Black Legions
 Banner of the Black Legions | |
| Founded | 1671 |
|---|---|
| Type | Armed Forces |
| Role | Territorial Defence, Expeditionary Warfare |
| Headquarters | Panopticon Citadel, Merensk |
| Part of | Benacia Command |
| Size | 1,203,742 personnel |
| Motto(s) | TBC |
| Engagements | |
Overview
As the Kalirion Fracture led to the unravelling of the Imperial Republic of Shireroth, the Imperial Forces themselves began to disintegrate. However, as the main driver, in terms of contributions of personnel, equipment, and financial support, to the Raspur Pact, Shireroth was too invested in the Pact, and the Pact was too invested in Shireroth, for the falling away of the formerly paramount power of the Benacian continent to be countenanced. Fall Luikur would see Pact-Loyalists ruthlessly turn upon the remaining Imperialists in order to secure 25% of land forces, 50% of naval forces, 75% of aviation assets, and 75% of auxiliary forces, only to be defeated in their ultimate objective of a complete takeover of the Imperial Forces by the scale of the popular uprisings against the Imperial system and the sheer scale of the territorial dispersion of the isolated garrisons, depots, and manufacturies. In spite of this ultimate failure, the Benacian Stabilisation Force remained true to its objective - a Benacian continent, unified and obedient, secure as one of the foremost powers of the grand anti-USSO coalition. In consequence, the Black Legions were formed from the remnant of the Imperial Forces who had remained true to the vision of Nationalist-Humanism which had animated the Imperial Republic during its apogee as a global power.
Doctrines
The strategic objectives of the Black Legions, informed by the political imperatives of Benacia Command are, in their most succinct summation at least, refreshingly straightforward:-
- The reunification of the Benacian continent into a Commonwealth;
- The adherence of that Benacian Commonwealth to the Raspur Pact;
- The fullest possible assertion of the Human Supremacy over the resulting polity;
- The systematic and sequential reduction, by political and or military means, of all forces opposing or capable of opposing the implementation of the above points.
The doctrine that these objectives then proceed to inform however, being impacted by adverse political, economic, societal, geographic, and military realities, is rather more elaborately involved and less open to pithy summarisation.
The Black Legions, obligated to act on a continental level to advance the interests of the Pact, and on a local level to defend the territories under its direct administration, prepared interlinked strategic and operational doctrines with additional adjuncts regarding naval and air warfare.
Strategic
Operational
Aerospace
Training
Training for the Black Legions follows the pattern established under the Prince of Modan for the discipline of Imperial troops assigned to the Central Banner Group of Benacia Command.
Those who dedicated themselves to the black banners of the new legions swore absolute obedience to their commanders, who in turn sore unquestioning obedience to their commanders and so forth all the way up the chain of command. Soldiers, irrespective of their origins, were forbidden to pillage, steal or molest civilians, accept gifts, have relations with women, eat meat or drink alcohol for the term and duration of their service, except during specified and authorised respite periods. An Inspectorate of Training and Discipline was established with inspectors for the separate legions under the authority of an Inspector General reporting directly to the Marshal. Officers were forced to undergo examinations to assess their familiarity with Kalgachi battle drills, New Zimian Manoeuvreist principles and Nova English Fire Team tactics, largely with the intention of weeding out those still wedded to the set piece actions and frontal assaults which characterised the old Imperial way of war.
The main objects of legionary training were fourfold: firstly, to produce a spirit of discipline and comradeship, second to none of the armed forces of any power; secondly, to learn the lesson that darkness is a help and not a hindrance; thirdly, to endow the legionary with a degree of physical fitness approaching that of a trained athlete, and at the same time to give him skill in handling all infantry weapons liable to be encountered on the battlefield; and finally – the most consistently reinforced message throughout training to make the legionary eager always to attack as and when opportunity permitted, even – especially – when the odds were not in his favour.
The legionary was expected, and required, to cultivate a spirit of continual aggression that would hold up under any circumstances, fair or foul; moreover, to attain this versatility, the legionary was expected to acquire a mastery of the art of war in all conditions, not only on land, his natural element, even when that land was a precarious foothold on a steep mountain crag, or a tangle of woodland brush and bog sown with dread-nettles and shrapnel-lilies, but also on sea, and, if need be, in the air.
Induction
Basic training for all personnel enlisted with the forces under the direct control of Benacia Command is the responsibility of the Inspectorate of Training and Discipline whose primary establishment is located within the Zitadelle of Merensk. Volunteers for the legions, and all personnel assigned to the legions must be volunteers, are normally recruited from amongst the wider pool of personnel maintained by the General Inspectorate, as well as the Aerospace and Maritime Forces maintained by Benacia Command. N&H and ESB paramilitaries are also eligible to volunteer although they, being blessed with their own defined career paths and material comforts, typically tended not to avail themselves of this opportunity.
Fort Clarence, known to those passing through it as the "Depot" is situated within an eponymous bailiwick that has been depopulated by the expulsion of the Black Lach. One thing would become apparent from the beginning for new arrivals: officers, non-commissioned officers, and men alike, all went through the same training, leapt or clambered over the same obstacles, learned to handle the same weapons in the most efficient way, and lived the same hard life together.
The physical part of the legionaries training had its impact upon their state of mind. As the days went by and the legionary became able to march faster and still faster for longer and longer distances with heavier and heavier loads until he could cover 15 kilometres in ninety minutes, and 55 kilometres in nine hours, the innate pride born of an awareness of one's own strength took a hold on him. The legionary, spurred on by healthy competitive rivalry with his comrades, became more and more a man apart, as indeed he was by reason of his own conscious decision to join; thus the constant series of physical efforts the legionary undertook were, in and of themselves, an excellent form of mental training.
Hardening
After basic training was completed the inductees were cycled through three week courses of so-called "spiritual hardening", inspired apparently by the methods and insights of the Urchagin. Those who flunked the course would be cashiered and their records stamped, in green ink, with the initials LMF ("lacking moral fibre") effectively rendering them unemployable upon their return to civilian life anywhere in the territories of the Unified Governorates of Benacia. The motto of the training regime henceforth was that 'Faith and Endurance surpasses Might'. The hardening process began on the first day with trainees forced to line up in files of ten and, at a charge, bayonet a row of live pigs suspended from the rafters before them. Each file would train together, be rewarded together, and be punished together, they were solemnly warned, for the remainder of the three weeks. As an illustration of this the files where any member had baulked at bayoneting a live squealing animal would be denied food and sleep but would be instead assigned to punishment details for the entirety of the rest period while everyone else enjoyed pork stew and a good night's sleep. As first two weeks progressed the trainees were subjected to a barrage of assault courses, long forced marches along wilderness tracks, and competitions where the files were set against one-another to obtain dispensation vouchers for meat and alcohol or else merely to avoid bringing up the rear and being assigned to yet another punishment detail. The final week consisted of tutorials on living off the land, vehicle dismount drills, counter ambush drills, and close quarter combat practice against veteran legionaries dressed up as Laqi bandits. One of the perks for the old-timers was the opportunity to inflict upon the new recruits all the nasty tricks, traps, and humiliations, that had been heaped upon them during their own induction. The concluding action of the week was a bunker clearance drill focusing on oblique angles of approach with use of stealth and concealment, forced entry with demolition charges, room to room clearance with gas grenades and thermite sticks followed by the gunning down of those still standing and the bayoneting of those prostrate on the ground. To add an extra dimension of realism each of the practice bunkers was held and defended by a detachment of surplus protected persons, tethered in place but equipped with riot guns and cudgels, who had been promised their freedom if they successfully survived the drill. None ever did.
At the conclusion of the three weeks each participant was given a week's leave, a pint of grog from the Depot canteen and an enamelled lapel badge featuring a blood-red hand held palm upwards.
Vaszvaþnur
The old Imperial practice of targeting minority groups for the purposes of sharpening a unit's blood-lust and improving situational awareness has continued into the present with periodic deployments of Fiþn (Troop) sized contingents into Lach infested territory, usually via a nighttime "vertical insertion" utilising re-purposed "Walrus" gravimetric transporters escorted by Whirdlebirbs. Once delivered into hostile country, via the hair-raising practice of "grav-tank desant", the troop is obliged to utilise the time honoured practice in dealing with the Lach and to bring a specified quantity of tongues (including some with the bodies of their owners still attached) to the prearranged extraction point within a set number of hours or days.
In addition to serving as a refresher course in the basics of field craft, these "vaszvaþnur" also helped to thin out the numbers of Black Lach who might otherwise be tempted to filter southwards over the old frontier from Inner Benacia into Lywall.
Cultivation
One of the more unusual aspects of legionary training was the insistence upon each trainee, as a part of his assigned section, tending to an allotted plot of land in which it was their duty to plant, tend, and cultivate a variety of vegetables during their time at the Depot. The purpose for this becomes more clear when the trainees are expected to first clear a patch of the forest adjacent the depot, a forest teeming with deliberately planted urtica terribilis, primula ballistis and lilium discerptionis. For the ordinary legionary it provides an education on how to recognise, avoid, or neutralise the most noxious and fatal reminders of Benacia's legacy of reckless bio-engineering by the Transhumanist foe; for junior officers on the other hand it is an opportunity to contemplate the difficulties inherent in uprooting and containing persistent rhizomic structures.
Formation and structure of units
The Black Legions retained, at least at the outset, the administrative structure inherited from the Imperial Army resulting in the formation of two Combined Arms Corps (IV & VI) reporting to the Inspectorate of Land Forces and assigned respectively, for operational purposes to the Central and Southern Banner Groups of Benacia Command.
| Type of Unit | Hohm (Field Army) | Uihmanz (Corps) | Salb (Legion) / Afzælt (Division) | Gauht (Cohort) / Furgsaddâ (Vexillation) | Opratzt (Maniple) / Haß (Squadron) | Aht (Watch) / Fiþn (Troop) | Tiï (File) / Droþ (Lance) | Fire Team/Detail |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Contains | 3 Corps | 8 Legions 3 Divisions |
10 Cohorts 3 Vexillations |
3 Maniples 10 Squadrons |
3 Watches | 5 Files | 2 Fire Teams | 4 Individuals |
| Personnel | 172,800 | 28,800 Infantry 28,800 Specialists |
3,600 Infantry 3,600 Specialists |
360 Infantry 1,200 Specialists |
120 | 40 | 8 | 4 |
| Commanded by | Magister Militum (Lt General) / Frainan Hohmin | Magister (Maj General) / Frainan Uihmanzis | Legate / Salbnan | Spear (Infantry): Cohort Tribune / Ahmst Tazstraneï Lance (Specialist): Tribune Laticlavii / Ahmst Bræþstranin |
Spear (Infantry): Ordinate / Opratzan Lance (Specialist): Decurion / Fiþnan |
Spear (Infantry): Tesserarius / Ahtaldan Lance (Specialist): Draconarius / Golsapbir |
Prime / Frum | Chosen Man |
Units are divided into Spear units (i.e. Infantry), Lance units (i.e. Cavalry, Pioneers, Special Forces, etc), and Ballista units (i.e. Artillery).
Spear units form the organic components of the standard salb (legion), which are organised into constituent cohorts, which themselves are composed of maniples. Lance units are organised into specialist corps comprised of independent vexillations, which are composed of squadrons. Ballista units are also organised into specialist corps consisting of independent divisions, which are composed of batteries.
Vexillations and Divisions may function independently (e.g. special forces, THAAD, etc), or are attached to legions in order to provide combined-armed support. Independently-deployed vexillations and divisions will have other support units attached to it. Vexillations serve as a primary source for fresh commissioned officers and are intentionally officer-heavy as a result.
Legions may be designated as Light or Heavy, depending on the level to which its cohorts are equipped and trained for mechanised and air-mobile armoured combat.
Maniples are named with the number of their cohort followed by "Hastati", "Principes", or "Triarii", thus the third maniple of the 1st Cohort is referred to as "1st Triarii" or 1T.
Combat Groups
Legions are nominally organised into ten cohorts of infantry with other units attached in support. When deployed, the legion is reorganised into ten Combat Groups, built up around each of the legion's cohorts. The combat support units' staffs join the Legionary HQ in order to provide continuing support to Legionary HQ and to their own distributed sub-units. When a legion is significantly reinforced by additional afzælt (divisional) units of specialists, auxiliaries or allied troops, the Legate will receive a brevet promotion to Dux (Major General / Frainan Uihmanzis) for the duration of his expanded command.
Combat units may be deployed independently of the remainder of the legion. Under these latter circumstances they are often referred to as streïkruppis.
Organisation
Land Forces
IV Corps
IV Corps, comprising of six legions, was attached to the Central Banner Group of Benacia Command.
| Unit Name | Commandant | Order of Battle | Personnel | Establishment | Insignia |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hvaszunig Uihmanz | Frainan Uihmanz Ermanaric Parsamyan | . | . | . | . |
| I Salb | Salbnan Artur Woyrsch |
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| II Salb | Salbnan Berjouhi Vithimiris |
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| III Salb | Salbnan Vartan Barsamian |
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| XIII Salb | Salbnan Hermann bi Salza |
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| XIX Salb | Salbnan Laurens bi Rorkfesten |
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| XX Salb | Salbnan Stropp bi Kelb |
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VI Corps
VI Corps, comprising of six legions, was attached to the Southern Banner Group of Benacia Command.
| Unit Name | Commandant | Order of Battle | Personnel | Establishment | Insignia |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hvaszunig Uihmanz | Frainan Uihmanz Akbar Jalal Alinejad | . | . | . | . |
| XXX Legio | Salbnan Godascalc Berahthram Vasilescu |
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| XXXI Legio | Salbnan Stefan Tudor Adam |
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| XXXII Legio | Salbnan Ansovald Aldebrand Popescu |
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| XXXIII Legio | Salbnan Vespasianus Pompeius |
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| XXXIV Legio | Salbnan Darius Hludowig Derban |
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| XXXV Legio | Salbnan Bahman Eskandar Alinejad |
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Independent Units
A legion is sustained in Elwynn, supporting the Northern Banner Group and cooperating with the Elwynnese Union Defence Force (UDF), while a further legion maintains control over the critical naval base established at New Blackstone in the Madison Isles. An understrength streïkrupp formed from the remnants of the Imperial Army's IX Corps supports the effort to re-establish pro-Pact forces in the northern portion of the Goldshire.
General Inspectorate
Garrisons of Inspectorate Troops (auxiliaries and commissariat) were maintained in the Alalehzamin Autonomous Republic, Lachmeren, Lywall, Mishalan, New Blackstone, So-Sara and the Sovereign Confederation. In a manner similar to the old Corps of Auxiliaries of the Imperial Republic, these Inspectorate Troops are responsible for providing the full range of combat, non-combat, and administrative support, that the Legions, as well as their Aerospace and Maritime Services, may require. To them falls also the responsibility for the defence of facilities and lines of communications - which brings with it obligations of near-continuous anti-partisan warfare in certain parts of Benacia.
| Unit Name | Commandant | Order of Battle | Personnel | Establishment | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hvaszunig Uihmanz | Selim Nadir Shah |
| Unit Name | Commandant | Order of Battle | Personnel | Establishment | Location |
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| Hvaszunig Uihmanz | Jeremiah Avon-El |
| Unit Name | Commandant | Order of Battle | Personnel | Establishment | Location |
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| Hvaszunig Uihmanz | Fränz Boamund |
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| Afzælt Merensk | Lysander Falk |
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| Afzælt Altan | Heinrich Turenne |
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| Afzælt Rothaven | Johann Tserclaes |
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| Afzælt Šlomxala | Walter Dornberger |
| Unit Name | Commandant | Order of Battle | Personnel | Establishment | Location |
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| Hvaszunig Uihmanz | Peccavi Scinde |
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| Afzælt Litkov | Waldermar Tarjeisson (Evocatus) |
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Litkov |
| Unit Name | Commandant | Order of Battle | Personnel | Establishment | Location |
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| Hvaszunig Uihmanz | Petras Nikolaus Thrangel |
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Zitadelle Bratva, Mishalan |
| Afzælt Alva | Alva |
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| Afzælt Montrose | Montrose |
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| Afzælt Piccolomini | Piccolomini |
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| Afzælt Pappenheim | Pappenheim |
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| Streïkrupp Wallenstein | Wallenstein |
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| Commissariat | Marius Herman Saxe |
| Unit Name | Commandant | Order of Battle | Personnel | Establishment | Location |
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| Hvaszunig Uihmanz | Ermanaric Parsamyan |
| Unit Name | Commandant | Order of Battle | Personnel | Establishment | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hvaszunig Uihmanz | Selardi Jen Daniyal |
Maritime Forces
The once formidable capital ship force of the Imperial Navy had, by time and neglect more than enemy action, been whittled down to the point where, at the moment of fracture, only two ageing battleships (Aurangzeb and Grifos respectively) and an aircraft carrier (Mortis) were capable of leaving harbour under their own power. In spite of this, the maritime component of the Black Legions was far from being an inconsequential force, with Pact Loyalists managing to cobble together, during the course of 1671 AN, an armada comprising of 3 destroyers, 12 submarines, 20 corvettes, 38 oil tankers, 49 logistic support vessels, 50 off-shore patrol vessels, 166 cargo vessels, and 250 coastal patrol boats. This fleet reflected the shift in production priorities for the Raspur Pact during and in the aftermath of the War of Lost Brothers and the preference of the admiralty - in the aftermath of the debacle of the Battle of Carama Bay - for small and fast missile carriers.
Unfortunately for the Black Legions the temporary loss of the MoMA Naval Stations (Sabatini and Sagittarius) in the Khaz Modan island chain denied the fleet access to long established deep water anchorages and dockyard facilities. While the ex-Imperial port facilities at Klymdown, Rothaven, and Slomxala, were being repaired and expanded by contractors assigned to the task by the General Inspectorate and working at a frantic rate this still left the fleet dispersed and reliant upon access to safe anchorages along the coastlines of the various Pact-aligned 'vulture states', particularly Drak-Modan and Elwynn, during the early months of 1672.
The primary remit of the Maritime Forces is to support landward forces and to defend the littoral waters of the Benacian continent from USSO intrusion. Maritime Forces are therefore structured so as to permit naval task forces (built around corvettes and logistic support vessels) to support the Banner Groups whilst flotillas of missile and torpedo armed patrol vessels and attack craft support Combined Arms Corps where their areas of operation border onto the maritime environment.
Aurangzeb Group
Coastal Defence
Aerospace Forces
The reorganisation of personnel and aviation assets recovered from the Imperial Shirerithian Air Forces began in 1672 at a point when the Aerospace Forces were in the novel position of enjoying a bonanza of hardware but a shortage of fuel and components, in addition to difficulties in marrying up operational units with operational airfields in the wake of the unfortunate incident with the Palatini Corps over Shirekeep-Foley Aerodrome in the preceding year.
There were, as of 1672 , four major squadron "types" within the Aerospace Forces; these are:–
- Tactical Effect Squadrons, assigned as flight-level detachments to provide close-air support for ground forces.
- Operational Effect Squadrons, attached to Combined Arms Corps.
- Strategic Effect Squadrons, attached to Banner Groups.
- Aerospace Superiority Squadrons, directly assigned to Benacia Command.
Equipment
Ranks & uniforms
| Lance | Spear | |||
| General Officer |
Magister Primarius / Frumst Frainan | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Magister Militum (General) / Frainan Streïakeï | ||||
| Magister (Lt General) / Frainan Hohmin | ||||
| Dux (Maj General) / Frainan Uihmanzis | ||||
| Legate (Brig General) / Salbnan | ||||
| Field Officer |
Tribune Laticlavii / Ahmst Bræþstranin | |||
| Tribune Cohortis / Ahmst Tazstraneï | ||||
| Tribune Angusticlavii / Ahmst Mairstranin | ||||
| Company Officer |
First Decurion / Ænst Fiþnan | First Ordinate / Ænst Opratzan | Ordinary | |
| Decurion // Fiþnan | Ordinate / Opratzan | |||
| Draconarius / Golsapbir | Tesserarius / Ahtaldan | Principal | ||
| Squire / Silbir | ||||
| Signifer / Tzæknak | ||||
| Supplier | Prime / Frum (Specialist) | |||
| Prime / Frum | Specialist | nu Saltznân without fatigues | ||
| Soldier | Trainee | mi Saltznân with fatigues | ||
