Battle Order

Graphics: Swiss Army Infantry Squad & Platoon

New graphics for our new article on the Swiss Army's Territorial Infantry Platoon: https://www.battleorder.org/post/swiss-infplatoon

Article: West Germany Panzergrenadier Company (1966-71)

New article on West Germany's early mechanized infantry companies dated from 1966. 

We Got the Patches!

We got the patches in! We're in lockdown for 8 days still and I want to get some cards printed to go along with them, so I expect to be shipping them out in 1.5 to 2 weeks. All Sergeants Major who have been Patrons for at least a month will get a second email to confirm their shipping address is correct before then. New and future Sergeants Major will get them as they come.

Video Roadmap (June 2021)

Here is the plan for video releases next month:

Thursday, 3 June — Vietnam's Modern Rifle Squad (Snapshot)

Thursday, 10 June — Japan's Modern Tank Forces (Longform)

Thursday, 17 June — South Korean Rifle Squad (Snapshot)

Thursday, 24 June — Why the US Army is Retiring the Stryker MGS (Longform)

Snapshot: Vietnam's Modern Rifle Squad

New short-form video on the structure and equipment of the Vietnamese Army's (PAVN) infantry squad.

Next video will be a long-form look at Japan's tank forces.

Poll: Choose Our Next(ish) Video

Out of the following options, what topic would you like to see a Snapshot (short form) video on?

Next video will be a Snapshot video on the modern Vietnamese rifle squad, followed by a long form video on Japan's armor force. This vote will decide what comes after those two.

Video: British Army Rifle Section (Snapshot)

New quickfire video looking at the British Army Rifle Section. I'm testing out short format videos to see how they'd perform and also to give me more time to research and animate my normal longer videos. Let me know what you think!

Next Video: Japanese Tank Forces

Next video will most likely be a look at the modern Japanese tank forces. They have some interesting things going on, including 3 MBTs and 1 wheeled light tank, all with different states of being in the JGSDF. It's going to be chock full of map animations as the doctrine/deployments are very geographically based. They're also converting some units into other types of units so there's new things to talk about.

Video: America’s New Armored Cavalry Scouts | Structure & Equipment

New video on the Cavalry Squadrons in U.S. Army Armored Brigade Combat Teams. The Cav Scouts received a shakeup in organization and equipment in 2016 to increase their lethality. This goes over their changes and the basics of their role.

New Branding & Intro Slate

I updated Battle Order's logo and logotype when I made the Media Kit. Here is an application of the diamond logo and logotype on the intro slate (the staticy/distorted one near the beginning of every video).

Update on Next Video (18 May)

Here's a work-in-progress slide of the current U.S. Army Cavalry Scout Platoon. We will be looking at the key reforms that occurred to the Cavalry Squadron in 2016, with the reorganization of the scout platoon being one of them. 

We also got our first paid sponsorship on next video, with a hard deadline of 21 May (US time) to submit for ad approval, so it will definitely be coming out this weekend.

SgtMaj Patch Update (16 May 2021)

An update to the Sergeant Major patch saga, my guy says he is shipping my order out to me now.

Behind the Scenes: Media Kit

Here is an exclusive look at a media kit I just created for Battle Order

SgtMaj. Patch Update

Just got these pics of a sample patch from my patch guy

Patreon Membership Free for May

Hey everyone. Because grad school and life have gotten in the way this month and I haven’t been able to crank out videos, I am going to pause billing for next month. I intend to publish more videos next month and other stuff, but May will still be free for pre-existing Patrons. New Patrons will still be charged when they sign up because they get access to all the other benefits and previous posts. Unless a calamity happens, billing will resume in June by which time I hope to be posting more...

Sweden's Armored Forces | Structure & Equipment

New video on Sweden's Mechanized Battalions (the ones with Leopard 2s and CV90s)

Animation Test: Swedish Mechanized Battalion Garrisons

New animation test visualizing where Sweden's mechanized/armored battalions are currently garrisoned.

Work in Progress Slides: Swedish Armored Infantry

Some work in progress slides for the upcoming video on Swedish mechanized units. Apologies for the delay on the video. Grad school has been pretty full-on this month with the projects and I'm getting married in a couple of weeks so things have been stressful. Also been spending a lot of time collecting resources for the video and getting second opinions from some Swedish servicemembers as there is a high chance of getting stuff wrong. 

Planning on getting this video out this weeken...

Patch Update: Material Mock-up from Manufacturer

Some movement on the patch front. Just got this mock-up showing the planned depth of the rubber patch (subject to change).

To remind you, this patch will be available to all Sergeants Major (so put your shipping info into your Patreon account so I can send them out whenever I get them). We will also be doing giveaways for Sergeants and Corporals. This patch won't be made for sale outside of Patreon.

Patch Update

We've placed an order for 100 rubber patches featuring this design. The manufacturer will be making the mold and producing a sample over the course of the next week. 

Ultimately, we intend to ship these out to everyone in the Sergeant Major tier with a little thank you card, and hold periodic semi-monthly giveaways including Patrons in the Corporal and Sergeant tiers. We don't expect them to actually be in our hands for 1-2 months still, however, due to the lag in manufacturing and...

Video: Japan’s New Rapid Deployment Forces

New video on Japan's new Rapid Deployment Regiments — specially organized and equipped combined arms battalions intended for rapid response to international threats and natural disasters.

Sneak Peek on the Japanese Rapid Deployment video

Basically the same map animation as before, but with sound effects, music, voiceover and a new transition added.

Map Animation Test

Just dropped 280 shmackos on the Geolayers 3 plug-in for After Effects and will be using it judiciously in the next video (on Japanese Rapid Reaction Regiments). Here is my first go after a map animation using the plug-in and I think it looks pretty slick.

50k Q&A | Video Making Process, Personal Questions & Pringles

New Q&A video in honor of reaching 50,000 subscribers!

Financial Reports for January & February 2021

Little late, but here are our financial reports for January and February 2021.

Strykers: The U.S. Army’s Medium Infantry | Structure & Equipment

New video on the US Army's Stryker Infantry — their medium force mounted in the Stryker ICV. Note to Patrons, this is a reupload due to a sound issue.

Early VDV: The Red Army's Experimental Paratroopers (Pre-WW2)

New video on the development of Soviet airborne doctrine and unit organization during the interwar.

Q&A for 50k

Might do a Q&A when we hit 50,000 subscribers! As Patrons, you get first priority for Q&As. Leave questions in the comments of this post and we might give them an answer!  

Avoid "What do you think of my country's military?" or "Who is better?" type questions. Also try to avoid more complicated questions that would require a bunch of research. If it sounds like it could be a video idea in and of itself, it's probably too much for a single Q&A question. Meta and personal...

New Chinese Armored Brigades | Structure & Equipment

New video on China's Heavy Combined Arms Brigades (their main armor and tracked IFV units).

Script: Chinese Heavy Combined Arms Brigades

New script on Chinese armored/mechanized infantry units.