Steve Jackson Games Forums - View Single Post - [Psi/Space] Irar, the Jewel in the British Crown

Prince Charon · 04-29-2021, 05:17 AM

Commune of the Great Islands Gendarmerie

This Gendarmerie was founded in 1672 CE (when the Gormellians were well into TL5^), as a result of debate over the structure and size of the newly-formed Commune's military forces (as opposed to the military forces of the member states). It was eventually decided that the gendarmeries of the CGI Army and CGI Navy (including naval infantry) would be merged into a single force, which also absorbed some of the coast guards of the member states, or units thereof. The Commune Gendarmerie retained unit legacies from the previous services, and as a side effect, naval ranks up to Fleet Lieutenant in the Marine (naval) branch of the Gendarmerie.

In the post-War era, it is one of the few institutions of the Commune that still exists as a mostly-functional entity, along with the now much smaller CGI Army and Navy (mainly existing to maintain heritage and institutional memory, though they do have some active units), and the even-worse-off Airy, Cybery, and Spacey (reduced to a few monitoring stations, mostly underground, and some understrength 'squadrons' of often poorly-armed aircraft). It is the largest surviving service due to being the service least reluctant to recruit Gormelites before the Final War.

In theory, the military answers to the High Council, but there isn't one now, and hasn't been since the war. Instead, what remains of local administration does what it can with minimal oversight and not much outside help, and the highest-ranking officers in the Gendarmerie rotate through the position of Acting Marshal of the Gendarmerie, and try not to make too much of a mess. Of course, with the Irari here and the humans coming, things are looking up, and the Gendarmerie and the leaders of each island or region have committed to holding Commune-wide elections no later than April 29, 2023 (which is in the middle of a month that's near the end of a year in their calendar) for both the High Council and the Grand Communal Diet.

Ranks

The rank titles are 'close enough' translations, rather than exact names. Rank insignia are marked on the shoulders of the harness, and on the helmet.

Rank 8 [40]

Marshal of the Gendarmerie (w/Courtesy Rank 1 [1]) (one tree, encircled) (No official living holder, one Acting holder at a time.)

Corps Marshal (three triple-point leaves) (No living holders.)

Rank 7 [35]

Division Marshal (two triple-point leaves) (No living holders.)
Brigade Marshal (one triple-point leaf) (No living holders.)

Rank 6 [30]

Colonel/Fleet Lieutenant (three double-point leaves) (No living holders.)

Rank 5 [25]

Lieutenant Colonel/Ship-of-the-line Lieutenant (two double-point leaves)

Rank 4 [20]

Captain Major/Frigate Lieutenant (one double-point leaf)

Rank 3 [15]

Captain/Corvette Lieutenant (three single-point leaves)
Lieutenant/Marine Lieutenant (two single-point leaves)
Sublieutenant/Ensign (one single-point leaf)

Courtesy Rank 3 [3]

Gendarme Cadet/Gendarme Midshipman (one to three round pips, showing number of years of study)

Rank 2 [10]

Sergeant Major of the Gendarmerie (w/Courtesy Rank 6 [6]) (four hash-marks & one three-point star) (No living holder.)

Sergeant Major/Master Chief Petty Officer (w/Courtesy Rank 5 [5]) (four hash-marks & three lozenges) (No living holders.)
Master Sergeant/Senior Chief Petty Officer (w/Courtesy Rank 4 [4]) (four hash-marks & two lozenges) (No living holders.)
Senior Sergeant/Chief Petty Officer (w/Courtesy Rank 3 [3]) (four hash-marks & one lozenge)

Colour Sergeant/Petty Officer class 3 (w/Courtesy Rank 2 [2]) (four hash-marks)
Staff Sergeant/Petty Officer class 2 (w/Courtesy Rank 1 [1]) (three hash-marks)
Sergeant/Petty Officer class 1 (two hash-marks)

Rank 1 [5]

Senior Constable/Marine Senior Constable (one hash-mark)

Rank 0 [0]

Constable/Marine Constable (one lozenge)
Recruit (no insignia)

Notes

A 'hash-mark' is a thick, curved line with an outline in a contrasting colour or shade.

In the Navy and the Marine branch of the Gendarmerie, a Corvette Lieutenant placed in command of a cutter, fast attack craft, or other small vessel is given the rank of 'Captain Lieutenant,' and a Frigate Lieutenant who commands a corvette or a flotilla of cutters is given the rank of 'Corvette Captain.' The Gendarmerie never had ships larger than corvettes, and few of those, but the progression continued in the Navy, with a Ship-of-the-line Lieutenant in command being a Frigate Captain and a Fleet Lieutenant in command being a Ship-of-the-line Captain; the ranks were also used (most often administratively in the Gendarmerie) for larger formations of ships (in the modern era, of course, large military vessels are generally no-longer afloat, and large formations rarely exist). In the Naval Infantry (what we would call the Marines), the 'Captain' ranks were used for land formations of equivalent status, so for example the 15th (Kahufrax Elite) Naval Mounted Infantry Regiment was commanded by a Ship-of-the-line Captain rather than a Fleet Lieutenant or a Colonel. This is distinct from other polities in the region, who would either give the Naval Infantry army ranks, or use '<unit-name> Captain' as the rank, e.g. Battalion Captain or Regiment Captain.

CGI Naval ranks above Fleet Lieutenant or Ship-of-the-line Captain are translated as Fleet Captain (equivalent to Brigade Marshal), Commodore (equivalent to Division Marshal), Lieutenant Admiral (equivalent to Corps Marshal), Admiral (equivalent to Marshal), and Admiral of the Navy (equivalent to Marshal of the Army). Admiral and Marshal are signified by a stylized tree, with the encircled tree representing the professional head of a service (Rank 9 for the pre-Final War Army and Navy, Rank 8 with one level of Courtesy Rank for the other services).

The Criminal Investigation branch of this gendarmerie adds the title of 'Investigator' to officers, e.g. 'Lieutenant Investigator.'

Uniforms (for Gormelites) consist of a distinctive harness with rank and other insignia, attachment points for armour and other equipment, and the standard police headgear, meaning either a cloth headband, a khepi-like hat with a narrow, all-around brim, or a helmet similar to Earth police riot helmets. The modern uniforms tend to have a lot of wear, or poor quality control. This is the only branch of the CGI armed forces (at the federal-level, so not counting the forces of the member states) to not have a sword of some sort as part of any dress uniform, instead using a fancy staff or fancy truncheon. The rest of the dress uniform involves the khepi-like hat, plus unit-specific braid, tassels, and other fancy bits added to the harness. The parade uniform resembles the dress uniform, but replaces the hat with either a shiny helmet or a bigger, unit-specific hat of some kind, either way with unit-specific crests and such.

Weapons vary somewhat between pre-Final War and post-Final War. The standard infantry weapon, some of which were and are used by the Gendarmerie, was a .323 cal (8mm) assault carbine, with an underbarrel-mounted gyroc; due to the factory having been built into a mountain, new weapons of this model are of an Electrothermal Chemical variant that was being phased in by the start of the Final War, though they were rare before that. The Gendarmerie also has some experimental (ergokinetic) blasters, as their factory was built into a nearby mountain. Common police weapons in the region include vortex pistols, electrolasers sonic nauseators, and experimental sonic stunners. Before the Final War, a .99 cal (25mm) Tangler was the usual police weapon, but they are not strong enough for Gormelites, having been designed for Gormellians, and there are few surviving factories (though the design is being licensed for production on Earth, to the profit of the CGI). In general, what's used largely depends on what still has weapon & ammo factories. Police in some nearby polities use such things as experimental ice guns (Ultra-Tech p140) for much the same reason. Parade weapons tended to be beautifully decorated (but functional) and otherwise high-quality versions of a more primitive rifle or other longarm, specific to the unit (e.g. the oldest regiment in the Gendarmerie carried a matchlock musket with a plug-bayonet on parade, and a couple of others have flintlocks, though most have some manner of breech-loading gun for that purpose, in some cases even bolt-action; all but the oldest use bayonets that do not need to be removed to fire the gun). This has been a low priority since the war.

Along with the usual sorts of vehicles that you might expect of such a society (when they work) are a number of low-maintenance and high-durability walking machines, generally translated as Labour Mecha or IndustrialMechs. The use of these by pirates and other criminals lead the Gendarmerie to begin using walking machines of their own, with a name generally translated as Patlabors.

Thoughts?

04-29-2021, 05:17 AM	#35
Prince Charon Join Date: Dec 2012	Re: [Psi/Space] Irar, the Jewel in the British Crown Commune of the Great Islands Gendarmerie This Gendarmerie was founded in 1672 CE (when the Gormellians were well into TL5^), as a result of debate over the structure and size of the newly-formed Commune's military forces (as opposed to the military forces of the member states). It was eventually decided that the gendarmeries of the CGI Army and CGI Navy (including naval infantry) would be merged into a single force, which also absorbed some of the coast guards of the member states, or units thereof. The Commune Gendarmerie retained unit legacies from the previous services, and as a side effect, naval ranks up to Fleet Lieutenant in the Marine (naval) branch of the Gendarmerie. In the post-War era, it is one of the few institutions of the Commune that still exists as a mostly-functional entity, along with the now much smaller CGI Army and Navy (mainly existing to maintain heritage and institutional memory, though they do have some active units), and the even-worse-off Airy, Cybery, and Spacey (reduced to a few monitoring stations, mostly underground, and some understrength 'squadrons' of often poorly-armed aircraft). It is the largest surviving service due to being the service least reluctant to recruit Gormelites before the Final War. In theory, the military answers to the High Council, but there isn't one now, and hasn't been since the war. Instead, what remains of local administration does what it can with minimal oversight and not much outside help, and the highest-ranking officers in the Gendarmerie rotate through the position of Acting Marshal of the Gendarmerie, and try not to make too much of a mess. Of course, with the Irari here and the humans coming, things are looking up, and the Gendarmerie and the leaders of each island or region have committed to holding Commune-wide elections no later than April 29, 2023 (which is in the middle of a month that's near the end of a year in their calendar) for both the High Council and the Grand Communal Diet. Ranks The rank titles are 'close enough' translations, rather than exact names. Rank insignia are marked on the shoulders of the harness, and on the helmet. Rank 8 [40] Marshal of the Gendarmerie (w/Courtesy Rank 1 [1]) (one tree, encircled) (No official living holder, one Acting holder at a time.) Corps Marshal (three triple-point leaves) (No living holders.) Rank 7 [35] Division Marshal (two triple-point leaves) (No living holders.) Brigade Marshal (one triple-point leaf) (No living holders.) Rank 6 [30] Colonel/Fleet Lieutenant (three double-point leaves) (No living holders.) Rank 5 [25] Lieutenant Colonel/Ship-of-the-line Lieutenant (two double-point leaves) Rank 4 [20] Captain Major/Frigate Lieutenant (one double-point leaf) Rank 3 [15] Captain/Corvette Lieutenant (three single-point leaves) Lieutenant/Marine Lieutenant (two single-point leaves) Sublieutenant/Ensign (one single-point leaf) Courtesy Rank 3 [3] Gendarme Cadet/Gendarme Midshipman (one to three round pips, showing number of years of study) Rank 2 [10] Sergeant Major of the Gendarmerie (w/Courtesy Rank 6 [6]) (four hash-marks & one three-point star) (No living holder.) Sergeant Major/Master Chief Petty Officer (w/Courtesy Rank 5 [5]) (four hash-marks & three lozenges) (No living holders.) Master Sergeant/Senior Chief Petty Officer (w/Courtesy Rank 4 [4]) (four hash-marks & two lozenges) (No living holders.) Senior Sergeant/Chief Petty Officer (w/Courtesy Rank 3 [3]) (four hash-marks & one lozenge) Colour Sergeant/Petty Officer class 3 (w/Courtesy Rank 2 [2]) (four hash-marks) Staff Sergeant/Petty Officer class 2 (w/Courtesy Rank 1 [1]) (three hash-marks) Sergeant/Petty Officer class 1 (two hash-marks) Rank 1 [5] Senior Constable/Marine Senior Constable (one hash-mark) Rank 0 [0] Constable/Marine Constable (one lozenge) Recruit (no insignia) Notes A 'hash-mark' is a thick, curved line with an outline in a contrasting colour or shade. In the Navy and the Marine branch of the Gendarmerie, a Corvette Lieutenant placed in command of a cutter, fast attack craft, or other small vessel is given the rank of 'Captain Lieutenant,' and a Frigate Lieutenant who commands a corvette or a flotilla of cutters is given the rank of 'Corvette Captain.' The Gendarmerie never had ships larger than corvettes, and few of those, but the progression continued in the Navy, with a Ship-of-the-line Lieutenant in command being a Frigate Captain and a Fleet Lieutenant in command being a Ship-of-the-line Captain; the ranks were also used (most often administratively in the Gendarmerie) for larger formations of ships (in the modern era, of course, large military vessels are generally no-longer afloat, and large formations rarely exist). In the Naval Infantry (what we would call the Marines), the 'Captain' ranks were used for land formations of equivalent status, so for example the 15th (Kahufrax Elite) Naval Mounted Infantry Regiment was commanded by a Ship-of-the-line Captain rather than a Fleet Lieutenant or a Colonel. This is distinct from other polities in the region, who would either give the Naval Infantry army ranks, or use '<unit-name> Captain' as the rank, e.g. Battalion Captain or Regiment Captain. CGI Naval ranks above Fleet Lieutenant or Ship-of-the-line Captain are translated as Fleet Captain (equivalent to Brigade Marshal), Commodore (equivalent to Division Marshal), Lieutenant Admiral (equivalent to Corps Marshal), Admiral (equivalent to Marshal), and Admiral of the Navy (equivalent to Marshal of the Army). Admiral and Marshal are signified by a stylized tree, with the encircled tree representing the professional head of a service (Rank 9 for the pre-Final War Army and Navy, Rank 8 with one level of Courtesy Rank for the other services). The Criminal Investigation branch of this gendarmerie adds the title of 'Investigator' to officers, e.g. 'Lieutenant Investigator.' Uniforms (for Gormelites) consist of a distinctive harness with rank and other insignia, attachment points for armour and other equipment, and the standard police headgear, meaning either a cloth headband, a khepi-like hat with a narrow, all-around brim, or a helmet similar to Earth police riot helmets. The modern uniforms tend to have a lot of wear, or poor quality control. This is the only branch of the CGI armed forces (at the federal-level, so not counting the forces of the member states) to not have a sword of some sort as part of any dress uniform, instead using a fancy staff or fancy truncheon. The rest of the dress uniform involves the khepi-like hat, plus unit-specific braid, tassels, and other fancy bits added to the harness. The parade uniform resembles the dress uniform, but replaces the hat with either a shiny helmet or a bigger, unit-specific hat of some kind, either way with unit-specific crests and such. Weapons vary somewhat between pre-Final War and post-Final War. The standard infantry weapon, some of which were and are used by the Gendarmerie, was a .323 cal (8mm) assault carbine, with an underbarrel-mounted gyroc; due to the factory having been built into a mountain, new weapons of this model are of an Electrothermal Chemical variant that was being phased in by the start of the Final War, though they were rare before that. The Gendarmerie also has some experimental (ergokinetic) blasters, as their factory was built into a nearby mountain. Common police weapons in the region include vortex pistols, electrolasers sonic nauseators, and experimental sonic stunners. Before the Final War, a .99 cal (25mm) Tangler was the usual police weapon, but they are not strong enough for Gormelites, having been designed for Gormellians, and there are few surviving factories (though the design is being licensed for production on Earth, to the profit of the CGI). In general, what's used largely depends on what still has weapon & ammo factories. Police in some nearby polities use such things as experimental ice guns (Ultra-Tech p140) for much the same reason. Parade weapons tended to be beautifully decorated (but functional) and otherwise high-quality versions of a more primitive rifle or other longarm, specific to the unit (e.g. the oldest regiment in the Gendarmerie carried a matchlock musket with a plug-bayonet on parade, and a couple of others have flintlocks, though most have some manner of breech-loading gun for that purpose, in some cases even bolt-action; all but the oldest use bayonets that do not need to be removed to fire the gun). This has been a low priority since the war. Along with the usual sorts of vehicles that you might expect of such a society (when they work) are a number of low-maintenance and high-durability walking machines, generally translated as Labour Mecha or IndustrialMechs. The use of these by pirates and other criminals lead the Gendarmerie to begin using walking machines of their own, with a name generally translated as Patlabors. Thoughts? __________________ Warning, I have the Distractible and Imaginative quirks in real life. "The more corrupt a government, the more it legislates." -- Tacitus Five Earths, All in a Row. Updated 12/17/2022: Apocrypha: Bridges out of Time, Part I has been posted. Last edited by Prince Charon; 07-05-2021 at 11:33 PM.