Camouflage Pattern Combat Uniforms

The Boring Introduction

Ever since I started gaming with modern military settings for RPGs and the occasional wargame, there have been occasions when friends asked,
“What does such-and-such a cam look like?” Being something of an enthusiast when it comes to the military, I had a fairly good idea of what a
number of camouflage patterns were like – but try explaining what one looks like to someone. From then on, I had a plan to compile a picture
collection of camouflage uniforms from around the world into one book so I could hand it to a Player and let them see what the pattern looked
like. However, at that time it would have meant a lot of book buying (for patterns I didn’t have pics of), photocopying and typing (on a borrowed
manual typewriter), so the ‘grand plan’ was always in a ‘holding pattern’. As time passed I forgot to do something about it until I needed to
compile an equipment list for a new campaign. Now in possession of a computer and Net access, I have finally f inished the ‘grand plan’…
however, the equipment list is still to be completed!

Down to business.
The purpose of this file is to illustrate the wide variety of camouflage patterns employed by the military forces of the 20 th and 21s t Centuries.
Hopefully this resource will give RPGamers a better picture of what patterns/colours are available. It is by no means complete or authoritative but
does offer a very basic entry on the design/history/employment etc. of the pattern. In some cases, the official designation is unknown to me so I
have used the most frequently encountered terminology. In some entries this has been the title used by sellers and/or collectors of military
uniforms. In some cases there are wide variations on a theme (British DPM for example), I have not included every variant, or any variants for
some entries, as many vary by nothing more than a single shift in colour.

It is worth noting that over time, with constant exposure to the elements, many uniforms fade so that after a few years use (sometimes less), they
may be significantly paler than when they were first issued to the soldiers. Some uniforms are chemically treated to reduce the ability of InfraRed
(IR) to detect them. This gives the uniform a similar IR signature to vegetation but over time and with normal washing, this often breaks down and
can sometimes cause a slight colour change. Also, minor problems in printing the pattern onto cloth are sometimes ignored so some colours may
overlap when they shouldn’t or colours don’t match up when they should. This doesn’t usually make the cloth unusable but can confuse
identification. Printing onto different materials can cause changes in colour to the final pattern even when the ink itself is exactly the same e.g.
patterns printed onto nylon raincoats are often brighter than the same ink printed onto cotton.

So in summation, uniforms that you physically see may look somewhat different to the examples I have given here for all the reasons listed above.
As a final word, I have commented on som e countries based on as much information as my research materials would allow. Sometimes a specific
pattern has been called a number of different names by the military, uniform collectors or militaria stores so I have used what I thought was the
most appropriate. Sometimes it has basically come down to my best guess, so all assumptions and any mistakes regarding naming, descriptions or
histories etc. are mine.

Note that the term ‘cam’ is use throughout as a short form of camouflage and that the term ‘webbing’ and ‘web gear’ is used to refer to what the
Americans call ‘LBE’ (Load Bearing Equipment) and the Australians and English frequently call ‘Basics’ or ‘Basic kit’ (short for Basic
Webbing). Australian English is used for all grammar and spelling and the file was composed using Microsoft Word2000. Fonts used are Times
New Roman (in font size 9 for body of text) and Bangle (in font size 13 for most titles). (See also A word on printing, below).

Camouflage Uniforms.
Modern camouflage uniforms are the result of many hundreds of years of hunting and warfare. In an effort to gain some advantage over their prey,
primitive hunters often wore the skins of the species they hunted either to disguise their appearance & smell or to gain some mystical bond with
the animal so that it would allow the hunters to approach close enough to get a kill. Uniforms for modern warfare appear to be a product of the
20 th century and while the printed pattern uniforms used by modern armies are a product of that century, the principles behind camouflaging the
individual soldier were understood many centuries before. For example, medieval warriors are thought to have daubed their exposed skin with
mud and carried branches from bushes to obscure themselves as they moved to battle sites. This probably developed out of a desire to hide the
number of troops an army had for the coming fight. In the mid-1800s, the British 60th King’s Royal Rifle Corp adopted a uniform entirely of
green, this developed out of the German forester tradition from which these soldiers originated. Its purpose was to allow them to better hide
themselves in the forests of Europe and the Americas, something the standard British Army ‘red coat’ of the time would not allow. They were
later to become known as ‘The Green Jackets’, a title that still survives with the British army to this day.

The overall aim of camouflage uniforms is to assist the wearers ability to obscure their true nature or put more simply, to assist the wearer avoid
detection, they are not a replacem ent for good personal camouflage skills and anyone who ignores the principles of camouflage will be seen no
matter what cam uniform they possess. There are literally scores of different camouflage uniforms, in many cases colour changes for seasonal use
mean one basic pattern is available in four or five variations. In other situations, a particular pattern is modified somewhat for use in different
terrains. Patterns range from simple two -colour arrangements like a green base with overprinted brown amorphous blobs, (like the WW2 Soviet
pattern) to complex, computer designed, five-colour patterns, (like the Australian DPCU). Nations have developed patterns based on what they
thought were the most effective for certain seasons & terrains and even when two nations operate in the same region, their criterion for a pattern
have often been markedly different.
In certain cases, cluttered designs have been produced that only seem to be effective at extremely close range, as at a distance, all the complex
patterning fades into an overall dull background colour. This is often based on the idea that their complexity will confuse the human brain, causing
the eye to ignore what it sees thus rendering the wearer ‘invisible’. This has rarely proved necessary for humans (basic patterns will disguise the
individual as well as sophisticated patterns, as long as the wearer follows the principles of camouflage), as a trained human brain can break down
any flaws in the wearer’s disguise and bypass the illusion offered by the uniform. However, it is a principle that works remarkably well with some
animal species. Certain hunters have pursued this line and various US companies now offer hunter’s camouflage outfits that work very well on
animals by confusing the their less discerning brain. They can’t make out what the camouflaged object is so they ignore it. Some of these patterns
are still useful for avoiding the attentions of human quarry and for gaming purposes, a number of them are included in this file.

No one pattern is the perf ect camouflage and no one pattern can be used effectively in every situation (hence the tendency of many countries to
issue at least Temperate and Desert patterns and a white oversuit for winters that include snow) but like the uniforms of earlier eras, camouflage
uniforms serve also to distinguish the troops of one country from another. So where as a single Europe- wide pattern for use in Europe may make
obvious sense, the various nations still want to be able to distinguish their ‘boys & girls in uniform’ from everyone else’s. In a number of cases,
countries only issue cams to their elite/special forces, reasoning that due to their need for stealth/special operations, they are more likely to require
them than the conventional forces. Recently this attitude has changed in a few nations and cams are becoming the standard field uniform.
Other nations wholeheartedly embraced widespread issue decades ago such as the United Kingdom and the United States. Some nations issue
different patterns to different units within their military, in some circumstances it is justified by the different roles required of these different units
(e.g. Italy’s San Marco marine infantry having a Mediterranean pattern while the army infantry have a European pattern). Sometimes it just serves
to identify one special unit from another to outsiders (and potential enemies) although the claim is that it stimulates ‘esprit de corp’ and friendly
rivalry between these units (e.g. nearly all of Indonesia’s special units had their own specific cam pattern in the 1970s-80s, the rumour being that it
helped foster competition between the units so they would strive to better themselves).

If you don’t find a specific nation listed here, it is not an indication that they don’t wear a camouflage pattern uniform. Rather, it indicates that I
wasn’t able to locate information/pictures from that nation.

The pictures.
The pictures used in this file come from a few sources in and out of the public domain, some are from official military websites, some are from
news services and others have been sent to me by fellow gamers. Many have come from the website of Henrik Clausen and are used with his
permission. Henrik was the major contributor to this project and without his goodwill this would be less than half its size.
I thoroughly recommend his site which can be found at http://www.henrikc.dk/camouflage

Credits.
This project was made possible by the following people: -
Henrik Clausen: photos and information
Roan Gouws: photos and technical assistance
Bobby Hitt: the host of Pen & Paper rpg resources, without his patience, I would still be looking for a host site.

Reading materials.
A number of books were referenced for this project. I recommend all of them.
Brassey’s (UK) Ltd.: -
• Brassey’s Book of Camouflage, 2002 edition (Tim Newark, Quentin Newark & Dr. J.F. Borsarello, ISBN1-85753-336-4)
Concord Publications Company: -
• Special Ops, Journal of the Elite Forces & SWAT Units, volumes 1 to 23– other volumes are lik ely to have been published at this time
but I didn’t have access to them. (General editor Samuel M. Katz) Web www.concord-publications.com
Little, Brown and Company (UK): -
• The Armed Forces of World War II: Uniforms, Insignia & Organization (Andrew Mollo, ISBN 0-316-85897-8)
Osprey Publishing London: -
• Men At Arms series (aka Osprey MAA), all titles dealing with the 20 th century (various titles & authors)
• Elite Series (aka Osprey Elite), all titles dealing with the 20 th century (various titles & authors)
Windrow & Greene Publishing: -
• Europa Militaria No17: Wehrmacht Camouflage Uniforms & Post-War Derivatives (Daniel Peterson, ISBN1-85915-005-5)
• Europa Militaria No18: Waffen SS Camouflage Uniforms & Post -War Derivatives (Daniel Peterson, ISBN1-85915-015-2)

A word on printing.
Most pictures have been captured with a pixel density of between 150 and 200 dpi (depending on the source – some are less, some are more) so
normal printing should deliver the necessary detail. However, tests on my own and friend’s inkjet printers have revealed the following: -
1. Depending on the colour setting of your computer, the colour you see in the printout may not quite match what you see on the screen.
Print a test page of a cam pattern you are familiar with to see if the colour matches what you think it should be and adjust as necessary.
2. The small font size was chosen not for how it looked on screen, but how it looked when printed. I prefer the smaller sizes to save un -
necessary paper wastage and the difference between font size 9 and 10 doesn’t appear much when printed out but does save a few pages
over the course of lengthy docs.
3. For low to middle range inkjet printers, photo quality paper is the best option. However, colours may be a little darker or lighter than
what you see on your computer (see note 1. above).
4. For high-end inkjet printers, normal printer paper gives good results but photo quality paper still delivers the best. As noted above,
colours may come out a little darker or lighter than what you see on your computer.
5. If it’s a reasonable option (because it will probably cost quite a bit), have a printing shop use their computer to print out the file via a
colour photocopier. This usually gives the best results and has the bonus of colourfast ink (so that a spilt drink won’t give you
psychedelic cam where there used to be DPM!) However, most stores in Australia charge a hefty ‘download’ fee for accessing files from
disks you provide for them to work from, it may be the same in other countries. Ask them to print a test page of one of the cam patterns
you are familiar with first, to see if their colours match what you think the cam should be. Ask them to adjust as necessary.