Welcome to the TacOps Intel Page
This page was primarily designed to help TacOps players create hypothetical scenarios using authentic orders of battle -- without having to put in hours of painstaking research to find out what those orders of battle are. The information found at this site should also be helpful to CPX umpires who are looking for data on weapons systems or combat units that they are not completely familiar with and which are outside the TacOps database. It is also hoped that this site will be a helpful source of news and information of interest to the TacOps community as a whole.
Disclaimer: The TacOps orders of battle found at this site are intended as a quick reference to help create reasonably authentic scenarios for TacOps PBEM, CPX and MBX games. While they were researched to ensure at least some degree of accuracy, they are by no means 100% reliable. Also, some modifications were made to compensate for limitations in the TacOps database. If you require more accurate data, use the links listed on this page to conduct your own research, or try the military-related web sites located at the Links page.
Choose the region where your conflict takes place to get military data about the country you're interested in. Political and historical background is also available for certain regions, and in some cases you may even find ready-made TacOps orders of battle. (These will be marked with the phrase Intelligence coup! for easy reference<g>). For information on cruise/ballistic missiles, air defense systems, weapons of mass destruction, and other non-TacOps weapons related systems, go to the Special Weapons area. To learn about particular military units such as Marine Force Recon or Russian Spetsnaz units, go to the Special Ops area.
FAS Military Analysis Network -- Perhaps the most comprehensive public website for military data, period. Covers all branches of the U.S. military, and continually tracks developments in Iraq, Kosovo, and other hot spots.
Library of Congress -- A useful reservoir of information on the military history and OOBs of nations around the world. Has about as much flare and sizzle as you'd expect from the Library of Congress, and a lot of the information is now out of date, but if your scenario takes place more than 10 years ago it could be the most valuable resource around. Just click on the name of the country you want to research and scroll down to the chapter on National Security.
ExecSec Report -- This is an overall Defense Department report of U.S. national defense readiness, and provides a good overview of defense doctrine and strategy, as well as new technologies that are in the offing.
The Website for Defense Industries (Army). Lists most vehicles and weapons currently being produced around the world today. A terrific source of specs on almost every weapon currently being produces. There is a similar site for aircraft and ships as well.
Intel Search by Region
Joint Forces
U.S. Armed Forces Order of Battle -- A comprehensive listing of the entire US armed forces and their home base/port. Each listing is a separate link to that particular unit.
Military Hot Links Page -- A great starting point for researching U.S. joint forces command structure.
Army
The Unofficial TacOps OOB Guide -- Intelligence coup! This impressive opus by Kyle Mizokami contains orders of battle for almost every major combat unit in both the Army and Marines through the mid-90's, and is available in DocMaker format for the Mac as well as in a plain text version for the PC. This is a must-have download, with dozens of setup lists already translated into TacOps terms. If more recent orders of battle are required, however, you may want to look into these other links for recent informational updates:
U.S. Army home page -- Features news stories and late- breaking information on army deployments worldwide, as well as new equipment purchases and upgrades.
Army weapons projects -- Shows many of the most modern weapons systems for armies around the world, and which countries are making them and selling them.
Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) Order of Battle -- Intelligence coup! This order of battle is a very flexible setup that starts with a standard battalion landing team and allows the U.S. player to tailor it to the mission at hand by adding specialized forces from a given list of attachments (such as an assault amphibian company, or an air mobile assault company). Used as one of the U.S. force options in the Mad General scenario. NOTE: This OOB assumes the Marines have already landed. For a scenario that involves modeling sealift and airlift operations from amphibious landing ships, check out the OOB in the Semper Fi scenario.
The Unofficial TacOps OOB Reference Guide by Kyle Mizokami is a great source for Marines as well..
U.S. Navy -- This is a link to Nick Moran's site, featuring a lot of present-day U.S. naval platforms, complete with pics and design specifications. (Kind of like the TacOps fact/photo database, but for ships.) If you want to look up a specific class of ship, start your search here.
U.S. Navy Fact File -- A great research area with an extensive database. You should be able to find current ship and fleet deployments here as well, if not at the link above. If you want to look up specific naval weapons systems, start your search here.
Order of Battle for the US Navy -- A hypothetical but realistic listing of each class of US warship by Craig Paffhausen, based on the storyline for the Harpoon WWIII database written by Michael D. Staley.
U.S. Military Aircraft -- Information overkill for just about any aircraft you can name.
See the Special Operations section for data on specially trained specwar units, including SEALS, Rangers, Force Recon and the Special Operations Task Force.
NATO Command Structure -- A breakdown of NATO's organization and hierarchy.
NATO/SFOR home page -- Press releases, news photos, updates on forces and a history of the NATO-led Stabilization Force (SFOR) in Bosnia can be found here.
NATO/IFOR Maps -- Maps of NATO's International Force (IFOR) deployment in Bosnia.
NATO/Allied Forces Southern Europe -- Background and history.
NATO/Allied Forces Southern Europe -- Fact sheet describing international makeup and responsibilities.
NATO/British Army contribution to the Peacekeeping Force in Kosovo -- List of British units currently involved.
NATO/Kosovo Order of Battle -- Precise order of battle for Allied air and naval forces assigned to operations in or near Kosovo. While this OOB does not include ground forces, it is likely that the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit is aboard the ARG (Amphibious Ready Group), whose ships and support aircraft are listed. So just use the MEU order of battle, above, for an easy setup of ground forces in the region, and you have the entire real life scenario in Kosovo ready to go.
NATO/Stratfor's Kosovo Crisis Center -- Up to the minute reports on NATO operations in Yugoslavia. Includes the latest sitrep as well as a detailed order of battle showing exactly what forces each country is contributing.
(For information on Albanian rebels in Kosovo, look for Kosovo in the Russia/Eastern Bloc section.)
Europe's Armed Forces at the Millennium -- Intelligence coup! A Case Study of Change in France, the United Kingdom, and Germany, by Dr. Lutz Unterseher. Includes TacOps-translatable Orders of Battle as well as a wonderfully condensed analysis of military posture, deployments and future threats for each country that won't take all weekend to read.
Canada
Canadian Army home page -- Unofficial home page. A starting point to learning about the brigade groups within the Canadian Army.
Official Canadian Army page -- The official home page, newly reconstucted. A good site to learn about Canadian vehicles as well as weapons.
Canadian Military Links -- A whole list of resources on the Canadian military (provided by Allan Wotherspoon).
Great Britain
U.K. TO&E -- Intelligence coup! A detailed listing of the British Army's Task Organization & Equipment, including a section on British vehicles and weapons, by James Sterrett and Corrinne Mahaffey. According to James, the weapons section is not entirely complete, but it certainly seems detailed enough, imo, to create a wide range of TacOps scenarios inovlving the U.K. military. Also available in a Mac version.
British Army home page -- A good starting point to learning the British Army's organization. At the top of the screen is a link to the continually breaking news story unfolding in Kosovo, with updated press conferences held by the Ministry of Defense discussing the latest air sorties and other ongoing operations. Check the site often for the latest news!
Armed Forces: Great Britain -- This takes you to a list of links for all of Britain's branch services.
A-Z of Regiments & Corps -- The British Army, broken down by regiments and Corps.
Regiments within the infantry -- Organization of regiments in the British Army.
British Army contribution to the Peacekeeping Force in Kosovo -- List of British units currently involved.
Royal Navy homepage -- A starting point for exploring about the RN's commands and ships.
RAF Homepage -- A gateway to learning about the RAF and its airfields, aircraft and subordinate commands.
France
Offical French Army Homepage -- Unfortunately, most of it is in French (imagine that!) but you can get the information translated by going to this site: http://babelfish.altavista.digital.com
Basic order of battle for France -- Intelligence coup! Includes battalion TO&Es for both heavy forces and light, rapid-deployment forces. Provided by Ned Keneeder.
French Army Equipment -- A nicely put-together site showing a full range of French tanks, APCs and helos.
Germany
Unofficial Homepage of the German Army -- A good resource as well as a good jumping-off point to other sites. Best of all, it's in English!
Flecktarn site -- The unofficial database of the modern German military (Bundeswehr). Lots of information, unfortunately only parts of it are translated into English. You may get the entire site translated, however, by going to Altavista's Babelfish site.
Panzergrenadiere -- Main focus is on German Armored Infantry, with emphasis on the Marder IFV. Less information than the Flectarn site, but more of it is in English. To translate German portions into English, go to Altavista's Babelfish site.
Panzer Homepage -- Has an English version.
Tanks Forever -- In German, but can be translated via Babelfish. Lots of good information on the Leopard 1 and Leopard 2.
Basic order of battle for Germany -- Intelligence coup! Perfect for setting up various types of German battalions in TacOps. Provided by Ned Keneeder.
Organization of the Bundeswehr -- A simplified order of battle written by LTC Hank Meyer, AR. A great starting point for doing research on the German military. Includes links to other sources.
Netherlands
Dutch 1st Division Order of Battle -- Translated and submitted by Henk Hoffel. Contains the main combat and support units.
Sweden
Swedish Armed Forces -- The title pretty much says it.
Unofficial Royal Swedish Army Homepage -- A very rich web site on the Swedish army.
Russia & Eastern Europe (Warsaw Pact)
Former Soviet Union
Military Equipment of the Former USSR and Russia -- Fairly comprehensive descriptions of most of the former Soviet weapons systems (which we'll probably see turning up all over the world in years to come). Includes photos.
Soviet Tactics, by James Sterrett -- A rough draft of some research James did on Soviet doctrine. Includes fairly detailed orders of battle for many former Soviet combat forces. Available as a Word document for PC or for the Mac.
Soviet Orders of Battle, 1980's (Click to download) is a self-running program written by the author of TacOps, Major Holdridge, that graphically shows the organization of all major Soviet forces from Army and Division level on down. A very helpful tool for setting up any desired OPFOR order of battle. Unfortunately, you must have a Mac, and HyperCard, to run it. (Someday I will port the "stacks" to html and post here at this site.)
Russia (1991 to present)
Armed Forces: Russia -- A complete list of web sites providing information on modern Russian military forces.
Armored Russian Combat Vehicles -- Detailed specs on most Russian vehicles.
A Guide to Russian Special Forces -- Actually, the bulk of this "guide" is dedicated to a wide range of topics concerning the Russian military, with a huge number of links to highly informative sites, only a few of which are related to special forces. For more information on Russian specwar capability, look for the Spetsnaz link in the Special Operations section.
Belarus
Ground forces -- A brief description of current inventory for the Belarusian army.
Poland
Land Forces of the Republic of Poland -- Lists most of the major equipment of the Polish Army.
Bosnia-Herzegovina
Military Forces in Bosnia-Herzegovina -- Complete orders of battle for Bosnian Government forces, as well as Bosnian Serb and Croate forces.
Serbia (Yugoslavia)
Yugoslav Order of Battle -- Intelligence coup! Stratfor site. Highly detailed and up-to-date order of battle for Yugoslavian forces.
Yugoslav Military Forces -- A simplified order of battle for all three branches of Yugoslavia's armed forces.
Serbian Ground Forces -- Detailed intelligence on the history and force composition of the Serbian Army.
Serbian TO&E and TacOps Order of Battle -- Intelligence coup! Specially packaged orders of battle for creating Serbian forces in TacOps games up to brigade level.
NATO Order of Battle in Kosovo -- Intelligence coup! Stratfor site. Detailed, up-to-date order of battle for NATO forces.
NATO Ground War Options -- Another page from the Stratfor site, briefly describing possible military operations in Kosovo and their likelihood of success.
Kosovo.net -- Various links pertaining to the history, background and religion of ethnic Albanians in Kosovo.
Kosovo & Metohija -- A review of Albanian terrorism.
(For information on NATO forces in the Kosovo area, go to the Europe/NATO section.)
Kosovo: From Crisis to a Permanent Solution -- More background and history on Kosovo.
Albania
Albanian Military Forces -- A complete inventory of equipment in the Albanian military -- it should not be too difficult to piece together a TacOps Order of Battle from this.
The Albanian Question -- Some background and history on Albania and Kosovo.
Iran
Iran's National Security -- The table of contents to the complete Federal Research study of Iran. Scroll down to Chapter 5 for an overview of topics relating to Iran's military. Source: the U.S. Library of Congress.
History of Iran's military -- Through 1987.
Weapons & Equipment breakdown -- An inventory of Iran's arsenal.
Iraq
Iraqi Armed Forces -- Overview of Iraqi military buildup prior to the Gulf War.
Arms from the Soviet Union -- Some background on Iraqi arms purchases.
Weapons & Equipment tables -- An inventory of Iraq's arsenal.
Syria
The Syrian Army-- Brief history and organization of Syria's ground force.
China
PLA Force Structure -- Overview of the People's Liberation Army.
Military Matchups: The People's Liberation Army vs. the People's Republic of China -- A great site for comparing these two countries. Good photos of each side's weapons.
Air Force --Air force overview.
Navy -- Overview of China's navy.
The People's Liberation Army at a Glance -- Intelligence coup! A rundown of all PLA equipment. Not quite a TacOps OOB, but this data should make it easy to make substitution within the standard TacOps combat forces.
Chinese Armor -- Great pics of tanks and APCs.
North Korea
North Korean National Security -- The complete study of North Korea's military forces, available from the Library of Congress. This link takes you to the Table of Contents.
North Korean Military Equipment -- An inventory of North Korea's weapons and personnel.
Intelligence coup! Check out the custom scenario TF Jammer, which features rules for setting up a North Korean armored brigade (-). To download the brief, go to the Scenario page.
North Korean Ground Forces -- Organization and disposition summary. Includes information on air and naval forces.
Malaysia
Order of Battle for Royal Malaysian Army -- Intelligence coup! This is the same order of battle that was used in the US-Malaysian MBX/CPX in the summer of 1998.
Malaysian Navy -- This is a part of Nick Moran's site, where (last I checked) you can still find photos and data on a number of Malaysian vessels.
Malaysian Aircraft -- Intelligence coup! Pictures and data on most of Malaysia's key aircraft. Information includes speed, cruising range, loadouts, pK and damage potential of each weapon.
Cuba
Cuban Armed Forces Review -- Comprehensive site on present-day Cuban forces.
Jamaica
Jamican Armed Forces -- Library of Congress analysis of Cuba
Somalia
Foreign Military Assistance -- A report on the various types of military equipment that Somalia has received from foreign powers.
South Africa
Southern African Wargames Resource Page -- A site devoted to orders of battle for South Africa, Angola and will eventually cover other countries in the south African region. This site is still in early development.
Other Search Categories:
Besides searching for information by region, you can also learn about specific types of forces or weapons systems. Right now there are only two sub-categories for this section -- Special Weapons, and Special Ops. Future sub-categories may include such subjects as Intelligence Agencies, SIGINT/ELINT, satellite recon, Support and Logistics. This section will continue to grow steadily, so if a weapon or a unit type isn't listed here now, it may be soon. (If you have a suggestion for something to be added, please e-mail me.)
General
The OPFOR Worldwide Equipment Guide (PC version) is published by the U.S. Army's TRADOC as an unclassified source of information on common military equipment for use in training, simulations, and modeling. Selected weapons systems and equipment are included in the categories of infantry weapons, infantry vehicles, reconnaissance vehicles, tanks/assault vehicles, antitank, artillery, air defense, engineer and logistic systems, rotary- and fixed-wing aircraft, and communications equipment. This edition has been consolidated, updated, and relinked for easier reading and searching by I.L. Holdridge, Major, USMC (retired) [aka Major H.]. A Mac version is also available.
Vehicles
Vehicles and weapons (worldwide) -- The Website for Defense Industries --Army. Lists most of the current vehicles and weapons being produced around the world today. A very useful site!
BRDM-2 fitted with US engine/transmission and thermal sight
French VBLAircraft
Aircraft (worldwide) -- The Website for Defense Industries --Airforce. Lists most of the current aircraft being produced around the world today. Especially useful for TacOps MBX games involving something other than generic aircraft.
Missiles
Missile Threats and Responses -- Everything you ever wanted to know about missiles, and things to shoot them down with. Highly recommended.
Chock Full O' Missiles Page -- A great resource with photos and descriptions of all types of missiles, from air-launched to shoulder-launched, from cruise to ballistic.
Air Defense
Air Defense Artillery Home page -- Great photos and tons of info. This may be one of the best sites out there on the subject of air defense. Except for one thing -- it's a hideously long download (about 15 minutes at 28.8). So click the link, then go make yourself a sandwich. See also Missile Threats and Responses, above, which has a good air defense section.
U.S. Missile Defense -- A report on current and near-future defense systems in the face of an increasing threat of a ballistic missile attack.
Ballistic Missile Defense -- A discussion of U.S. strategy and Star Wars 2.
Ships
Ships and naval aviation units (worldwide) -- The Website for Defense Industries --Navy. Lists most current ship-building programs around the world.
General
Special Operations.com -- A website containing lots of cool weapons and things that blow other things up. Even contains sound files so you can hear what many weapons actually sound like.
Navy SEALS
Navy SEALS -- Terrific resource for learning about the history, training, organization and operations of Navy SEALs.
Army Rangers
U.S. Army Special Operations Command -- An all-in-one learning center about Army Rangers, with lots of offshoot pages discussing organization, training, equipment, etc.
Special Forces (Green Beret)
Army Special Forces: Green Beret -- A comprehensive site about SF operations, "A-Teams," equipment and infiltration methods used by SF units.
Marine Force Recon
Force Recon -- A very good collection of links about Force Recon detachments (not to be confused with conventional Marine recon units). Includes lots of history, photos and general background.
Delta Force
Curiously, there seem to be far fewer web sites dedicated to this famed counter-terrorism unit than one might think, but here are a couple: Specialforces.net and Delta Force.
Special Operations Task Force:
Intelligence coup! The Special Ops Task Force is an order of battle option used in the Mad General scenario, and is comprised of specially-trained Rangers, 82nd Airborne and air mobile support units. This task force is trained in surgical strike operations, covert insertions, emergency extractions and the like. (These were the guys sent to nab Noriega, and later Aidid's staff in Somalia).
Air Commandos
Air Commando Association -- An unofficial home page, mainly emphasizing Vietnam history.
Russia's Special Operations Forces -- A good primer on Russia's elite Spetsnaz units.
Desperately seeking intelligence! Please send any information or URL addresses you may have about military equipment, forces, organization -- and especially any TacOps orders of battle you may have developed -- as well as any comments or suggestions about this page to me, by sending me an e-mail at RikkiTikki@openwarsim.net. Thanks!
United States Armed Forces
NATO