Equestrian Military Model

[05:04:13 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : No problem. Knew it'd come up some other time.
[05:05:43 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : I have the basic model down for a 19th century style army, complete with infantry, artillery, and even different cavalry units.
[05:07:03 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : Mind you, this is just tech and basic operations.
[05:07:17 10/01/12] @ Intelligent Design : Earth=infantry
[05:07:31 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : Earth= linemen.
[05:07:31 10/01/12] @ Intelligent Design : Pegasus=cavalry
[05:07:44 10/01/12] @ Intelligent Design : Unicorn=artillery?
[05:07:57 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : Nope.
[05:08:26 10/01/12] @ Intelligent Design : Continue.
[05:08:27 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : Let's start with the basic unit, the linepony. The rank and file.
[05:09:07 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : Typically earth ponies, though a unicorn with limited magic ability can find themselves in these ranks.
[05:10:04 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : An earth pony is equipped with a battle saddle. You've read Fallout Equestria (I think) So I'm sure you know how they function. Bit in mouth, bite down on bit, discharges weapon.
[05:10:21 10/01/12] @ Intelligent Design : Yep.
[05:10:43 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : With a single shot rifle that's quite a predicament, especially for an earth pony.
[05:11:52 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : Each soldier has two rifles mounted on their battle saddle. Each time they fire, idealy they send two bullets downrange.
[05:12:45 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : But now they're sitting ducks, unable to reload. That's when the army's support system kicks into gear.
[05:13:52 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : Back behind the line are ponies whose jobs are to remove spent rifles and attach charged ones. This job can be done by any pony, but idealy with unicorns and pegasi.
[05:14:10 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : But they're in the back, and the poor soldiers who fired their rifles are in front.
[05:15:11 10/01/12] @ Intelligent Design : ...continue.
[05:15:40 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : When on the offensive a soldier would fire his weapons and stand still. Then the soldiers in the previous rank would advance forward, providing cover to the now defenseless ponies and advance forward.
[05:15:56 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : I derped
[05:16:17 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : Provides cover to the soldiers with spent rifles, and allows the unit to keep up a continuous rate of fire into the opposing army.
[05:17:13 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : When a soldier gets to the very back, other ponies come up and replace his spent rifles with already prepared loaded ones.
[05:17:26 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : On the defensive.
[05:18:39 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : First of all, ponies do not stand shoulder to shoulder. It's too claustrophobic and there's the risk of weapons getting tangled up.
[05:19:03 10/01/12] @ Intelligent Design : And you need space to run back.
[05:20:29 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : Soldiers have a bit of breathing room. It makes it easier to advance forward with space, and when on the defensive it allows the front rank to move to the back and the 2nd rank to move forward simultaniously. Ponies keep getting supplied while holding ground.
[05:21:38 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : While on the subject of infantry, unicorns have the unique ability to be able to actually aim at an enemy.
[05:22:52 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : Unicorns make for ideal skirmishers, they can pick off enemy officers and have a host of different spells they can cast when needed. Invisibility and other illusion spells and such.
[05:23:26 10/01/12] @ Intelligent Design : Magic is so dangerously versatile.
[05:23:45 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : Now for cavalry.
[05:24:22 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : They do the basic job of a human cavalryman. They screen and harass the enemy's flanks.
[05:25:06 10/01/12] @ Intelligent Design : ...-notes down possible future questions-
[05:25:09 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : Each cavarlypony has two fixed blades on their back, one pointing to their left and their right.
[05:26:28 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : These blades are dulled for two reasons: 1 it's not good for morale for idle stallions to accidentally poke or cut each other. 2. it doesn't take much sharpness to cut when you're running at full gallop.
[05:26:51 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : All three races can be found here.
[05:27:54 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : A pegasus cavalry unit is able to come in from anywhere and fly through the middle of the enemy, cutting and dismembering, and greatly affecting enemy morale.
[05:29:19 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : In addition to their blades, unicorns can also use their horns as a piercing weapon and since they get closer than their marksman counterparts, they have more opportunities to use shock and awe magic to break the enemy's flanks.
[05:30:17 10/01/12] @ Intelligent Design : .
[05:31:12 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : And earth ponies can be issued a helmet with a front unicorn like spike to be used in the same fashion. These ponies use use their hooves a lot more than other units, both in charging and having to buck their way out if they get in a sticky mess.
[05:31:47 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : I'll take a break and allow for questions.
[05:32:28 10/01/12] @ Intelligent Design : Hmm, this is primarily for pony on pony conflicts, right?
[05:33:18 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : Pony on whatever else is capable of fielding an army.
[05:33:35 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : I originally designed the system for pony vs human.
[05:34:08 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : I had to think of a way of how earth ponies could go toe to toe with humans that can keep reloading their rifles.
[05:34:17 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : And then it expanded
[05:34:48 10/01/12] @ Intelligent Design : Fittingly, it involved teamwork.
[05:35:00 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : Because I know a great deal about 18th and 19th century combat.
[05:35:44 10/01/12] @ Intelligent Design : Was just thinking about stuff like anti griffon warfare, or other sentient species.
[05:35:46 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : The cornerstone of the Equestrian army is its support and supply lines.
[05:36:45 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : Anti griffon duties are a pegasus and unicorn concern.
[05:38:32 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : Griffons are able to stand on clouds, understandably their civilization would be in the clouds and mountain tops.
[05:40:13 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : Anything else or shall I continue?
[05:40:38 10/01/12] @ Intelligent Design : Continue.
[05:41:54 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : Now for another cavalry unit, the...... Dragoon, that's it.
[05:43:12 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : If you don't know what dragoons are, they're literally mounted infantry. They ride to battle, dismount, and fire. Due to their increased mobility with their horses, they can deploy anywhere on the field of battle where they're needed.
[05:43:35 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : That a line regiment can't march to in time without being tired.
[05:43:36 10/01/12] @ Intelligent Design : Mounted infrantry, got it.
[05:44:34 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : Idealy, this role suits pegasi and unicorns better than earth ponies, even if earth ponies have more stamina.
[05:45:28 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : Since unicorns are able to reload on their own, they can stay and fight without resupply longer than a line unit.
[05:46:53 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : They have the same dual gun saddle rig and regular infantry. Typically they would be deployed to hault an enemy advance, send quick backup, and to whittle down and harass an enemy before it can join the field of battle.
[05:47:34 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : Pegasus dragoons are the precursor to pegasi aerial fighters.
[05:48:33 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : Pegasi can deploy directly from a resupply point, fire from above or on the ground, fly away, and be resupplied. While unicorns can hold their own, pegasi dragoons are little more than a harassment.
[05:49:39 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : And I completely forgot to mention the guards.
[05:49:52 10/01/12] @ Intelligent Design : ...
[05:50:45 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : Celestia's pegasus and unicorn guards are a perfect example of European guards and household cavalries (both of which are charged with protecting the monarch, but the latter is pooled from nobles who can afford horses)
[05:51:19 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : Grand uniforms, hell they're made of either gilded iron or outright gold.
[05:51:59 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : Guards function exactly like line ponies, except with much more discipline.
[05:52:24 10/01/12] @ Intelligent Design : Well, I think the guards shown are meant to intimidate/showoff more than actually fight.
[05:53:27 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : Where other ponies would turn and run, guards are expected to hold to the last pony. They're elite troops, and their mere presence on the battlefield can inspire other soldiers to dig in their hooves.
[05:53:50 10/01/12] @ Intelligent Design : This reminds me of total war.
[05:54:14 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : Where do you think I learned most of this stuff?
[05:54:32 10/01/12] @ Intelligent Design : ...-grins-
[05:55:07 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : I'm just adapting what I already know to apply to ponies.
[05:55:30 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : On to artillery.
[05:55:39 10/01/12] @ Intelligent Design : Yay!
[05:56:28 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : You have your different sized guns for whatever their purpose is, whether it's to send a bowling ball of death into the ranks or to batter down castle walls.
[05:57:00 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : Artillery is one section where you can find literally everypony.
[05:57:46 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : Cannons are big enough that earth ponies can reload them, unicorns can use their magic, and pegasi can reload cannons from above.
[05:58:21 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : Also, any pony is capable of operating a military battery, any pony that's able to learn the formulas and whatnot.
[05:58:55 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : The one thing that sets pony artillery apart from human artillery, are the pegasus ponies.
[05:59:37 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : They're used as scouts to pinpoint coordinates and because of them artillery batteries can readjust their fire virtually on the fly.
[06:01:20 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : And I haven't even begun to speculate what kind of magical monstrosities unicorns can create by enchanting a cannon or cannon ball.
[06:01:22 10/01/12] @ Intelligent Design : ...
[06:01:35 10/01/12] @ Intelligent Design : Hee hee.
[06:02:11 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : If anything Equestria can sleep safe with its artillery.
[06:02:55 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : Near perfect strikes, magical WMDs.
[06:04:11 10/01/12] @ Intelligent Design : ...so, sieges.
[06:04:20 10/01/12] @ Intelligent Design : Still viable?
[06:05:40 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : Is Equestria able to come under siege? Most likely not.
[06:06:00 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : Can Equestria carry them out? Oh dear god yes.
[06:06:38 10/01/12] @ Intelligent Design : Equestria is a scary military power isn't it?
[06:06:50 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : Magical artillery taking out walls, pegasi dropping tough as nails earth ponies onto the ramparts.
[06:07:29 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : Predator beware of an intelligent herbivore.
[06:07:42 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : Especially magical ones.
[06:08:15 10/01/12] @ Intelligent Design : ...that is perfect for what I've got planned for Intel's arc.
[06:08:44 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : Equestria's only real limitation is resources.
[06:09:15 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : That's a lot of powder, shot, and metal for the guns.
[06:09:49 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : Firing more often to compensate for a lack of aiming, that wears rifles out quicker.
[06:10:10 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : You have to have backups in spades for a serious battle.
[06:10:27 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : And.... I just remembered this.
[06:10:49 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : Equestria has to have some sort of biological and gas capability.
[06:10:58 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : and/or.
[06:11:24 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : How else can everypony have a hazmat suit and mask on hand?
[06:11:29 10/01/12] @ Intelligent Design : Elaborate.
[06:11:40 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : Just did.
[06:11:58 10/01/12] @ Intelligent Design : Oh wow, did not think of that.
[06:12:19 10/01/12] @ Intelligent Design : Hm, remind me where it appears.
[06:12:29 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : Cutie Pox
[06:13:29 10/01/12] @ Intelligent Design : Maybe magic?
[06:13:41 10/01/12] @ Intelligent Design : If not, probably gas.
[06:14:33 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : But they were bio suits.
[06:15:02 10/01/12] @ Intelligent Design : Artistic license?
[06:15:26 10/01/12] @ Intelligent Design : Or medical purposes?
[06:16:35 10/01/12] @ Intelligent Design : Maybe Equestria has been struck with horse flu a little too often?
[06:17:57 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : Possible.
[06:18:31 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : But the suits existing shines light on so many dark hallways.
[06:18:56 10/01/12] @ Intelligent Design : But biological warfare's existed for ages.
[06:19:14 10/01/12] @ Intelligent Design : Choking up waterways with corpses
[06:19:18 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : I mean the modern variety.
[06:19:35 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : Of airborne disease.
[06:19:47 10/01/12] @ Intelligent Design : Don't think they've done that. Honestly.
[06:20:39 10/01/12] @ Intelligent Design : There hasn't been enough seen conflict and war to warrant it.
[06:21:00 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : Very true.
[06:21:30 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : Quick history lesson...
[06:23:56 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : Respirators have existed long before chemical warfare.
[06:24:06 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : And I had a thought and it poofed.
[06:24:41 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : !
[06:24:44 10/01/12] @ Intelligent Design : Not suprised.
[06:25:04 10/01/12] @ Intelligent Design : Considering what time it must be there.
[06:25:18 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : And Equestria is a different world who have invented things at differing times than us.
[06:26:02 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : They're in the late 19th, possibly early 20th and they already have small home appliances.
[06:26:37 10/01/12] @ Intelligent Design : Still, the fact they have bullets means that war would have taken place enough times to warrant their existence.
[06:27:04 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : Or.
[06:27:30 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : You forget cutie markonomics.
[06:28:39 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : If a pony's special talent is inventing and they come up with the idea of sending a lead ball through a tube via an explosive, somepony is going to listen to them.
[06:29:25 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : Whether needed or not, Equestria's military technology has the possibility to improve in long periods of peace.
[06:29:42 10/01/12] @ Intelligent Design : That pony would ask, "Cool, what are we going to use it for?"
[06:29:52 10/01/12] @ Intelligent Design : "...um?"
[06:30:15 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : Well they've obviously had wars in the past, they know what it'd be used for.
[06:30:26 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : Just look at the Nightmare Night costumes.
[06:30:41 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : Knight ponies with helmets and flail tails.
[06:30:48 10/01/12] @ Intelligent Design : If it's left alone for long enough with no use, there's a real chance it can be forgotten.
[06:31:09 10/01/12] @ Intelligent Design : See; steam engine, cure for scurvy...
[06:31:32 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : I don't think the concept of weapons would be lost on ponies.
[06:31:48 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : Ponies are very timid creatures and freak out at the slightest disturbance.
[06:32:05 10/01/12] @ Intelligent Design : No I meant the gun invention.
[06:32:52 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : Gun invention is simple. "You mean everypony can shoot, not just unicorn archers?"
[06:33:14 10/01/12] @ Intelligent Design : Not only does it require major consideration for ponies to use it properly, the fact that there's no use for it means no one's going to try.
[06:33:26 10/01/12] @ Intelligent Design : Immediate use.
[06:33:29 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : "And they can fire further and more accurately?"
[06:33:37 10/01/12] @ Intelligent Design : Unless there was.
[06:33:52 10/01/12] @ Intelligent Design : Hah, have you seen early gonnes?
[06:34:11 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : What's a gonne?
[06:34:20 10/01/12] @ Intelligent Design : And yes, I meant 'gonnes'.
[06:34:35 10/01/12] @ Intelligent Design : Precursor to the gun.
[06:34:52 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : No idea what a gonne is. I know what an arquebus is.
[06:34:56 10/01/12] @ Intelligent Design : Extremely fucking unreliable. A joke.
[06:35:36 10/01/12] @ Intelligent Design : After years, we get the musket.
[06:36:01 10/01/12] @ Intelligent Design : I do not know how to apply this to pony use.
[06:36:06 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : Arquebus. First matchlock.
[06:36:30 10/01/12] @ Intelligent Design : But even for humans, still not that great.
[06:36:47 10/01/12] @ Intelligent Design : This is after refinement on battlefield.
[06:37:02 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : You have to understand one thing.
[06:37:26 10/01/12] @ Intelligent Design : ...yes?
[06:38:16 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : A knight is trained in all sorts of different forms of combat. But that training is lifelong. And you have several other units, each designed to perform a simple task that requires long periods of training.
[06:39:10 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : A gun, however inaccurate it is can be given to a man off the street and if the bullet hits true it can kill anyone whether they're in armor or not.
[06:39:44 10/01/12] @ Intelligent Design : Or blow up in the guy's hand.
[06:40:04 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : The crossbow was used in the same way, cheap way to employ mass armies.
[06:41:10 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : And that's what wins battles. Sheer numbers and material.
[06:41:31 10/01/12] @ Intelligent Design : But there wasn't the need.
[06:41:33 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : When you condense warfare down to its most very very very base components.
[06:42:12 10/01/12] @ Intelligent Design : No pony would bother to try and refine something that wasn't going to be used.
[06:42:27 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : With all the monsters, and possible external threats.
[06:43:10 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : But this discussion is really moot, as we know bullets and tanks exist
[06:43:39 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : Rainbow Dash of all ponies knows about them, and she doesn't read.
[06:43:43 10/01/12] @ Intelligent Design : What I'm saying is that there was enough conflict to warrant their existence.
[06:44:28 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : It's one thing for Rarity, an educated pony to reference an ugly tank, but it's completely different if RD does.
[06:45:01 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : I don't even know what the argument was about now.
[06:46:18 10/01/12] @ Intelligent Design : Oh, I was saying that the existence of bullets and tanks meant that there must have been a considerable amount of conflict in the past of Equestria, at least.
[06:47:15 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : Oh yeah, that explains the knight helmets, flail tails, Rarity's army helmet in Dragonshy, and Granny Smith's.
[06:49:31 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : And the Apple Family's barricade when the parasprites came, and Appleloosa's defenses.
[06:50:00 10/01/12] @ Intelligent Design : The battle of Appleloosa...
[06:50:40 10/01/12] @ Intelligent Design : -looks at Indigo's battle plans, then compares to episode-
[06:50:41 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : Cartoon at its finest.
[06:50:52 10/01/12] @ Intelligent Design : Pfft.
[06:51:10 10/01/12] @ Intelligent Design : -smiles-
[06:51:39 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : The apple pies.
[06:52:18 10/01/12] @ Intelligent Design : Sometimes, I wonder if we take things far too seriously.
[06:52:23 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : We do.
[06:52:27 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : We totally do.
[06:52:29 10/01/12] @ Intelligent Design : On that note.
[06:52:37 10/01/12] @ Intelligent Design : Goodnight.
[06:52:44 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : Goodnight.
[06:52:49 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : I was about to say something...
[06:52:54 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : Oh!
[06:52:58 10/01/12] @ Indigo Surprise : Dammit