Tactical Numbering Schemes
Why number our 'mechs?
By Alias, Curtis LeMay
Originally published in Commando Quarterly in 2005-6
How many times when you have played Battletech, have you gotten into arguments on when you were shooting at “that blue Warhammer”? Only to discover, there’s two blue Warhammers on the same side? Ok, so then you go out and buy a number pack or two from FPG or some other manufacturer. Ooops! What’s this, you’ve got two #33s out there! What would you say if I could tell you a way to give your mechs a system where there would be absolutely no confusion over who’s shooting who, and it’s flawless, takes little thought, and can give your mechs an identity to boot? And real-life armies have been using the system for years? Interested? Then follow me!
Tactical numbering systems are as old as armored warfare, even the British numbered their tanks at Cambrai in 1917. But the systems weren’t refined until the Germans came along in World War II. You see, the Reichswehr (later to be the Wehrmacht) that we all know, and love discovered something; that’s its darn difficult enough to control tanks when everybody’s screaming over the same battalion radio net for “Tank 3”, but when you have three “tank 3s” in the same company? You have a recipe for chaos. Hence, the Germans began to paint two-digit numbers on their vehicles, soon to be expanded to three. They made them somewhat prominent, and sometimes, made the numbers different colors. It seems complicated, but if you knew the system, you could figure out immediately which company and battalion the vehicle belonged to, and even the platoon, or even if the vehicle was a command tank. (They kept two digits, don’t worry guys; I’ll be explaining the system and some other systems). The Soviets copied and modified the system post-war, but the Soviets never had as uniform a system as the Germans.
The Americans used a different system, by where the vehicle was assigned a letter and a two-digit number corresponding to its place in the company, if it was battalion or higher, it was simply “HQ”. The Americans tended to put their numbers on the bumpers and still do to some extent today (hence the parlance, “bumper numbers”). Certain numbers were preserved, like 66 for Company and Higher Commanders, and 55 for XOs. The number 1 vehicle would always be the platoon commander. It’s a simpler system, and still in use in many NATO nations today, and it’s fun to use.
So how do these systems work? Glad you asked (Otherwise, what’s the point of this article, eh?). We’ll be going over 3 systems today, the WWII German system, which while it seems complicated, really isn’t. We’ll also be looking at the Soviet and American systems which are simple as well.
All of these systems seem arcane at first, and you might be confused, but don’t be. By the end, you’ll be saying, “Why the hell did I never think of this!” It keeps your units organized, and there really will never be a dispute over who’s being shot at.
* * *
The German System:
The German numbering system of World War II is quite simple really; it just seems complicated. The first thing to keep in mind is that there are three numbers involved. (See Figure 1)
Figure 1: 121
As you can see above, there is a three-digit number, the first number corresponds to the company the ‘Mech belongs to. In this case, the ‘Mech belongs to the First Company. The second number is Lance the ‘Mech belongs to, in this case, the 2nd Lance. Finally, the third number is the ‘Mech’s position in the lance, which is 1, which means he is the lance commander. Pretty simple huh? But what about Company and higher commanders, well, this is where it gets a touch complicated, but come along! It’s not that bad. The nice thing about this system is it allows a lot of variation (The Germans did historically). For example: (See Figure 2)
Figure 2: R01
In this case, the R means that the ‘Mech belongs to the Regimental Command Lance, or Company or what have you. 0 means there is no company affiliation (no command company then) and 1 means it’s the first ‘Mech in the Lance (aka the Regimental Commander). For Battalion Commanders, simply replace the R with I, II or III in Roman numerals to signify 1st, 2nd or 3rd Battalion.
See how simple this is? So, how flexible is it? Pretty, you can make the numbers different colors per Regiment (for those of us out there who have multi-regiment collections) or you can add a 4th number to the front for Battalion affiliation (though that wasn’t very common). All in all, it’s flexible, and easy to use.
The Soviet System
The Soviet system is somewhat borrowed from the earlier German system, but in fact, the Soviets often arbitrarily assigned vehicles numbers, though just as often, they did so as part of a pattern.
In the typical pattern, the first digit would refer to the battalion, the second it’s company and the third, the vehicle’s place in the Platoon. An example of this is shown below:
Figure 3: 112
In this example, the vehicle belongs to the 1st Battalion, 1st Company and is the second vehicle in the company. Soviet doctrine, with three vehicles to a platoon and ten to a company, doesn’t exactly fit BT organizations, but one could see the adaptability of this extremely simple system.
One can even mark higher-level unit commanders in the system. An “*” placed after the number or bort in Russian (Bort being Russian for side) denotes a Battalion Commander, a “+” denotes a Company Commander and a “++” denotes a Platoon or Lance leader.
The American System:
The American System is also quite simple, and I have also simplified it a lot here to allow us to get through this in not such a bewildering fashion. The system was implemented during the Second World War, and has been modified over the years, but has essentially remained the same, and is very flexible (It’s the system I use). For a breakdown of the system, I refer you to Figure 3:
Figure 4: A-22
Ok, the above refers to a ‘Mech in Alpha Company, 2nd Platoon and 2nd ‘Mech in the platoon. Remember, 66 is for Company Commanders and 55 for their XOs. But what about higher echelons? Just consult Figure 4.
Figure 5:HQ-33
In this case, the ‘Mech is part of the unit HQ Lance/Company/what have you. It’s in the 3rd Battalion’s Command element and the third mech in the Lance. Remember 66 and 55 are still the numbers for the unit CO and XO, and at this point, the American system usually uses symbols to signify higher echelon affiliation (Battalion and Regiment) so you can use polygons, triangles and the like. But to be honest, unless you plan on putting a battalion plus on the table, the Company stuff is just fine.
Now, the hard part!
So, now that you know the system, how do I use it? Ok, come up with an intended TO&E for your mechs, or not (if not, just make sure not to give two mechs the same numbers or letter/number combo). Get some letter and # decals (FPG is nice, and there is I-94 Enterprises, which I swear by, they have letters and they’re compatible with the #s and they come in a variety of colors).
Be sure you apply to your ‘Mech letters/numbers that will be legible and be in a natural place (In other words, Black #s/letters on a black surface, no-no). But also keep in mind that in many places, the numbers must complement the camouflage, blazing orange neon numbers on a nice forest green camo is not only going to ruin the effect, it’s going to give enemy gunners the mother of all aiming points. The front of the legs is a good place, as is the lower center torso. In any case, keep track of what numbers and letters you have used, and remember, by the 31st Century, somebody’s bound to have come up with even more systems, so be imaginative, if it allows you to point out a mech without any confusion, and helps you organize them, then go for it. But give this system a try, it sounds better when you refer to “Romeo-44” (R-44) than “that blue Archer” and EVERYBODY knows to which you refer!
HAPPY MECHING!!!!!