[Dead Monky]

I suppose not.  Most militarized nations, no matter how small, seem to at least attempt creating their own special forces teams.  Even if by "special forces" they just mean technicals that don't break down every three miles and AK-47s with bullets included.

And just to be a nitpicking, factoid spewing dick ( ), Cost Rica has no special forces.  They abolished their military in 1946.

[Nath]

Still, if you count Germany GSG9 or Russia Alpha group as special forces, then you must count Costa Rica  Unidad Especial de Intervención and Unidad Especial de Apoyo, as none of them are military units ; they all belong to police or security services.

[Crimsondude]

The German special operations unit is the KSK. I think they were mentioned in Target: Smuggler Havens in the North Sea chapter when it refers to the BIS, the AGS counterintelligence agency.

The list of global SMUs on specialoperations.com is ridiculous. An elite military unit is something everyone wants because they are cool, but few rarely need. Same goes for police units.

[freddieflatline]

I suppose not.  Most militarized nations, no matter how small, seem to at least attempt creating their own special forces teams.  Even if by "special forces" they just mean technicals that don't break down every three miles and AK-47s with bullets included.

And just to be a nitpicking, factoid spewing dick ( ), Cost Rica has no special forces.  They abolished their military in 1946.

Yeah right Self Defense Force, Security Force, etc...  Whatever you want to call them are still military even if they only have a police or para-military designation.

[Critias]

I imagine one or more of the various German states would maintain something at least resembling it.

You got to wonder how special a Spec force team is when they come from a really small nation state without huge budgets.  Special Forces take millions of dollars to train and equip.  I mean does Costa Rica's special forces really hold a candle to the Russia's Alfa or Delta?  I guess maybe if some of the small German states spec ops were supported by SK?  Then the question would be could you really trust them?

Well, in real life the disparity between size/population of nation-states is (partially) mitigated by the web of political alliances around the world.  The nations with bigger budgets and more renowned military forces (America, for instance) often sends trainers to help out countries with smaller budgets and less wartime experience. 

I know of at least a few instances in Shadowrun where that's still the case -- the Sioux Wildcats, for instance, are known for being used to train and equip friendly forces in other countries.

[Frostriese]

Whatever happened to the Bundeswehr anyway? All 4E books say, if they mention the topic, the AGS has barred itself from having armed forces and hence relies on mercenaries. But from the Germany Sourcebook onwards, including I think English publication, the Bundeswehr was still around as the AGS military... I mean, Germany extremly decentralised, but apart from Marienbad and Hamburg it didnt officially split up. Or did I miss something?

[Crimsondude]

AFAIK, MET2000 still serves as the AGS's military. But I haven't really checked since Shadows of Europe.

[Nath]

According to Germany Sourcebok, page 52, the Bundeswehr still exists, along with MET2000. Shadows of Europe says nothing specific, though there is one mention of "the MET and the military". Can't say about German only resources.

[freddieflatline]

Interesting maybe it was a mistake on the part of FASA or there might be regional German forces like some sort of reserve? 

[Frostriese]

Interesting maybe it was a mistake on the part of FASA or there might be regional German forces like some sort of reserve? 

According to the Germany Sourcebook the single German states have militia/national guard like units, but they are restricted to 1/1000th of the population and no heavy equipment. The Bundeswehr still exists on Alliance level, though the Alliance also uses the MET2000 Mercenaries. Shadows of Europe implicitly continued that, and German publications explicitly. It seems like Catalyst for some reason suddenly has disregarded that previous canon material, though. Seems more like (really silly, IMO) retcon than a misunderstanding to me.

[Dead Monky]

Still, if you count Germany GSG9 or Russia Alpha group as special forces, then you must count Costa Rica  Unidad Especial de Intervención and Unidad Especial de Apoyo, as none of them are military units ; they all belong to police or security services.

Touche, sir.  Touche.

[Mystic]

OK, are we talking regular military units, or military special forces? Because I would wager that every nation has at least some kind of defense force, no matter how small it may be. And if we are counting special "police" units like SWAT/HRT, that list would only get longer. The FBI has one of the best HRT teams in the world, and
I doubt that would change, even with the rise of the UCAS.

[Dead Monky]

I think the thread's supposed to be about military special forces teams specifically.

[Digital_Viking]

I think the thread's supposed to be about military special forces teams specifically.

Yeah sorry, I wasn't more specific

[Mystic]

I think the thread's supposed to be about military special forces teams specifically.

True, but when you have a small country, their police forces often double as such. And I thought when units like the German GSG9 was mentioned, I thought I would also mention the FBI HRT because of their prestigue and that they do a lot of crosstraining with military units.