Military Power

Here is a list to get us started... Let me know if some should be added or deleted and why.

Ancient

- Persians under Cyrus the Great
- Spartans at Thermopylae
- Macedonians Army under Alexander the Great
- Romans in almost every war/battle they fought
- Carthaginian Army under Hannibal
- Visigothic heavy Cavalry at Adrianople in 378 and Chalons in 451
- The slave rebellion in Rome under Spartacus
- Germanic tribial fighters at Teutoburg Forest
- Huns under Attila

Middle Ages

- Vikings from 793 to 1066
- Koreans during the First Goryeo-Khitan War
- Normans under William the Conqueror
- Samurai in Japan
- Muslims under Saladin during the 1st crusade
- Knight Templar during the 1st crusade
- Mongols under Genghis Khan
- Scottish Army during their war for independence
- Welsh Longbowmen
- Teutonic Knights and Poles/Lithuanians in their various wars with each other
- Swiss Pikemen under whoever hired them

Post Middle Ages

- The New Model Army
- Samurai in Japan (again)
- Polish Hussars at Kircholm
- Swedish in the early part of the Great Northern War
- Russians under Peter the Great
- Prussians under Frederick the Great

Colonal/Napoleonic/WWI/other era

- The British (built the worlds largest oversea’s empire enough said)
- Roger’s Rangers during The French and Indian War
- Continental Army during the American Revolution
- South African Boers during the wars with Britian
- American defenders at New Orleans
- French Grand Armee under Napoleon
- Napoleon’s Imperial Guard
- Russian Winter (during Napoleon’s invasion)
- British at Waterloo
- Texans at the Alamo
- Army of Occupation in the Mexican/American War
- Confederate Army of Northern Virginia during US Civil War
- Confederate Horsemen during US Civil War
- Stonewall Brigade during US Civil War
- Union XIV Corps at Chickamauga
- Union V Corps during the Seven Days Battle
- Prussians during Bismarck’s reign
- Japanese Navy during the Russo-Japanese War
- Serbs during WWI
- German 8th Army
- German Sturmtruppen
- French in WWI
- The US “Lost Battalion” in Argonne Forest
- Marines at Belleau Wood
- Poles during the Soviet/Polish War

WWII

- Wehrmacht also everywhere it fought
- Finns in Winter/Continuation/Lapland War
- 7th Panzer Division during the French Campiagn
- RAF during the Battle of Britian
- Afrika Korps and Desert Rats in the African theater
- USMC and civilian defenders at Wake Island
- Soviet Snipers at Stalingrad
- 62nd Army at Stalingrad (and later on as 8th Tank Army)
- II SS Panzer Korps at Kharkov, Prochorovka and Market Garden
- 82nd Airborne in Italian and Normandy Campiagns
- FallshirmJaeger at Mount Cassino
- Großdeutschland on the Eastern Front
- 12th SS Panzer Division at Caen
- Panzer Lehr in Normandy
- 1st SS Panzer Division at the Falaise pocket
- British Paras during Market Garden
- 2nd Guards Tank Corps in op Bagration
- US Marines in Pacific Theater
- US Navy at Midway
- Aussie Militia during Kokoda and the New Guinea Campaign
- Japanese in Malaysia and Philippines in early 1942
- 1st Special Service Force in Italy
- US Army Rangers at Normandy
- 101st Airborne at Normandy and Bastogne
- Merrill's Marauders in Burma
- Tuskegee Airmen in the air war over Europe
- 6th Ranger Battalion during the Raid at Cabanatuan


Post WWII

- North Korean People's Army before Inch'on Landings
- 1st Marine Division at Inch’on and Chosin
- Chinese PVA during the first phase offensive in the Korean War
- US 2nd Infantry Division during the May Massacre
- Royal Australian Regiment in Korea and in Vietnam
- Airborne Ranger Companies in Korea
- 7th Infantry Division at Pork Chop Hill
- PAVN/VC/Viet Minh during the Vietnam conflict
- Navy SEALs in the Mekong Delta
- 5th Special Forces Group in Vietnam
- 3rd Brigade (101st Airborne) at FSB Ripcord
- Aussie/NZ SASR during the Vietnam War
- Israelis in the 1948 War
- IDF in the Six Day War and Yom Kippur War
- British Para/Royal Marine during the Falkland War
- British SAS and SBS during the Falkland war
- Spetsnaz in Afghanistan
- Afghan tribal fighters during the Soviet invasion
- Iraqi Republican Guard in Iraq/Iran War (although they didn’t do to well later on…)
- Delta Force in Desert Storm
- Eagle Troop (1st at 73 Easting
- Task Force Ranger in Somilia
- Serbs during the Siege of Sarajevo
- Chechens in the First Chechen War
- Task Force 121 in GWOT
- Marines at the 'Candy Store' in Fallujah

suggested by Hobilar:

Landsknecht

The Chu Luc

American Defenders at New Orleans?

Meanwhile Jackson received reinforcements in the form of 2,250 Tennesseans and Kentuckians under Brigadier-General John Thomas who were, it seemed, "the worst provided body of men, perhaps, that ever went 1,500 miles from home to help a sister state." They were lamentably equipped, having only one camp kettle to over 80 men and no other cooking equipment, tents or blankets, while their clothes were so ragged they had to hold them together with their hands, and only a third were armed. Jackson was incredulous; " I have never in my life, " he reportedly said, " seen a Kentuckian without a gun, a pack of cards and a jug of whiskey." The Louisiana legislature had to vote $6,000 to relieve their distress, and private sources raised another $12,000. But the city could find arms for only 500 of them; Jackson ordered those with arms to join Morgan, although only 250 managed to do so.

From: Jon Latimer's 1812-War with America pp380)

Wouldn't the French Foreign Legion have been a better choice?

Hobilar wrote:Wouldn't the French Foreign Legion have been a better choice?

I fail to see why.

Hobilar wrote:American Defenders at New Orleans?

Meanwhile Jackson received reinforcements in the form of 2,250 Tennesseans and Kentuckians under Brigadier-General John Thomas who were, it seemed, "the worst provided body of men, perhaps, that ever went 1,500 miles from home to help a sister state." They were lamentably equipped, having only one camp kettle to over 80 men and no other cooking equipment, tents or blankets, while their clothes were so ragged they had to hold them together with their hands, and only a third were armed. Jackson was incredulous; " I have never in my life, " he reportedly said, " seen a Kentuckian without a gun, a pack of cards and a jug of whiskey." The Louisiana legislature had to vote $6,000 to relieve their distress, and private sources raised another $12,000. But the city could find arms for only 500 of them; Jackson ordered those with arms to join Morgan, although only 250 managed to do so.

From: Jon Latimer's 1812-War with America pp380)

Wouldn't the French Foreign Legion have been a better choice?

Not sure why you would say that. Tennesseans and Kentuckians are the American Defenders at New Orleans in question. And this list isn't just for victorious groups but the brave in the face of overwhelming odds (hence the Spartans at Thermopylae and the Texans at the Alamo). The Volunteers (the reason Tennessee is the Volunteer State) were not equipped well, but went to defend their sister state anyway, knowing that unless a miracle occurred it would probably be a suicide mission.

D Coy 6th Royal Australian Regiment. On the 18th August 1966 the heroic stand by this dispersed company against some 2,500 Main Force Viet Cong at Long Tan certainly justifies their place in the list.

CrazyCatman wrote:


And this list isn't just for victorious groups but the brave in the face of overwhelming odds (hence the Spartans at Thermopylae and the Texans at the Alamo).

Fair Point. In which case the 24th Regiments of Foot should be in the list for their defence of Rorkes Drift during the Zulu War, and the French Foreign Legion for their Defence of Camerone (Mexico) and equally heroic stands at Bir Hakeim and Dien Bien Phu.

PPCLI.(Canada)...in Korea the only foreign unit (non USA) to recieve the Presidential Unit Citation for Battle. It is still worn on the uniforms today.

george babony wrote:PPCLI.(Canada)...in Korea the only foreign unit (non USA) to recieve the Presidential Unit Citation for Battle. It is still worn on the uniforms today.

Three Commonwealth Regiments were awarded the United States Distinguished Unit Citation for their part in the Battle of the Imjin River and the Batte of Kapyong:

The 1st Battalion Gloucestershire Regiment, together with C Troop 170 Heavy Mortar Battery Royal Artillery

The 3rd Battalion Royal Australian Regiment, (Battle of Kapyong April 22-25, 1951).

The 2nd Battalion of Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry Regiment. (Battle of Kapyong April 22-25, 1951)

Source: Wikipedia

Thanks for the info Hobilar,