremendous amount of damage over its prestigious career. It to this day usually accompanies the Procyonidae on missions, providing some offensive support as well as its intended point-defense. I imagine it is primarily used either to protect the new flagship on very dangerous missions or to defend the marine transports, led by an admiral and staffed somewhat disproportionately by furries (I imagine there being a few thousand of them on Takomen, maybe an equal number of bronies). \n\n\n[b]Commander[/b] First-wave panzer of Kantaria, most heavily armored type\n\n[u]Weight[/u]: 63 metric tons\n[u]Armor (all sides)[/u]: 140 mm, polarized\n[u]Main Cannon[/u]: 150 mm, 35 km max range\n[u]Max Speed[/u]: 70 km/hour\n\n\nEarly on it was decided Kantaria would specialize in maneuver warfare. This was largely because their infantry is more mobile as a whole due to a high anthro population. Of course, to achieve this, a well-designed and well-led cavalry force was needed. As Kantaria retook more of its country and made industrial adjustments, they could start producing their own and maintain dedicated panzer formations. Since the front was more mobile at first, it was not quite as difficult for the first waves to break through and survive the encounter. As things started to bog down for various reasons and the defenders had more time on an average piece of ground, though, field fortifications became much stronger. Additionally, the increasing naval capabilities of Kantaria also made assaulting harder coastal points more feasible, but they needed a panzer that could survive against armored counterattacks and fortress guns long enough to breach the defensive line. Thus, Kantaria needed a very heavy panzer that was still reasonably mobile for their amphibious and regular frontal attacks.\n\nThe Commander was designed and started being manufactured in 2014. At least, that's when I remember first having the idea of a Kantarian panzer of that name... I actually had an amusing idea for a commission at the time of my fursona riding in one in a daring operation to rescue one of his commanders, grinning maniacally as he stood out the hatch and flew a huge Kantarian flag, horrifying the surrounding panzer crews. \n\nAnyway, it was the first to use 'polarized' armor (blame Star Trek Online for giving me the idea), meaning the armor was energized to increase its strength. This allowed the armor thickness to be somewhat lighter while providing excellent endurance, reducing the weight enough to allow it sufficient mobility and to equip a moderately large main cannon. Its primary roles don't require it to have a superior range, so firepower was reduced somewhat compared what it would have been otherwise. Particularly on beachheads, up hills, and against fortified segments, the Commander is used as the primary vehicle. Its armor strength allows it to sustain multiple hits even by large fortress cannons and then deal with enemy counterattacks effectively further in. With paths being cleared by the Commanders, lighter panzers and infantry units pour through to reinforce the Commanders and hold ground or widen the breach. \n\nOf course, the polarized armor and the like comes at a major cost: high production times. It's the strongest and most modern model, which means they are difficult to manufacture. As a result, in 2014 they had precious few of them to use, which kind of mirrors the German situation with their Tigers and Tiger IIs in WW2. When the Kantarians landed on Likurian soil to help them repel the Wesitarians, their 900 Commanders comprised most of their available Commander force. Now they have several thousand.\n\n[b]Cavalier[/b] Balanced medium-heavy panzer which is primary heavy flanking vehicle\n\n[u]Weight[/u]: 53 metric tons\n[u]Frontal and Turret Armor[/u]: 90 mm\n[u]Rear Armor[/u]: 60 mm\n[u]Main Cannon[/u]: 150 mm, 35 km max range\n[u]Max Speed[/u]: 105 km/hour\n\nAll weapons have to balance several basic factors: mobility, firepower, and endurance. Adding to one reduces one or two others, as well as the reverse. A panzer that conducts primarily flanking maneuvers obviously needs a high level of mobility, but the more it has the weaker it is. The lower it is, the less capable it is of flanking, but it will survive opposition more regularly (which is also very important). The Kantarians for their flanking (and for a while main) panzer decided to go with moderately high mobility and firepower, and moderate armor. Speed and offense would be its primary means of defense.\n\nThe Cavalier is named after an old term for horsemen (and also certain British people centuries ago, I just now read while researching the term: I would rather be dead than be without Wikipedia). In games they seem to be medium-heavy cavalry, which is the equivalent to this panzer. They are designed to rapidly envelop the enemy or fill breaches, and engage enemy targets at high ranges on open plains. To allow the latter, it was given moderately high armor only in the front half of the vehicle. This way it can trade fire with light artillery or panzers with some degree of safety if outranging is not a possibility. This model comprises the majority of the Kantarian panzer formations at this time (1 September 2015), though Kantaria is trying to increase its ratio of Commanders. It's a venerable and versatile model overall, though somewhat old.\n\n[b]Skirmisher[/b] Highly mobile and ranged panzer/field artillery designed to support from distances\n\n[u]Weight[/u]: 43 metric tons\n[u]Turret and Top Armor[/u]: 40 mm\n[u]Side and Rear Armor[/u]: 20 mm\n[u]Main Cannon[/u]: 170 mm, dual-purpose, 175 km max range\n[u]Max Speed[/u]: 110 km/hour\n\nThe Commander and Cavalier are designed to be able to take hits from enemies that are relatively close rather than always strike the enemy first from a distance. While those models are very useful and those are needed roles, a balanced military also needs a panzer that can, either from hilltops or across plains, strike an enemy from afar. Serving both as a sort of light-medium panzer and self-propelled field gun, the Skirmisher is designed to bombard surface targets and aircraft from great ranges either behind or beyond their main defensive line. Its very high mobility allows it to avoid counter-battery fire and to rapidly respond to a crisis, though it will not take long to destroy it if enemies can get in range and start firing accurately.\n\nWhen Kantaria mounts a massive attack, I envision the heavy and medium panzers I described above being the spearheads, seizing ground in relative safety with limited ground support (mechanized infantry and the like; actually, I need to make an APC/panzer model I just realized). If they succeed, more vulnerable assets come in to either continue providing long-range support to the lead units or hold the ground against counterattacks that don't target the spearheads. One of those forms of direct ground is the Skirmisher. They will take up superior positions and snipe at panzers, bombard various ground positions, or provide secondary anti-aircraft defense. While the enemy contends with the durable lead panzers, they're being bombarded by possibly thousands of these weapons from very well outside their range. Of course, the enemy artillery assets are also shelling the lead Kantarian panzers or even the Skirmishers, but the Kantarian emphasis on mobility and versatility ensure they can provide at least as much fire of this type as the enemy.\n\nSkirmishers are actually somewhat difficult to produce for their tonnage because the turret can rapidly rotate to most or all angles (I think it's called an articulated turret) so it may engage aircraft, it has necessary electronics for engaging aircraft, and it also has a larger cannon. I guess they're about as difficult to produce as a Cavalier despite their lack of armor. Also, Kantaria considers them panzers due to their speed, role, and caliber of gun despite them being essentially post-modern equivalents of our current self-propelled artillery. Their true field artillery (which is distinct from rear or fortress artillery) is heavier in caliber and/or slower, and more specialized. Speaking of artillery...\n\n[b]Static/Fortress Artillery[/b] Bigger and more feasible than in our world\n\nEach of the four nations relies heavily on static fortifications. When infantry takes and then is ordered to hold ground, they will immediately start entrenching. Entrenchments can become very effective defensive terrain and can be dug relatively quickly, but don't provide as much protection as hardened fortifications. Heavy fortifications take weeks to months to install, and this is obviously complicated if the line being fortified is the front one. One of the prominent features of Takomenian advanced fortifications is artillery, and these vary in caliber from that of field artillery to that of capital ships. There is some variation amongst the four nations, but fundamentally it's the same everywhere. \n\nThere are two categories of fortifications, and this usually determines the size and strength of fortress guns. The first category is field or frontline, and it's exactly as it sounds. If a front is static for a while, one or both sides might opt to fortify the current front line. Sometimes very heavy guns are brought up to the front to provide maximum range, but this also brings it in range of more enemy weapons both during and after installation. Thus, usually the artillery here is small to medium, though concrete and polarized armor make them far more durable than field equivalents. Of course, there are also often field fortifications well to the rear of a front since fronts move, so larger guns are often mounted here. \n\nThe second is strategic, the type which is commonly erected at very important bases. These are full fortresses that are supposed to withstand a large and prolonged assault. These quite often are coastal bases, which increases the impetus for capital-level artillery. Those bases which are primary/home ports or which block a critical path provide even greater motivation to install super-massive howitzers. As they don't need to worry about speed or weight, these turrets are extremely difficult to knock out due to the increased armor. The turrets on fortifications operate in the same manner as those on warships. They can engage both aerial and surface targets, and have a similar rate of fire and range. As mentioned above, they usually are more durable than their naval counterparts. Coastal artillery at important sites often is as large as capital ships, even the Procyonidae's. In our world it's pretty easy to take out a base. On Takomen, an entire navy may very well fail to subdue a primary naval base even if their own fleet is away. \n\nKantaria tends to rely on fewer turrets due to its naval supremacy and limited production capacity, and their versatile and aggressive military doctrine. The other three nations build (and also have to replace) more turrets and static defenses. Likuria has been on the defensive for most of the war and possibly has done the most fortifying as a result. Wesitaria has increased its production largely to reinforce their main port in Bengaria, both because of a weaker naval strength relative to Kantaria and to provide it with a greater capability to casually bombard the Kantarian front line that has moved well within its range. Bengaria obviously is building more than Kantaria and possibly Wesitaria since forts provide greater defense than the production equivalent of naval and land units.\n\n\n[u][b]Organizations/Departments[/b][/u]\n\nThis is the section that deals with all of the various agencies, departments, and organizations with specific names. Those of other nations will also go here when/if I envision them. For the time being, though, all of these are Kantarian. Of course, they're also all military. The names are quite self-explanatory and thus this won't be a large section (I hope; I keep underestimating things).\n\n[b]Kantarian Military Organization[/b] Fancy and long name for their military\n\nThis perhaps sounds more like a veteran's group or charity. However, this is the name for their military in its entirety, or KMO for short. Within this resides the various departments. All of their personnel, from Roketsune to those just entering preliminary training, are members of the KMO. \n\n[b]Maritime Assault Command[/b] Fancy and long name for their marine corps\n\nThis department encompasses everything and everyone that pertains to the storming of beaches. The transports, marines, their assigned heavy weapons, are all in this department. I'm not sure whether they would be a subordinate department to the navy like America's marine corps is, honestly. In either event, also like the US Marines, these are amongst the best troops in Kantaria, such a concentration of elite forces unmatched in the rest of the KMO save for the paratroopers and the 'Two Firsts' (1st Panzer and Field Armies). They have grown from a hastily improvised force of 25k near the end of 2012 to a dread-inspiring elite corps of over 200k troops and thousands of panzers and field guns. A famous US Marine named Chesty Puller (I imagine the Kantarian marine leader having the same face and expressions, only lupine rather than human) made a remark decades ago which, after replacing a couple of words, seems to summarize the strength and reputation of the Kantarian equivalent very nicely. There just doesn't seem to be enough Wesitarians or Bengarians in all the world that can stop a Kantarian MAC army from going where it wants to go. \n\n[b]Vertical Envelopment Corps[/b] Fancy and long name for Kantaria's aerial ground forces\n\nThis is the aerial counterpart to the marines. As Kantarian military doctrine emphasizes what could be summarized as blitzkrieg, it was pretty much mandatory they have a highly trained and equipped corps with the purpose of vertical envelopment. Usually they're called paratroopers, which specifically refers to parachute troops and what many people envision when they think of airborne operations. Of course, I generally envision that as well since I love heroic and dramatic imagery. However, they certainly also have helicopters and would insert forces that way on many occasions despite me virtually never even imagining helicopters on Takomen. The VEC is either part of Kantaria's main aerial department or works in tandem with them, because it's kind of stupid to just send troop transports over enemy territory without fighter escorts or bombers. \n\nTheir primary job, predictably, is to assist with encirclement of large numbers of troops, attacking in concert with panzer and regular armies on the other side. They are heavily equipped, being expected to deal with panzers and infantry for a substantial length of time with little immediate support. They do have limited air-mobile contingents of panzers, APCs, and artillery, but overwhelmingly the task falls to infantry until regular forces link up with them. As they're often having to fight in all directions in one form or another while overwhelming the primary objectives, they generally incur heavy casualties every time they're deployed despite their battle-worthiness. Therefore, they tend to be used somewhat conservatively.\n\n[b]Sylvan Warfare Corps[/b] Slightly fancy and long name for the forest battle contingent\n\nSometime late in 2014, I had envisioned the creation and implementation of exercise and dietary regimens so that my weight would fall (that has already happened without any plan) and I would have a build more like my fursona to show off in sexy clothing on certain occasions (no one in their right mind wants to see my bare stomach as it is now). Getting the build to ideal would be a sustained campaign which would undoubtedly cause serious frustration since I would have no experience with that and I become very stressed and frustrated over even trivial things (particularly when they're new). There would be no way to rush the process and it would require prolonged dedication to complete that aesthetical reform, and of course there would be permanent maintenance. I could do plenty of other things with my appearance in various ways, but there would come a point the only way to further improve would be to tone up. \n\nThus, I imagined Kantaria eventually reaching this large, wide, thick forest in Bengarian territory on the Eastern Front which was protected by environmental warfare laws and could only be captured by infantry and small weapons after a slow and sustained sylvan campaign. There was no way to outflank or circumvent this forest, so, after they captured enough territory, they either had to stay put or advance into what I named the Kleintrin Forest. This was a great place for the Bengarians to fall back to after their catastrophic defeats very late in the year, and the Kantarian Eastern Front was so far ahead of the other two it wasn't practical to keep advancing there anyway. As I aspired to get around to these reforms relatively soon at the time, I imagined the Kantarians eventually creating three full field armies which were comprised of species with natural forest proficiency, who would have a moderate edge over the defending forces, their nation unable to field nearly the same numbers of raccoons and squirrels and the like. \n\nOf course, nothing except maybe the writing I've done lately has transpired with any semblance of congruence with my timetables. While there were many competing priorities and limited resources, Kantaria soon organized and fielded about 300k troops which were of sylvan species (Roketsune, a raccoon, once joked if the other raccoons were like him and super-girly and played with dolls instead of climbed trees, they'd be screwed in that region) and anyone else who excelled in forest warfare. They planned to start their assault into the forest relatively soon, when other problems were sorted out and they had the ability to supply them. Aside from a minor seizure of territory to maintain realism, this did not happen because I've been in a constant state of stress and have decided to resolve outstanding matters before starting maintenance-type things, so these field armies have just trained and sat around waiting to be sent in.\n\nAnyway, I don't have an idea of a leader for this branch or percentages of species, but, somewhere around the turn of the year the Kantarians finished assembling a force of 300k. Raccoons are not only versatile and bright, but are naturally more at ease in forests. So, I imagine a large portion of these field armies consist of them. They're by now very well trained for sylvan warfare, and they have suitable equipment. As anything larger than infantry weapons would cause severe damage to the forest and the habitat for life it provides, they are unique for not having planned artillery, naval, or aerial support. Once their overdue campaign starts, the infantry with little motorized support would be on their own, the most they would have generally being snipers and RPGs (if even that). It would be a slow and rather costly campaign since maneuver warfare would be impossible, but the Bengarians would also need to rely on infantry and eschew heavy weapons. The Kantarians would have a natural advantage, but that has its limits. Bengaria would do everything possible to contain the Kantarians here, as that is one of the few areas which absolutely prevents rapid movement and encirclement.\n\nThis organization is also known as the Army of the Kleintrin Forest, one of Kantaria's 'grand armies', because practically all of its personnel and supplies is in there. Some of its infrastructure and personnel I imagine are elsewhere, but 99% of the whole corps is there. I do hope they finally start their campaign before the start of the new year, but only my life and my decisions based on perceived abilities and needs will determine that. If I feel I can't afford the additional stress those regimens will generate at first and in the future, it won't happen. If I feel I've freed enough capacity for this, I'll do it. Damn it, I'll have to update this when there's a change, won't I?\n\n[b]Aeronautics and Bombardment Command[/b] A long and fancy name for the air force and some ground bombardment assets\n\nI had originally envisioned various bombardment assets such as aircraft and artillery being controlled by two departments: Tactical Bombardment Command, and Strategic Bombardment Command. I actually used those names in a couple of diary entries, in fact. However, having artillery in one department and bombers in another, when usually they both were attacking the same targets (tactical and operational, not strategic) and directed by departments other than the armies at the front, seemed irrational. Thus, I recently envisioned a department which would direct most 'bombardment' assets as well as the ones which support them (interceptors, anti-aircraft cannons, etc), allowing maximal unified command of the heavy weapons that the soldiers so heavily rely upon for success.\n\nThe ABC is a combination of Air Force and overseer of the majority of missile and howitzer batteries. Aircraft of all types from ground-based bases are overseen by the ABC, as are the heavy weapons which are not directly attached to other units or major strategic bases. Various organizations (the front-level commands, Supreme Command/Roketsune, the navy, etc) will speak to the ABC and convey their needs, and the ABC will deploy assets to effect the plans or satisfy immediate need. If they need to, they will form a 'grand battery' (assigning all artillery in a large area to one objective and leader, and firing en masse) with all artillery in range and send the entire available aerial fleet to the area. Often Supreme Command will have them deploy assets in a given manner for a particular offensive, and either they or the armies on the ground will relay needs for adjustments as they develop. \n\nThe ABC has a weak strategic bombardment capability. Kantaria has the weakest bomber force on the planet because of various factors, focusing more on hybrid aircraft and interceptors instead. Strategic warfare in general has fallen out of favor on Takomen because it's too expensive relative to damage actually caused. Instead, the largest targets tend to be major bases, and usually bombers and artillery are shelling field units or their immediate infrastructure to facilitate their tactical and operational goals. Kantaria might have 700 bombers, 2-3k hybrids, 1-2k interceptors, and maybe 5-8k artillery pieces available to assist in very large operations or defensives, but usually they're less centrally distributed. \n\n[b]Naval Command[/b] Comparatively short and bland name for the much-feared navy of Kantaria\n\nThey control various naval assets, including the coastal bases and their defenses. Their main HQ is at the primary naval base of Marietta, since so many ships are based there and Roketsune spends so much time either there or on the Procyonidae. The Procyonidae has advanced command and control capabilities, and so functions as a sort of mobile main HQ in addition to primary offensive warship. Roketsune has ensured this is the most developed and well led department in the entire KMO. Their fleet is practically seen as a force of nature by the enemy due to their leadership and naval technology, only extremely fortified primary bases and combined enemy fleets keeping them from going where they please on the two coastal fronts. Of course, their ground forces are smaller as a result.\n\nRoketsune very early on determined it was extremely important for Kantaria to quickly develop various forces which were mobile and elite, so that Kantaria's flanks would be secure and they could conduct blitzkrieg. Nothing with that concentration of firepower is more mobile and versatile than the navy. Of course, warships are very expensive and time-intensive weapons, so it wasn't until the latter half of 2013 that they could often fight and win pitched battles. In 2012 and much of 2013, their ships weren't even of Kantarian design and construction, instead being donations from Likuria when they were the dominant power before the war became global. Kantaria's natural maritime proficiency and disproportionately high funding of naval technology and infrastructure ensured they rapidly expanded, upgraded, and modernized their navy.\n\nTheir total naval forces now (3 September 2015) comprise 300-400 warships of varying sizes, and their numerical strength has actually been stable for about a year or so. They usually outclassed any naval opposition they ran into with what they already had and the enemy sort of stopped trying to compete, and they were in dire need of expanding their ground capability after Wesitaria mobilized so heavily on their continent. I imagined the Procyonidae having the official designation of 1 L/312, or the first leviathan-tier warship and the 312th vessel overall. They have several battleships and carriers/Tier 4s, and most of the remainder are what we would call destroyers, cruisers, and battlecruisers. There is a modest number of PTs/Tier 1s (patrol boats to us) for defense and scouting, but those functions generally are fulfilled by automated drones or base defenses. Their naval warplanes number maybe 1k at most, their primary role being interception of other warplanes and incoming ordnance, the secondary being tactical bombardment of ships and marine objectives. Overall, they could about evenly match the combined naval forces of their enemy if nothing else is a factor, though they have a higher ability to repair damage short of sinking.\n\n[b]Western/Central/Eastern/Intercontinental Combatant Command[/b] Very fancy and long names for departments overseeing combat forces in various regions \n\nThese are the equivalents of various commands we have here in the US military, such as CENTCOM, EUCOM, etc, only with more narrow scopes. Actually, I just found out that the USA also calls these 'Combatant Commands'. I was not consciously aware of this AT ALL until a minute ago. It's possible I heard it before on the news or elsewhere and it inspired the names subconsciously. Anyway, these are regional commands which are directly subordinate to Supreme Command, and armies and grand armies and some forts in their zone are in turn directly subordinate to the regional commands. Overall, they have a substantial amount of leeway when they are ordered to carry out an offensive or defensive, but are moderately overseen and instructed by Supreme Command.\n\nIt was decided that it was most efficient if there was one organization overseeing all of the combat forces, and another providing their needed logistical support and overseeing supplies. Hence, these 'combatant commands' are to be taken literally: they oversee only combatant forces. They communicate with relevant agencies to report their needs and progress, and those agencies will mobilize appropriately in response. If they are getting their asses kicked and need more units, they'll tell Supreme Command and they will in turn redeploy units to provide sufficient strength. If they are running out of supplies, they'll tell this to the logistical agency and they will in turn accommodate them if possible. \n\nThere is one of these for each of the fronts, and one that is occasionally activated when forces are deployed in support of Likuria (which has actually not happened lately because I've been so inwardly focused IRL lately). The first three can manage, depending on needs and focus, 500-1,500k troops. The fourth during major events, especially Resurgence Day Offensives, can have 500k or more, though they communicate with Likuria's various agencies as well as their own. Each command is, like the American versions, led by what we would call a 4-star general, and what they would call a Supreme Marshal (marshals on Earth are usually the equivalent of 5-star generals, whereas on Takomen all generals are known as marshals). \n","writing_bbcode_parsed":"Weapons Platforms
Procyonidae Flagship of Kantaria and largest warship on Takomen
First, I will give the various specifications I have envisioned, then describe the ship in greater detail. Primary weapons are intended and designed for anti-surface long-range work but can be repurposed for defense, and are massively reinforced. Secondary weapons are moderately useful for anti-surface tasks but are primarily designed for point-defense of self and others, and are moderately reinforced. Tertiary weapons are intended exclusively as point-defense weapons except in highly unusual circumstances (which the flagship especially should never be in), and are lightly armored but independently powered. Some of the tertiary weapons are capable of firing shells either chemically (powder and the like) or electromagnetically (railguns). The former mode is employed if it will be sufficient and there is a dire need to conserve weapons energy consumption, or if a turret is rendered incapable of using EM propulsion (damage or malfunction).
Displacement: 150k metric tons
Crew Compliment: 3,000 (includes everything from gun crews to counselors)
Primary Weapons: 40x 700 mm electromagnetic (railguns) howitzers in 10 turrets, max range 450 km
5x large dual-purpose (can fire small and large) missile launchers, max range 2k+ km; large ordnance includes conventional and nuclear ICBMs, small includes point-defense rockets during emergencies
Secondary Weapons: 30x 300 mm EM howitzers in 10 turrets, max range 290 km
Tertiary Weapons: 15x interceptor aircraft
20x 100 mm chemical/EM howitzers in 10 turrets, max range 130/40 km
20x 30 mm chemical/EM autocannons in 10 turrets, max range 40/5 km
10x 5 MW energy cannons, max effective range 350 km
20x 2.5 MW energy cannons, max effective range 190 km
Armor Thickness: Exterior Belt: 220 mm
Interior Belt (protects critical areas): 50-100 mm
Deck: 270 mm
Primary Turrets: 400 mm
Secondary Turrets: 120-250 mm
Tertiary Turrets: 0-75 mm
Mobility: up to 65 km/h cruising, up to 95 km/h flank speed
Power Plants: 5x atomic reactors
The Procyonidae is the personification of strength and majesty for Kantaria. Wherever it goes, the spirits of Kantarian and Likurian soldiers are bolstered, and those it engages with its devastating broadsides cringe in terror. It is by far the most advanced and most destructive single warship on the entire planet. It can engage entire fleets, conduct earth-shaking shore bombardment for marines and ground troops, and fend off many squadrons of aircraft, all by itself if need be. It is far from invincible and is almost always escorted by at least a few large vessels and more smaller ones, but it will at the very least make a battle more evenly matched when it closes within range of the targets.
The Procyonidae is the third flagship of the Kantarian Naval Command (second if you discount the Karentan, a battlecruiser rather than a capital ship). Roketsune is an extremely capable strategist, but he is also rather capricious and dismissive of conventions, so he was not at all above naming their best and most modern vessel after his species (technically it's the Family within which raccoons and other species fall) rather than some grand ideal or battle with which all could identify. But, hey, the name sounds and looks so beautiful! Anyway, Kantaria needed and desired a super-battleship which was capable of projecting a tremendous amount of offensive force with or without large-scale support, a vessel which would be the culmination of their industrial and technological progress as well as their maritime heritage. Thus, Roketsune ordered the design and construction of a warship close to thrice as large as the typical battleship and for a massive diversion of manpower and resources to expeditiously complete it.
The changing flagships of Kantaria reflect my stages of development IRL, as my rapid maturation and knowledge of such also meant Kantaria was undergoing a similar rise in power and effectiveness. Originally, I didn't envision my fursona leading battles, but a human variant of myself which combined traits of he and myself IRL. In 2012 and early 2013, I was frightened, immature, and routinely injured myself with my anguished blundering. Thus, it was fitting that Kantaria's best warship was a battlecruiser which was frequently severely damaged in defensive withdrawals, particularly around the time of my last relapse. At about April-June of 2013 I had gained some measure of awareness and stability, and had also started to transform my appearance towards what it is now. When I had acquired my tail and shirt and other things and started going out in public like this, I imagined Kantaria constructing and launching its first true battleship. As I'm a furry and I was looking like a furry and furries serve in the Kantarian forces, it was aptly named the Pawesome (again, Roketsune would have no problems choosing such an odd name). An even better flagship was completed and hurriedly launched on 30 November 2013, my first year of sobriety and when I started wearing a skirt (maybe I should have delayed it until after I started acquiring stockings and the like). Since then, as I have developed and acquired various items, the Procyonidae has been very extensively upgraded, much of the current structure not being the original.
There are major differences between the two ships besides size. The Pawesome was designed as a very heavily armored, extremely mobile, and defensive warship, capable of rapidly entering a zone and protecting itself and others with its many chemical howitzers and then withdrawing. Kantaria was fighting for survival during the extremely trying times of 2013 when Bengaria made a great push to retake the country with Wesitarian assistance, and it was quite often unable to fight and win pitched battles even at sea. They wanted a ship that could cover other vessels and inland units or draw the aggression of many surrounding forces, and also launch rapid hit-and-run operations. As time went on and Kantaria strengthened, it was deemed necessary to possess a flagship which was extremely offensive in design and purpose, to be so powerful that its destructive capability was also its primary form of defense (a concept which I learned in EVE Online, which I spoke of in another submission). It would not be as heavily armored or mobile, since it was supposed to fight at extreme ranges. No longer were defensive and skirmishing tactics and systems sufficient. I imagined the Pawesome as having 7-10 600 mm main cannons and dozens of chemically fired smaller secondary and tertiary guns, which was substantially weaker than the average gun-based capital ship.
The Procyonidae is largely a fictional reflection of my person, particularly while outside the house. Every time I leave (which I hate doing much more than usual during summer), I envision the Procyonidae leaving its home port of Marietta. Whenever I acquire new field accoutrements or fashion accessories, the flagship has been upgraded in some regard. I have imagined it becoming more powerful as various items are procured or I attain further knowledge and awareness in general. I also fantasize about it being in action when I do certain things from home or I must deal with negative developments (particularly if they are home-related). Acting to achieve objectives are the firing of its main cannons at surface targets, distressing thoughts or developments play out as defensive fire from its huge and versatile arsenal.
Typically, the Procyonidae and the fleet in general will sortie during a day or night and attempt to achieve whatever objectives they have, then return for repairs and resupply. The Procyonidae generally gets priority (also has priority in resupply and upgrades) and is immediately worked on when it returns. Its level of armor damage and subsystem conditions are representations of my physical and emotional condition. Actually, both times at my furry convention was when the ship was most severely damaged and almost had to withdraw from the line of battle. In 2014 it was primarily emotional distress from one incident, and in 2015 it was both emotional and physical. Rest and the resolution of stressors will correspond to repairs done. I suppose if I ever had a nervous breakdown or critical illness while outside that would be represented by a hull breach and the need for emergency and extensive repairs (not even the flagship is designed to deal with large ordnance crashing into interior bulkheads).
The Procyonidae is more or less invincible partially due to its awe-striking arsenal, but mostly because it's the flagship and their chief officer is on it during virtually every sortie. Whenever it is in serious danger and being overwhelmed, more fire support and air cover is commanded. It has sufficient armor and emergency defensive capabilities to guarantee it will survive intact while that support is en route unless Roketsune orders something suicidally stupid (the closest he came to that was taking on the home base of Kalobol with little preparation or support). The rest of the military will drop whatever its doing if it has to in defense of their flagship and its beloved strategist. I imagine there are many officers who would wish he would stay in a normal command bunker rather than gallivant with the rest of the fleet, but he insists on being on the front lines in naval battles (though he'd make the worst infantryman ever).
Combat within and near the Procyonidae is unique. Firstly, unless nuclear weapons struck the ship or you were in outer areas, you would not be aware the ship was in combat without the aural and visual warnings. Its size paired with modern armor make impacts even by capital shells rather insignificant, and since the bridge has its own armor belt, they only feel strategic nuclear impacts. Active and ferocious combat is eerily serene within the ship. Secondly, just outside the ship, it is particularly loud and bright. While incoming ordnance that isn't downed before reaching it add to it greatly, the Procyonidae can fire 70 large cannons (80 if you count the special energy ones) at medium to extreme ranges, and another 70 at low to medium ranges primarily defensively. Having them all going off at once would probably give an extremely pretty fireworks show if you disregard the extreme lethality and decibel levels. It is very similar to what you would expect watching a WW2 battleship in combat, only much larger in scale and more modern.The other end of the display, of course, would be far more explosive and infernal.
Pawesome Temporary flagship of Kantaria, first capital ship produced by Kantaria
Displacement: 55k metric tons
Crew Compliment: 1,000 (includes everything from gun crews to counselors)
Primary Weapons: 7x 600 mm EM howitzers in 7 turrets, max range 400 km
5x medium-sized missile launch tubes, max range 1k km+; can fire medium-sized missiles of either conventional or nuclear type
Secondary Weapons: 7x 200 mm EM howitzers in 7 turrets, max range 200 km
Tertiary Weapons: 30x 150 mm chemical howitzers in 10 turrets, max range 50 km
30x 30 mm chemical autocannons in 15 turrets, max range 5 km
14x 3 MW energy cannons, max effective range 200 km
Armor Thickness: Exterior Belt: 280 mm
Internal Belt (protects critical areas): 50 mm
Deck: 310 mm
Primary Turrets: 310 mm
Secondary Turrets: 100-150 mm
Tertiary Turrets: 25-100 mm
Mobility: up to 73 km/h cruising, up to 125 km/h flank speed
Power Plants: 2x atomic reactors
As Kantaria took more and more of its original territory from the Bengarians and its military morphed from a revolutionary militia to a modern comprehensive army, it became increasingly capable of producing large warships. During 2012 and much of 2013, Kantaria was strong enough to seize territory, but not strong enough to consistently wage and win pitched battles even at sea. The need for a warship which would not only serve as the flagship of the burgeoning naval contingent, but could rapidly maneuver to critical dangerous locations and provide shore bombardment as well as overwhelming defense, also rose. Naval doctrine stressed mobility and defensive support at this time rather than overwhelming offensive firepower due to the severe disparity in numbers and industrial capacity. Thus, a battleship (they call them Tier 4s, but they are akin to battleships) with a very high proportion of defensive cannons and very strong armor was designed and commissioned.
The name and time of completion was inspired by me being a furry and starting the transition to furry femboi. At about April or May of 2013 I got my tail and a furry shirt, and started seeing a hairdresser and changed my hair style from ponytail to free-flowing. I naturally imagined this increased boldness as a new phase in Kantarian naval history. The canon explanations for the name are: many Terran volunteers were furries and Roketsune thought it was a swell idea to name their flagship in honor of them and recognition of their majority anthro population. I'm sure many officers objected to such a seemingly frivolous name, but this is a vicarious and headstrong femboi we're talking about. At this time, actually, I imagined a human variant of my persona leading the fleet rather than Roketsune, and there was no serious or established storyline. Thus, in retrospect, I don't see Roketsune as actually leading the fleet in this vessel.
Due to naval doctrine and the needs of the time, the Pawesome was given extraordinarily thick armor for its size and speed. Its role was to charge into an area, cover other ships or units on the ground with its massive array of unpowered cannons (this conserves energy and simplifies repair at the expense of range and shell speed) while under very heavy fire, and withdraw successfully when the time came. It was not designed to stand off against and repel large naval forces, but instead to hurt the enemy as they withdrew or conducted ambushes, and protect marines as they landed. It was to be on the very front of naval engagements, unlike the less armored Procyonidae. The RL inspiration for this doctrine and role was my frailty and confusion in life in general back then as compared to now (though I seem even more anxiety-prone now, I suspect due to knowledge of what is harmful to me). I didn't feel very strong and couldn't sustain an effort or project as well. I felt I was doing the equivalent of periodic sallies to ambush the enemy and then quickly retreating rather than meeting my 'internal foes' head-on in major battles.
The Pawesome has seen many battles and has taken collectively a tremendous amount of damage over its prestigious career. It to this day usually accompanies the Procyonidae on missions, providing some offensive support as well as its intended point-defense. I imagine it is primarily used either to protect the new flagship on very dangerous missions or to defend the marine transports, led by an admiral and staffed somewhat disproportionately by furries (I imagine there being a few thousand of them on Takomen, maybe an equal number of bronies).
Commander First-wave panzer of Kantaria, most heavily armored type
Weight: 63 metric tons
Armor (all sides): 140 mm, polarized
Main Cannon: 150 mm, 35 km max range
Max Speed: 70 km/hour
Early on it was decided Kantaria would specialize in maneuver warfare. This was largely because their infantry is more mobile as a whole due to a high anthro population. Of course, to achieve this, a well-designed and well-led cavalry force was needed. As Kantaria retook more of its country and made industrial adjustments, they could start producing their own and maintain dedicated panzer formations. Since the front was more mobile at first, it was not quite as difficult for the first waves to break through and survive the encounter. As things started to bog down for various reasons and the defenders had more time on an average piece of ground, though, field fortifications became much stronger. Additionally, the increasing naval capabilities of Kantaria also made assaulting harder coastal points more feasible, but they needed a panzer that could survive against armored counterattacks and fortress guns long enough to breach the defensive line. Thus, Kantaria needed a very heavy panzer that was still reasonably mobile for their amphibious and regular frontal attacks.
The Commander was designed and started being manufactured in 2014. At least, that's when I remember first having the idea of a Kantarian panzer of that name... I actually had an amusing idea for a commission at the time of my fursona riding in one in a daring operation to rescue one of his commanders, grinning maniacally as he stood out the hatch and flew a huge Kantarian flag, horrifying the surrounding panzer crews.
Anyway, it was the first to use 'polarized' armor (blame Star Trek Online for giving me the idea), meaning the armor was energized to increase its strength. This allowed the armor thickness to be somewhat lighter while providing excellent endurance, reducing the weight enough to allow it sufficient mobility and to equip a moderately large main cannon. Its primary roles don't require it to have a superior range, so firepower was reduced somewhat compared what it would have been otherwise. Particularly on beachheads, up hills, and against fortified segments, the Commander is used as the primary vehicle. Its armor strength allows it to sustain multiple hits even by large fortress cannons and then deal with enemy counterattacks effectively further in. With paths being cleared by the Commanders, lighter panzers and infantry units pour through to reinforce the Commanders and hold ground or widen the breach.
Of course, the polarized armor and the like comes at a major cost: high production times. It's the strongest and most modern model, which means they are difficult to manufacture. As a result, in 2014 they had precious few of them to use, which kind of mirrors the German situation with their Tigers and Tiger IIs in WW2. When the Kantarians landed on Likurian soil to help them repel the Wesitarians, their 900 Commanders comprised most of their available Commander force. Now they have several thousand.
Cavalier Balanced medium-heavy panzer which is primary heavy flanking vehicle
Weight: 53 metric tons
Frontal and Turret Armor: 90 mm
Rear Armor: 60 mm
Main Cannon: 150 mm, 35 km max range
Max Speed: 105 km/hour
All weapons have to balance several basic factors: mobility, firepower, and endurance. Adding to one reduces one or two others, as well as the reverse. A panzer that conducts primarily flanking maneuvers obviously needs a high level of mobility, but the more it has the weaker it is. The lower it is, the less capable it is of flanking, but it will survive opposition more regularly (which is also very important). The Kantarians for their flanking (and for a while main) panzer decided to go with moderately high mobility and firepower, and moderate armor. Speed and offense would be its primary means of defense.
The Cavalier is named after an old term for horsemen (and also certain British people centuries ago, I just now read while researching the term: I would rather be dead than be without Wikipedia). In games they seem to be medium-heavy cavalry, which is the equivalent to this panzer. They are designed to rapidly envelop the enemy or fill breaches, and engage enemy targets at high ranges on open plains. To allow the latter, it was given moderately high armor only in the front half of the vehicle. This way it can trade fire with light artillery or panzers with some degree of safety if outranging is not a possibility. This model comprises the majority of the Kantarian panzer formations at this time (1 September 2015), though Kantaria is trying to increase its ratio of Commanders. It's a venerable and versatile model overall, though somewhat old.
Skirmisher Highly mobile and ranged panzer/field artillery designed to support from distances
Weight: 43 metric tons
Turret and Top Armor: 40 mm
Side and Rear Armor: 20 mm
Main Cannon: 170 mm, dual-purpose, 175 km max range
Max Speed: 110 km/hour
The Commander and Cavalier are designed to be able to take hits from enemies that are relatively close rather than always strike the enemy first from a distance. While those models are very useful and those are needed roles, a balanced military also needs a panzer that can, either from hilltops or across plains, strike an enemy from afar. Serving both as a sort of light-medium panzer and self-propelled field gun, the Skirmisher is designed to bombard surface targets and aircraft from great ranges either behind or beyond their main defensive line. Its very high mobility allows it to avoid counter-battery fire and to rapidly respond to a crisis, though it will not take long to destroy it if enemies can get in range and start firing accurately.
When Kantaria mounts a massive attack, I envision the heavy and medium panzers I described above being the spearheads, seizing ground in relative safety with limited ground support (mechanized infantry and the like; actually, I need to make an APC/panzer model I just realized). If they succeed, more vulnerable assets come in to either continue providing long-range support to the lead units or hold the ground against counterattacks that don't target the spearheads. One of those forms of direct ground is the Skirmisher. They will take up superior positions and snipe at panzers, bombard various ground positions, or provide secondary anti-aircraft defense. While the enemy contends with the durable lead panzers, they're being bombarded by possibly thousands of these weapons from very well outside their range. Of course, the enemy artillery assets are also shelling the lead Kantarian panzers or even the Skirmishers, but the Kantarian emphasis on mobility and versatility ensure they can provide at least as much fire of this type as the enemy.
Skirmishers are actually somewhat difficult to produce for their tonnage because the turret can rapidly rotate to most or all angles (I think it's called an articulated turret) so it may engage aircraft, it has necessary electronics for engaging aircraft, and it also has a larger cannon. I guess they're about as difficult to produce as a Cavalier despite their lack of armor. Also, Kantaria considers them panzers due to their speed, role, and caliber of gun despite them being essentially post-modern equivalents of our current self-propelled artillery. Their true field artillery (which is distinct from rear or fortress artillery) is heavier in caliber and/or slower, and more specialized. Speaking of artillery...
Static/Fortress Artillery Bigger and more feasible than in our world
Each of the four nations relies heavily on static fortifications. When infantry takes and then is ordered to hold ground, they will immediately start entrenching. Entrenchments can become very effective defensive terrain and can be dug relatively quickly, but don't provide as much protection as hardened fortifications. Heavy fortifications take weeks to months to install, and this is obviously complicated if the line being fortified is the front one. One of the prominent features of Takomenian advanced fortifications is artillery, and these vary in caliber from that of field artillery to that of capital ships. There is some variation amongst the four nations, but fundamentally it's the same everywhere.
There are two categories of fortifications, and this usually determines the size and strength of fortress guns. The first category is field or frontline, and it's exactly as it sounds. If a front is static for a while, one or both sides might opt to fortify the current front line. Sometimes very heavy guns are brought up to the front to provide maximum range, but this also brings it in range of more enemy weapons both during and after installation. Thus, usually the artillery here is small to medium, though concrete and polarized armor make them far more durable than field equivalents. Of course, there are also often field fortifications well to the rear of a front since fronts move, so larger guns are often mounted here.
The second is strategic, the type which is commonly erected at very important bases. These are full fortresses that are supposed to withstand a large and prolonged assault. These quite often are coastal bases, which increases the impetus for capital-level artillery. Those bases which are primary/home ports or which block a critical path provide even greater motivation to install super-massive howitzers. As they don't need to worry about speed or weight, these turrets are extremely difficult to knock out due to the increased armor. The turrets on fortifications operate in the same manner as those on warships. They can engage both aerial and surface targets, and have a similar rate of fire and range. As mentioned above, they usually are more durable than their naval counterparts. Coastal artillery at important sites often is as large as capital ships, even the Procyonidae's. In our world it's pretty easy to take out a base. On Takomen, an entire navy may very well fail to subdue a primary naval base even if their own fleet is away.
Kantaria tends to rely on fewer turrets due to its naval supremacy and limited production capacity, and their versatile and aggressive military doctrine. The other three nations build (and also have to replace) more turrets and static defenses. Likuria has been on the defensive for most of the war and possibly has done the most fortifying as a result. Wesitaria has increased its production largely to reinforce their main port in Bengaria, both because of a weaker naval strength relative to Kantaria and to provide it with a greater capability to casually bombard the Kantarian front line that has moved well within its range. Bengaria obviously is building more than Kantaria and possibly Wesitaria since forts provide greater defense than the production equivalent of naval and land units.
Organizations/Departments
This is the section that deals with all of the various agencies, departments, and organizations with specific names. Those of other nations will also go here when/if I envision them. For the time being, though, all of these are Kantarian. Of course, they're also all military. The names are quite self-explanatory and thus this won't be a large section (I hope; I keep underestimating things).
Kantarian Military Organization Fancy and long name for their military
This perhaps sounds more like a veteran's group or charity. However, this is the name for their military in its entirety, or KMO for short. Within this resides the various departments. All of their personnel, from Roketsune to those just entering preliminary training, are members of the KMO.
Maritime Assault Command Fancy and long name for their marine corps
This department encompasses everything and everyone that pertains to the storming of beaches. The transports, marines, their assigned heavy weapons, are all in this department. I'm not sure whether they would be a subordinate department to the navy like America's marine corps is, honestly. In either event, also like the US Marines, these are amongst the best troops in Kantaria, such a concentration of elite forces unmatched in the rest of the KMO save for the paratroopers and the 'Two Firsts' (1st Panzer and Field Armies). They have grown from a hastily improvised force of 25k near the end of 2012 to a dread-inspiring elite corps of over 200k troops and thousands of panzers and field guns. A famous US Marine named Chesty Puller (I imagine the Kantarian marine leader having the same face and expressions, only lupine rather than human) made a remark decades ago which, after replacing a couple of words, seems to summarize the strength and reputation of the Kantarian equivalent very nicely. There just doesn't seem to be enough Wesitarians or Bengarians in all the world that can stop a Kantarian MAC army from going where it wants to go.
Vertical Envelopment Corps Fancy and long name for Kantaria's aerial ground forces
This is the aerial counterpart to the marines. As Kantarian military doctrine emphasizes what could be summarized as blitzkrieg, it was pretty much mandatory they have a highly trained and equipped corps with the purpose of vertical envelopment. Usually they're called paratroopers, which specifically refers to parachute troops and what many people envision when they think of airborne operations. Of course, I generally envision that as well since I love heroic and dramatic imagery. However, they certainly also have helicopters and would insert forces that way on many occasions despite me virtually never even imagining helicopters on Takomen. The VEC is either part of Kantaria's main aerial department or works in tandem with them, because it's kind of stupid to just send troop transports over enemy territory without fighter escorts or bombers.
Their primary job, predictably, is to assist with encirclement of large numbers of troops, attacking in concert with panzer and regular armies on the other side. They are heavily equipped, being expected to deal with panzers and infantry for a substantial length of time with little immediate support. They do have limited air-mobile contingents of panzers, APCs, and artillery, but overwhelmingly the task falls to infantry until regular forces link up with them. As they're often having to fight in all directions in one form or another while overwhelming the primary objectives, they generally incur heavy casualties every time they're deployed despite their battle-worthiness. Therefore, they tend to be used somewhat conservatively.
Sylvan Warfare Corps Slightly fancy and long name for the forest battle contingent
Sometime late in 2014, I had envisioned the creation and implementation of exercise and dietary regimens so that my weight would fall (that has already happened without any plan) and I would have a build more like my fursona to show off in sexy clothing on certain occasions (no one in their right mind wants to see my bare stomach as it is now). Getting the build to ideal would be a sustained campaign which would undoubtedly cause serious frustration since I would have no experience with that and I become very stressed and frustrated over even trivial things (particularly when they're new). There would be no way to rush the process and it would require prolonged dedication to complete that aesthetical reform, and of course there would be permanent maintenance. I could do plenty of other things with my appearance in various ways, but there would come a point the only way to further improve would be to tone up.
Thus, I imagined Kantaria eventually reaching this large, wide, thick forest in Bengarian territory on the Eastern Front which was protected by environmental warfare laws and could only be captured by infantry and small weapons after a slow and sustained sylvan campaign. There was no way to outflank or circumvent this forest, so, after they captured enough territory, they either had to stay put or advance into what I named the Kleintrin Forest. This was a great place for the Bengarians to fall back to after their catastrophic defeats very late in the year, and the Kantarian Eastern Front was so far ahead of the other two it wasn't practical to keep advancing there anyway. As I aspired to get around to these reforms relatively soon at the time, I imagined the Kantarians eventually creating three full field armies which were comprised of species with natural forest proficiency, who would have a moderate edge over the defending forces, their nation unable to field nearly the same numbers of raccoons and squirrels and the like.
Of course, nothing except maybe the writing I've done lately has transpired with any semblance of congruence with my timetables. While there were many competing priorities and limited resources, Kantaria soon organized and fielded about 300k troops which were of sylvan species (Roketsune, a raccoon, once joked if the other raccoons were like him and super-girly and played with dolls instead of climbed trees, they'd be screwed in that region) and anyone else who excelled in forest warfare. They planned to start their assault into the forest relatively soon, when other problems were sorted out and they had the ability to supply them. Aside from a minor seizure of territory to maintain realism, this did not happen because I've been in a constant state of stress and have decided to resolve outstanding matters before starting maintenance-type things, so these field armies have just trained and sat around waiting to be sent in.
Anyway, I don't have an idea of a leader for this branch or percentages of species, but, somewhere around the turn of the year the Kantarians finished assembling a force of 300k. Raccoons are not only versatile and bright, but are naturally more at ease in forests. So, I imagine a large portion of these field armies consist of them. They're by now very well trained for sylvan warfare, and they have suitable equipment. As anything larger than infantry weapons would cause severe damage to the forest and the habitat for life it provides, they are unique for not having planned artillery, naval, or aerial support. Once their overdue campaign starts, the infantry with little motorized support would be on their own, the most they would have generally being snipers and RPGs (if even that). It would be a slow and rather costly campaign since maneuver warfare would be impossible, but the Bengarians would also need to rely on infantry and eschew heavy weapons. The Kantarians would have a natural advantage, but that has its limits. Bengaria would do everything possible to contain the Kantarians here, as that is one of the few areas which absolutely prevents rapid movement and encirclement.
This organization is also known as the Army of the Kleintrin Forest, one of Kantaria's 'grand armies', because practically all of its personnel and supplies is in there. Some of its infrastructure and personnel I imagine are elsewhere, but 99% of the whole corps is there. I do hope they finally start their campaign before the start of the new year, but only my life and my decisions based on perceived abilities and needs will determine that. If I feel I can't afford the additional stress those regimens will generate at first and in the future, it won't happen. If I feel I've freed enough capacity for this, I'll do it. Damn it, I'll have to update this when there's a change, won't I?
Aeronautics and Bombardment Command A long and fancy name for the air force and some ground bombardment assets
I had originally envisioned various bombardment assets such as aircraft and artillery being controlled by two departments: Tactical Bombardment Command, and Strategic Bombardment Command. I actually used those names in a couple of diary entries, in fact. However, having artillery in one department and bombers in another, when usually they both were attacking the same targets (tactical and operational, not strategic) and directed by departments other than the armies at the front, seemed irrational. Thus, I recently envisioned a department which would direct most 'bombardment' assets as well as the ones which support them (interceptors, anti-aircraft cannons, etc), allowing maximal unified command of the heavy weapons that the soldiers so heavily rely upon for success.
The ABC is a combination of Air Force and overseer of the majority of missile and howitzer batteries. Aircraft of all types from ground-based bases are overseen by the ABC, as are the heavy weapons which are not directly attached to other units or major strategic bases. Various organizations (the front-level commands, Supreme Command/Roketsune, the navy, etc) will speak to the ABC and convey their needs, and the ABC will deploy assets to effect the plans or satisfy immediate need. If they need to, they will form a 'grand battery' (assigning all artillery in a large area to one objective and leader, and firing en masse) with all artillery in range and send the entire available aerial fleet to the area. Often Supreme Command will have them deploy assets in a given manner for a particular offensive, and either they or the armies on the ground will relay needs for adjustments as they develop.
The ABC has a weak strategic bombardment capability. Kantaria has the weakest bomber force on the planet because of various factors, focusing more on hybrid aircraft and interceptors instead. Strategic warfare in general has fallen out of favor on Takomen because it's too expensive relative to damage actually caused. Instead, the largest targets tend to be major bases, and usually bombers and artillery are shelling field units or their immediate infrastructure to facilitate their tactical and operational goals. Kantaria might have 700 bombers, 2-3k hybrids, 1-2k interceptors, and maybe 5-8k artillery pieces available to assist in very large operations or defensives, but usually they're less centrally distributed.
Naval Command Comparatively short and bland name for the much-feared navy of Kantaria
They control various naval assets, including the coastal bases and their defenses. Their main HQ is at the primary naval base of Marietta, since so many ships are based there and Roketsune spends so much time either there or on the Procyonidae. The Procyonidae has advanced command and control capabilities, and so functions as a sort of mobile main HQ in addition to primary offensive warship. Roketsune has ensured this is the most developed and well led department in the entire KMO. Their fleet is practically seen as a force of nature by the enemy due to their leadership and naval technology, only extremely fortified primary bases and combined enemy fleets keeping them from going where they please on the two coastal fronts. Of course, their ground forces are smaller as a result.
Roketsune very early on determined it was extremely important for Kantaria to quickly develop various forces which were mobile and elite, so that Kantaria's flanks would be secure and they could conduct blitzkrieg. Nothing with that concentration of firepower is more mobile and versatile than the navy. Of course, warships are very expensive and time-intensive weapons, so it wasn't until the latter half of 2013 that they could often fight and win pitched battles. In 2012 and much of 2013, their ships weren't even of Kantarian design and construction, instead being donations from Likuria when they were the dominant power before the war became global. Kantaria's natural maritime proficiency and disproportionately high funding of naval technology and infrastructure ensured they rapidly expanded, upgraded, and modernized their navy.
Their total naval forces now (3 September 2015) comprise 300-400 warships of varying sizes, and their numerical strength has actually been stable for about a year or so. They usually outclassed any naval opposition they ran into with what they already had and the enemy sort of stopped trying to compete, and they were in dire need of expanding their ground capability after Wesitaria mobilized so heavily on their continent. I imagined the Procyonidae having the official designation of 1 L/312, or the first leviathan-tier warship and the 312th vessel overall. They have several battleships and carriers/Tier 4s, and most of the remainder are what we would call destroyers, cruisers, and battlecruisers. There is a modest number of PTs/Tier 1s (patrol boats to us) for defense and scouting, but those functions generally are fulfilled by automated drones or base defenses. Their naval warplanes number maybe 1k at most, their primary role being interception of other warplanes and incoming ordnance, the secondary being tactical bombardment of ships and marine objectives. Overall, they could about evenly match the combined naval forces of their enemy if nothing else is a factor, though they have a higher ability to repair damage short of sinking.
Western/Central/Eastern/Intercontinental Combatant Command Very fancy and long names for departments overseeing combat forces in various regions
These are the equivalents of various commands we have here in the US military, such as CENTCOM, EUCOM, etc, only with more narrow scopes. Actually, I just found out that the USA also calls these 'Combatant Commands'. I was not consciously aware of this AT ALL until a minute ago. It's possible I heard it before on the news or elsewhere and it inspired the names subconsciously. Anyway, these are regional commands which are directly subordinate to Supreme Command, and armies and grand armies and some forts in their zone are in turn directly subordinate to the regional commands. Overall, they have a substantial amount of leeway when they are ordered to carry out an offensive or defensive, but are moderately overseen and instructed by Supreme Command.
It was decided that it was most efficient if there was one organization overseeing all of the combat forces, and another providing their needed logistical support and overseeing supplies. Hence, these 'combatant commands' are to be taken literally: they oversee only combatant forces. They communicate with relevant agencies to report their needs and progress, and those agencies will mobilize appropriately in response. If they are getting their asses kicked and need more units, they'll tell Supreme Command and they will in turn redeploy units to provide sufficient strength. If they are running out of supplies, they'll tell this to the logistical agency and they will in turn accommodate them if possible.
There is one of these for each of the fronts, and one that is occasionally activated when forces are deployed in support of Likuria (which has actually not happened lately because I've been so inwardly focused IRL lately). The first three can manage, depending on needs and focus, 500-1,500k troops. The fourth during major events, especially Resurgence Day Offensives, can have 500k or more, though they communicate with Likuria's various agencies as well as their own. Each command is, like the American versions, led by what we would call a 4-star general, and what they would call a Supreme Marshal (marshals on Earth are usually the equivalent of 5-star generals, whereas on Takomen all generals are known as marshals).
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