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While the the white armored legions of the Stormtrooper Corps are the most iconic of all Imperial ground forces, the Star Wars Roleplaying Game throughout its many editions has given GMs a broader variety of foes to suit their games. The two most notable additions being the “regular grunts” Imperial Army and the fanatical, if poorly trained, CompForce. But what exactly is different about the Imperial Army, the Stormtrooper Corps, and CompForce Assault? This article provides the details on the doctrine, tactics, and what the average trooper is like within each of these three major branches.
Imperial Army
The common soldiers of the Empire, Imperial Army personnel form the backbone of the Emperor’s ground forces. Fighting men and women of the Infantry Corps and Vehicle Corps are trained for traditional combat, and are supported by technicians and specialists with skills as diverse as antigrav maintenance or xenopsychology. These troops are not as glamorized as the Stormtrooper Corps, but are far more numerous. Many worlds which have never been touched by Stormtrooper boots are garrisoned by a unit of Imperial Army infantry.
Doctrine and Tactics
Doctrine: Decisive Battle
The Imperial Army’s operational doctrine is informed by a combination of centuries of Republic military thinking met with the powerful arsenal of the Imperial Army Vehicle Corps. At the heart of Imperial Army doctrine is an emphasis on destroying the enemy’s capabilities in a decisive battle, using overwhelming firepower. Steady, frontal assaults using textbook strategies are the hallmarks of Imperial Army doctrine.
The chain of command is rigid, with plans developed and coordinated at the highest levels. Junior leaders work within these plans, applying set drills (actions to be taken in a certain situations) to solve low level tactical problems. These rigid battle plans enable the synchronization of heavy firepower with coordinated troop movements to overwhelm the enemy. This strategy can prove devastating, but leaves the Imperial Army vulnerable to rapid, surprise assaults.
Tactics
Stressing firepower, the Imperial Army is a plodding giant. Heavily armed and armored vehicles are at the center of any assault, with infantry used in close cooperation to defend those vehicles from more agile threats. Objectives are leveled with direct and indirect fire from heavy vehicles before cautious clearing by dismounted infantry.
On the defensive, the Imperial Army focuses on channeling the enemy into a single devastating kill zone. Using fortifications and heavily armored vehicles, the Army attempts to create an impenetrable main defensive area to serve as an anvil upon which the enemy is crushed by the hammer of coordinated heavy weaponry. Once the enemy is destroyed, the army can transition into offensive operations at their convenience.
Average Trooper
Competent professionals, most Army troopers would be indistinguishable from blue collar workers if not for their standard haircuts. Army troopers may have joined for any number of reasons, including such mundane reasons as needing the work or padding a resume. These troopers may be from a number of military specialties, not just infantry or vehicle operator, but no matter his role he or she will be competent in that area. They will fight to the death for their comrades in arms, and if they think the cause is just, but lack the ideological indoctrination of the Stormtrooper Corps and CompForce. Most troopers have plans for civilian life after their period of enlistment, and intend to live to enjoy those plans.
Stormtrooper Corps
Technically a branch of the Imperial Army, the Stormtrooper Corps operates as an independent shock infantry branch of the Imperial Military. Units or detachments of Stormtroopers are assigned to garrisons, ships, and task forces that operate in high threat environments. The corps boasts a broad array of specialized troopers, each equipped and trained to fill a particular role or or environment such as cold weather operations or aerial assault.
Doctrine and Tactics
Doctrine: Shock Assault
The Stormtrooper Corps, being a shock infantry force, has no strategic doctrine. In major battles, Stormtrooper units take part in joint operations under Army command, generally providing superior infantry with support and transport provided by the Army Vehicle Corps. When part of joint Imperial operations, Stormtrooper provide a much more aggressive force to complement the more ponderous army. Stormtroopers on their own rely even further on shock tactics to disrupt the enemy’s capabilities, penetrate their defenses, and create panic in order to end battle quickly and violently.
Leaders at all levels of the Stormtrooper Corps are expected to take aggressive action by exploiting fleeting opportunities to achieve their objectives. Using what could be described as, “creativity within the box,” Stormtrooper leaders are expected to apply an understanding of their commander’s intent to the tactical situation in order to determine their own course of action.
Tactics
Rapid offensive action is the core principle of any Stormtrooper operation. On the general offense, Stormtrooper unrelentingly attack, seeking to unbalance the enemy. The goal is to overwhelm the enemy’s ability to make decisions by disregarding the perfect solution in favor of an effective, aggressive plan applied immediately. Stormtroopers aim to make the enemy’s decisions increasingly irrevelant as pressure is applied to disrupt the defensive. Once penetration of the enemy defensive line is achieved, Stormtrooper surge into the enemy’s depth to destroy command nodes and supply lines, isolating the remaining defenders and enabling their defeat piece by piece.
Stormtroopers on the defensive will always attempt to transition back into offensive operations.
Average Trooper
The average Stormtrooper is a young graduate from one of the many Imperial academies throughout the galaxy. Body and mind are conditioned into a fiercely loyal fighting machine. While indoctrinated into never questioning orders in a similar manner to CompForce, Stormtrooper are exceptionally fit and highly trained in weaponry. Most Stormtrooper are not interested in the finer points of New Order ideology, instead they see themselves as elite warriors sworn to serve the Emperor as his chosen instruments of order.
CompForce Assault
The product of mass youth indoctrination, CompForce Assault officially provides units of extremely motivated volunteers ready to take the most dangerous missions in the name of the Emperor. In reality no more than a disposable pool of bodies to be thrown at the Empire’s enemies, these poorly trained but zealous soldiers are often used as little more than cannon fodder.
Doctrine and Tactics
Doctrine: Unflinching Assault
CompForce Assault troops are considered expendable by the Empire. Poorly trained, their most valuable attribute is fanatical loyalty. Thus, these troops are thrown in wave after wave at the enemy until victory is achieved. CompForce Assault troops seek to close into close quarters battle in order to reduce enemy advantages in weapons or training. While such crude methods generate significant casualties, this is of little consequence as CompForce troopers are nearly impossible to demoralize and exceptionally easily to replace.
Leadership is a strict hierarchy in which obedience is automatic as a result of intensive indoctrination. Low-level commanders exercise almost no creativity, instead focusing on relaying orders and demanding absolute obedience.
Tactics
On the offensive, CompForce Assault troopers attack across a wide front to test enemy defenses. Troopers are sent in wave after wave until a weakness is found in the enemy line. That weakness then becomes the focus of a mass assault of as many troopers as possible until a breakthrough is achieved. Once an opening is created, more troops are flooded in until the enemy collapses.
On the defense, CompForce’s zealous obedience is used in sacrificial delaying tactics. Small detachments are left behind to wear the enemy down with repeated engagements, reducing the enemy’s combat power and buying time for Imperial forces to organize a counter attack.
Average Trooper
The average CompForce Assault trooper is no fitter than Imperial Army infantry, and in most cases less well trained. A survivor of a deadly training regime known to kill up to 25% of recruits, these fanatics are totally committed to the Imperial cause. Their fervent belief in the New Order allows suicidal obedience in the face of the enemy.
Christopher Hunt
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