Okay so I've been using T5 to roll up some Soldier characters and at the same time writing some background for characters in "The Imperial Army" its place in Imperial society, how it recruits, how its organized etc based on what I can see in the rules. This has led to the observations below. I want to set them down and see what others have to say. Also note that some of these things apply equally to the Spacer and Marine careers, in other words the Military careers.
Now before we go any further lets lay aside the "there is no Imperial Army in the OTU" argument. While the Soldier career is meant to be generic T5 definitely seems to assume that in the same way the Spacer career represents both Imperial Navy characters and generic Space Navy characters, the Soldier career represents both generic military men and women and members of an Imperial Army. How and where and for what purpose its recruited is beyond the scope of this thread
So lets assume that there is an Imperial Army inferred by the RAW. The following statements can be made about it:
1. There is both a Regular and a Reserve component.
2. You can enlist directly into the Regular Imperial Army.
3. Officers may obtain their Commission on enlistment or via a Military Academy or OTC.
4. Only Officers from the Military Academies or OTCs enter the Reserve
4a. This means there are no enlisted ranks in the Reserve and it is only a Reserve of Officers (and only officers with a Degree)
5. Characters in the Reserves may be called back to the service for at least one term.
6. There are no responsibilities set out in the rules for members of the Reserves but it probably fair to assume a commitment for training annually and notifying whereabouts to the personnel department and other mundane things that don't interfere with the continuing career path.
7. Its probable that service with the Reserve ends when the character Musters Out.
8. Garrison duty is performed by both the Imperial Army and Marines. We know the Imperial Marines garrison Depots and Naval Bases as well as providing Embassy and Starport Guards where needed. So what do the Imperial Army garrison? I put them at Starport Defense Establishments.
9. There are seven Branches in the Imperial Army:
Infantry: Mainly this would cover the Lift Infantry Battalions. There are more infantry than there are other branches.
Artillery: They provide Fires Support to the infantry. Note there are no Battlefield Meson Guns in T5 as the smallest Meson bay weapon is 67tons and the Army don't study bay weapons in ANM school. The Army don't do Ortillery.
Cavalry: This includes Grav Tanks or "Armored" and other lighter vehicle units performing cavalry functions of reconnaissance, security and flank guard. The army uses According to ANM Schools the Army are the exclusive users of ACVs, Moles, Legged LTA Rotor and Flapper vehicles but also use Grav, tracked and wheeled vehicles and ships.
Protected: Protected forces are combat and peacekeeping forces, they don't do occupation. They are a notch above other branches as they are grouped with the commando branch. From other sources we know that protected forces are designed to fight in non Terran like conditions and are equipped accordingly. What I'm wondering is if the Protected Forces branch is where the majority of Battledress units are to be found? Or is this the branch for Jump troops.
Commando: These are the Special Forces and much of what applies to the Protected branch applies to them but of course their mode of warfare will be less conventional.
Technical: Everything else that covers support, signals, logistics, food, supply, combat engineering, etc.
Medical: Covers everything from the front line medic to the rear area nurse.
10. An OTC or Military Academy Honors Graduate is commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant and goes to Flight School where he receives levels in Pilot Skill. Then what? Pilot skill is related to BCS, ACS and Smallcraft but there is no immediate branch where this seems useful although again from ANM Schools on p100 the Army teach Smallcraft knowledge so they must use them.
So thoughts? Note that for the purpose of this exercise I'm trying to ignore GT: Ground Forces but I'm using some of what I know about ground forces stablished in CT.
Now before we go any further lets lay aside the "there is no Imperial Army in the OTU" argument. While the Soldier career is meant to be generic T5 definitely seems to assume that in the same way the Spacer career represents both Imperial Navy characters and generic Space Navy characters, the Soldier career represents both generic military men and women and members of an Imperial Army. How and where and for what purpose its recruited is beyond the scope of this thread
So lets assume that there is an Imperial Army inferred by the RAW. The following statements can be made about it:
1. There is both a Regular and a Reserve component.
2. You can enlist directly into the Regular Imperial Army.
3. Officers may obtain their Commission on enlistment or via a Military Academy or OTC.
4. Only Officers from the Military Academies or OTCs enter the Reserve
4a. This means there are no enlisted ranks in the Reserve and it is only a Reserve of Officers (and only officers with a Degree)
5. Characters in the Reserves may be called back to the service for at least one term.
6. There are no responsibilities set out in the rules for members of the Reserves but it probably fair to assume a commitment for training annually and notifying whereabouts to the personnel department and other mundane things that don't interfere with the continuing career path.
7. Its probable that service with the Reserve ends when the character Musters Out.
8. Garrison duty is performed by both the Imperial Army and Marines. We know the Imperial Marines garrison Depots and Naval Bases as well as providing Embassy and Starport Guards where needed. So what do the Imperial Army garrison? I put them at Starport Defense Establishments.
9. There are seven Branches in the Imperial Army:
Infantry: Mainly this would cover the Lift Infantry Battalions. There are more infantry than there are other branches.
Artillery: They provide Fires Support to the infantry. Note there are no Battlefield Meson Guns in T5 as the smallest Meson bay weapon is 67tons and the Army don't study bay weapons in ANM school. The Army don't do Ortillery.
Cavalry: This includes Grav Tanks or "Armored" and other lighter vehicle units performing cavalry functions of reconnaissance, security and flank guard. The army uses According to ANM Schools the Army are the exclusive users of ACVs, Moles, Legged LTA Rotor and Flapper vehicles but also use Grav, tracked and wheeled vehicles and ships.
Protected: Protected forces are combat and peacekeeping forces, they don't do occupation. They are a notch above other branches as they are grouped with the commando branch. From other sources we know that protected forces are designed to fight in non Terran like conditions and are equipped accordingly. What I'm wondering is if the Protected Forces branch is where the majority of Battledress units are to be found? Or is this the branch for Jump troops.
Commando: These are the Special Forces and much of what applies to the Protected branch applies to them but of course their mode of warfare will be less conventional.
Technical: Everything else that covers support, signals, logistics, food, supply, combat engineering, etc.
Medical: Covers everything from the front line medic to the rear area nurse.
10. An OTC or Military Academy Honors Graduate is commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant and goes to Flight School where he receives levels in Pilot Skill. Then what? Pilot skill is related to BCS, ACS and Smallcraft but there is no immediate branch where this seems useful although again from ANM Schools on p100 the Army teach Smallcraft knowledge so they must use them.
So thoughts? Note that for the purpose of this exercise I'm trying to ignore GT: Ground Forces but I'm using some of what I know about ground forces stablished in CT.
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