312^th (Extolay) Imperial Lift Infantry Division

The Imperial Military System

The Imperium is a feudal state occupying no land, but rather the space between the stars. As such, it does not directly rule the majority of the worlds which comprise it. Instead local planets (and their lords) owe fealty to a duke, who controls the subsector. The Duke is also a planetary noble, typically of the most powerful world in that subsector. In most cases this is clear cut, but in others there are rivalries for the dukedoms. In a sector one duke becomes a “high” duke, recognised as the supreme duke in the sector, but still being basically a duke with extra powers. In some cases the Emperor may appoint an Archduke from the 4 dukes in a domain, to act as his direct representative. This is rare, and archdukedoms may be raised and disbanded.

The Imperial Army is essentially the sum of it’s parts. Each world and each noble maintains their own military forces under licence from the Emperor, on the condition that they will bring them to the field of battle when required. These troops are sometimes known as colonial troops, while the Marines and troops in the full time pay of the Emperor rather than their lord are Imperial troops. The difference is entirely in the paymaster, a dukes troops may be mobilised and placed in Imperial service.

Army Formations

The army is organised in a pentomic system. A Division consists of 2x 5 Battalion Regiments, with the Division troops being as numerous as those in the actual combat regiments. When a Regiment is required to operate without it’s parent Division, it has various support elements added and becomes a Brigade. Larger formations do exist (Corps, Armies and Army Groups) but these are mainly administrative andpart of the logistics chain, the Division is the highest combat command.

Regiments

The Regiments all have both a name and a number. The name is usually chosen early in history to reflect the lineage of the unit, although it can be altered, especially if honoured in battle. The number is unique, and reflects their place in the Imperial Order of Battle. The 1^st Lift Infantry Regiment is the Sylean Guard, the 2^nd is the Marine Guard Regiment, while the 4518^th Lift Infantry is the Duke of Regina’s Own Huscarles. The Army and Marines share the numbering system, and all units of the Army and Marines, be they elite Imperial Guards or colonial troops of the smallest outback world have a place. The Insignia of the Division (or Regiment/ Brigade if separate) is worn on the Left Sleeve. The beret badge worn is based on the branch of service, or (for infantry and armour units) the regiment.

312^th Division

Shoulder patch of the 312^th Brigade

Extolay (Pop: 100,000,000) is a TL-10 world with a large naval presence. Exotlay is on the Imperial border and so hosts the Imperial 18^th Fleet. As such, the Imperial Marines also station a Regiment here.

The Countess of Extolay is the head of government, which is an Impersonal Bureaucracy and owes fealty to the Duke of Lanth, 8 parsecs away. The duke in turn owes fealty to the Duke of the Marches, currently the Duke of Regina. There is no Archduke of Deneb at present and so the next level of fealty is to the Emperor Stephron himself.

Extolay fields an army of 24,000, consisting of a single modern Division, equipped with TL-14 weapons systems purchased at X and the various training and logistic facilities. This is designated the 312^th Division and consists of two Regiments; the 3112^th Lift Infantry (The Countess of Extolay’s Own) and the 3952^nd Lift Infantry (The Extolay Regiment). The Division contains an Artillery Regiment of 4 Battalions, and Air Defence Battalion (including a nuclear damper battery), a Medical Regiment with 3 Field Hospitals, a Logistics Regiment, an Engineer Battalion, a Speeder Battalion and an MP Provost company. The Division and Regimental HQ’s are Battalion sized HQ’s, dedicated mainly to signals. It numbers roughly 17,000 all ranks.

The 312^th is a standard Imperial Pattern Lift Infantry Divisiom with roughly 17,000 men, roughly 2,500 Combat Infantry (with Battlesuits and FGMP), 48 Meson Sleds, 12 Air/Space Defence Vehicles, 4 Nuclear Dampers, 24 Attack Speeders, 100 Grav Tanks, and roughly 1000 Grav APC and Air/Rafts. The non-infantry troopers are equipped with combat environment suits and 4mm gauss weapons.

Wiring diagram of 312^th Division

Notes

The pentomic system is canonical (FFW has 5 Bn Regiments and 10 Bn Brigades), although some people will disagree with upgrading the forces to “modern” TL-14 from TL-12. I decided 20 Bn Divisions were just too large, and so mixed the CT and TNE systems to produce this, which IMHO is a sensible way of organising such forces. The chain of command is subject to debate. The Division is commanded by a Major General appointed by the Countess of Extolay, and answers to the Countess in the first instance. When the Duke of Lanth asks/ commands the Countess for her troops, they are placed under the command of a General, commanding a Lanth based Army, who answers to the Duke of Lanth. The Duke in turn answers to the Duke of the Marches, but there is no army command higher than Lanth’s. Of course, YMMV.