Building An Entire United Nations Space Command Armored Regiment | Halo

[@TemplinInstitute]

Oh, I know what the ladies like. Play War Thunder now with our link, and get a massive, free bonus pack including vehicles, boosters and more: playwt.link/thetemplininstitute2023

[@dankuser8303]

Do the ladies actually find war thunder players attractive? I mean while your war thunder bf might leak classified documents to you, he may only shower once a year. An interesting tradeoff.

[@Global-yt]

Oh sure, the ladies who spend half their free time watching or performing tiktok dances appreciate the beauty of hyper-realistic era-specific warfare

[@ArchOfWinter]

The day I'll play War Thunder is the day when they put in Templin Institute themed cosmetic into the game!

[@caresabout]

I don’t wanna be tortured templin

[@vvxgamelord1061]

Hay templininstitute cane you make a video just like this one but for the camera men from skibidi toilet series they currently have 55 episodes out now and would like to now if there was enething the could've done better in there war ugenst the skibidi toilets so please or maybe a video like this on universe at war earth assault game was there enyways the masare or novis could have done better ugenst the hiarcey please tell me 🤔 in a video I'm curious about this stuff 🤔😎🤔

[@DavidD8029]

I was listening to the artillery part and assumed you'd never mention the job I spent 13 years doing in the Army: Counter Fire Radar Operator. When I heard it mentioned I smiled, a lot. Thanks for mentioning it.

[@arkad6329]

Battle Order probably helped out a ton with this video. Battle order is great by the way. I was sold on that channel when I watched his video on the US Stryker Brigade. I was expecting a ton of mistakes. Because I spent 6 years in 3CR and 2CR. (Those are Stryker brigades) In the entire video, there was only 1 mistake, and that mistake was a nitpick on the attached vs. assigned support company.

[@darkhobo]

​@@arkad6329thats high praise. Imma check them out now. Thanks

[@TurboNerdNews]

The attention to detail for military is great. No surprise the institutes a fan of series like front lines

[@joshuamueller3206]

We nerds notice that role.

[@Matt_of_the_mountains]

As usual, the FOs are forgotten lol

[@TheArklyte]

Two decades later I still need to remind myself that UNSC in Halo doesn't stand for UN Security Council...

[@mattstorm360]

This war would have ended if we had an Avasarala screaming at the covies.

[@WolfeSaber]

It's not far off to what the UNSC was when it was created in Halo.

[@TheArklyte]

​@@mattstorm360oh, using Expanse infantry against Covenant would be just cruel. Yeah, they're not Spartans and they don't have energy shielding... but offensive capabilities are just on the other level. Imagine Martian marines shooting down Covenant dropships and banshees from a few kilometers away just with their small arms?😅 But I was mostly speaking about irl one. When mobile notification showed up(and it cuts of at S btw) I thought he would make a hypothetical list of what we, nowadays, irl can knock together as a unified force and how we'd use it. Might not seem much, but you need to remember that any rocket, missile or shell with caliber above 150mm can be outfitted by nuke irl? We can have nuclear TOW-2😅

[@TheMachineGod966]

For me it's the other way around, whenever I watch the news I have to do a double take every few minutes

[@WolfeSaber]

@@TheArklyte But the fleet of the Expanse are greatly outclassed. The largest military built ship is under half a kilometer, with weapons that are light compared to the UNSC ships. The Expanse could sniper shot the Covenant, hitting something vital, but the Covenant had jump within system and have the shields to tank shots.

[@facelesscleric2744]

I appreciate the optimism in thinking you could get 8 spartans for an army rapid reaction unit during the later years of the war.

[@V.B.Squire]

More like the Regiment is attached to the Spartans than the other way round

[@TurboNerdNews]

Spartan 4s? Were they before the end of the war

[@Rampant16]

@@TurboNerdNews Nope, no Spartan-IVs until after that war. During the war there were only 30ish Spartan-IIs and then a few companies of Spartan-IIIs. From the lore I know, during the war, the Spartan-IIs were only gathered in numbers larger than a single team twice. First when they originally received their Mjolnir Armor. And second when they were going to try to capture a Prophet but then Reach was attacked. There were 3 approx. 300 strong companies of Spartan-IIIs formed but the vast majority were killed during either two suicide missions or when Onyx was attacked. As far as lore goes, Spartans were never attached to conventional UNSC units. Let alone 8 Spartans attached to one conventional regiment.

[@TurboNerdNews]

@@Rampant16 ah. Yeah, gonna have to drop that to a spec war group. Rangers or something. No orbit for ODST lol

[@Rampant16]

@@TurboNerdNews Yep UNSC definitely missing something in between supersoldier Spartans and ODST that are akin to paratroopers. Better than regular infantry but not quite on Navy SEAL or Delta Force level. I think the best real-world example is Marine Force Reconnaissance which is a specialized unit of Marines often included with a Marine Expeditionary Unit. A MEU is a self-sustaining regiment-sized Marine unit with air support carried aboard a small group of amphibious assault ships. The US has several MEUs sailing around the world at any given time ready to react quickly to crises. Seems like a perfect analog for the Holy Rollers. A better analog in fact than a US Army Armored Regiment.

[@Baconator984]

I really like this, but if this is late-war, I think you'd be lucky to have just 2 Spartans attached to your company, let alone 2 full teams.

[@masterfil21]

They'd probably be Spartan-III in SPI, definitely not IIs in Mjolnir

[@EpicBoyScout]

Yep, I think it might be easier to acquire a platoon/company of Army ODST equivalents and allow them to be the specialist surgical strike component with dedicated airlift and light vehicles

[@ALLMINDmercenarysupportsystem]

You'd be incredibly lucky to ever see a Spartan of any class at any time, much less have any assigned to your unit.

[@irishguy051]

Its bonkers to me to be included, I was honestly wondering if it was a joke. IF we're accounting for Spartan-3 Gamma Cohort going active, there's a *maximum* of 372 Spartans in the entire galaxy. 330 of those are brand new Spartan -3 Gamma Company Graduates, three of them are Kurt Tom and Lucy, 35 of them are Every Surviving Spartan-II (Including the Man Himself) four are Noble Team. There were, before the Covenant War, around 800 planets in the UNSC. The math just... can't work. Even if you had the Spartans completely stop doing the Special Forces work they were designed for and just retask them completely to the work of staffing up Armored Regiments, then you'd have one single individual Spartan for every other planet.

[@ALLMINDmercenarysupportsystem]

@@irishguy051 There is also Delta Company, which was about to start training when the events of Ghosts of Onyx happened, but they weren't ready in time for the war if they ever entered service at all.

[@MascottDeepfriar]

Halo is one of the sci-fi universes with an explicit use case for double barreled weapons. An immediate same point impact has a higher likely hood of penetrating covenant shields. The pillar of autumn was modified so that it's main gun could fire 3 smaller projectiles immediately following each other before reload and recharge. This triple hit of smaller projectiles had a higher chance of penetration because of the shield needing time to recover from each impact. If the tanks were magnetically driven then a similar modification may work however they seam to be chemically propelled making a double gun the best option.

[@magniwalterbutnotwaltermag1479]

Just use heavier cluster munitions...

[@smithingbear7522]

​@@magniwalterbutnotwaltermag1479 cluster munitions have a reputation for being unreliable and using a second barrel isn't altogether any more wasteful than just using a fast enough autoloader. The difference is with 2 barrels you're still in the fight even if 1 barrel gets damaged.

[@ZaraTheFemboy]

Smart unit tactics and positioning would make double barrelled tanks irrelevant quickly.

[@smithingbear7522]

@@ZaraTheFemboy not at all, because nine if that Silvestre the technology problem of shields

[@communizzy]

@@ZaraTheFemboytrue, but the covenant did not do tactical innovation. They had one trick in the book, and kept using it until Thel ‘Vadam put a sword through Truth.

[@elitemook4234]

One thing I really like about Halo is how the Covenant civil war was caused in part by their warrior cast developing a grudging respect for humanity.

[@Destroyer_V0]

it was certainly a factor, with some asking the question. Why didn't we add them to the covenant? They would make it that much stronger.

[@halinaqi2194]

@@Destroyer_V0 Yup, it also helped that many of the previous higher ranking government officials and military leaders died, leaving the covenant a shell of its former self when you fight them in 3. They also lose High Charity, which was a huge blow. Even then, they still managed to get a strong foothold on earth.

[@GreenSpleenSubmarine]

@@Destroyer_V0 The Hierarchs did not want to admit that humanity was considered Forerunner (as the original plan went,) so they pushed to have them wiped out.

[@Destroyer_V0]

@@GreenSpleenSubmarine indeed they did.

[@PackHunter117]

@@GreenSpleenSubmarineHumans beings being exactly the same as the Forerunners was changed in Halo 3. Plus humans still are genetically related to Forerunners and ended up being the inheritors of the Forerunners so the logic being the Prophets or San Shyuum hating humanity and misunderstanding Reclaimer still fits

[@zathistory]

Within a park located in my city rests an M4A2 Sherman nicknamed the 'Holy Roller' that was used by the 1st Hussars Armored Regiment during the Second World War. When I heard that name out of context I couldn't help but feel a small sense of pride as the tank sits as a memorial to veterans of all conflicts including the crew of the Holy Roller itself who all survived the war from the D-Day landings until liberation of the Netherlands and the end of the war. Loved the Battle Order style video and hope to see more of them!

[@JacopoSkydweller]

What city would that be? Sounds awesome. I haven't seen a Sherman IRL.... Yet.

[@poldpoldecki7171]

Victoria Park, London.@@JacopoSkydweller

[@JacopoSkydweller]

My man. Added to my list of things when I hit the UK. @@poldpoldecki7171

[@themanformerlyknownascomme777]

@@JacopoSkydweller London, Ontario specifically

[@themanformerlyknownascomme777]

I went to London Ontario for university and I can't belive I missed this! (then again, my own town also has a later 76mm varrient called "calamity")

[@ArchOfWinter]

I think the non-front line elements like command, support, and engineering needs to have at least one Pelican each. The Pelicans are very versatile and might be needed for medivac, communication when jammed, rapid redeployment of specialists.

[@rorythomas9469]

Pelicans all belong to the Navy. Army gets Hornets and Falcons which are probably outside the scope of an RCT. More likely at Division level

[@benhobson3084]

@@rorythomas9469 That makes sense, especial from a maintenance point of view. Ground vehicles and aircraft are going to have very different powerplants.

[@inkedseahear]

@@rorythomas9469 Not really, in Reach there are Pelicans in likely Air Force/Army units (AMX-2 and AMX-42, it's speculated they were Air Force). Pretty sure all those Pelicans with large "MARINES" isn't Navy.

[@45bullshark]

@@inkedseahearmarines fall under the navy but you are probably correct. The Pelican is so much faster than Hornets or Falcons, the Army certainly has their own.

[@iancrowley420]

A pelican would be a huge asset for a maintinence company. Instead of driving all the way out to a battlefield in an elephant, you can just have a pelican shuttling damaged tanks back to the nearest autozone

[@GmodPlusWoW]

You heard it here first, lads; the head of the Holy Rollers loves cougars. I might get put on latrine duty for the next month for saying that, but if you're doing a bit, you've gotta commit. Just like the bit we committed to with those fancy hood-ornaments that led to our regiment's namesake. And of course, the commander's love of these enclosed IFVs is also a bit worth committing to, 'cause it's saved our asses when the going got rough.

[@gabrielandradeferraz386]

makes you wonder why anyone would use anything else

[@inkedseahear]

@@gabrielandradeferraz386 Probably it's 6-wheeled vehicle larger, heavier, and more armed than MBTs

[@pavarottiaardvark3431]

Given that the Scorpion and Elephant have such distinctive silhouettes, it might be helpful to consider distraction, dazzle and disruption camo. Make it harder to the enemy to ID the turret shape or hull edge.

[@tristanbackup2536]

That's what the shaped triangle colour pattern we seen in-lore is. It's based off a Swedish design we have in real life, it's to break up the pattern of the silhouettes of infantry in CQC in their forests.

[@pavarottiaardvark3431]

@@tristanbackup2536 so the triangular Swedish pattern (known as the M90) isn't quite the same thing. Like many pattern, they are designed to *avoid detection* But distraction, dazzle and disruption are somewhat different. Their job is not to avoid detection, but to mess that detection up. Some ships had weird zig-zags that make their exact model harder to judge. Others had fake bow-waves painted on. Neither of these made the ship harder to see, but the DID make the ship harder to target accurately. Perhaps the best example would be what's called a "disruptive mask". During WW2, some Shermans had their gun barrels suddenly change color half way along. This didn't hide the tank, but it might trick the enemy into thinking it only had a small gun (conversely, gun-less tanks would sometimes have fake guns)

[@Blank27]

I'm surprised a company of pelicans aren't included in the unit. Since it's meant to be a rapid response unit.. it should have dedicated pelicans, hornets, and falcons attached for rapid redeployments.

[@gabrielandradeferraz386]

thats a job for the higher ups not for them

[@inkedseahear]

Currently, IRL US Army has their avaition in the division as combat aviation bridges and they decides how air is attach to smaller units. As far as I know, it's similar to the PLA brigades too. Granted, in the Cold War, Army ACR had their own helicopter units, almost like mini-divisons, but it's not for mobility/redeployment, because you'd need a lot more aviation assets. But they converted them to SBCT/ABCTs or Combat Avaiation Brigades.

[@Kazako83]

Pelicans seem to be Navy/Marine assets, and it seems like a waste to give a ground-space dropship to a ground only force. But I agree about falcons, even just 1 or 2 in Regiment HQ could be used to rapidly relocate Command for better views or to scout ahead on their own. Carrying enough to transport a Company could be useful too, for securing a bridgehead.

[@inkedseahear]

@@Kazako83 Well, conside the UNSC Army has to cover entire planets, having an airframe that organically move entire vehicles doesn't seem like a bad idea. Plus, this RCT is meant to be expeditionary, so really it probably should have organic/attached aviation (think MEUs) rather than rely on other arms or units.

[@PrograError]

@@Kazako83 maybe the Falcon or even the Hornet? those are ground based assets / helis....

[@huntokarn.1871]

If I remember correctly, in one of the halo wars games, there's an upgrade you can make to wolverine's that basically turn them into MLR artillery as well as air defense. it might be worth it to replace one or two of the SPG batteries with those.

[@hanzzel6086]

You remember correctly.

[@Orinslayer]

Yeah, they are also much lighter artillery than the Rhino, which is technically super-heavy artillery.

[@matthewtalbot6505]

On the Warthog being an open vehicle with no doors, i remember reading or hearing somewhere that pre-war and early war, they did have closed cabs, but the armoring was too light to matter against covenant plasma weapons and was just slowing the vehicles down.

[@SaviourSword995]

I mean Templin says this type of vehicles is stupid when we know that major military powers has been defeated by using pickup truck with weapons. It is quite effective

[@RJALEXANDER777]

A lot of the deficiencies of UNSC hardware is just them making do with what was on hand, manufacturing proven designs as fast as possible to defend a civilisation in crisis. They did make advancements over the course of the war, examples like the Pillar of Autumn refit and the incremental improvements in Spartan augments were some.

[@SaviourSword995]

@@RJALEXANDER777 yeah but grizzly was built to punch Covenant vehicles like Scrab and Locust who use shielding, didn't mention Cobra, there are 3 different types of elephant, 2 of them are smaller than original one and lots more

[@tristanbackup2536]

WHAT I BEEN SAYING!

[@darkwraithraziel6362]

Even with that being said, SOME concealment would be nice so the jackal sniper has to try a little harder to beam me out of my seat.

[@OniLink147]

This sounds like a solid formation. I'm kind of surprised that the Cobra wasn't brought up at any point, even if only to mention that the double barreled design disqualifies it. I'm not sure you'd be able to requisition 8 Spartans though. Especially towards the end of the war. The IIs were in extremely short supply by that point and the mainstream IIIs were top secret. Theoretically you could have a few CAT 2s because we don't know what their numbers looked like, but ONI is generally pretty precious about their Spartans.

[@LostProblematique]

I KNOW, a cobra would ve really useful for long range direct fire operations against buildings and armor if used in the converted state. Keep it away from direct combat when necessary and use it to snipe away at enemy armored units or covenant walkers with thick armor your tanks cant penetrate

[@inkedseahear]

In lore, Cobra were a CMA project that the Army took, but didn't continue. I assume a lightly armored, wheeled, fixed-to-fire vehicle doesn't have that many places in a highly mobile maneuver warfare. As much as Templin can hate the Kodiak, it is the "mass driver vehicle" he wanted. Not to mention the whole "fast reaction deployment force" sounded more like MEUs

[@KrisHandsome]

I always assumed every UNSC armored unit was built like a French one, but with Scorpions and Warthogs instead of Leclercs and VBLs. The Cougar is much cooler in my opinion though, and it makes much more sense than just having everyone in a Warthog with a slightly different layout

[@MaxwellAerialPhotography]

That’s a very good observation.

[@commando7238]

I hope one day we get something that expands on the UNSC Vehicles cuz there's a lot of them and a lot of them don't get coverage beside hey its a canon unit in Halo Wars and that's really it

[@RT-rx2sj]

Yes yes yes yes yes yes yes! I’m such a nerd I spend my free time massing sci-fi military unit organizations, so I love this. Please do more

[@dweaver8837]

i mean none of this is sci-fi unit organizations, much more like modern military unit organizations placed within a sci-fi world.

[@RT-rx2sj]

Making, not massing. I start recruitment and training next Tuesday

[@RT-rx2sj]

I know, I have my own head cannon universe. The United Human Commonwealth’s military is very similar to a modern day attempt

[@saulgonzalez3305]

Are there any websites or wikis or anything to put/get ideas about that? Seriously, I've spent 10 years wishing for a place about sci-fi military unit organizations and TO/E's

[@RT-rx2sj]

@saulgonzalez3305 If there is I really hope someone can tell me about it. Mostly I just use OneNote. I’ll have one page where I have the maneuver units, and then another for the support. So, for example, on the Infantry page it will have the Infantry Team, Squad, Platoon, Company, Battalion, etc. Then, the Infantry Support page will have the Weapons Platoon, Company HQ, etc. It’s not great but it’s good fun. And I’m always playing around with the formatting

[@icarusgaming6269]

When it comes to surface-to-starship weaponry during the war, the rule seems very clear: These things are not portable. New Alexandria's FPF batteries, the missile launchers shown in the footage here, and the "jury-rigged" mass driver at the final evacuation site were all fixed emplacements. I'm afraid it's just not possible for this type of unit to carry that kind of weapon. That is the job of base security regiments instead

[@Rampant16]

Yep even if the railgun fit on a truck the power source would certainly not. It would be universe-breaking if a tiny reactor in a truck could power a cannon that could threaten a warship with a reactor thousands or millions of times more powerful. A UNSC frigate with a much bigger reactor than a truck would then seemingly have zero issue destroying a covenant corvette using a battery of small railguns. Instead we know that a covenant corvette generally trumps a UNSC frigate. The MAC at the excavation site, while not being all that large, was presumably tied to a much larger power plant somewhere nearby. A land-based mobile railgun might instead be useful for shooting down larger aircraft like the Lich from Halo 4 or for sniping Scarabs.

[@spartanalex9006]

I mean, they could take the Topol-M or Midgetman route and make a road mobile Launcher for an orbit capable nuclear missile. Not that hard.

[@egoalter1276]

The ASAT missile batteries in reach are very clearly portable and deployable. You probably wont have a self ptopelled ground to orbit battery, but you can easily have one that disassembles onto the back of a few elephants.

[@VainerCactus0]

@@Rampant16 You could have the power source in a seperate vehicle or even several vehicles and lower the rate of fire to reduce power consumption. It seems like you can only really affect larger vessels when their shields are down or compromised in some way, so picking your shots would be more effective than a sustained high ROF. Example being when Noble 6 can only shoot the CCS class battlecruiser down once it starts charging its glassing beam thing. Regular AA can deal with Phantoms or anything else they send. The missiles thing seems like a very solvable problem, the stand at the bottom which takes up most of the mass of the unit might not be required or could have its functions replicated by a dedicated vehicle the top turret could be mounted on.

[@EmonWBKstudios]

You don't go to war with the equipment you want, you go to war with the equipment you have. That being said . . . The hills are alive with the sound of 90mm high explosive, tungsten spewing, divine intervention!

[@cameronnewton7053]

If God is love! Then you can call me cupid!

[@jakespacepiratee3740]

The Halo Army that definitely has the best logistics is the Prometheans and the Banished. The Prometheans are only seen on Forerunner Worlds, which have Forerunner Facilitys built into the planet, so they are always on the defense and literally know their battlefield inside and out. Banished on the other hand straight-up set up Mining, Salvaging and Forging Factories wherever they go. They also gladly use any Enemy weapons they can get their hands on. Seeing a Banished Elite using a UNSC Assault Rifle in Halo Infinite was so cool to me. Compare this to the Covenant, which only uses strictly their own sanctioned weapons, and UNSC troops do sometimes use covenant guns in ammo-depleated scenarios, but they dont know how to recharge them.

[@andrewwiggins9262]

Uhh I’m going to have to disagree with this. Normally the side with the best logistics can fight further away from their home and don’t have to scavenge to survive either. Case and point compare the “tooth to tail ratio” of the US, France and the UK to that of Russia or China. The former have proven time and time again they they can conduct combat operations anywhere on earth. As opposed to the later which only fights in their immediate regions.

[@jakespacepiratee3740]

@@andrewwiggins9262 but foraging isnt necessarily a sign of desperation. The Banished do it out of principle. The UNSC and Covenant only use what they bring along with them on their ships. If those ships are taken out, they are trapped.

[@Orinslayer]

One of the massive benefits of the UNSC logistics is that all of their equipment runs on either batteries or hydrogen powered engines or fuel cells. This means you can have all of your fuel carried in water tanks and even "resupply" from the latrines or a stream if you can find one.

[@DonnyTheButterlord]

Using enemy weapons is gonna fuck up your logistics. Now you have a 100 different guns and dozens of bullets to make for your troops instead of a few standardized equipment

[@jakespacepiratee3740]

@@DonnyTheButterlord well most human UNSC guns fire metal pellets so it would be pretty easy for banished mining facilities to make new ammo for them.

[@6-4crusader55]

24:40 do not quote me on this, but I’m pretty sure the plasma rhino in halo wars one was a described as a modification specifically to bring down a large shield, and regular rhinos don’t fire plasma

[@inkedseahear]

So far, no information on the "regular rhinos" we only have the modified M145Ds

[@colekenney2965]

That's the understanding given by the dialog

[@MAC1072]

Overall I think I would have a similar layout, but given a late war scenario, 2 Spartan fireteams is a really big ask. The numbers were a bit…spartan at the time. I think you could get similar results by having two ODST squads attached to the regiment. While not as flashy as Spartan super soldiers, ODSTs can still present an immense amount of capability.

[@MyName-qv3eg]

Maybe 4 ODST teams

[@mattstorm360]

Can't wait to see more battle groups and regiments. Hope we get one for the expanse. Building an MCRN fleet for the purpose of that raid on the UN. Help Bobby slam the MCR flag in the statue of liberty's torch.

[@ElysiumCreator]

Amazing idea, lots of info about Martian vehicles as well as UN vehicles

[@Meyer-gp7nq]

That would be a fantastic video 👌

[@ArmorCast]

This is a fantastic video, because it really does highlight to potentially a mostly video-game-focused audience just how huge of an undertaking even a relatively small military deployment is. I'd love to know what kind of naval assets are needed to transport the 1st Armored Regiment around the galaxy... How many ships are needed to get this unit into theatre, and what sort of initial setup is required for those ships to land with this kind of force? Is there a "Ready Brigade" of the Holy Rollers for instance? A light, rapid deployment wing who's job is to capture/secure a deployment zone where the rest of the unit can amass its forces? One imagines this would be similar to the US army's two Airborne divisions, the 82nd and 101st... who interestingly are just adopting their first new tank in 50 years! There are two major aspects I think you've forgotten however, and the first is company-level air defences. You don't have 'em! There are a lot of companies here which will want to operate with some level of tactical independence, that a wing of Banshees or Phantoms could do some serious damage to. The air defence BATTALION is an important factor in this formation, but it can't be everywhere at once, and your cavalry units operating on the fringes, as well as of course the regiment HQ which are high-value targets, and even the combat engineers when performing tasks like bridge-laying or mine-clearing, need anti-aircraft support just as much as the combined arms teams. I imagine the covenant will also be sending Banshees to take out the 1st's artillery and orbital defence battalions in order to allow free movement of their own troops, something your current force structure can't effectively account for. While the soldiers probably carry some kind of man-portable air defence systems, that is not enough. There are two solutions here; either the ADA battalion is split into component companies that can then be assigned to the combat units, this is how the US army's airborne will deploy their new tanks for instance, OR at least some if not all of said units need their OWN sections of air defence vehicles. You could say that of the multitude of Warthogs operated by each of these units, some are outfitted for air defence, but you didn't specifically mention this, and ideally these should be structured air defence platoons rather than just "a few warthogs with missile turrets thrown in". The other thing I think you've forgotten or neglected, is aircraft. While an army regiment, unlikely to be able to operate Broadsword fighters or Paris class frigates organically, that's the navy's job... a few Falcons, Hornets or even some more Pelicans for the headquarters, cavalry/reconnaissance, distribution and even artillery units for forward observation, would be perfectly within the parameters of the Holy Rollers, and in this analyst's opinion entirely necessary. You need some kind of aerial reconnaissance, some way to deliver the Warthogs and Scorpions to the fight without having to drive them everywhere under their own power, and some way to ferry squadrons of troops across larger distances without having to employ the navy's ships to do it. The 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions for example operate both AH-64 Apache attack helicopters, and MQ-1C combat drones, along with Black Hawks and even Chinooks, for air support, recon and logistics. As a paratrooper unit they operate closely with the Air Force for strategic mobility, C-17s mainly, but they have their own aircraft for smaller scale operations. Moving this force across a developing combat theatre without a few Pelicans, and conducting recon without those Falcons, is going to take time the UNSC do not have. Add some.

[@nercksrule]

Considering that a Stalwart-class frigate like the "In Amber Clad" from Halo 2 can carry a compliment of 200 Marines and 64 ODSTs, it would take AT LEAST 16 Stalwarts to move the regiment from one solar system to another. This could be scaled-sideways to 8 Stalwarts and two Epoch-class heavy carriers, since a single Epoch-class has an entire Marine battalion as its on-board contingent.

[@IsoDidact]

If the canopy is made of the same thing as the Owl's in Ghosts of Reach then it isn't glass and is incredibly sturdy.

[@dylandarnell3657]

According to the Gremlin's lore, it's not even a window, just armor plate with a display on the inside. I can't find where the Gremlin is specified as a Bison variant, though, so grain of salt.

[@GhostEye31]

Frankly while you may not like the Grizzley I think there might be something said about having one platoon in each of the tank companies be a heavy platoon for if you really needed to anchor a position against all comers. Also as someone else mentioned, there was only a handful of Spartan II's left at this time. You'd never get 8 of them. 8 Spartan III's arent as useful as you think unless they get Mjolnir which most dont. Not only that but as far as I recall they were Naval Special Warfare. You'd have a better chance of getting a platoon or two of Helljumpers even they were also not army.

[@communizzy]

On the topic of Mjolnir, I think they say that a set costs as much as a starship somewhere, so you’d have to REALLY justify that expense for a unit such as this

[@CT1P]

From the Halo encyclopedia it says that the Rhino uses ''heavy fuel rods in a artillery shell fired from a custom built howitzer'' @Templininstitute

[@colbywarren4364]

it also never left the prototype stage and was barely manufactured due to high cost and low amount of parts required

[@SGTShorty65]

I think the idea of the Scorpions’ raised turret is to fire over significant cover or friendlies. The Grizzly was designed to go against enemy bunkers and armor, with its’ double barrels allowing mixed rounds for multi-target engagement, and/or breaking shielded targets. The Grizzly isn’t suppose to fire both barrels at once, unless the target requires it.

[@Marylandbrony]

I actually recall reading starship troopers and the whole support stuff is more or less hand waved by being done by private contractors and the whole military is basically soldiers. There is even basically a prolonged essay that deals with it. Even when it was like 14 I thought it was kinda of dumb.

[@Bobity87]

Not really. A lot of the platoon level logistics, repair and support was done in house. Sergeant Johnson was a renown cook, Rico helped in the suit shop and what not. Then there were combat engineers mentioned in one chapter and they seemed to be given high praise. It always bugged me though that it was the troopers that did everything. If you lose the only guy in your platoon that knew how to work the suits, how could you fight? All though I think there was Navy "doctor" that worked them.

[@eyesack6845]

Luckily starship troopers is a political comedy disguised as an action movie and not to be taken seriously as an action movie.

[@inkedseahear]

I heard the US actually did outsource a few of its logistics chain to contractors during GWOT and they didn't like how it might work in larger scale combat, they're planning to revert back.

[@snoopyowen239]

He's talking about the book by Robert A. Heinlein which is far different than the movie. @@eyesack6845

[@PrograError]

@@inkedseahear peacetime dividend, everyone and their knacks are being outsourced... except for DPRK , basically all military has some form of outsourcing of something military related.

[@roguecarrick816]

couple things; according to some of the halo books warthogs actually do have doors and what not the game ones are just stripped down to the minimum, you gotta remember that plasma grenades stick. being able to get out in a hurry has proven more important than the armor that covenant weaponry burns through scary fast, I suspect at some point there was a hog variant with a crows type system, but its long since fallen out of fashion, the current armament is designed around the idea that every trooper in the service has swung one of these things at some point, a gunner is replacable in a hurry, fancy electronics are not. i also think cobras in the cav unit (or even artillery) would be sensible. the cobras railguns would make a mockery of anything lighter than a scarab and even those big ugly walkers stumbling into a locked up and braced group of them are going to have a bad time.

[@markazade]

My Halo lore is a little rusty, but IIRC the UNSC doesn't bother with armor on most it's vehicles because they best defence (if any) is speed, as I think armor is super weak to covvie plasma. Plus as an interplanetary force it's very important most your stuff can he shuffled about by pelicans. But bless you for talking about logistics and Engineering. So underrated and vital.

[@Kazako83]

It’s kind of funny, to be honest it’s kind of Cold War Era Soviet Doctrine. Speed, low profile and an emphasis on not being hit, plus an autoloader. It’s interesting when so much of the UNSC is America/NATO Centric.

[@Rampant16]

@@Kazako83 I gotta disagree, the Soviet stuff at least had a lot of firepower. There mechanized forces were also riding around in BMPs rather than unarmored, open-top jeeps and quad bikes. And Soviets had a shit load of artillery. None of the UNSC vehicles have a low profile, Scorpion and Elephant are both comically oversized. Only the Mongoose and Warthog are fast. I'll give you autoloaders. The amount of vehicles we see in the main FPS games are pretty limited. And I don't think any of those are very comparable to any popular Soviet vehicles. Scorpion is too big and too slow to be similar to a T-series cold war Soviet tank.

[@Rampant16]

Halo vehicles just don't make a lot of sense and there's no use trying to make them make sense. They're just suppose to be cool. Given that Frigates can land on planets to offload troops, the UNSC would seemingly be less concerned with small and light vehicles than the US military. US military is very concerned with what can be carried in a cargo plane. Whereas the UNSC is always moving stuff between planets with huge ships. Plus a Pelican can carry a whole Scorpion, the UNSC has a shit load of Pelicans. Scorpions aren't invincible but they're pretty damn good. UNSC wouldn't need Master Chief as often if they just airlifted in 50 Scorpions instead. We never see Covenant armor massed in such numbers to deal with a true armored assault of dozens or hundreds of UNSC tanks. The biggest issue would be that Scorpions don't fit on most maps.

[@SaviourSword995]

​@@Rampant16it doesn't matter if covenant will glass your shit from Orbit so these things are even useless. And Bison is not even a bad vehicle. He just picked the modified version of it when Serina was field testing it. So he is nit picky

[@nickandrusin7122]

8 spartans would be a big ask, especially this late in the war. Regardless this is incredible!!! I love the holy rollers and need them to be canon now.

[@notapairofjeans1076]

One universe that might be cool to talk about technically is the Terran Dominion from starcraft 2 due to them having a reverse strategic problem that many others face. The Terrans after brood war are in a position where the resources to build and create weapons of war are plentiful but the manpower to operate them is very limited. This affects their doctrines to be a mix of hit-and-run attacks as well as highly fortified positions, where their equipment is highly advanced and expensive when compared to say the UNSC. I'd be interested to hear y'alls take on how effective their tactics would be and how you would use the might of the Terrans to push the alien invaders from Korhal's door step.

[@theliato3809]

Isn’t there issues less a lack of manpower and more they’re facing off agaisnt the tribes of a massive alien empire and xeno swarm. They’ve got plenty of manpower to call on from the many Terran colones

[@robertdrexel2043]

Huh. I was just thinking about something like this. As I did do a barebones Order of Battle for the Raiders for an older fanfiction project I had been working on. So yeah this video did give me some ideas for a redone version of that order of battle. Now that I am more more older and a bit wiser overall in such things.

[@notapairofjeans1076]

@@theliato3809 Well in Legacy of the Void the population of Korhal is 6.3 Billion people. Which is much smaller than that of Modern day Earth. The colonies are all much less populated Korhal as well. It must be noted that a very large percentage of the population in the sector was wiped out with the fall of the Tarsonis, and the many colonies that fell in the opening stages. And that was just the first few months as billions more died at the beginning of wings of Liberty. It is highly unlikely that the Dominion population exceeds more than 30 billion people which for a relatively large space-faring empire is pretty small. This is why you very rarely see humans outside of either power armor or vehicles because they have the resources to produce lots of hardware but it takes 18 years to make a new maraine.

[@notapairofjeans1076]

@@robertdrexel2043 I have been thinking of writing a "what if" story for Heart of the Swarm. It would be what if Raynor fled to Shakaras instead of Umoja. The opening drama would be able Kerrigan dealing with the widespread hatred from everyone around her, but wanting to redeem herself. The main antagonists would be Mengsk and the cerebrate from brood war, who would be on Auir, hence why the Protoss don't just kill Kerrigan. Not sure if I have the time to make a proper mod or anything for it but I thought it was a neat concept.

[@theliato3809]

@@robertdrexel2043 with the raiders at times I think how they operate is where gameplay and story merge together.

[@charliebush9430]

Given how badly UNSC protection (armour/countermeasures) stands up, the lack of protection on their vehicles makes more sense. The warthog and bison are exposed but rely on being fast enough to not get hit and allowing the crew to bail out fast whilst the scorpion is tall and sticks out like a sore thumb but has amazing fields of fire for the main gun and allows interesting hull down stlye positions which could let it get the first shot off so protection matters less, especially on the defensive

[@Rampant16]

Unfortunately for the Scorpion hull down does nothing to protect it against a Wraith's plasma mortar. It's probably a liability to remain stationary given that a mobile Scorpion should be able to dodge the low velocity plasma mortar bombs.

[@salvagedude625]

the warthog is basically just an unarmored humvee (the variants that have a bunch of stuff taken off), and can probably be treated as such with minimal to no differences.

[@altoshark]

I would have switched out the two spartan teams with 6 or more odst teams. The reason behind this decision is the lack of spartan teams available near the end of the conflict (very few spartan 2 & 3 left) and since you will be taking casualties it's easier to replace odst than it would be to replace spartans.

[@lavellelee5734]

Do odsts compare to Spartan 2s? 😅 I keep thinking it's like ff7, Zack is cool at third class, but sephiroth is 1st. Very hard to reproduce super humans of that level.

[@Ajc-ni3xn]

25:04 halopedia says that the ammo for the rhino's gun is capable of taking plasma shells, which are just 320mm shells with fuel rods as filler, meaning the rhino can probably fire non-plasma shells, and the plasma is pretty simple to store.

[@a-aronlincoln6309]

I think you may have over estimated how many Spartans per division would "realistically" be available but everything else was amazingly well laid out.

[@whaaaaaaap]

Uhh, we already have transparent aluminum. It’s called ALON. If I remember correctly, it’s technically an aluminum alloy. It’s used as bulletproof glass. Edit: I’m talking about @11:40

[@ranger4367]

Requesting a break down on what is needed for a fully functional air base. With a mix of interceptor, ground attack aircraft as well as logistic and support craft for front line units

[@garrettharriman6333]

I must vehemently disagree with your choice of Artillery vehicle. I'll agree that the Kodiak looks goofy, but it is the superior vehicle for the regiments needs. Wheeled vehicles require less maintenance than tracked vehicles, which helps your grease monkeys keep working on the tanks, and are generally faster. The name of the game with artillery in Large Scale Combat Operations is "shoot and scoot, and that speed, especially after stripping some of the armor off, will help a great deal in dodging counter battery fire. The Kodiak was adopted when the UNSC wasn't in a crunch to play technolocal catch-up with the Covenant, which means you've had proper proving time to work out all the kinks and your crews will already be familiar with it's operation. As for "keeping up with the tanks," remember that the vehicle isn't the weapon, the shells are, and those shells have a range in excess of 30 kilometers.

[@SaviourSword995]

Or take Cobra. That is even better

[@kazak8926]

Hear me out, but my understanding (in the modern context) was that Brigades were generally the smaller combined arms counterpoint to divisions, and Regimental Combat Teams would be ad-hoc creations at the front, not a dedicated unit. I could be wrong and this is an alternate universe, so it very well could be different.

[@MJS-lk2ej]

I believe your understanding is correct, however due to the late war setting, they probably don't have the resources to supply enough brigades, they are effectively rationing personnel.

[@kazak8926]

@@MJS-lk2ej That makes sense, thank you. And I believe that he is aware of that as well, since the RCT is subordinate to a Division on paper when he discusses the name.

[@inkedseahear]

Well USMC still uses RCTs are permeant organizations, like Army uses BCTs.

[@bottasheimfe5750]

the funny thing about the Cyclops is it actually was initially designed as a support vehicle as you described. it was used by the Spirit of Fire in combat situations because they were desperate for anything that could fight. but in the lore, the exoskeletons are more often used as heavy lifting equipment.

[@lyman6]

This is probably my new favorite series on this channel, competing with Stellaris Invicta. Can't wait to see what more you do with it. Building your Imperial Guard Regiment/Imperial Navy Battlegroup/Space Marine Chapter for 40k? Maybe something much more small scale, like min-maxing the hell out of a special forces team in some setting? Building your Starfighter squadron? So much potential!

[@gabrielandradeferraz386]

I have always wanted to know what a cadian mechanized regiment looked like

[@Cytrynid]

I cannot believe myself, but I'm gonna defend UNSC varieties of camouflages: You see, while those camouflages would work awful vs humans, their main role is to foul covenant soldiers, whose eyeballs can work quiet differently. If some of them can see in ultraviolet it would be better to have darker violet pattern than khaki - first one would be a black hole in their vision and would reflect less light, making it harder to spot it before it's too late. If some of them see the world in blue then blue camouflage it is and so on. It is ok to have a human one in the early stages of war, when you can only assume that what tricks the human brain would work on others, but as the conflict progresses tanks crew would quickly switch to counterintuitive option if this would increase their chances.

[@tristanbackup2536]

I always thought it's one of the reasons why the UNSC was experimenting with everything they can with every camo pattern from 500 years worth of research to simply slapping some blue paint on the Scorpion's turret to see if it works. With a civilisation crisis like that war, you want everything, no matter how silly. Russian-Ukrainian war proving that already with experimental stuff I been seeing with commercial drones attached with morta shells, cope cages to yellow & blue sticky tape.

[@Michael-vh3jp]

My main issue is how quickly you dismissed the Grizzly. It is the same speed (roughly) as a scorpion, has superior armor, as well as being more equipped to deny the covenant the ability to use phantoms to deploy troops as the grizzly can decimate it. As a frontline tank, not a necessarily good option, but as a specilized unit to prevent the covenants deployment of infantry and armor, it would work.

[@charlessmith9903]

Being a former tanker in the US Army I would choose the Grizzly in a freaking heartbeat. It's just a beast compared to the Scorpion. I would then combine the Infantry with the tanks. Soviet style tank riders. Edit: I would also use Pelican or Falcon Gunships for the cavalry. Think air support or a QRF that can deploy as a recon force or reinforcements. Edit 2: I know in the 2023 IRL Army tanks are starting to be Arty. We have rounds that can fire into the atmosphere then are laser guided down up to 100 clicks away. I may also recommend a fister in the armor company. (A fister is a mortar that is in an IFV that is used for immediate fire support). Also we have a new layout we're testing that basically shrinks the ABCT to a Battalion level. Then multiply them for a Regiment, Brigade, etc. So by the 26th century a Company or Platoon may have the power of a 21st Century Brigade. As for the new layout Battle Order does a video on it which is interesting.

[@bobybimberbod8500]

To be fair we only see two kinds of cyclops models. 1: A glorified forklift with a jackhammer and some sort of multitool that will get Forge court martialed if it ever comes to light he used them on covenant structures. 2: Those exact same ones but with a railgun bolted to one of the arms because halo wars 2 didn't want to give us the cobra.

[@TheChrevil]

In defence of the Codiac well kind of, I think the designers took inspiration from the Swedish Archer aka FH77BW L52. Now that is a terrifyingly effective weapon system. The Codiac, with a few design changes to bring it more in line with an Archer then the UNSC has some thing special.

[@inkedseahear]

He wanted a field artillery that's a mass driver The kodiak is a 152mm electro-magnetically powered howitzer.

[@steelglade1401]

i remember reading a book where the mc complained about not having enough socks during trench warfare. that really made me think just how much supplies id normally take for granted would be needed for a combat unit.

[@ollikoskinen1]

Well, if the battle group has 5000 personnel, and they get seven pairs of socks, that would mean 35 000 pairs of socks. And I'd wager they would also have wool socks. Of course, one shouldn't use just one pair of socks in a boot. Douple layer of socks will keep your feet from chafing so much with boots and reduce the risk of getting blisters. Edit: And food and water comsumption snowballs. A regular office worker usually eats something like 1800-2000 kilocalories worth of food and drink a couple litres of water. A soldier often need 3000-4000 calories and water intake rises also.

[@steelglade1401]

all valid points but its the logistics to supply those basics that really boggles my mind. like if not enough socks get delivered (which I'm sure has happened more then once) best case that can be a health concern @@ollikoskinen1

[@Cas-Se78.97]

I do have to thank whoever does the captions for these videos, as so many youtubers don't take that effort. However, there appears to be a mistake in this video - the captions for the air defense section are placed before the captions for the engineers, even though the video has them in the reverse order. This has caused the first set of captions to fly by extremely quickly and then freeze for a while on the last line of the engineer section. Thanks!

[@thatoneguywhodoesthatthing913]

I hope you don’t mind but I’d like to add my own two cents regarding command vehicles and your IFV of choice. It’s not exactly uncommon for units to modify their own equipment to better suit their operations. While I was in the marines we had a commander stick the shell of our MRQ (the HMMWV with our radios inside of said shell) onto a 7-ton’s trailer because the MRQ was so overloaded that it couldn’t go up hills without overheating the engine. So it wouldn’t be too far of a stretch for a regimental CO to commandeer a spare M35 Cougar, rip the guns and ammo out, and stick a bunch of radios and digital command systems inside of it. So I would say it’s perfectly believable for you to have a “command cougar” for your forward command element.

[@TemplinInstitute]

Good to know! I guess I just assumed the equipment would be a bit too sophisticated for that kind of thing. Thanks for letting me know, always interested to learn more about this kind of thing.

[@thatoneguywhodoesthatthing913]

@@TemplinInstitute Honestly I think the more advanced systems become, the easier they are to make modular. I was in the DASC and I know for a fact that other than a trailer that housed our network server (which linked us to our radios in the MRQ that was safely displaced), the only thing special about any of our equipment was the programs loaded onto our laptops. The system was the people more so than any of the equipment. Technological progression should solve the issue of any miniaturization requirements, after that it really boils down to how badly the UNSC wants to use proprietary computers designed for specific roles in specific equipment, rather than a sufficiently durable toughbook equivalent bolted to the dashboard.

[@dreadpiratekeane]

Heinlein's "fix" for the tooth to tail ratio was interesting. He had each soldier trained in multiple tasks to lessen or eliminate the need for support services. This potentially leads to its own set of problems though. Besides taking far longer and requiring a much larger investment in the training of individual soldiers, potential casualties would be far more costly to the unit as a whole. Imagine a normal patrol going out and taking a casualty but its far worse because that recon scout was also the company's armorer.

[@DouglasHollingsworth1]

Yessss, I'm loving this mini-series so much. First the Star Wars rebel hunters, now this

[@PeterReid1993]

My weary cav scout heart did a chuckle when you mentioned the squadron. Incredibly similar to a Stryker Squadron. What I saw more of in the cavalry squadron was what's known as FPL (Forward Passage of Lines) and RPL (Rear Passage of lines). Your cav squadron will be pushed a kilometer or two forward of your main force, conducting our reconnaissance tasks and such. Then when we identify a desired objective, an infantry element will push and conduct an FPL with us and stage near by with us becoming their local security and they will dismount and prepare to assault the objective. OR we as recon assets will come into contact with an overwhelming force and we will fall back while communicating with the infantry elements to push forward. So we'll fall back behind their advancing line conducting that RPL and then we'll fall in with them and hopefully destroy the enemy. Occasionally we will assault an objective on our own, however it's usually not a compound or fixed structure. It will be something like a re-trans site to gain access to enemy communications. Reconnaissance isn't just physical observation, it is also electronic. Radios, drones, GPS, etc. Sometimes a map is the most you can get and you're just gonna have to fuckin full send it.

[@mikeshogunlee]

*Dragon Age: Build an Entire Army* A city-state in the Free Marches has requested the Templin Institute's aid in marshaling an Army to defend against Darkspawn incursions; and possible Nevarran conquest.

[@joshthomas-moore2656]

The only thing i'd change with this combat team is i'd rip the IFV's out the recon elements and just equip them with Warthogs, yes they are less well armoured but they have a small profile so are hard to spot, they also have a good field of view, also they can do the more active scouting roles. (Plus i'm just concerned about the number of the M35 that are avalible in the time set for the unit) If the Recon elements need to have the IFV's you could just keep them in the command units and swap them out as needed per mission.

[@Scuzzlebutt142]

This is pretty much a doctrinal thing historically, US vs everyone else. Most non-US recon is lightly equipped, as you suggest, where US recon has IFVs. The Theory is you go in, beat them up and take the Intel, where others just get some binoculars and watch.

[@mekboy7403]

Point of having IFVs and sometimes even tanks as in recon elements is Recon in Force. Basically they roll up and hit hard to see how the enemy responds, and if by chance the recon force manages to find a gap in the enemy defenses then that element has the firepower there to take full advantage of it and turn the mission into a full blown assault or quick raid depending on the circumstances.

[@zingbop4069]

This was an amazing video! I'd watch this format for any sci-fi or fantasy, looking forward to more! My only quibble is with the Spartans, as they don't fit your parameter at 4:50 of making the Teams small/expendable enough to lose to orbital glassing. I assume Spartans would be attached to divisions, armies, or corps and specially assigned to key operations, rather than being integrated into brigades or regiments. But I'm also not a Halo lore expert, so maybe I'm underestimating Spartan numbers? Thought there were like ~100s max total.

[@Augment_Failure]

I think something that is overlooked is whether this is a regiment designed from the get go to be a garrison unit on a colony or potential reinforcements for a colony under attack. The difference being, that considering whatever the regiment consists of, the infrastructure required would be needed as well. For a colony under attack, the logistics needed to deploy a Rhino or Elephant would be required in the reinforcement fleet. As such, a Phoenix or Charon class would be needed to deploy something on the scale of Elephants. Those ships would likely need to be escorted by a battle group to ensure they could make landfall in the first place. A garrison unit, on the other hand, could be deployed before said colony is under threat, taking advantage of the current aerospace control. The heaviest units could be deployed by the Phoenix and Charon's without need for an escorting fleet and without threat of losing those units either. I apologize, I feel like I'm overcomplicating my point, so I'll attempt to simplify. The Scorpion, Warthog, Pelican, etc. would be ideal for a reinforcement fleet of Navy and Marine units due to their commonality on most UNSC ships regardless. However, the Elephant, Rhino, and Grizzly would require more specialized landing craft and if utilized should be deployed as part of a garrison regiment of the Army before the colony is under threat. The choice of the Scorpion over the Grizzly is in error, imo. The dual 120mm guns were proven to bring down a Wraith in a single volley vs the Scorpion which would require round after round to put down said vehicle. The Cougar could handle the rate of fire problem the Grizzly lacks, and if not, then simply have a single company of Grizzlies rather then a whole regiment. Let it not be underestimated that the additional firepower and armor that the Grizzly can provide would be invaluable during a UNSC armored assault. I would of preferred the Kodiak to the Rhino assuming that it's lighter whilst providing an increase in firepower and that the Rhino didn't have a predecessor to the Delta variant. I don't think that the Fox cannon would be a useful anti-orbital weapon system to be fair. Unless against large dropships like the Lich or maybe a CRS class light cruiser, I doubt it would be all that effective. However, I would desire it's firepower against potential super-heavy platforms such as the Scarab, Harvester, and Kraken. As a summary, while I do think that some choices of weaponry are in error, such as the addition of 2 Full Spartan teams to a simple Army regiment, thereby locking the type of warfare method they can engage in to the limitations of they're host unit. I can agree to most of the choices made for this ARCT. Excellent fanon lore!

[@andy8026]

Nice Video! For me, it would makes more sense to move the Orbital Defense Battery to the Air Defense Battalion.

[@Kazako83]

Personally I think a conventional artillery piece is a little bit low tech for the job too. Ships would not stay stationary and I reckon accuracy would be poor as ships move pretty fast, even when glassing. I would go with a missile system myself (Like something we saw at the end of that mission is Reach w/the evac). Nothing too logistically heavy either.

[@PrograError]

@@Kazako83 well.... the ships are bloody huge... it'd be fine... as long as they don't start the plasma first before the the turret start to spin...

[@MrSHADOWANGEL999]

Templin knows what the unsc likes

[@LockeLynx]

Having now watch this video in its entirety, I can say that the person lecturing here would get along with Colonel Ackerson and Major Silva from the Halo novels. Those two prefer traditional military hardware over SPARTANs and mechs, despite knowing how useful they are.

[@Rampant16]

Spartans were at least flexible and low-profile enough to avoid being glassed. The effectiveness of UNSC conventional ground forces was largely irrelevant when the inevitable end of almost every ground campaign win or lose was glassing from orbit.

[@LockeLynx]

@@Rampant16 agreed

[@chrisbeer5685]

Cool video, and I agree with a lot of it, but here's what I'd do differently: -For a rapid reaction force that would expect to be transported to the battlefield the amount and weight of vehicles seems a tad excessive. Haven't bothered to count, but that seems like even more vehicles than a modern US armoured BCT. I'd slim down the headquarters companies liason vehicles, and/or replace them with M121 Jackrabbits or M274 Mongooses. Lack of armour shouldn't be a major issue if they're used well behind the front line. - In a similar vein, an organic orbital defense Battery seems a bit excessive to lug to distant planets. Surely the Brigade can make due with a combination of static defenses and attached support from higher headquarters. - M700's lower profile and stealth features would make it ideal for service in the cavalry Squadron's tank company. Even if they're rare, one company of them for an entire Brigade doesn't seem like a huge ask. Having two types of MBT's in one formation could introduce headaches yes, but worth it imho. -Give up on having any Spartans at all. Maybe a Platoon of ODST if you're lucky.

[@Robitron2084]

Ik this comment is a year old, but the Vipers weren't just rare, they were decommissioned. The little amount of lore we have on them says the last time they were used was at the beginning of Operation: TREBUCHET, around 12 years before the start of the Human-Covenant war in 2525. If our theoretical Holy Rollers were in service at the end of the war in the late 2540's or early 2550's, that's kinda like asking command for a company of Pattons. The only ones left would be in boneyards or museums

[@ImperatorZor]

In the 16th and 17th centuries England faced a growing problem: a shortage of wood. Its population was expanding, which meant more homes to build and more fireplaces, stoves and ovens to cook. It was also when Britain began to reach across the sea on wooden ships (which often got eaten by shipworms) and were armed with cannons. A ship of the line would have more than 60 cannons, each a multi-tonne mass of cast iron shooting spheres of cast iron. Casting all that iron required fuel. Forests were clear cut for firewood and farms, but demand increased. As such, people switched from burning wood to burning Coal, which England has a lot of. At first, they mined surface deposits. Then they dug deeper. But as they did so, miners would often face the problem of flooding. Mines could be pumped out, but doing so required a lot of time with horse. As such, a natural philosopher named Thomas Savery created a steam powered pump in 1698. Latter, in 1712 Thomas Newcomen invented the Newcomen Atmospheric Engine, which used steam to push up a piston and cooled it down by spritzing some cool water into the piston chamber, which reduced the pressure and caused the piston to go down. The Newcomen Engine was better and became the standard of mine engines in England for the Next Sixty years, even though it was by it’s very nature an inefficient coal hungry machine that was only really good for pumping out mines. Then Scottish inventor James Watt would refine the design between 1765-75. The Watt Steam Engine made use of High Pressure Steam and a reciprocating mechanism to discharge it, converting the thermal energy of the steam into kinetic energy that rotated a wheel. The Watt Steam Engine was useful in a much wider range of applications, notably factories far away from rivers and other forms of moving water. The system would be further refined the early 19th century by Richard Trevithick, who would among other things for a special application for use in coal mines. An Engine which could be hitched to a railcar and provide from it’s Location along said line the force to provide Motion. Locomotives would be mostly confined to Coal Mines for their first few decades until 1826 with the completion of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway.

[@falco919]

“Even with its faults, I love the cougar” - Templin Institute 2023

[@LEGOBoy922]

So on the topic of the Mastodon, the lore SEEMS to suggest it existed a little earlier, so it could of been an option for this regiment. Since you mentioned it being preferred, how would you have incorporated it into the unit? Just a 1 to 1 replacement of the Elephant in command elements?

[@inkedseahear]

Given it's an APC, probably replace with the Cougars. Carry less troops with a more powerful weapon (thought just like the Cougar, RWS probably doesn't need to take up more room).

[@reganator5000]

I think the problem with a Halo army description is we don't really see the UNSC's army- yes, some of it is presumably being vaporised in distance parts of reach and halo 3's skybox, but otherwise we just see two types of marine. Obviously, most soldiers we witness are regular marines, and, in rare cases the more combat equipped ODSTs. Given that UNSC marines operate like more like age of sail marines than the modern infrantry units of the same name, I think the weird selection of equipment makes more sense. Essentially, the marines are there to provide a disciplined, professionally employed unit of unskilled bums to perform security and manual labour tasks (because everyone with a proper job on a starship is, by definition, a full on astronaut). This prevents the chance of getting any unfriendly locals on your shiny starships during resupply stops, and they also provide additional starport/city security when a military ship is in town, so are equipped with road vehicles more than combat ones, hence the weird amount of technicals. Plus, being marines, they aren't infantry, and so don't fight from IFVs- by all accounts they fight from pelican landers. Persumably the scorpion's structure is slightly limited by the fact it needs to a) mount to the undercarriage of pelicans very stably b) not require an entire landers worth of crew and c) be proof against vacuum so it can be taken in an out of orbit on the exterior of said landers. They seem to have done the last part by putting large vents in the crew compartment so it doesn't need to worry about either pressurizing or rapid pressure changes. The ODST by comparison ARE an actual combat ready unit, but a deployment strategy of falling out of geostationary orbit doesn't give you any options for vehicular backup. Most tanks can't do 10,000kph without encountering severe performance issues after all. ODST are the weird thing in that they operate more like special forces in terms of equipment- highly specialised infantry units with custom gear, but their function is almost the opposite, given your enemy would need to be blind, deaf, and not in contact with the ground to fail to notice something falling from outer space nearby (an ODST assault would be visible, to the naked eye, for something like 70 miles in every direction).

[@autisthicc9229]

Im not too familiar with the halo lore but I think why the unsc prefers the warthog over more armored vehicles like the cougar is because the covenant can glass almost any unsc vehicle so they're trading the extra armor for more mobility

[@jidk6565]

double barrel tanks have a single reaasonn to exist in Halo Shields. it's actually a pretty good solution to the problem created by an enemy with Shields

[@DigitalRiot28]

You should check the OPTRE mod from Arma 3. It has a bunch of APCs and modified warthog that would suit your needs.

[@RomLoneWolf23]

I'd love to see if the Templin Institute could build a ground army battlegroup for the United Federation of Planets that could've made things very different during the Dominion War.

[@Jerry2die4]

asks for two squads of Spartans, let alone asking just for a single one: "Lol" says Command, "LMAO" they replied

[@Jedi_Spartan]

Imagine that sort of interaction in universe: Officer Institute - "I want two full teams of Spartans assigned to my Regiment!" Ackerson - "What is your justification for wanting 8 or 12 of our best soldiers to be permanently given over to a single unit?" Institute - "Well even the Spartans are going to take casualties so we'll need some backups." Halsey - "Get out..."

[@frankieM_]

24:42 The Rhino's wiki specifically states that it uses special 320mm shells that were created from captured fuel rods. Since it uses specially made shells from captured fuel rods it may be possible for the rhino to use standard artillery ammunition, however the gun on it is called the "plasma munition howitzer" so then again it might be plasma only

[@mekboy7403]

Planets being attacked would be lucky if a single Spartan team was there unless there was a major operation ONI had planned. Asking for two Spartan teams for a single army regiment is an impossible request. Even post war with Gamma Company being active and Spartan IV's being rolled out thats still unreasonable.

[@Robitron2084]

For people curious about the viper tank, the Viper tank model (known in files as the "Stealth Tank") was made during the early years of Halo 1's development, and was made when Halo was being developed as a real time strategy game. When the development vison shifted to a 3rd person shooter, the Viper tank was transferred over and made drivable. By the time Halo's vison was again shifted to be a First person shooter, the 1990's era model was swapped out for the scorpion model (Though we do know that Marcus Letto considered having both tanks in the game.) The viper tank model, as well as other models and features were recovered by the Digsite team, a coalition of 343 employees and modders who sought to find cut Halo content by digging through old bungie files. The recovered files were then added to Halo: The Master Chief Collection's mod menu, for people to mess around with. The viper tank, as well as other cut enemies, vehicles, and weapons throughout Bungie-era games, were then canonized through articles on Halo: Waypoint. In terms of lore, all we know about the viper comes from this quote on Halo: Waypoint: "Introduced into UNSC service in the latter years of the Domus Diaspora, the M700 Viper main battle tank served in first tier Army units up until the early years of Operation: TREBUCHET. The Viper's stealth features and speed led UNSC commanders to orient its mission to direct fire support and mobile response, with the larger and more heavily armored Scorpion taking on other front-line roles." Operation TREBUCHET started in 2513, and was an effort to crush the various armed rebellions throughout the colonies known collectively as the Insurrection. TREBUCHET ended when the Covenant discovered Harvest in 2525 and the Human-Covenant war commenced. Some viper tanks probably saw use during the Covenants first forays into Human controlled space, from desperate forces pulling old tanks out of boneyards, but I doubt it went further than that. By the 2540's, when the Holy Rollers would be serving, any remaining intact viper tanks are probably rusting away in warehouses or open fields.

[@Methyll]

My hypothesis in regards to why we don't see the more practical vehicles from Halo Wars being used in the rest of the Halo lore is really by the time we get close to the events of Reach and after, the UNSC Logistics has been stretched too much and its just not possible to replace things like Cougers, Vipers and Grizzlies and that combat losses are just too high to replace the mores complex vehicles in a timely manner, as such less effective and safe vehicles like the Warthog are seen more compare to the Couger since those ones are just cheapers and faster to manufacture and replace the mounting losses. Because of that Warthogs became the vehicle to fill up a role that was suppose to be for something like the Couger. Its the same with the Navy, where in lore it was stated that the navy by the half and later stages of the war prioritize the creation of more corvettes, Frigates and Destroyers rather than replacement cruisers or other higher class hips since the casualty rates requires them to use ships classes that while may not be as effective but has the advantage of being easier to replace and manufacture in greater numbers.

[@theliato3809]

Not really a hypothesis given what was stated about humanity fighting the covenant

[@BaconShelf]

Minor correction on the Mastodon: they are vehicles which predate the Covenant war, and have historically been used by the UNSC Army and non-UNSC colonial defence forces.

[@Its-Just-Zip]

I'm in love with both standing order number 1 and your one sided feud with glass canopies. Keep up the good work Also RE attaching tanks to HQ and recon companies. Not a bad idea. The US army does this IIRC. Also recon in force is always a fun doctrine.

[@slyllamademon2652]

When you’re fighting the covenant, make sure to requisition as many SR99 Anti Material rifles as you can, if it turns into a guerrilla war, or the enemy is fielding a lot of jirlhanae or sengheli, you will need something that can take these formidable opponents from doing anything of effect.

[@medicentio]

I feel the organization of this unit will coin the phrase "OPEN THE WAY FOR THE HOLY ROLLERS" out of loudspeakers on their vehicles, while the rumble of their columns shakes the souls of other units.

[@lavellelee5734]

Ayeeeeee 😂😂

[@freekashyyyk896]

After re-watching, the only complaint I have is that no mongooses or hornets are included in the recon units. Also having a few falcons in the HQ group may have been useful as well.

[@WolfeSaber]

In my rethink of Halo, for the Scorpion, it'll be a cross between the Scorpion amd the Viper. The tank has its turret on a jack system. With it down, the tank looks like the Viper. When raised, to strike at taregets when in cover, it'll look like the Scorpion.

[@TheTallGuy1992]

The Scorpion tank is a muti-function tank, the turret can be removed and put on a different turret, two examples are the Sun Devil (a quad-barrelled close-AA variant) and the tarantula (a missile carrier)

[@WolfeSaber]

@@TheTallGuy1992 Wasn't deleting that. Just making a tank that's cool, fits into Halo, and is practical in the real world.

[@BernddasBrotB7]

Sounds like the Praying Mantis, a real experimental British sniper IFV thingy from WW2 based on the Universal Carrier

[@WolfeSaber]

@@BernddasBrotB7 Only now mounted with either a 105mm or 120mm ETC cannon

[@inkedseahear]

Ares canon much?

[@PolymurExcel]

You know, since Halo takes so much after the US Military, I think this parallel should’ve been implemented. I believe Warthog is heavily inspired by the real world HMMWVs. When the US first entered Iraq in 2003, the were literally like the Warthogs. No doors, no roof, and the ones that did were either made of canvas or aluminum. A good few ambushes, IEDs, mines, and RPGs later the US learned real quick why it wasn’t a good idea. It literally got to the point where soldiers were literally searching for scrap metal in dumpsters that they could weld into their vehicles for make shift cover. My SGT literally knew the soldier who spoke in front of like the Vice President at the time. Then came the up-armored HMMWVs. Thick ass armored doors that could stop armor piercing 7.62 rounds, and windows that could take sustained AK fire. They also added a backplate and shield as standard for the turrets on the HMMWVs. I’ve heard that the up-armored HMMWVs can take a 105mm shell landing next to it and have the crew survive mostly unharmed. The Ukrainians are making decent use for them as we speak. To compensate for the extra added weight, the army had the engines turbocharged to help.

[@smithingbear7522]

The problem with that is that Covenant weapons inside burned through even the best armor the UNSC had.

[@deef6844]

You forgot to mention that those M808 Scorpions should be fitted with cannons larger than the 90mm we see in the games. There are variants that fit the 105mm. This would improve their combat effectiveness against Covenant heavy armour and infantry alike.

[@Kazako83]

I bet you it could be like a T-62 and 64 situation. The 90MM is probably reserved for use in non dedicated armored situations and the heavier gun would be used in Tank Divisions/Units.

[@tristanbackup2536]

Since Covenant nano-composite armour is weaker, it's only design to handle heat. High explosive to shock energy shields minimal penetration to simply crack a Ghost in half. That's why the UNSC use mainly that smaller shell. It's perfectly use for the war. Only have to see a Wraith which has ridiculously thick frontal armour being well over 1000mm, thicker than any modern tank, the UNSC can penetrate it with 90mm faar to easy, why waste more resources using bigger shells when 90mm does the job? It's a resource/logistic management, Militaries like in our real world don't overmatch a target with unecessary overkill, it's force appropriate response, it's baked into everything, you don't fire a cruise missle to kill a grunt do you? 😂 when a handgun does a cheaper job. Again it's all about logistics/resources response.

[@rebelgaming1.5.14]

We forget that it's the 2500s. The UNSC uses a HEAP round (High Explosive Armor Piercing) and a Tungsten penetrator for heavily armored targets ("How does 90 millimeters of Tungsten strike ya?"). That 90 also proves more than adequate for dealing with Infantry and Armor alike. Wraiths don't stand a chance against a Scorpion and it has no problems dispatching even Scarabs. The problem is everyone compares the Scorpion to a Modern vehicle like the M1 Abrams, and completely ignore the fact this is 500 years in the future. There probably isn't a need for a bigger caliber than 90mm because it can perform the job our modern 120s and 130s can do even better.

[@brandondigiuseppe1111]

I want the last thoughts of the covenant said against us to be "Is that bush shooting at us?" *Bundeswehr Leopard 2A6 tankers have entered the battlefield*

[@triplebog]

I Absolutely love these longer form, more creative, videos from you guys.

[@AFlameofVengance]

I consider the primary reason of Warthogs is that they are cheap and easy to make, modify, and repair in the field. They are the Toyota Hilux with gun of the 26th century. In the current economy you can have 10 Toyota Hiluxes with a .50 calibre gun for the same price as a single Humvee with a same calibre gun. Similarly you can have 100 Hiluxes with a TOW missile strapped to the back for the cost of a single Abrams tank. Hilux with gun has proven to be very effective in modern combat scenarios. The UNSC isn't as concerned with its individual soldier life expectancy as it is with the direct application of firepower to any area as quickly as possible. The planet was lost the moment the Covenant showed up. You're not winning the space battle, and if you did you're not winning the second, third, fourth, or however many it takes for them to gain space superiority. So you want to use what troops you have with the cheapest possible equipment to inflict maximum casualties on the enemies. Your troops were dead the moment they couldn't be evacuated. Time for them to die well. Lore wise the M12 FAV makes a lot of sense, even if we cringe against it due to lack of protection. That doesn't forgive the Scorpion though. Lots of flaws for no reason on an expensive vehicle you want to be as efficient as possible.

[@JustsomeGuy22367]

Well... you've done a Naval Unit and an Army Unit. For Air Force might I humbly suggest an Erusian Tactical Air Wing from the mid-war era of the Lighthouse War?

[@TurboNerdNews]

Love ace combat but would real world units make a good episode?

[@JustsomeGuy22367]

Composition might be interesting. As might the decision to include drones or not, and to what extent the formation is integrated with drones... and there is the possibility of integrating in some of the fictitious aircraft as well.

[@AnguishedDead]

Okay, Imma be real. I love these 'Building a Battlegroup' series. I like building specialized groups in strategy games and this kind of thought exercise is really engaging!

[@IceLordCryo]

We regret being alien bastards, we regret coming to Earth. And we most *DEFINITELY* regret that the Corp just blew up our raggedy ass fleet!! HOO RA!!

[@flyingfortress15]

HOO RA!

[@0megasight]

As usual, you guys knocked this outta the park, but I gotta point out the issue with the desired spartan contingent: of the 75 inductees of the spartan 2 program, only about 33 we’re lucky enough to survive to be fully combat capable. The 8 Spartans you’re hoping for, assuming they’re spartan 2s, are more than a quarter of the entire class. Better hope ONI owes you some favors, or that you’re aiming for the 3s or 4s

[@chemicalhap]

Most likely spartan 3s.

[@irons6101]

I think the reason the UNSC doesn't have many vehicles around military combat formations is probably because the UNSC hasn't been at war with a near peer adversary in centuries. Before the Covenant's arrival, they were dealing with mainly counter insurgency operations.

[@communizzy]

Yeah that’s exactly right, all the unsc had to deal with for centuries before the human covenant war were pirates and the growing Insurrection. By the time the war started, the Insurrection was getting to be a pretty big deal so they were in the process of investing in some better tech (notably Spartans but there was other stuff too iirc) but they were still pretty undergunned compared to if they had had time to prepare for such a contest

[@Rampant16]

The vehicles don't really make sense for the counter insurgency either. We know from the lore that the insurrectionists were using IEDs and ambushing with small arms, similar to Iraq and Afghanistan. But the main vehicles we see, the Warthog and the Scorpion, make little sense in that environment. The Warthog is totally exposed to small arms fire and IEDs. The Scorpion is impractically large for urban environments and extremely slow. They should instead have MRAPs but we don't see those in the main games. Unfortunately, while UNSC vehicles are very cool, they make very little practical sense.

[@tristanbackup2536]

​@@Rampant16 The Scorpion tank is as fast as the Hog in-lore.

[@Spessforce]

As a primarily defensive force, towed artillery systems gives you a lot more guns per battery than a maintenance intensive tracked self propelled system. A real life version would have a lot more trailers in general, a small utility/power generation/whatever trailer behind every warthog would offer a lot useful volume. I like the inclusion of exo suits as a replacement for forklifts. I think the expeditionary focus makes it a much larger force than required with a massive maintenance overhead, but I suppose they might have to literally traverse a planet to defend against a covenant landing on the other side.

[@leonpeters-malone3054]

Only thing I'd add definitely have to add to the list? Spotter/Artillery specialists. Guys on the ground who call it in and make sure they have specialist comms training to do so. You have some sort of forward spotter in the recon section. Thing I'd give you by implication? A comms section. An offensive EW unit and capability. Especially if you're talking about high altitude, low orbit level threats. Especially if you're looking at least making the area for them to be uncomfortable. You want to get that advantage, first shot surprise. So anything to help get you that target info, target profile, make sure you're not seen painting them up? All important. Otherwise, good formation, would enlist. As a side note, I'm wondering about the medical unit, other assorted services. Clergy, dentist, medical, etc. There's a whole heap of people there. I'm not sure people realise how much people are in the support roles. There's a whole heap of them.

[@liamblack1558]

Woot Woot! Another battlegroup vid!

[@Tanktaco]

About the 808 Scorpion design favoring game design fun over a practical tank; I do think a turret mounted like that does make for excellent hull down which your engineering team could help enforce. If it gets blown off its design might even help turn around. The hull would still be well armored to retreat in and one can imagine that the turret is easily replaceable, designed to come off and on easily like the current M1 power pack. In my eyes the 808 was always a lighter rapid response tank, designed with readiness and cost over capability. Leaving for a heavier fighting vehicle, like the unfortunate Grizzly, to where the fighting was thickest. It always did strike me as odd there's not really an ifv or prominent troop carrier, but I guess that's what happens when the star of the show is a knight in shiny armor. Thanks for the fun Templin 💚

[@StuartLegomanLittle]

I have a theory that the warthogs were supposed to be logistical or support vehicles that because of the Insurrection became more numerous than the cougar because the cougars were more likely to be on the front line and had more casualties and thusly when the covenant arrived most cougars forces were destroyed. So some combat engineers got a idea to attach some defensive equipment to the fast Warthog because they saw some insurgents use some like it in battle and it got popular because it was better than nothing

[@StuartLegomanLittle]

And armored vehicles with tracks are not the be all end all. For tanks you would like to have them but for the UNCS most of there fighting before the Human-Covenant, war as well as during the war, is happening in cities and towns that have well established infrastructure like roads and track vehicles are not great for roads but wheeled vehicles are good idea for roads

[@MistahFox]

Even though it isn't canon, I love the Oryx from the Halo mod for ARMA 3. It fits into Halo's design principles perfectly while also being a genuinely practical and realistic IFV.

[@ChipmunkofVengeance]

You need to do Stargate next lol.

[@TemplinInstitute]

After building a regiment with 5000+ personnel, a 4 man Stargate team is sounding pretty damn good.

[@TheArklyte]

Tbh they kind of did. Though it would be fun to see them outfitting two platoons(mission platoon ie specialists like SG-1 and combat/support platoon that defends the gate) and their respective LAVIII/IV, Stryker, BTR-90, BTR-3 and so on vehicles. How would Stryker AGS fair against royal Jaffa not held back by TV show budget, plot armor of heroes and plot holes? Will LAV-AD be good defense against Death Gliders? Will LAV-AD be equipped with laser guided Hydra 70s and programmable airburst ammo for its 20mm chaingun? Will MEXAS ceramic armor be replaced with ceramic tiles similar to those on Shuttle to handle plasma blasts?(the show shows thin plastic panels as excuse for why staff nonlonger kills heroes, but that was a cop out. At least make vests actually have weight). Will they finally abandon "reee, it's good against armor!" P90s for proper SBRs for nonspecialist roles?(no, P90 is not better then M16A3 against body armor, it's only better then MP5 and other SMGs).

[@comentnine1574]

@@TemplinInstitute Or maybe a North American Commonwealth Automatous Infantry Battalion?

[@Amondil1]

​@TemplinInstitute That would be awesome. How would you outfit and equip the SGC of the 2020s from the teams to the facility its self based on our modern military and equipment acquired through the show. Please do this video.

[@doodledibob]

For a command vehicle, I can see a Pelican being ideal for the job. Outfitted with some passive stealth tech, and eschewing heavy weapon mounts for added communications and/or reconnaissance would make it a great C&C platform