A Day In The Life

[kilemall]

I still think Kininur has the role I outlined rather then AHL and up ships. The latter come out when it’s land the Imperial Army time and sustained meson bombardment is in the offing.

A troubleshooting surgeon’s blade, not a chainsaw.

 

[Condottiere]

Spinward Marches is an active warzone, in all but name, so I'd expect most of the Imperium Navy bases stores would be uptodate, which may not be the case on more restive areas, especially since the closest depot is in the next sector.

 

[mike wightman]

The Imperial Army and the Imperial Star Marines are TL15.

 

[TamsinP]

I believe it's been stated somewhere that each subsector fleet has a regiment of Marines attached (in addition to ship's troops). Assuming 6000 marines per regiment, with BD at Cr 200k, that's BCr 3 - slightly less than the cost of a single PF Sloan fleet escort. That suggests that it's not improbable that they would all be BD equipped.

 

[Badenov]

My gaming group has always found it questionable whether one regiment of Marines would be sufficient for an entire subsector. Particularly if they all ride around together on a regimental transport ship. If you drop a company on every planet that you care about, a company of battle dress marines is pretty fierce, but a planetary armored vehicle force like a tank company (or, really, maybe something the size of a regiment because you don't get as many tanks in a tank company as you get marines in a marine company) would fight them on more or less even ground. Actually, the tanks might come out a bit better than a battle suit marine one-on-one, depending on which tanks and which TL. A 35mm railgun isn't something you just carry around in your backpack, but it would turn even Battle Dress marines into pink mist, and that's a TL9 weapon.

I do believe Marines form a potent force-at-a-point type group, capable of hitting hard against most targets, particularly with the advantage of surprise. And it's much easier to carry a company of marines than the same number of 55-ton tanks.

 

[TamsinP]

My gaming group has always found it questionable whether one regiment of Marines would be sufficient for an entire subsector. Particularly if they all ride around together on a regimental transport ship. If you drop a company on every planet that you care about, a company of battle dress marines is pretty fierce, but a planetary armored vehicle force like a tank company (or, really, maybe something the size of a regiment because you don't get as many tanks in a tank company as you get marines in a marine company) would fight them on more or less even ground. Actually, the tanks might come out a bit better than a battle suit marine one-on-one, depending on which tanks and which TL. A 35mm railgun isn't something you just carry around in your backpack, but it would turn even Battle Dress marines into pink mist, and that's a TL9 weapon.

I do believe Marines form a potent force-at-a-point type group, capable of hitting hard against most targets, particularly with the advantage of surprise. And it's much easier to carry a company of marines than the same number of 55-ton tanks.

I read it as being one regiment attached to the fleet for spearheading actions, with more marines scattered throughout as garrisons at naval bases, starports, etc. I've never been comfortable with the idea of them all being on one troop ship as one lucky shot could take out a vital asset; instead they'd be spread across several smaller ships, perhaps a company plus supports on each.

The large troop transports would be for the army forces which would land in the second wave once the marines have established a secure landing zone.

 

[Spinward Flow]

My gaming group has always found it questionable whether one regiment of Marines would be sufficient for an entire subsector.

Almost certainly not.

Here is what the Fifth Frontier War game had to say about the subject:

Assault carriers transporting ground troops could load 6C of troops when undamaged, 3C if damaged (which is Corps to Field Army sized).
Battle ships could load 20 troops when undamaged, 10 if damaged (which is brigade to division sized).
Cruiser squadrons could carry their Defense Factor in troops (typically no more than 8, so in the battalion to regiment size).

Populated worlds on the map tended to have standing domestic armies for defense (and were not mobile).

• Jewell/Jewell had 12C (2+ Field Armies).
• Louzy/Jewell had 20K (40 Field Armies).
• Efate/Regina had 1K (2 Field Armies).
• Menorb/Regina had 20K (4 Field Armies).
• Arden/Vilis had 20K (4 Field Armies).
• Vilis/Vilis had 15C (3 Field Armies).
• Extolay/Lanth had 15C (3 Field Armies).
• Equus/Lanth had 12C (2+ Field Armies).
• Porozolo/Rhylanor had 150K (300 Field Armies , yay balkanized government?).
• Rhylanor/Rhylanor had 5C (1 Field Army).

Fleet mobile quantities of army ground troops ranged from combat strength: 1 (battalion) all the way up to combat strength: 5C (field army).
Imperial Marines unit counters (8 of them) were all combat strength: 5 (regiment), TL=15, grav equipped, 2 of which were elite units ... and were all required to be deployed on the map at imperial naval bases only (a few of which existed outside the imperial borders).

My gaming group has always found it questionable whether one regiment of Marines would be sufficient for an entire subsector.

The idea that a single regiment (combat strength: 5 ... not 50 or 5C) is "sufficient" for the mobile defense of entire subsector ... solo ... is, to put it mildly, both laughable (on its face) and insulting to the intellect (when rubbing two brain cells together). One of those "have some sense of proportion!" kinds of deals.

A single regiment (combat strength: 5) can be transported by a single cruiser squadron ... which does not a(n imperial navy) "fleet" make.
That's hardly enough mobile ground forces to put out "brush fires" in a subsector, let alone defend it from an uprising or an invasion.

 

[kilemall]

Almost certainly not.

Here is what the Fifth Frontier War game had to say about the subject:

Assault carriers transporting ground troops could load 6C of troops when undamaged, 3C if damaged (which is Corps to Field Army sized).
Battle ships could load 20 troops when undamaged, 10 if damaged (which is brigade to division sized).
Cruiser squadrons could carry their Defense Factor in troops (typically no more than 8, so in the battalion to regiment size).

Populated worlds on the map tended to have standing domestic armies for defense (and were not mobile).

• Jewell/Jewell had 12C (2+ Field Armies).
• Louzy/Jewell had 20K (40 Field Armies).
• Efate/Regina had 1K (2 Field Armies).
• Menorb/Regina had 20K (4 Field Armies).
• Arden/Vilis had 20K (4 Field Armies).
• Vilis/Vilis had 15C (3 Field Armies).
• Extolay/Lanth had 15C (3 Field Armies).
• Equus/Lanth had 12C (2+ Field Armies).
• Porozolo/Rhylanor had 150K (300 Field Armies , yay balkanized government?).
• Rhylanor/Rhylanor had 5C (1 Field Army).

Fleet mobile quantities of army ground troops ranged from combat strength: 1 (battalion) all the way up to combat strength: 5C (field army).
Imperial Marines unit counters (8 of them) were all combat strength: 5 (regiment), TL=15, grav equipped, 2 of which were elite units ... and were all required to be deployed on the map at imperial naval bases only (a few of which existed outside the imperial borders).

The idea that a single regiment (combat strength: 5 ... not 50 or 5C) is "sufficient" for the mobile defense of entire subsector ... solo ... is, to put it mildly, both laughable (on its face) and insulting to the intellect (when rubbing two brain cells together). One of those "have some sense of proportion!" kinds of deals.

A single regiment (combat strength: 5) can be transported by a single cruiser squadron ... which does not a(n imperial navy) "fleet" make.
That's hardly enough mobile ground forces to put out "brush fires" in a subsector, let alone defend it from an uprising or an invasion.

Marines aren’t going to be putting out fires anyway, they kick in the door and hold the LZ at best.

OTOH, ortillery and strike fighters against lower tech adversaries counts for a lot.

 

[Condottiere]

Let's say there are thirty systems in a subsector.

Calculate how many times these systems need a Marine intervention force, per annum.

 

[Spinward Flow]

Let's say there are thirty systems in a subsector.

Calculate how many times these systems need a Marine intervention force, per annum.

If the answer is "once every 15 years per world" (almost once per generation) on average ... then the answer to your question is ... 2 deployments per year per subsector, on average.

Where things get tricky is when you have "feast or famine" cycles for these kinds of things.
One year, you need 4 deployments in a single year ... but the following year you need zero. Still averaging 2 deployments per year in the subsector.

Point being, you don't "build to meet the average" in terms of response capacity ... instead, you build to meet the surge (so you don't get overwhelmed when the surge demand happens).

 

[Condottiere]

If you're dealing with a general revolt across the subsector, that would be an Army situation.

Though, there would be reinforcements from the sector reserve, and neighbouring subsectors, so potentially large detachments from eight Marine regiments.

 

[whartung]

Point being, you don't "build to meet the average" in terms of response capacity ... instead, you build to meet the surge (so you don't get overwhelmed when the surge demand happens).

But there's a difference between having forces to deal with "domestic" problems, and having the Zhodani swarm across the spinward frontier.

Then there's the issue of response time. At a sector level, it can be a long trip if the marines are on the wrong side of the sector -- not just to get there, but to be told to go in the first place.

Finally, of course, with surges, or a threat of domestic surges, you can always borrow forces from nearby sectors, "just in case".

Also, recall that the Marines bring along TL15 combat vessels. Having meson equipped ships in orbit can be just the threat necessary to make parties reconsider their current plans of action. "Don't make us come down there!"

The firepower the Fleet and a bunch of marines brings is rather impressive, and most worlds can't really compete with them very well, much less local aggressors.

But the real question is what kind of activity warrants the Fleet and Marines showing up in the first place? Do local Nobles have to power to summon them? Would the Imperium send them in their defense? I mean, if the populace are more "It's not that we hate Nobles or the Imperium, we just want the head of THIS guy!" Would the Imperium intervene, or just let them "pick" a new one?