Battle Order

Update for August

Just an update for what's coming up.

The next video to be made (probably to be published around 6-8 August) will be a history of the Gunnery Sergeant in the U.S. Marines. We're potentially looking at getting a sponsor for it, but that hasn't been locked down yet. We also may be trying out a new person for the voiceover. May be a little rough around the edges at first, but if it turns out well I kind of want to develop them to be a more regular staff in the future.

After that, we w...

Sneak Peek: D-Day Map Animation Screenshot

Really low quality screenshot, but for the video on the Filthy 13 I'm planning on integrating map animations that show divisional areas (101st/82nd Airborne), key objective (white bridge markets north of Carentan are visible here), and drop zones (Drop Zones C and D are visible here right now).

Sneak Peek: U.S. Airborne Demolition Squad (WW2)

Slide from an upcoming video on the U.S. Army Airborne Regimental Demolition units. This shows a Demolition Squad/Team, or half-section, which consisted of 5 men under a Corporal.

Snapshot: South Korean Army Rifle Squad Guide

New Youtube Shorts video giving a quick overview of the South Korean Army Rifle Squad featured in a longer video. Shorter form videos will not be featured on this second Youtube channel. We'll probably also use the channel to post Q&As and what not

Collab: Building A Tank Force For Your Interstellar Army

We've just finished up a collab with The Templin Institute (a fiction/sci-fi oriented channel) on designing a tank force. If worldbuilding/scifi stuff is something you're interested in, or just the doctrinal role of tanks, you should go check it out!

Video: Moto-Marauders: WW2 Soviet Lend-Lease Motorcycle Units

New video that takes a deep dive into Soviet Motorcycle Reconnaissance units during World War II. These were the premiere recon element of Soviet tank and mechanized units below the front-level.

First Wave Patches Have Started to Arrive

We've gotten reports that some of our first-wave patches are arriving! Despite the one that got turned back at customs for whatever reason, I haven't gotten any bounced back yet. (Photo from one of our Sergeants Major)

We're in lockdown right now so I haven't been outside for like a week. When lockdown ends, I will start sending out the second wave of patches for people who joined after we made the public announcement. I will also be looking to create a digital card as a collectible to ...

Sneak Peek: Motorcycle Rgt. Count Pre- and Post-Barbarossa

Following Germany's victory over France in 1940, the Soviets raised new Mechanized Corps with an organic Motorcycle Regiment as its main recce element. By Operation Barbarossa, there were 29 of these corps, each with an (albeit understrength/underequipped) motorcycle regiment. By the end of 1941, only 7 regiments remained, the rest having been either destroyed or disbanded. Only 5 were left by the end of 1942, with 2 being in the Far East out of the war's reach. It wouldn't be until 1943 that...

Sneak Peek: Soviet WW2 Motorcycle Unit Tank Company

Graphics explaining the structure of the Soviet Tank Company as it pertained to motorcycle units. Perhaps the most interesting part about them was that they made heavy use of British and Canadian-produced Valentine infantry tanks. The Soviets received about 3,800 through Lend-Lease, probably the most for a single type of tank (we're guessing because of how the Valentine was obsolete in British service). They served as prolific cavalry tanks mainly, both in independent cavalry corps (which sti...

Sneak Peek: SMG Company of the Soviet Motorcycle Regiment

Some slides from the upcoming video on Soviet motorcycle units during WW2. Featured here is the Submachine Gun Company, a motorized infantry/scout unit mounted on Lend-Lease American M3A1 Scout Cars and equipped mainly with submachine guns.

Update: WW2 Soviet Motorcycle Video, Collab & Video Shortlist

We've done most of the research to start producing a video looking at the Red Army's Motorcycle Units during World War II. These were the main reconnaissance elements of Soviet tank and mechanized formations from the battalion to corps (division-sized) and army (corps-sized) levels. They'd form combined arms teams in league with medium/infantry tanks, armoured cars, motorcycles, mortars, AT guns, and submachine gunners mounted in armored personnel carriers. They were also notable for being am...

Video: Origins of the Lance Corporal

New video that takes a look at the origins of the Lance Corporal rank as a concept. We look at how it evolved from the 17th and 18th centuries to today, with a focus on the U.S. Marine Corps and British Army specifically.

Sneak Peek: US Marine Enlisted Ranks in the 1830s

In 1833, President Andrew Jackson ordered that the US Marines adopt a grass green uniform—an homage to the uniform used by the Continental Marines from their creation through the Revolutionary War. This was ultimately shortlived, with the new green uniforms being made out of substandard materials, and Marines changed back to blue coats in time for the 1840s.

This slide showing the enlisted ranks and their accourtrements from the period is relevent to the upcoming video on the history ...

Sneak Peek: US Marine Corporal vs. Lance Corporal (1929)

A slide from our upcoming video on the evolution of the Lance Corporal. After the Private First Class rank was introduced in 1918 (following the Army's lead), appointed Lance Corporals were no longer represented by a single chevron as they had been. Rather, interwar uniform regulations stated that Lance Corporals would wear the Corporal's two-chevron insignia on their right sleeve only, while the Corporal wore it on both sleeves and also had the characteristic red NCO stripe on their trousers...

Sneak Peek: Marine Enlisted Rank Stuff

Some slides from the next video on the history of the Lance Corporal rank.

Updated Patron Wallpapers

Hey everyone. We've finally updated the desktop and phone wallpapers available in the Dropbox link you got in your welcome message. We now have dark mode options as well.

Sneak Peek: South Korean K21 Mechanized Squad

Sneak peek of the upcoming Patreon/Armchair Historian TV-exclusive video on the South Korean Mechanized Squad and Platoon when mounted in the K21 infantry fighting vehicle. This video will probably be available sometime late this week for Patrons at the Corporal tier and above. It won't be going public on Youtube.

Overhauling Patreon Perk Delivery

Over the next week, I am going to be creating password-protected pages on our website that will serve as hubs for each tier. All of the benefits, from image files and pdfs to NCO-exclusive videos and info about the Sergeant Major patches will be included on these pages (depending on the tier). This will replace the currently system where everyone gets an introductory DM with a few paragraphs of info and a bunch of Dropbox links. I'll be messaging everyone with the link and tier-appropriate pa...

Video: Population Decline & South Korea’s Rifle Squad

New video on the recent changes made to the South Korean Army Rifle Squad (and why they happened).

Content Plans for July and the Future

Hey everyone. I just wanted to give a little update on my future plans with Battle Order and some things that are coming down the pipeline. 

First, the next video on the South Korean Rifle Squad changes will be going up this weekend. Second, we will most likely be doing an exclusive for the Armchair Historian website, a 1-2 minute snapshot video on the South Korean Mechanized Infantry Squad with some research we didn't use for the next video. This is going to be exclusive to people...

SgtMaj. Patches Have Been Sent Out

We've now sent out all the Sergeant Major patches to those who have shipping info listed on their Patreons. As we are shipping from Australia and faster options are exorbitantly expensive, you can expect them to be arriving in in give or take a month.

Financial Report for June 2021

Financial report for June 2021. Youtube/website ad revenue were earned in May 2021 and paid out at the end of June 2021. Patreon Merch Fulfillment mainly included the cost of manufacturing the Sgt. Maj. patches and cards and shipping. Video production/licensing included a music licensing service.

Graphic: South Korean Rifle Squad

New graphic of the Republic of Korea Army Rifle Squad

Future Sticker Reward for the Sergeant Tier

I am planning on adding a sticker reward to the Sergeant tier in place of the patch that Sergeants Major are getting. It will be the same design as the Sgt. Maj. patch but in sticker form (the website's standard example shown). I plan on doing this sometime in late July, but am waiting on samples to arrive so I can check them out first. This will only be for Sergeants; Sergeants Major will not receive a sticker with their patch.

Slide: South Korean Rifle Squad (Outdated)

A sample slide from the upcoming video on the South Korean Rifle Squad and population decline (this is a now outdated squad layout)

Patches Are Going Out Next Week

Hey everyone. We've got most of the things we need to send the Sergeants Major out their patches! We're basically just waiting on some packaging for international shipment to come in and then we're going to send them out next week. There will be one last e-mail going out this weekend reminding everyone to make sure their shipping info is correct in their Patreon profile. If you do not have an address listed or your profile says you waive any physical perks, we will not be shipping you a patch...

Sneak Peek: South Korean Rifle Squad

A little glimpse and this intro segment I made for the upcoming video on South Korea's rifle squad

Financial Report for March/April/May 2021

Financial report for the months of March, April and May 2021.

"Video Production" includes the After Effects plugin Geolayers 3 which allows us to make map animations.

"Community/Marketing Services" includes cost for the bot on our Discord server and a discounted subscription to a brand sponsorship advice/deal logging service

Video: Japan's Future Tank Force

New video giving an overview of Japan's tank models and armored units and how their force structure is changing over the next few years.

Update on Japanese Tank Force Video

I am going to try to get the next video on Japan's future tank force structure finished by late tomorrow my time. It is going to be my most heavily edited video to date with 5-6 separate map animations