Ground Combat
- Note: see Civil War and Federation Involvement regarding ground forces not involved in direct conflicts.
- Note: This is a work in progress and borrows heavily from VBAM's 1st edition Campaign Moderator's Companion, with concepts pulled from the 1st and 2nd editions' respective Campaign Guides.
Commanding Officer Special Abilities
The Star Fleet Marine Corps Expeditionary and Regular Forces share the same organizational hierarchy. Where they differ is in the assets that comprise their commands: Expeditionary utilizes medium infantry and light & medium armor trained to take and secure beachheads during an invasion; Regulars have heavy infantry and armor—as well as an assortment of other elements with special capabilities—in the pursuit of conducting a world-wide campaign to secure and hold the planet.
Additionally, Expeditionary units may have to operate in smaller commands than regimental level if assets to get them from orbit to the beachhead are limited. In such a case, one of the combat commands will be identified as the lead element, with any other regimental assets that can be provided giving tactical support.
In such an event, along with fighting at a smaller warfighting capability than the preferred regimental level, the units conducting the invasion will also lose out on their commanding officer's special command ability. Randomly assigned to the commanding general (or colonel, for regiments) is the ability (or abilities) the officer developed over the length of his career. The section below the following table will detail each possible ability the commanding officer may bring to his unit.
The number of skills are dependent upon the rank of the commanding officer. Those with more than one (Brigadier General and above) can all be combined into one ability or spread out among several.
| Rank | Echelon | Skills Points |
|---|---|---|
| Colonel | Regiment (VI) | 1 |
| Brigadier General | Brigade (V) | 2 |
| Major General | Division (IV) | 3 |
| Lieutenant General | Expeditionary Force (III) | 4 |
Abilities
Attack (Unit): Each level of this skill adds 1 to the unit's Attack value. Cost: 1, 2, or 3 skill points.
Attack (Planetary): This is considered the 4th level of the Attack skill and is available only to the expeditionary (& regular) force commander with the available skill points. All the officer's subordinate units receive +3 to Attack, regardless if they are on-world with the lieutenant general or not; all other ground units (on the same world as the commander) receive +1 to Attack. Cost: 4 skill points
Defense (Unit): Each level of this skill adds 1 to the unit's Defense value. Cost: 1, 2, or 3 skill points.
Defense (Planetary): This is considered the 4th level of the Defense skill and is available only to the expeditionary (& regular) force commander with the available skill points. All the officer's subordinate units receive +3 to Defense, regardless if they are on-world with the lieutenant general or not; all other ground units (on the same world as the commander) receive +1 to Defense. Cost: 4 skill points
Tactical Adaption (Unit): Each level of this skill adds 1 to the unit's D Factor value. Cost: 1, 2, or 3 skill points.
Tactical Adaption (Planetary): This is considered the 4th level of the Tactical Adaption skill and is available only to the expeditionary (& regular) force commander with the available skill points. All the officer's subordinate units receive +3 to D Factor, regardless if they are on-world with the lieutenant general or not; all other ground units (on the same world as the commander) receive +1 to D Factor. Cost: 4 skill points