BetterThanLife
SOC-14 1K
Obviously Mercenary units will have any number of organizations, Planetary Armies will be in the same boat. Organization to suit Tech Level gear and whims of commanders. But the Imperial Marines should have a definite structure. They should be organized into specific building blocks and one unit should be the same as the next. (With specialists units being the exception but still organized along the same lines.) TA#6 had an interesting implication as did Book 4, Mercenary, that is the Imperial Marines is primarily a Light Infantry force. (In book 4 it took cross training to be either Artillery or Armor and the only vehicle in TA#6 mentioned as being used by the Marines was a fast attack craft. That means, to me, some IFVs and Armor but not much and used for specialized preplanned purposes. Mostly drawing their support from Fleet Guns and Fighters instead of having their own Artillery and Armor. Though they would tend to have their own Assault craft and Assault Craft Pilots. (Though in the tradition of the US Marine Corps I tend to give them Fighters and Fighter Pilots.) In the Tradition of Starship Troopers, Battle Dress and Drop Capsules would then be the norm for Planetary assualts, (Also in the Tradition of the Kinunir.) And my battledress troops have always also be equipped with grav belts. because mobility is extremely important in combat and if you are going to hit someone with small heavily armed and armored forces they have to be mobile. For Boarding actions Combat Armor would be more the norm. (Hard to walk in confined spaces wrapped in a Tank.) Standard weapon mix, IMTU, is Gauss Rifles with RAM grenades for the Troopers and each squad having a Pair of Fusion Gunners. Though I am torn by the size of a typical Squad or Platoon. Fusion Guns are extremely nasty, in most cases too nasty and tend to cause quite a bit of collateral damage. While there may be missions where it would be advantageous to cause great amounts of collateral damage normally that wouldn't be the case. (And if you just want to cause wanton damage why not just use orbital bombardment?)
Organization, I tend to go with 10 man squads organized as two 5 man fire teams, team leader and Squad Leader with each team having a Fusion Gun. 3 Squads equipped as above and a 4th Squad with 4 Fusion guns for support, a Platoon Leader and Platoon Sergeant would then make up a Platoon. (Giving you 42 in a Platoon.) 4 Platoons, plus a Headquarters element, usually consisting of a Commander, First Sergeant, Clerk, Supply Sergeant, Armorer, Communications Specialist, Medic and 2 Air/Rafts. Which would make a typical Company, 176. 4 Companies, a Recon Platoon, an Aid Station, a Maintanence Section, and a Headquarters Platoon, making up a Batalion. (880 troops.) 3 Batalions, a Recon Company, an Armor Batalion, (Perhaps using the Fast Attack Sleds or Fighters.) would then make up either a Regiment or Brigade depending on whether it was designed for sustained, independent operations. (Given the size of the Imperium I would think the Brigade would be more common.) 3000 would be about right. And a division would be 4 Brigades plus a Fighter Wing, Plus Assault transports, plus support, plus Armor, plus Artillery, plus engineering assets, roughly 16000, and based on size of the Imperium, generally the largest sized unit to be deployed for an operation. Anything bigger than that use the Army. (With a Division of Marines for securing Landing zones, as a striker force and mobile reserve.)
Those are my thoughts on Imperial Marines. How do Marines work in YTU?
Organization, I tend to go with 10 man squads organized as two 5 man fire teams, team leader and Squad Leader with each team having a Fusion Gun. 3 Squads equipped as above and a 4th Squad with 4 Fusion guns for support, a Platoon Leader and Platoon Sergeant would then make up a Platoon. (Giving you 42 in a Platoon.) 4 Platoons, plus a Headquarters element, usually consisting of a Commander, First Sergeant, Clerk, Supply Sergeant, Armorer, Communications Specialist, Medic and 2 Air/Rafts. Which would make a typical Company, 176. 4 Companies, a Recon Platoon, an Aid Station, a Maintanence Section, and a Headquarters Platoon, making up a Batalion. (880 troops.) 3 Batalions, a Recon Company, an Armor Batalion, (Perhaps using the Fast Attack Sleds or Fighters.) would then make up either a Regiment or Brigade depending on whether it was designed for sustained, independent operations. (Given the size of the Imperium I would think the Brigade would be more common.) 3000 would be about right. And a division would be 4 Brigades plus a Fighter Wing, Plus Assault transports, plus support, plus Armor, plus Artillery, plus engineering assets, roughly 16000, and based on size of the Imperium, generally the largest sized unit to be deployed for an operation. Anything bigger than that use the Army. (With a Division of Marines for securing Landing zones, as a striker force and mobile reserve.)
Those are my thoughts on Imperial Marines. How do Marines work in YTU?
