Royal (Imperial) Manticore Army

It really does seem like the Royal (Imperial) Manticore Amy is getting short changed in the Honorverse.
Their only and biggest acknowledged operation was having to do with the pacification of Masada. Other then that, it’s been the occasional reference to The Queens Own, to mop up operations, otherwise, zilch!
The Navy and Marines; hell even the Astro Service, personnel are coming up covered in glory and medals. Everybody except the poor grunts on the ground are getting the recognition they deserve.
Some kind’ a bias at work here?
I would think that surely there must be some ex-army types reading this series, who be more then a little miffed at the glory hounds hogging all the limelight!

The RMA has had relatively little for it to do in the Havenite Wars because their mission role hasn't been needed. The RMA serves 2 purposes in wartime: sustained ground combat (either as defender or attacker) and as a garrisoning force. The first role hasn't had to come up much (if at all), because no one in the Havenite Wars was crazy enough to resist when someone can send down Killer Crowbars from Space. And the second role doesn't offer a heck of a lot of opportunities for glory, but is nonetheless a vital job.

Arol wrote:It really does seem like the Royal (Imperial) Manticore Amy is getting short changed in the Honorverse.
Their only and biggest acknowledged operation was having to do with the pacification of Masada. Other then that, it’s been the occasional reference to The Queens Own, to mop up operations, otherwise, zilch!
The Navy and Marines; hell even the Astro Service, personnel are coming up covered in glory and medals. Everybody except the poor grunts on the ground are getting the recognition they deserve.
Some kind’ a bias at work here?
I would think that surely there must be some ex-army types reading this series, who be more then a little miffed at the glory hounds hogging all the limelight!

Well, frankly, there is not that much for ground pounders to do. If a planet doesn't surrender, it makes less sense to drop a battalion of troops than it does a couple of rocks. Even the pacification of Masada, it was the Navy and the Marines that got the ball rolling. The Army was only called in when they needed more boots on the ground. Ground combat in the Honorverse is a nonstarter. One side or the other will almost always hold the orbitals, and the other side will lose.

Besides, everybody knows Army stands for Ain't Ready to be Marines Yet.

Armies in general in the Honorverse just get trumped by navies and marines, because once there's a naval vessel in orbit their tactical options shrink to somewhere near zero. There's always the guerrilla campaigns in highly-populated urban areas against navies that aren't willing to drop KEWs in those zones, but with the precision that a naval vessel can drop a KEW with even that is a somewhat dicey proposition.

Crown Loyalist wrote:Armies in general in the Honorverse just get trumped by navies and marines, because once there's a naval vessel in orbit their tactical options shrink to somewhere near zero. There's always the guerrilla campaigns in highly-populated urban areas against navies that aren't willing to drop KEWs in those zones, but with the precision that a naval vessel can drop a KEW with even that is a somewhat dicey proposition.

And you could argue that anti-terror/guerrilla operations like this runs along the "garrison" mission scenario.

Hi Arol,

You mean that despite this being a naval science fiction series, we should get all huffy if the army isn't highlighted in every book?

Right!

What are you imbibing?

Are you trolling?

As a veteran and an army brat, I have no problems with the honorverse being about navies, indeed I'd find it rather peculiar if the Royal Manticoran Army starred in every book.

Let's move on.

L

Arol wrote:It really does seem like the Royal (Imperial) Manticore Amy is getting short changed in the Honorverse.
Their only and biggest acknowledged operation was having to do with the pacification of Masada. Other then that, it’s been the occasional reference to The Queens Own, to mop up operations, otherwise, zilch!
The Navy and Marines; hell even the Astro Service, personnel are coming up covered in glory and medals. Everybody except the poor grunts on the ground are getting the recognition they deserve.
Some kind’ a bias at work here?
I would think that surely there must be some ex-army types reading this series, who be more then a little miffed at the glory hounds hogging all the limelight!

lyonheart wrote:Hi Arol,

You mean that despite this being a naval science fiction series, we should get all huffy if the army isn't highlighted in every book?

Right!

What are you imbibing?

Are you trolling?

As a veteran and an army brat, I have no problems with the honorverse being about navies, indeed I'd find it rather peculiar if the Royal Manticoran Army starred in every book.

Let's move on.

L

Hell no, I like the Navy and Marine action sequences, but a single honorable mention might not have been amiss, maybe a deeper portrayal of the Masada Campaign.

OK?

Imbibing? Well it being a warm evening: a nice cool Danish beer!

A troll? - Well there’s Rumpelstiltskin.

As for moving on. - Always do Buddy, always do!

The Royal Army will have its chance to help serve as a garrisoning force soon, I think, as soon as Admiral Gold Peak sends back word that she has taken the orbitals of Mesa.

Hank Plantagenet wrote:The Royal Army will have its chance to help serve as a garrisoning force soon, I think, as soon as Admiral Gold Peak sends back word that she has taken the orbitals of Mesa.

That should be a fun campaign!
Gold Peak I high orbit, with maybe a guest appearance by the Andie Navy.
On the ground, an outnumbered entrenched government battling a world wide Seccy/slave insurgency. With the joker in the deck: hidden MAN units setting off nukes in crowded civilian residence towers to cover their own escape from the planet.
A dogs breakfast, should make interesting reading!

The Mesan system government isn't going to try to resist. The called off combat operations at the end of CoG, so it's pretty obvious they've surrendered.