Some New Minis

Some items I picked up from ebay, the top will be going
to the FPPR and bottom will be assigned to the growing
nation of Insula Mucronis.

Imperial Navy Of The Sun (Land Forces II)

Imperial Army of the Sun

As with everything regarding the Empire of the Sun and Flame, it is difficult to generalize regarding either the Regular Army regiments or the formations of "samurai" collected by the various daimyos. More or less any collection of figures in whatever arrangement pleases the player can be thrown onto the table.

Samurai Battalion -- Every daimyo raised one battalion of samurai which consisted of between 3 and 7 companies mixed and matched from the following assortment.
Headquarters -- 1xCommand Stand (s2), 1x81mm mortar stand, 2xTrucks OR horses
Mounted -- 1xRifle Stand (mounted)
Motorcycle -- 1xRifle Stand (motorcycle)
Light Tank -- 1-2 Light Tanks
Tank -- 1xMedium or Heavy Tank
Artillery Battery -- 1x75mm howitzer, with truck or limber
Motorized -- 1xRifle Stand, 1xTruck
Anti-tank Battery -- 1x37mm gun, 1xTruck
Machine Gun Battery -- 2xHMG stands, and either 2 trucks, or two wagons. Frequently the HMGs were mounted on the wagons as per WWII Russian practice

Infantry Regiment -- These were better regulated, but poorly led, as aggressive officers drifted to the Samurai formations with better pay and higher social regard. While the Romans found the Imperial infantry tenacious and quite capable at the tactical level, the lack of any permanent formation above the regimental level, appointment of political generals based on loyalty and birth, and the lack of support assets crippled them dramatically.

Headquarters -- 1xCommand Stand (s2)
3-4 Rifle Battalions -- 1xCommand Stand (s1), 3xRifle Stands, 1x60mm mortar, 1xMMG Stand
Mortar Battery -- 1x81mm mortar, 1xTruck
Artillery Battery -- 1xFOO stand (mounted), 1x105mm howitzer, 1x37mm AT gun, 2xTruck
Engineer Company -- 1xEngineer Stand, 1xDump Truck
Scout Company -- 1xRifle Stand (bicycle mounted)

Offensive Forces Of Insulae Mucronis

While the Legions have traditionally been the bulwark against attack, and provide the slogging brute force necessary to crack defensive lines, much of the glory and prestige goes to the Cavalry and the Marines, the two branches traditionally used to crack through weak points in enemy lines and engage in the sweeping maneuver where the superior training and leadership of the Republic's forces can achieve victory at the lowest cost, or at least that's what the doctrine says.

Cavalry Turma (Brigade)

Headquarters – Command(s3 mounted), Signals van
2xCavalry Bandons – Command (s1 mounted), 4xCavalry stands (s3, mounted), 1x81mm mortar (s3, mounted), mounted FOO stand (s1), 1xHMG stand (mounted)
Motorized Bandon - Command (s1), 1xFOO stand (s1), 45mm AT gun (s3), HMG (s3), ATR (s2), 81mm mortar (s3), 3xRifle stands (s3), 4 trucks
Armored Century – Light Tank or Tankette
Artillery Cohort – 2x105mm howitzer, 2xtruck
Engineer Century – Engineer stand with flamethrower, truck

NOTE: In many Cavalry Brigades, between 1 company and a full Bandon of cavalry had been converted to motorcycle usage. In some Brigades, 1 of the motorized battalion's rifle companies was motorcycle mounted instead of trucked.

Marine Taxiarchy

Headquarters – 1xCommand Stand (s2), 1xFAC stand (s2)
3xRifle Cohorts – 1xCommand Stand (s1), 4xRifle stands, 1xHMG stand, 1x81mm mortar stand, 1xFOO stand (s1)
Engineer Century – Engineer stand with flamethrowers, Truck
Artillery Cohort – 2x75mm Howitzers, 1x45mm AT gun, 3xTrucks

In the past generation, the Cavalry's dominance has been challenged by armored and mechanized forces, but in the initial phase of the Great Central War, no agreed-upon doctrine had been created for these forces, nor had standardization of vehicle types really been settled. Republican armored battalions went into combat with a mixed bag of armored vehicles, and only combat would sort out which designs were winners and which were not.

Later Republican armored units, armored doctrine, and armored vehicles would be guided by the lessons learned painfully by these first formations.

Mechanized Turma

Headquarters – Command stand (s3), truck, signals van
3xMechanized Bandon – Command Stand (s1), 3xRifle Stands with integral ATR (s3), 45mm AT gun (s3), 81mm mortar (s3), 4xtrucks
Armored Bandon – Command Stand (s1), 3xLight tanks, 2xMedium Tanks, 81mm mortar, Rifle Stand, 3 trucks
Artillery Cohort – 2x105mm howitzer, 2xtruck
Engineer Century — Engineer stand with flamethrower (s3), truck

Independent Armored Bandon - These bandons varied wildly in precise organization. The organization given is a typical one, reflecting the prewar authorized strength of the 2nd Armored Bandon, one of two assigned to the Scholae Exerciti, a formation composed of two cavalry turmae, two mechanized turmae, a motorized artillery brigade, and two armored bandons, which spearheaded the initial attack into the Empire of the Sun and Flame after a series of 'border incidents'.

Headquarters Command stand (s1), truck, medium tank
1xHeavy Tank Companies – Heavy Tank
1xMedium Tank Company - Medium Tank
2xLight Tank Companies – Light Tank
Support Company – 81mm mortar, truck
Infantry Company – Rifle stand (s3), Truck

Insulae Mucronis - Legion

The core of the Expeditionary Forces are the Legions, division-sized formations of professional, long-service infantry, lavishly equipped with heavy weapons and with many motorized support elements. This is translated into stands for use with Not Quite Mechanized, and represents a Legion as of the start of the Great Central War.

Headquarters –Command stand (s3), Signals van (S3)

3xInfantry Regiment

HQ - Command (s2), 45mm AT gun (s3), 75mm pack howitzer (s2), 81mm (s3), Engineer stand with flamethrower (s3), mounted FOO stand (s1)

3xCohorts - Command (s1), 3xRifle Stands (s3), MMG (s3), HMG (s3), ATR (s2) 81mmmortar (s3)

Artillery Brigade

2xRegiments (1 horse drawn, 1 motorized)

Regiment Command stand (s2), Signals Van, 3xFOO (s1), 3xJeeps

2xLight battalions – 1x75mm, truck or limber

1xMedium battalion – 1x105mm, truck or limber

Cavalry Battalion – Command stand (s1, mounted) 3xRecce Stands (s3, mounted), 1x81mm mortar (s3)

Engineer Battalion – 1xCommand stand (s1) 3xEngineer stands with flamethrowers (s3), 3xTrucks

Anti-tank battalion -- 3x45mm, 3xtrucks

Anti-aircraft battalion -- 3xAAMG, 3xtrucks

Empire of the Sun and Flame

A mix of Persian and Japanese transplants were the dominant influences in the mix of city states and rural regions ruled by fortress-dwelling robber barons that would be united approximately a century prior to the Great Central War by the Toyahota Family (Motto: "You want it, you got it") in the name of the Divine Shahenshah Artabanus XVI.

Culturally, most of these regions were very similar, having a strict caste system overseen by a hereditary caste, although a merit- and education-based bureaucracy organized on almost Confucian lines provided a means for social mobility for the best of the lower classes. Warfare was stylized and dominated by mounted nobles and their retainers, the mass of the populace being largely unarmed by law and custom, with the exception of certain tenacious hill peoples who provided light-armed infantrymen in lieu of taxes.

Religion is a variation of Zoroastrianism along with a strong ancestor cult and a bushido-like warrior code for the aristocrats.

The Toyahota Shogunate was ushered in with mass armies equipped with rifle-muskets with conical rounds, socket bayonets, and standardized field artillery. However, in order to coopt the various noble houses, after unification the regular infantry was reduced and de-emphasized in favor of the noble muster of horse and the provision for nobles to maintain and command their own infantry regiments or battalions. This system persisted until the beginning of the Great Central War, when its weaknesses were made blatantly obvious by a series of disasters opposing the Swordpoint invasion of the Empire.

Insulae Mucronis

The polity referred to as Insulae Mucronis (Literally the Swordpoint Islands) is officially referred to the “Republic of the Romans” (Respublica Romanorum), a reference to the fact that is has largely been a collection point for a variety of groups who considered themselves Roman.

The original groups dropped off were a mix of Romans and Gauls scooped up indiscriminately from the middle of a clash between isolated units during Caesar’s conquest of Gaul. The Roman culture and organization was greatly superior, and the fact that the next group deposited was a cohort from the 2^nd century Legio XV Apollinarius, scooped up along with native wives from what is today Uzbekistan reinforced the cultural dominance.

Byzantine line troopers and a handful of Hunnic mercenaries from Justinian’s expedition to Northern Africa that were believed lost at sea also were deposited in the same area, and as they were recognizably Roman and Latin-speaking, they were easily assimilated. The same could not be said for the Apache tribe deposited shortly thereafter, who remain a recognizable cultural minority to this day.

There were several more occasions where Byzantines of progressively later eras were deposited, then a gap of several hundred years, followed by the deposition of a group of Greeks of the 1919-1922 war with Turkey, cut off and surrounded by Turks, who remember only a bright light and awakening on a beach.

Politically, the structure of the Republic owes much to the Republic. Senators elect a pair of Consuls, who however remain Consul for Life. Unfortunately, the politics within the Senate are so vicious and violent that over ¾ of the Consuls die violently. Succession crises are fairly common.

Prior to the Great Central War, Swordpoint forces were a mix of heavy infantry units and cavalry in the Expeditionary Forces, questionable home defense forces, and a powerful Navy with ground forces of its own.

Insula Mucronis

GNN Report 36

Insula Mucronis

I've been playing the renegade/insurgent/rebels within the
BEE for a while. I decided to create my own country. I saw
this on the Civilization page and thought that's it! I've got some
plastic Romans and German Paras...this will be a snap! I'll
place them on Helios part of the Terra Secundus map. The main
city will of course be Roma Nova, it is in keeping with the
background of this planet and besides it's fun.