Once the mass of the defending infantry become possessed of low morale, the battle is as good as lost. **Douglas Haig**
There is no substitute for boots on the ground when it comes to winning battles and taking ground from the enemy. For this you need infantry.
There is a wide range of capability in the universe. Infantry range from groups of settlers armed with hunting rifles and other small arms to the fully professional and highly trained Ground Forces using Heavy Mobility Armour (HMA).
Each infantry group (stand) has a number of characteristics that determine how it fights the battle. Training and Experience combine to give an idea of how capable the troops are and how flexibly you can use them. Better trained troops will have smaller groups represented by a single stand, they will also be harder to hit. Each infantry unit will also have a morale rating which will be the target number for morale rolls when required. Lastly the level of equipment that an infantry unit has will determine how well it can engage other units and also how well protected it is from fire.
All troops will fall into one of the categories below, if in doubt use the lower category.
| Category | Definition | Stand Size |
|---|---|---|
| Civilian | Those with no formal military training, or less than required to reach the next level. Units at this level that survive sufficient actions to become Seasoned should be upgraded to Recruits even if they don't get formal military training. | Around 50 people per stand, not very flexible, no officers or crew served weapons. |
| Recruits | A minimum of 40 days training in basic military skills, discipline and rudimentary weapons handling, this is equivalent to the first phase of basic training most western soldiers go through. All non-infantry Militia (except officers) fight at this level if required to do so as infantry. At this level only basic weapons can be used, assault rifles and grenades. | About 30 people per stand, officers from a higher training class only. Crew served weapons in groups of four to six. |
| Trained | A minimum of 150 days of military training analagous to what most recruits to professional armies will get in the modern period. All non-infantry GF (except officers) will fight at this standard if forced to do so in an infantry role. Militia infantry and GF non-infantry officers also fight at this level. Training to this level allows the use of Light Tactical Armour (LTA) and SLA weapons. | Each stand represents a squad of about 8 to 10 soldiers, officers are individually based. Each crew served weapon would be a stand on its own. |
| Regular | A minimum of a year's training in advanced infantry tactics and weaponry is required to hit this level of training. All GF Infantry are of this standard which also allows the use of Heavy Mobility Armour | Stands are groups of four soldiers, officers are individually based, Each crew served weapon is a single stand. |
| Special Forces | the elite will have trained continuously for years. They are highly motivated and can use any equipment likely to be found. They are also capable of training others. | All special forces soldiers should be based in pairs, except officers and NCOs who should be singly based. Crew served weapons are individual stands. |
| Category | Definition |
|---|---|
| Raw | No combat experience or exposure to fire. |
| Novice | Trained troops (or better) who have yet to be involved in combat. They are likely to have been exposed to some incoming fire during training in a safe way (e.g. over their heads, or non-armour piercing rounds fired at HMA etc). |
| Experienced | Fought at least one action where incoming fire was received and weapon was fired in anger at the enemy. |
| Seasoned | Fought at least 15 actions (as defined above). Being wounded in action counts as two actions. |
| Veteran | Fought at least 30 actions. |
There are four equipment levels for infantry:
Troops equipped in this way are unarmoured and can only successfully engage targets that are either unarmoured or in light armour. HMA troops and armoured vehicles are immune to their fire (except for morale purposes).
Any class of troops may use this equipment level.
This is the equivalent of early 21st century military technology. These troops have light armour covering vital organs and automatic weapons. They usually have armour piercing ammunition that is very effective at short range and moderately effective at longer ranges.
Some training is required to use this kit effectively so Civilians may not be equipped at this level.
This is the main level of equipment for most professional troops in the universe. Body, vital organs, head and major joints protected by lightweight laminar armour. The suit is airtight and has environment controls, HUD with tactical information, medic readouts, IFF system etc.
A considerable level of training is required to use LTA so only troops that are at least Trained can be equipped to this level.
This is specialist armour used only by professional Ground Force infantry1).
Complete body environmental laminar armour. The suit is airtight and has environment controls, HUD with tactical information, medic readouts, IFF system etc. The main advantages of this armour are speed, sustainability, firing platform stability and occupant survivability.
This is specialised space armour used by the Starship Marines. It is similar in terms of support and protection to TA, but a lot less maneuverable in planetary situations (it is designed for use mainly in zero g). It's here because Starship Marines are sometimes used as assault troops in planetside missions.
See the Bounce Into Action: Morale section for details on how this works.
Basic morale factors for infantry depend on training and experience. This is modified by the level of medical and logistical support and their expectations of the mission ahead of them.
Cross reference the training and experience in the table below to get the basic morale number that the factors are applied to.
| Training | Raw | Novice | Experienced | Seasoned | Veteran |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Civilian | 1 | - | 0 | - | - |
| Recruits | 2 | - | 1 | -1 | -2 |
| Trained | - | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Regular | - | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 |
| Special Forces | - | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 |