MILITARY

🪖 Military Command & Control Sets

In tactical operations, clarity is everything. From the platoon leader in the field to the battalion staff in a TOC, the ability to visualize, explain and understand a plan directly impacts execution.

Our military sets are built to support command and control at every level during field exercises, classroom instruction, and operational rehearsals.

🔍 Recognize this?
You're in the field, receiving a combat order. The commander is laying out the plan using cartridge cases, pinecones, cup lids with a red stripe, maybe some caution tape. A few minutes later, someone adds a toy car but what does it represent? Was it friendly, enemy, logistics, or just forgotten trash?
As chaotic as it sounds, this is a familiar reality in many training environments.

While improvisation has its place, our tools offer a professional alternative built around standardized NATO APP-6 (Edition E, Version 1, October 2023). symbols that everyone can recognize at a glance.

🧭 From field to brigade level

Whether you're briefing your squad on a sand table, rehearsing with a company commander on a whiteboard, or planning cross-national operations at brigade level visual clarity matters. In international settings, interoperability depends on shared language and shared symbols.
Commander Supplies provides tools that align with NATO doctrine, allowing multinational units to operate, train, and communicate with confidence.

⚠️ Designed for contested environments

Modern conflict involves more than kinetic threats. Cyber attacks, GPS denial, and network failures increasingly challenge the digital backbone of command systems. When tablets fail, screens go black, or connectivity is lost, planning and command must continue reliably and visibly.
Our tools provide commanders with the ability to:

Brief operations clearly without power or connectivity
Track changes manually using standard symbols, overlays, and movement of blocks
Maintain operational awareness using traditional methods: physical map boards, written messages, or unit reports
Bridge communication across teams without relying on digital displays or live tracking

When Blue Force Trackers stop working, your whiteboard or birdtable becomes your command system.

🔧 Symbol configuration support

To help you define the ideal setup for your mission or training event, we recommend the external NATO APP-6 Symbol Generator by Spatial Illusions:

This third-party tool offers a free and intuitive way to explore NATO-compliant symbols.
Commander Supplies is not affiliated with Spatial Illusions, but we support its use during the planning of your order.

📦 What we offer

🧷 Symbol Overview & Customization Notes

Below you’ll find a selection of commonly used tactical symbols we can produce. These examples provide a visual impression of the available formats, print dimensions, and label options we offer.
Please note that this is only a small sample we are capable of designing and printing nearly any NATO APP-6* tactical symbol, in various sizes and colors.
For most users, we recommend choosing from our standard block sizes. If you or your unit require custom dimensions, this will require a redesign of all selected symbols to match the new scale. This may:

Extend production time
In some cases, limit symbol options due to technical constraints in 3D printing

*Disclaimer: Commander Supplies is not affiliated with or endorsed by NATO. Our products are independently developed and follow publicly available symbology standards as outlined in NATO APP-6.

💶 Pricing information

See our pricing information page here for more information.

⚠️ Custom sizes and prototypes

If your request deviates from our standard formats, design and prototype costs may apply.

These additional charges depend on the complexity and scope of the customization and will always be discussed and confirmed with you in advance.

We are committed to delivering the best solution for your operational or training context tailored to your needs, with full transparency on cost and feasibility.

🛠 Durability & Modularity
All our blocks are:

Made of biodegradable yet durable material

Resistant to field use and classroom handling
Waterproof
With the optional intergrated magnets: usable on whiteboards or map overlays (not for holding paper)

All designs are made for intuitive handling, durability in the field, and doctrinal accuracy.

Unit Numbering Options

At Commander Supplies, we can produce unit markers with numbering in full compliance with the latest NATO APP-6 standard (Edition E, Version 1 – October 2023).

This includes the formal placement and format for all unit identifiers, as shown here in the example of the 112th Armored Engineer Company.

However, in practice we find that many users prefer the older, simplified numbering style, such as the 37th Brigade marker.

We recommend this style in most cases because:

Improved readability — numbers are larger and easier to identify quickly in a briefing or on a bird table
Clarity under time pressure — fewer elements mean less visual clutter
Sufficient information — still provides all the key identifiers needed for operational use of the blocks

While both styles are available, our advice is to choose the clear and proven “old style” format unless your specific operational framework requires full APP-6 compliance.

Bluefor (Friendly forces)

All Commander Supplies Bluefor blocks are designed according to NATO APP-6 standards. They are available in three sizes to support different levels of command, planning environments, and map scales. Each format offers distinct advantages in terms of size, detail, and flexibility.

Disclaimer: Commander Supplies is not affiliated with or endorsed by NATO. Our products are independently developed and follow publicly available symbology standards as outlined in NATO APP-6.

🔹 Type: Small

The Small blocks are ideal for use on topographic maps at scales such as 1:25,000 / 1:50,000 and 1:100,000.

Despite their compact size, they still display the NATO APP-6 symbol and unit echelon clearly.

Optionally magnetic (integrated)

Due to size limitations, these blocks do not support additional unit identifiers or alphanumeric labels they are purely visual markers for quick and accurate battlefield representation.

Ideal for real-time tracking and movement updates in the field.

🔹Type: Standard

Nameplate:

The Nameplate (rectangle) is our most versatile and commonly used format. It consists of:
A colored base, available in different colors for visual role separation (e.g. logistics, maneuver, fires)

Two identical removable blocks featuring:
NATO APP-6 symbol
Unit echelon
Optional unit identifiers (up to 4 characters on each side
Optionally magnetic (integrated)

These removable blocks can be used:

Together in the base for upright display on tables or terrain models

Separately, placed directly on maps or whiteboards even simultaneously at two locations to visualize split operations or successive phases.

Perfect for commanders, instructors, and planners who need modularity and detail in one compact format.

🔹Type: Large

The Large format is designed for use on terrain models, sand tables, or demonstrative boards during higher-level planning or instruction.
Features:

Full NATO symbol and echelon marking
Space for up to 4 characters per side for national code, unit number, or task designation
High visibility, ideal for company-to-brigade level visualization

A favorite for command post exercises, wargaming, and visual instruction in larger environments.

🎨 Colored Bases for Bluefor Nameplates
For our Bluefor Nameplates, Commander Supplies offers interchangeable colored bases that provide an additional layer of visual clarity in planning and coordination.
These colored bases can be used to:

Differentiate unit types or branches at a glance

Support regimental or branch colors as used in various armed forces (e.g. the German Bundeswehr’s Waffenfarbe system)

Indicate roles such as maneuver, logistics, combat support, or command elements

Visually separate task forces or operational groupings during complex operations

Practical value in the field
On a bird table or in a field CP, quick recognition is essential. Colored bases allow commanders, staff, and participants to instantly identify unit roles without having to read alphanumeric labels. This speeds up briefings, reduces errors under time pressure, and enhances overall situational awareness — especially when multiple formations are represented on the same map.
By integrating color coding into your planning blocks, you add a powerful visual tool to your command & control process, supporting faster decisions and clearer communication.

Example: German Waffenfarbe Branch Colors

Jägertruppe

Fallschirmjägertruppe
Panzergrenadiertruppe
Gebirgsjägertruppe

Panzertruppe

ABC-Abwehrtruppe

Feldjägertruppe

Sanitätstruppe

Logistiktruppe
Heereslogistiktruppe

Redfor (Enemy forces)

Named Enemy Units
In addition to standard enemy symbols based on NATO APP-6, Commander Supplies also offers Redfor nameplates that allow you to indicate specific enemy unit types such as “T-72B3”, “BMP-3”, or other vehicle, unit or formation designations.

These red nameplates:

Can be placed alongside Redfor symbols to enhance clarity

Are available in multiple sizes.

Help provide a clearer picture of known or suspected enemy assets, supporting intelligence-driven decision-making

Are useful for IPB (Intelligence Preparation of the Battlefield) and visualizing threat capabilities

The combination of standardized symbology and specific identifiers strengthens situational awareness and supports realistic training, rehearsal, and wargaming.

🖼️ Examples shown: APP-6 Main Battle Tank symbol and matching T-72B3 nameplate and Infantry fighting vehicle of the type BTR.

🔹 Type: Small

The Small blocks are ideal for use on topographic maps at scales such as 1:25,000 / 1:50,000 and 1:100,000.

Despite their compact size, they still display the NATO APP-6 symbol and unit echelon clearly.

Optionally magnetic (integrated)

Due to size limitations, these blocks do not support additional unit identifiers or alphanumeric labels they are purely visual markers for quick and accurate battlefield representation.

Ideal for real-time tracking and movement updates in the field.

🔹 Type: Standard
Nameplate:
The Nameplate (daimond) is our most versatile and commonly used format. It consists of:
A colored base, available in different colors for visual role separation (e.g. logistics, maneuver, fires)

Two identical removable blocks featuring:
NATO APP-6 symbol
Unit echelon
Optional unit identifiers (up to 4 characters on each side
Optionally magnetic (integrated)

These removable blocks can be used:

Together in the base for upright display on tables or terrain models

Separately, placed directly on maps or whiteboards even simultaneously at two locations to visualize split operations or successive phases

Perfect for commanders, instructors, and planners who need modularity and detail in one compact format.

🔹Type: Large
The Large format is designed for use on terrain models, sand tables, or demonstrative boards during higher-level planning or instruction.
Features:

Full NATO symbol and echelon marking
Space for up to 4 characters per side for national code, unit number, or task designation
Optionally magnetic (integrated)
High visibility, ideal for company-to-brigade level visualization

A favorite for command post exercises, wargaming, and visual instruction in larger environments.

Coordinating Measures (Control graphics, phase lines, boundaries, axes of advance, objectives, obstacles)

We offer a wide range of coordinating measures (e.g. phase lines, boundaries, objectives, axes, CPs) in all standard block formats: Small, Nameplate, and Large.

Small blocks are suitable for use on topographic maps (1:25,000 / 1:50,000 / 1:100,000). Compact in size, they feature clear symbology but cannot be labeled with unit or point identifiers. Ideal for quick and accurate battlefield representation.
Nameplate blocks offer maximum flexibility.offer maximum flexibility.
Each marker consists of a colored base and two identical removable blocks with the NATO APP-6 symbol. These can be used together in the base or separately on the map even simultaneously for marking both ends of a line or multiple related positions.

All coordinating measures come in different colors, sizes, depending on the type.

Optionally: all blocks can be fitted with integrated magnets.