Copyright 2006 T. Sheil & A. Sheil All Rights Reserved
For training after World War II, the United States Army devised a fictional enemy named Aggressor.” This was an invented enemy. The Army went very far with the project, inventing an entire culture and a series of uniforms and insignia. Of course, Aggressor forces had to be usable within the confines of the Army itself. That meant using existing vehicles and equipment.
The Army had already invented a country and its national symbol: a green triangle in a white circle. Using them was no different than applying regular national markings. The Army came up with a system of placing Aggressor markings on vehicles that also covered their normal markings. For training, it was relatively cheap and easy to transform a normal unit into an Aggressor team.
The following images show the use of these markings. One notable thing is that the Aggressor vehicle marks are so similar to their flag. This is a bit different from most real world armies. The Japanese use of a red ball on its equipment is similar to Aggressor. Other nations differed between their military markings and national flags, US and Soviet forces used stars. Although stars appeared on both nations’ flags, they were not the prominent detail of either. The salient feature of US flags is its field of stripes. On the Soviet flag, it is the hammer and sickle of Communism. Nazi Germany used the Teutonic Knight’s Cross on its vehicles instead of the Swastika. Even modern Germany uses an Iron Cross rather than the national flag’s stripes.
Naturally, Aggressor’s vehicles were the same olive drab as all other Army Vehicles.
When Aggressor was replaced by Threat as the “enemy”, camouflage vehicles were a staple of the Army and an emerging thing in Reserve and National Guard units. Subdued markings has been introduced in the early 1970s prior to Woodland camouflage. Black replaced white for stars, vehicle designations, serial numbers, etc. Would the Aggressors have done the same? I can imagine a black triangle with a circle drawn around it. Perhaps they would have used a black circle with a subdued green (flat olive green) triangle and rim around the circle.
If Aggressor had persisted into the 1970s, what color would its vehicle have been? Their uniforms were jungle green: a lighter, brighter shade than the Army’s olive drab. Perhaps their vehicles would have been a lighter olive green? Camouflage may have been their own variant of the patterns used in the old Army camouflage manual from World War II.
For those creating their own fictional army, the Aggressor model is a good model.
How might you develop a fictional army’s motor pool?
Imagine that the Aggressor Army is a small one. Its nation does not have much of an arms industry, and so buys its equipment elsewhere. This gives you a lot of flexibility in choosing your vehicles. It is likely that your country would buy 60% to 75% of its combat vehicles from one source. It may also have older inventories of vehicles that had been left for decades, when they bought from other nations. They may even have old US equipment if they had been a US ally or client a long time ago.
For instance, if your Aggressor force is based on a 1960s type Cold War army, you would equip it with Soviet PT76s, T55s, T62s and ZPUs. Since France was a major seller of arms to any and all comers, you could set up a Recon unit with Panhard armored cars. Your Light tanks would be AMX 13s. Transport could be Czech half tracks, which were copies of the German Sd Kfz 251.
A Soviet-supplied Army of the late 1950s might include T-34s and some of the leftover World War II American vehicles such as half tracks, Stuart gun motor carriages with the 75mm howitzer and M40 Self-propelled guns. More eclectic armies opted for Centurion Tanks, M47s and any older ordnance they could afford.
Common combat vehicles sold for export on the world market include
Soviet T34s, T54 / 55s, T62, T72s, Btr 50, Btr 152, PT76
French: Panhard armored cars, AMX 13, AMX 30
US (World War II): M4 Shermans, M24 Chaffee light tanks, M5 Stuart Light Tanks, Half tracks, M10 / M36 tank Destroyers, M40 SP guns. M8 Armored cars.
US (Postwar): M47 medium tanks, M59, M75 and M113 Armored Personnel Carriers, M52 type SP guns, M41 “Walker Bulldog” light tanks, early M48s, M109 and M110 SP guns, early M60s (Israel)
Britain: Centurion Tanks, Saladin armored cars, Land Rovers
Making a fictional army is easier when you look at the Aggressor model. You can enjoy your own eclectic blend of equipment, using the Aggressor markings or developing a set of your own.
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Markings for light vehicle
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Small Trailer  |
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Light Truck  |
Standard Military Truck  |
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Tanks and Self-Propelled Guns  |
Bulldozer and Engineer Equipment  |
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Aircraft Fusleage and Wings  |
Naval Ensign  |
