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11-22-2021, 04:19 PM | #31 |
US military family
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Fort Campbell, Kentucky
Posts: 2,218
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11-22-2021, 04:37 PM | #32 |
Cobra Viper
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Arlington, VA
Posts: 325
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Quote:
Then when "Krake" Cobra Commander took over the organization, they revealed themselves to be this massive coordinated military force. They took over some fictional country in a day. I think this is where the overall 250K number comes from. |
11-22-2021, 05:12 PM | #33 |
Crimson Nerd
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Virginia
Posts: 12,579
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Yeah, that's part of the issue: Cobra has a lot of different versions that don't all play well with each other.
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11-22-2021, 05:13 PM | #34 |
Crimson Guard
Join Date: Sep 2016
Location: Houston
Posts: 2,449
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Personally I'd prefer Cobra to be a smaller organization, at least militarily, more like HYDRA or SPECTRE, with their Hand-type branch (ninja assassin), their AIM-type branch (R&D, etc). After about 1986 or so, their technology level and amount of specialized Viper made it apparent that they'd really have no trouble conquering the world, assuming they have a place like Cobra Island (they should have no trouble shooting down missiles from orbit).
But then again, I got out of collecting vehicles a while back and prefer characters like "Saboteur" and "Mercenary" rather than faceless hordes of Blueshirts and Vipers. Not that I don't love to buy BATs or Alley Vipers! However, at the end of the day, it IS a toy line, and kids love vehicles and playsets and that's where the big money probably was in 1982. |
11-29-2021, 02:44 PM | #35 |
Cobra Soldier
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Columbus, GA
Posts: 91
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I think it is hard to think on this scale for the average person. It is even harder when comparing it to other countries army numbers. Yes, our Army is over 1M strong now, but before the big surge against the war on terror, our numbers were only in the 250K range. Obviously, that number is supplemented by our other Armed Forces, bringing that number much higher, so again, it's hard to compare even that number.
I imagine Cobra, if it was truly attempting to become a world power, would have splinter cells (at minimum) in most major cities in the US. I think one thing many of the posters here seem to have forgotten is the original purpose for the Crimson Guard. They were not just high ranking Cobra soldiers, they were also high profile civilians. The CG would work more in society trying to infiltrate the political and judicial systems of cities while always having their uniforms hanging in the closet ready to be called to active duty at a moment's notice. I think this makes Cobra more of a threat than the sheer brute force that comes with insurmountable numbers in their ranks. I think the blue shirt is one thing that throws a monkey wrench into the hierarchy. I believe this to be a casualty of Hasbro trying to sell more toys. The Viper was meant as a replacement of the blue shirt. Similar to how the Night Raven was replacing the Rattler and the Stun replaced the HISS (cartoon and toy canon, not my personal ideas). Trying to make them fit now is a bit harder. I think of the blue shirt as a sort of Reserve component of Cobra, with the Viper ranks being the more 'active duty' version of the infantry. Blue shirts could be used in a similar role to the CGs, working more behind the scenes until called upon. This could also play into the rank structure with only blue shirts moving on to be promoted to CGs, with Vipers moving on to more elite Viper designations. Overall, I imagine the numbers could easily be in the 250K range worldwide. Most would be covert, working behind the scenes in some capability, with a smaller faction of about 20-30K being in a more 'active' role with calculated strikes that would end up making the rounds on the media outlets. |
11-29-2021, 04:57 PM | #36 |
Crimson Guard
Join Date: Sep 2016
Location: Houston
Posts: 2,449
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True. If you think about how dependent we are on communication now, then 100 Crimson Guard saboteurs is all you need. They can infiltrate and "work up the ladder" in key telecommunication facilities, nuclear and regional power plants, military installations, police departments, the FBI and NSA, and government offices at the Gubernatorial level. At the right time, they could wreak more havoc than a million man infantry.
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11-29-2021, 05:25 PM | #37 |
US military family
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Fort Campbell, Kentucky
Posts: 2,218
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Quote:
... Overall, I imagine the numbers could easily be in the 250K range worldwide. Most would be covert, working behind the scenes in some capability, with a smaller faction of about 20-30K being in a more 'active' role with calculated strikes that would end up making the rounds on the media outlets.
The answer, to quote James Carville, "It?s the economy, stupid." Logically, the Crimson Guard is going to be much smaller in size than the other elements of COBRA. Their role is of vital importance to COBRA, and it is thought that maybe Cobra Commander formed the "Siegie" network first and had them already in place for more than 10 years before he formed Cobra! Many of the "blue shirts", as some like to call them, are strategically seeded all over the world. As the 1982 Cobra Officer file card mentions, "Many are also believed to be operating as spies at defense plants, nuclear power facilities, etc." The problem with doing this, is the logistical economics. COBRA will have to pay far more to house and feed these undercover agents (and their families) if they want to retain their loyalty, than they would if they just kept them inside the walls of some military installation. This is an extremely expensive undertaking, which COBRA will invest in providing the payoffs are worth it to their organization, but that means COBRA will have to keep their numbers smaller to make operations affordable. Even if COBRA had a magical unlimited money resource available to them, consider that the more money COBRA moves around, the more detectable their operations become to the world. The real-life criminal organizations which fund networks of 25,000 to 50,000 members worldwide do so with the money made from vast oil fields and valleys of opium crops. There is so much money changing hands in these endeavors that it cannot be hidden. If COBRA attempts to field a larger and more expensive network of spies than these real-life networks do, they will quickly be detected and eradicated. Repeating that quote of James Carville, "It?s the economy, stupid."
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... freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it on to our children in the bloodstream. The only way they can inherit the freedom we have known is if we fight for it, protect it, defend it and then hand it to them with the well thought lessons of how they in their lifetime must do the same... - Ronald Reagan |
11-29-2021, 07:21 PM | #38 |
We get insurance, right?
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: At the Cobra, Cobracabana
Posts: 6,612
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I always imagined Cobra to be about the size of a small nation state in regards to their organization. (They do have their own island) I think 50k active members would be about right. That doesn’t really account for hired contractors like Firefly, or Zartan and his Dreadnoks/Family. Plus, Destro wouldn’t really be included either, imo. I think that would give cobra the ability to field a small Army, Navy and Air Force and also maintain embedded covert operations.
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11-29-2021, 08:27 PM | #39 |
Cobra Viper
Join Date: Oct 2019
Location: San Diego, CA
Posts: 207
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If Cobra Commander were to take a helicopter flight to cut a deal with the president of Belarus, what kind of troops might we find accompanying him and in what quantities?
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11-29-2021, 09:12 PM | #40 |
Cobra Viper
Join Date: May 2021
Location: RI
Posts: 230
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Quote:
Honestly, I think writing a Joe series with this type of real tone and would work much better than the outlandish stuff we have now. It's so rich. Hoenslty, it is a great way to explain how the world works all while reskinned as a super military team. I mean, Cobra starts the fires and EE comes to put them out and the Joes are trying to solve the problem. Like in the Mission Impossible stuff. The Syndicate and Rogue Nation seems very Cobra and EE to me....Instead of Ethan Hunt, we get the Joes. Deployed all over the world trying to squash this terrorist group..... I think the Joes have so much potential storywise.... |
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