Ground Assault Doctrine

Introduction

Assault vehicle design fashions go in cycles, much like starship design, and interest in repulsortanks is just now coming out of a low ebb. The Imperial reliance on terror weapons manifested itself in armored vehicles as the AT-AT walker and similar behemoths. Previously the trend was quite the opposite, with walker-style personal armor in a decline and repulsortanks a mainstay of Old Republic-era armies.

The mobility and economic firepower of repulsorlift tanks are too useful to stay eclipsed for long, however. The Alliance has acquired a large stock of KAAC Freerunner surplus and other light and medium tanks, and has used them to good effect on dozens of worlds. This has not gone unnoticed by Imperial military planners

Imperial Ground Assault Doctrine

Imperial Ground Assault Vehicle doctrine assumes certain things; that the GAVs are strategically outnumbered but technologically superior, that the GAV units will be working in conjuction with infantry, and that Imperial Navy vessels have achieved orbital superiority at a minimum or the GAVs will be operating under cover of planetary shields.

Standard Imperial military doctrine calls for GAVs to be used in assault campaigns against concentrations of enemy forces, to support and guard infantry units, to create and clear breakthroughs in the enemy line, and to counter enemy tanks.

GAV Classifications

Ground Assault Vehicles (GAVs) are generally categorized into three groups. Surface Assault Vehicles (SAVs) include any ground vessels which travel via wheels or treads directly on the surface, such as the Imperial mobile command base, juggernaut, and the compact assault vehicle. Repulsorlift Assault Vehicles (RAVs) include any repulsorlift-propelled craft, including the floating fortress, command speeder and repulsortanks. The final category includes any kind of mechanical terror weapon using walker propulsion systems, including the AT-AT and AT-ST walkers, and the obsolete AT-PT walker.

Walkers perform very well with ground infantry. AT-ATs soften enemy concentrations while transporting infantry units to occupy those positions. AT-STs are used to scout, support fire, and guard the AT-AT's flanks. This works well for straightforward set-piece battles, and very well for assaults against fortified positions. It works somewhat less efficiently for mobile battles, open terrain campaigns and breakthrough operations. Walkers sacrifice speed and mobility for firepower, armor and overall impression.

Repulsorlift and Surface Assault Vehicles (RAVs and SAVs respectively) perform well under exactly opposite conditions. They are more mobile, but less well armed and armored. As repulsortanks are more variable from sector to sector than the extremely standardized AT-AT, Imperial Army Central Command has not issued strict doctrine for repulsortanks. Instead a series of general directives were issued pertaining to repulsortanks -- local sector army headquarters developed model-specific doctrines in adherence to those directives. Lack of adherence to the general and sectoral doctrine usually results in court-martial of the offending commander.

These directives, without their involved, highly specific, and very dull expoundation, are:

• 1. Repulsorlift and Surface Assault Vehicles are to be used in a mobile fashion, engaging and overwhelming the enemy by concentration of force, breaking through enemy lines, overrunning or surrounding enemy fortified positions, and defeating enemy assault vehicles.

• 2. RAVs and SAVs shoud be used in overwhelming concentrations of force -- although enemy forces may strategically outnumber Imperial forces, commanders must strive to match or exceed enemy forces both quantitatively and qualitatively in theaters of operation.

• 3. Repulsorlift and Surface Assault Vehicles should in all possible circumstances be used in conjuction and combination with, and support of other Imperial units, most especially infantry. RAVs and SAVs should not be deployed without adequate air or orbital cover, or infantry support.

Repulsortanks and Imperial Doctrine

Several armament manufacturers produce tanks, but the Ubrikkian Imperial-class repulsortank series, the tank of the Hell's Hammers elite armor unit, is an excellent example. These repulsortanks are five times faster than an AT-AT and much more maneuverable, with more than half the armor and raw firepower.

Each repulsortank designation -- light, medium and heavy -- is a variation on a basic template. The light designation outclasses most medium Ground Assault Vehicles in armor, speed and firepower. The medium designation is reserved for command vehicles, which is identical to the basic Imperial-class repulsortank, aside from the replacement of the main heavy gun with a command and control seat for the officer. the command tank is designated "medium" because it is not armed well enough to be heavy, and officers do not ride in light tanks. The heavy tank has the same basis chassis as the other versions, but mounts an impressive long range heavy laser cannon as its main weapon, one of the most powerful and accurate tank guns of its class on the modern battlefield.

The Imperial repulsortank reflects the general ground assault directives. It is fast and mobile, enabling it to quickly overrun enemy positions. Its power allows for high concentration of force. And since the repulsortanks lack anti-infantry weapons, they are forced to remain dependant on friendly infantry for support. This supporting infantry is rarely issued anti-tank weaponry and is thus pressured to rely on friendly tanks for cover from enemy tanks. This promotes unit cross-cohesiveness and morale through application of fear and dependency, and generally discourages battlefield desertion via a "safety in numbers" logic.

Rebels Against Imperial Forces

There is a tendency among Alliance personnel to imagine that Alliance forces are universally superior to Imperial forces, and that the Alliance is only kept in check by the Empire's overwhelming numbers. A corollary illusion is that Imperial personnel are disheartened, sloppy, disloyal, and incompetent.

This is nonsense. The Empire can always muster superior numbers, and those forces almost always have superior equipment and superior training. While it is true that large numbers of the Imperial forces have been pressed into service, it is also true that most of the crew and troopers are reasonably indoctrinated into the Imperial system. Imperial personnel do occasionally lack the high level of morale and loyalty that characterizes Alliance personnel, and this gives the Alliance an edge. But all in all, the Imperial armed forces are filled with - at worst - bored, loyal, highly trained specialists who have little to do but drill and sharpen their skills.

The Alliance attitude may rise from the overall success rate of Alliance starfighters. What non-starfighter personnel rarely realize is that Alliance starfighter pilots may be braver than their opposites -- in that they are willing to regularly face superior numbers -- but they are the most aware that the enemy is as quick and sharp as they are. Only in starfighter combat does the Alliance have such close parity of skill and an advantage of hardware. In most other areas they lack such an advantage.

A Matter of Morale

This is perhaps best contrasted by comparing the branches of the Imperial Army to Alliance ground forces. Generally, Alliance ground troops win through careful choice of mission objectives, guerilla tactics, and bravery under fire. Many firefights have been settled when the better-trained, better-equipped Imperial troopers lost their taste for the fight, and ran from the more generally trained, ill-equipped, and more experienced Alliance forces who simply toughed out the fight longer.

This does not happen in set-piece battles between Alliance and Imperial ground assault vehicles, mainly because the Imperial assault crews are better protected. The Imperial assault crew once again has a superior piece of equipment and is highly trained in its operation. The Alliance has dedicated, experienced but less-trained crews in older, patched, second-hand vehicles. The sides do not have equal skill and an advantage of hardware.

As a rule, infantry runs when it has reached a certain level of fear; a soldier's morale eventually fails under fire. Tank crews usually do not. A tank is typically either functional and safe, or it's a smoking hulk. The transition from one state to the other is usually shorter than the amount of time needed to send the crew into retreat. The Imperial crews are safer in their more heavily armed and armored vehicles than the Alliance crews are in theirs, and so the Imperial tank wins, time after time.

Except when the Alliance forces are able to ambush, trap, or totally overwhelm the Imperials, Alliance ground vehicles lose. Alliance Combat Assault Vehicles (CAVs) are very effective against the infantry, and have a number of qualities to recommend them (not the least of which is that they are what they have to work with), but are only sent against an equal or greater number of enemy when absolutely necessary.

Internal Conflicts

In Imperial doctrine Ground Assault Vehicles combine with infantry, artillery and support services to form a smoothly integrated overwhelming Imperial ground force. In practice there are internal factions and difference in branch goals. Often there is more internal sub-branch strife than branch disagreement.

The ground infantry generally regards Ground Assault Vehicles as glorified personnel carriers, and thinks the AT-AT is the pinnacle of this function; transporting and protecting the infantry is good, and the AT-AT does a wonderful job of it. Repulsorlift Assault Vehicle crews regard walkers in exactly the same way, but think using armor to ferry infantry is a waste of good armor and guns. Neither the infantry or GAV branches can stand the artillery, since these emplacements are often well out of the immediate danger of battle. An infantry trooper or GAV crewman would sooner buy a drink for a Naval crewman ("vac-head") than sit in the same bar as an artillery crewman ("stand-back"). This sort of rivalry is generally kept on a short leash by officers, but the attitudes are rifle.

Similarly, while the higher Imperial Army echelons prefer walkers, the lower echelons generally prefer the ground hugging, more mobile, repulsorlift vehicles. Ambitious officers and crew often request assignment to walker units, as walker service is perceived as a fast track career. But more experienced and pragmatic personnel prefer not to place themselves at the top of a highly visible priority target. These personnel quietly sneer at walkers as flashy infantry transports and prefer to have infantry on the ground assisting them as soldiers, rather than riding on board as passengers. This attitude is strongly discouraged by higher levels of Imperial Army command, many of whom rose through the ranks as walker commanders. A quick way for repulsortank crewmen ("pucks") to limit their career is to be heard referring to walker crews as "bantha drivers."

Military analysts point at this situation as a classic result of allowing political considerations to outweigh practical design needs. Walkers were important to the Imperial political structure because they fit the Rule of Fear doctrine -- so walkers were produced in vast numbers, praised by upper level command, and accepted by ambitious field offers.

Repulsortank and Infantry Slang

The following terms are often used in relating to tanks or by armor crews. They are mostly used by Imperial forces, although some general and Rebel terms have also been included.

• Bantha: Derogatory tank crew term for an AT-AT.
• Bantha Rider: Derogatory tanker term for an AT-AT crew.
• Can't: Rebel special operative term for tanks.
• Ceiling: Planetary shield coverage (tankers appreciate the Ceiling).
• Dead Men: Infantry term for armored vehicle crew.
• Fanboys: General term for hovercraft crew.
• Field Thorns: Mines (also called "burrs").
• Fire Magnet: Infantry term for any armored vehicle, but especially repulsortanks. Most infantry are uneasy around tanks an armored personnel carriers.
• Knocking on the Roof: Orbital bombardment on planetary shielding (something tankers worry about).
• Lightfoot: Armor term for infantry attached to repulsortank units.
• Long Arm of the Empire: Artillery fire.
• Mudfoot: Armor crew term for infantry attached to walker units.
• Puck: Walker crew term for a repulsortank.
• Puck-Heads: Walker crew reference to repulsortank crew.
• Rocket Riders: Speeder bike-mounted scouts.
• Slap: An artillery barrage. A "light slap" is a light barrage, a "hard slap" is a heavy barrage. Artillery crews have numerous other terms in the same vein.
• Stand-Back: General term for artillery crew.
• Starbirds in the Rafters: Starfighters inside the planetary shield coverage (something tankers dread).
• Target: Starfighter pilot's and orbital gunner's term for any armored vehicle. A heavy tank is considered a "slow target," an AT-AT is a "slow easy target," and a speeder or light tank is a "fast target."
• Tiny Tanks: Tanker term for stormtroopers.
• Treadfoot: Armor crew term for infantry in general.
• Wannabies: Repulsor-crew term for hovercraft.
• White Armor: Armor crew term for stormtroopers.

Anti-Tank Strategies

Standard Imperial infantry units are not generally issued anti-vehicle weapons, in order to promote reliance on Ground Assault Vehicles, although loyal veteran and elite units have regular access to them.

Imperial forces use mines of all varieties as standard tools for static security, population terror, and denial of terrain.

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