DUX0726

Danke Shane! Any with the proper crest on it?

It's a highly customized Interceptor. The buttons are for show. The velcro has been removed. Each one was custom made for the Guard. These guys are essentially "bodyguards" for the Royal Family--only 150 in total--and as such, they are highly stylised. They depend upon their training--probably at the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (i.e. School Of The Americas)--to compensate for their obligatory pomp. (There was more back-story explained in the the "Logical South Sahrani Kit" thread.)

I added a more subdued version. Let me know. Tks.

So far as rank indicators, I figure it's similar the USMC with slight modification here and there. The Royal Guard, in my mind, is a very brash sort of character. Their flamboyant colors and high end equipment only help foster this kind of confidence/arrogance. They are probably universally despised by the Sahrani Regulars, as they get the best of everything even though they don't do much of the "heavy lifting" in a crisis situation. I would figure that they (the Royal Guard) looked upon their bright colored uniforms as a kind of taunt: "Here I am, easy to see, come try me pal!" - That kind of thing.

The shoulders are the "upper arm protection" component of the Interceptor Body Armor System. He is a Capitan of the Guard so his rank is displayed on his hat and also on each shoulder of his armor. Interceptor: http://www.mcleague.com/mdp/images/news/interceptor.jpg USMC Capitan Insignia: (His is slightly modified containing only one connecting bar) http://www.usmc.mil/goodfellow/Pics/capt.jpg P.S. If the flamboyant colors are the problem then they can easily be made Grey or O.D.

Col. Faulkner, I was indeed thinking that there would be an Uday-type personality as a prince of Saharani, that's why I figured he'd really "ham-up" his personal toy soldiers. (i.e. Guards) Just, FYI. Thanks for the honest feedback. ES: <a href="http://cgi.ebay.com/RARE-Fedayeen-Darth-Vedar-Style-SPECIAL-FORCES-HELMET_W0QQitemZ230066046802QQihZ013QQcateg oryZ10953QQcmdZViewItem" target="_blank">http://cgi.ebay.com/RARE-Fe....iewItem</a>

The problem with the old "same performance" yard stick is that it ignores literally thousands of years of human socialized norms that run at an extremely deep level inside of the consciousness of men and women the world over. I concead that there will always be exceptions to the rule but by-and-large it's never going to be as effective as same-sex units taking on more traditional gender roles. In our modern era, we like to try and forget that men and women are different in more ways than genetaila, and the weak-minded buy into it, but an Army has one purpose-to fight and kill. All your best "new-found" idealism won't reverse thousands of years of gender programing. It's best to just leave it alone in my opinion, because it's never going to work on a scale large enough to be suitable for an Army. It's a political issue from top to bottom, not a widely pragmatic one that is of value to an organization that lives and dies by the measure of it's pragmatic application of resources. If I'm proved wrong on this--and I'm willing to take that into account--it will be long after I'm gone, and long after we would recognise the world that we currently inhabit. The Hiruli, upon whom the modern military tradition is built upon, were not an army of "lovers" for no reason, and yes, "that" does play a role in Armies even today, to a certain extent. This whole issue is like "new math" to me, it will fail eventually and we will go back.

Too true/doesn't matter a damn. I'm here. I have an effect. I will not yield. I will not do anything stupid to give away my position. We are at an end. The more things change... Hoo Ahh! - till the bitter end.

That's just the point I think. It's 2006, and I'm here, and since I'm here, and these are my thoughts on the subject...then they are just as much a part of the "now" as the other viewpoint is. Just because some people don't want to hear it or prefer to stick their head in the sand about it doesn't change the fact that it is indeed a viewpoint shared by more than you might realize; and is therefor "REAL." But by all means, pretend it isn't a fact of life: Makes our subversive job easier. Just because a vocal and admittedly politically powerful point of view has moved forward, doesn't mean that those who don't care for it are just going to lay down and take it. It forces us underground, but we are still here, and we have the power to affect the issue, even still. When you throw my point of casually out the window, where do you think it goes? It doesn't just magically disappear, although, I'll be happy to let you think that it has.

Well, the above was ment as a "Funny" on my part but I'm not ashamed to take it to a more serious level either. I don't believe that women should perform combat roles or roles that get them anywhere near combat. What's my reasoning you might ask? Because I reject all this new social progress bull. Things worked fine under the rules we used to have. It wasn't broke before and they fixed it. I'll never support women in the military as they are currently being used. I just don't like it, and I don't care if anyone agrees with me or not. It's just the way I feel about it. Errata: I once had a female cadet tell me point blank that my viewpoint on this was a reflection of my macho insecurity and that I had no realistic evidence to back up my stance. To this I replied that "Yes", indeed she was right, but that didn't bother me at all. I am a pretty open-minded person on a lot of issues but this is not one of them. Would I give the idea of equal opportunity for females in the military lip service to a superior officer or review board? Yeah, I would. (It would be a bold faced lie, but I've been forced to lie by the current state of insanity regarding this issue as it pertains to Political Correctness B.S. so I don't feel one bit bad about it. If you won't hear my voice, then you will deal with my subversive response. I won't just roll-over. I'll just get even, quietly.) Will I continue to hold these beliefs in private and do whatever I can behind the scenes to stymie it's progress? Yes, I will. Is that an outdated way of thinking and unfair? Well, it's subjective but even if it is; I simply don't care. I am immovable on this issue and until I leave this earth, I will work against it. Then whoever is left after I'm gone can do whatever they want. I might eventually lose this fight but once again, my mind is made up, so am really not bothered by winning or losing this argument in the long run. So long as I'm here, then I'll push to have an effect on the debate in the way that I see fit. ~fin. P.S. Just being honest, can't hate me for that I hope.

The only "combat" that women need to see should look like those "Beach-head Scenes" from Saving Private Ryan; only with bedsheets and feet flying all over the place instead of bullets and blood. Is it sexist? Yeah. Do I care? No. Sometimes the old ways really are the best ways. Slap those female A.I. in a bikini and be done with it! Yeah, I said it.

There is an easy solution to this dilemma. In the next patch that B.I. releases, they simply must include the English translations for all text in ArmA and a simple language selection box in the Control Options interface. With English--being widely considered the international language--this should not present a problem for ALL language versions of ArmA to have it as an option. It will save B.I. and the ArmA consumer base a lot of needless hassle. It sidesteps any copy protection blunders in pursuit of a read-able game, and the translations themselves have already been provided by this community; easy as "cut and paste" for B.I. If English is the gold-standard for all critical communications as officially adopted by Air Travel, Sea Travel, and the Internet, then it's good enough for ArmA too. Pro-activity is the order of success.

Good thing that B.I. didn't go with STEAM for ArmA distribution. I'd take my chances with Sprockets any day. Exhibit A: http://www.itwire.com.au/content/view/8139/1092/

He-he. It's a deal. Thanks. I want to cover the back-story and uniforms, and have all of that material "nailed-down" before-hand, however.

Ok, great ideas all-around, I’ll try to address each participant individually so bear with me. Col. Faulkner – Since the South Sahrani are being propped-up—in a manner of speaking—by the U.S. Marines, then I think that M-16’s are going to just be a fact of life on Sahrani. I do think that I should pull back from the “sub-machinegun†idea based upon your very logical observations. So, it’s back to the M-16 all-round I think. Also, since I will be doing these units myself—and I have never done that before—if I can’t convince some experienced MOD folks to come on board for this project; I don’t think I will have the time or expertise to do custom weapons in addition to uniforms and load-outs. Perhaps this will change but for simplicities sake, I’ll just stick with the in-game weapons for now. Kiwis Do Fly – I’m afraid to go any larger on the feather idea. The Kepi, which I like, probably wouldn't support much more than is there now; and even if it did, I fear the “Guardsmen†of being seen as relying upon their “insidious†slapping skills to defeat an enemy more so than their rifles. Also, his body-armor prevents epaulettes from being shown, besides, I envision him wearing a braid on one shoulder rather than epaulettes. I want him to be inspired by Foreign Legion troops, not an exact copy. BlackScorpion – Duly noted on the issuance of BDU’s and Hand Grenades vs. Flashbangs. I will make adjustments accordingly. Thank you for pointing that out. It slipped my mind. I am not sure about the colors on the highly customized Interceptor Body Armor that the “Guard†is wearing. Any suggestions on the color scheme? (The Blue, White and Gold are for the flag and the red, well, I don’t know about the red yet.) P.S. What do you think about releasing these changes under the brand name "Logical Kit?"

I have been discussing re-working the South Sahrani Army Regulars into a fashion more closely resembling the sketch below. I know that many of the community members don't make it down the forum to the MOD DISCUSSION section, so I was hoping to get some more feedback by posting this poll in the GENERAL DISCUSSION section. If you would like to know why these options were selected then please see the discussion on this topic in the MOD DISCUSSION section entitled "Logical South Sahrani Kit." I would encourage all of you to only answer "Yes" or "No" to this idea in this thread. Thank You for your feedback.

I'll do more work on these tomorrow. I must retire for now. Thank you so much for the interest and suggestions. Keep them coming and I'll make changes in a few hours. Thanks again.

Refresh your pages. I put the feather in his cap. Made the colors more "Royal" as well. And yes, Col. Faulkner, I am drawing upon my fondest memories of the past as a starting point for these units. The good-ol American "Yank" soldier of WWII for the South Sahrani Grunt, and the French Forigen Legion mixed with an element of "Toy Soldier" for the Royal Guards; updated with more "modern-day" equipment of course.

(Consider this a little boundry test based upon my post script from the last message I left.) South Sahrani Royal Elite Guardsman Ok, don't freak-out just yet. I know it's a pretty bold stroke, but take it in and see if you can refine it.

OK, you guys have really got some great ideas here. It’s really getting my juices flowing. I’m really glad you guys are digging this ideological progression. So, lets just assume that the Kingdom of South Sahrani is a fairly poor Monarchy; with Tourism, Oil, and limited Textile and Wine production as the backbone of its economy. The Democratic Republic of Sahrani was once a functioning Democracy but after it’s Colombo Tantalite mines petered-out, the economy was left in shambles and a Marxist Dictator—backed by Venezuela—was able to seize power and that is why the U.S. began to hold training exercises in South Sahrani so that they could have an excuse to beef up the Kingdoms Defense budget in the form of payment for allowing U.S. Troop exercises in the territory. The South Sahrani Armed Forces are basically just a Para-military group whose sole function up to this point was to act as a police force and personal body guard for the Royal Family. Their equipment is, on average, at least 20 to 25 years old with the exception of new, “hand-me-down,†Desert Boots, PASGT Body Armor in coyote brown covers, and a selection of surplus M-16A2’s. Their strategy is shifting rapidly to one of National Defense in the form of “stop-gap defense†centered on Corozol in the event of Northern Sahrani invasion. The basic force is broken down as follows: (650 Total Troops) -550 Regular Army and Military Police personnel -150 Royal Elite Guardsmen -14 Surplus M113 Armored Troop Carriers -5 Defender 500 “Little Bird†Helicopters -28 2.5 Ton Trucks -30 UAZ-style Trucks (The average South Sahrani “Grunt†is equipped with) -2 sets of Israeli O.D. Green BDU’s (including socks and undergarments) -1 Surplus PASGT flack-jacket with coyote brown cover -1 U.S. G.I. style Steel-Pot helmet, liner, and O.D. cover -1 A.L.I.C.E. system combat rigging with “fanny pack†and old style U.S. plastic canteen -1 pair of Desert Tan Combat Boots -1 pair of old Goggles -1 M-16A2 w/7 30rd clips of ammunition -2 Lemon type High Explosive Hand Grenades -1 Survival Knife -1 O.D. Green Military-style Flashlight When on Military Police duty—a duty that all South Sahrani Grunts draw upon a rotating basis—they will trade the Steel-Pot in for an O.D. Green cap that says “M.P.†on the front. Specialized troops such as Snipers Marksmen, Machine-gunners, Engineers, and AT/AA Soldiers look the same with minor modification and primary weapons differences. See below: -Sniper – Rugar 710 Rifle w/scope, .45 Automatic Pistol, no helmet: O.D. knit cap -Machine-gunners – M-163, 1 Lemon-type High Explosive Grenades -Engineers – Same as “Grunts†but with the addition of 3 mines -AT/AA – Same as “Grunts†but with the addition of their respective tubed-weapon (U.S. Origin) -Officers- Same as "Grunt" but with an additional .45 Pistol and wearing a Berret instead of a Helmet or Cap. All Vehicles are painted O.D. Green with the Blue and White South Sahrani strip painted on it. [All of the above is my mental picture of the state of the Kingdom of South Sahrani’s Army at this point in time. Please continue to help shape this world] P.S. I was thinking that the Royal Elite Guardsmen should wear something more flamboyant and dress-oriented than the usual fatigues. Perhaps a combination of ceremonial dress and combat gear. A thought for later at the very least.

An interesting take on it. In a way, I really like that idea, but I would like to hear what others had to add before making a change. Thanks for the input.

Here is an update based upon some good suggestions. The PASGT vest cover has been changed to coyote brown. The boots are the sand color of Gulf War surplus boots. And of course the M16A2 is new. All of these things were gifts from the U.S. in my mind. The rest is leftover O.D. kit. A mish-mash indeed.

My reason for thinking that the 6-color is not the most logical choice--as stated previously--is because roughly 2/3rds of South Sahrani is not desert; it's green and rocky. So I felt that it would be more realistic for the government of South Sahrani to choose a uniform color more in accordance with the majority of their territory; that being a more greenish color, or in my preference: Israeli O.D.

That's very encouraging and nice of you Low-Light, but truth-be-told, I am really more interested in a group project sort of approach to this. (if possible) We shall see though. Thanks.

Hear, motha'-f**kin', Here! Now I know why I love this game and you people so much. I agree with everything this man above says. I don't think it will change anything, because truely, nothing has changed with humans in the last 2,000+ years; except that the twinkle-lights have gotten cheaper; but for my money: money is just an abstract concept invented to keep you busy so that Hirabbi could get all the women. Can I get some more Snickers, and some more Coke?