First things first:
Iron Empires has become my favorite military comic, displacing Yoshikazu Yasuhiko’s The Venus Wars (volume one of the manga only: disregard the awful movie!). Besides Chris Moeller’s jawdropping artwork, these stories actually pay attention to military realities like planning; terrain; communications and attacks on communications; personal loyalty to leaders outweighing loyalty to institutions; the combined arms synergies that result from properly coordinating armor, infantry, and artillery, and the friendly-fire disasters that result when you don’t; and the fact that most troops break and either run or surrender rather than fight to the death, and sometimes when they’re just tired, nervous, and taken by surprise.
But!
Of course, I think there’s something missing: cavalry – or, to be precise, the traditional primary role of cavalry, namely highly mobile and reasonably armed reconaissance well ahead of other enemy formations. That’s understandable in the specific situations depicted in the comics: Trevor Faith is attacking a stationary target which he thoroughly reconnoitered by covert means before hostilies broke out; Lady Sheva has an inadequate force – Landwehr milita in ballistic armor and, White Hand preserve us, open-topped armored vehicles – up against an even lower-tech enemy that is shambling straight into an obvious terrain chokepoint. But people playing Burning Empires are going to create at least some stories in which mobile forces are maneuvering across open terrain. And one of the lovely details of the “Firefight” rules is that it abstractly encourages you to have good recon, in the form of that initial Contact roll.
The obvious solution is to Tech Burn some Anvil Attack Sled or Assault Sled variant with upgraded Sensors and Signals, and that’s basically what I’ve done – but I couldn’t help myself and piled on “cool factor.” In a universe where starship pilots (Hammer) and heavy infantry (Iron) are drawn from a hereditary, cybernetically enhanced noble elite, why should the elite armored recon forces be regular Anvil troopers? Canon is silent on the question. So I’ve not only burned up a vehicle, but given it the “Complex” trait out of the Iron description and written up a new “trained” trait and Noble lifepath to match.
The game descriptions of vehicle, trait, lifepath, and sample NPC all follow, with my comments and rules questions in {curly brackets}. I eagerly welcome suggestions on everything from rules use to Firefight tactics to sheer in-setting coolness. I’ll post this on the Wiki when (a) I’ve revised it according to everyone’s suggestions and (b) I figure out how to post on a Wiki.
Oh, and my credentials: I cover the US military for a weekly magazine and recently completed articles on armored vehicles and infantry – those links are free plaintext versions; anyone who really wants to see the high-graphics version because he or she is currently researching a military-themed game/comic/whatever should contact me.
Anvil Hussar Sled
Capacity: pilot only
Type: Atmospheric Vehicle (Pilot)
Tech Index: Low index and higher
Tech Resources: Ob 17
Profile: 2
Integrity: 6
Control: 1D
Signals: Manned +2D
Sensors: Manned +2D
Ordnance: Vehicular (2)
Vehicular Speed: Atmospheric 7
Security: none
Structural Tolerances: Surface, H8. Breach, V1. Damaged, V7. Destroyed, V14.
Technological Traits:
Superior Performance (+1 Speed, +3 points; +1 Control, +3 points)
The Hussar Sled is faster and more agile than the standard Assault Sled. (These improvements are already factored into the stats above).
Sophisticated Manned Signals and Sensors (+2 Skill Advantage x2: +10 points)
No Automated Signals and Sensors (remove all Automation: -10 points)
Reconaissance is the primary function of Hussar units. Unlike many other vehicles, whose signals and sensors systems are designed to run autonomously to let the crew concentrate on other functions, a Hussar sled’s sophisticated recon suite is designed to require, and to reward, the full attention of a highly trained pilot. This gives +2D to Signals and +2D to Sensors when rolling to make initial Contact before a firefight, perform the Observe maneuver, or perform the Signals Warfare and Sensors Sweep specialist actions. (These improvements are already factored into the stats above).
{AM I RIGHT HERE? Costing these swaps as zero net increase/decrease in point costs assumes Sensors and Signals “tools” are included in the base template of a vehicle separate from the cost of automation; i.e., you could theoretically use an Assault Sled as “tools” for the Signals or Sensors skill without taking advantage of the Automation skill. The logic behind the swap is that a pilot trained to Sensors and Signals at 3 or 4 each will do better with a +2 bonus than with the +1 helping die that is all any Automation skill short of 5 can give him.}
Life Form Detector: +1 to Observation (Skill Advantage: +3 points)
In addition to detecting enemy vehicles and Iron, Hussar sleds have a suite of infrared motion-detectors to assist the pilot in spotting guerrillas, conventional infantry operating under comms silence, genetically engineered Vaylen monstrosities, and other living things.
{AM I RIGHT HERE? As I read it, Sensors are only useful against vehicles, and Signals presumably wouldn’t work against anyone not using Signals of their own, hence the need to spend three points on this Observation bonus.}
Complex (Trait Limitation: -3 points)
Piloting a Hussar vehicle in low-altitude combat mode with its full reconaissance suite active is simply overwhelming to anyone without years of intensive training. Characters without the Hussar Trained trait may not operate iron at all, even if they have a crucis.
Hussar Trained is a new trait not listed in the standard rulebook and is associated with a new lifepath, Lord-Pilot (Hussar): See below.
{AM I RIGHT HERE? This cost assumes that the 6 point value given for “Complex” on p. 546 is wrong, as it seems out of line with the Tech Burner description of Trait Limitations on p. 392}.
Pilot only (Categorical Limitation: -1 point)
The Hussar sled has a nearly form-fitting cockpit with room for one pilot – wearing ballistic armor or Anvil, but not Iron – and no one else. Unlike the Assault Sled (or any of the other standard vehicles except the Attack Sled), it can carry one person and one person only.
No cargo (Categorical Limitation: -1 point)
The Hussar sled has no room for cargo. The pilot may wear ballistic armor or Anvil and carry a sidearm (i.e. a Close Combat category weapon), and stow a survival kit or similar briefcase-sized object. There is no room for anything else.
{AM I RIGHT HERE? These last two limitations are sufficiently specific and severe to warrant an exception to the “capacity has no mechanical impact” paragraph on p. 549}.
NOTE: Availability in Character Burning
In order to purchase a Hussar Sled, one must have the Anvil Lord, Hammer Lord, or Forged Lord traits. Just being a Lord-Pilot Hussar with the Hussar Trained trait is not enough, any more than being a Lord-Pilot Hammer entitles you to your own spaceship! (This is an addition to the rules on p. 112).
{AM I RIGHT HERE? It strikes me as simply abusive to make this vehicle available to mere Lords-Pilot at all, or to anyone for only 1 rp. But since the Hussar Sled costs exactly four points more than a standard Assault sled, “Lord” characters can buy it in Character Burning for two rps: one rp for the basic Assault Sled, then one rp to add the net four points of additional tech traits, as per the rules on p. 111 – assuming the campaign is on a low-index world, which is what it takes to build a Hussar Sled in the first place.}
New trait:
Hussar Trained (Die Trait: 5 points)
In the Iron Empires, Hussars are the elite pilots of heavily armed, heavily armored reconaissance machines. Hussar-class grav sleds can both move fast and fight hard, so they can reach areas too distant for infantry scouts and survive missions too dangerous for recon drones and lightweight spy planes. Their primary function is to range ahead to pinpoint enemy threats and weak points, serving as cavalry to Iron-clad heavy infantry. They are also used to pursue fleeing adversaries, raid supply lines, escort the less nimble Assault Sleds, and, when necessary, rapidly reinforce a crumbling area of the front. (Routine support to infantry is provided by the same Assault Sleds that transport them). Piloting such high-performance vehicles, and operating their sophisticated sensor suites, requires years of training and a Crucis interface. Although they fly above the mud of the battlefield, Hussars are part of the Anvil, not the Hammer, and in fact tend to go out of the way to emphasize their allegiance to their fellow “groundhogs.”
Restrictions: Must have the Corvus and Crucis trait.
New lifepath:
Lord-Pilot Hussar
Time: 5 yrs
Resources: 1
Circles: 1
Stat: +1 M
Skills: 7 pts: Pilot, Vehicular Weapons, Sensors, Signals, Observation, Recon, Tactics, Grav Sled-Wise
Traits: 2 pts: Corvus and Crucis, Hussar Trained, Groundhog
Requirements: Armiger, Court Armiger or Magnate
NOTE: Lord-Pilot Hussar is considered equivalent to Lord-Pilot Anvil when fulfilling requirements for subsequent lifepaths, with two exceptions:
1. Unlike Lord-Pilot Anvil, Lord-Pilot Hussar does NOT satisfy the requirement to take the “Stormtrooper” lifepath (which is an infantry speciality for which Hussars lack the appropriate training).
2. Unlike Lord-Pilot Anvil, Lord-Pilot Hussar DOES meet the requirement to take the Anvil Pilot lifepath (which normally requires “Soldier,” but in this case represents a Hussar getting cross-training in a broader range of vehicles).
{AM I RIGHT HERE? This lifepath is mainly a combination of Lord-Pilot Anvil on pg. 145 and pg. 147 with Anvil Pilot on p. 152. It’s a lot of skill points, but there are also a lot of skills you need to operate one of these things – plus this lifepath doesn’t give you the chance to buy super-powerful equipment like Iron or combat vehicles for just 1 rp}.
New generic “Burned NPC”:
Lord-Pilot Hussar
Age: 28
Lifepaths: Born to Rule, Coeptir, Armiger, Lord-Pilot Hussar, Anvil Lieutenant
Stats: Will 3, Perception 6, Agility 6, Speed 4, Power 3, Forte 4
Attributes: Steel 6 (Hesitation 4), Circles 2, Resources 5
Physical Tolerances: Superficial H3, Injured H5, Maimed H7, Mortal H9
Traits: Mark of Privilege, Anvil Trained, Corvus and Crucis, Hussar Trained, Groundhog, Clean Cut
Skills: Armorer 3, Driving 3, Close Combat 2, Assault Weapons 3, Pilot 4, Vehicular Weapons 4, Sensors 4, Signals 4, Observation 4, Recon 4, Tactics 4, Grav Sled-Wise 4, Command 2, Intimidation 2, Etiquette 2
Technology: Index 4 Anvil, CEBW, Hussar Sled (assigned, not owned)
Affiliations: local nobility 1D, local Anvil 1D
{AM I RIGHT? If there's a flaw in my Character Burner calculations, obviously please note it. The funny thing is that I went in simply wanting to confirm the appropriate skill levels for Signals and Sensors, and ended up with a character with an implicit personality -- the joy of lifepaths.}