Directorate Officer
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
- Intent: To provide a somewhat standardized, large armor group for the Silver Jedi
- Image Credit: “We are no longer on the defensive" by Reidawen, unit patch insignia created with HALO 3 emblem generator; images modified and combined together by yours truly
- Role: General Vehicle-based combat unit
- Permissions: Permission for A-1 Frontline TD/SPAs
- Links:Silver Jedi, Lucerne Labs, Lucerne Personal Defense, Gir Quee, Belasco
- Unit Name: Silver Jedi Expeditionary Armor Regiment – Northern Command (NORCOM)
- Affiliation: Silver Jedi, Gir Quee
- Classification: Armor Regiment
- Equipment:
- General Troop Equipment
- Praetorian Synthetic Soldiers (provide 95% of regiment's staffing/manpower)
- Carabello-series Armored Clothes uniform (standard uniform)
- LPD-33 Dartfire Variable Charge Blaster Pistol (sidearm for 60% of regiment)
- LPD-37 Sparkfire Bi-Polar Blaster Carbine (sidearm for 40% of regiment)
- Vehicle Manifest
- 20 Fambaa-class Mobile Shield Generators
- 40 Gharzr-class Battle Crawlers
- 200 Katarn-class Main Battle Tanks (with Reaper Mag Autocannon Secondary default)
- 80 A-1 Frontline Tank Destroyers / Self-Propelled Artilleries
- 40 Kaadu-class Mobile Defense Units with mission dependent Module (with Munitions Launcher Loadout and Concussion Missiles by default)
- 40 Varactyl Light Walkers (with enhanced targeting package MAST and Sunfire 1000 Flamethrower by default)
- General Troop Equipment
- Description: Silver Jedi Expeditionary Armor Regiments – (NORCOM) are rapidly raised armor regiments that rely on the organization and history of Belasco's armed forces and combine it with the latest technology available to the Silver Jedi. The resulting regiment army units possess disportionately high firepower and durability compared to many army units. Typical deployments of these regiments sees massed firepower accurately guided by Varactyl targeting packages and Gharzr Omniprobes before large groups of armored vehicles protected from enemy counterfire by the umbrella of Fambaa Shield Generators move in to mop up enemy survivors. The main spearhead units of the regiment, super heavy tanks in the form of Gharzr Battle Crawlers and hundreds of Katarn Main Battle Tanks, usually provide too much firepower and durability for the survivors to contend with. Those who do manage to escape these tanks to more inaccessible ground are usually pursued by light walkers, who if unable to wipe them out with flamethrowers, can call down precise artillery strikes from the groups Kaadu Mobile Munitions Launchers or A-1 Frontline TD/SPA. While a true hammer in the Silver Jedi commander's toolbox, Expeditionary Armor Regiments need to be wielded carefully and in conjunction with other Silver Jedi army units to fully maximize their success.
- Unit Size: Large
- Unit Availability: Common
- Unit Experience: Trained
- Combat Function: NORCOM Armor Regiments act in the traditional role of an armor regiment, as derived from old Imperial Army practices indirectly inherited through the world of Belasco's armed forces. Unsurprisingly then, the command levels are dominated by a quiet, calm competence based on long tradition and confidence on a versatility in equipment. On a more immediate practical level, this shows in an embrace of 'maneuvers support fire' emphasis in strategy and tactics. In other words, the regiments embrace the concept of using overwhelming firepower to wipe out foes before moving to take and occupy ground. In this way, NORCOM Armor Regiments almost act as mobile artillery that can competently fight head to head if needed. Typical formations in the field use a wedge, with the Gharzr Battle Crawlers at the tip of this wedge, followed immediately by large formations of Katarn Tanks behind them and on either flank. The rear of the wedge contains the actual artillery units of the group in the form of Kaadu MDUs and A-1 Frontlines. Scattered across this wedge formation are Fambaa Mobile Shield Generators, who can provide interlocking shield protection across this massed formation to protect it from air strikes, artillery strikes, and orbital bombardment. The perimeter of this formation is patrolled by pairs of Varactyl Walkers, who use their light blasters and flamethrowers to prevent masses of infantry and other small targets from immediately attacking the formation. Besides this screening role, their enhanced targeting package allows them to direct and bring down indirect artillery strikes right by them with exceptional accuracy in the event of sensors jamming, an ability enhanced by the omniprobes of the Gharzr Battle Crawlers. Frequently, terrain or circumstances prevent the regiment from fighting together as a cohesive unit, which generally leads the unit to adapt the practices of its Belasco predecessors in forming smaller “fighting groups” which resemble miniature versions of the regiment itself, which follow rough vehicle percentage portions of the regiment, but in smaller numbers (An example might include 1 Faambaa Mobile Shield Generator, 2 Gharz Battle Crawlers, 10 Kartan Tanks, etc). Like many conventional armor units, NORCOM armor units do not operate in vacuum, but rather serve alongside other unit types to offset their inherent disadvantages, especially with and against infantry units.
- Heavy Firepower (Vehicles): A NORCOM Armor Regiment is inherently designed to project heavy firepower in the form of its vehicles. Its heaviest offensive vehicles, the Gharzr Battle Crawlers have hypervelocity cannons which generally have little difficulty making short work of most large ground threats, while its most numerous vehicles are battle tanks equipped with a turbolaser-equivalent plasma railgun. These vehicles in turn are backed up by mobile artillery in the form of the A-1 Front-line and Kaadu MDUs outfitted as mobile warhead launchers. Few contemporary ground units have quite the amount of overwhelming area of effect firepower as a NORCOM Armor Regiment.
- Heavy Defense(Vehicles):A NORCOM Armor Regiment is very well protected. Most of the regiment's front-line vehicles sport heavy armor (with the exception of the light walkers) or shields, which makes them fairly durable on the battlefield. The addition of Fambaa-class Mobile Shield Generators mean that the entire massed formation of a regiment can travel in the open and under the umbrella of heavy mobile shields that can protect the regiment from artillery strikes, orbital bombardments, or air strikes.
- Adaptable A hallmark of Lucerne Labs designs, the majority of vehicles within the armor regiment can be adapted to different situations through the use of modular weapons mounts (such as on the Katarn-class tanks or Varactyl light walkers), ammunition types (such as on Gharzr Battle Crawlers), or different role specialty modules (such as on Kaadu-class MDUs). This allows the armor regiment to be better outfitted to engage in certain missions or to encounter certain types of foes.
- Iron Discipline: NORCOM Armor Regiments are primarily crewed by Praetorian Synthetic Soldiers, a type of droid. These droids inherently offer a couple of advantages over organics, one of which is their politically disposable nature: few care about sending droids on suicide missions, not even the droids themselves do. The droids also are unlikely to be overwhelmed emotionally from certain situations or effects, allowing them to function calmly and effectively or without to their safety in a way which a more organically based unit would shatter or fall apart on the battlefield.
- Limited Mobility(tracked vehicles): The majority of the NORCOM Armor Regiment's vehicles are tracked. Not only does this make them relatively slow, especially compared to repulsorlift vehicles, but it also means that some types of terrains are nearly impassible to them, such as areas with exceptionally steep inclines or uneven, hard terrain such as badlands. Conversely, terrain that is too soft, such as some marshes and bogs, can cause the vehicles to sink into the ground, either immobilizing them or causing them to travel at slower speeds.
- Unimaginative tactics (small unit level):
Using droids as a basis for the vast majority of its front-line troops means that new units are extremely easy to predict, as they all have the same learning/instruction and nearly identical methods and manners of implementing that knowledge. NORCOM armor units rarely vary from the tactics described above until they are able to undergo significant heuristic learning after almost a dozen engagements, in which case if they survive, they tend to act more like organic troops. - Lightly Armored (Personal armor): The individual troops of the Armor Regiments wear lighter armor than most regular ground soldiers in order to maximize their mobility within their vehicles and not to impair their manual dexterity. However, this rapidly becomes an issue if the troops are separated from their vehicle either by circumstance or the vehicle's destruction.
- Lightly Armed (Personal weapons): Since the regiment's main focus is on operating vehicles, individual soldiers are lightly armed with blaster pistols and compact blaster carbines. While these weapons do not get in the way as much as larger and more conventional weapons, they generally do not provide the same range or firepower as many other weapons commonly found in enemy soldier's hands. It's important to also note that unlike most ground soldiers, they do not carry much ammunition nor are they equipped with secondary weapons.
Seeing the need to expand the Silver Jedi's forces in light of the expected Sith Empire invasion, Admiral Quee embarked on a crash program of quickly forming units in bulk through the use of synthetic(droid) soldiers and existing stocks of equipment which he could rapidly dictate production through his companies. One result was the Silver Jedi Expeditionary Army Regiment – NORCOM, a primarily infantry based unit loosely based on the lines of the old Imperial Line Regiment. To accompany these units with armored support, Gir turned to the world of Belasco, a Silver Jedi member world known for its reasonably competent armor units, which were also anciently derived in form from the old Imperial Armor Regiment. By combining those unit's structures and tactics loosely with the Lucerne consortium's available equipment, Admiral Quee created the Silver Jedi Expeditionary Armor Regiment – NORCOM. Deployed alongside their infantry counterparts of the Silver Jedi Expeditionary Army Regiment – NORCOM, NORCOM armor regiments provide a great deal of firepower and durability that was harder to deploy in large numbers than before. While relatively inexperienced on the galactic scene compared to many of their competitors, Admiral Quee hopes that their tried and true organization, versatile war material, and the inherent advantages of synthetic soldiers will offset this experience to be a viable competitor against the mighty Sith Empire military machine.
