59198944-The-Klendathu-Invasion

Credits and Contents
KLENDATHU INVASION
CREDITS
Author
Matthew Sprange
Additional Text
Matt Keefe
Editor
Christopher Allen
Cover Art
Chris Quilliams
Internal Art
Jim Brady, Scott Clark,
Danilo Moretti
Figure Painters
Adrian Walters & Viktor Medora
Miniatures Manager
Ian Barstow
Production Director
Alexander Fennell
Proofreader
Ron Bedison
Playtesters
Simon Dethan, Alexander Fennell,
Nichola Wilkinson & Ted Chang
CONTENTS
Introduction
The Road to Victory
Preparation for Invasion
Timeline of the Invasion
Invasion!
General Retreat
A New Strategy
Invasion Companies
Light Armour Platoons
Platoon Armoury
The Arachnid Response
Fighting on Klendathu
Scenarios
Heroes of Klendathu
2
3
4
6
8
12
13
15
17
23
25
30
35
45
Starship Troopers: The Miniatures Game TM & (C) 2005 TriStar Pictures Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Mongoose Publishing Ltd. Authorised User. Reproduction of any part of this work by any means
without the written permission of the publisher is expressly forbidden. Printed in China.
1
Introduction
INTRODUCTION
Welcome to the fight, trooper. This book details
the invasion of Klendathu by the Mobile Infantry in an attempt
to bring about a quick resolution to the Arachnid War. This is
the final step on humanity’s long Road to Victory, a campaign
intended to ensure human civilisation, not insect, dominates
this galaxy now and always. The Sky Marshal and his experts
within the Strategic Integrated Coalition of Nations all agree on
one thing; the strike against Klendathu will be a swift and sure
victory.
Unfortunately, they are wrong. Victory on Klendathu will not
come easy. It will not come at all. Though the entire invasion
will take less than a day, Klendathu will be the most devastating
engagement fought by the Mobile Infantry to date, with an
incredible death toll.
The Klendathu Invasion has the following sections, detailing the
invasion from confident start to final tragedy.
IT’S AN UGLY PLANET – A BUG
PLANET!
2
Preparation of Invasion: A look at the last stages of the Road to
Victory and the assumptions made by SICON as to the nature
of the threat they faced on Klendathu. Read on as the invasion
unfolds with devastating consequences. You will also find a
frank SICON analysis of the lessons learned during this battle
and how the new Sky Marshal intends to apply them to future
conflicts.
Army Lists: Mobile Infantry players will revel in the new
Invasion Companies. Comprising Light Armour Platoons,
these are a new type of trooper created by the Sky Marshal in
order to field massive numbers on the battlefields of Klendathu.
The Arachnids respond with new ploys to trap unwary troopers
by utilising their vast and extensive tunnel networks.
Fighting on Klendathu: This section contains ideas on how
to bring the excitement of Klendathu to your own tabletop,
including a complete campaign that will test the entire vista of
your tactical intellect!
The Road to Victory
THE ROAD TO
VICTORY
The destruction of Buenos Aires by a bug asteroid
launched from the depths of space became a watershed for the
entire Federation. There was time before BA and then time
after. The Arachnids were no longer some vague alien threat on
the far reaches of Federation space but a clear and present danger
that had to be met with the most direct action.
quickly they could not possibly be certain an alien presence was
absent were ignored, if not outright suppressed. The Federation
was destined for greatness and the Road to Victory was living
proof of Mankind’s ascendance in the galaxy. The ships of the
Fleet jumped from system to system, dropping Mobile Infantry
squads and then transporting them to the next target with wellpractised ease. Klendathu loomed ever closer.
After ridding Pluto of its Arachnid infestation, the Road to
Victory began, a path through the stars that led directly to the
Arachnids’ own homeworld, Klendathu. Under the strategic
leadership of Sky Marshal Dienes, the MI were to fight the
Arachnids wherever they could be found, with no resistance,
no matter how fierce, allowed to slow down Mankind’s
inexorable progress to Klendathu. By striking at the heart of
the threat, Dienes imagined a fatal blow that would cripple the
bugs throughout the galaxy. The Mobile Infantry could then
spend months, perhaps years, slowly eradicating the Arachnid
infestations left on remote worlds. The war, however, would
effectively be over.
During this period of time, Dienes was hard at work on the
Home front as well as the ever expanding frontline. Even as the
line of human control in the galaxy was redrawn almost every
day, the Sky Marshal collected the resources of the Federation
and funnelled them into the greatest military machine Mankind
had ever created. New warships were launched from Earth orbit
every week while factories on all the colony worlds began churning
out weapons, equipment and vehicles. Most importantly, vast
recruiting drives for all three arms of SICON military service
were initiated, boosting the manpower available and permitting
the creation of the now infamous Invasion Companies.
There were opponents to this strategy, naturally, but Dienes
did not attain his rank of Sky Marshal by succumbing easily
to political opposition. He dismissed opponents who said this
headlong streak through the galaxy was foolhardy, potentially
leaving supply links and flanks exposed to counterattack. In
spite of their spread throughout this region of the galaxy, he
maintained that Arachnids were utterly lacking in strategic
sophistication and could fairly be treated as animals, a galactic
pest that was his duty to wipe out.
This drive, that effectively placed the entire Federation on a war
footing, had just one aim – Sky Marshal Dienes realised that if
he wanted the invasion of Klendathu to end the entire conflict,
he would need to deliver a force so powerful, so overwhelming,
that the Arachnids would be eradicated within hours. What was
surprising was that so few civilians and citizens realised just how
much money was being spent and how many people were being
recruited. Regular FedNet broadcasts continued to paint the
Road to Victory as a foregone conclusion.
In a little over a year, Dienes had accomplished most of his tasks,
all but silencing his political critics. The Road to Victory had
been paved with success after success as the Mobile Infantry,
supported by the Fleet, hopped from planet to planet. By
dropping in force and crushing any Arachnid resistance, entire
planetary systems were secured in rapid succession, allowing
the Sky Marshal’s forces to span the galaxy as they raced on
towardss their final target, Klendathu. Whispers of Arachnid
infestations left almost entirely intact and planets scanned so
Dienes was no fool and was at least somewhat aware of the
risks he was taking with the Road to Victory. While he was
confident that the Fleet could protect supply lines as the Mobile
Infantry raced across the galaxy, he was less sure of their stability
if the fighting on Klendathu became a protracted battle rather
than a quick extermination. Thus, it was essential that enough
firepower was massed in Klendathu orbit at zero hour to ensure
a holocaust on the alien world that no bug could escape. He
believed the entire operation could be completed in less than 24
hours from the first drop to the last bug dead.
WELCOME TO THE BUG HUNT, APES. WITH ANY LUCK, THERE
WILL BE A FEW LEFT TO KILL BY THE TIME YOUR SQUAD
DROPS!
3
Preparation for Invasion
PREPARATION
FOR INVASION
Briefing 12-20-02-KLN, Military
Intelligence, Colonel Makinsson
Welcome, ladies and gentlemen. This briefing is intended to
familiarise you with all aspects of the invasion. For many of
you this is the first time you have been presented with the big
picture, as it were. I’ll provide the overview now and meet with
you all individually to discuss the roles of your own departments
within the next few days.
Due to the excellent turnaround of analysis, Military Intelligence
has been instrumental in the progress of the Road to Victory
campaign. Indeed, we can demonstrate that our rapid evaluation
of planetary systems and potential infestation sites has allowed
both Fleet and MI to concentrate on high-value targets and
avoid those with little or no interest to us. In turn, this has
shaved off nearly two months from the Sky Marshal’s original
timetable for the Road to Victory. Now we are in a position
to strike at the heart of the Arachnids before they can make
any serious defence preparations – Logisitics and Procurement
have had to work hard to complete their quotas! Nevertheless,
we have been assured all assets will be in place when the Fleet
reaches Klendathu orbit. So, let us look at the primary targets.
Klendathu’s sun is similar to Terra’s Sol, though larger and older.
Orbited by seven planets, it gives off an extreme amount of
radiation for a yellow star, though we project its more harmful
emissions are weak enough by the time they reach Klendathu
itself to cause little or no harm to exposed humans. Klendathu
itself has two moons, dubbed Centipae and Milliapae. These
satellites are natural in origin and uninhabited.
The surface of Klendathu is dry and barren from pole to pole
according to remote sensors and observation. Xeno-Studies has
proposed the possibility of a considerable underground ecosystem
present beneath Klendathu’s surface, needed to support a species
as ravenous as the Arachnids. Repeated probes into the system
have revealed no such ecology and I am thus happy to report
that there is in fact a very small population of Arachnids present
on Klendathu. Yes, there may be a larger contingent of stored,
dormant eggs but those will be easily destroyed after the initial
assault when we clear the way for a nerve gas strike against the
Arachnid’s underground nests.
4
As an aside, an interesting possibility was raised during our
closing interview with Xeno-Studies on this matter. We have in
the past discussed the potential to capture advanced Arachnid
forms for study and it might well be possible to select an attack
region for isolation. We can ensure the chosen zone is contained
and indigenous inhabitants quarantined for transport before the
gas phase of Operation Righteous Extermination. This may
result in high casualties within the unit assigned to this mission
but given the otherwise light losses expected on Klendathu, we
feel the numbers are well within acceptable limits.
Moving on, the planet’s atmosphere is quite similar to Terran
norm. Klendathu’s atmosphere is more stable than Earth’s,
which is likely due to a greater mix of noble gases and a much
wider ionosphere spread buffering lower levels of air closer to
the surface. Initial research into Klendathu suggested turbulent
weather due to the existence of two moons. A closer examination
by Military Intelligence, headed by myself, has shown this
supposition to be untrue.
Far from being a planet-wide race, the Arachnids are concentrated
in a relatively small area, probably because the softer rock here
allows easier tunnelling. This, of course, plays right into our
hands. We will land our forces in Drop Zones Alpha, Bravo
and Charlie, effectively ringing the Arachnids and allowing us to
methodically wipe them out in a matter of hours. This will be
achieved primarily by the Invasion Companies. Individual power
suit and Marauder units will be used in a purely supporting role
or be otherwise tasked to eradicate smaller nests located outside
the main Drop Zone areas.
I have noted that more than one of you sitting around this table
has questioned the Sky Marshal’s creation and implementation
of the Invasion Companies. Allow me to take a moment to allay
your fears. It is true our projections do report that far fewer MI
can be landed on Klendathu with a fair expectation of success
in all mission objectives. However, it is a foolish intelligence
operative who does not expect a few surprises when battle
begins! We must therefore attack Klendathu in overwhelming
force, regardless of how weak the primary targets may appear.
We must expect some variance in our projections – why, there
could be double the number of expected bugs in each Drop
Zone! While we could potentially leave this to the power suit
Preparation for Invasion
companies, consider the Invasion Companies to be a little added
insurance.
By removing power suits and other advanced equipment from
these troopers’ standard issue, we have been able to gain massive
savings in both supply and training. With increased recruitment
proceeding according to our original projections, the resources
we have saved has allowed us to absorb the huge number of new
recruits with little trouble. The double-edged saving is that by
removing the power suits, we have also been able to drastically
cut the amount of time needed to train an MI trooper. Onefor-one it takes about half the time and resources to train a light
armour trooper as it does a cap trooper. However, the economies
of scale have allowed us to realise far greater gains than this and I
am pleased to announce that over three hundred thousand fully
trained troopers will be available to deploy into the Drop Zones
in the first phase of invasion.
The objections raised against the Invasion Companies tend to
follow one of two lines. First, it has been said that the entire
concept of the Invasion Companies takes the mobile out of
Mobile Infantry. Second, the life expectancy of a light armour
trooper when directly faced with Arachnids is exponentially
lower than that of a Cap trooper. Both of these are, in fact,
false.
The Invasion Companies are indeed mobile – nothing has
fundamentally changed, as it would be foolish to alter this most
basic of tenet of our military. What we have done is changed
the emphasis. Powersuit and Marauder platoons all feature
personnel trained and equipped with individual jump packs.
With the Invasion Companies, we introduce a new concept.
The increased resources available for this invasion have allowed
us to create a sophisticated transport network utilising standard
Vikings and Skyhooks. In this way we have changed the focus
of mobility from a single platoon able to jump several miles
in minutes to being able to deploy and re-deploy an entire
super-sized company – to any single point on the entire planet!
This allows us to position a crushing weight of firepower in
precise locations in reaction to anything the enemy attempts.
Counterattacks on their part will simply become a new battle
line within minutes.
As for criticisms of the Invasion Companies’ equipment, I first
have to point out that these troopers are using the same Morita
assault rifle as the power suit platoons – they thus have exactly
the same basic firepower. It is true that the flak armour worn
by the Invasion Companies can never equal the protection of a
power suit but the larger squad sizes of the new troopers, as well
as the increased number of squads that will typically be deployed
in support of one another, means that it is unlikely that any
Arachnid attack will get close enough for this to be a factor.
Put simply, each squad will have the capability of kicking out so
much Morita fire that no bug swarm will be capable of reaching
it. Added to this will be increased access to atomics and other
advanced supporting weaponry. Given preparation and enough
distance, we project that a single Invasion Company can actively
attack a bug swarm of any size with a certainty of success.
System Datafile: C911: Kle3
Target Name: Klendathu
Classification: G (lightly irradiated)
Klendathu:
- Orbit: 227,940,000 kilometres
(1.52 AU) from System Sun
- Diameter: 6,495 kilometres
- Mass: 6.1236e23
- Atmosphere: 75% nitrogen, 24%
oxygen, with traces of argon,
xenon, neon, carbon dioxide and
hydrogen
- Planetary Composition:
Primarily silicon, iron and
nickel
Throughout the operation, the Fleet will be kept in low orbit
in order to facilitate the transport network of the Invasion
Companies, as well as ensure accurate landings in all three Drop
Zones. Though there is a minor element of risk from launched
bug plasma, I can assure you that it will be random and light.
I wish to pass on the Sky Marshal’s congratulations to all
department heads. It is Military Intelligence that has made the
successful planning of this invasion possible. True, it will be the
Mobile Infantry and Fleet who get all the glory on the day but
we all know where the real heroes of the Federation work, eh?
It is solely because of us that this battle has been won before a
single trooper lands on Klendathu.
Thank you for your attention. I’ll be scheduling appointments
with all of you over the next few days, starting with Strategic
Analysis and then Fleet Integration.
5
Timeline for Invasion
TIMELINE OF
THE INVASION
D-0:22 First squadron, led by the Jutland, jumps into the
Klendathu system. Followed by the rest of the Fleet’s orbital
assets.
D-0:06 Fleet assembles in flight order and begins to enter
Klendathu low orbit. Arachnid plasma response almost
immediate.
D+0:00 Primary Mobile Infantry waves (primarily Invasion
Companies) begin drop.
D+0:02 The destroyer Lionheart is the first casualty of the
intensifying plasma barrage, with all hands lost.
D+0:04 Primary MI waves complete. The first cruiser to be
lost to the plasma barrage is the Manchuria. Out of control, it
rams the Yom Kippur, destroying both vessels.
D+0:05 Secondary MI waves begin drop.
D+0:08 Primary MI waves land in assigned Drop Zones Alpha,
Bravo and Charlie. Invasion Companies begin deployment
and securing of beachhead almost immediately.
D+0:10 Invasion Companies engage initial targets with
atomics. Primary targets are plasma bug batteries. However,
Captains in the Fleet have already begun to note that the
heaviest concentrations of plasma barrages are coming from
areas outside the designated Drop Zones.
D+0:26 Acknowledging that Arachnid resistance is both
heavier and better co-ordinated than expected, Sky Marshal
Dienes orders the General Retreat. Company commanders are
ordered to make their way back to their Vikings but many are
already cut off by impassable swarms of warrior bugs.
D+0:38 The Fleet has suffered heavily with over a dozen
capital ships lost and many more seriously damaged. Many
retreat from Klendathu orbit though this effectively strands
the MI on the ground. A few brave Captains remain in orbit
to await the return of Vikings and lend fire support to the
surface. However, by this time MI and Arachnid forces are so
intermingled that no effective reprisal from orbit can be made.
The plasma barrage is unimpeded.
D+0:16 Warrior bugs begin massing in huge numbers, far
in excess of expectations of Military Intelligence. First major
clashes between Arachnids and Invasion Companies begin.
D+0:57 The last of the Vikings leave the surface of the planet
to be picked up by the few remaining ships in orbit. Many
are shot down by plasma fire as they slowly ascend through
the atmosphere. The returning MI comprise mainly those
Invasion Companies that dropped in the secondary and
tertiary waves and did not have time to deploy far from their
Vikings. The primary wave is almost entirely annihilated, with
casualties exceeding one hundred thousand. Most power suit
and Marauder platoons are still on the surface, having been
tasked with wide-ranging patrols and therefore cut off from
their transports. The Fleet begins to regroup in the shadow
of Centipae, one of Klendathu’s moons, in order to remain
sheltered from long-ranged plasma fire.
D+0:20 Tertiary MI waves land and begin deployment. This
completes the initial invasion force – within twenty minutes,
over three hundred thousand troopers have been deployed from
orbit directly into the battle area. Already several Invasion
Companies are standing by to be overrun by Arachnid swarms
and are in danger of routing.
D+1:12 Sky Marshal Dienes convenes an emergency strategic
meeting with Military Intelligence officers to discuss further
options. At this point the death toll has run well into six
figures. It is estimated that over forty thousand MI troopers
are still on Klendathu, fighting for their lives.
D+0:12 First contact with massed Arachnid swarms. Initial MI
casualties light, mostly due to inexperience or over-eagerness to
join battle. Tertiary MI waves begin drop.
D+0:13 Secondary MI waves land.
6
D+0:24 Number of Arachnids in main engagement zones
begin to increase. power suit and Marauder platoons, deployed
as patrols outside of the Drop Zones, begin to report massed
swarms in their areas. The entire invasion force is effectively
surrounded. MI casualties at this point have already passed
twenty seven thousand. Many Invasion Companies have
ceased to exist as fighting units.
Timeline for Invasion
D+1:47 Fleet monitors increasing numbers of distress calls
from trapped MI though communications interference from an
unknown source based on Klendathu makes positioning these
units difficult. Sky Marshal Dienes reported as being out of
contact as he continues to consult with Military Intelligence.
D+2:24 Sky Marshal Dienes orders reconnaissance orbits with
remaining destroyers and TAC Fighters to gain fix on current
MI positions on planet. By this time, the surviving Invasion
Companies have created firebases from natural vantage points
in the terrain. The power suit and Marauder platoons are now
either in complete retreat across the surface of Klendathu or
else are effectively engaged in a guerrilla war as they hit small
Arachnid swarms in an attempt to relieve the pressure on the
besieged Invasion Companies.
D+3:58
Military Intelligence officers complete their
preliminary analysis of reconnaissance data. They advise the
Sky Marshal to initiate drops in selected areas where Arachnid
resistance is light in an effort to create retrieval points that
MI on the surface can rally to. Though no one mentions it,
power suit platoons out of communication and the Invasion
Companies have effectively been abandoned.
D+6:01 It becomes apparent that Military Intelligence has
been far too conservative in its placement of retrieval points, as
many are just too far away from the initial Drop Zones for the
beleaguered units to have any chance of reaching them. The
retrieval points themselves face few attacks and are strengthened
by the retreating units that do manage to locate them. Less
than five thousand MI are rescued in this manner but Military
Intelligence is encouraged by their secure positions and begins
planning for new drops to reinforce these locations and begin
a new offensive sweep.
D+14:11 Coming to the conclusion that any MI still alive
on Klendathu are irretrievably lost, Sky Marshal Dienes orders
the bombardment of Klendathu from orbit. The Fleet rains its
entire arsenal down onto the Arachnids. The plasma barrage
falters and then disappears altogether, encouraging Fleet
Captains.
D+16:11 After two hours of solid bombardment, Sky
Marshal Dienes ceases the attack to launch TAC Fighters on
reconnaissance patrols. They soon report massed Arachnid
swarms appearing in the vicinity of known tunnel complexes.
D+16:49 The bombardment from orbit resumes once more
though few are confident in its success. Damaged ships begin
to jump from the Klendathu system on a priority basis to be
repaired at station Ticonderoga. Four ships are lost as they
engage their Cherenkov drives and are never seen again.
D+17:25 After leaving orders for rotation of bombardment
and retreat from the Klendathu system, Sky Marshal Dienes
retires to his quarters. He is not seen again until he returns
to Fleet Battle Station Ticonderoga. The Fleet begins to leave
the system, a ship at a time. The bombardment of the surface
continues, as it seems effective at suppressing plasma barrages
if nothing else.
D+23:38 The last ship (the battlecruiser Dogger Bank) jumps
out of the Klendathu system to rendezvous with the rest of the
fleet at station Ticonderoga.
D+8:42 A steady escalation of Arachnid attacks around the
retrieval points culminates in the heaviest bug offensive yet
seen. Though better prepared than before, the MI units on the
planet are soon placed under heavy pressure. For the first time
in the MI’s history, low morale becomes a factor.
D+13:19 After several attempts to break through the attacking
Arachnids, Sky Marshal Dienes once again orders a General
Retreat in order to withdraw the remaining MI from Klendathu.
While many units manage to board their shuttles and reach
orbit, a mis-communication to the Fleet results in many ships
being out of position to make the pick up. Hundreds of MI
perish by plasma fire in their transports as they languish in
orbit.
7
Invasion!
INVASION!
The arrival of the Jutland heralded the beginning of
what would be the greatest battle yet fought between human
and Arachnid. Within moments, dozens more spatial anomalies
resolved themselves into the rest of the Federation Fleet,
bringing the vast host of starships and their precious cargo of
troopers into the vicinity of Klendathu. This armada was ready
for any eventuality – space superiority assured by the might
of dreadnoughts and frigates while landing boats were fully
capable of dropping thousands of troopers to the planet surface
within minutes. The Bannockburn and Antioch were specifically
outfitted with command and communications equipment while
the Antietam and Shiloh had been reconfigured to provide fire
support to the planetary surface from orbit. The proud flagship
of the flotilla was the Cold Harbor, serving as a supervising
command hub and the personal transport for Sky Marshal
Dienes.
Onboard the landing boats, Mobile Infantry were hurriedly
mobilising and preparing for the drop. The inexperience of the
Invasion Companies was telling next to veteran Marauder and
power suit platoons – recruits rushed onto their landing boats in
a state of barely suppressed nerves and excitement while veterans
entered drop capsules with practised ease. Morale was high as
the Invasion Company troopers realised that in mere moments,
they would be facing real combat and real enemies for the first
time.
Reaction to the Fleet entering low orbit around Klendathu was
immediate. As Military Intelligence had predicted, Arachnid
planetary defences responded with glowing arcs of bug plasma.
Hurled from the surface by plasma bugs, the emissions carved
distinctive blue trails of energy through the atmosphere as they
climbed towards the Fleet.
8
WE’RE GOING IN WITH THE
FIRST WAVE.
MEANS MORE
BUGS FOR US TO KILL. YOU
SMASH THE ENTIRE AREA, YOU
KILL ANYTHING THAT HAS MORE
THAN TWO LEGS, YOU GET ME?
with their landing boats. Though tragic, these minor losses
were almost irrelevant in the grand scale of the invasion and it
was an unfortunate fact that even random fire from the surface
would eventually hit something. Military Intelligence remained
confident that planetary defences were incapable of any coordinated attack on the Fleet.
Minutes later, the attacks claimed their first victim amongst
the orbiting Fleet craft. Surging up from Klendathu, a blast of
scintillating blue plasma hit the Lionheart amidships, melting
straight through the hull and burning into the interior structure
of the craft. Those few crewmen who survived the plasma
onslaught were killed by decompression as the remaining
atmosphere vented into space. Twisted and fused pieces of metal
from the shattered ship began to impact on nearby craft in the
densely-packed flight order and Fleet captains were forced into
breaking formation to avoid further harm to their own vessels.
Though a surprising loss, Military Intelligence officers judged
it as acceptable at this point, even as the plasma continued to
intensify and become more accurate.
While the bulk of the first wave would be made up of the Invasion
Companies aboard landing boats, drop capsules were launched
to carry their elite cargo towards the planet surface at incredible
velocity with the aim of securing initial beachheads. Exhilarated
light armour troopers were now experiencing their first actual
drop into a live combat zone as they plummeted through the
atmosphere, morale buoyed up by an unshakeable belief that the
battle before them would be over quickly with decisive victory.
As the last elements of the first wave left orbit, the Manchuria
became the second vessel to be lost. The direct hit that struck
it was not enough to cripple or destroy the vessel but it did
succeed in reducing the starboard engine to slag. As the vast ship
careened out of control, it rammed the Yom Kippur, destroying
both ships and losing all hands on board to the burning heat of
the explosions or the cold void of space. With more and more
plasma blasts arcing up from the surface to gouge great furrows
across Federation ships, leaving trails glowing with red-hot metal
and clouds of venting atmosphere, many Fleet captains did not
wait for orders but took evasive action on their own initiative.
The carefully arranged formation broke down completely.
The first Mobile Infantry casualties of the invasion were suffered
as their forces dropped towards the surface of Klendathu, before
a single trooper had touched the ground. Under increasingly
intensive fire from the plasma bugs below, one Marauder
company was annihilated as it descended in drop capsules and
several platoons of light armour troopers were vapourised along
Below, Marauder and power suit platoons were the first to hit
dirt, scything through token resistance present in the landing
areas. By the time the Vikings touched down, veteran troopers
were already on the bounce towards Drop Zone perimeters,
scouting and securing the outlying regions. Using plasma
charges and demolition gear, power suit troopers collapsed what
Invasion!
tunnel entrances they encountered but in Drop Zone Bravo
the Hellfire Marauder platoon reported such an unexpectedly
large number of tunnels that Military Intelligence concluded
the area must be riddled with a natural cave network, as the
estimated numbers of bugs present would have no need of such
an extensive arrangement.
At the secure landing sites, Invasion Company troopers poured
out of their landing boats like a tidal wave of humanity. As
well as the mass of recruits, specialist platoons had also landed
in this wave – power suited platoons of combat engineers
set about constructing ammunition dumps and very basic
fortifications at Drop Zone Charlie while ‘bughunter’ SICON
agents blessed with mental powers of perception moved out with
the Invasion Companies to track down and eliminate elusive
concentrations of Arachnids. Modified Marauder suits with
specialist communications equipment came down on board
Slingshots rather than being risked in drop capsules, providing
mobile command posts and information relays for company
commanders. Capture teams were also brought down, small
bands of troopers and SICON scientists armed with chemical
and nonlethal weaponry to hunt and capture any Arachnid
stragglers they could catch for later examination in SICON
labs.
Supremely confident of victory, the Invasion Companies paused
only for cursory organisation before beginning the real offensive
onto Arachnid-held soil. Showing little battlefield discipline,
troopers banded together into dense mobs and rushed forth
to secure the areas surrounding the drop sites, immediately
encountering fierce but erratic resistance from warrior bugs that
had been missed by the outbound veteran platoons. Charging
from hiding places among rock formations or out of gulches in
the broken landscape, the aliens threw themselves recklessly at
troopers. Faced for the first time with an angry warrior, many
green recruits simply froze in fear or panicked and ran. As a result,
these rogue Arachnids managed to both cause casualties before
they were put down by overwhelming firepower and hamper
the advance. In Drop Zone Charlie, Werfel’s Wolves lost their
captain to the savage assault of a loitering warrior bug, throwing
his subordinates into confusion for minutes and stalling the
entire company from making serious progress. Events like this
were repeated across all three Drop Zones as troopers pushed
forward but the seemingly random and uncoordinated Arachnid
presence was confirming Military Intelligence’s analysis of the
bugs’ defences and giving no real cause for concern.
Deploying their atomic assets with abandon, the Invasion
Companies still advancing now began to engage and destroy
9
Invasion!
their priority targets – the plasma bugs hammering the Fleet.
The lumbering, living artillery pieces and their protective
swarms of warriors were easy targets for Pee-Wee munitions
and all defensive fire from the Drop Zones was rapidly quelled
with nuclear flame. In Drop Zone Bravo, the few plasma bugs
not annihilated in this first wave of attacks were sighted being
hustled into yawning cave mouths by their warrior minders,
apparently aware of the impending danger to their charges, and
Military Intelligence issued wide-scale orders to collapse the
tunnel mouths with demolition charges.
Despite this success, strategic analysis by the command ships
above was revealing a worrying twist – even with the defences
in the three Drop Zones nullified, the bulk of the fire from
the planet surface continued unabated. Not only were the
surviving plasma bugs from those regions being redeployed by
the Arachnids with remarkable speed, other concentrations were
being detected further out. Attempts to eliminate these distant
clusters with fire support from orbit was proving equally difficult
as the broken terrain of the planet surface hid a myriad of valleys
and ravines for the bugs to take shelter in.
As the dust settled around the charred corpses of plasma bugs
in all three Drop Zones, SICON special talents in charge of
monitoring subterranean bug movements began to report what
looked to be a mass retreat by swarms in the tunnel networks
below. Morale rose as troopers on the ground saw the contrails
from the secondary wave of Vikings descending through the
atmosphere and Military Intelligence judged the situation to be
safe enough for the specialist capture teams to be deployed into
Drop Zone Charlie.
With sporadic fighting still evident around the perimeters of
Federation-held ground, the capture teams entered the tunnel
networks to flush out potential prey. As the teams progressed
deeper into the deserted tunnels, the quality of communications
to the surface rapidly degraded until only garbled reports were
reaching company commanders above. In the dark and alien
Tunneling on Klendathu
Arachnid tunnel networks on Klendathu stretched
far deeper than Military Intelligence had suspected.
Although no living human has seen what might lie in
these deep tunnel systems, scientists theorised in the
wake of the Klendathu disaster that on planets the
bugs have inhabited for long periods of time, ‘tunnel
highways’ might be excavated – immense tunnels
stretching across entire continents, within which
even huge creatures like plasma bugs could be moved
rapidly from location to location without struggling
through the labyrinthine smaller networks created by
worker bugs.
10
world they found stretching for miles down, far beyond even
the enhanced senses of the bughunter special talents, the capture
teams realised they were on their own and running virtually
blind with their inadequate sensor equipment.
Within a minute of the specialist teams dropping out of contact,
evidence of what fate befell them was made starkly clear.
Special talents reported a huge resurgence of bug activity in the
tunnel networks. A sudden rush of warrior bugs began to boil
out of tunnel entrances in all three Drop Zones. Even as the
secondary wave touched down at the ad hoc base camps around
the landing sites, the Invasion Companies of the first wave were
finding themselves engaged by swarms from multiple directions
simultaneously and some outlying platoons were overrun almost
immediately.
Even as the new wave hurried over the arid landscape to
reinforce the embattled troopers, warrior bug swarms continued
to escalate to far larger numbers than Military Intelligence had
calculated. Warrior bugs were now emerging in the outlying
regions of the Drop Zones and gathering into huge swarms
before moving in towards the landing areas, with the obvious
intention of blitzing their way through the confused Invasion
Companies to the landing boats. The veteran platoons deployed
to the perimeters of Drop Zone Alpha were the first to report
this activity but initially the information was ignored by
Invasion Company captains who found themselves too busy
dealing with the enemy currently facing them. Some Military
Intelligence officers actually refuted the information outright as
it conflicted with their predictions about Arachnid numbers on
the planet. Though lacking numbers and resources, the veteran
platoons began to engage oncoming bug swarms to whittle
down their numbers but the vast waves proved single-minded
and unstoppable in their purpose. Entire platoons simply
disappeared in the space of minutes.
The Arachnid hordes ploughed into the densely packed
and unprepared Invasion Company troopers of Drop Zone
Alpha with horrific results. Suddenly outnumbered and
outmanoeuvred by an enemy that knew the terrain far better
than they did, troopers often responded with panic, spraying fire
at their assailants with no thought of ammunition conservation
or accuracy. This inefficient behaviour combined with a lack
of any appreciable training in where to hit a warrior resulted in
vast amounts of wasted firepower and thousands of lives being
lost. In many cases, troopers tried to advance directly over the
‘corpses’ of warrior bugs they had brought down with fire only
to be torn apart by the crippled aliens.
Drop Zone Bravo was faring even worse. The surrounding
terrain was particularly rugged and difficult for humans to
traverse and the sheer weight of warrior reinforcements was
breaking the Invasion Companies into fragments forced apart by
ravines and ridges. These natural barriers funnelled the Mobile
Infantry into dead ends and Arachnids pouring out from tunnels
Invasion!
platoons found themselves under heavy suppression as they tried
to move further out from the perimeter.
Engaged in bitter combat with swarms of hoppers, Marauder
platoons pushed free of the Arachnid containment in Drop
Zone Bravo only to transmit reports of something even worse
to the company commanders. More massed swarms of warrior
bugs were streaming towards the Drop Zones, with Fleet assets
confirming fresh and unexpected hotspots of Arachnid activity
appearing across the planet surface to converge on Federation
forces. With so many incoming hostiles, the zones became
entirely encircled and within each noose the endless streams of
warriors from below continued to butcher Invasion Companies.
In Drop Zone Alpha the situation was so dire that Marauder
and power suit platoons still in contact were being called back
to support their light armour comrades from the overwhelming
hordes. The officers on the ground knew the landing sites were
their lifeline to the fleet – if those fell, they would be entirely
isolated.
and scuttling down canyon walls easily overran isolated pockets
of troopers.
Up to this point, Drop Zone Charlie had suffered the least of the
three regions as the Invasion Companies took advantage of more
favourable terrain to set up kill zones. An entire flood of warrior
bug reinforcements was abruptly cut off when a bughunter
talent located one of the major tunnel routes they were using
and Kleiner’s Jackals platoon used demolition charges to collapse
it, killing dozens of aliens below and stalling the endless tide.
However, even as the Arachnid tunnelling assault faltered, the
skies began to fill with the flitting forms of hoppers and soon
swarms of the flying bugs had been sighted in all three drop
zones, mainly harrying power suit and Marauder platoons on
the bounce to force the veterans to stay on the ground.
Even with the third wave of troopers, the mounting death toll
was daunting. The primary invasion force of over three hundred
thousand troopers had been transported from orbit directly into
contested regions within twenty minutes, which would have
been an astounding validation of the Sky Marshal’s planning
had not those men been suffering casualties at an equally
extraordinary rate. From just this initial assault some Invasion
Companies had been reduced to half strength or worse, mostly
in Drop Zones Alpha and Bravo, while power suit and Marauder
The battle line faltered further in Alpha as a spearhead of warrior
bugs drove through a gap in the defensive coverage left by the
loss of a company in the initial drop. The swarming bugs
nearly split the Mobile Infantry presence in two, halted only by
Loewe’s Lions who successfully broke the assault through their
sheer determination and heroism, using grenades and flamers
to hold the enemy off. In Drop Zone Bravo, large numbers
of tanker bugs began to emerge from the tunnels riddling the
rock to assault isolated bands of Mobile Infantry corralled in the
treacherous terrain, burning them out of their hiding places with
searing flame. Tankers also began to emerge from under Mobile
Infantry positions in Drop Zone Charlie, collapsing tunnels
to drag infantrymen from the surface into the subterranean
network. Invasion Company captains across all three zones
could no longer dispute the sheer overwhelming enemy presence
they now faced.
Twenty-six minutes from the first drop, the command staff came
to a decision that was becoming increasingly hard to delay any
further. Undeniably, Arachnid resistance was not just heavier
in terms of numbers and troop strength than expected but
they were acting with alarming co-ordination and an uncanny
knack for exploiting tactical conditions on the ground before
the Mobile Infantry were even aware of them. With no end
to Arachnid reinforcements in sight, the Invasion Companies
could not conceivably survive as a fighting force for much
longer. With a heavy heart, Sky Marshal Dienes now ordered
the General Retreat. It was too little, too late – on the ground,
many company commanders found that whatever the Sky
Marshal’s orders might be, there was no way to implement
them and no way back to the landing boats. The Arachnids had
encircled them, cut them off, outwitted and outfought them.
The complete destruction of Sky Marshal Diene’s grand war
machine had come.
11
General Retreat
GENERAL
RETREAT
Even as the Mobile Infantry on Klendathu began the
desperate struggle back to their landing boats, the battered Fleet
was also suffering heavy losses. With burning plasma still being
fired from the planetary surface, over a dozen capital ships had
already been completely destroyed. A significant number of
vessels had suffered heavy crew losses and crippling structural
damage with only a few surviving completely unscathed.
Engineering teams frantically fought to keep the raging fires and
failing systems under control but as long as the Fleet remained in
low orbit, they were merely delaying the inevitable.
The determination of the Fleet captains began to crumble under
this assault as they realised that the General Retreat had been
ordered. Many vessels retreated out of low orbit to a prudent
distance from the planetary surface, breaking what vague
formation still existed in a rush to reach sanctuary from burning
plasma. A number of captains did hold their ground rather
than desert the Mobile Infantry below but after the Copenhagen
and Iwo Jima were reduced to slag, only the bravest and most
foolhardy continued to hold orbit.
The last of the Vikings were already departing the surface, loaded
with demoralised Invasion Company troopers. The speed
of their evacuation was down to the later deployment of the
Communications Interference
& Arachnid Broadcasting
As Arachnid concentrations increased on the surface
of Klendathu, MI communications and transmissions
continued to degrade with frightening speed and no
discernible cause. It was suspected the Arachnid’s
own communications were the cause of this and that
the interference comms officers were picking up on
the ground was actually Arachnid battle chatter or
brain bug transmissions. Other hypotheses claimed
the degradation was caused by massive subspace
disruption from the mental activity of a theorised
‘queen’ bug, perhaps in opening a psychic link to other
Arachnid colonies to request aid or send warnings.
12
MI DOES THE DYING,
FLEET JUST DOES THE FLYING.
secondary and tertiary waves of the drop as these troopers simply
had not had time to move far from the landing zone before the
General Retreat was called. Even further out, the remaining
power suit and Marauder platoons were completely cut off from
any hope of retrieval. The removal of the last Mobile Infantry
concentrations by landing boat only served to further condemn
the remaining troops on the ground, as the Arachnids were able
to focus their forces on surviving pockets of resistance.
Fifty-seven minutes after the first drop, the General Retreat had
been completed and yet thousands of Mobile Infantry were still
on the planet’s surface. Well over a hundred thousand troopers
had died already, butchered by warrior claws or incinerated by
tanker bugs. Reports on the failed invasion later noted the lack
of injured and wounded survivors – those who encountered
the bugs either survived or died, a powerful testament to the
ferocious efficiency of the enemy.
One by one, the defeated ships of the Federation rocketed out
of the system, many bearing the scars of plasma fire and carrying
thousands of grim-faced troopers. The last few specialist
bombardment vessels finally let up on their barrage and left orbit
to follow the rest of the Fleet, the surface of Klendathu remaining
quiet as if the Arachnids realised their enemy was gone for good.
The last straggler to leave was Dogger Bank and, in the wake of
its departure, Sky Marshal Diene’s defeat was complete.
YOUNG PEOPLE FROM ALL
OVER THE GLOBE ARE JOINING
UP TO FIGHT FOR THE FUTURE.
THEY ARE DOING THEIR PART
– ARE YOU?
JOIN THE MOBILE INFANTRY
AND SAVE THE WORLD. SERVICE
GUARANTEES CITIZENSHIP.
A New Strategy
A NEW
STRATEGY
The lessons of the Klendathu Invasion were apparent
for all to see. The incompetence and sheer arrogance of Military
Intelligence and the upper echelons of SICON command
were laid bare and many were certain that if things continued
in this vein then the entire war would be lost. Sky Marshal
Dienes was left with no choice but to resign. His successor, Sky
Marshal Meru studied the failures hard in order to formulate her
battle plan, even as Federation scientists debated to explain the
seemingly intelligent military actions of the Arachnids.
The utter failure of Military Intelligence was clear and for a short
time a witch hunt was conducted during a series of enquiries
designed to lay unequivocal blame on several high-ranking
officers. Intelligence had woefully miscalculated on a number
of key issues.
9 Arachnids were present on Klendathu in far greater numbers
(by at least two orders of magnitude) than had been
guessed.
9 The assumption that Arachnids possessed no communications
jamming capability had been proved false though whether
this was down to a new species of bug or unique atmospherics
on Klendathu has yet to be ascertained.
9 There had been those in SICON that had suspected the
Arachnids were capable of using their antennae to track
communications transmissions. After Klendathu, few
doubted it.
9 The utilisation of the light armour troopers as a strategicbased infantry force was possibly the single greatest error in
terms of loss of life. In addition, the lack of equipment and
training proved telling when battle began.
9 The use of plasma bugs gave the Arachnids a formidable
anti-orbital response, fully capable of breaking up a fleet in
tight formation.
9 Standard orbital bombardment was useful for temporary
suppression but could fulfil no definite strategic purpose.
9 With a total of nearly two hundred thousand dead and very
few wounded from the invasion attempt, it was clear that
Arachnids did not take prisoners.
9 Arachnids may be bugs but they were much smarter than
anyone had given them credit for. The tactical and strategic
co-ordination of the Arachnids could easily put even
experienced Mobile Infantry commanders on the back foot.
WE THOUGHT WE WERE
SMARTER THAN THE BUGS.
Sky Marshal Maru therefore instituted many new directives
of engagement for both the Fleet and Mobile Infantry as well
as new policies for Military Intelligence. There was a general
belief that SICON as a whole had become lazy after a series
of easy successes during the Road to Victory, with commanders
presuming they were facing a primitive or ‘dumb’ enemy. That
was to change immediately so many standard procedures were
reactivated. This included communications protocols – while
the Arachnids were not likely to intercept and decipher SICON
traffic, they could certainly home in on transmissions, putting
Mobile Infantry in the field at great risk.
The Sky Marshal’s central philosophy was to begin understanding
the Arachnids. From now on, Federation scientists would no
longer simply explore new ways of killing Arachnids. They
would also begin study into how Arachnid society functioned
and why the bugs did the things they were observed doing.
Military Intelligence was instructed to begin thinking like the
Arachnids when planning a response to their actions. Though
these steps would inevitably take time to come to fruition, Sky
Marshal Maru was left in the unenviable position of having
a battered force close to enemy territory and a government
screaming for a victory, any kind of victory, in order to justify
the incredible loss of life.
The decision was therefore made to press the offensive home in
the Klendathu system but instead of attacking the homeworld
of the Arachnids immediately, the Mobile Infantry would start
on the outlying planets of the system. Taking one world at a
time, attacks would start with TAC Fighter sweeps to hunt down
and bomb Arachnid swarms on the surface that would otherwise
retreat underground from massed orbital firepower. Only then
would troopers be sent in.
The aim was keep the Arachnids under pressure (and thus,
hopefully, divert their attention from Earth and another Buenos
Aires) but also to use these smaller engagements to begin
studying the bugs during ‘controlled’ battle scenarios. However,
there was another goal Sky Marshal Maru was keen on pursuing
and this was to be a reawakening of an old Military Intelligence
operation. For the first time, missions would be endorsed to
capture, alive and intact, one of the rare brain bugs. With this
13
A New Strategy
creature to study, SICON could surely learn a lot more about
the Arachnids and so develop effective counters that would
prove decisive.
It was Sky Marshal Maru’s intention to completely disband
the Invasion Companies after the first invasion but as they still
represented a sizeable portion of her overall military strength, this
was simply not feasible. Instead, she began to integrate power
suit platoons as supporting forces to the Invasion Companies,
allowing them to counter fast moving Arachnid swarms before
they gained a position of advantage.
ANOTHER NEW SKY MARSHAL
Unfortunately for Sky Marshal Maru, her strategy was to
eventually fail though she managed to retain her position for
five months. While SICON learned a great deal about fighting
the Arachnids and even managed to capture a brain bug, she was
unable to successfully clear even a single planet in the system of
its bug infestation. The hammer finally dropped on her career
when Arachnid activity began to spring up all along what had
once been the Road to Victory.
Soon after the capture of the brain bug on Planet P, Arachnids
began to appear in huge numbers on many worlds, even some
previously deemed clear of infestation. Lightly garrisoned
planets were soon overrun and those with a stronger SICON
military presence were soon hard-pressed to stem the Arachnid
hordes. In less than a month, the entire Klendathu operation
was under threat of being cut off from the Federation completely.
Sky Marshal Maru had no choice but to withdraw from the
campaign and tender her resignation.
She was replaced by Sky Marshal Keats who, under tremendous
political pressure, instituted a complete reversal of the strategy
first laid out by Sky Marshal Dienes. With the Arachnids
literally erupting from dozens of worlds, the Federation was
running a very real risk of being forced to fight a war on multiple
fronts. This was something the Arachnids could clearly afford
to do, as they seemed to possess limitless numbers. Mankind
had no such luxury and rumours began to spread that an age
of personal consent (the age at which a civilian could apply for
Federal Service) of 16 was being considered for the future.
The Arachnid threat was a very real danger to humanity and it
was understood throughout the Federation that this was a battle
of the species – any possibility of a live and let live policy had
long since vanished and there could now be only one victor to
claim dominance of the galaxy.
Sky Marshal Keats therefore proposed an almost complete
withdrawal. Until the losses in both equipment and manpower
suffered at Klendathu could be recovered, SICON would be hard
stretched to simply protect Earth and the colony worlds. Both
14
Sky Marshal Dienes
The architect of the Road to Victory and
the figurehead of the Federation’s military
in those dark days after the destruction of
Buenos Aires, it seemed for a time that Sky
Marshal Dienes was destined to go down
as one of the greatest heroes in Federation
history. Citizens and civilians alike yearned
for vengeance and Dienes’ fiery rhetoric and
commanding style in the wake of such a
disaster gave the Sky Marshal instant appeal
and the unveiling of his Road to Victory
plan proved one of the most popular acts
of any Sky Marshal. Alas, this would be all
forgotten in the wake of the quite simply
disastrous invasion of Klendathu. Dienes’
subsequent resignation, whilst fulfilling
perceived military honour and sparing the Sky
Marshal some considerable embarrassment,
ultimate relegated him to nothing more than
an unimpressive footnote in history.
the Fleet and Mobile Infantry would be recalled to Federation
space, abandoning the countless staging posts constructed during
the Road to Victory. Only then would they begin to take the
offensive to the Arachnids once more. More importantly, they
would only attack Arachnid-held territory one or two systems at
a time, ensuring the infestation had been completely wiped out
before moving onto the next.
The Road to Victory would be set among the stars once more
but this would be a slow and methodical process rather than the
blazing trail it had once been under Sky Marshal Dienes. This
policy would effectively lock Mankind into a struggle against
the Arachnids for many years but would also serve to expand
the Federation, system by system. As more worlds came under
human control, the Federation would grow and gain more
resources. With each newly commissioned colony world, the
SICON military would become a little stronger. In return, the
forces of the Arachnids would slowly diminish.
In the end, it was believed, this new battle plan would not
only ensure Mankind’s survival against the Arachnids but also
guarantee his ascendance throughout the entire galaxy. That, at
least, was something many in the Mobile Infantry felt was worth
fighting for.
Invasion Companies
INVASION
COMPANIES
The Invasion Companies were the brainchild
of Sky Marshal Dienes and became central to his plans for total
victory on Klendathu. They were to be the key to success and
the solution to Mankind’s domination of the galaxy.
Though Sky Marshal Dienes had access to Military Intelligence
estimates of Arachnid strength on Klendathu, he was wise
enough to know that these were indeed just estimates, born
from experience of the Arachnid presence on other worlds.
The numbers of bugs present on the Arachnid homeworld
could vary from this greatly. In addition, Dienes was not just
looking for victory in the coming conflict. He wanted complete
annihilation, a victory so complete, devastating and fast that
the Arachnids would have no chance to respond effectively, no
matter what their true numbers were. As well as sparing the lives
of many troopers, Dienes would also gain political momentum
from having led such a bloodless campaign (as far as humans
were concerned) and yet achieving success so quickly.
The Arachnids had already proven resilient to orbital
bombardment on many worlds, simply digging under the planet’s
crust until troopers were sent down to gauge the success of the
pounding, and then attacking in strength. Clearly, it would be
the Mobile Infantry that would bear the brunt of the invasion,
not the Fleet, and in order to succeed as Dienes planned, they
would have to be present in massive numbers.
This would be a problem. While the Mobile infantry’s official
strength was something in the region of eight million troopers,
Dienes would have far less than this to use in any major
engagement. Many within this number would still be taking
part in training, some would be rotated back to Federation
space on leave or reinforcement duties, while others were already
actively engaged in battle against Arachnids and other alien races
elsewhere in the galaxy. Most were garrisoning planets on the
Road to Victory that either still had an Arachnid presence or
had recently come under renewed attack from the bugs. It was
readily clear that the Sky Marshal needed a wholly new force
of troopers, freshly recruited and trained for the invasion. He
would be able to use a large number of veterans from previous
engagements but the core of his force would be this new army.
Knowing that it takes a large investment in both time and money
to train each trooper, Dienes looked to the militia of far flung
colony worlds for inspiration.
The average militia force of a small colony world has nothing so
sophisticated as power or Marauder suits, nor do they have the
incredible training of the Mobile Infantry. Instead, they tend to
be little more than volunteer riflemen, electing to take a short
term of part-time military service in order to defend their homes.
Aside from the higher ranks of command (and few militia
warrant any rank higher than Captain) most militia would have
full-time occupations within their colony, only taking to arms
for weekend practice or when trouble actually arose. Dienes
noted that despite this lack of disciplined training, colony militia
forces had been able to withstand light attacks from Arachnids
and Skinnies, sometimes holding off larger invasions until the
Mobile Infantry could arrive. What might such a force achieve
if it had Mobile Infantry training?
Sky Marshal Dienes resolved to build a new army of nearly a
million troopers. Officially, they would be Mobile Infantry
but they would not be equipped with power suits, nor would
they be trained in 90% of the equipment that cap troopers were
expected to use. Simply taking the use of power suits out of
the new troopers would create massive savings in resources and
shorten training time exponentially. Furthermore, by using
Viking drop boats and similar craft, time could also be saved
by eliminating the costly drop capsule training that gives cap
troopers their name.
This new breed of trooper would be well trained with a rifle
and his instincts honed to act within a unit, rather than be as
independently minded as the average cap trooper. Training
camps could achieve an incredible throughput of recruits in
record time, allowing the new Invasion Companies to swell in
size during the Road to Victory. By equipping these troopers with
little more than a Morita rifle and flak armour, the equipping of
new light armour platoons, as they were to be called, matched
the rate at which they could be trained. As well as providing for
large numbers of Invasion Companies, this also allowed each
formation to increase in size. A light armour platoon at full
strength would be somewhat more numerous than the equivalent
platoon of power suited cap troopers.
FRANKLY I FIND THE IDEA OF A
BUG THAT THINKS OFFENSIVE.
15
Invasion Companies
New tactics had to be devised for the use of the Invasion
Companies but here Dienes felt he was on sure ground. While
tactics had continued to evolve for the mobile nature of cap
troopers, he believed the Invasion Companies could rely on a
more historical model of deploying by air in massive numbers
and concentrating firepower into specific target areas. His plans
called for an initial drop of three hundred thousand troopers
onto Klendathu and by the time the Road to Victory was
nearing completion, it was clear that the vast majority of these
would be formed from the over-sized Invasion Companies. The
power suit and Marauder companies would be used to support
the light armour troopers, rather than forming the spearhead as
they had done in engagements before.
As it turned out, the invasion of Klendathu did not happen as
Dienes had planned and it cost the Sky Marshal his career. Many
felt that it was not simply the strong Arachnid response that
was to blame but the actual nature of the Invasion Companies
themselves. Put bluntly, these troopers well too ill-equipped and
trained to deal with an enemy as strong as the Arachnids.
16
The Invasion Companies, some broken down into their
constituent light armour platoons, would continue to exist for
many years more, however. Though each individual trooper
was comparatively cheap, the creation of huge numbers of them
represented a massive investment. It was perhaps ironic that the
key to victory on Klendathu would become simply too expensive
to put to rest once it proved less than adequate. Light armour
troopers were thus sent to many parts of the galaxy, mainly to
regions where the ‘regular’ Mobile Infantry would be an overkill
but occasionally formed into mass numbers to repel full blown
invasions. A few distinguished platoons, such as the renowned
Roughnecks, were trained into cap troopers but most were not
as lucky. That said, they have certainly enjoyed their successes
as well and it was a light armour platoon that first succeeded in
capturing a live brain bug, a task cap troopers had been unable
to achieve since the start of the Road to Victory.
Light Armour Platoons
LIGHT ARMOUR
PLATOONS
Collectively forming the massive Invasion
Companies used on Klendathu, a light armour platoon consists
of non-cap troopers in flak armour and armed with Morita rifles
and a few other tactical weapons. They are not quite as flexible on
a tactical level as power suit platoons but they mass a great deal of
firepower and retain manoeuvrability on a strategic level through
access to large numbers of Vikings and Skyhooks. If you want to
field an army that can mass an astonishing amount of firepower
in one place and have the possibility of even outnumbering the
Arachnids, then a light armour platoon is for you.
A light armour platoon in the Starship Troopers Miniatures Game
comprises three or more Light Armour squads and a commanding
Light Armour lieutenant, though it can swell to include two
NCOs and six more squads!
Remember, you must decide which platoons to use before
choosing any forces. You cannot choose to field more than one
platoon for every 1,000 points of your entire army. For example,
Officers
In the MI Army List, only NCOs, Lieutenants and
SICON Military Intelligence Agents are considered
to be officers.
a Mobile Infantry army in a 2,000 point battle may field either
one or two platoons. You are free to mix different types of platoon
in larger games, so in a 2,000 point game you may use two light
armour platoons or a single light armour platoon supported by
either a power suit or Marauder platoon.
Every platoon is made up of several units, each of which has a
points value that counts towardss the total value of your army.
Units often have various options you may choose to take, such
as adding extra models or equipping them with special weapons
and equipment. These options will all increase the total points
value of the unit.
Sky Marshal Maru
Although free of any blame for the failed invasion of Klendathu, Sky Marshal
Maru was nonetheless faced with a huge challenge upon becoming SICON’s
fifth Sky Marshal in less than three years. Maru took up the post after the
resignation of Sky Marshal Dienes and was immediately faced with the task
of bringing a new direction to the Federation’s war with the Arachnids. All of
this, of course, was conducted under the scrutiny of an expectant citizenry, still
shocked at the destruction of Buenos Aires and which, while perhaps unaware
of much of what happened on Klendathu, expected much of its more military
and its leadership. In this difficult period, Maru founded her reputation on
thorough scrutiny of all military matters, both internal (ordering constant
reviews of an organisation many had come to view as lazy) and external
(instituting a new policy of study, observation and ultimately understanding
of the enemy). Maru’s reforms achieved her basic aims of creating a more
considered, intelligent SICON but her leadership and her determination were
brought into question by a period of relatively unimpressive military operations
during her tenure. The subsequent erosion of her predecessor’s gains on the
Road to Victory led to Sky Marshal Maru’s somewhat inevitable departure.
Light armour platoons use all
the rules detailed in the MI
Army List, found on pages
68-71 of the main rulebook.
The one exception is the use
of Emplacement Assets.
Light armour platoons tend
to be very well supported
at a strategic level and can
count on a great number of
emplacements when forced
onto the defensive. A light
armour platoon may choose
to use double the number of
Emplacement Assets found
on page 71 of the main
rulebook. A light armour
platoon may therefore
choose to use 0-8 Reliant
Emplacements, 0-8 Ammo
Dumps and 0-4 Bunkers.
17
Light Armour Platoons
Lieutenant
1 per platoon
70 points
You must include one Light Armour Lieutenant in your Light Armour platoon.
Light Armour Lieutenant
Type
Light Armour Lieutenant
Value
70
Size
1
Move
4”
Close Combat
D6
Target
3+
Save
6+/6+
Kill
5+
Traits
Independent
Weapons/Equipment: A Light Armour Lieutenant is equipped
with a TW-203-a Morita Assault Rifle with XW-110-G1
underslung G/L. Only the M-290 Flechette Grenade may be
used with the underslung G/L.
Special Rules
A Light Armour Lieutenant is subject to the following special
rules.
Condensed Training: All TW-203-a Morita Assault Rifles lose
their Auto trait.
Options
A Light Armour Lieutenant may purchase the following
options:
Lieutenant Rank Insignia Markings
Go Career: The NCO may be bought heroic traits up to a
total value of +50 points.
Weapon Options: M-902F Frag Grenades may be purchased
for +5 points.
NCOs
Helmet Markings
Shoulder Markings
0–2 per platoon
55 points
Your Light Armour platoon may include up to two Light Armour NCOs.
Light Armour NCO
Type
Light Armour NCO
Value
55
Size
1
Move
4”
Close Combat
D6–1
Target
3+
Save
6+/6+
Kill
5+
Traits
Independent
Weapons/Equipment: A Light Armour NCO is equipped
with a TW-203-a Morita Assault Rifle with XW-110-G1
underslung G/L. Only the M-290 Flechette Grenade may be
used with the underslung G/L.
Special Rules
Light Armour NCOs are subject to the following special
rules.
Condensed Training: All TW-203-a Morita Assault Rifles lose
their Auto trait.
Options
Light Armour NCOs may purchase the following options:
Sergeant Major Rank Insignia Markings
Go Career: The NCO may be bought heroic traits up to a
total value of +50 points.
Weapon Options: M-902F Frag Grenades may be purchased
for +5 points.
18
Helmet Markings
Shoulder Markings
Light Armour Platoons
Light Armour Squad
1-3 per officer (minimum 3 per platoon)
120 points
You must have at least one light armour squad for every officer in the platoon, with a minimum of at least three light armour squads in
the platoon as a whole. Your platoon may include more than this if you wish, up to a maximum of three squads per officer.
Light Armour Squad
Type
Light Armour Trooper
Light Armour Corporal
Light Armour Sergeant
Value
10
35
50
Size
1
1
1
Move
4”
4”
4”
Close Combat
D6–1
D6–1
D6–1
Target
3+
3+
3+
Save
6+
6+
6+/6+
Kill
5+
5+
5+
Traits
—
—
—
Unit Size: Every Light Armour squad consists of one Sergeant
(unit leader) and seven Light Armour troopers.
Options
Weapons/Equipment: TW-203-a Morita Assault Rifle and
XW-110-G1 underslung G/L. Only the M-290 Flechette
Grenade may be used with the underslung G/L.
Go Career: The squad Sergeant may be bought heroic traits up
to a total value of +25 points.
Special Rules
Light Armour squads are subject to the following special
rules:
Condensed Training: All TW-203-a Morita Assault Rifles
lose their Auto trait.
Split Firing: A Light Armour squad containing only a sergeant
may not split fire. A Light Armour squad containing both a
Sergeant and a Corporal may split fire into two fire zones. An
officer joining a light armour squad allows the creation of an
extra fire zone.
Light Armour squads may purchase the following options:
Unit Options: Up to four extra Light Armour troopers may
be added to the squad at +10 points each. One trooper may
be promoted to Corporal for +25 points. One trooper may be
given Medic training for +15 points. One trooper may be given
a comms pack for +25 points. One trooper may be replaced by
a FedNet reporter for +20 points.
Weapon Options: Up to two troopers may replace their TW203-a Morita Assault Rifle and XW-110-G1 underslung G/L
with any of the weapons listed below.
9
9
TW-201-l Morita Sniper Rifle and XW-110-G1
underslung G/L (with M-290 Flechette only) for +5
points.
SW-401 Longbow Missile Launcher for +35 points.
19
Light Armour Platoons
FedNet Reporter
1 per squad
Special
One trooper in each Light Armour squad may be replaced by a FedNet Reporter, as described in the Light Armour squad unit entry above.
FedNet Reporters may never be purchased separetly, and this separate unit entry is included only to provide the characteristics and special
rules for the model.
FedNet Reporter
Type
FedNet Reporter
Value
30
Size
1
Move
4”
Close Combat
D6–2
Target
3+
Save
6+
Kill
5+
Traits
—
Weapons/Equipment: None.
Special Rules
FedNet Reporters are subject to the following special rules:
He’s Our Pain in the Butt: After having faced many dangers
alongside the squad he is embedded with, the Reporter
sometimes becomes a symbol of luck for the troopers. In
other cases, the troopers are simply all too aware that they are
constantly on film.
So long as the Reporter is present, any one model in the unit
may re-roll one of its shooting or close combat dice in every
action.
Hey Mom!: For better or worse,
a good Reporter gets everything
on film. This has the sometimes
side effect of causing troopers to
‘act for the camera’, causing them
to fight with a bravado that might
not normally exist.
So long as the Reporter is still alive,
any model in the unit can opt not to
flinch.
Making a FedNet Reporter
FedNet reporters are unit upgrades adding to light armour
squads, so the easiest way to indicate a FedNet reporter is by
using the camera included on the light armour squad sprue, and
giving it to one of the troopers in place of a weapon. The model
on the left is an example of this.
Adrian Walters, studio figure painter, has
converted a more elaborate FedNet reporter
model, as you can see on the right. He did
this by choosing a suitably posed set of legs
and torso from the light armour squad
sprue, along with a bare head to mark the
reporter out from the helmeted troopers.
The microphone was made by taking
the Pee-Wee munition from the
sprue and scraping away the
detail to leave a smooth, bulbous
end. An aerial was also added
to the backpack by drilling a hole
in the communications backpack
and inserting a short length of
wire. Finally since the reporter
carries no weapon, the free hand
was cut at the elbow and at
the wrist and then carefully
repositioned.
Sky Marshal Keats
Succeeding Sky Marshal Maru, Keats proved able to at last break with events of the past months and order
a complete reversal of the strategies implemented by Sky Marshal Dienes. Some argued that Maru herself
had earlier wished to adopt such a policy but feared besmirching Dienes’ record and was therefore tied to
his policies. Keats however was able to make this bold U-turn in policy and now used SICON’s immense
propaganda network to recast the war with the Arachnids as a battle of the species, a fight for mankind’s
survival, no longer the righteous crusade which Dienes had painted his Road to Victory. Survival was the
byword for Keats’ new policy, playing upon fears of the human race’s demise and under his leadership military
operations took a more defensive approach. Garrisons were set up to ensure colony worlds could properly
defend themselves, while the fleet patrolled endlessly to keep open the shipping lanes that connected these vital
and far flung worlds. The success or failure of Keats’ policies have yet to be determined.
20
Light Armour Platoons
LIGHT ARMOUR PLATOON SUPPORT
Like other Mobile Infantry Platoons, light
armour platoons make use of support units,
equipment and weapons deployed from other
elements within the MI. In the case of light
armour platoons, these assets come in two
forms: Command Assets and Fleet Assets.
points value on assets. This limit includes all
assets, both those bought from Command
and from the Fleet, so the value of these assets
combined must never exceed 50% of the army’s
cost.
The exact assets available depends upon
the chosen Priority Level of your force, so
a Priority Level Two army can only choose
Priority Level Two assets, either from the
Command Assets list, the Fleet Assets list or
both. You are free to choose assets from both
Command and the Fleet as you see fit, as long
as they are chosen only from the appropriate
Priority Level.
Atomic Protocols
In order to choose any atomic
weapons, a model with access to
Atomic Protocols must be in the
platoon. The presence of a Lieutenant
with SICON Military Intelligence
Training (see the Heroic Traits chapter
of the main rulebook) or a SICON
Military Intelligence Agent both fulfil
the Atomic Protocols requirement.
Regardless of your Priority Level, you can
spend no more than 50% of your army’s total
FLEET ASSETS LIST
Priority Level One
At Priority Level One, fleet assets are not available to a Pathfinder Platoon.
Skyhook Retrieval Boat
125 points
Viking Landing Boat
195 points
0–2 per platoon
0–1 per platoon
Priority Level Two
At Priority Level Two, you may choose from the following fleet assets:
Skyhook Retrieval Boat
125 points
Viking Landing Boat
195 points
0–3 per platoon
0–2 per platoon
Priority Level Three
At Priority Level Three, you may choose from the following fleet assets:
AGM-716 Flamberge Heavy Missile
0–1 per platoon
50 points
EOM-1A1 Sarissa Space Combat Missile
100 points
Skyhook Retrieval Boat
125 points
Viking Landing Boat
195 points
F-76 Thunderbolt TAC Fighter
250 points
0–1 per platoon
Any number per platoon
Any number per platoon
0–1 per platoon
21
Light Armour Platoons
COMMAND ASSETS LIST
Priority Level One
At Priority Level One, you may choose from the following command assets:
SICON Military Intelligence Agent
80 points
0–1 per platoon
M-781A1 Falcon Missiles
+20 points
Any SW-401 Longbow Missile Launchers can be given M-781A1 Falcon AA Missiles.
M-998A1 Atomic Pee-Wee Munition
+300 points
0–1 model per platoon may be equipped with an M-998A1 Atomic Pee-Wee munition
(only if model with Atomic Protocols is in platoon).
Priority Level Two
At Priority Level Two, you may choose from the following command assets:
SICON Military Intelligence Agent
80 points
0–1 per platoon
M-908P Plasma Munition
+20 points
0–1 officer per platoon may be equipped with an M-908P plasma munition.
M-781A1 Falcon Missiles
+20 points
Any SW-401 Longbow Missile Launchers can be given M-781A1 Falcon AA Missiles.
M-998A1 Atomic Pee-Wee Munition
+300 points
0–3 models per platoon may be equipped with an M-998A1 Atomic Pee-Wee munition
(only if model with Atomic Protocols is in platoon).
Qualities or Training
up to +25 points
0–1 model (may not be an officer) per platoon may purchase up to 25 points worth of
Qualities or Training heroic traits.
Priority Level Three
At Priority Level Three, you may choose from the following command assets:
SICON Military Intelligence Agent
80 points
0–3 per platoon
M-908P Plasma Munition
+20 points
Any officer may be equipped with an M-908P plasma munition.
M-781A1 Falcon Missiles
+20 points
Any SW-401 Longbow Missile Launchers can be given M-781A1 Falcon AA Missiles.
M-998A1 Atomic Pee-Wee Munition
+300 points
Any number of models may be equipped with an M-998A1 Atomic Pee-Wee munition
(only if model with Atomic Protocols is in platoon).
Qualities or Training
up to +25 points
0–1 model (may not be an officer) per squad may purchase up to 25 points worth of
Qualities or Training heroic traits.
22
Platoon Armoury
PLATOON
ARMOURY
Below is a summary of the weapons used by the light
armour platoons, along with new equipment unique to their
forces.
SW-401 Longbow Missile Launcher: The forerunner of the
more capable Javelin, the Longbow was brought back into
service for the Invasion Companies as any colony world with
a suitable manufacturing base could build them in the huge
numbers required for Klendathu. The Longbow has the added
advantage of using the same missiles as the Javelin, including
Pee-Wee atomics and the recently developed Nighthawk AA
missile but without an automatic loading facility, its rate of fire
is noticeably lower than that of the Javelin.
M-781A1 Falcon AA Missile: The huge numbers of hopper bugs
present throughout the Road to Victory campaign convinced
SICON that dedicated Rapiers, while having their place, did not
grant the versatility to individual squads required when facing an
Arachnid swarm of multiple species. The Falcon was designed
to be a smaller warhead that could be used in a standard Javelin
or Longbow with minimal extra training. Though it lacks the
guidance capabilities and hard punch of the Rapier’s Birdbolt
warhead, the Falcon can still provide a squad with a measure of
anti-aircraft cover.
GENERAL ISSUE EQUIPMENT
Comms Pack: Worn as an armoured harness and requiring very
little extra training in its use, the comms pack is used to bind
individual squads to higher echelons of command. This has the
dual benefit of allowing squads to act autonomously, much in
the same way as power suit squads are trained to do, and also to
keep troopers fighting effectively even when losses have started
to impact on a force’s command structure. Even if all officers
have been eliminated, a junior rear echelon officer can still guide
a squad though this is never quite as efficient as having an officer
on the battlefield to make split second decisions.
A squad with a comms pack is always treated as having a 6”
command range even if no officer is present on the battlefield.
In addition, a squad with a comms pack may always take benefit
from the Promote and Retrieval Point special actions, even if there
is no Lieutenant in the force. It can simply take a Ready action
and have a trooper promoted or a retrieval point set anywhere
on the table. However, Arachnids and other races have grown
adept at interfering with Mobile Infantry communications. The
Promote and Retrieval Point special actions may only be used on
a D6 roll of a 4+. If the Mobile Infantry player rolls less than
this, the Ready action is wasted.
Power Suit platoons may equip a Javelin armed model with
Falcon warheads in addition to the normal Firecracker and
Holepunch warheads at a cost +20 points, at any Priority Level.
Light Armour Platoon Weapons
Weapon
TW-203-a Morita Assault Rifle
TW-201-l Morita Sniper Rifle
TW-201-s Morita Carbine
M-290 Flechette Grenade
SW-401 Longbow Missile Launchers
– M-714A2 Firecracker HE Missile
– M-766A1 Holepunch HEAP Missile
– M-781A1 Falcon AA Missile
SW-414 Rapier AA Missile Launcher
– M-780A5 AA Birdbolt Missile
M-902F Frag Grenade
Range
20”
30”
15”
8”
—
60”
60”
60”
—
60”
8”
Damage
2xD6
D6
2xD6
D6+1
—
3xD6
D10
D10
—
D10
D10
Type
Squad
Squad
Squad
Pack
—
Pack
Pack
Pack
—
Pack
Pack
Traits
Auto*
Accurate
Auto
Underslung
Ready
LZ (2”)
Accurate, LZ (1”), Piercing/2
AA. LZ (1”)
—
AA, Accurate, LZ (2”), Piercing/1, Ready
LZ (1”)
*Note that the Condensed Training special rule causes the loss of this ability.
23
Platoon Armoury
NEW MOBILE INFANTRY RULE
Nukes Down Bug Holes
As a member of the Roughnecks once said – shoot a nuke down
a bug hole, and you’ve got a lot of dead bugs! Such careless
abandon with atomic weapons was frowned upon by the higher
ranks of Military Intelligence during the Road to Victory but the
relative proliferation of weapons of mass destruction during the
Klendathu invasion opened the way to completely new tactics.
By literally shooting a nuke down into the Arachnid’s tunnel
network, nuclear fire could travel a great distance, flooding the
tunnels with death and clearing out all but the most determined
bugs.
Only a light armour or power suit trooper carrying a Javelin
or Longbow missile launcher with a Pee-Wee nuclear munition
may attempt this tactic. Marauders and CHAS units do not have
the manoeuvrability to deliver a missile accurately enough at
the limited ranges required for this attack and guidance systems
have not yet been developed that are fast enough to compute the
course needed for a missile to fly down a tunnel system when
launched from a TAC fighter or other aerial platform.
The attacking model must be within 6” of a Tunnel Entrance,
Nest Entrance or Bug Central and be able to target it in order to
deliver this attack. It must also spend a Ready action computing
the missile’s course down the twisting tunnels immediately before
the Shoot action required to actually launch the Pee-Wee. This
Ready action may be the same as used to prepare the weapon for
firing, if a Longbow missile launcher is being used.
The missile will fly a short
distance into the tunnel
and then explode, spreading
nuclear fire throughout the
Arachnid’s domain.
Every
tunnelling model within 18”
of the target point of the PeeWee (the Tunnel Entrance,
Nest Entrance or Bug Central
targeted) will suffer a single
D10+2
Flame,
Killshot,
Multihit attack. Remember,
damage rolls of 1 are ignored
as usual.
24
trooper Marcus Clido
A Buenos Aires native, trooper Clido is the epitome of the light platoons.
Employed overseas in civilian work at the time of the destruction of his
hometown, Clido was immediately impassioned to join the MI and take
the fight to the enemy. With Sky Marshal Dienes’ mass recruitment drive
underway at the same time, Clido, like so many of his peers, was quickly
drafted into the newly formed light armour platoons in order that they could
be quickly trained, equipped and deployed to the front line. To some, such a
history represents the worst of the MI and the light platoons – a young recruit
driven by his own emotional reaction to the attack on Buenos Aires, rushed
through training and posted, ill-prepared, to the front line. However, Clido
more than overcame any doubts about the quality of such troopers, singlehandedly carrying his wounded lieutenant several hundred metres across
tunnel infested territory for medical evacuation. After this display of bravery,
Clido was honoured with citation for power suit training – an honour he
rejected, instead favouring a promotion within the light platoons.
The Arachnid Response
THE ARACHNID
RESPONSE
It was during the invasion of Klendathu that the
Arachnids finally became recognised as a true military force to
be reckoned with, rather than simple-minded alien bugs to be
exterminated simply because they were an affront to the human
race. Whole swarms of bugs withdrew under heavy attack,
regrouped and then ambushed their pursuers. Others created
traps that swallowed entire platoons whole, while the fate of the
Fleet against co-ordinated plasma bug fire is well known.
Once these tactics and stratagems were revealed on Klendathu,
Arachnid forces across the galaxy began using them within a few
months, making these aliens a lot more dangerous to the unwary
trooper. In this section, we present some new additions to the
Arachnid army list that reflects the increased military capabilities
of the bugs after Klendathu.
ARACHNID CAVE-INS
It soon became clear that Klendathu was riddled with a
network of tunnel systems that not only allowed the Arachnids
to withstand any bombardment but also permitted them to
move at great speed under the surface of the planet in order to
reinforce areas under attack. As the invasion began to grow in
pace, many in the Mobile Infantry realised that the Arachnids
were adept at tunnelling extremely close to the surface so that
any heavy movement could bring small sections of otherwise
stable ground crashing down into the tunnel system. Though
this rarely caught more than a single trooper out at a time, the
fate of one man in an Arachnid tunnel was inevitably short and
this had the effect of panicking units and turning entire regions
into no-go areas.
Cave-ins are purchased as Tunnel Assets. 0–1 may be bought at
Priority Level Two and 0–3 at Priority Level Three. Each Cavein costs 25 points and may only be used once.
For each Cave-in purchased, the Arachnid player may choose
one enemy unit that has at least one model within 12” of any
Tunnel Asset at the start of any one of his turns (if a Camouflaged
Tunnel Entrance is used for this, it is revealed). One dice should
be rolled for every model in the unit. On the roll of a 6, the
WE CAN ILL AFFORD
ANOTHER KLENDATHU!
GODDAMNED BUGS
WHACKED US!
model is removed as a casualty immediately as he falls through
the weak crust and is pounced on by a warrior bug or some
other, equally nasty, Arachnid. A Dodge save may be made to
avoid this fate but normal armour is of no use.
Models of size 2 or larger are immune to Cave-ins, as are air
units acting in the Air Phase.
AMBUSHES
While warrior bugs tend to amass in huge swarms, Klendathu
saw the use of single warrior bugs ranging far ahead of the main
swarm. Their task was to secrete themselves in an expected
battleground and then pounce on troopers who ventured too
close. This was dangerous enough to a trooper on patrol but if
it happened while he was engaged in direct battle, it could spell
disaster for his entire squad.
An Arachnid player may buy 0–1 ambushing warrior bugs at
Priority Level One, 0–2 at Priority Level Two and 0–5 at Priority
Level Three. Each ambushing warrior bug costs 25 points.
Ambushing warrior bugs never use the Workers & Warriors or
Endless Tide special rules.
Before the start of the game, the Arachnid player may select one
terrain piece for each ambushing warrior bug he possesses that
is not in the enemy’s deployment zone. He should note where
each Ambushing Warrior Bug is hiding.
An ambushing warrior bug may be revealed at any time (even
after the opposing player has just completed an action) by
placing it anywhere in contact with the nominated terrain
piece. It is always considered to be out of command unless it
is able to join a swarm, using the normal rules. Under normal
circumstances, therefore, an ambushing warrior bug may only
make Alert Status reactions – it cannot take full actions itself
unless part of a swarm. Note that if an ambushing warrior bug
is placed after an opponent completes an action, it does not get
an Alert Status reaction if within 10” of the activated models – it
only gets to react to actions taken within 10” of it after it has
been revealed.
25
Klendathu Invasion!
A rare success – a Light Armour
squad earns their stripes by
capturing one of the fabled
brain bugs.
Keep filming! A FedNet
reporter captures the opening
moments of the invasion, even
as the bugs close in.
26
Klendathu Invasion!
Battle Stations: Light Armour troopers rush to join the fray as the bugs attack.
Nowhere to hide – bugs erupt from all over Klendathu’s surface.
27
Klendathu Invasion!
Surrounded! The bugs attack
from all sides.
The MI are forced on to the
back foot as the Arachnids
attack their hastily constructed
field base.
Man the barricades!
28
Klendathu Invasion!
Invasion! The Arachnids surge forwards in numbers to greet the first wave of Invasion Companies.
29
Fighting on Klendathu
FIGHTING ON
KLENDATHU
Anyone who has seen the Starship troopers movie
or read the previous chapters will know just how badly the
Klendathu Invasion went for the Mobile Infantry and the
terrible death toll amassed that day.
However, this will not be enough for most fans of the Starship
Troopers Miniatures Game. Sure, the Mobile Infantry lost
hundreds of thousands of lives during this action but what really
matters is how your company of troopers matched up against the
odds. Were they simply swept aside by the rampaging Arachnid
swarms? Did they put up a valiant fight before being overrun?
Perhaps they recovered from the initial onslaught quickly and
managed to fight their way back to a retrieval boat. Or maybe
they are still on Klendathu, fighting a hopeless war – avoiding
constant Arachnid swarms, knowing they will never be rescued.
The following rules and scenarios will allow you to create an
entire Mobile Infantry company and then, using your tactical
wits, fight the Klendathu Invasion from their perspective.
CREATING A MOBILE INFANTRY COMPANY
You begin the campaign with 6,000 points chosen at Priority
Level Three, with which you must purchase at least three
platoons of Mobile Infantry. Purists may want to select just
one platoon type (power suit, Marauder or Light Armour) for
their entire company, but you are free to mix and match types
according to the usual rules if you wish. You may not select
any Emplacement Assets. Whenever you play a scenario in the
campaign, you may only choose units within your company.
Be sure to pay a lot of thought to the composition of your
company as this is what is being loaded into the landing craft as
part of the first wave of the invasion. Once battle begins, you
will not be getting any reinforcements!
Throughout the campaign, you must keep track of the casualties
your units sustain but you will also have the opportunity to see
your troopers and officers become more experienced as time
goes on, making them true veterans.
THE ARACHNID PLAYER
The player of the Arachnid forces has an altogether easier
time during the Klendathu Invasion. You will have unlimited
30
resources to draw upon as literally millions of warriors and other
bugs swarm up from the subterranean tunnel network to engulf
the Mobile Infantry landing zones.
The points totals of each scenario played in the campaign will
usually be decided by the Mobile Infantry player who must
carefully marshal his forces in an attempt to escape your trap but
you will often have the tactical edge.
No matter what the Priority Level of scenario you play in this
campaign, you may always choose to use the Endless Tide rule
for your warrior bugs if you so wish, though you must pay the
additional points as normal. This represents the huge number
of bugs that lie in wait on Klendathu.
PLAYING THE CAMPAIGN
The campaign begins with the Beachhead scenario, representing
the first wave of landings the Mobile Infantry make on
Klendathu. Whether they are coming in by Viking or Drop
Fighting on Klendathu
Capsule, hundreds of companies are taking their first steps
on this alien world to discover they have a real fight on their
hands.
The Beachhead scenario is always played using 2,000 point
forces for both the Arachnids and Mobile Infantry. Follow the
special rules listed in the scenario and gauge the level of victory
for either force.
The Progress of Invasion Chart is then consulted, following
the victory attained in the Beachhead scenario to discover what
scenario should be played next. This scenario is then played and
the victory conditions determined to discover the third scenario
to be played and so on. This continues until you reach the edge
of the Progress of Invasion Chart which will show you how your
Mobile Infantry Company has fared!
As will become readily apparent, the results of the Beachhead
scenario can have a large effect on the campaign as a whole. You
Mobile Infantry Captains
1 per platoon
You are free to use a lieutenant or even NCO to lead your
Mobile Infantry company, representing a formation that has its
commanding officer(s) reassigned to staff duties, leading other
important operations or maybe even killed during the initial
landings on Klendathu!
Most Mobile Infantry companies in war time, however, will be
commanded by a captain, with lieutenants heading individual
platoons. If you wish to use a captain to lead your force, use
the roster entry below.
If you have at least one Light Armour platoon in your company,
you may choose to use the Light Armour Captain. If you have
at least one Power Suit platoon in your company, you may
Special
choose to use the Power Suit or Marauder Captain. If your
company has only Marauder platoons, you may only choose to
have the Marauder Captain.
You may only ever have one Mobile Infantry Captain in any
company during the Klendathu Invasion campaign. In regular
games, you may use a single Mobile Infantry Captain so long
as you have at least two platoons in your army.
A Mobile Infantry Captain is considered to be an officer for
purposes of selecting the army (so, in a power suit Platoon, a
Mobile Infantry Captain would entitle you to 0–2 power suit
Squads, in a Light Armour Platoon the Captain would require
1–3 Light Armour Squads and so on).
Mobile Infantry Captains
Type
Light Armour Captain
Power Suit Captain
M8 Marauder Captain
M9 Marauder Captain
Value
90
140
245
245
Size
1
1
3
3
Move
4”
4”
4”
5”
Close Combat
2xD6
2xD6+1
3xD10
2xD6+1
Target
3+
4+
7+
6+
Save
6+/5+
4+/5+
3+
3+
Kill
6+
8+
11+
10+
Traits
Independent
Independent, Jump/12”
Hits/4, Independent, Jump/8”, Piercing/1
Hits/3, Independent, Jump/10”
Weapons
Options
Light Armour Captain: TW-203-a Morita Assault Rifle with
XW-110-G1 underslung G/L. Only the M-290 Flechette
Grenade may be used with the underslung G/L.
Power Suit Captain: TW-203-a Morita Assault Rifle with
XW-110-G1 underslung G/L.
Marauder Captain: IW-203-a Morita Ape Special, IW-422
Hellseed Y-Rack, MW-206 Derringer Light Rotary Cannon,
MW-209 Trip Hammer Mortar.
Go Career: The Captain may be bought heroic traits up to a
total value of +150 points.
Special Rules
Command Abilities: All Mobile Infantry Captains gain all the
special command abilities of lieutenants (such as the special
Lieutenant Only actions), as described on page 69 of the main
rulebook. Mobile Infantry Captains are officers.
Marauder Captains: Marauder Captains gain the Autoloaders
and Lock and Load special rules described on page 79 of the
main rulebook.
Light Armour and power suit Captains: Lizard Line may be
purchased for +5 points, WASP Pack for +10 points.
Light Armour and power suit Captains: M-902F Frag
Grenades may be purchased for +5 points, CC-176-ER Shock
Stick for +5 points, one M-908P Plasma Munition for +20
points. The XW-110-G1 underslung G/L may be replaced
with an XW-137-A3 Trench Sweeper Laser for +10 points.
Marauder Captains: A Lizard Line may be purchased for +10
points. A Marauder Captain may be placed inside an M9
Chickenhawk Marauder suit for no extra points cost. He gains
all the special rules and weapon options listed on page 80 of
the main rulebook.
31
Fighting on Klendathu
32
Fighting on Klendathu
may be able to pull victory out of the jaws of defeat later on but
a strong offensive at the start will make the life of the Mobile
Infantry just that little bit easier.
Unless otherwise stated, the Mobile Infantry player will always
decide on the points value of any given scenario (in multiples
of 250 points), which allows him to commit a lot of forces to
an important engagement or conversely pull back most of his
company to let a rear guard sacrifice themselves against the
Arachnid onslaught. However, he must specify at least 1,500
points in each scenario – there is no maximum and he may risk
his entire company in one battle if he so wishes!
Before each battle, you select units from your company up to
the total points value you have chosen for the scenario. You
are free to mix and match units from different platoons as you
see fit as company commanders on Klendathu often found their
forces became hopelessly mixed when they made contact with
the Arachnids.
It is entirely possible that the Mobile Infantry will not be able
to field enough units to make up the points total of the next
scenario. In this case, the Mobile Infantry must fight on as
normal but with a reduced force!
If the Mobile Infantry is unable to field any units, they
automatically lose the entire campaign – they have been wiped
out! If the Mobile Infantry player is reduced to 500 points or
less he can choose to concede the campaign to the Arachnid
player, assuming his troopers have been hopelessly scattered by
the last conflict.
The Priority Level of all Mobile Infantry forces is three,
regardless of which units are actually being used in a scenario.
The Priority Level of the Arachnid forces are determined in the
individual scenarios. Neither side uses the tactics described in
the Engagements chapter of the main rulebook, as the special
rules of each scenario replace these. The layout of the battlefield
and deployment zones for each side is shown in the map for each
scenario.
CASUALTIES AND VETERANS
Ordinarily, the Mobile Infantry can rely on a great deal of
support, reinforcement and re-supply from the rear lines during
a campaign – this was never the case on Klendathu and many
companies were reduced to less than platoon strength before
they were able to rendezvous with a retrieval boat. On the flip
side, many of the troopers in the first wave of the invasion had
never seen heavy combat before and were soon to gain a great
deal of experience in a very short time.
Casualties
Whenever you lose a trooper or piece of equipment, cross it off
of your company record sheet, adjusting the points cost of the
unit as necessary. These losses are permanent and will not be
replaced during the campaign so, as you can see, a careless action
may doom you!
As the campaign goes on, you may find that you are forced to use
under-strength units with increasing frequency, even those that
are theoretically not ‘legal’. During this campaign you may use,
for example, a Power Suit squad reduced to just a Corporal and
one trooper. When fielding under-strength units, add together
the value of all remaining members, plus any options taken to
calculate the unit’s cost (that is, you do not have to pay the unit’s
full original cost once it becomes depleted!).
Any model promoted to become a unit leader during a battle
retains this status between fights. If a unit has no unit leader
at the end of a battle, you may choose one of the unit members
to become its leader automatically. Such unit leaders will have
the rank of acting corporal but gain no other benefits other than
being the unit leader.
Veterans
Though the Mobile Infantry must contend with losses as the
campaign goes on, you will have a chance to improve the
abilities of individuals within your company as time passes by
giving them heroic traits.
Every time you fight a battle, you may give one surviving model
a free trait, subject to the rules below. The maximum points
cost of this trait is the points total of the battle divided by 50
(rounding down). So, for example, if you fought a 1,500 point
battle, you may award one trooper a 30 point trait. This trait
does not, however, add to the model’s individual points cost, nor
are you in any way limited in the maximum number of traits you
can give to any one single model – this is a free bonus!
33
Fighting on Klendathu
If you win a battle, you may instead
award a free trait to one model in every
unit that survived the fight, subject to
the maximum points values described
above.
There are, however, some rules as to
which traits can be awarded to whom.
9 A model may never be given a
Training trait as a result of surviving
battles – they may only be purchased
as normal before the campaign as
there is simply not enough time to
train your troopers!
9 A model may only be given a Talent
if it had at least one purchased as
normal before the campaign began
– troopers do not spontaneously
become psychic (as much as SICON
may want them to. . .).
9 A model in a Marauder suit may not take traits normally
denied to it.
9 The following units never earn traits: CHAS, TAC Fighter,
Slingshot, Skyhook, Viking, missiles.
ONE SHOT WEAPONS
Weapons noted as being One-Shot! or otherwise ‘limited’
in nature (such as the AGM-716 Flamberge Heavy Ground
Attack Missile or the ordnance of TAC Fighters) remain limited
throughout the campaign. Though the MI had planned to
resupply their units quickly, the failure of the invasion precluded
this and many units were actually stranded in enemy held
territory. Once you use these items, they are gone for all future
scenarios.
Drop capsules may only be used in the Beachhead scenario.
ARACHNIDS
Arachnids never mark down casualties, nor do they gain veterans.
However, the Arachnid player effectively gets a new army during
every scenario and will never run out of units. As the Arachnid
player, it is your role to crush the Mobile Infantry and ensure they
never leave Klendathu. You are heedless of casualties as you do
this and even brain bugs are ten-a-penny on your homeworld!
34
CONTINUING THE STORY
If your company survived the baptism of fire on Klendathu more
or less intact, it is entirely possible that you will have grown
attached to the various characters and heroes that have arisen
during hard fought battles. There is no need to say goodbye to
them after the campaign is complete and you can follow their
future adventures as they continue to fight for the Federation.
Whether they were stranded on Klendathu or managed to fight
their way back to a landing craft, you can write further scenarios
or campaigns to chart their progress. You could have them
returned to the Klendathu system to fight on Planet P and other
worlds under the direction of Sky Marshal Maru or perhaps they
will be withdrawn further back into Federation space to fight the
Arachnids on the colony worlds. You can draw up individual
scenarios to play through your company’s most famous battles
or you can construct an entire campaign using the Klendathu
Invasion as a guideline, marking the course of war for a whole
planet. Though we will be covering various campaigns in future
supplements, you might like to base your own games on the
various volumes of the Roughneck Chronicles on DVD. Each
is based around a single campaign and you can use the episodes
as inspiration for each scenario.
Whatever course you choose, the troopers in your company will
begin to take on a life of their own as heroes grow and are lost to
the enemy over time. Drop by the forums on our web site and
let us know how your Mobile Infantry grow and develop!
Scenarios
SCENARIOS
The following scenarios are to be used in
the Klendathu Invasion campaign as you follow your company’s
victories and defeats on the Progress of Invasion Chart. However,
you can also use them in one-off games instead of using the
Engagements chapter in the main rulebook, allowing you to
pursue very specific objectives in a battle. Simply set a points
value between yourself and your opponent, choose a scenario
and begin playing!
BEACHHEAD
The Mobile Infantry commences the invasion with its first wave
of drops, aiming to hit the Arachnids hard and begin landing
more forces on the planet. The Arachnids rise from their hiding
places to throw the Mobile Infantry attack into chaos.
Mobile Infantry Briefing
This is it, trooper – the long Road to Victory is at an end! You
are going in with the first wave of drops. Your orders are to
smash the entire area and kill anything that has more than two
legs. By clearing the landing zone, you will be able to push
further forward to create a perimeter and make ready for the
reinforcing second wave.
9 This is a 2,000 point battle.
9 If you have any drop capsules in your force, they may be
used in this scenario, using the normal rules.
9 Drop pods and air units enter as reserves.
9 You deploy second and take the first turn.
Arachnids Briefing
Having monitored their progress while gathering in orbit, you
are well aware of the first wave of Mobile Infantry drops and your
hordes are waiting. Hit them hard and disrupt their formations
– give them no time to recover.
9 You may select a force of any Priority Level.
9 You deploy first and take the second turn.
9 You have one Nest Entrance free of cost, placed as shown on
the map. You may not purchase another Nest Entrance or a
Bug Central.
Scenario Length
The battle will continue for five turns or until one army has been
completely wiped out.
Victory Conditions
Mission points are used to calculate the victor of this mission.
Both sides gain the full
value of every enemy
unit reduced below half
strength.
Both sides
gain double the value of
every enemy unit wiped
out. If the MI have more
mission points than the
Arachnids, they gain a
minor victory. If they
win by more than 1,000
points, they gain a major
victory. Either way, the
Create Perimeter scenario
is played next.
If the Arachnids have
more mission points
than the MI, they gain
a minor victory. If they
win by more than 1,000
points, they gain a major
victory. Either way, the
Escape scenario is played
next.
35
Scenarios
BUG HUNT
Having fended off the initial Arachnid attacks, the Mobile
Infantry company attempts to follow its original orders by
slowly closing off every bug hole in the area. With their tunnel
networks crippled in this manner, it is hoped the Arachnids are
going to be far less mobile and therefore easier to locate and
destroy.
Mobile Infantry Briefing
Up and at ‘em, trooper! We’ve taken some losses but we are still
here and you still have a job to do. You have to shut down these
bug holes in double time or the Arachnids will be all over the
Mobile Infantry, taking back the ground just gained.
9 You deploy your force after the Arachnid player has placed
all of his tunnel entrances, nests and bug central.
9 You take the first turn.
Arachnids Briefing
A small number of Mobile Infantry groups have broken through
your trap and are now starting to work on your tunnel assets.
However, you have more than enough bugs to divert to these
36
attacks without interrupting the main slaughter going on in
the landing zones. Mop these troopers up and final victory will
surely be yours.
9 You deploy your tunnel entrances, nest entrances and bug
central first.
9 You deploy your force after the Mobile Infantry.
9 For every 500 points or part your army is worth, you receive
100 points to spend on tunnelling assets. These are the
only points you may spend on tunnelling assets – you may
not use points from your main army allocation to buy any
tunnelling assets at all.
Scenario Length
The battle will continue until the victory conditions are met.
Victory Conditions
The Arachnids gain victory if they manage to destroy every
Mobile Infantry model. The Mobile Infantry gain victory if they
manage to destroy every tunnel asset except tunnel markers
Scenarios
CREATE PERIMETER
Having been more or less successful in their landing, the Mobile
Infantry companies attempt to push forward their area of
control to create a stable perimeter that will allow them to begin
bringing down larger drops and supplies. Unfortunately, this is
when the Arachnids launch their main offensive.
Mobile Infantry Briefing
Everything is going according to plan. Now the landings are
complete, you can hear some other companies in serious combat
but you have been ordered to create a perimeter that will relieve
the pressure on them and allow this invasion to get under way!
9 You deploy first.
9 You may choose to take the first or second turn.
Arachnids Briefing
A few Mobile Infantry groups managed to land successfully
– now is the time to launch your full weight of numbers against
them.
9 Regardless of the points value of the battle, you are Priority
Level Three.
9 You must select the Endless Tide option for warrior bugs.
9 No tunnel entrances may be placed in the Mobile Infantry’s
deployment zone.
9 Up to half of your units may be kept in reserve and brought
in from any table edge detailed on the map as belonging to
you.
Scenario Length
The battle will continue for seven turns or until one army has
been completely wiped out.
Victory Conditions
Mission points are used to calculate the victor of this mission.
Both sides earn half the value of every enemy unit reduced below
half strength. Both sides earn the value of every enemy unit
wiped out. The Mobile Infantry player loses 50 points for every
Arachnid model in his deployment zone at the end of the battle.
He gains a +250 point bonus if there is at least one Mobile
Infantry unit in the Arachnid deployment zone and no Arachnid
models.
37
Scenarios
ESCAPE
One by one, the Mobile Infantry companies are beginning to be
over-run. This scenario will determine the fate of one Mobile
Infantry company caught by the Arachnid trap. Fighting
desperately, the troopers are determined to escape the claws of
the bugs.
Mobile Infantry Briefing
The messages coming over comms are not encouraging and
it seems every company is hip deep in Arachnids. Just as you
thought things could get no worse for your troopers, you find
yourself surrounded by bugs! Fight for your lives and try to
escape – anywhere!
9 You must choose to use at least 2,000 points in this battle.
9 You may not use any fleet assets.
9 You deploy first and take the first turn.
Arachnids Briefing
Close the trap. The Mobile Infantry have been divided into
small pockets of resistance and all that remains is to crush them
on by one without letting any escape to later regroup.
38
9 You deploy after the Mobile Infantry.
9 You may not choose the Endless Tide option for any of
your units – the MI are fleeing away from the densest areas
of bug occupation and the long board edges described in
the Victory Conditions, below, instead take into account
the perils of endless warrior bugs swarming towardss the
beleaguered MI.
Scenario Length
The battle will continue until no Mobile Infantry models are left
on the table, having either been destroyed or escaped.
Victory Conditions
Mission points are used to calculate the victor of this mission.
The Arachnids earn half the value of every enemy unit reduced
below half strength and the full value of every enemy unit wiped
out. The Mobile Infantry only earn mission points for moving
units off the table. They gain double the value of each unit that
is moved off the table, no matter how many models remain.
However, the long table edges represent areas of high Arachnid
concentration. Roll a dice for every unit moved off one of these
edges – on the roll of a 1 or 2, the unit is automatically destroyed
as it caught and killed by roving bugs.
Scenarios
GENERAL RETREAT
The landings have been a disaster, with the Arachnids responding
in huge numbers. Many companies have already been wiped
out and the immediate future does not look bright for those
who remain. As the order for General Retreat comes over the
comms, the Arachnid lines must be broken to clear a path to the
retrieval points.
Mobile Infantry Briefing
You cannot believe it. The once mighty Mobile Infantry has been
ordered into retreat and there is a real danger of this turning into
a rout with the bugs snapping at your heels. Do not get bogged
down by the bugs and give yourself enough room to regroup.
Victory is still possible!
Arachnids Briefing
Victory after victory has seen your bugs crush the Mobile
Infantry landings. A few companies are trying to retreat back to
their original landing zones – they could become a threat if they
are given enough time to regroup.
9 If you select the Endless Tide option for warrior bugs, they
may only be brought on from the Mobile Infantry’s long
table edge.
Scenario Length
The battle will continue until the victory conditions have been
met.
Victory Conditions
9 You deploy first.
9 Any air units are kept as reserves but may not be brought
onto the battlefield until the fourth turn.
9 No unit may start the game within an air unit.
9 You take the first turn.
The Mobile Infantry gain victory if they can move at least
1,000 points of models off of the Arachnid’s table edge. Air
units do not count towardss this total though any units carried
within them do. The Arachnid player wins if he can stop this
happening.
39
Scenarios
LAST STAND
A lone group of Mobile Infantry have been cut off without any
hope of reinforcement. Trapped and surrounded by a large
swarm of Arachnids, they prepare to sell their lives dearly.
Mobile Infantry Briefing
This is your last stand. The invasion has gone horribly wrong
and you have been left to fend for yourselves as Arachnids break
through the entire landing area. Cut off and alone, you have no
choice but to fight to the last. Perhaps you will buy enough time
for other platoons to regroup and reach their retrieval points.
Maybe a drop boat will arrive at the last minute. However, the
time for miracles is likely over.
9 You must use every unit remaining in your company.
Calculate how many points this now represents and let the
Arachnid player know.
9 You may not use any Fleet Assets – they flew off a long time
ago!
Arachnids Briefing
You have nearly swept the humans off this planet and their whole
formation is in disarray. You have located a tiny group of Mobile
Infantry cut off from the rest of their army, ripe for you to race
forward and annihilate them!
40
9 You may choose any Priority Level.
9 You have twice as many points to spend on your force as the
Mobile Infantry player.
9 You may not choose any tunnel assets as you have not had
time to prepare a functioning tunnel network.
9 You may choose two units to move onto the table from any
edge in the first turn.
9 At the start of your second turn, roll one die for every unit
not yet on the table. On the roll of a 4 or more, the unit
will move on from a random table edge as shown on the map
below.
9 At the start of your third turn, any units that have not yet
moved on to the table are brought in from a random table
edge.
9 You take the first turn.
Scenario Length
The battle will continue for seven turns or until the Mobile
Infantry have been completely wiped out.
Victory Conditions
The Arachnids gain victory if they destroy every Mobile Infantry
unit before the end of turn seven. The Mobile Infantry gain
victory if they have at least one model left on the table after the
end of turn seven.
Scenarios
RESCUE
A Mobile Infantry platoon has been split off from the rest of its
company by an Arachnid attack and the last remaining squad has
taken to hiding while the bugs search. A company faring a little
better in the invasion is dispatched to rescue the beleaguered
troopers.
Mobile Infantry Briefing
Though you have fought hard and done well thus far in the
invasion, other troopers have not been so lucky. The Arachnid
presence is weaker in this area (no doubt due to your efforts) and
so you have been asked by another Captain to locate a squad
that was split off from the rest of his troopers.
9 You gain a ten trooper Light Armour squad for free. Up
to 50 points of upgrades from page 19 of this book may be
freely taken for this squad.
9 The squad is deployed in Deployment Zone Alpha. They
must be placed within a piece of terrain. The squad is
in hiding and so long as they take no action, may not be
attacked by any means by the Arachnids.
9 The rest of your army is placed in Deployment Zone
Bravo.
9 You may hold up to half of your force in reserve if you wish.
They enter from the table edges around Deployment Zone
Bravo.
9 You take the first turn.
Arachnids Briefing
Just one Mobile Infantry squad to kill and this entire sector is
yours! Not even the humans would be mad enough to stage a
rescue while you mass your forces for attack. . .
9 You may not select the Endless Tide option for warrior
bugs.
9 The Light Armour squad of troopers is in hiding. You may
nominate one unit within 12” of their position to attempt to
locate them every turn – they must spend two Ready actions
to do this. At the end of every turn, roll one dice. On a 6,
you have located the squad and may freely attack them from
this point onwards.
Scenario Length
The battle will continue until the hidden Light Armour squad
is either destroyed or is moved off the short table edge of
Deployment Zone Bravo.
Victory Conditions
Mission points are used to calculate the victor of this mission.
Both sides gain half the value of every enemy unit reduced below
half strength. Both sides gain the value of every enemy unit
wiped out. The Light Armour squad in Deployment Zone
Alpha is worth triple its usual points value if wiped out by the
Arachnids and double if it is reduced to less than half strength.
For the Mobile Infantry, the squad is worth triple its usual points
value if it leaves the short table edge of Deployment Zone Bravo
above half strength, or double if it has been reduced to less than
half strength when it leaves.
41
Scenarios
RETRIEVAL
A small number of Mobile Infantry companies managed to fight
their way clear of the Arachnid trap relatively unmolested. They
were the lucky ones. Every trooper boarding a drop boat knew,
by this time, that he was leaving thousands upon thousands of
comrades behind.
Mobile Infantry Briefing
It is time to get off this rock – the bugs can have it! Gather your
forces and file up neatly to board the drop boats. Just pray the
Arachnids do not show up to spoil the party. . .
9 You must use every unit remaining in your company.
Calculate how many points this now represents and let the
Arachnid player know.
9 You start the battle with one free Skyhook for every unit in
your force. You may also have one free Slingshot for every
six (or part of ) Marauders in your army.
9 All air units start in reserve. Those paid for by your own
company may appear from turn two onwards. Those that
are free will appear one each turn, starting from turn three.
9 You deploy your army first.
42
Arachnids Briefing
Klendathu remains yours but some of the Mobile Infantry have
managed to slip through your claws and are boarding drop boats
even now. Your victory will not be complete until every human
who set foot on Klendathu is dead.
9 You may select a force of any Priority Level, regardless of the
points set by the Mobile Infantry player.
9 You take the first turn.
Scenario Length
The battle will continue until there are no more Mobile Infantry
models left on the table.
Victory Conditions
Mission points are used to calculate the victor of this mission.
The Mobile Infantry gains double the points cost of every unit
above half strength that is removed from the table by an air unit.
They gain the normal points cost if the unit is half strength or
less. They gain nothing for the actual air units themselves. The
Arachnid player gains the points cost of every unit reduced to
half strength and double that if the unit is wiped out, including
air units.
Scenarios
STONEWALL
Those Mobile Infantry companies not smashed apart by huge
bug swarms were placed in an unenviable position. With little
possibility of reinforcement or resupply, they were told to hold
the line at any cost, while the Sky Marshal desperately searched
for a miracle that would relieve them and turn the invasion
around.
Mobile Infantry Briefing
You have fought well to get this far, while so many other
companies now lie in tatters. The fate of your own company now
hangs in the balance as you draw a line in the dust of Klendathu.
The largest bug swarm you have ever seen is mounting up for
a major assault. If you can stem the tide, maybe some of those
retrieval boats will wait for you. Otherwise. . .
9 You must use every unit remaining in your company.
Calculate how many points this now represents and let the
Arachnid player know.
9 The resources of the entire company have been pooled for
this assault. You gain one Ammo Dump for free which may
be placed anywhere in your deployment zone.
9 You deploy first.
Arachnids Briefing
All over the Mobile Infantry landing zones, your forces reign
supreme. Human bodies lie everywhere and their smashed
equipment burns fiercely. One company lies ahead, having
managed to regroup sufficiently to mount a defence.
9 You may select a force of any Priority Level, regardless of the
points set by the Mobile Infantry player.
9 You must select the Endless Tide option for warrior bugs.
9 You may not deploy any tunnel assets in the Mobile Infantry’s
deployment zone.
9 None of your models start on the table. Your whole army
moves on from your table edge in the first turn.
9 You have the first turn.
Scenario Length
The battle will continue for eight turns until one army has been
completely wiped out.
Victory Conditions
Mission points are used to calculate the victor of this mission.
Both sides gain the full value of every enemy unit reduced below
half strength. Both sides gain double the value of every enemy
unit wiped out.
43
Scenarios
WINNING AND LOSING THE CAMPAIGN
After you have played four scenarios, you will have reached the
end of the Progress of Campaign Chart. The level of your victory
or defeat is variable, however, based on just which scenarios you
managed to win and at what point during the campaign. A
strong start might put you in good stead but a string of defeats
thereafter will end your career quickly enough. . .
Consult the entries below to find out just how well your Mobile
Infantry Company did during the invasion and whether they
managed to get off Klendathu intact or were cut off by the
Arachnids and have been left behind by the fleet.
Mobile Infantry Major Victory
This is a dark day for the Mobile Infantry. Scuttlebutt says that
over one hundred thousand troopers died in the first hour of
landings. Looking out of the portal of your transport, it looks
like the Fleet got badly mauled as well. Still, at least you and
your own troopers are all here to congratulate one another – you
survived Klendathu. There is a lot of work ahead of you but
your company has proved itself in the baptism of fire. Next
time, the dirty bugs will pay for what they did here today.
Mobile Infantry Minor Victory
You survived. That is about all you can say. A lot of your troopers
are dead. Your company still retains its status as an active unit
Lieutenant Mark Kowalski
Famed for his successes in the Road to
Victory, Lieutenant Mark Kowalski was
a hero of the Mobile Infantry long before
the invasion of Klendathu had begun.
Showing his characteristic tenacity,
Kowalski launched successive assaults in
an attempt to consolidate the woefully
inadequate landing site with which he
and his men had been tasked. In this,
Kowalski failed, though bravely. Like so
many of those who died on Klendathu, it
was their orders which were to blame and
not the courage with which men such as
Kowalski struggled to carry them out.
Seven times decorated for Meritorious
Service, Kowalski was one of the most
experienced and decorated officers lost
in the entire invasion.
44
but, in truth, you are going to need a lot of reinforcements to
get back up to full strength. You just pray that SICON does not
throw you back at the bugs until you are ready. Hopefully, they
will have a better plan this time.
Arachnid Minor Victory
You fought hard to reach the retrieval point but the drop boats
are now gone. Gathering what remains of your company, you
examine your critically low ammunition stores and wonder
whether the area is safe enough to begin scavenging the mounds
of dead troopers for new supplies. Abandoned on Klendathu,
you resolve to keep moving, hitting the Arachnids wherever
possible. Surely SICON will send a Viking down to take your
troopers home soon.
Arachnid Major Victory
You watch forlornly as the last drop boat rises into the sky over a
kilometre away. Even the plasma trails of the bugs assault on the
fleet have begun to diminish in frequency. You feel utterly alone
– the last of your troopers died under the claws of a warrior
bug minutes ago and your hike to the retrieval point has failed.
Gripping your Morita tightly, you eye up the swarm of bugs
beginning to surround your position. Sighting the nearest bug,
you open fire as they begin to charge. . .
Heroes of Klendathu
HEROES OF
KLENDATHU
As SICON has said in many FedNet broadcasts, there
are too many heroes of Klendathu to name. Many of those
heroes found their deaths on the Arachnid’s homeworld but a
few, at least, managed to escape and fight the alien menace on
other battlefields.
Listed here are a few of the more famous (and infamous) units
that took part in the Klendathu Invasion
RAZAK’S ROUGHNECKS
Officially retired but a fully qualified cap trooper nonetheless,
Lieutenant Razak volunteered for leadership during the build up
to invasion and was rewarded with command of a Light Armour
platoon within one of the Invasion Companies. To many of his
peers, this was as a self-imposed demotion, while others held
Razak up as an example to all, hailing the extraordinary sense of
Lieutenant Razak
duty that prevented him from watching from the sidelines while
young troopers went into battle ill-equipped and ill-prepared.
Still more pointed to the death of his wife and children during
the Arachnid attack on Buenos Aires as the likely motivation for
his re-enlistment.
Whatever the truth, Razak took on the Roughnecks and made
them his own, becoming one of the first Light Armour units
to be classified as combat ready. The Roughnecks were one of
the few Light Armour units to be deployed in serious combat
before the invasion of Klendathu and, under the Lieutenant’s
command, always acquitted themselves commendably, coming to
be famed for a ferocity which allowed them to achieve objectives
often failed by power suit platoons. It was the Roughnecks who
successfully destroyed the growing tunnel networks threatening
Star City, as well as rescuing Colonel Redwing during the
Arachnid assault on Drake’s Bay. They were the poster children
Unique Character
195 points
If you wish to field the Roughnecks as a Light Armour platoon, you may choose to use Lieutenant Razak as detailed here instead of a
normal Lieutenant. Aa a Unique Character, a Mobile Infantry army may only ever include one Lieutenant Razak.
Lieutenant Razak
Type
Lieutenant Razak
Value
195
Size
1
Move
4”
Close Combat
D6+1
Weapons/Equipment: TW-203-a Morita Assault Rifle with
XW-110-G1 underslung G/L. Only the M-290 Flechette
Grenade may be used with the underslung G/L.
Special Rules
Lieutenant Razak is subject to the following special rules.
Target
4+
Save
5+/4+
Kill
6+
Traits
Independent
Options
Lieutenant Razak may purchase the following options:
Weapon Options: M-902F Frag Grenades may be purchased
for +5 points.
Atomic Protocols: Lieutenant Razak fulfils the requirement
for Atomic Protocols.
Cyborg: Lieutenant Razak has a mechanical arm, giving him
a +1 bonus to his armour save (already factored into the save
above).
Heroic Traits: Lieutenant Razak has the Dirty Fighter, Heroic
Surge!, Rallying Cry, Sniper, and True Grit heroic traits.
Strong Leader: Lieutenant Razak’s command range extends to
12”.
45
Heroes of Klendathu
of the Invasion Companies but, for all their successes, Razak
steadfastly refused to be a tool of SICON.
When the invasion of Klendathu began, the Roughnecks were
absent, having been posted to Zeguma Beach on the Hydoran
colony but were quickly moved following Sky Marshal Maru’s
appointment. Maru resolved to fight, not just on Klendathu
itself but the other worlds of the Klendathu system and the
Roughnecks were duly tasked with Whiskey Outpost, on Planet
P. It was here that the now legendary Razak finally succumbed
to the Arachnid enemy – a tanker bug tunnelling under the
outpost collapsed much of the outpost’s perimeter, plunging
Razak and several other troopers to their doom. Despite the loss
of their lieutenant, the Roughnecks were later instrumental in
the capture of the first brain bug, thus achieving one of Maru’s
main objectives for the campaign.
The platoon then went through a succession of officers before
being cited for retraining as a power suit platoon, something
for which many of the Roughnecks were grateful and to which
many more of the Light Armour Platoons aspire to, albeit mostly
without success.
THE SABRES
Veterans of the Road to Victory, the Sabres were typical of many
other power suit platoons dropped onto Klendathu during the
invasion. Led by Lieutenant Jane Jefferson, they were tasked
with supporting the 121st Invasion Company. Halting bug
swarms as the light armour troopers deployed, the Sabres then
protected their flanks as nearby plasma bug positions were
attacked. Even though atomics were deployed during these
strikes, the Arachnids recovered with incredible speed and soon
even Jefferson found herself in the middle of a pitched battle
as swarms of warrior bugs surged forward over the bodies of
their slain comrades. The plasma bugs were destroyed but the
121st were rapidly hurled back from their newly gained positions
and Jefferson was faced with the very real possibility of the bugs
simply reinforcing the area with yet more plasma bugs emerging
from tunnels.
The Sabres’ own M9 Marauder squads were able to create a
stable firebase to which the 121st could rally as, one by one, their
squads broke and fled under the Arachnid onslaught. Though
the Chickenhawks’ Blizzard rocket packs were soon depleted,
sustained fire from their other weapons stalled the advance of the
warrior bugs. The Sabres and their light infantry counterparts
could certainly not make any further advances but they had at
least prevented the bugs from re-deploying plasma bugs to these
vital positions.
As the entire Mobile Infantry formation was now concentrated
in a small area near the Vikings, the troopers were well positioned
when the order for General Retreat was issued. As the 121st
boarded their landing boats for the trip back into orbit, the
Sabres formed a ring of steel around them, utilising the mobility
46
of their jump jets to keep the approaching Arachnids off balance
and hitting the aliens whenever they began to mass in greater
numbers. Only a handful of Sabres lost their lives in this
action and the rest were able to withdraw and board their own
craft when the light armour troopers began to take off. Their
departure, too, was greatly aided by the lack of plasma bugs in
the area, something for which many nearby formations were
equally thankful. Their stern defence of the Invasion Company
during retreat earned Jefferson and eight of her troopers records
of Meritous Service.
KOWALSKI’S CUTTHROATS
Lieutenant Mark Kowalski had already earned seven
commendations for Meritorious Service during the Road to Victory
– on Klendathu, he would earn greater awards. With distinctive
red flashes painted around the cockpits of their Marauders,
the Cutthroats were immediately recognisable as they dropped
outside of the main landing zones to assist in the perimeter
building of the light armour platoons, before being scheduled to
move outwards in a series of hunt and sweeps.
That, at least, was the plan. Intense fire from plasma bugs
brought down many of the Viking landing boats carrying the
light armour troopers, leaving the rendezvous point woefully
undermanned. The plasma fire also had the effect of badly
Heroes of Klendathu
disrupting the lines of Vikings as they descended from orbit,
leaving the light armour platoons cut-off from each other and
dispersed over a wide area. Dropping by capsule, the Cutthroats
were able to avoid a lot of the plasma fire but when they
deployed, Kowalski and his men immediately found themselves
under serious pressure from swarms of warrior bugs.
Taking the initiative, Kowalski attempted to break through to
the surviving light armour troopers during no less than seven
assaults, each repulsed by increasing numbers of Arachnids.
Kowalski numbered some successes, here and there breaking
through to isolated platoons before withdrawing to launch
another assault, the Cutthroats now aided by the relieved light
armour platoon. These successes were few, however, and with
contact from the light armour platoons becoming increasingly
erratic, the Cutthroats were eventually forced onto the defensive,
using their jump jets to create enough space to regroup. Contact
was lost with the platoon during the bombardment of Klendathu
from orbit and it was presumed they were destroyed by friendly
fire or otherwise overwhelmed by warrior bugs. The invasion
companies which Kowalski had so valiantly sought defend fared
no better and almost all of the light armour platoons were lost,
surrounded by bugs, cut-off from their allies and completely
unable to retreat.
BLACKBURN’S RAIDERS
While it is relatively common for individual platoons to adopt an
unofficial tag, perhaps for use a call sign or shorthand between
troopers, it is rarer for larger formations to do so. The Raiders,
though, is actually the nickname given to a full company – the
company led by Captain Elizabeth Blackburn, one of the officers
who enjoyed a fast track progression to officer rank following
intensive SICON psychological screening and profiling. Though
many serving cap troopers begrudge the presence of officers who
have not proven themselves in the ranks before leading men into
battle, the rapidly growing Invasion Companies required a huge
number of officers to lead them – more in fact than the Mobile
Infantry could easily supply. Even after many retired officers had
been called back to service there was still a substantial deficit,
one that Sky Marshal Dienes chose to fill with the best and the
brightest light armour troopers he could find.
boot camp. To their credit, they managed to hold the company
together where others might have turned and fled back to the
drop boats and their continued resistance bought enough time
for other companies to move forward and begin expanding the
perimeter. Continued plasma bombardment soon whittled their
numbers down and a final charge by warrior bugs soon silenced
their guns. It is not known whether any Raiders survived this
assault but none were recorded as survivors after the General
Retreat.
Regardless, the example of Captain Elizabeth Blackburn, a
fast tracked officer who led such an undoubtedly courageous
assault, was one SICON were quick to pick up on. Her story
was carried across FedNet and, while the diehards amongst
the troopers would probably never accept the wisdom of fast
tracking officers, many grudgingly gave Blackburn her dues and
noted her bravery.
THE PATHFINDERS
Trained and equipped to be the elite of the Mobile Infantry,
the first Pathfinder Company was officially deployed during
the Klendathu Invasion. Led by Captain Barrington-Wallis,
they were tasked with ranging ahead of the landing zones to
reconnoitre enemy dispositions and quickly overcome highvalue targets such as plasma bug batteries. It is possible that
SICON intended the Pathfinders to be the real heroes of the
invasion, the Mobil Infantry’s shiny new poster boys and SICON
certainly made great use of FedNet in introducing this new type
of trooper to the Federation.
For all this, and despite the best intelligence being made
available to them, comms were lost with this advanced company
less than six minutes after landing. As with so much of the
Klendathu invasion, the Pathfinders initial mission proved to
be a failure, though the role has not been abandoned. Several
new Pathfinder companies have been inaugurated and new
equipment has recently been designed specifically for such
reconnaissance missions, while several new training regimes
have been implemented in light of the lessons learned during the
failed invasion of Klendathu. The Pathfinders remain ready to
prove their worth on battlefields across the Federation, wherever
the Arachnids might strike.
While there is little doubt that the Raiders, like any company,
might have been benefited from an experienced officer, few can
say that the company did not fight to the best of their abilities.
One of the first companies to touch down in the first wave,
Blackburn successfully engaged the Arachnid swarms rushing
to meet the landings and even created a stable perimeter as
more Vikings landed. It was when a plasma bug diverted its
anti-orbital attacks to the Raider’s dug-in positions that disaster
loomed.
The first strike vaporised Blackburn and her lieutenants, leaving
the entire company in the hands of its sergeants, men and women
who had earned their position by becoming squad leaders in
47
Light Platoons Reference
LIGHT ARMOUR PLATO0NS REFERENCE
Light Armour Lieutenant
Type
Light Armour Lieutenant
Value
70
Size
1
Move
4”
Close Combat
D6
Target
3+
Save
6+/6+
Kill
5+
Traits
Independent
Light Armour NCO
Type
Light Armour NCO
Value
55
Size
1
Move
4”
Close Combat
D6–1
Target
3+
Save
6+/6+
Kill
5+
Traits
Independent
Size
1
1
1
Move
4”
4”
4”
Close Combat
D6–1
D6–1
D6–1
Target
3+
3+
3+
Save
6+
6+
6+/6+
Kill
5+
5+
5+
Traits
—
—
—
Size
1
Move
4”
Close Combat
D6–2
Target
3+
Save
6+
Kill
5+
Traits
—
Size
1
Move
4”
Close Combat
D6+1
Target
4+
Save
5+/4+
Kill
6+
Traits
Independent
Light Armour Squad
Type
Light Armour trooper
Light Armour Corporal
Light Armour Sergeant
Value
10
35
50
FedNet Reporter
Type
FedNet Reporter
Value
30
Lieutenant Razak
Type
Lieutenant Razak
Value
195
MOBILE INFANTRY CAPTAINS REFERENCE
Mobile Infantry Captains
Type
Light Armour Captain
Power Suit Captain
M8 Marauder Captain
M9 Marauder Captain
Value
90
140
245
245
Size
1
1
3
3
Move
4”
4”
4”
5”
Close Combat
2xD6
2xD6+1
3xD10
2xD6+1
Target
3+
4+
7+
6+
Save
6+/5+
4+/5+
3+
3+
Kill
6+
8+
11+
10+
Traits
Independent
Independent, Jump/12”
Hits/4, Independent, Jump/8”, Piercing/1
Hits/3, Independent, Jump/10”
Light Armour Platoon Weapons
Weapon
TW-203-a Morita Assault Rifle
TW-201-l Morita Sniper Rifle
TW-201-s Morita Carbine
M-290 Flechette Grenade
SW-401 Longbow Missile Launchers
– M-714A2 Firecracker HE Missile
– M-766A1 Holepunch HEAP Missile
– M-781A1 Falcon AA Missile
SW-414 Rapier AA Missile Launcher
– M-780A5 AA Birdbolt Missile
M-902F Frag Grenade
Range
20”
30”
15”
8”
—
60”
60”
60”
—
60”
8”
Damage
2xD6
D6
2xD6
D6+1
—
3xD6
D10
D10
—
D10
D10
Type
Squad
Squad
Squad
Pack
—
Pack
Pack
Pack
—
Pack
Pack
*Note that the Condensed Training special rule causes the loss of this ability.
48
Traits
Auto*
Accurate
Auto
Underslung
Ready
LZ (2”)
Accurate, LZ (1”), Piercing/2
AA. LZ (1”)
—
AA, Accurate, LZ (2”), Piercing/1, Ready
LZ (1”)
The homeworld of the Arachnid menace has been located and the
Mobile Infantry has been moved into position to strike – are you
ready to join the greatest battle Mankind has ever initiated?
For months, the Road to Victory has lead the Mobile Infantry across
the galaxy to the ultimate confrontation between Man and Arachnid.
This is a battle of the species on the desolate world of Klendathu,
the culmination of every skirmish and campaign yet fought in a
hundred systems. Three hundred thousand Troopers stand ready
to drop, dedicated to defend the human race with their own lives.
Within an hour, a third of them will be dead. In less than a day,
the Mobile Infantry will have retreated light years back to its own
territory and Earth will face a crisis greater than it has ever known.
The very survival of Mankind will suddenly be in doubt.
Klendathu Invasion is the largest combined Fleet and Mobile Infantry
operation of the Arachnid War to date.
Within These Covers:
Invasion: The story of Starship Troopers continues, from the initial
preparations for invasion to the final retreat.
Army Lists: The Mobile Infantry gains the use of the huge Invasion
Companies, while the Arachnids fight back with cunning traps and
tunnel systems.
Fighting on Klendathu: Determine the fate of your own Mobile
Infantry company during the invasion in a complete campaign.
Klendathu Invasion is a sourcebook for
Starship Troopers: The Miniatures Game.