exile camps and Imperial prisons

[BwapTED]

Have any of you guys used these in play?


What sort of Imperial crimes get one sent to an Imperial prison?

My guess would be that "Imperial crimes" include any criminal acts committed in direct Imperial jurisdiction or against the Imperium: in space, inside the line at star ports, on Imperial facilities and estates, and on Capital.
Some things might just merit a fine and some time in a starport brig, but serious offenses typically draw a sentence of penal transportation.

Are the exile camps noted in The Spinward Marches book (I just bought ) full of exiles from various planetary governments, or those out of favor with the Imperial gov't? Both?

 

[Quint]

I've run Prison Planet a couple of times over the decades, it makes for a nice change of scenery.

In general, I tend to view these (for Imperial crimes) as being the standard punishment for Imperial crime - with the understanding that the Imperium doesn't bother with majority of what most planetary populations consider crime. An actual prison (like the "Gash") is used for more serious crimes or for prisoners that the Imperium wants to keep track of. Execution is standard for the most serious of crimes.

D.

 

[BwapTED]

I've run Prison Planet a couple of times over the decades, it makes for a nice change of scenery.

In general, I tend to view these (for Imperial crimes) as being the standard punishment for Imperial crime - with the understanding that the Imperium doesn't bother with majority of what most planetary populations consider crime. An actual prison (like the "Gash") is used for more serious crimes or for prisoners that the Imperium wants to keep track of. Execution is standard for the most serious of crimes.

D.

I imagine slavery and piracy would be considered serious crimes. Maybe capital offenses, and maybe just imprisonment.

I doubt the Imperium would spend a lot of money transporting, housing, feeding, caring for, and (possibly) training/educating criminals unless there were some benefit to the state or the noble classes/megacorps.

Penal laborers on low tech worlds?
Test subjects for drugs?
Settlers on frontier worlds?
Cannon fodder?

Could the draft include ''voluntary'' service as a way out of a prison sentence?

Are penal legions a thing?

 

[kilemall]

Off the top of my head,

• extraplanetary crimes such as piracy,
• murder at non-planetary/member world facilities/colonies,
• treason against the Imperium,
• violators of the Imperial Rules of War (particularly destructive wars especially nuke use),
• interfering with x-boat communications,
• transportation and/or sale of nuclear biological or other regulated weapons,
• megathreats unspecified by law but deemed perilous to the Imperium,
• using space weapons or ship ramming to kill citizens on planet or space facilities along the lines of the IRW,
• Credit forgery or otherwise threatening the Imperium's banking system,
• violating Red Zones,
• basic criminal law in extrality zones particularly starports (I would argue standard LL 1, everyone heavily armed but LE is unbribable),
• smuggling to member worlds (as part of the terms of signing onto the Imperium, worlds get control of inputs and banned items getting smuggled in is considered a breach of planetary sovereignty),
• killing Imperial service members, and
• threatening, kidnapping, harming or killing Imperial Nobles.

An interesting question to ponder is whether a noble fief is considered to be an extrality zone or not. If one considers every noble as a representative however removed of the Emperor, then arguably they have diplomatic immunity and at least their quarters could be a mini-consulate.


At the very least nobles are both symbols of the Imperium AND a primary method by which planetary leaders are coopted, and harming their persons could be construed as an attack on the 3I.

 

[Garnfellow]

In the Imperium, based as it is on trust and good governance, I would guess corruption or bribery of Imperial officials would be considered extremely serious felonies. What might be a normal way of conducting business in some cultures would be verboten. What got Blagojevich 14 years in the federal pen might be a capital crime in the Third Imperium.

 

[mike wightman]

Note the reasons the PCs and NPCs can end up imprisoned by the Imperium in A1 Kinunir, and also note there is no mention of a trial at any time...

in addition to the Gash, there is also an Imperial prison world Mithras/Glisten:

Mithras is the site of an lmperial exile prison; convicted individuals are deported
to the world where they begin life anew. Although environmental conditions are
harsh, the opportunities on Mithras have made it a showcase of rehabilitation.

Finally there is the intended use of labour for the establishment of the colony on Forboldn in lieu of prison time.

 

[Condottiere]

In a modern military, you'd rather have enthusiastic, educated, well adjusted volunteers, especially since they'll be armed and using high technology equipment.

I can see cannon fodder being used against Aslan and Vargr incursions.

 

[BwapTED]

In a modern military, you'd rather have enthusiastic, educated, well adjusted volunteers, especially since they'll be armed and using high technology equipment.

I can see cannon fodder being used against Aslan and Vargr incursions.

Marines use cutlasses. Not exactly high tech.



But on a completely serious note, regular old Army troops use, what, rifles equivalent to something from the 20th Century?
It's not like the typical soldier carries a laser carbine.
I would agree that you'd want volunteers whenever you could get them, and the high tech stuff would be safest in the hands of troops of certain and reliable loyalties.

No battledress for convicts!





Penal troops and punishment battalions were used by both Germany and the USSR in WW2.

Maybe defeated rebel troops, deserters, and criminals are given conditional pardons if they agree to ''volunteer'' to go fight the Aslan, much as you suggest.


TANGENT: CONSCRIPTS AND MAN-RENT

But to what extent are forces conscripted in the 3I?
I imagine it's not uncommon, and the draft in character generation reflects that implied setting element without modelling it.Do some worlds pay an Imperial tax in men, not money or resources? Man-rent.

 

[Condottiere]

Most militaries are equipped with a variant of the advanced combat rifle.

Assault rifles and submachine guns is probably the minimum level of equipage.

High technological army units have gauss weapons.

 

[BwapTED]

Most militaries are equipped with a variant of the advanced combat rifle.

Assault rifles and submachine guns is probably the minimum level of equipage.

High technological army units have gauss weapons.

Penal troops=simple gear.

Probably planetary forces surplus guns, blades and/or bayonets, and jack armor.

 

[Condottiere]

Well, I'm cobbling together an additional arm of the Solomani Confederation military, the Volunteers, as opposed to being called Volksgrenadiers.

It would be a basket where anyone who wants to fight, but can't qualify for the Confederation Army, can join.

Or be invited to join by the local judiciary, in lieu of some misdemeanours.

Default weapon of choice, or no choice, would be advanced combat rifle.

Those volunteers that would benefit from a more supervised environment, probably would find themselves with army surpluses of autorifles, assault rifles and submachineguns.

And bayonettes.

 

[BwapTED]

Well, I'm cobbling together an additional arm of the Solomani Confederation military, the Volunteers, as opposed to being called Volksgrenadiers.

It would be a basket where anyone who wants to fight, but can't qualify for the Confederation Army, can join.

Or be invited to join by the local judiciary, in lieu of some misdemeanours.

Default weapon of choice, or no choice, would be advanced combat rifle.

Those volunteers that would benefit from a more supervised environment, probably would find themselves with army surpluses of autorifles, assault rifles and submachineguns.

And bayonettes.

Sounds fun!

How does it differ from Home Guard?

It's fulltime active service, instead of a militia/reserve?

Anyway, I like it.

 

[Condottiere]

It's undergoing an interesting evolution; the naval/marine counterpart is the Cavalry.

At some point, I had the epiphany that considering the billions and billions of the potential recruiting pool, interstellar militaries can pick and choose their recruits, and the slots would be limited and only high scoring candidates would be admitted, and the the training failure rate is likely to be high.

I was also setting up a local subsector rapid reaction force based on the movie's take of the Mobile Infantry, since the Confederation Army ould take forever to mobilize, and it might not be worth the Navy's time to deploy Confederation Marines.

Mobile Infantry is too derivative, so the space operations would be carried out by Cavalry units instead of Confederation Marines, and dirtside deployment by regiments of Volunteers, permitted to create their own unique culture and identity, compared to the rather forced homogeneity of the Confederation Army, Navy and Marines.

 

[BwapTED]

It's undergoing an interesting evolution; the naval/marine counterpart is the Cavalry.

At some point, I had the epiphany that considering the billions and billions of the potential recruiting pool, interstellar militaries can pick and choose their recruits, and the slots would be limited and only high scoring candidates would be admitted, and the the training failure rate is likely to be high.

I was also setting up a local subsector rapid reaction force based on the movie's take of the Mobile Infantry, since the Confederation Army ould take forever to mobilize, and it might not be worth the Navy's time to deploy Confederation Marines.

Mobile Infantry is too derivative, so the space operations would be carried out by Cavalry units instead of Confederation Marines, and dirtside deployment by regiments of Volunteers, permitted to create their own unique culture and identity, compared to the rather forced homogeneity of the Confederation Army, Navy and Marines.

I like the bit about the regiments having their own cultures.

Maybe these reflect homewolrds or, if you use such, sub-polities within the Confederation.


Wuan Volunteers with Manager caste officers, Worker caste grunts, and Feral skirmishers/scouts.
Maybe even some Frogger frogmen for an amphibious Volunteer force.

 

[BwapTED]

Tralpian trustees?

Freed from slavery in return for volunteering to work and fight in a Volunteer regiment. If they survive their eight-year term, they can go where they like, so long as it isn't back to the RDE.
NCOs drawn from non-landowning free class of the RDE with some experienced re-enlisted trustees mixed in, and officers drawn from the youngest sons and black sheep of the Estate Holder class.

 

[Condottiere]

I've got mine on three year terms.

For penal units, I think they need some incentive rather than a fixed term, except during peacetime.

 

[BwapTED]

I've got mine on three year terms.

For penal units, I think they need some incentive rather than a fixed term, except during peacetime.

That makes sense.

For Wuans, it's probably another job.

''Boss-lady says now we are soldiers."

Tralpian slaves might go for a chance to gain freedom.
(This is also a good way to get potential rebels offworld--if the braver sort of slaves are volunteering and leaving, they aren't turning farm tools/machines on the masters)

But these societies are perhaps a bit oddball by SC standards.

Maybe religious fanatics? That could be an interesting Volunteer unit.
Sancaterrans sort of like the Friendlies from the Dorsai/Childe books?