Sic transit gloria mundi
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
Intent: Update Firemane's forces. This is a resubmission of this unit, which was approved under the old Codex rules.
Image Credit: Here. Original link is here, but the page seems to have been deleted.
Role: Heavy infantry, anti-armour, bunker busters.
Permission: ARGH gear available per this thread. Permission for all ArmaTech gear and all other subs made by Laira Darkhold's writer here and here. Firemane obtained a supply contract that allows it to use Fire for Effect gear here. CD-X Cryptologic Key available for Firemane per this thread.
Links: Casus Belli, Into Darkness,
GENERAL INFORMATION
Unit Name: Firemane Ironsides.
Affiliation: Siobhan, Firemane Industries and Technology, House Kerrigan-Alcori.
Classification: Heavy infantry.
Equipment:
Armour:
- ACS-004 Titan Assault Armor or ACS-004 Olympian Battle Armor or Ironside Heavy Assault Armour. Commlink uses CD-X Cryptologic key.
Heavy Weapons:
- Exterminus
- Heavy Bolter
- High Velocity Kinetic Shatter Boltgun
- Electromagnetic Pulse Launcher
- Equaliser
- Lance Missile Launcher (require the Titan armour's blaster cannon to be detached if the soldier is wearing that suit)
- ARGH Flamer. All variants.
- Firestorm Multiple Missile Launcher (requires Ironside Armour).
Attached Weapons:
Misc:
- Combat Vibroknife.
- APE Boltgun Ammunition
- Misc equipment like medkits, military rations, lifeform scanners etc.
- Grenades
- Icon Class Energy Shield
- Sky Strike Jetpack
The Ironsides are not intended to operate in a vacuum. Rather they are supposed to be deployed in conjunction with more lightly equipped shock troops. This is essential because while the Ironsides hit very hard, they are comparatively slow, which leaves them vulnerable. Moreover, many of their weapons are rather heavy and they can only carry limited ammunition.
In the case of the explosive weapons, they can only be utilised at range. Enemy light infantry may not be able to match their raw firepower, but can conceicably ambush and outmanoeuvre them. Especially since they are obvious targets. While bolters have ammunition that can be utilised at close range, such as APEB rounds, their main projectiles are explosive bolts, and changing ammunition takes time. Moreover, their firing rate and ammo capacity is generally low. This can become a problem in pitched combat. And obviously carrying lots of explosive ordinance can be quite risky.
When operating as part of a cog in a machine, the Ironsides can create a breach for Firemane infantry by, for instance, cracking bunkers and fortifications that could otherwise only be stormed with severa casualties. Flamethrowers are good for clearing bunkers and trenches, while carbonite rifles can temporarily snap freeze medium tanks. Both also make good area denial weapons, which can be practical if Firemane soldiers need to yield ground but prevent enemies from pursuing them.
Likewise, since their focus is on heavy weapons, they are better equipped to bust or severely damage armoured vehicles, including tanks and walkers. By contrast, their anti-air capacities are limited, since they only have portable missile launchers at their disposal. This is a decent form of defence if there is nothing better available, but still variable and less reliable than a battery of self-propelled antiaircraft guns.
Because their equipment is expensive, the Ironsides' numbers are low. This limits how many of them can be deployed to a battlefield at any given time, though it also ensures that training standards are kept high. Firemane cannot field armies as huge as those amassed by galactic empires and federations, so it makes sure that its forces are rigorously trained, well-equipped and well-paid. Many of the Ironsides are Firemane veterans who have served the megacorporation in several bloody campaigns, such as Gehenna, Ruusan, the Xioquo War and Kaeshana. As a result, they are tough, experienced soldiers. Some of them have served Firemane's ruling couple since the glory days of the defunct Omega Protectorate.
The Ironsides are composed of non-Force-users, so they do not have access to preternatural powers. Rather they must rely on their wits, training and tech to win the day if they encounter hostile Force-users, though several of their weapons are effective against space wizards. Their armour suits possess minor lightsabre resistance. It increases their chances of surviving an encounter with a lightsabre-wielder, but do not allow them to tank hits the way someone wearing Phrik or Beskar armour would.
COMBAT INFORMATION:
Unit Size: Small
Unit Availability: Uncommon
Unit Experience: Veteran
Combat Function: The Ironsides are a suport force of heavy infantry. Their purpose is to bust enemy armour, bunkers and enemy strong points. Excel at cracking, including tanks and walkers, along with fortifications such as bunkers. This makes them very useful for trench warfare and sieges. They can make a breach into enemy defences, allowing more mobile shock troops to advance. Also effective against clusters of enemy infantry at range. Carbonite guns, flamethrowers and bolters are good against masses of infantry. The slugs of a shatterbolter are capable of penetrating heavy vehicle armour, making them useful against tanks and walkers. They have access to the Exterminus, a heavy personal mortar for use at the start of an engagement when meeting a large enemy force, or to shell an entrenched enemy position.
Power armour is used by the best soldiers of the unit. It grants enhanced strength and very good protection. However, they are slower and less mobile compared to light infantry. Power armoured Ironsides are encumbered by their big suits, the more lightly armoured ones cannot stray too far since that would leave the former exposed. Reduced agility makes them vulnerable to snipers, artillery strikes, turbolasers, especially on an open battlefield with little cover.
More lightly armoured infantry may not be able to match their firepower, but can outmanoeuvre and ambush them. It also means that they are not very stealthy. Enemies will see them coming. They are vulnerable to air strikes since they're an infantry unit. They have no effective air defence except portable missile launchers, and that's rather variable. Most of their weapons are quite heavy, limiting the amount of ammo they can carry, and/or have small magazines and a low firing rate. The Titan's blaster cannon is the main exception to the last two, but such weapons are prone to overheating and run out of ammo fast. Moreover, several of their main weapons are not practical or useable at close range. An example would be the Heavy Bolter and the Exterminus.
The nature of their weapons means that care must be taken when the Ironsides are deployed in urban warfare situations in population centres, as careless use could lead to collateral damage. The Ironsides will never be deployed in a vacuum or as the mainstay of an army. Instead they operate in concert with Firemane regulars and light infantry. These soldiers can protect them and exploit any breaches the Ironsides' firepower produces. While the Ironsides are quite numerous and are available in significant numbers, they operate in small teams. These are paired with regulars.
Strengths:
- Armour busters. Perfect for cracking tanks, walkers, bunkers and fortifications. Also good for crowd control at range. Weapons have a long range. Some of their weapons, such as flamethrowers and carbonite guns, also make good area denial weapons.
- Heavily armoured.
- Poor at stealth. This especially applies to those Ironsides who don power armour. Said armour also slows them down and means they lack agility.
- Many of their weapons are not practical or useable at close range. For instance, the Heavy Bolter and the Exterminus have a significant minimum range as well as a low rate of fire. The Ironsides are a support unit, not the ones who lead a charge and engage the enemy close-up.
After being mortally wounded by the Sith Assassin Kaelin Isandros forced Tegaea Alcori to step down as Lady Protector, she and Siobhan Kerrigan founded Firemane Industries. It was started as an arms manufacturing and mining concern, but also branched out into Private Military Contracting. This was no surprise since mercenary work was where Tegaea had gotten her start and both ladies had been among the founding members of Omega Pyre. Initially, its military forces were rather modest and consisted of a mere four infantry companies, with some limited naval assets, gunships and dropships. However, they expanded as the company grew in power. A small mercenary force turned into the private army of House Kerrigan-Alcori, charged with protecting the family's manifold interests and expanding its influence.
In many ways, Firemane's combat doctrine was influenced by that of Omega Pyre, particularly in its early days. This is no surprise since Siobhan Kerrigan and Tegaea Alcori were among the founding members of the paramilitary megacorporation, which later evolved into the Omega Protectorate. The Pyre started out as a mercenary corporation on Fondor, bring order and security to worlds such as Dahomey, Abregado-Rae, Vandelhelm and Denon. Lacking large numbers, it focused on small elite groups of soldiers, which it hired out to governments in return for political or economic concessions. To give its mercenaries an edge against foes, especially hostile Force-Users, it developed cutting-edge technology, such as the infamous Bolters.
Over time the territory it administrated grew too large and its duties too complex for a corporate body, and it evolved into a government, the Omega Protectorate. In terms of ideology, it was a Republican Dictatorship, ruled by a Lady or Lord Protector elected for life, with the assistance of a varying number of super-governors called Exarchs. The Pyre became its elite strike force. Siobhan started her career as an officer in the Pyre and eventually rose to Colonel. She commanded Pyre forces in several bloody battles, making her mark on battlefields such as Roche, Metalorn and Gehenna. For a while, she and Tegaea ruled the Protectorate as Exarch and Lady Protector, until near-fatal injuries sustained during an attempt on her life forced Tegaea to step down.
When Firemane was founded, it adapted a lot of the Pyre's doctrine. Once it had become a megacorporation, the company was able to field large forces and equip them well, but it was not economical to try and match the forces of an instellar government in terms of size or fleet meterage. That would have been ruinous and probably left even the biggest corporation bankrupt. Instead it focused on gaining an edge through advanced technology, discipline, mobility and skill of its soldiers.
This became the doctrine of Firemane Motorised Infantry, drop trooper and ranger formation. To increase the firepower of these units and augment their ability to bust armour, Firemane created the Ironside corps. Obviously every infantry formation had some heavy weapons specialists, grenadiers and so on, but the Ironsides would be a dedicated unit. Equipped with power armour, various bolter variants, flamethrowers and missile launchers, the Ironsides would pummel enemy forces from afar, bust tanks and bunkers. This would make them useful in both defence and offence.
The Ironsides fought their first serious battle on Kaeshana. A small detachment of Ironsides had been dispatched to support the humanitarian relief operation of Firemane, the Tygaran Alliance and the Galactic Alliance by combating the pirates that menaced the Forsaken. As this was supposed to be a relief operation above all, only a few were deployed. However, they soon found themselves in serious combat when the allied forces clashed with the First Order. The Ironsides saw action at the battle that took place in the ruins of the Citadel of Dawn, overlooking what had once been Kaeshana's capital.
The First Order used trench warfare and deployed large numbers of walkers and tanks. Despite their small numbers, the Ironsides fought bravely, proving their utility as armour and bunker busters. They helped the allied forces take the Citadel and then utilised flamethrowers and bolters to help clear trenches. However, though both Citadels had fallen into allied hands and allied forces had entered Santaissa's ruins, they were ultimately forced to pull out after the Alliance withdrew. The surviving Ironsides received commendations. They would fight in the Battle of Hoth, assisting Firemane's leader Siobhan Kerrigan.
More recently an Ironside unit fought at the Battle of Fortress Purity on Tephrike, where they faced the fanatical Dominion of Light. This battle posed its share of difficulties. Tephrike had regressed technologically, meaning that the armaments of the Dominion were behind galactic standard. Most of their slugthrowers and primitive blaster weapons could do little against the Ironsides' power armour unless they hit a weak spot. However, the Dominion made ample use of Force-users to compensate for this weakness.
Moreover, the terrain was defined by dense forests and the Dominion activated a weather control machine to cause a storm. Not only did this negate Firemane airpower, the heavy rainfalls also made the ground very muddy. This made it difficult for Ironsides to advance and made them vulnerable to ambushes by Dominion Jedi warriors, suicide bombers and militia. A good number of Ironsides fell in the initial chaos. The remainder linked up with their allies. Their heavy firepower proved very useful in flushing Dominion troops out trenches and clearing out bunkers.
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