Proper Procedures for the Imperial Infantry Commander

Step 1: Assign Units to Operations
Two basic assignments exist for units, attack or defense. If a unit is assigned to defense, it will act as a garrisoning force for the hex it occupies. It will also regain combat effectiveness per week the unit is left as wounded are healed and the unit takes men from the populace in the hex. If the hex is attacked, the unit’s assigned to its defense will fight the oncoming enemy.

Attacking units will venture into hostile territory in hopes of conquest. Depending on the unit’s effectiveness and the enemy units in the hex, the battles could be quickly resolved or mired in conflict. The key to victory will be to apply overwhelming numbers to roll over the enemy.

During this step, a skill test for the following skills can both give the Explorers an idea of the true strength of their units: Ordinary (+10) Common Lore (Imperial Guard, Imperial Navy or War), Evaluate or Logic, Easy (+30) Scholastic Lore (Tactica Imperialis) or Challenging (+0) Command. Degree of Successes on any of these skills can also give the Explorers an idea of the enemy’s strength in as many hexes as degrees, including what units might be able to assist to in the conquest.

Units can also be merged with other units with a Challenging (+0) Command Test. Units thus merged will fight with a lower effectiveness initially but losses will be lessened due to the bulk of forces used. After two weeks of operating as a cohesive unit, the unit’s effectiveness will be increased as the unit begins to operate better.

Step 2: Personal Involvement

Victory can be ensured by the team’s active hand in the waging of war. Once per week, a skill test can be made to increase a unit’s strength temporarily plus one for each degree of success. Alternatively, Explorers can make certain tests (a morale-lifting Charm test, a Tech-Use Test to repair damaged equipment, a Commerce Test to work with logistics to replace lost equipment or a Medicae Test to heal the wounded) to reduce losses a unit has suffered. In this case, success mean one selected unit recovers one Strength, plus one for every degree of success, up to its maximum Strength.

The following are suggestions for Skill Tests the Explorers can make, but you can get creative.

• Command: Through leadership and personal inspiration, the Explorer takes charge of a unit, issuing orders, directing troops and giving instructions to subordinates. When when he returns to the Command Bunker, he leaves a well-oiled military machine in his wake.
  
• Charm: The Explorer boosts morale with his charisma, wit and personal bravery, inspiring those around him to even greater feats of bravery.
  
• Common Lore (War): The Explorer’s personal experience with combat and warfare allow him to impart a veteran’s insight on the coming conflicts, making sure untested soldiers will fight as veteran warriors.
  
• Scholastic Lore (Tactica Imperialis): The Explorer is a brilliant strategic thinker, considering every contingency, coordinating forces and arranging events with such precision that when attacking, the enemy simply acts out the moves in performance the Explorer directed long before they were attacked.
  
• Commerce: An army fights on its stomach and by the number of las-clips it possesses. The Explorer sets up clear supply lines, depots, and stockpiles of arms, ammo and armour so that when the battle begins, the soldiers present want for nothing.
  
• Tech-Use: The Explorer sets up defenses using arcane war-systems such as automated Tarantula sentry turrets, minefields, jamming becons and localized void shields.

Step 3: Resolution

After all actions have been dictated, combat is resolved by comparing the enemy’s strength to that of the Dynasty’s. Unit losses will be allocated as necessary and units may be raised in hexes held for three weeks. Flash Points also fall under this step and will be resolved by the GM and Explorer participants.