Unit Types
Unit Types summary (tentative)
Manpower
All manpower isn't equal. As a power wishes to improve the quality of its soldiers, it must necessarily seperate the wheat from the chaff, necessitating ever-more expensive and intensive training that provides ever-decreasing results.
AI may be a mitigator, but so far no-one save the posthumans have successfully created an artificial intellect by any method other than brute-force emulation of human thought processes. Given that the creation of a true sentient AI heralded the fall of the posthumans, nobody really wants to do any sort of research into building a sentient AI. In the end, although unskilled labor can be replaced by drones, and most soldiers will have support by non-sentient AI, in the end you still need manpower, whether human, bioengineered, or cybernetic.
Manpower comes in several types-Untrained, Green, Regular, Hardened, Elite, and Specialized.
Green Green manpower is marginally trained and similarly, marginally effective. Green soldiers and pilots are equivalent to reservists, people who train very occasionally to keep their skills fresh, if not honed. However, they are cheap and easy to train, and can fare quite well in a defensive or rear-echelon role. 0.5X Cost multiplier
Regular Regulars are the backbone of most militaries, professionals who are well-trained and disciplined. They are cost-effective, unlikely to break, and competent enough that they can handle all but the most specialized gear. The vast majority of combat soldiers end up at this level of competence. 1X Cost multiplier(no change)
Elite
Elites are Rangers, Marines, hardcore types who are often trained in specialized operations, whether it's amphibious operations, orbital drop, or NBC warfare. Although cost-inefficient on a grand scale a few elite units are extraordinarily potent force multipliers.
2X Cost multiplier
Specialized troops have even more extensive training and are often seen with the most advanced equipment and the largest egos. In general, only special forces, ace squadrons, or special forces support units will have this level of training, as the screening and training necessary for it is highly cost-ineffective, often washing out 80% or more of the people who qualify. 4X Cost multiplier
Planetary Military Units
Infantry
The backbone of any military, infantry are most effective when you have someone you want to fight but don't particularly want to destroy everything they have. Cheap, highly effective in built-up terrain, and versatile, foot soldiers run the gamut from poorly trained militia to elite special forces.
Guerillas Batallion
- Guerillas are soldiers who have learned, whether by training or brutal evolutionary pressures, how to fight unconventionally, moving light and striking hard. With their skillset in living off the land, scavenging equipment, and stealthy operation, guerillas are critical to winning unconventional wars. They are suited to arenas with high number of civilians or dense rural terrain.
"The guerrilla must move amongst the people as a fish swims in the sea." First Hand Airis Yesirn
- Training Cost: 1 Point
Infantry Battalion
- Standard infantrymen are better armed and equipped but conversely are less stealthy and require a larger logistics trail. Ranging from poorly trained conscripts to elite direct-action assault forces, infantrymen are a solid backbone upon which the entire army builds. Even though they are equipped with powered armor and use smart weapons, operate in theatres as diverse as terrestrial combat and asteroid assault, their role and tactics are still eminently recognizable.
"The infantry doesn't change. We're the only arm of the military where the weapon is the man himself." Legion Brigadier Juno Short
- Training Cost: 1 Point
'Storm Troopers
I.e. Mobile Infantry or Gears, Storm Troopers are soldiers who sacrifice flexibility for firepower, speed, and armor. Clad in extremely large and heavy powered armors often standing two or more meters tall, shock troops stride the border between infantry and vehicle, devastating urban combat specialists which are at home in the chaos and violence of street-fighting.
"Strike hard, fast and smart, that's how i expect my soldiers to operate. "
Lt Colonel A. Brook, 22nd Aerospace Marine Division.
- Training Cost: 2 Point
Ground Vehicles
Transport
Infantry units are assumed by default to have either APC or VTOL transport capabilities. The following units represent significantly upgraded capabilties.
IFV Battalion
- An infantry fighting vehicle (IFV, also known as (mechanized) infantry combat vehicle, (M)ICV) is a type of armoured fighting vehicle (AFV) used to carry infantry into battle and provide fire support for them, either on the ground or from the air.
- Cost: 1 Point
Armoured
Armour can be tanks or Mecha.
Light Armoured Battalion
- Light Armour are small, highly mobile air transportable armoured vehicles used in difficult terrain, for fast deployment or as recon units.
- Cost: 1 Points
Armoured Battalion
- Armour are armoured fighting vehicles designed for front-line combat which combines operational mobility and tactical offensive and defensive capabilities.
- Cost: 2 Points
Heavy Armoured Battalion
- HEavy Armoured vehicles are large tanks designed to break through heavily defended fortifications or ensure heavy urban fighting (if they fit)
- Cost 4 Points
Artillery
Artillery Battery Battalion
- Self-propelled artillery can deliver precise strikes and heavy bombardments in support of units kilometers away. Note: Mark as either Surface to Surface, Surface to Air or Ground to Space
- Cost: 1 points
Heavy Artillery Battalion
- Heavy self propelled MRLS, or giant cannons remain popular with many armies to take fire deep into the enemy rear or attack enemy aircraft hundreds of kilometers away. Mark either Surface to Surface, or Surface to Air, or Ground to Space
- Cost: 2 points
Air Vehicles
Similarly air support plays a critical, if slightly diminished role because of the existence of spaceforces. However, although most ships can reach down through the atmosphere and swat at targets, it is difficult to maintain accuracy on moving targets without the use of nuclear ordinance, while lasers and particle beams suffer from atmospheric attenuation and other difficulties which make them hard to use as weapons against mobile ground targets.
UAVs Squadron
Most UAVs are tiny designs, incapable of housing a pilot or a complex tactical AI and massing only a few tons at most. With only simple programming and low payload space they make poor units for dogfights but their extremely low cost and space requirements make them useful and expendable scouts. They can also be armed with smart missiles or other weapons that allow them some capacity to perform air support, in which case their long loiter time makes them a godsend to ground units in the vicinity.
- Cost 1 points
Tactical Air Squadron
Depending on armament and protective devices, tactical aircraft can be anything from fighters, to interceptors, to tactical bombers or even heavy gunships or transport VTOLs. Universally useful, tactical air units are by far the most common type of air support. Often deployed from space, only a few rare designs have any capacity to claw their way back, so the vast majority are equipped with VTOL systems so they can land on even makeshift airstrips.
- Cost 2 points
Strategic Air Squadron
Commonly either found as dropships or heavy bombers, strategic air are larger and more expensive, and often equipped with engines that allow them to fly from ground to orbit, to take on a new load of supplies or soldiers, strategic airpower is a critical component in any offensive military action. Being capable of lifting heavier vehicles, unlike tactical transport VTOLs, strategic airpower is also a vital component for a defender who does not wish to face down main battle tanks with merely infantry-launched missiles and prayers.
- Cost 4 points
Spaceborne Military Units
Spacecraft Hulls
Light Hull
1 Drive
4 Modules
Medium Hull
2 Drive
6 Modules
Heavy Hull
3 Drive
8 Modules
Superheavy Hull
4 Drive
10 Modules
Combat Wasps
Combat is primarily fought with Combat Wasps, large remote piloted or autononous drones, with their own small independant drives, submunitions of various types.
Combat wasps are able to perform both Attack and Defense roles. Combat wasps can either be programmed to lock-on to and target a specific ship or object, or to engage enemy targets at will. They are a variety of types, listed below.
X Beam Weapon: These expensive drones are armed with powerful Beam Weapons (Particle Beams or Energy Beams) and are basically flying guns. Very short ranged weapons, they are nevertheless useful as at close range they can easily punch through the hull of a starship. At longer ranges they will cause minor damage. These weapons can be placed in a defensive role to pick off any hostile wasps before they get to close to any friendly ships.
X Kinetic Missile Wasp : These drones are armed with a series of tubes containing pieces hardened matter shaped into a spear or harpoon shape. These harpoons are launched from the wasp and accelerated to a very very high velocity. If they are able to strike a target, the resulting kinetic force that is released will severely damage the target.
X Electronic Warfare Wasps : Although most wasps will have some sort of inbuilt ECM (Electronic Counter Measure) device or decoy chaff dispensers, this particular wasp if specially designed for this role. On the space battle field, it's role is to confuse enemy wasps into targeting decoys and sensor ghosts, or making them explode at the wrong time.
X Thermo-Nuclear Wasp: These wasps are armed with a thermo-nuclear warhead and are the most common form of wasp. Designed to get in close, before unleashing their submunition of bombs or nuclear torpedoes they are highly devastating.
Spacecraft Added Caps
+X Electronic Warfare Module
+X Combat Wasp Rack Module
+X Point Defence Module
+X Armour Module
+1 Crew Recovery Module
+X Cargo Module(Define as Inert/Fuel/Living)
+X Command Module
+X Detachable Drive Module
+X Mobility Module
+X Enhanced Deploy and Recover Module
+1 Posthuman Technological Interface
Spacecraft Reactor Caps
+X Nuclear Fission Reactor
+X Nuclear Fission Reactor Tier 3 Only
+X Nuclear Fusion Reactor Tier 4 Only
+X Apex Fusion Reactor Apex Tech Only
Drive Types
+X Nuclear Saltwater Torch:
+X Nuclear Liquid Core Torch:
+X VASIMR Drive:
+X Orion Drive:
Equipment and Training
All units have four added capability slots for free. Typically these will be used to add defenses, weapons, mobility, and additional electronics to a unit-as a unit without any added capabilities in an area has only very minimal capabilities in one. A Shock Infantry unit without added capabilities is merely a powerloader, a heavy hydraulic exoskeleton that is good for little more than dockloading, while an infantryman without any is a soldier with a fragmentation-proof armor jacket, an assault rifle, and little else.
Adding further capability to a unit is possible, but becomes ever more expensive. Each additional four beyond the first four doubles the cost of the unit in question-round up any cost multipliers. You can have your F-22s and special forces, but they become rapidly cost-ineffective.
Foot Soldiers
+X Weapons
Each level of weapons improves the broad capabilities of standard weapons.
+X Heavy Weapons
Each level of Heavy Weapons contributes to a specialisation of the formation, making it more apt at targeting vehicles or fortifications.
+X Support Weapons
Support weapons are weapons like heavy machine guns or automatic grenade launchers, powerful weapons that can easily wound light armored vehicles and mow down infantry but are bulky and require setup to use. Units with support weapons gain large bonuses in combat when they are allowed to dig in but have reduced speed.
+X Indirect Fire Weapons
Each level of Indirect fire increases the unit’s indirect fire capability, at the expense of direct fire ability.
+1 Combat Engineer
The infantry unit in question is equipped with demolitions and other engineering equipment, giving them a host of abilities from building bridges and capturing enemy facilities to demolishing buildings.
+1 Specialised Weaponry
This specialises weaponry against a specific type of target, infantry, ground, air or space.
+X Armour
This increases the protection of the unit, from basic flak jackets to full body armour.
+X Powered Armour
Each level of Powered Armour increases the protection of a unit, with bonus’s to strength and mobility as well as NBC capability but increases upkeep.
+X Point Defense
Backpack-carried laser or micromissile hard-kill units, as well as laser or particle beam based soft-kill units, do much to address the vulnerability of infantry to indirect fire and air support.
+X Mobility
Generally speed-enhancing lower-body exoskeletons, additional mobility can reduce the vulnerability of infantry units to various threats as well as reducing the encumberance of support weaponry.
+X Electronics
Electronics covers sensors, communications and information technology. Each level represents an increase in their abilities and a resistance to interference.
+X Stealth
From ghillie suits to thermoptic camouflage systems, +Stealth renders infantry ever-more-difficult to detect.
+1/2 Terrain Adaptation
Terrain Adaptation is consideration given to extreme environments, such as outer space, significant bodies of difficult terrain or extreme heat or cold. A further level specialises the unit at the expense of other environments.
+X Unconventional Warfare Training
Generally found on special forces units this capability gives the unit more non-combat capability, from training friendly rebels to covert observation.
+1 NBC
All modern units have basic NBC countermeasures such as environmental suits, simply because of the environments in which they may be required to fight. This represents additional capability, such as magnetic shielding and/or active detection of threats.
+1 Upkeep Efficient This reduces the unit's upkeep in industry or fuel requirements.
Ground Vehicles
+X Weapons
Each level of weapons improves the broad capabilities of standard weapons.
+X Heavy Weapons
Each level of Heavy Weapons contributes to a specialisation of the formation, making it more apt at targeting vehicles or fortifications.
+X Indirect Fire Weapons
Each level of Indirect fire increases the unit’s indirect fire capability, at the expense of direct fire ability.
+1 Specialised Weaponry
This specialises weaponry against a specific type of target, infantry, ground, air or space, often to the detriment of other types.
+X Armour
Each layer increases the armour of the unit, adding to it’s protection, above +1 this can affect the unit’s mobility.
+X Mobility
This increases the mobility of the unit through more raw horsepower, more efficient suspension etc. Above +1 it increases fuel consumption by 50% per level.
+1 Hover Mobility
This unit uses lifting skirts to hover above ground, making it only usable on worlds with an atmosphere. However speed and maneuverability are increased
+1 Hover Jet Mobility
This unit uses miniaturised jet technology in order to provide incredible amounts of lift, independent of a significant atmosphere. The downside to this is hefty fuel consumption. 50% Extra fuel upkeep.
+X Stealth
This increases the unit’s stealth each time it is taken and represents everything from a lower profile, to thermo-optical camouflage.
+X Electronics
Electronics covers sensors, communications and information technology. Each level represents an increase in their abilities and a resistance to interference.
+1/2 Terrain Adaptation
Terrain Adaptation is consideration given to extreme environments, such as outer space, significant bodies of difficult terrain or extreme heat or cold. A further level specialisations the unit at the expense of other environments.
+1 NBC
All modern units have basic NBC countermeasures, this represents more extensive abilities, such as magnetic shielding and/or active detection of threats.
Aircraft
+X Armour
Aircraft can be armoured, though it greatly affects their lift ability and maneuverability. Each time it is taken it increases fuel upkeep by +1 and reduces the aircrafts agility.
+X Dogfight Weapons
Each level increases the amount of short ranged weapons carried by the aircraft, such as cannons and dumbfire missiles.
+X Ranged Weapons
This Added Capability increases the amount of ranged weaponry carried by the aircraft, such as beyond the horizon missiles etc.
+X Extended Range Weapons
This Added Capability extends the range of the unit’s weapons.
+X Long Range Tanks
This Added Capability allows an aircraft to greatly increase its operational range.
+X Close Air Support Weapons Each level of this Added Capability increases the ability of the craft to engage ground targets such as infantry, vehicles or buildings.
+1 Anti-Shipping Weapons
This Added Capability optimizes their weapons for use against large vessels.
+X Defensive Weapons
This Added Capability is available to all air units that would normally have limited anti-aircraft abilities, such as Bomber and Transport Aircraft. It increases the unit’s ability to engage other aerial threats.
+X Electronics
Electronics covers sensors, communications and information technology. Each level represents an increase in their abilities and a resistance to interference.
+X Cargo Capacity
This Added Capability increases the amount of Cargo an aircraft can hold by 50%.
+X Cargo Capacity (specialised):
This Added Capability can only be taken by aircraft with integral Cargo Capacity such as Cargo Planes. Each +1 Cargo Capacity (specialised) increases the total of one particular item that can be carried by 100% of the base amount.
+X Deck Capacity
Some of the largest aircraft can carry their own smaller craft.
+X Compact
Compact allows for smaller units that take up less space and present smaller targets to enemy fire. Each +1 of Compact reduces the CP a unit takes up by half.
+X Stealth
Stealth can be anything from a radar reflective paint to more advanced anti-electromagnetic detection techniques. Each level increases the difficultly of detecting the craft, though beyond +1 this starts to impact upon the performance of the craft.
+X Speed
As it says, Speed makes aircraft faster. Each Added Capability increases the rate at which aircraft travel from point to point by 50% over their base speed. It increases fuel upkeep by 1 each time it is taken.
+1 Orbital Insertion Craft This allows the unit to transit from space to atmosphere, useful for initial landings and invasions. Craft require alternative recovery back into space however.
+X Agility
Agility makes an aircraft more nimble, allowing it to avoid and dodge incoming fire, and making it more capable in a dogfight. This may be more refined ailerons or weight savings.