Shipbucket

Bumping this thread to get conversation started again.

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Well, I've been looking at you army and I'd say since you're using the Chieftain (A perfectly serviceable tank so long as your enemy doesn't have modern equipment) I'd get rid of the Gepard and replace it with the Chieftain Marksman or Chieftain Sabre SPAAG.
You're also going to need some sort of heavy truck for transporting tanks and other heavy equipment around. I'd also look into a replacement for the M113. I'd look at something akin to the MOWAG Piranha III. While the fact that it's wheeled might count against it, it does have the advantage that it's both bullet proof and amphibious. With the M113 you have to choose one or the other.

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What about Leopards as main battle tanks? I don't think it's too far out of the picture given the fact that lots of smaller countries seem to operate them. They're also a bit more modern than Chieftains, and while North Point would not really focus on MBTs as much as other things - I think having them upgrade to Leopards in the 90s is reasonable. Considering the Challenger 1 as well. But big chance I'll just stick with the Chieftain.

That said, is it even worth bothering with tanks? Why not have an entire army of Land Rovers with anti-tank launchers?

I bumped this thread with the intent of reworking the navy, but don't mind also focusing on the ground forces.

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I've been reading a lot about ground warfare recently so that's what came first to mind.
Anyway, one way to go about it is to buy second hand Leopard 1A3s during the mid 1990ies and upgrade them to A5 standard or maybe A6 depending on how far you want to take it. You might be able to pick up a couple of Gepards at the same time or you could transfer the Marksman turrets from the Chieftain hulls to the new(er) Leo 1s.

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“Close” only counts with horseshoes, hand grenades, and tactical nuclear weapons.
That which does not kill me has made a grave tactical error

Worklist

Source Materiel is always welcome.

Depending on the time frame and the terrain you have in mind for North Point, you could take a look at the Marder series. The basic infantry fighting vehicle was adapted to a complete family of armored vehicles. There's the TAM light tank variant built for Argentina with 105-mm turret, then there's self-propelled artillery (155mm gun and rocket), command vehicles, artillery direction, ammunition supply, mortar, and proposed air defense with 30-mm turret or Roland missiles.

You could have major cost savings on having a very big part of your army using the same basic chassis and powertrain.

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No, that sounds too convenient/contrived. I believe I will go with Leopard 1A1s, Chieftains, Sheridans, and keep the M113s. Nothing is perfect. Especially North Point...

Anyway, the time frame is today (2013). The terrain is variable depending on what part of the country you're in; there are many islands with high volcanic "spines" and impenetrable jungles, and two larger "mainland" islands that I imagine have a mountainous interior giving way to rolling hills and then coastal plains.

Would also like to revisit the idea of using blimps. I don't think I have much justification other than "rule of cool" unfortunately.

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Also for your Air Force why the 47 Super Etendards
There's better attack aircraft from the same era IMHO like the A-7 or the Jaguar which IMO have much greater capabilities in payload and range and with the Jaguar speed. They also have much more room for growth as shown in the YA-7F and the Jaguar variations created in the FD scale threa. Also the number of them, 47 seems a bit off with the rest of your air force.
I don't really know enough about Statesmanship to know North Point's threats but your navy seems a tad bit large (considering it has Burkes) compared to your Air Force for example which are both IMO the two most important defense branches of an Island nation

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Super Etendards because I like them and they add some flavor. I had a friend who's big into air forces design the Flying Corps Order of Battle - so for the "47" number, you'd have to ask him. I believe he chose 50 as the number of aircraft brought into service, with one lost in an accident and two used for spares? Can't remember. It doesn't fit with the Navy because I am trying to rework the Navy to be more in line with the Flying Corps (i.e., smaller and more manageable). The idea is that the Super Etendards have been in service since the 60s or 70s and are just now being replaced by the F2s. A-4s are in service as trainer aircraft only but I believe were once used in the attack role.

Again, will remind everyone that the aim here is not to get the absolute best of every possible era, but rather to ensure that the equipment in use makes sense and seems at least reasonable given the nature of the country in question. This is a country that will end up using second-rate equipment at times.

There are no major "threats" to North Point outside the normal risk of random foreign aggression a neutral country would encounter. A country about 500mi off the northwest coast is undergoing a massive communist-backed revolution and some air strikes have been flown out of my country, but that's about it. The two southern neighbors are inactive run-of-the-mill democracies. So not a whole lot of potential aggression from neighbors. I'm in a similar position as New Zealand.

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Here's some of the artwork he did for the different aircraft, and I note the Super Etendard poster shows 48 aircraft imported with one lost in an accident.

http://ms-06f.deviantart.com/art/North- ... -327036726

http://ms-06f.deviantart.com/art/North- ... 94589&qo=9

http://ms-06f.deviantart.com/art/North- ... 94589&qo=7

http://ms-06f.deviantart.com/art/North- ... 94589&qo=6

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USN components, camouflage colors, & reference links (World War II only)

I came across these the other days and was rather intrigued. Aircraft wise they all seems perfectly plausible too.

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