The organization of the military forces of the regency need to make
sense in light of the Regency's recent history. This means that military
force designs will have been strongly influenced by the Rebellion, the
Black War and by VIRUS.
Lets look at these historical events in reverse order. VIRUS is a major
problem for the Regency. Every peice of electronics needs to be
reconsidered. All of the high tech logistical and staff assistance computers
in the Regency's Military need to be redesigned and made as VIRUS resistant as
possible. There might even be a trend in the Regency's military to look for
low tech solutions to military requirements. A FN-FAL has no electronic parts
to host a VIRUS egg, for example.
The Black war poses some very challenging problems for the Regency.
Having to deal with a raider jumping in at the 100 diameter limit,
blasting at full accelleration to the target, dumping its bombload of 100
Megaton Nukes, and coasting out to the 100 diameter limit to jump away is
a frightening threat. Vampire vessels can exercise this same tactic so
keeping a defense for this sort of attack is still required in the new era.
The rebellion suggests that the Regency should design a "Military with a
conscious". Officers should be expected to exercise some judment on
following orders. A ship captain assigned to carpet bomb an orphanage
should be expected to use his or her conscious to conclude that this is a
wastefull unmilitary activity and that this order should be refused.
I'm just scratching the surface here. I think that any military force
designed for the Regency will be shaped by its history and the history
of its neighbors. It will also be shaped by the perceived needs of the
Regency. To design a military for the Regency requires that we identify
these needs and find possible solutions for them. I realise that this is
not as glamourous as deciding how many MBT's per platoon, but by building
a firm foundation first we will save ourselves a great deal of pain later on.
goodnight,
Steven Gott
Seattle, WA