United Colonial Army

The United Colonial Army (UCMA) is the land service branch of the United Colonies of Mankind.

## Organisation

The UCMA has the greatest manpower resources of any armed services in the UCM, though it owns fewer materiel resources than the UCMF. The bulk of its soldiers make up the Colonial Legions, each of which number around a million fighting men and women plus support staff. Each of these Legions are generally raised from the same planet, with more populous planets usually contributing multiple Legions.

The Legions are supported by the Colonial Armoured Corps (CAC), which consists of all ground vehicle crews and support staff, as well as the Colonial Tank Battalions. Recently, the CAC has also been expanded to include the so-called Anvils: brigades consisting solely of Behemoth-class battle mech operators and support crew. Though the Anvils are nominally a part of the Armoured Corps, they enjoy a good degree of autonomy thanks to their unique tactical attributes.

Whether mechanized or on foot, the UCMA's ground troops are delivered to the front by the Army Air and Space Corps (AASC). This organization includes all dropship and gunship crews and their support staff, and works closely with the fleet in order to deploy soldiers planetside.

The UCMA is commanded by Army Headquarters (AHQ), possibly the most influential military body in the UCM (though the Admiralty would beg to differ). AHQ is comprised of the most senior officers of the UCMA, as well as Army Intelligence and the Military Science Division. The current leader of the UCMA is Supreme Marshal Zachiev, who also has a seat on the UCM High Council as befits his position.

## Technology

UCM ground forces are utilitarian and compact, and were designed from the ground-up for mass orbital insertion, efficiency in manpower, and low resource consumption. As Colonial military strategy calls for planetary assault from orbit, all UCM materiel has been designed to be as lightweight as possible, up to and including their vehicles, dropships, and small arms.

Most UCM vehicles feature a single driver or pilot. Advanced control systems, as well as limited automation, allow a single individual to operate a main battle tank, allowing the UCM to make the most of limited crewmen. Most UCM tanks are also designed with extremely low profiles, in order to allow for maximum transport efficiency and to make for a smaller target. This necessitates cramped crew compartments, where operators are often forced to lay prone inside their vehicles. These low profiles are supplemented by mounting weapons on armatures that can lay flush to the hull, or be raised to allow the vehicle to "peek" over terrain.

All UCM fighting vehicles are equipped with a broad suite of active countermeasures, including point defence lasers, submunitions, or the projection of a local energy shield. These shields have a low power consumption compared to true energy shields, as they are only activated over small areas at a time. They are also ineffective against directed energy weapons, or high velocity projectiles.

### Armament

The UCM's premier vehicle armament is the railgun: an anti-armour, kinetic energy weapon. These magnetically accelerate a disc-shaped, melon-sized projectile downrange, delivering tremendous energy to the target. Effectiveness against active countermeasures is achieved through staggering speed - the projectiles ignite the air through sheer friction, oftentimes exposing the shooter's position. The most common railgun in service with UCMA forces is the UM-100 "Avenger," though other variants exist.

Chemically-fueled rockets are also routinely deployed by the UCMA, as they offer negligible power consumption, portability, and lethality in a low-cost package. However, the relatively low airspeed of these projectiles means they are best employed at close range or in urban environments, where they have a chance to overcome the target's active countermeasures. The UM-105 "Phoenix" is a man-portable rocket launcher, while its heavier cousin - the UM-105B - is deployed on light vehicles.

As the Reconquest grinds on, more ground forces are being equipped with advanced weaponry (such as the experimental UMX-1 "Marksman" laser); however, traditional chemical-propelled firearms are the standard for the vast majority of UCMA firepower. Individual infantrymen are armed with the small, multi-purpose UM-3 Modular Assault Weapon, but more conventional gatling and machine weapons are also employed.

## Unit Overview

### Infantry

Although the UCM boasts colossal numbers of armoured vehicles, it is the humble Legionnaire that makes up the bulk of the UCMA's manpower. These soldiers are equipped with a variety of weapons, the largest of which are deployed by two-man crews in distinct teams. More elite than the Legionnaires are the Praetorian Corps - consummate urban assault specialists that are exceptionally lethal at room clearance and rapid insertion. Praetorians are also deployed in several specialist vocations, including sniper teams.

The UCMA also fields heavy infantry in the form of Hazard Suit teams - squads of soldiers wearing armoured exoskeletons. Though these suits were originally designed for dangerous jobs on hostile worlds, they provide superlative protection and enhance the strength of the wearer, allowing them to carry light railguns into battle.

### Armour

The most common type of tank encountered in Colonial Armoured Corps is the Sabre main battle tank - a durable frontline fighting vehicle armed with a railgun mounted on an articulated armature. These doughty tanks, produced almost exclusively on Ferrum, are present in almost all UCM frontline actions. The Sabre chassis is also used for several other variants of tanks, including the anti-air Rapier. Slightly smaller variants are also employed, including the Katana and Fireblade light tanks.

Larger than the Sabre is the Gladius heavy battle tank - a standard variant that packs twice the firepower of its smaller cousin. This platform is also used for the experimental Scimitar tank-hunter and the Maul self-propelled mortar. At the top end of UCM tank chassis are the Broadsword and Claymore super-heavies, which are equipped with articulated hulls to help them handle uneven ground.

Traditional wheeled vehicles are also employed by the UCM, usually in the form of the Bear APC. Many UCM scout vehicles are also equipped with wheels, most notably the Wolverine LAV, as they can be faster than treads in urban environments.

### Dropships

Virtually all first-wave or fast tactical operations are deployed via dropship. UCM dropships eschew heavy armament in favor of efficiency, allowing them to be especially light and utilitarian. The most common of these is the Condor, which can transport three medium tanks, two APCs, or a single superheavy tank.

The Raven light dropship can carry up to ten infantrymen or a pair of Wolverine LAVs, and are used to deploy the Longbow and Crossbow artillery pieces as well. Though less efficient in terms of manpower requirements, their high speed lets them excel at scouting or infiltration missions.

Finally, the Albatross is the UCM's premier heavy dropship. This massive aircraft can carry nine medium tanks or a single Ferrum drone base, but its relatively weak armour makes it a tempting target, necessitating careful use.

### Aircraft

The UCM employs several VTOL aircraft for persistent close support of ground forces, generally based on dropship airframes. The anti-armour Falcon-A is the most common of these, though the anti-air Falcon-B is also employed to hunt enemy dropships. The Eagle heavy gunship (based off the Condor airframe) is armed with underslung railguns and missile pods, making it superior for stand-off ranged fire support. Finally, the truly massive Phoenix gunship packs a variety of offensive weapons, as well as a command suite.

Fixed-wing aircraft are deployed under the auspices of the UCMF, but will occasionally be brought in to support ground operations. The Archangel - a single-seater inteceptor capable of performing strafing runs - is the most common of these, though the Seraphim and Retaliator variants are designed for the ground attack role.

### Behemoths

The UCM's strategic mantra of high efficient, high volume units is directly opposed to the existence of Behemoths, as these massive units require considerable resources to produce, maintain, and deploy. However, only a Behemoth is a match for another, and their continued deployment by other races has forced AHQ to authorize the development of their own.

Two broad types of Behemoths exist in the UCMA: light, and heavy. The light variants, which include the anti-armour Brazil and the anti-air India, use a quadruped, omnidirectional chassis to ensure that the Behemoth can never be destroyed should it lose a single leg. The knees also function as hardpoints for two optical targeting clusters and two UM-88B chainguns for close protection.

Heavy UCM Behemoths are bipedal, providing them with superior vantage over the competition and allowing them to fold up for compact storage and transportation. Two broad variants are currently in use: the America and the Japan. The America is armed with two UMH-1 mass drivers, which are large enough to be mounted on starships. Meanwhile, the Japan is equipped with two UMH-9 Stormcrow cannons, making it slightly more general-purpose.