OOH-RAH!

Hey Marines. First off, I'm destined to be a flyboy, but I still want your input.

I want help making a futuristic Marine Expeditionary Unit. Everything must be fleshed out!

I'm starting with the sparse details I received. These 1,500 marines and my Colonel character are dropped into combat by landing craft, meaning that compactness is essential. They have "powered armor" and "Gauss weapons" at their disposal. That's all I know.

Certain materials and equipment can fabricated in situ, meaning that I won't have to cart it with me. However, I'd like to know what equipment I should bring. Also, what kinds of powered armor should my marines have: light, DARPA armor or hulking Space Marine armor or something in between those two extremes?

I would imagine that it would depend on where you're being shipped out to, in which case you would be issued mission-appropriate gear from the base. In general, however, protection tends to take a back seat to stealth and mobility on the modern battlefield, so I would err more towards the lighter end of the spectrum when it comes to protection. Think the "super-soldier" of the theoretical future, being able to heal themselves more rapidly than normal, pull off superhuman feats of athleticism, perhaps optical enhancement. In the case of being sent into a hostile environment, this armor could be supplemented with NBC protection or a closed-environment system similar to an armored space suit or Spartan Mjolnir armor (minus the energy shields). Full-blown Space Marine armor is a no-no, as the size and weight of the suits would be rather prohibitive.

As for Gauss rifles, in my understanding they work by magnetic induction of the bullet to be linearly accelerated through the barrel and out the muzzle, providing good penetrating power at a considerable distance at the cost of being able to lay down cover fire, whereas the modern day M-16 is designed to be a workhorse, capable of both open and closed-bolt firing for different applications.

Well, that's all I've got. Best of luck!

The armored marines will wear Combat Mobility Suits.

New Caledon Marine Corps wrote:Combat Mobility Suit

• Armor: A light ceramic and carbon fiber composite capable of shrugging off single hits from most weapons. The armor plate relies upon layers and layers of ceramic to absorb impact. An interior layer of titanium-plastic provides shrapnel protection. Packets of shear-hardening gel sit underneath the two upper layers in strategic positions. They dissipate brute impact force.
• Applique: It's common to see CMSs with additional armor bolted on.
• PowerSys: The "powered" element of the armor, mainly enhanced speed and strength, is provided by electromotive polymers that expand and contract like normal human muscles. Seeing "skewed" motions after a CMS has been damaged is common. The suit automatically cuts off power to overly cut or torn polymer sheets.
• Comm. Suite: The heart of the CMS is an integrated communications and battlefield awareness suite. The armor gathers information from its sensor suite and broadcasts it across a closed local area network. It can also display live battlefield maps and millimeter radar views of the immediate surrounding.
• MedicalSys: All CMSs have integral medic suites capable of injecting a variety of drugs and preforming wound repair. Bio-gel hurts like a bitch.
• Other stuff: The suits are mission specific, but most have climbing pinions built onto their armor, a vital signs sensor harness worn under the armor, NBC protection, temporary vacuum seals, a small emergency supply of oxygen, integrated helmet HUDs, electronic weapons integration, hydrophobic boots, articulated carbon-fiber gloves with grip pads. They have hardpoints for shipboard vacuum seals and long-lasting oxygen supplies.

The rest will wear light combat armor.

My armored marines would be few in number but used for rapid strikes on enemy positions, while the unarmored marines would follow up with the offensive. I still have to think about vehicles. I don't think personnel carriers would have fundamentally changed.

Might I suggest if you are looking at an unknown Theater of Operations, you might want to break down your units into a 300 man "stryker" style Brigade for vehicle operations. Using moderately armored although heavily weaponized vehicles for rapid exploitation of weak points in your enemy lines. With two 190 man companies of armored marines as raiders. And a 190 man company of light artillery such as HIMARS (high mobility artillery rocket systems) for tactical support and to clear the way for your troops. The rest can be unarmored marines. Anyway that would be a nice little Marine battalion that can go on offense or dig in and hold their own until reinforced.

I have to ask, but what of Aerial transport. When thinking about vehicles or heavy armored soldiers(which may have difficulty getting to "Hot Zones" quickly if they are reinforcements, or other positions) I thought that some kind of quick drop system could be established. For example, heavy armor is designed to be dropped from the sky, and while potentially dangerous and definitely a "only as necessary".

This can present some strong capabilities in assaults, as "the heavies" can be deployed within enemy perimeters quickly, leading to flanking maneuvers ect.

This system should probably be applied to lightly armored marines as well, helping them secure areas quickly, without the need to stop to lower troops (like the rappelling cables used from helicopters, which can be pretty dangerous in hot zones), and can allow the same benefits of dropping soldiers directly into conflict very quickly, at the cost of some.. accidental casualties perhaps?

Just a thought, this isn't my area of strength but want to contribute. :)