Directorate Officer
"Sure...you can hear them from a dozen klicks away, but what a reassuring sound. The cavalry have arrived. The hard fighters are here." ~anonymous member of the 3rd ISAF Marine Regiment after being reinforced by elements of the 11th Assault Regiment
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
Intent: To provide the Silver Jedi 4th Fleet with an Assault Regiment
Image Credit: custom "Energy" emblem from HALO 4 (http://www.furiousn00b.com/halo4/emblems/) & "Battle at Red Slate" from HALO: Spartan Assault originally found here (http://halo.wikia.com/wiki/Mission_10:_Battle_at_Red_Slate)
Role: Assault Regiment
Links: Gir Quee, Balamak, Hoplite Synthetic Soldiers, Carabello Armored Clothing , LPD-11 Blaster pistols, Legionnaire Battle Droids, Phobos-class Heavy Crawlers, Gharzr-class Battle Crawlers
Unit Name: 11th ISAF Assault Regiment - "Rolling Thunder"
Affiliation: Gir Quee, Silver Jedi
Classification: Heavy Mechanized Infantry / Assault Regiment
Equipment: Hoplite Synthetic Soldiers (vehicle operators) with Carabello Armored Clothing and LPD-11 Blaster pistols, Legionnaire Battle Droids (infantry), Phobos-class Heavy Crawlers, Gharzr-class Battle Crawlers
Availability: Unique.
Deployment: Mass
Strengths & Weaknesses:
High Firepower: The 11th Assault Regiment has a high amount of firepower through its use of heavy crawlers and heavily armed battle droids.
Staying Power: Both the crawlers and the Legionnaire battle droids, which are the bulk of the units troops, are fairly durable compared to many of their peers.
Dumb as Rocks: Being almost entirely manned by battle droids mean the 11th isn't very intelligent, and can often be outsmarted by opponents, especially at the lower echoleons.
Terrain Limited: While the crawlers and Legionnaire battle droids provide much of the firepower and staying power, they are both fairly large and heavy, which limits their ability to operate, such as in the tight confines of a city or the soft ground of a swamp.
History: The 11th Assault Regiment is extremely new in its inception, being formed and raised under the direction of Admiral Quee as part of the ISAF's bid to shore up its eastern defenses. With the rapid expansion of the Sith Empire, the 11th's formation was best described as expedient. Several of Lucerne Lab's Hephaestus Factory Ships were quickly dedicated to building the thousands of battle droids which would comprise much of the regiment's, as well as hurriedly designing and building the Gharzr Heavy Walkers which would act as the regiment's heavy tanks. Organics were largely recruited from the farming population of the agri-world of Balamak, where their experience in operating heavy farming vehicles could be easily transferred to the heavy crawlers of the 11th Assault Regiment. A longstanding member of the local Balamak defense forces, a bothan named Bak Fiarr'im, was appointed command of this newly created unit. Known for being introspective and serious-minded, Fiarr'im has spent most of his energy into passing his past experiences onto the battlefield to his younger and more inexperienced subordinate officers, frequently forcibly putting them into command of certain situations to build up their leadership skills. As a result, the Rolling Thunder's junior officers tend to take the initiative in their own hands, which suits Fiarr'im just fine. After a dozen such field exercises, many against other elements of the 41st Battlegroup, the 11th Assault Regiment had their first actual baptism of fire at the siege of Knoval, where they were largely responsible for breaching the fortress's defenses after executing a heavy artillery barrage from their crawlers. Since then, only small elements of the 11th under more subordinate commanders have been deployed in support of minor policing actions and skirmishes on the fringes of the ISAF's worlds. This has resulted in Fiarr'im possibly having one of the most practiced and independent subordinate command teams within the 41st Battlegroup.
Equipment: The durability and firepower needed for the regiment's assault mission profile and Admiral Quee's ability to quickly bring Lucerne Labs to help build the unit have largely informed its equipment choices. Hulking Legionairre Battle Droids fill out the regiment's infantry ranks while smaller numbers of more diminutive Hoplite series Synthetic Soldiers are programmed to act as crawler crewmembers. While the Legionairre Battle Droids can rely on their built-in weapons and defenses, the synthetic soldiers and organic elements of the 41st are equipped with Carabello Armored Series Clothing in the form of gray-green fatigues and LPD-11 Blaster Pistols. While this seems like light equipment for a soldier, the organics and Hoplites are only expected to use these in last resort situations, as their primary role is to operate the regiment's heavy crawlers. Phobos Heavy Crawlers are the regiment's prime vehicle, as each crawler is capable of moving and supporting a platoon of Legionairres on the battlefield, acting in a similar way to the legendary AT-AT. Accompanying these transports are a smaller number of Gharzr Battle Crawlers, whose heavy firepower is put to use demolishing enemy defenses, enemy vehicles, and large groups of enemy troops.
Tactics: The Rolling Thunder utilizes the mobility and durability of its crawlers and combines it with the utility of battle droid infantry. On a strategic level, the entire regiment can be embarked on its crawlers, affording the regiment long term strategic mobility and endurance. Typically, the Gharzr Battle Crawlers of the armor battalion will spearhead the initial assault to soften up opponents before the lesser armed Phobos Crawlers and battle droids enter the battlefield to mop up opponents. At a platoon level, the crawlers typically move into engagement zones before deploying their battle droid infantry, which employ simple but effective fire team tactics that largely rely on the natural firepower, durability, and unhesitating reaction of the Legionairre Battle Droids. This pairs well with Fiarr'im's practice of encouraging junior officers to quickly take initiative on the battlefield to rapidly react to sudden changes on the battlefield without waiting on orders. Still, such improvisation is not perfect, and Fiarr'im or one of his more senior subordinates is often on standby with a small element to reinforce units under more junior commanders to help right their mistakes on the battlefield, typically meaning that at least part of the 11th Rolling Thunder is detailed to act as a battlefield reserve from the start of any operation.
Deployment: The 11th Assault Regiment is assigned to the Silver Jedi 4th Fleet as part of its 41st Battlegroup, notably serving alongside the 3rd ISAF Marine and the 1st Directorate Jump Trooper Regiments. Unsurprisingly, the 11th spends most of its time embarked on the 4th Fleet warships, even when the fleet is docked in port because of the time that would otherwise be required to load and unload its heavy vehicles.
