Callsigns

[macguba]

I'm making a mission with a company sized assault.   I need a system of callsigns for the various elements.   At the moment I have:-


Firefly - Battalion HQ

Sunray - B Company commander

Delta - Company Sergeant Major


Alpha - 4 Platoon  (Infantry)

Bravo - 5 Platoon  (BMP, AT, AA)

Charlie - 6 Platoon  (T80)


Echo - Engineers

Foxtrot - Shilkas


The composition and structure is set in stone, but the callsigns are not and I don't think they are that great.    The player is the command of 6 platoon.    Engineers and Shilkas are attachments.  

As you can see they are Russians, so I am particularly interested in what the Russian army does.    The opposition is American, so I'm also interested in the American system to make sure that it is nothing like that.   It also has to be clear, dramatic, fun, etc. etc.   I'm aiming for a dramatised realistic feel.

Anybody know anything about this sort of thing?

Many thanks.

[nominesine]

Russian callsigns, to my knowledge, are very dull and boring. Usually just a number and sometimes a letter to spice it all up.

My suggestion is: chose some english names that you like for your teams. I can translate it into russian for you if you need help.

[ACF]

Sunray etc aren't callsigns as such, they're 'radio appointment titles' for the commanders/representatives of the various arms and services. Paraphrasing a very declassified source (bracketed bits are examples, not gospel) [square bracketed bits are my guess at the Americanese equivalents]. Useful ones are:

SUNRAY   Commander (Bn/Coy/Pl)
SEAGULL   G Staff(Adjutant/CSM) [S-1]
KESTREL   Ops Staff [S-3]
MOLAR      Q Staff (QM) [S-4]
ACORN      Intelligence (IO) [S-2]
PRONTO   Signals RSigs
SHELDRAKE   Gunners RA
HOLDFAST   Sappers RE
PLAYTIME   Transport RCT
STARLIGHT   Medics RAMC
RICKSHAW   Ordnance RAOC(showing my age: RAOC + RCT = RLC nowadays)
BLUEBELL   Maintenance/recovery REME
WATCHDOG   Provost
FOXHOUND   Infantry
IRONSIDE   Armour
HAWKEYE   Army helicopter support (mmm - says ACC but wonder if it should be AAC...)
FORTUNE   Forward Air Controller (RAF liaison)

These are all very British and, given the S- system the Yanks have, are/were probably not a NATO standard.

Callsigns proper were number-number-alpha but prefixed with an alpha callsign identifier/indicator (?) so a full example might be K13C.  This, I think, was pretty standard across NATO. Given the last alpha would normally relate to a single vehicle or a section, we have a handy hierarchy up to battalion level:

CI  Coy/Sqn  Pl/Tp  Sec/Veh
K        1           3          C

Bn HQ units would probably be alpha-0-number-alpha, Coy HQ alpha-number-0-alpha.

I'm not going to bet my life on much of the above, but it might shake out someone who does know!

The fly in the ointment is that OFP has only got the alpha-colour identity; though BAS configured a lot of additional Group and GroupColour options...

[General Barron]

Check out mapfact.net's callsigns addon. It is very small and adds a ton of callsigns to the game. I'm not seeing it on mapfact.net, but search the official forums and you should find it. (Mapfact is an awesome site, btw: very mission-oriented)

I guess I'll also point out that a Sergeant Major is a Battalion-level billet (each battalion gets one Sergeant Major). Individual companies don't get them; their highest enlisted member is the company 1st Sgt. At least, thats how it is for the US, I'm not sure how the Russians do things.

[macguba]

Thanks chaps, that's all extremely helpful stuff.    My system is loosely based on the British organisation, where there is somebody known as a Company Sergeant Major.     He is usually marginally less terrifying that the Regimental Sergeant Major.