After rewatching the DVD set, especially 'LL', 'Experiment' and 'Baltars Escape', I've come to some interesting conclusions about ground combat in the CBSG universe....Please feel free to comment.
One of the truisms of ground warfare is that you tune your weapons and tactics to defeat your main opponent. Given what we can see in the canon shows(to date), how do both sides stack up, and what can we reasonably speculate on and extrapolate too?
INDIVIDUAL CYLON CENTURION GROUND COMBAT CAPABILITIES
First, we need to examine what appears to be a discontinuity: Cylon Centurions are feared opponents in ground combat, yet from most of what we see, they appear slow-moving and rather clumsy...yet, at other times, they appear remarkably quick and agile.
I think that the answer is that Centurions have a limited internal power supply, and usually run themselves on a lower setting to conserve energy, only switching their "hi-speed" systems on when they know action is imminent.
This means that they would have an auxiliary power supply to give them a "turbo-charge" boost in the event of ambush, while using a larger, longer-lasting(and thus, heavier) power pack when they are engaging in "assault"-type operations. While not the best of arrangements, we have to remember that every system involves trade-offs: the larger power packs likely limit the Centurion's load-bearing capacity, and would be a prime target for Colonial Infantry, where the smaller "turbo-booster" packs are likely internal units.
This explains how we see Centurion units reacting very slowly to ambushes("Young Lords" and "LL"), while in situations like the gunfights in "Lost Warrior" and various one-off scenes in other episodes, Centurions seem to move with considerable agility and speed.
Turning to Cylon weapons, the average Centurion appears optimized for a straight-up infantry fight, carrying a laser/blaster rifle and a sword for close combat, and does not appear to employ any indirect fire weapons like grenade launchers or mortars at the level of the individual Centurion.
Although we never see Cylon combat vehicles in the canon episodes, they would likely employ some kind of fragmentation weapon similar to a current-US issue Mk19 40mm grenade machinegun (
http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/land/mk19.htm), as such fragments would be highly lethal to humans, who would only be able to employ limited personal armor protection.
COLONIAL WARRIOR INFANTRY
This would also explain why the Colonials do not seem to use such indirect or fragmentation weapons: their utility against Cylon Centurions would not be worth their weight. However, a "Claymore"-type landmine using something like Napalm or white Phosphorus might be in the inventory.
The only time we see something approaching Colonial Infantry is in "Baltars Escape'('BE'), when an "assault team" deploys to the landing bay and prepares to assault the shuttlecraft where the Council are being held.
Adama, Tigh and Siress Tinia seem fully confident in the ability of this assault team to gain entry to the shuttle, but wisely choose another avenue when they discover that the shuttle has been wired to blow.
The mission of this assault team is a classic HRT(Hostage Rescue Team) operation of the type performed by police SWAT and military Special Forces units. Interestingly, they do not appear to carry any kind of explosive charges(RL units employ "flash-bang" grenades to temporarily stun the targets).
BE is also the first time we see any Colonial infantry weapon other than a pistol. The Colonial rifle appears to be a small, fast-cycling energy weapon that seems to employ a form of electrical/particle accelerator technology that would be very lethal to humans(if not set to a low-power 'stun' rating) and likely catastrophic to Cylons.
The rifles appear to be blocky, box-like arrangments with a simple trigger group and stock, and very crude-appearing sights. Since(based on BE) the weapons appear to be essentially recoilless, they would not need complicated sighting units, as their fire would be line-of-sight.
Interestingly, the assault team wears a type of helmet that is considerably different from a Viper pilots' helmet. This makes sense, as the Viper helmet, where is likely works quite well in a cockpit, would be a disaster in ground action.
Equaly interesting is that the Colonial team does not appear to wear body armor; if the rifles are electro/particla accelerators, this would make sense, as any armor able to deflect/degrade a shot would probably be too cumbersome for infantry/commando work.
GROUND COMBAT VEHICLES AND SUPPORT WEAPONS
Other than the Landrams carried by the Galactica, we do not see any ground combat vehicles in the canon series. This is unfortunate, but perfectly reasonable given the circumstances.
We do know, from 'Saga', that Landrams can be armed with "laser cannons"; these appear to be similar to a Viper's main battery, but are likely a lighter version - somewhat like the difference between a .50cal heavy machinegun (
http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/land/m2-50cal.htm) and a 20mm Vulcan gun (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M61_Vulcan).
Based on what appears to be the general thrust of technology in CBSG, I do not believe that either the Colonials or the Cyolns would employ weapons that we know as mortars, "tube-" or rocket-artillery; battlefield radar technology would render such weapons largely obsolete, as their fire would be almost instantly back-tracked, and counter-battery fire would swiftly destroy the firing weapon.
This means that any combat vehicles will be small, fast and maneuverable, employing either a large-ish direct-fire energy weapon, a cannon-like projectile launcher, or a mass-driver-type accelerator; such a vehicle would bear a striking resemblance to a Royal Swedish Army S-Tank:
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/lsm/dhmg/s103.html
This has extremely important implications for ground warfare in CBSG, as the lack of major combat vehicles cuts deeply into the logistical requirement: if you only need to resupply minimal-weight personal equipment, food/water(for humans, power cells and spare parts for Cylons), and very limited ammunition requirements, operations will be very fast-moving and hard on the humans.
For the Colonials, they would need a vehicle that functioned like the US M113 (
http://www.globalsecurity.org/milita...round/m113.htm) in that it would need to have a base-line drive train and a "bed" section allowing for a series of modular, multi-function units; in fact, given the need for extensive CAS(Close Air Support) in view of the likely lack of indirect artillery, there would likely be a ratio of 1/1/1 of combat/air defense/support vehicles.
The only real difference with Cylon vehicles would be a slightly more diverse weapons' suite, employing the aforementioned grenade machinguns.
Both sides would likely employ individual-portable direct-fire weapons sufficient to knock out vehicles, similar to the Russian-designed RPG:
http://www.g2mil.com/RPG.htm and
http://www.military.com/ContentFiles/BHDequipmentrpg ; these would also be effective in deploying flame agents(for the Colonials against the Cylons; see: M202A1
http://www.inetres.com/gp/military/i...lame/M202.html) and fragmentation warheads(for the Cylons).
Both sides would also likely employ heavy, fast-cycling energy weapons similar in employment concept to General Purpose Machine Guns(GPMGs) like the US M60A3(
http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/land/m60e3.htm) and the Russian RPD(
http://www.lcompanyranger.com/RPD.htm). While of limited effectivness against Vipers or Raiders, they would be highly useful against infantry.
COMMANDO OPERATIONS
While it may seem that the definitive word on Colonial infantry is expressed in "LL, Pt 2", this is not the case.
This sequence was a highly-specialized form of warfare; in fact, the Colonial team did not need to be encumbered by anything more than what they were carrying; their primary mission was to destroy equipment and confuse the Cylon command structure in order to allow the fuel shuttles to land and load their cargo of refined Tylium.
Given the above, while very interesting form a strictly technical standpoint, the commando operation in "LL" is not a very good yardstick for general ground combat.
Thoughts On Cbsg Ground Combat
