Approved NPC House Io Stormtrooper Corps

[Laertia Io]

• Intent: To create a Large, Powerful Military Unit

• Image Credit: https://www.deviantart.com/robotlouisstevenson/art/Combine-Elite-63493971

Combine Assassin by RemusBrailoiu on DeviantArt

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File:Wappen Harsefeld.gif - Wikimedia Commons

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• Role: This unit serves as a unit of large, well trained high tech infantry skilled in asymmetrical warfare as well as conventional, but with am emphasis on defensive Guerilla tactics and surgical shock attacks on key enemy units
• Permissions: N/A
• Links: Stormtrooper Corps

GENERAL INFORMATION

• Unit Name: House Io Stormtrooper Corps
• Affiliation: House Io
• Classification: Infantry
• Description: The House Io Stormtrooper Corps is a fighting Force that specializes in constantly moving Asymmetric Warfare, using Conventional Assault only when necessary. Cooperation and unit cohesion is emphasized heavily. Units are trained to use most modern firearms and have a general Familiarity with vehicle usage. They are well disciplined and rarely panic, and are taught to adapt and turn everything in the environment to their advantage

Unit Symbol (Found on Shoulder Patch)

COMBAT INFORMATION:

• Unit Size: Large
• Unit Availability: Common
• Unit Experience: Trained
• Equipment:

RIFLES

House Io Stormtrooper Blaster Rifle
OR Io Series Laser Carbine (Standard Trooper)

Multi Damage DMR Type 1 OR
Civil Defense Laser Disruptor (Designated Marksman)

House Io Stormtrooper Sniping Blaster OR Battle Scout Rifle (Sniper)

PISTOLS

House Io Stormtrooper Blaster Pistol OR
Dashade Sonic Disruptor (Standard Trooper, Sniper, Designated Marksman, Grenadier, Support)

Geonosian Sonic Blaster OR
Mandalorian Disintegrater (Officer)

REPEATERS

House Io Stormtrooper Subrepeater OR
House Io Assault Radiation Repeating Blaster (Squad Support)


LAUNCHERS

RPS 6 OR
House Io Sniping Launcher (Grenadier)

ORDINANCE

Type 007 Swell Detonator OR
Type 007 Thermal Detonator

Sonic Detonator OR
Ion Grenades (Grenadier, Designated Marksman)

Mini Drone Explosive OR Detonation Pack (Grenadier)
Detonite Tape OR Baradium Bomb OR HX2 Mine OR Laser Trip Mine (Support)

MELEE:

House Io Citizen Energy Sword, Type 2 OR
Vibro Double Blade (Standard Trooper)

ARMOR

House Io Stormtrooper Armor

MISC

Concealed Escape Kit
2A Enviro Tent
Universal Recharger
Portable Heater
Saltwater Converter

• 
• Combat Function: In the field, they move ahead of General Infantry Units, using a combination of sabotage and Guerilla Warfare for both Offensive and Defensive purposes,, moving in Squads, Platoons and Companies, laying boobytraps in any area with a heavy enemy presence, and never hesitate to resort to Psychological Warfare and terror causing strategems. They are a cagey, vicious foe, especially when cornered, and are taught to function even under intense pain, and are very Resistant to telepathic Force Attacks
• Force Abilities (Force User Units Only): None

Strengths:

• Guerilla Fighter: As Guerilla Fighters, they have training in planning and conducting basic ambushes and laying booby traps for much larger opponents, even targets like tanks, sabotaging equipment with explosives. They can repair and operate nearly any Conventional fire arm they come across, no matter how relatively crude it is. Used offensively, they are very good in constantly harrassing larger, better armed forces, inflicting death by a thousand cuts
• Semi-Mage Killer: Each Stormtrooper is taught to shield their minds against telepathic assault, and are skilled in using weapons that have a dual use in killing Force Adepts and other infantry (though they are not given the specialized training necessary to truly combat Force Users on their own terms) They are also taught basic hand to hand combat
• Renard: These troopers are taught a special series of mental exercises that render them nearly unable to feel pain. This allows them to fight savagely even if severely injured and near death
• Mind Games. They are talented in employing Psychological Warfare and intimidation, due to their focus on Guerilla Warfare
• High Tech: Though perfectly capable of functioning and thriving in a low tech capacity, they are each issued a set of highly durable high tech weapons and armor as gear to be used on a case by case basis. This goes double if on a special assignment
• Large Numbers: Large enough that they can fight as a conventional Force in an emergency, and at that point will be fully equipped with powerful House Io tech for such a point in time

Weaknesses:

• The Horde: A single one isn't much of a threat, and can be taken out easily
• Sustained frontline: If Forced to fight conventionally they must take out their opponent relatively quickly with overwhelming firepower and they can get bogged down and frustrated in siege situations and can especially suffer during trench warfare scenarios. Their tactics conventionally are also very predictable
• Urban: They are trained for Guerilla Warfare but are best at it only in Urban, City Like environments. They are only seventy five percent as effective at this form of warfare in Snow environments and only half as effective in all other environments, due to their mobility tactics being significantly hampered as well as being due to where they were trained, which worsens still if they do not have their House Issued Armor to supplement their efforts in those environments
• Equipment comfort: Though they can repair and operate most conventional firearms, they are most accurate with their weapons when it is House Weaponry they are using, and miss more often with all other rifles
• Obessive-Compulsion: A side effect of their pain killing discipline leaves them obsessive compulsive, leading their ambush tactics to rely too much on precision for best effects, and they struggle to correct an ambush if it goes wrong or hesitate too much when they should strike because they want to inflict as many casualties as possible, and sometimes let golden chances for an ambush slip by. Morale also tends to drop if they fail to significantly damage an armored target like a tank or APC on the first go.
• Berserker: When cutting off their ability to feel pain, their judgement suffers slightly in combat, leading to rookie mistakes more often.
• Pain limits: given their rank, they can only cut off their ability to feel almost all pain for a set amount of time. They can only keep it going for 7 minutes
• Sniper Vulnerability: They panic more often and make more mistakes than other Stormtrooper Units would against snipers, leading to more deaths, as they lack any urge to take any risks without artillery or tanks to back them up in taking out even one sniper, and can be pinned down longer, leading to even more deaths if it's in an especially open area

HISTORICAL INFORMATION

The newly Commissioned House Io Stormtrooper Corps, made up entirely of Organics, is a deadly Guerilla Infantry Organization formed by the House. Not focused on terrifying an enemy populace into submission, they focus more on harassing even larger better armed forces with Guerilla Warfare, or destroying small but hardened targets. Determined and Ruthless, House Io Stormtrooper Units are as Fanatical as any other properly trained Stormtrooper Corps in any other factions.

The Stormtrooper Corps of the House was formed after studies of the Mandalorian Invasion of Panatha and the losses the Organic Citizens suffered there conducted by Xiphos, who came to the conclusion that Organic Citizens need a more reliable and consistent way to be introduced to Guerilla Warfare and a Stormtrooper Training Program was set up to screen candidates best suited to such rigors. The reason for this also had to do with the fact that Droids, even those built by the House, are not without their Vulnerabilities, and an emergency army of Organics are needed as at the time of their forming, which was about a year after the Panatha Invasion, and House Io is very much out numbered so as many of its Organic Citizens as possible must know how to fight at a disadvantage. Training is conducted on Space Stations, planets in unoccupied space, and House Star Destroyers. While they will never replace the Soldier Droids the House relies on, they are a vital service none the less, and it is a great honor to be admitted to an academy for training.

The following ranks are:

Stormtrooper Apprentice
Stormtrooper Private Third Class
Stormtrooper Private Second Class
Stormtrooper Private First Class
Stormtrooper Corporal
Stormtrooper Sergeant

OFFICER (Typically Family Captains or higher)

Stormtrooper Cadet
Stormtrooper Lieutenant
Stormtrooper Captain
Stormtrooper Major
Stormtrooper Colonel

Field Organization

Squad (10 Troopers)
Platoon ( 5 Squads)
Company (4 Platoons)
Battalion (4 Companies)
Regiment (4 Battalions)
Legion (4 Regiments)

Specializations:

Infantry
Sapper
Sniper
Scout


Note: Ranks provided by Mellifluous Magenta

 

[The Mongrel]

Under Review Laertia Io

"Sexy" Combine armor is something that will haunt my dreams all week. Let's go over a few things before approval.

• Affiliation: Please provide a link to House Io's faction page here.

• Unit Experience: I have some concerns about this unit being listed at merely "trained". The description states that they are "highly skilled Saboteurs and Crack Marine Units when the need arises, and possess thorough knowledge on combating Force Adepts." That strikes me as extremely specialized training, and not at all the kind of expertise the standard Imperial Stormtrooper, Rebel grunt, or clone trooper would have. If you want soldiers who are "highly skilled" or "crack" anything, let alone trained to take on wizard gods, they should be Veteran at a minimum, and more likely elite.
  • US Army basic training is ten weeks. Ain't nobody learning all of this in ten weeks.

• Equipment: This is a lot of equipment. Does every Stormtrooper carry twenty rifles, seven pistols, nine repeaters, ten launchers, thirty three types of ordnance, and three melee weapons? Sounds like they'd all better have very strong backs, and their poor quartermasters are going to have a hell of a time sorting out their ammunition. Let's trim this down to the standard weapons carried by a squad. If you want specific heavy weapons squads, or sniper recon squads, or demolition squads, you can either sub them separately or differentiate them here (with different subsections of Equipment showing what different squad types carry). As it stands, I have no idea what the average Io Stormtrooper uses in combat, or may carry as a backup.
  • In the Armor section, you list Io Stormtrooper armor, but also nine other types of canon armor. What does a standard Io Stormtrooper wear? It seems unlikely that it's a hodgepodge of all these different types. If specialized units wear different types, you can note that. Otherwise, I'd get rid of all these additional armor types.
  • Similarly, I think all the vehicles are unnecessary. You do not need to list tanks in a unit sub in order to deploy tanks beside that unit in battle. This unit is described as infantry that focuses on unit cohesion, and as guerrilla fighters skilled at hiding traps and fighting asymmetrical warfare, which generally does not combine well with huge targets like tanks and corvettes. If they are predominantly a mechanized unit, deployed from and supported by vehicles, I'd make some edits to their description and strengths to reflect that. Otherwise, omit all non-essential vehicles, and just write them in IC as needed.

• Combat Role: I'm a little confused here. Based on the description, these troops are used for both asymmetrical guerrilla warfare - which generally emphasizes concealment and mobility to harass foes that outnumber and outgun the unit - and as defenders against siege attacks - which generally means a strong ability to hunker down and endure punishment, emphasizing entrenchment and heavier armor rather than mobility - and as shock troop attackers against enemy strongpoints - which generally means small, elite units with special weapons and training. Please either clarify how they are specialized for all three, or consider narrowing their focus (or generalizing their role) a little.

• Strengths: Many of these strengths do not line up with a "Trained" experience level. Here you have soldiers who are:
  • "Impeccable" saboteurs, guerrilla fighters, and bomb disposal specialists who are also highly skilled at maintenance
  • Given Anti-Force training to shield their minds, with special anti-Jedi weapons and training in a rare martial art
  • Immune to pain and always able and willing to fight to the death
  • All (!) genetically enhanced for improved senses, reflexes, and learning capacity
  • Equipped with a large amount of highly specialized weaponry
  • Deployed in such large numbers that they can fight like a conventional force despite all this
• Any one of the above factors indicates Veteran experience at a minimum. Galactic Empire stormtroopers had none of these things going for them. They had elite units within the stormtrooper corps with specialized training, but nothing like any of these factors on a massive scale. Making an elite, high-power unit with massive amounts of specialized training and powerful genetic enhancements as your rank and file is highly likely to lead to reports for balance concerns.

• Weaknesses: Conversely, your weaknesses are not unique, and could be applied to any similar unit rather than balancing the extremely powerful strengths listed above.
  • Not Vets is negated by the swift learning strength, and makes little sense with all this specialized training.
  • All infantry in the galaxy needs more artillery and air support deeper into enemy territory.
  • Getting close to a Force Adept is dodgy for all NFU infantry, and most of them don't have special anti-Force training.
  • If they are able to destroy hardened military bases, being unable to hold an entire city (!) is hardly a battlefield weakness.
  • The last weakness discusses defensive warfare as their specialty, and states that they are less comfortable fighting at a conventional scale, but the one directly above it categorizes them as excellent offensive shock troopers capable of destroying hardened enemy positions and harassing much larger enemy forces. These do not make sense together.
• In order to justify all of the powerful and unique strengths in this submission, the troopers should have balanced and unique weaknesses. Do their genetically enhanced senses make them more vulnerable to sonic and/or chemical weapons? Does their immunity to pain lead to complications when they don't notice damage to their own bodies and can thus make it worse, like real people with congenital analgesia? Does their accelerated learning and painless frenzy lead to the possibility of psychosis? Does all the tremendous amount of training and genetic engineering that every single one of them has to go through mean long training times and slow battlefield replacement? Give us something specific to this unit.

• History: Optional, but interesting: who commissioned the corps? Why did they do it, and when, and why at that time? What factors that House Io is facing prompted their leadership to pivot toward organic troops of this kind?

Please reach out with any questions or concerns.

 

[Laertia Io]

Will have all edits done in at least a few days, The Mongrel

 

[Laertia Io]

Have made Multiple edits, The Mongrel , will make more if needed.

 

[The Mongrel]

Laertia Io Much better! We're making good progress.

• Affiliation: I still need a link to House Io's faction page here, please.

• Equipment: This looks much, much better. Nice work.

• History: I like the expansion you did here.

Here's where that leaves us: back at the nexus of Strengths, Weaknesses, and Unit Experience. You've toned down the strengths, and I can accept the ones that remain at "Trained" experience if the weaknesses are appropriate. However, while the strengths are still unique and powerful, some of the weaknesses are still generic and unspecific.

• The Hoard: This one works, but should probably be spelled "Horde".
• Surround Necessity: Getting close to powerful opponents is dodgy for any "trained"-level NPC. This is not unique.
• Best as Guerrilla Fighter: How will this interact with "Large Numbers" in an actual RP situation? In the Large Numbers strength you talk about how they are perfectly capable of large-scale conventional fighting, and will be fully equipped with powerful weapons if they do. Being "more comfortable" operating differently isn't a weakness if they're still highly effective as large-scale fighters. The weakness and the strength don't make sense together; remove one or the other.
• Sustained Frontline: This one works, and compliments the "large numbers" strength nicely.
• Explosive dependant: Any unit that runs out of supplies is in trouble. This is not unique.

Weaknesses should be demonstrable drawbacks to this specific kind of trooper, and they should be actionable, something that an opponent could actually act on to counter such troops. This House Io submission does a good job of presenting actionable weaknesses by pointing out what the troops are specifically weak against, balancing powerful strengths with clear and exploitable weaknesses. I'd like to see at least two of this kind of specific weakness - if these troops suddenly turned against you, how would you counter them?

 

[Laertia Io]

Have made more edits, The Mongrel . Will make more if required. I tried hard to think it out.

 

[The Mongrel]

I think those are good balancing weaknesses. Thanks for working with me on this.

Approved.