SW d6 Mailing List: Storm Commandos
The Storm Commandos are copyright West End Games and Lucasfilm Ltd.
They originally appeared in Galaxy Guide 9: Fragments of the Rim. This information expands on the WEG data to fit my conceptions of such a unit, based off my knowledge of how similar units on our world operate. As a result, some of the details will be more complete, or slightly different. If either one of the above parties (WEG or LFL) objects to this document, please contact me via e-mail, and it will be removed from this web site within 48 hours.
History
Through history, there have always been small, elite units for those dirty little jobs that no government looks forward to. The Empire is no exception.
It started with the Stormtroopers. In the eyes of the Empire, they are elite, for they are amongst the best mentally prepared soldiers in history. The few declassified documents concerning them alludes to such things as hypnotic conditioning and mission specific learning while they are en route to a target planet. This would include such things as wilderness survival details, cultural notes, major species and thier habits, economic factors, terrain holos of thier operating area, and other important factors. They are also calm, cool and unwavering in thier love of the Emperor.
No one knows where most of them come from, but a noticeable minority (believed to be around 10-15%) are drawn from other units. The Army, Navy (including the pilot corp), Intelligence, COMPForce, Customs, even the Sector Rangers, all have people go onto Stormtropper training. This means that the man in the white suit might be your typical, off the production line, Stormie, or he might just about anything else. Those men drawn from the regular units often are assigned to a specialist legion, such as the Desert Assault troops, who are trained handle difficult terrain more effectively.
While it is rarely an officially approved action, many Admirals, Generals, Moffs and Governors have selected their own special units. Drawn from Army, Navy or (occasionally) Stormtrooper forces, these small units are trained in a wide variety of skills. Due to the prestige inherent to the troops, they often only receive extra training in ceremonies and armour polishing, but a few, such as Admiral Zsinj’s Raptors or Moff Quillian’s Jagdtroopers, are true combat units. With the victories scored by the Rebellion in the year before Yavin, the Emperor decided to fight fire with fire. He ordered the Storm Commando form.
Intended to be elite troops, second only to the Royal Guard, they are trained for the full gamut of small unit tactics. Using the various training programs of the assorted elite forces already in place as a base for their program, they are trained for terrorism, counter terrorism, strategic strikes, assassination, bodygaurding, kidnapping, hostage rescue, siege breaking and intelligence raiding.
Selection
Potential Storm Commandos are selected for superior strength, knowledge, hand-eye co-ordination, vision, hearing, stamina and technical ability. All candidates have had at least three years experience in the Stormtroopers, and most of them have had many years of experience in other branches of the Empire, and with the special environment legions. They must be able to both and follow orders, show initiative when separated from their chain of command, and to be resourceful.
After the physical and skills qualification, they undergo evaluation to absorb and utilize hypnotically acquired information. This is because a Storm Commando learns every scrap of data that the Empire has that pertains to their current mission. Then, they are given a series of questions to which their is no specifically right or wrong answer. This is done to measure their ability to make a choice, any choice, under pressure and without support. Finally, they are asked why, other than their love of the Emperor, they should be allowed to be Storm Commandos. Only the top 5% make it
Organization and Training
The Storm Commandos have been given a great deal of latitude, even greater than the Royal Guard in many places. One of the area that this extends to is unit organization. their largest unit is a Team. The total number of Teams is classified, but it is believed to be under one hundred and fifty, but over 80. A Team breaks down into a classified number of Troops (the number is between 10 and 20). A Troop is made of 24 men, including any officers and NCOs. It is intended to be broken into eight-man Patrols. The reality of the situation is that Patrols can range in size from twelve to two, depending on the mission, transportation availability (patrols are never split between vehicles, unless one-man craft are used) and skills. The most basic, and never split unit of the Storm Commandos is the Fighting Pair. They always trust their “buddies”, because as good as they are, no human has eyes in the back of his head.
These numbers place the Storm Commando legion at between 19,200 (80 Teams, 10 Troops per) and 72,000 (150 Teams, 20 Troops per). Although these numbers sound impressive, bear in mind that the higher end of the range is still less than the ground forces compliment of 10 Imperial Star Destroyers.
Regardless of the mission, it takes an order from someone very high in the command chain to deploy a full Team on one mission. Usually a Troop is all that is needed to handle a particular target. The on thing that is never done, except by order of the Emperor, is to deploy more than one Team against a specific target. This is because the Teams are all a little different in what they use, and more importantly, how they use it.
Your typical, fresh from selection Commando is considered “Line” qualified, or a “lineman” in the Teams. This does not mean that he is identically cut from a cookie-cutter mold. Those selected from the other branches of the Empire make up almost half of the Storm Commandos. He might be “Line” trooper now, but he might have been a fighter pilot before he was selected for Stormtrooper training, and later, the Spacetroopers. These “basic” troops form about 30% of the men in the Teams.
There also a number of specialists. The most common are the Techs, the Assault Troops (heavy weapons) and Saboteurs (infiltrators). The Techs provide mechanical, repair, sensor and communications support for the Troops. The Assault troops provide fire support, using light artillery, repeating blasters and explosive projectile projectors of all kinds. Saboteurs do exactly what their name says- throw that hydrospanner into those works. Each of these specialist school graduates fill about 20% each of the Teams.
The remaining 10% of the Storm Commandos have received other specialist training. These schools include the Scouts, who are expert trackers and sniper, Leaders, who form the officer corp, and Medics, who would be doctors in civilian hospitals, to name a few. Other special training includes Transportation, Intelligence (gathering and interpreting), Sleepers (trained to evaporate into a human population and remaining invisible until needed months or years later), and wide variety of other oddities.
Individual Teams also have special training. For example, Team 6, is classified a Jump Team. This means that they are trained to be ejected outside or just inside a planet’s atmosphere, and drop without repulsors, jets or rocket, but simply gravity. A typical mission might start by dropping re-entry capsules, similar to those used for probe droids but smaller, each containing one trooper. This outer skin sloughs off in the upper atmosphere, slowing your decent and looking like a meteor. You continue your drop to, say, the 15K mark, where you finally are free enough so that you can spread out your body and start breaking and maneuvering that way. You are doing two things at this point: looking for your team mates (via their coded transponder pulses) and your LZ (via your suits navigational system and computer’s sensor data, and the information “downloaded” into your mind during your hypnotic briefing). At 800m, your first, tiny ‘chute opens, slowing you enough to deploy your main sail. At 500m, you open up you parawing, allowing you to glide into you LZ, and make a short stop. Shuck your harness, bury your flight items, and move out.
Others, such as Team 23, are composed entirely of former Seatroopers, and called Swim Teams. They are able to swim up to ten kilometers, underwater, without detection, to make ther targets. They use a special version of the original Seatrooper suit, except it is made with the same materials as the Storm Commando armour. A very few Teams are Jump-Swimmers, and they are among the craziest and most dangerous men in the Legion.
There even a few Vac Teams, composed of former Spacetroopers, pilots and Navel personnel. They very rare, as the typical Spacetrooper platoon is highly trained in many of these tactics, but there are those times where something extra is needed. Equipped with thruster packs and specially modified suits of Storm Commando armour, these men are usually supported by fighters, blast boats or combat shuttles. their fire support elements are often equipped with basic Spacetrooper suits.
Special Teams like this are always composed of the properly trained individuals, but the Regular Teams also have these men, but in smaller numbers. As a result, just when you think you’ve seen everything from Storm Commandos, you learn something new.
Deployment
As a rule, Storm Commandos are rare. They are usually pooled at the sector level, with the typical Moff or High Inquisitor having no more than one Troop assigned to him, and usually less (at most, an eight-man Patrol). Grand Moffs, Grand Admirals, and the Grand Inquisitor have can have a full Regular Teams made available to them, but they usually can only call on a single Troop. An additional (classified) number of teams are located at critical locations through the Empire, and under the direct command of the Emperor and his most trusted servants, such as Lord Vader.
They are never assigned to garrison detail. The go in, accomplish their mission, and get out. It is only on worlds in open and constant revolt are Patrols semi-permanently stationed.
Equipment
There are two sources of information on this topic: one is the official records, and the other is reality. The only piece of equipment which is the same in EVERY Team is basic suit of Storm Commando armour (which is supplemented by vacuum and swimmer versions in the appropriate Special Teams). This is a modified version of the Scouttroopers’ armour, and the details of it’s construction and capabilities are highly classified. Most Teams generally use it blackened, but a few finish their armour in various camouflage patterns.
Other equipment varies heavily. Some Teams use the official SoroSuub ST2 carbine, while many use the less powerful but more accurate BlasTech E14 or the larger E11 rifle. No two Teams use the same knife pattern, and many use vibro-enhanced blades, while some of the Vac Teams use modified, industrial cutting lasers. Sidearms vary widely, as do hand grenades, grenade launchers and marksman’s riles. As a result, each team uses equipment that they have found works best for their missions, area of operations and tactics. (An example of this is Team 09 [“Shadowhunters”] issue a pair of M-44s to each trooper [with one on the left upper chest, and the other strapped to the right calf], along with a BlasTech E-14 fitted with a laser sight and illuminator. They specialize in close quarters operations, such as hostage rescues and urban combat.) Also, each Troop stocks enough weapons to supply two companies of regular Stormtroops, allowing them to tailor their loadout to the mission.
The basic combat transport for a Troop is a lightly customized Sentinel-class landing ship, or a customize Beta, Lambda or Mu-class shuttle, which is piloted by member of the Troop, or occasionally, a cross attached Imperial Special Missions Pilot. For a redeployment to new quarters, they generally hitch a ride on a Star Destroyer or use an Imperial Armoured Transport. When a full Team is moved, they generally use an Imperial-class Star Destroyer.
Once they are on the surface, they use a wide number of vehicles. If the mission calls for long range, heavy fire, then they often use the Merkunn Hoverscout or similarly armed repulsorlift vehicles. Where speed is of the essence, many teams use speederbikes and/or the Ubrikkian Fast Attack/Reconnaissance Vehicle (FARV), while others use the standard Imperial High Mobility Repulsor Vehicle (IHMRV). They also use a wide assortment of vehicles such as repulsorlift-assisted gliders, jet packs, and even the occasional (and often stolen from it’s rightful owner unit) light repulsor tank.
GAME MECHANICS
(note: theses Stats modify those given by WEG,and are used totally without permission)
Imperial Storm Commandos Line Trooper
type: Typical Storm Commando
DEX 3D
Blaster 7D, Brawling Parry 5D+2, Dodge 5D+2, Grenade 5D,Melee Combat 5D+2, Melee Parry
5D+2
KNOW 3D
Survival 6D, Tactics 4D
MECH 2D+2
Beast Riding 5D, Hover Vehicle Operation 5D+1,Repulsorlift Operation 5D
PERC 3D
Command 4D, Hide 6D+2, Search 6D+2, Sneak 7D
STR 3D+1
Brawling 5D,
TECH 3D
Armour Repair 5D, BlasterRepair 5D, Demolitions 4D+2, FirstAid 4D, Security 3D+2
special abilities:
Ambidextrous:
no penalties for weak hand DEX rolls.
Trained to Coordinate:
all Command difficulties are one level lower for appropriate officers.
Utterly Loyal:
All Stormtroops are totally loyal to the Empire, andcannot be bribed, seduced or corrupted against the Empire. Storm Commandos receive hypnotic conditioning to die rather than be interrogated by enemy forces.
Force Points 1-5
Darkside Points 1-5
Character Points 5-30
move: 10
equipment (typical):
Storm Commando armour (see below), blaster carbine (5D+2) w/ red-dot sight, blaster pistol
(4D), knife (STR+1D), utility belt, suvival kit
specialists: Replace the skill levels of the Line trooper as list below for the appropriate specialists)
Assault Specialist (Heavy Weapons):
Blaster Artillery 4D+2, Missile Weapons 5D, Vehicle Blasters 5D+2
equipment: light artillery and heavy weapons as needed
Sabotage Specialist:
Streetwise 5D, Hide 8D+2, Sneak 9D, Demolitions 6D+2, Security 5D+2
equipment: 1 satchel cataclysmite charges (6 charges, 6D character each) standard issue, other
explosives, detonators and security penetration devices as needed
Technical Specialist:
Technology 5D, Communications 4D+2, Repulsorlift Operations 6D, Sensors 4D, Computer
Programming/Repair 6D, Droid Programming 5D, Droid Repair 6D, Repulsorlift Repair 4D, Tinker 4D
equipment: basic tool kit (standard issue), other tool, sensors, communications systems, and
computer penetration devices as needed
Reconnaissance Specialist (Scout/Sniper):
Blaster: rifle: 9D, Firearms 6D, Hide 8D+2, Search 8D+2: tracking 9D+2, Sneak 9D
equipment: Blaster Rifle (5D), may be replace with a precision blaster rifle or a slug rifle, and advanced
optics as needed
Medical Specialist
Alien Species 4D, First Aid 6D, (A) Medicine 4D
equipment: full medkit, medical sensors, medicine bag
Leadership Specialist (officer)
Alien Species 4D, Cultures 4D, Languages 4D, Intimidation 5D, Planetary Systems 4D, Tactics 6D,
Command 6D
Transportation Specialist
MECH 3D, Ground Vehicle Operations 5D, Repulsorlift Operation 6D, Space Transports 5D, Starship
Gunnery 5D, Starship Shields 4D
Intelligence Specialist
Intimidation 5D: interrogation 6D, Law Enforcement 5D: Imperial 6D, Investigation 5D
equipment: recording rod, truth serum autoinjectors
special teams: All members of a Special Team will have these skills.
Swimmer Teams
(A) Underwater Combat 4D+2, MECH 3D, Watercraft Operation 6D, Stamina 5D, Swimming 6D
Jump Teams
Acrobatics 4D, (A) Skydiving 6D, Parachute 6D
Vacuum Teams
(A) 0-gee Combat 5D, Jetpack Operation 5D, Powersuit Operation 6D
Storm Commando Armour
model: Imperial Stormtrooper Commando Armour Suit Mark II Mod 2
type: medium combat armour
cost: not for sale
availability: 4 X
game effects:
Basic Suit:
+1D Energy, +1D Physical. Covers all areas, no DEX penalties
Comlink:
Tounge toggled comlink. Frequency agile, scrambled. 100km range. Is capable of supporting five different com networks (ie: Patrol, Troop, Pair, general-st and tac-air networks). Equipped with normal and increased volume public address modes.
(Prior to the Mk II Mod 2, these had a 50 km range)
(Single, long-range [500km] channel to be added with Mk II Mod 3)
Datalink from command:
Can project upto four feeds from remote sensing equipment, maps, floorplans, holocams, or text documents. These commonly included an area map and cooridinates provided by friendly satelittes. (may be from a remote database, or from a pack mounted system)
MFTAS:
+3D PERC in smoke, low-lite and other visibility obscuring conditions (+2D with ONLY passive systems). +2D to hit moving targets (less than 10m/round)
(Active systems added with the Mk II series)
Sealed Envirofilter:
Can block harmful molecules, or seal and run off 60 minutes internal air in case of
insufficient atmosphere.
(Limited to thirty minutes with Mk I)
Presurizable Climate Control Suit:
Allows comfortable operations in moderately hot, cold, high or low pressure areas. Can be sealed to serve as a vacuum suit (wearer must make a moderate stamina role every thirty minutes, or receive a wound) or for use underwater.
Macrobinocular Viewplate:
+2D Search 100-1000m
Anti-sound padding:
+1D Sneak vs. auditory searches.
Camouflage Finish:
+1 to +2D vs. visual searches. Bonus varies due to the suitability and accuracy of camo pattern. Penalty for obviously wrong camo. Usually blackened for night ops.
Reflec Construction:
+1D Hide and Sneak vs sensor systems, and thermal imaging
(Incorprated with the Mk II series)
Auditory Enhancement System (to be added in the Mk II Mod 3):
+2D PERC for sound based rolls. Fitted with volume control to prevent hearing damage. It is being incorporated in to the Mod 2 suits.
