Military Structure

Now that you have rolled up your military character there are a few important facts to remember about role-playing a military character.

Army Structure

All military forces throughout the world use a similar structure of large groupings of armed fighting men, these large bodies are broken down into smaller and smaller groups until the base fighting unit is attained. Although as player characters you will mainly be concerned with the squad or section, it is important to know the higher structure of the military to know your characters influence and position within the overall picture.

Using the American military as a basic guide, an actual Army commonly consists of 100,000 personnel - which is broken down into 2 of more Corps plus a Headquarters group lead by a General.

• A single Corps consists of 30,000+ personnel, that is broken down into 2 or more divisions with is lead by a Lt. General.
• A single Division consists of 15,000+ personnel, that is broken down into 3 brigades, a headquarters group, and various support units - under the leadership of a Maj. General.
• A single Brigade consists of 4,500+ personnel, that is broken down into 3+ regiments and a headquarters group lead by a Brig. General.
• A single Regiment consists of 1,500+ personnel, that is broken down into 2+ battalions and a headquarters group lead by a Colonel.
• A single Battalion consists of 700 personnel, that is broken down into 4+ companies and a headquarters group lead by a Lt. Colonel.
• A single Company consists of 175 personnel, that is broken down into 4 platoons and a headquarters group lead by a Captain.
• A single Platoon consists of 40 personnel, that is broken down into 3 squads and a headquarters group under the leadership of a Lieutenant.
• A single Squad consists of 10 personnel under the leadership of a Staff Sergeant.

As you can see an actual army is quite a large complex body, most players will only need to be concerned about the last two levels (platoon and squad, described below), but it is important to know your characters place in the overall framework of the army. The ranks of the commanders provided above is in accordance with American doctrine, equivalent ranks from other military services may fill these positions, plus also these ranks are meant as a guide - as circumstances in the field may require that an officer from a lower or higher rank may command a given formation. E.G.: if all higher ranking officers had been killed then the lower ranking officers may be forced into a position of command that they normally may not be allocated.

The Platoon and Squad

Most military campaigns will focus on the actions of a single platoon and its Squads, thus we provide here a basic guide to the make up of each platoon and Squad of the major powers in the Second World War - European Theatre of Operations.

The American Platoon and Squad

An American platoon consisted of approximately 40 men drawn up into three Squads and a command group under the overall command of a Lieutenant. The command group consisted of the following members:

• Platoon Commander - Lieutenant.
• Platoon Sergeant.
• Guide Sergeant.
• 1st Message Runner.
• 2nd Message Runner.

The command Group would also be joined in 1943 by a number of Privates who acted as replacements to fill spots in Squads caused by casualties.

After the command group the Platoon consisted of at least three Squads, with the make up of a single squad being as follows:

• Sergeant - Squad Leader.
• Corporal - Second in Command.
• BAR Operator
• 1st BAR Assistant
• 2nd BAR Assistant
• 1st Rifleman - Squad Scout.
• 2nd Rifleman - Squad Scout.
• 3rd Rifleman - Armed with AT rifle grenades.
• 4th Rifleman
• 5th Rifleman
• 6th Rifleman
• 7th Rifleman

Often the Platoon would have a specialist weapons team attached. The attached teams could be as follows:

• 60mm Mortar Team - From the Company Heavy Weapons Platoon.
• .30cal Machine Gun Team - From the Company Heavy Weapons Platoon.
• Bazooka Team - From the Battalion Anti-tank Platoon.

The German Zug and Gruppe

A German Zug (platoon) consists of approximately 49 men drawn up into four Gruppe (rifle squads), a headquarters group, and a three man 5cm Light Mortar team.

Volksgrenaider Zug consisted of 3 Gruppe instead of the standard 4 Gruppe in the regular Infantry and Panzergrenaider Zug.

In 1944 the number of Gruppe within an regular Infantry and Panzergrenaider Zug was lowered to 3 because of manpower shortages within the German army, resulting in a 33 man strong Zug.

A Gruppe consisted of at least 10 men - early in the war the German Gruppe would be broken down further to form a Machine Gun Trupp (MG Trupp) and a Schutzentrupp. The MG Trupp consisted of the machine gun operator and his assistants that formed a fire base, while the Schutzentrupp consisted of the Gruppe riflemen whom manoeuvred to outflank and engage the enemy while they were pined in place by the MG Trupp. This act was later dropped in favor of keeping the Gruppe together rather than breaking it down further.

Each Gruppe consists of the following members:

• NCO - Gruppe Leader (leads the Schutzentrupp).
• Deputy - Second in Command (leads the MG Trupp).
• Machine Gun Operator (MG Trupp).
• 1st Machine Gun Assistant (MG Trupp).
• 2nd Machine Gun Assistant (MG Trupp).
• 1st Rifleman (Schutzentrupp).
• 2nd Rifleman (Schutzentrupp).
• 3rd Rifleman (Schutzentrupp).
• 4th Rifleman (Schutzentrupp).
• 5th Rifleman (Schutzentrupp).

In 1944 because of manpower shortages the Gruppe was decreased from 10 men to 9 men by dropping one rifleman.

The Panzergrenadier Gruppe was organized in much the same way except that it included a second machine gun that was mounted upon and remained with the transport vehicle.

The British Platoon and Section

Within the British army the Platoon consisted of 3 Sections (10-man squads), and a platoon headquarters group that consisted of: the Platoon commander, platoon sergeant, the officers batman (orderly), a message runner, and a three man 2-inch Mortar Team.

It was also standard practice for an anti-tank team to be attached to the platoon from the company headquarters. At the beginning of the war the antitank teams were .55-inch Boyes anti-tank rifle teams, but as the PIAT became available (1943) this replaced the anti-tank rifles.

The infantry section consisted of a Corporal and thirteen men, three of whom were replacements so that the section could maintain a battle strength of one Corporal and 7-8 men in the field.

Just like the German Gruppe the Section could be broken down into two small groups consisting of riflemen and a fire base based on the BREN Gun team.

On active duty in the field the section consisted of:

• Corporal - Section Leader.
• NCO - Second in command.
• BREN Gun Operator.
• BREN Gun Assistant.
• 1st Rifleman - Section Snipper (extended marksmanship training).
• 2nd Rifleman - Section Bomber (armed with extra AT Grenades).
• 3rd Rifleman - Section Bomber (armed with extra AT Grenades).
• 4th Rifleman

In 1944 the section was expanded to maintain a battlefield strength of 10 men.

Rank Hierarchy

It is also important when role-playing a military character to remember the hierarchy of the command structure and how it relates to the characters rank.

Following is a table that lists the various ranks and the approximate position within the military. Also an attempt has been made to cross reference the ranks of various nations against each other.

The chart on the next page was constructed to provide a rank advancement guide for the various ranks of the major powers of the Second World War. Below are notes relating to certain ranks (especially German ranks). As always the information we provide is for use as a guide, for more detail information we recommend readers browse through the range of books we used for research.

German Specialist Ranks

These German ranks have no equivalent in the American armed forces and are thus not on the table above, but should be ranked one level higher than a Stabsfeldwebel (Master Sergeant).

• Festungsober-Werkmeister = Fortress Chief Shopman.
• Oberhufbeschlags-Lehrmeister = Chief Horseshoeing Instructor.
• Festungs-Werkmeister = Fortress Shop-Foreman.
• Hufbeschlags-Lehrmeister = Horseshoeing Instructor.

Notes: British Private

Although roughly of the same rank as private each of the specialists services had its own basic title:

• Gunner = Private in the Royal Artillery.
• Sapper = Private in the Royal Engineers.
• Signaller = Private in the Royal Signals.
• Trooper = Private in the Cavalry.
• Craftsman = Private in the Royal Electrical & Mechanical Engineers.

Notes: Soldat

Soldat was a collective term, specialist designations are as follows:

• Grenadier (Schütze) = Infantry (rifleman).
• Panzer-Grenadier (Schütze) = Armored Infantry.
• Jäger = Light Mountain Infantry.
• Flieger = Air Force.
• Reiter = Cavalry.
• Kanonier = Artillery.
• Pionier = Engineers.
• Funker = Signal.
• Fahrer = Transport (horse-drawn).
• Kraftfahrer = Motor Transport.
• Sanitätssoldat = Medical.

Notes: Obersoldat

Obersoldat was a collective term, specialist designations are as follows:

• Obergrenadier (Oberschütze) = Infantry (rifleman).
• Panzerobergrenadier = Armored Infantry.
• Panzeroberschütze = Tanks, Antitank.
• Ober-Reiter = Cavalry.
• Ober-Kanonier = Artillery.
• Ober-Pionier = Engineers.
• Ober-Funker = Signal.
• Ober-Fahrer = Transport (horse-drawn).
• Ober-Kraftfahrer = Motor Transport.
• Ober-Sanitätssoldat = Medical.

Notes: G’efreiter

G’efreiter was an ordinary designation, Obergefreiter was an acting corporal, while Stabsgefreiter was an administrative designation. Hauptgefreiter was an Air Force designation.

Notes: Stabsfeldwebel

Titles per other arms of the service at this rank level.

• Stabs-Wachtmeister = Artillery, Cavalry, and Anti-Aircraft.
• Stabs-Beschlagmeister = Horseshoeing.
• Stabs-Feuerwerker = Ordnance.
• Stabs-Schirrmeister = Signal.
• Stabs-Brieftaubenmeister = Pigeoneer.

Notes: Specialists

A number of specialist ranks had their own title with a starting prefix that defined rank in that specialisation. The equivalent starting prefixes are as follows by equivalent rank:

• Hauptmann = Stabs-
• Major = Oberstabs-
• Oberstleutnant = Oberfeld-
• Oberst = Oberst-
• Generalmajor = General-
• Generalleutnant = Generalstabs-
• General = Generaloberstabs-

These prefixes were then added to the title:

• Arzt = Medical.
• Veterinär = Veterinary.
• Intendant = Administrative.
• Richter = Judiciary.

eg: A Generalmajor in the Judiciary service would have the rank title of General-Richter.