Human Combat Doctrine

Combat doctrine of @Human forces has long varied by nation, but throughout the decades of the BETA War, it has homogenized into a set of proven tactics—mostly defensive in nature—to hold the line against the neverending numbers of the BETA horde.

Defensive Operational Doctrines

Static Defense

Static Defense involves usage of a network of fortifications, fixed artillery, or static infantry and mechanized troops to deny the BETA area access. This strategy has been used since the earliest days of the invasion, noteably with the defense of the Oder-Neisse Defence Line until the fall of East Germany, initially a successful tactic that gradually became weaker over the years due to the high attrition rates of soldiers under massive offensive pushes by the BETA.

Active Defense

The current mindset of most militaries worldwide in the present, Active Defense, which emphasizes on fast reacting mobile units, whether TSFs or conventional forces, that can be quickly deployed to an area or within a location in the event a BETA threat is detected. Very little focus is given to immobile fortifications, if at all. Because early warning is the best support for these tactics, most nations utilize a variety of detection systems including satellite imagery, sonar buoys, seismic detection facilities and regular patrols.

Offensive Operational Doctrines

Thinning Operations

Thinning Operations, also known as a culling operation, is a proactive strategy in widespread use by most militaries, and particularly focused on by the @European Union, which aims to reduce the strength of BETA incursions by intercepting BETA herds on the European mainland before they can cross the English Channel into the @United Kingdom. As BETA invasions are heralded by an increase in population density to critical numbers in any specific area, thinning operations aim to head off a BETA invasion by reducing the number density.

Culling operations can involve a variety of supporting elements, including naval gunnery support, mobile artillery, cluster munitions, use of orbitally deployed @Anti-Laser Countermeasures to create heavy metal clouds, and even deployment of fixed-wing bomber aircraft.

Hive Capture Operations

Attempted numerous times throughout the war, each attempt informing the next, there has only been a singular successful Hive Capture Operation: Operation Lucifer in late 1999, which saw the capture of the Yokohama Hive. Due to the various failures of international cooperation in these massive endeavors reaching back to Operation Palaiologos, the @United Nations has secured the authority as the sole entity able to authorize and lead international efforts in future Hive operations.

Plans involving future Hive Capture Operations involve massive deployments of international forces including hundreds of thousands of mechanized infantry and tanks, hundreds of @Tactical Surface Fighter (TSF)s, Navy vessels, amphibious units, and orbital space forces; the full consistancy and deployment, depending on the location of the target BETA Hive.

An attempt on the @Cheorwon Hive, Objective 20 for example, would develop in multiple stages, starting with orbital and Naval based artillery beginning area saturation attacks while amphibious units, including @A-6 Intruders or @Type-81 Wadatsumis secure a beachhead. @Tactical Surface Fighter (TSF)s would assist in securing the area and neutralizing high priority threats like the laser-classes of BETA. As forces push inland, supply lines could be established and the first wave of TSFs would enter the Hive via one of its gates on the surface. Optimistically, by holding the surrounding area and sending waves of TSFs into the Hive with checkpoints for resupplies would eventually wear down the number of BETA so a successful deployment of an @S-11 SD-System at the Hive core is possible.

Hives that are further inland could see a large scale Orbital Dive, with forces shuttled into orbit and then HALO dropped in re-entry shells following large scale orbital deployment of @Anti-Laser Countermeasures and warheads to blanket the area in heavy metal clouds. This only reduces the effectiveness of laser-class BETA however, and Orbital Dive operations have consistantly held large attrition rates with over 60% of diving allied forces lost per operation. To current date, there has not been a successful Orbital Dive drop operation that has, by itself, successfully captured a Hive.

Laserjagd

First coined by the East Germans, laserjagd is a strategic warfare term used to refer to the tactics of sending TSFs into a large BETA formation to hunt and destroy laser-class BETA. With the destruction of the laser-class, East German forces would follow up their attack with large formations of aerial bombers and heavy artillery fire, allowing them to maintain the Oder-Neisse Defence Line for quite some time despite the huge discrepancy in strength between them and the numerous BETA attacks from the @Minsk Hive, Objective 05.

The term has since been popularized beyond the GDR's borders, and is used to refer to the act of suppression of the BETA's Laser-class by other nations. In form and function, Laserjagd is comparable to aerial Suppression of Enemy Air Defense tactics, or SEAD in shorthand.

National Doctrines

@The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR)

Initially a heavy subscriber to nuclear offensives and static defense doctines, the USSR, having lost most of its territory sees combined arms used in conjunction with static defense on the @Kamchatka Defense Line. As the parent nation, Russia, has since relocated most of its people and resources to @Alaska, the majority of Soviet personnel on the frontline are non-ethnic Russians. The concentration of Lithuanian, Ukrainian, Chechen, Estonian and other ethnicities left behind on the Soviet mainland has created an animosity in frontline troops at the alledged ethnic cleansing.

Adopting some of NATO's tactics over the course of the BETA War, the USSR's forces typically use ground based artillery to soften a location before deploying their TSFs. Developments have been made to domestically create long-range ballistic missiles (LRBMs) to employ alongside these artillery bombardments. TSF designs have shifted to focus towards melee combat, with numerous super carbon Blade Motor systems (basically chainsaws) installed into the limbs.

@The United States of America (USA)

Far removed from the conflict since nuking the 2nd BETA landing in @Canada, America leads the world in military power and technology, but lags behind in frontline tactics. American TSFs heavily rely on @Missile Container Systems, keeping the enemy at a distance. They have never opted to requisition an auxilary melee weapon beyond the @Close Combat Dagger, using gun-only configurations. As a nation removed from direct threats, they can afford the additional manufacture strain for ammunition. Looking beyond the beyond the BETA, America has shifted its TSF designs towards human combat with the @F-22A Raptor, triggering concerns worldwide about the implications.

@Empire of Japan

Japan adopts a combination of worldwide doctrines in the strategic defense of its borders. Combined arms, incorperating both naval and ground forces, in addition to multiple layers of static defense lines along the northwest coastline, serve as the breakwater against BETA landings from the Sadogashima and Cheorwon Hives, while numerous TSF squadrons from the Imperial Japanese Army and the Imperial Royal Guard serve as reactionary active defense.

Japan adopts a melee focused doctrine in TSF production and armament, both due to being an island nation with finite resources, and an ancestral commitment to bushido. Ranged combat is still preferrable for relative safety to @Pilots, but the @Type-74 PB Blade is heavily relied upon due to simple facts that a sword doesn't run out of ammo.

@European Union

Having lost the majority of their contituent lands, the various memberstates of the European Union have the remaining benefit of forced cooperation. Headquartered in @London, sharing space with the @United Nations, the various member states of the EU benefit from heavy American support on their frontlines. While having static defenses along the @English Channel Defense Line, the EU most often adopts an active defense, regularly deploying TSF squadrons across the channel into mainland @Europe for culling operations.

Domestically, they gravitated towards the same philosophies as other frontline nations, with a distinct focus on melee capability with their TSFs. Using unique melee halberds like the BWS-8 Flugelberte (German, a sort of broadaxe), BWS-3 Greatsword (British, a two-handed, double-edged serrated sword), and the Falcate Sword (French, a hook sword with a sickle-like tip), while also developing a multi-caliber, multi-munition support gun in the @Mk.57 Squad Support Gun.

The @African Union, @Middle Eastern Coalition, and the @Indonesian Achepelago

Reluctant to rely exlusively on the United Nations, the various remaining fronts operate mostly independantly. The African Union and Middle Easter Coalition regularly cooperated in a unified defense of the @Suez Canal, and the Red Sea coasts. The various nations throughout the Indonesian Archepelago unified into a collective military alliance known as COSEAN. These smaller groups still hold significant political and strategic clout on the world stage, due to rich resources, manufacturing locations, and military facilities to support naval vessels in transit. All of these groups are known to regularly hire mercenary groups to bolster their forces, sustaining their independance from @United Nations military authority.