Capitalisation of rank in military stories.

[Tyburn]

Marines don't have privates

Ouch. That's why I never joined the Marines.

On another note, the recent Games Workshop-inspired furore got me thinking of alternate terms for 'Space Marine'. Given that the 'Mar' part refers to the French for 'Sea', shouldn't the correct term be more something like 'Astroline'?

Or does that sound too much like a window cleaning fluid?

 

[Tracer01]

I understand, but it looks like Russian way of thinking. Soviet Navy was divided by the possible theaters of war - Pacific, Baltic, North and Black Sea. United States Navy consist of many fleets. Japanese use to have the Unified Fleet. British Navy...well, I've heard the terms Grand Fleet and Home Fleet.

 

[Tracer01]

Marines don't have privates, they're called marines.

Wow. Soviet Naval Infrantry, in fact, also had Sailor and Senior Sailor ranks.

 

[Abernovo]

So what if it's the Russian system, Tracer? I want to read stories where it's not all British and American culture. The Royal Navy (UK) did have the Fleet system, but they effectively gave that up for a single navy, where any unit can be deployed to any theatre.

 

[Darkchild130]

Ouch. That's why I never joined the Marines.

On another note, the recent Games Workshop-inspired furore got me thinking of alternate terms for 'Space Marine'. Given that the 'Mar' part refers to the French for 'Sea', shouldn't the correct term be more something like 'Astroline'?

Or does that sound too much like a window cleaning fluid?

I know right! That's why I joined the army.
I don't think GW care enough about the specifics of language. The high gothic term for Space Marines, Adeptus Astartes bears no resemblance to Space Marines at all.

 

[Tracer01]

So what if it's the Russian system, Tracer? I want to read stories where it's not all British and American culture. The Royal Navy (UK) did have the Fleet system, but they effectively gave that up for a single navy, where any unit can be deployed to any theatre.

Well, I originally was planning this structure as a mixture of Royal Navy, United States Navy, Kriegsmarine and Soviet Morflot.

I hope, I'll make it.

 

[Tyburn]

In the new chapter I'm putting into my work, I have Space Captain Damien Drake (Flashman to the hero's Tom Brown) insisting on his Space Marines being called Astrolines, complete with the abovementioned reasoning behind it.

They don't like it.

 

[Tracer01]

One more thing. Should I mark various invented terms like that?

Italic works for marking character's thoughts. How's the bold font would fit?

 

[paranoid marvin]

In the new chapter I'm putting into my work, I have Space Captain Damien Drake (Flashman to the hero's Tom Brown) insisting on his Space Marines being called Astrolines, complete with the abovementioned reasoning behind it.

They don't like it.

Where would he get the term 'Astrolines' from? If this is their official rank they shouldn't be annoyed about the use of the term. I'm assuming it's a title that Drake has made up?

If your character is similar to Flashman , would he not instead come up with a name that would infer more glory and fame upon himself (and thereby annoy his subordiantes), for example he could call them 'Drake's Daredevils', 'Drake's Dreadnoughts' or 'Draknauts'?

 

[BetaWolf]

One more thing. Should I mark various invented terms like that?

Italic works for marking character's thoughts. How's the bold font would fit?

Italic is for foreign words but is optional, actually (well, be consistent). E.g., Fleet Admiral Orindo Aurelexi kept a splork in his personal quarters, regulations be damned.

I'm not sure about bold. I wouldn't use it, except maybe in quoting written material--or maybe for extremely loud or sudden jolting sensations?

On fleets vs. navy, the Brits had several fleets but really one navy from Henry VIII until rather late in the nineteenth? century. There was the home fleet, for example, which kept close to London IIRC. In the late 1700s, there were different colors for fleets and admirals, e.g., Admiral of the Red.

 

[paranoid marvin]

One more thing. Should I mark various invented terms like that?

Italic works for marking character's thoughts. How's the bold font would fit?

I wouldn't mark invented terms at all. To all intents and purposes, whatever is real in your world is real in actuality.

 

[Tyburn]

Where would he get the term 'Astrolines' from? If this is their official rank they shouldn't be annoyed about the use of the term. I'm assuming it's a title that Drake has made up?

If your character is similar to Flashman , would he not instead come up with a name that would infer more glory and fame upon himself (and thereby annoy his subordiantes), for example he could call them 'Drake's Daredevils', 'Drake's Dreadnoughts' or 'Draknauts'?

They're the security teams from his ship, the HMSS Pelican (which is what Sir Francis Drake's ship the Golden Hind was originally called) - Space Marines are generally referred to as 'Space Marines' or just 'Marines', but Drake decided that they should be called 'Astrolines' instead.

 

[Tracer01]

Italic is for foreign words but is optional, actually (well, be consistent). E.g., Fleet Admiral Orindo Aurelexi kept a splork in his personal quarters, regulations be damned.

I'm not sure about bold. I wouldn't use it, except maybe in quoting written material--or maybe for extremely loud or sudden jolting sensations?

In that case I'll just use usual letters, but will try to explain things nearby in the narration.

On fleets vs. navy, the Brits had several fleets but really one navy from Henry VIII until rather late in the nineteenth? century. There was the home fleet, for example, which kept close to London IIRC. In the late 1700s, there were different colors for fleets and admirals, e.g., Admiral of the Red.

Well, I guess each fiction universe must have some different features, huh?

 

[Gumboot]

A Commando is a person who is a member of the Royal Marine Commandos (although they would be called Private, not Commando, as their title) - a Commander is a naval rank (but he may not command anything other than a desk).

A commando could also be a member of one of dozens of other commando units around the world.

 

[Tracer01]

A commando could also be a member of one of dozens of other commando units around the world.

By the way, can anybody educate me about the origins of that term?

The term Spetsnaz, for example it's short of Special Purpose Forces.

 

[Darkchild130]

It's was borrowed from Afrikaans and means mobile, in the military context a mobile unit. Commando as we know it is from a British world war 2 unit (not to be confused with modern marine commandos who are actually an infantry unit, most ww2 commandos were army units and performed what we would now call special forces operations).
The reason we only have marine commandos now is when they were all disbanded at the end of the war, 3 commando brigade was the only one that remained and was under navy command.

The term is used incorrectly to describe one person ie "A commando" "group of commandos" when it should really refer to a unit designation.

 

[Abernovo]

Commando originally comes from the Dutch kommando, a unit, I believe. In the Boer War of South Africa, the Boers used mobile (often mounted) units called kommandos for quick guerilla strikes. The tactics were copied by other militaries, particularly the British, and the name stuck.

EDIT: crossed with Darkchild. Darn my slow typing.

 

[Tyburn]

Funny you should mention that, I was looking it up last night.

The name comes from the Afrikaans word 'Kommando', which means 'mobile infantry regiment'. The first Kommandos were groups of militia in the southern African Dutch colonies, created to defend townships against native attacks. When the Boer Wars started, the Kommandos, who by now had extensive experience of fighting in non-standard (for the time) ways, engaged British troops in raids and ambushes and often defeating significantly larger numbers.

[Edit: What Abernovo said.]

 

[Tracer01]

Oh, I see. Royal Military has learned a lot in Boer War, isn't it? Same as Red Army Command after our war with Finland. We have found ourself a worthy foe and improve our organization.

Changes made appeared to be very useful later.

By the way it's also funny that some of Red Army commanders later tend to blame weather as the reason for failures during the Winter war, same as German generals after the WWII.

Oh, and it's my 16th post. You now can write me a PM if you are interested in my writing, I'll give you some directions.

 

[Gramm838]

A commando could also be a member of one of dozens of other commando units around the world.

(tongue in cheek) yes, but then he'd be a New Zealand Commando, or an Australian Commando, or whatever...whereas everyone knows where a Commando comes from!