Imperial Tekkelien Ground Forces

The Imperial Tekkelien Ground Forces is the primary planetary surface fighting force of the Holy Tekkelien Empire. Although receiving less funding and cultural prestige as the Imperial Tekkelien Navy, they are both the largest branch of the Imperial Armed Forces and largest employer in the entire Empire. Encompassing all ground fighting elements including the Marine Corps, the Ground Forces are responsible for sweeping in and clearing enemy forces after the initial naval bombardment and securing and occupying territory. They are also more prominent in counterinsurgency operations and natural disaster relief. During the Human-Dominion War, the Ground Forces suffered the heaviest losses of any branch, numbering over 1 billion deaths over the course of 9 months.

## Imperial Tekkelien Ground Forces

Imperial Marine Recon in the Feature Film

### Role

Ground Warfare, Power Projection, Counterinsurgency, Disaster Relief, Protection

## Structure

The Chief General of the Army is the Ground Forces' head administrator, a member of the Strategic Warfare Staff of the Ministry of Defense, which is subordinate to the Minister of the Defense and the Premier General.

Beneath the top administration, the Ground Forces have semi-independent operational commands for the Army and Marine Corps. Since the beach landings have become relatively obsolete in 29th century warfare, the line between the roles of the Army and Marines is somewhat unclear, with a great deal of overlap especially in desperate situations where command uses whatever ground elements are available. Still the Marines are considered a mostly offensive "shock" force used to establish footholds in enemy territory and break the main enemy's main land force. They are a much smaller force at 1.5 million infantrymen, but are highly space-mobile and see a disproportionate amount of action. Many times, the Marines are deployed for small operations or in support of another country without the Army ever getting involved.

### Imperial Army

* **Army Operations Command** oversees the actual deployment and usage of active Army resources. Operations command is divided into various subgroups responsible for important planets or regions.

* **Army Research Division** develops new equipment for ground warfare uses. A relatively small organization, they are responsible for designing or approving designs for new infantry weapons and combat vehicles. The Imperial Army Medical Institute is a leading player in the medical and pharmaceutical R&D field.
* **Army Air Corps** is responsible for providing close air support for the men on the ground, and shares the responsibility of securing the Empire's skies with the Naval Air Corps. They also provide fast and flexible transportation and logistics for the Army's immediate needs, however larger operations require the cooperation of the Imperial Navy.
* **Strategic Land Defense** builds fortifications and prepares the Empire's home territory prepare against enemy invasion. Many Imperial cities are designed with defense in mind, with ready-to-assemble barricades, bunker systems and periodically spaced open "kill zones."
* **Army Special Warfare Directorate** is responsible for large-scale unconventional operations and special attacks to disrupt the enemy's chain of command and major operational weak points behind their lines. The BIRD Corps is the Army's principle special force, renown for their ability to destroy high-value targets. The directorate is extremely secretive and given wide leeway to accomplish their goals. They are also responsible for special protection details outside of warfighting. The Holy Guard protects sensitive government buildings and the Decembrist Life Guard is tasked with preserving the Premier General's life at all costs, while also serving a ceremonial role for the public.

### Imperial Marine Corps

* **Marine Operations Command** is the Army's counterpart, responsible for all combat deployments and readiness. They have a close coordination with the Imperial Navy since their assets are often deployed from orbit. Since they also focus on attacking enemy strong points, they also work in extreme close coordination with naval artillery.
* **Marine Special Warfare Directorate** normally has a much smaller operational scope than the Army with an extremely small number of elite Marines. They are primarily focused on supporting the individual operations of the Marine Corps through special reconnaissance and disrupting enemy locations prior to a Marine operation. However, Marine Special Forces have been used in isolated incidents and deployed as a show of force, especially in counterinsurgencies. It was a Winged Hussar unit that killed the leader of the Aradynic Dominion in the Human-Dominion War, using their experience in marine reconnaissance to track its location down.

## Doctrine

Motorization and strategic mobility is at the core of the Ground Force doctrine. The Ground Forces are very infantry-centric, with their core of operations centered around the "Motor Rifle" unit. Infantry units are primarily transported on high speed truck-like armored transports which serve as protection and a source of suppressing fire once the men are dismounted. Supporting elements of vehicles and tanks need to be designed to keep up with the rapid pace of offensive advancement. Since many vehicles can be destroyed by man-portable or crew served weapons, Ground Forces units can out-maneuver enemy heavy armor ahead of time and destroy them from covered positions. Whether the Ground Forces use their transports to storm directly into the target or position themselves ahead of time depends on the disposition of the enemy and their equipment.

The Marine Corps are experts of shock tactics, working in close coordination with heavy weapons. Since they often face the heaviest enemy fire, they are given the most advanced body armor with ballistic steel plate inserts. By comparison, the Army's soldiers are only equipped with ballistic vests for protection against low-caliber rounds and shrapnel.

In keeping with the Empire's large-scale doctrine, the Ground Forces' ultimate objective is to inflict as many material and personnel losses to the enemy as possible, usually with heavy weapons. The use of artillery, both conventional and rocket, is widespread, with advances in accuracy allowing for local forces to call in strikes on very specific locations.

## Equipment

### Uniforms and Kit

The Ground Forces dress uniform is predominantly royal blue with silver highlights and buttons. The Marines' uniform is darker blue with fewer silver highlights and a striped sailor undershirt. Enlisted men wear a solid blue kepi, or short cylindrical hat, while officers wear round peaked caps. Higher-ranked men wear progressively more embellished uniforms.

The standard battle dress uniform reflects the expected environment. Army soldiers are typically issued pastel and drab green digital camo due to the common presence of steppes and temperate coniferous forests in the colonies. Marines are issued a slate blue/grey uniform that is comprised of large sections of solid colors in various hues, since they are typically only deployed to assault important urban areas where there are enemy strongholds. However, servicemen will be given any camouflage pattern they need to reflect the environment around them.

The uniforms fabric is made of ballistic vinyl, itself capable of stopping pistol caliber bullets and small shrapnel from grenades and artillery. Units that operate in or around the water, such as the Sea Corps, are given waterproofed uniforms with a raincoat-like finish.

Imperial helmets are a simple, elongated version of the "tin pot" design, slightly wider and contoured at the sides to move airburst shrapnel away from the shoulders. The steel is ballistic grade, capable of withstanding 1-2 shots of rifle-caliber bullets, however its primary purpose is to guard against the shrapnel from artillery and bombings as well as protection against impact trauma either purposeful in melee combat or accidental when maneuvering dangerous city zones. They are also cushioned with a special system in case of vehicle crash, since the infantry spend most of their time riding in truck-like transports.

### Vehicles

The Imperial Ground Forces' doctrine of motorized infantry and maneuver warfare requires a significant amount of armored vehicles to ensure that all fighting elements can advance at the same rapid pace. The majority of vehicles are designed to work in support of infantry by providing high speed, protection against small arms and suppressive fire. Vehicles are mostly powered by synthetic decane--a cheap, clean and highly-abundant fuel source that is hard to explosively ignite. Since fuel consumption is a serious logistical weak point for a rapidly advancing military, most vehicles have hybrid electric engine.

Heavy armor is less common and the role of tanks have shifted towards compact and agile fire support platforms due to the proliferation of highly-effective infantry anti-tank weapons.