Armed Forces in LARP

by Lauri Gardner

This is meant to be an introductory essay into how armed forces work and how you can integrate them into LARPs. The definition of 'armed forces' encompasses any large group of people who are armed and can be identified to belong to an organization. That is everything from soldiers to militias to the police. Unfortunately creating an article that would encompass all types of armed forces past, present, and future would either make it so vague as to be unusable by prospective LARP writers or then cause the body of text to run into several volumes! For this reason I have limited myself to analogies from modern sources.

One of the key issues in LARPs is how to portray these types of groups and individuals, and how they fit in with the overall idea of the game.

An important matter to consider is how each group differs from each other. Below I have gathered a list of the three major types of armed forces.

National Defense Forces
National Defense Forces are highly structured and work as a part of the government infrastructure. They contain within them roughly five combat arms: air force, ground force, naval, marine corps, and nuclear force. Each combat arm is made up heavy units, medium units, and light units. The training, equipment, and, purpose among individual units varies highly. Special forces have five primary missions: unconventional warfare, foreign internal defense, direct action, special reconnaissance, and counterterrorism. National defense force's may also have conscription, maintaining a civilian reserve.

Paramilitary Organizations
Paramilitary organizations are those organizations that are distinct from the regular armed forces but resemble them in organization, equipment, training, or purpose. Basically, any organization outside of the formal military that accomplishes its purpose, even partially through the force of arms can be considered a paramilitary organization. These organizations can be defined by being a part of the government infrastructure. Despite going under the header of irregular forces strategically; private security organizations by terms of training, equipment and resources on a tactical level, firmly belong under the heading of paramilitary organizations.

Irregular Forces
Irregular Forces are groups that do not belong to the government infrastructure. Their organization, equipment, and training differ highly from that of governmental forces. This group includes insurgents, terrorists, large scale drug and criminal organizations, as well as citizen militias.

Armed Forces in LARPs
The most common type of armed force member to see in real life are low ranking members of the national defense force, paramilitary organizations, and irregular forces. This is quite simply because there are considerably more low ranking members then high ranking ones!

In the larger, societal context, armed forces themselves are a product of the society in which they inhabit. A corrupt country won't have an incorruptible police force, unless there is a really good reason behind it being incorruptible. For example in Mexico several high ranking anti-kidnapping police officers have been prosecuted in recent years for running their own kidnapping rings, while in Russia high ranking officers in OMON, the state security apparatus, have been found guilty of using anti-terrorist units as murder-for-hire groups.

The difference between National defense forces and paramilitary organizations fades when dealing with internal security. In most poorer countries policing is left to the police while the military is responsible for suppressing guerilla activity and similar types of work. This can lead to a situation where the armed forces becomes a political power within the country affecting decisions, nominations, and promotions within a peace-time government.

National Defense Forces
The French Foreign Legion's motto is 'hard training, easy war', this truism is seen through out the world in professional soldier's everywhere. A professional soldier is someone who has a high degree of self preservation, and a strong streak of competitiveness. Outside of the bluster of 'the killer instinct', a soldier is someone who is constantly competing against other squads, members in his own squad and even himself. This drive is fuelled with the desire to stay alive, enabling a soldier to survive the hellish conditions of the modern battlefield. This means that as an act of self preservation most soldiers when threatened will shoot people.

In LARPs - unfortunately - understanding what it means to be a soldier is near impossible, since very few of those who end up portraying soldiers in LARPs, have never been in situations where our - as individuals - limits are tested to the extreme. In the U.S. Marine Corps, there is concept of 'marine human material was not one whit better then that of the human society from which it came. But it had been forged in a different forge, hardened with a different fire.'

The reality of training changes. It should be noted that efficiency, professionalism, and perception are often very different things, and mean different things to even different parts of the national defense forces.

Another matter is that reading all the field manuals in the world will not make you a soldier. In nearly all training manuals the over-riding teaching is that all learning should be hands on. For instance, Soviet Army tank training involved taking the tank crew out into the field and walking around the terrain as the instructor pointed out things that as a tank crew they should understand.

Special Forces are two kinds, specialized units and cross-trained in several combat arms. Paratroopers and military police are specialized units, while the United States Air Force Pararescue is a cross-trained unit. While they do receive additional training in the role that they are meant for, they are not the superhuman killing machines portrayed in movies.

There are certain obnoxious habits I have found that need to be made clear about the behavior and attire of soldiers in LARPS. Bellowing is probably one of the strangest habits I have seen. In my understanding of professional soldiers, this is behavior encountered on the parade ground, where a soldier is stiff at attention, and the soldier shouts his answers to be heard by the neighboring countries. The reason behind the parade ground responses are two fold, first of all, combat is noisy, second of all is for the soldier learning on giving out clear, crisp, and loaded answers. This is short to the point answers to what the officer needs. They do come in extremely handy when having to deal with a radio.

The other one I wanted to raise to the attention was dress. I have seen some of the most outlandish, costumes for the better word, being worn in the worst possible environments. Also to give a strong positive impression on being a professional army and funded by a government - no matter how small - there should be uniformity in dress. This will mean the organizers will have to arrange for similarity in dress, by supplying a uniform consisting of shirt and pants, or by asking everyone to wear a specific color like black. Another matter is to do with equipment. In a LARP most of a soldier's duty will be either standing or running, so make sure you make an active choice between sneakers and your doc martins. Make sure whatever equipment you have with you is well stowed, and comfortable. Remember if you are comfortable it is easier to look and perform as a professional soldier. Take the extra effort on buying an adjustable shoulder strap for your expensive softair.

Finally there are a million do's and don'ts about soldiering, and specifically soldiering in LARPs. The only advice worth giving is to weigh every decision and keep an active mind.

Women in the Nation Defense Forces
Modern day armies have very few women in combat roles. That does not make them ineffective fighters. However, it has to be understood is that the modern day army is an institution for men, and still is for many different reasons. One of the key reasons why there are so few women is due to physical limitations. Men are stronger, can move for longer distances carrying heavy loads. The Israeli Defense Force who has experimented with women in combat roles has published several studies on the role of women in the armed forces. The reason why they stopped using women in combat roles was because the men would put themselves inordinate danger to protect the women of their squad. The Israeli Defense Forces does use women in front-line duty, as all women units working as border guards. It has been found that such all women units are much better, as they are felt to be less confrontational.

Outside of all women units there have to be things that need to be pointed out to mixed units. Women soldiers after working for long periods in a male dominated and male oriented world start taking on male attributes and behavioral patterns to "fit in" and be accepted as "one of the guys". Dress patterns of adopting the male form of uniform, taking similar types of tattoos as the rest of the unit, and the shaving of heads are all forms of smothering their "femininity".

Also with active physical hardship, there are physical changes that go on as well as mental ones. Shoulders grow wider, the spine straightens, and changes in musculature can be seen (this comes across in loosing the hour glass shape as fatty tissue is burned off). Long periods of marching will make the step wider and longer.

One of the schisms in women as combat soldiers is that the military is a man's world, many commanding officers are men, and often that makes them uncomfortable in dealing with women who are their immediate subordinates. Because of this most military women end up shunted into support roles, or to put it more bluntly as 'the civilian in uniform'.

In addition with unofficial attitudes towards women soldiers, there are also official attitudes and regulations about women in the military. For instance, the U.S. Army striving to make things equal between male and female servicemen has ended up creating two gender standards for everything. In the British Army on the other hand, gender is considered irrelevant. Achieving the grade is more important (one reason why there are not any women paratroopers in the British Army).

It is interesting to note that outside of the national defense forces, paramilitary organizations and irregular forces may have a very strong and visible woman majority.

Paramilitary Organizations
Paramilitary organizations primarily serve two functions: maintenance of law and order and enforcement of regulations. Maintenance of law and order includes protection of life and property, prevention and detection of crimes, apprehension and prosecution of criminal offenders, and traffic and crowd control. Regulatory functions are administrative duties such as issuance of licenses and permits, currency protection, immigration control, trade supervision, prison management, enforcement of ordinances, monitoring of elections, inspection of facilities, and enforcement of religious law and/or custom. Many of these duties involve bureaucratic processes that lend themselves to inefficiency, graft, and corruption.

These two functions give a distinctive purpose in LARPs to those who are portraying paramilitary organizations. The task at hand being able to give quite a distinct impression of what type of mindset is needed. However, just as with the national defense forces, the only way to actually understand is through many years of hands-on experience.

Most young members of a paramilitary organization will behave like their counterparts in movies, or be over eager on showing their professionalism - which it isn't. A seasoned member understands the social dynamics going around him, and will not be simply reacting, but will try to behave proactively. The reason behind this 'laid back attitude' among senior members of organization is that simple reaction is a 'rigid' response, which won't be beneficial to the individual as well as the organization. This is why some beat cops can walk a very dangerous neighborhood, not because of the magical power of the badge, but because over the years they have earned the respect of the individuals living there.

Corruption is more common in paramilitary organizations than in the national defense force since they will be in contact through their jobs with criminal elements. In addition, low level members of a paramilitary organization are poorly paid, and temptation of misusing the position for financial gain is great.

Corruption can also work in the opposite way, a few years ago a charge was brought up against a local police department for harassing known criminals to extort money from them to finance a new squad car.

Paramilitary organizations by nature are highly task oriented, and their equipment and dress should reflect that. A paramilitary organization prefers on dressing down rather then up unlike the national defense force. A paramilitary organization does not want to instigate conflict.

Extreme care should be taken with choosing the proper equipment and clothing for the right type of organization. With uniformed members of a paramilitary organization, similarities in dress should also be approached. Again, the organizers of the LARP could supply the paramilitary organization with distinctive shirts and pants.

One piece of advice for portraying a member of a paramilitary organization is to slow down. Unless you play the over eager, incorruptible rookie, then there is no use on behaving as if it were election year. This is for two reasons: an over policed environment kills the game world, and secondly how can other players commit in-game crimes with the paramilitary organization constantly breathing down their necks?

Irregular Forces
Irregular forces are formed for three reasons, societal breakdown, around an ideological or religious cause, or greed. Their quality in training, and standard of equipment changes radically even within that one group. However they all have one thing in common, they puff out their chest and act as if they are the rulers of the universe. Which when being the only group on the block with automatic weapons, would declare their distinctive mark of godhood.

Irregular Forces are probably the easiest to portray, since they are in essence civilians with weaponry. This means that while they may have quite wide working knowledge of their craft, they are not specifically trained for that task, and have to learn it all on their own.

Irregular Forces are because of these reasons the most common type of armed force in LARPs. Their equipment is mixed and varied and can only be really identified as a single group by carrying a distinctive insignia.

In terms of equipment and uniform, to portray an irregular, anything goes.

References and Recommended reading

National Defense Forces

Cacutt, Len. 1988. Combat. Hong Kong: Dai Nippon.

Cacutt, Len. 1988. Survival. Hong Kong: Dai Nippon.

2001. The Canadian Army Reading List. 1 Sep 2003. (PDF)

Consterdine, Peter. 1999. Fit to Fight. Trowbridge: Redwood Books.

Denmark, Edward. 1998. Not for Queen and Country. Reading: Arrowhead Books Ltd.

FMFM 1-0. 1995. Leading Marines. 3 Sep 2003. (PDF)

McAleese, Peter & John Avery. 1998. McAleese's Fighting Manual. London: Butler & Tanner Ltd.

MCRP 6-11A. 1997. A book on books. 3 Sep 2003.

Simpson, Howard R. 1999. The Paratroopers of the French Foreign Legion: from Vietnam to Bosnia. Washington: Brassey.

Swofford, Anthony. 2003. Jarhead. London: Simon & Schuster.

Paramilitary Organizations

Consterdine, Peter. 1997. Streetwise. Trowbridge: Redwood Books.

Consterdine, Peter. 2000. The Modern Bodyguard. Trowbridge: Redwood Books.

International Intelligence History Association. 1 Sep 2003.

Jenkins, Peter. 1998. Covert Surveillance Techniques: The Manual of Covert Surveillance Training. Trowbridge: Redwood Books.

Irregular Forces

Guevara, Ernesto Che. 1968. Guerrilla Warfare. New York: Vintage Books.

2001. Action for the Rights of Children (ARC): Critical Issues Child Soldiers. 3 Sep 2003.