| Imperial Army | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| Leader(s) |
Army Command |
| Headquarters | |
| Locations |
Throughout The Galaxy |
| Historical information | |
| Formed from | |
| Founding |
c. 50 BBY |
| Other information | |
| Affiliation | |
- "The Emperor's army is infinite."
- ―Rahm Kota
The Imperial Army was a branch of the Imperial Military that had the primary responsibility of prosecution of ground-side military operations, under the oversight of Army Command. It was formed by re-organizing the Republic Army and kept its previous command structure. During the Imperial era, one of the Army's most common duties was the maintenance of planetary garrisons throughout the Galaxy, as well as waging war on the Alliance to Restore the Republic and later the New Republic as well as the Yuuzhan Vong empire.
Numbering in the tens of trillions, the Army utilized a wide range of equipment and vehicles in support of its infantry. Army infantry units were composed of Imperial Army trooper, or, less often, Imperial Navy troopers loaned by the Army from the Imperial Navy. On garrisoned worlds, the Army operated in conjunction with Imperial Starfleet and the local constabulary to maintain order and security.
History[]
Organization[]
- See Rank Insignia of the Galactic Empire for the rank structure of the Imperial Army.
An AT-AT Driver with the Imperial Army emblem on his helmet
Eccentricities[]
Combat, command and support[]
As with the rest of the Imperial Service, the Army made a strong distinction between “combat elements”, and “command elements” or “support elements”. Any commander, even a sergeant, was considered part of the "command element" and was not counted among the troopers. Since unit commanders were considered supernumeraries, the average size of an Imperial Army formation tended to have a larger headcount than an equivalent strength formation in the Republic Army.
Augmentation[]
The uniquely Imperial concept of 'augmentation' was intended to allow the rapid integration of reinforcement units into an existing force while minimizing the number of (relatively scarce) senior officers required.
On a small scale, augmentation could be compared to unit “attachments”, while on a larger scale it could be compared to an active cadre for reserve divisions. The full extent of augmentation could be impressive. For example, the augmentation of a million man sector army could result in its size being expanded many hundreds of times over.
Perhaps in an effort to facilitate this process, support in the Army was noticeably decentralized. For example, armored and repulsorlift platoons included organic mechanic sections not accounted for in the order of battle (OB), while higher command did not have the usual assortment of support units common in other militaries.
Augmented squads operated together with another squad. Usually, squads were augmented with an additional three-man detail, armed with a heavy or medium repeating blaster.
Squad[]
Trooper deployment
The nine basic types of squads were the building blocks of the Army. Each squad consisted of eight Stormtroopers or Imperial Navy troopers and was commanded by a Stormtrooper sergeant or an Imperial Navy sergeant. The other eight troopers were given the numbers one through eight, with number one being a brevet corporal and second-in-command.Some Army squads were members of Compforce, part of the Commission for the Preservation of the New Order (the Compforce segeant and the eight Compforce privates could either be Stormtroopers or Imperial Navy troopers). Both sharpshooter and engineering squads were part of “Special Missions” units. Regular Imperial units did not have designated marksmen or engineering support. The symbol for this level of organization was:|
Line Squads Infantry units were called “line” units in the Army. High losses against the Rebel Alliance caused the Empire to equip its' troopers with Light repeating blasters to increase their short range firepower. However, only in three Sectors were more than half of the squads equipped with these blasters by the time of the Battle of Yavin.
Heavy Weapons Squads These squads were armed with Heavy repeating blasters. Heavy Weapons squads were usually attached to other platoons in order to provide additional firepower.
Sharpshooter Squads These squads consisted of troopers who had shown accuracy above standard with their weapons. They were also trained in demolitions and several other skills. Due to their above average skill, briefing and training, these soldiers could improvise on the battlefield, should their leaders be killed. Sharpshooter squad sergeants appointed a new brevet corporal before each mission, depending on the skills needed for it. These squads were equipped with light repeating blasters
Engineering Squads Engineering Squads were composed of troopers trained in combat and various non-combat technical skills. They were able to handle nearly all equipment and gear found on a mission. Although they used standard weapons, individual squads were equipped with additional gear, such as thermal detonators, medpacs or Portable Sensor Arrays. Each squad included an experienced demolition expert from a Sharpshooter Squad.
Repulsorlift Squads Mechanized squads were composed of repulsorlift vehicles, with two vehicles per squad. Each vehicle had a crew of four, consisting of a mechanic, a driver, a sensor/tech officer and a gunner/commander. The sergeant's vehicle was equipped with an additional DER and operator.
Heavy Repulsorlift Squads The vehicles used by these squads were of two types: a light repulsorlift that functioned as a “battle taxi” (APC), and a heavy repulsorlift which was closer in concept to the “infantry fighting vehicle” (IFV). Heavy weapons repulsorlift squads often added additional weapons to their vehicles, like repeating blasters and grenade launchers.
Scout Squads A scout squad was also called a scout “lance”. Consisting of five personnel including the sergeant, they were generally equipped with speeder bikes. Scout troopers were trained to repair and maintain their bikes, which reduced the need for support personnel. In contrast to the more usual practice, the Empire emphasized unit heritage and pride in its scout squads.
Army[]
An Army is commanded by a full General. The support element of an army is as large as two Battalions for a total of 1,855 men and twice as many droids. It had five staff (SA1 to SA5) and ten substaff (SA11 through SA52) officers, a security company (152 men) and six independent perimeter Platoons (total 228 men), 200 ISB agents for agent intelligence or counterintelligence, 3 companies of COMPNOR "observers" (each 152 men plus a command element of 5), 4 Imperial Intelligence representatives and 784 support personnel.
An Army would have one of each type of Corps and was meant to fit into a naval troop squadron. That gave an army 193,644 troopers, 100,042 support personnel, 16,660 repulsorcraft and at least 3,498 heavy tanks. Systems Army
A Systems Army was commanded by a High General and consisted of anywhere from two to six armies, they were organizationally separated from the Surface Army and corps HQ over which they had oversight. The only force directly attached to a High General's command was the headquarters unit, which had the same strength like an army HQ. The primary function of a systems army was to deploy reinforcements and naval support to its child armies rather than to fight.
Sector Army
The sector army could be commanded by a Moff or delegated to a Surface Marshal. A sector army could have up to eight systems armies under its command and was supposed to fit within an Imperial Assault Fleet. The total numbers of a sector army were 774,576 troopers, 405,733 support personnel, 66,640 repulsorcraft and 13,922 heavy tanks. Its HQ element was of the same size as that of an army or systems army (1,855 men total).
Divisions[]
Branches[]
- Army Command
- Assault Armor Division
Specilizations[]
- Imperial Army troopers
- Imperial Army pilots
- Imperial commandos
- Imperial Detention Block Guard
- Imperial Field Commanders
- Imperial land assault troopers
Vehicles[]
Artillery[]
- 440 Super-Heavy Armored Chassis
- All Terrain Anti-Aircraft
- All Terrain Attack Pod
- All Terrain Ion Cannon
- Artillery crawler
- Leveler I medium concussion missile launcher
- Mobile artillery
- Self-Propelled Heavy Artillery
- Self-Propelled Medium Artillery
- SP.9 Anti-Infantry Artillery Vehicle
- Unstable Terrain Artillery Transport
- WW-676 repulsorlift mortar
- XR-85 tank droid
Armor[]
- 1-H Imperial-class Repulsortank
- All Terrain Armored Transport
- All Terrain Armored Heavy Transport (Fel Empire & Krayt's Sith Empire)
- All Terrain Tactical Enforcer
- All Terrain Heavy Enforcer
- Heavy Assault Vehicle Transport B5 Juggernaut
- Heavy Assault Vehicle/wheeled A5 Juggernaut
- Heavy Assault Vehicle/wheeled A6 Juggernaut
- Heavy Assault Vehicle/repulsorlift A9 Floating Fortress
- Heavy Assault Vehicle/repulsorlift C10 Siege Tower
- S-1 FireHawke Heavy Repulsortank
Heavy cavalry[]
Walkers were the critical component of the Imperial Ground Forces.
- 1-L Imperial-class Repulsortank
- 2-M repulsortank
- All Terrain Advance Raider
- All Terrain Experimental Transport
- All Terrain Kashyyyk Transport
- All Terrain Personal Transport
- All Terrain Riot Control Transport (Fel Empire & Krayt's Sith Empire)
- All Terrain Scout Transport/Assault
- Dwarf spider droid
- Mark 1 droid walker
- Imperial pummel
- Imperial speeder
- Infantry Support Platform
- Mountain Terrain Scout Transport
- PX-10 Compact Assault Vehicle/wheeled
- Sniper airspeeder
- SV-50 Swift-Strike Speeder
- Swift Assault 5 Hoverscout
- TIE Crawler
- TIE Mauler
- TX-130 Saber-class fighter tank
- TX-130T fighter tank
- Ultra-Light Assault Vehicle
Command and combat support[]
- 1-M Imperial-class Repulsortank
- Combat Attack Transport
- Gravtruck
- Heavy recovery vehicle
- Heavy Transport Vehicle
- Light Assault Vehicle/repulsorlift QH-7 Chariot
- PX-4 Mobile Command Base
- Tracked Mobile Base
- Tracked Shield Disabler
- XP-38 landspeeder
Combat service support[]
- 6500 ATV
- 8880 limousine landspeeder
- All Terrain Construction Transport
- All Terrain Tactical Enforcer (cargo transport)
- Armored Hover Train
- Imperial cargo trader
- Imperial dropship
- Imperial dropship transport
- Imperial ground-skimmer-sl
- Low Altitude Assault Transport/carrier
- Low Altitude Assault Transport/vehicle
- Low Altitude Assault Transport/infantry
- Unstable Terrain Artillery Transport
Aerial assault[]
- Hover Combat Carrier
- HSP-10 pursuit airspeeder
- Imperial Escort Fighter
- Imperial Side Gunner vehicle
- Imperial Sniper vehicle
- INT-4 Interceptor
- Low Altitude Assault Transport/infantry
- Lancet Aerial Artillery
- Multi Altitude Assault Transport
- Rapid Deployment Airspeeder
- Shadow V Combat Airspeeder
- Skimfighter
Mechanized infantry[]
- All Terrain Armored Transport
- All Terrain Armored Heavy Transport
- All Terrain Open Transport
- Armored Personnel Carrier
- Battlespeeder
- CAP-2 Captivator
- Heavy Assault Vehicle Transport B5 Juggernaut
- Heavy Assault Vehicle/wheeled A5 Juggernaut
- Heavy Assault Vehicle/wheeled A6 Juggernaut
- Heavy Assault Vehicle/repulsorlift A9 Floating Fortress
- Imperial Troop Carrier
- Mountain Terrain Armored Transport
- MTV-7 Multi-Terrain Vehicle
- PX-7 troop transport
- Reconnaissance Troop Transporter
Motorized infantry[]
- Bantha-II cargo skiff
Reconnaissance[]
- 64-Y Swift 3 repulsor sled
- 74-Z speeder bike
- All Terrain Recon Transport
- All Terrain Scout Transport
- Imperial patrol landspeeder
- Imperial patrol speeder (landspeeder)
- Imperial patrol speeder (tank)
- Repulsor scout
- Storm Skimmer Patrol Sled
- Sub-ter rover
- Swamp crawler
- XR-10 Shadowhawk Speeder Bike
Aquatic[]
- Acklay-class mobile fortress
- Amphibion
- AT-AT Swimmer
- Aquatic Destroyer
- Aquadon CAVa 400
- Explorer Submergible
- Imperial submarine
- Imperial transport (aquatic)
- Shark underwater fighter
- TIE Fighter Boat
- A-Q5 Waveskimmer
Planetary defenses[]
- DF.9 Anti-Infantry Battery
- v-150 Planet Defender
Appearances[]
- Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (First appearance)
- Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire
- Star Wars: Return of the Jedi