Imperial Armada

Background

The Imperial Armada is the long, steel-clad arm of the motherland out here in the colonies. At least to the extent to which the much-abused warchest permits. It represents law and order, holding up the light of civilisation to ward off the darkness lurking in the far corners of the world.

The Armada’s backbone is its highly disciplined footsoldiers, who, equipped with long-range firearms, are directed in combat efficiently and smoothly by their officers along a well-oiled chain of command. Or at least that’s what the imperial field manual claims.

Hiring

Challenge level

A crew of the Imperial Armada can hire the following number of characters from the different ranks:

1 Leader
1+ Deckhand characters
0-1 Specialist for each deckhand character
0-2 Mercenaries. A mercenary takes up a specialist’s place.

History

Way back when the New World had been newly discovered, the Imperial Armada led by Pelagio founded the colony on Leonera as a stopover harbour and trade post. After decades of uncontested rule and prosperity, somebody discovered a different, shorter route to the New World. The garrison fell into neglect and eventually the pirates became so strong that they threw the Armada out of the city of Longfall.

Ever since then, the Armada has been trying to regain complete control of the city and the island. It’s had only partial success, despite irregular reinforcements from the motherland. To this day, the hotspot of Leonera remains a thorn in the mighty Empire’s side, because the list of opponents to imperial rule has grown quite a bit since the early days.

Appearance

As befits the members of a disciplined military force, the Armada’s troops wear uniform. The exact colours and some of the details can deviate from the manual, depending on the local supply situation, but by and large the Armada sticks to a unified dress code. At least the regular troops do. Members of the imperial nobility, who occasionally make an appearance on the battlefield, are of course not bound by such rules, and by so few others. And then there are the special troops such as the Cazadores, who like to stand out from their less elite comrades, thank you very much.

Equipment

Imperial combat doctrine holds that it is best not to let the enemy get too close in the first place. Accordingly, firearms dominate the imperial arsenal. As a rule of thumb, these consist of long-ranged ones for the rank and file, and pistols for the officers.

But of course, the Armada is equipped for close combat as well, even though it regards this as more of an afterthought. Cheaply made axes and cutlasses for the common troops, finely balanced swords with razor-sharp blades for the officers.

Characteristics

Its steadfastness and its firepower make the Imperial Armada the queen of the defence. It takes a hefty amount of courage for an enemy to charge an imperial firing line. However, they must make use of their chain of command to ensure that their weapons are not empty at the crucial moment.

Any capitan worth their salt also has to watch out that they don’t get too caught up in defending to advance; otherwise a more nimble crew might run rings around them.

IMP000_neue_Starterbox_9264_freigestellt

The crew recommends

Michael

A melee-heavy expansion for the Armada starter box, which is designed to tackle opponents early on in close combat and tackle them hard. The idea is to exploit the terrain during the apprach so as not to take too many casualties from enemy fire. Three commanders, leader -> lieutenant -> sergeant, make optimum use of the chain of command rule. The large number of orders allow the crew to dynamically adapt to the situation on the battlefield. The crew shouldn’t disperse too widely, but should also not bunch up too much either.

Leader
El Venador

Deckhands
Asaltore
Marine
Cazador Guard
Cazador Guard

Specialists
Arrequin + cartridge
Alejandra
Teniente Soborna

500 doubloons