Rank Headaches

[Captain Untouchable]

Hey guys.

While looking up stuff for various character bits and pieces, I've spotted a few things that are starting to give me a bit of a headache when it comes to ranks in various branches of the Rebel Alliance.

Some EU sources adopt the standard real-world Army progression of ranks for the Army. Other sources apparently use the real-world Army ranks, but with "Lieutenant Colonel" replaced with the rank of "Commander". And of course, we have the ranks of the Starfighter Corps, which takes "version 2", and flips the ranks of Major and Commander.

The net result at the minute is that my Starfighter Major outranks Starfighter Commanders and Army Majors, while any Army Commander outranks an Army Major and a Starfighter Major. To add more confusion, a Navy Commander is equal to a Starfighter Major but outranks an Army Major, and is equal to an Army Commander and outranks a Starfighter Commander.

Confused? I know I am. >_<

I've spent hours going over bits and pieces with Reshmar, and we've sorta worked out a system that should work, if y'all like the sound of it.

The SpecForce Corps ("Army") and Starfighter Corps ranks would be the same, to cut down on the confusion. Naval ranks are more or less the same, but we've cut out a couple of the extra Admiralty ranks - "Vice Admiral", for example - to cut things down to the bare essentials.

SpecForce / Starfighter Corps
- Fleet Admiral
- Admiral
- Rear Admiral
- General
- Colonel
- Major
- Commander
- Captain
- Lieutenant
- 2nd Lieutenant (?) / Flight Officer

Alliance Navy
- Fleet Admiral
- Admiral
- Rear Admiral
- Commodore
- Captain
- Commander
- Lieutenant Commander
- Lieutenant
- Sub-Lieutenant
- Ensign

Thus, an Army General is equal to a Navy Commodore, an Army Colonel equals a Navy Captain, and so on and so forth. We still end up with a Navy Commander being higher than an Army Commander, but then a Navy Captain is higher than an Army Captain too, so that isn't too much of an issue.

With regards to Fleet structure...

- The Fleet Admiral commands the entire Alliance Navy.
- Admirals command a Fleet, or which the Alliance has five.
- A Rear Admiral commands a sub-division of a Fleet, called a Task Force.
- Each Task Force breaks down into a number of Squadrons, led by a Commodore.
- Squadrons break down further into Lines, led by a "Line Captain" (who is just a senior Captain really, and not worth worrying about).

Support staff slots in there as well - each Fleet and Admiral has a General overseeing the Army bits and pieces within the unit. Each Squadron and Commodore has a Colonel doing the same job.

So...
- Lion is our Fleet Admiral
- Reshmar is an Admiral in command of 3rd Fleet
- Forlon is the General overseeing Army units in 3rd Fleet
- Demek Jast is a Rear Admiral in command of a Task Force in 2nd Fleet

Hopefully that's made things less confusing, rather than more! Does that system sound workable, any obvious problems that people can see, or should shut up and go sit in a corner somewhere quiet? ;)

[Dasquian Belargic]

Not that this really affects me, but yay? I suppose at least with a simple system like this there is no need to get bogged down in confusion.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

Looks good to me, as long as I don't have to try to figure out the starfighter ranks again, 'cause that made my head explode last time. ;)

[Kelly Perris]

This looks fine to me. Good work. :) I like it.

But you can still sit in a corner and be quiet, if you really want to. :lol

[Dasquian Belargic]

:: chills in the Intel department, where there are no ranks ... and no spoons ::

:cool

[Grace Van-Derveld]

:: is with her partner on this one ::

:cool:

[Kelly Perris]

No spoons?

WHERE IS THE LOVE??

[Dasquian Belargic]

We don't need spoons to love :hat

[Kelly Perris]

I am just NOT going to say what it was my brain conjured up there.... o_O

[Grace Van-Derveld]

We don't need spoons to love :hat

And you have no idea how well I can yet :mneh

[Dasquian Belargic]

:mischief or do I

[Grace Van-Derveld]

Maybe in your dreams boyo :mneh

[Dasquian Belargic]

I love it when we hijack a thread.. with sexy results.

[Captain Untouchable]

Hmm. Its not every day that an Intel sex-romp comes galloping through a discussion about ranks. >_<

If there are no spoons, how are you supposed to eat Ben & Jerries? An Intel Agent without ice cream is like a dog without testicles: sure, it doesn't hump the furnature as much, but how is it supposed to get the job done when its only firing blanks?

[Dasquian Belargic]

I can't tell you how I eat my ice cream.

Grace would never forgive me for revealing the secret.

[Grace Van-Derveld]

:: cracks knuckles ::

[Dasquian Belargic]

My lips are sealed ;)

[Telan Desaria]

If I may be permitted to re-hijack the thread back onto its original course -


Here is a listing of Imperial ranks if it is helpful to you. I have Made them as equitable as possible for you.

Navy/Fleet__________Army__________Starfighter Corps
Grand Admiral- - - - -Field Marshal
Fleet Admiral - - - - Colonel-General - - Marshal
Admiral - - - - - - General of Infantry - General of Fighters
Vice Admiral - - - -Lieutenant General - Lieutenant General
Rear Admiral - - - - -Major General - - - Major General
Commodore - - - - - Brigadier General - - Brigadier General
Captain - - - - - - - - - Colonel - - - - - - Colonel
Commander - - - - Lieutenant Colonel Lieutenant Colonel
Lt. Commander - - - - - Major - - - - - - - Major
Senior Lieutenant - - - Captain - - - - - -Commander
Lieutenant - - - - - - - Lieutenant - - - - - Lieutenant
Ensign - - - - - - - Junior Lieutenant - - -Flight Officer

Chief Warrant Officer - - CWO - - - - - - Senior Warrant Officer


I have spared you the non-commissioned and enlisted ranks. I hope this was helpful.

Gloria Imperium


If you wish to know what the command responsibilities are of each and what units that would correspond to, let me know. I have entirely too much time on my hands righ now.

[Reshmar]

I found a spoon. where is my ice cream?

[Captain Untouchable]

Telan - I thought that evidence pointed towards the Imperial Army and Starfighter Corps using the same Captain > Commander > Major arrangement that the Rebels do. I believe its inspired by something Napoleonic, which sounds apt.

Isn't that where the Rebel arrangement for the Starfighter ranks comes from, in-character? Seems odd that the Rebels would structure it the way they do instead of adopting the (simpler) version used by the Imperials...


I found a spoon. where is my ice cream?

I'm afraid its Phish Food. Is that okay?

[Kelly Perris]

I have Chunky Monkey (Ben and Jerry's) and Natural Vanilla (Breyers).

Sadly, I have no peaches in rum...I think.

[Reshmar]

Vanilla is the best. ok mabey next to dutch chocolate

[Telan Desaria]

I cannot speak for the Alliance. This is a system utilized by the forces of His Majesty the Emperor. Beyond that.....


I have quadruple chocolate fudge. Unless you're a Grand Admiral, your rations cannot exceed triple fudge. Those caught trying to mix two double-fudge servings will be executed

[Park Kraken]

Oh boy, the EU novels sure are confusing when it comes to ranks, as they are all over the place. Generally though, as far as the Rebel Alliance goes, the authors seem to be in agreeement in assigning General ranks, with the exception of a few higher cases.

Insofar as I can tell, this is basically what the EU novel rank system looks like:

Fleet Admiral - Commander of all Alliance Navy
Admiral - Commander of Alliance Fleet
General - Commander of Alliance Fleet Starfighter forces (or the entire fleet in the absence of an Admiral)
Rear Admiral - Commander of small squadron or large capital warships
Commodore - Commander of small capital warship squadrons
Captain - commander of capital warships or starfighter squadrons
Brevet Captain - commander of a light captial warship
Major - commander of a starfighter division (4 starfighters)

And those are the ones I can think of off the top of my head. Yes it is unusual to see General in a Navy rank system, but both Lando Calrissian, Han Solo, and Wedge Antillies have been assigned ranks, and aside from Han Solo, have been given to people who have acted as starfighter commanders.

[Telan Desaria]

Yes, the Empire is much more precise

[Salem Ave]

This is all getting rather complicated >_<

[Telan Desaria]

Not at all. Our structure is pretty simple. It's all for IC purposes anyway.

[Captain Untouchable]

I think the best option in the long run is to just pick a system that makes sense, and ignore what the EU "facts" say, just for the sake of our own sanity. >_<

[Dasquian Belargic]

I'm good with the system you presented originally, Cap'n.

[Telan Desaria]

I agree Captain - use what you wish. I was just illustrating ours, EU, and even the movies, can be confusing....