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World Afire 198X
Background 1 — Warrior 80

Background 1 — Warrior 80

Falntyri infantry today are some of the better on this planet. Protected by a flak vest and combat helmet, the newest piece of kit is the riflescope and armor plate.

Clothing

Each soldier wears a special helmet that provides protection for ears and head, though not the face. It can stand up against flechette type bombs and most shrapnel, as well as most handgun shells.

Hearing protection is worn as well, as the battlefield with it's gunfire and explosions is a very noisy place. Specially fitted for the feline ears of Falntyri soldiers, they nevertheless are described as mildly uncomfortable.

Protecting the torso and lap, a flak vest. Made to slightly lower specifications than the helmet, it still resists low power shells relatively easily, and provides a space for the bulletproof composite plate inserted into the front.

To carry the equipment of a soldier, webbing with five rifle clips of thirty in two double pouches and one ready pouch is provided. Extra ammunition is stored in the backpack, alongside rations and extra water.

Other items on the webbing vest include a canteen, dump pouch, and mask pouch. The webbing can be modified by a soldier, adding grenade pouches and moving items. Notably, though, it is unsuited to a soldier in wartime; ammo pouches asymmetrically stored along the stomach and side make going prone uncomfortable, and contribute to fouling as dirt gets into the clip.

National Army soldiers will regularly carry at least two days' supplies, but are more reliant on their fighting vehicle or base than most armies. This has served them well in past conflicts, but logistic lines are easier to sever, and veteran units usually pile equipment wherever they can, or hotwire civilian vehicles to carry extra supplies.

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Armament

The standard issue rifle is given a 3x scope with eyecup and good FOV, extending the soldier's range at least in theory. The somewhat heavier service ammunition, a relic of the old World War One issue carbine, is a boon here, retaining damage at range, though still some have removed their scopes and used the irons, or bought new electric sights at some cost and mounted the reflector sight themselves.

A thirty rounds clip and five burst/automatic/safe group completes the rifle, though the machinegun version is given a drum of sixtyfive and reinforced internals, with the improved MG gaining a quick change heavy barrel.

Machinegunners are usually also issued a ten mil pistol with twelve rounds clip, and two spare clips for it, as personal defence if necessary.

Anti armor specialists will carry a rocket launcher as well as five to nine rounds, depending on weapon type. An additional rocket or two might be carried by each member of the fireteam, similar to machinegunners, as the specialist usually replaces the MG.

Other Gear

Hand grenades smoke and fragmentation are issued, with incendiary on request. Entrenchment tools are standard issue as both fortification and emergency close combat, while some units also carry breacher bars, plastic explosives, extra rations, clips, or field radios.

Field mobile antitank missile launchers, heavy machine guns, medium machine guns, and mortars are available as battlefield support, though they're usually relegated to the combat engineer units; command has declared such things superfluous and so therefore most line units don't have them.

To their credit, this is at least partially correct. The National Army uses mostly units of fast, lethal mechanized heavy infantry – static weapons would probably left behind in the battle tempo. The problem is that the Army is not always on the move, and combat engineering units are not always available.

To some extent mortars have seen integration, being that a mobile light SPG is actually fairly useful. Using the 95mm heavy mortar, a company strength element can usually count at least a platoon-strength battery of these backing them up.