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Credits and ContentsCredits and Contents

MOBILE INFANTRY ARMY BOOKMOBILE INFANTRY ARMY BOOKCREDITSAuthors

Matthew Sprange, Matt Keefe

EditorRichard Ford

Cover ArtKieran Yanner

Internal ArtScott Clark, Vincent Dutrait, Marcio Fiorito, Juan Manuel Espinosa, Sam Hart, Kythera, Iordanis Lazaridis, Danilo Moretti, Phil Renne, Chad Sergesketter, Alejandro Villen, Dave

Wiggins, Kieran Yanner

Figure PainterAdrian Walters

SculptorsShane Hoyle, Bobby Jackson, Bob Naismith, Ben Saunders,

Steve Saunders

Miniatures ManagerIan Barstow

Production DirectorAlexander Fennell

ProofreaderAllyson Miller

Starship Troopers: Mobile Infantry Army Book TM & (C) 2006 TriStar Pictures Inc. All Rights Reserved. Mongoose Publishing Ltd. Authorised User. Reproduction of any part of this work by any means without the written permission of the publisher is expressly forbidden. Printed in China.

CONTENTSIntroduction 2The Mobile Infantry 3The Threat to Humanity 4Campaigns of the Mobile Infantry 5Units of the Mobile Infantry 7Hobby Section 11Platoon Level Forces 20Power Suit Platoons 22Marauder Platoons 28Exosuit Platoons 35Auxiliary Units 40Weapons List 48Company Level Forces 53Heroic Traits 55Emplacement Assets 58Mobile Infantry Reference Guide 60

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IntroductionIntroduction

INTRODUCTIONToday, mankind faces a battle for survival. In the galaxy, there is a war among the species and there can now only be one victor. The scourge of the Arachnids washes over entire worlds and even the Skinnies are showing signs of full mobilisation. There is only one force that can stand against these threats and all the other dangers lurking in the universe. The Mobile Infantry are the best trained and best equipped troops in Earth’s history and they are all that stand between the human race and oblivion.

Over the years, the Mobile Infantry has been trained to fi ght insurgents, terrorists, disgruntled colonists and even the extra-terrestrial onslaught of the Skinnies. Now the danger has worsened and mankind looks to the Mobile Infantry for security.

Ready to deploy on any world of the known universe, even the far reaches of Klendathu itself, the Mobile Infantry can take on any foe of any size or shape. Utilising the latest military hardware developed by SICON and trained to the peak of human endurance there is no mission the versatile troopers cannot accomplish.

The Mobile Infantry Army BookThis army book provides a full update to the Mobile Infantry lists found in the main Starship Troopers rulebook. Here you will fi nd all the tools you will require when fi ghting the Arachnids, Skinnies and new alien menaces soon to make their presence known.

The Mobile Infantry Army Book contains the following sections.

Forces of the Federation: Overview of the military within the United Citizens’ Federation, including some of their famous campaigns and most dangerous foes.

Army List: The complete Mobile Infantry army list, allowing you to use all the units, equipment and vehicles in the Starship Troopers miniatures game.

Hobby Section: Packed with photographs of gorgeously painted Mobile Infantry models, these pages contain tips on painting, colour schemes and markings.

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The Mobile InfantryThe Mobile Infantry

THE MOBILE INFANTRY

The best-trained, best-equipped military force mankind has ever deployed, the Mobile Infantry are the culmination of thousands of years of warfare, technological development and tactical innovation. Capable of dropping into any warzone with extreme rapidity, troopers are encased within power suits that provide protection against enemy fi repower and provide the mobility that gives the army its name.

Even the basic trooper is equipped to deal with most threats he is likely to encounter on the battlefi eld without having recourse to call for heavy support. His power suit has jump jets which allow him to soar from point to point, keeping the enemy off balance. It also provides full life support assistance, allowing a trooper to keep fi ghting even in the void of space, and its visor-mounted tactical display gives him up-to-the second tactical updates that show the ebb and fl ow of battle in real time.

The trooper’s standard issue Morita rifl e has the penetrating power of early tripod-mounted machine guns but, tied into the power suit’s targeting array, is far more accurate. It features an underslung grenade launcher that increases its versatility with a variety of selectable warheads, ranging from the simple but effective fl echette to the truly lethal bugshot.

Should a squad of troopers prove insuffi cient to counter a tactical threat, a wide variety of options exist to upgrade their combat effectiveness. Variant models of the Morita include carbines for close-in fi ghting or long-barrelled sniper rifl es that can pick off an enemy from great distances. Heavier weaponry appears in the form of Javelin missile launchers, Hel fl amers or Triple Thud grenade launchers, each of which enhances a squad’s fi repower to such an extent that a mere eight men can be capable of stalling an entire Arachnid warrior bug swarm.

Heavier support options exist, for battling an enemy so numerous that even power suit squads may prove insuffi cient. The near-legendary Marauder suits defi ne the Mobile Infantry in the eyes of many citizens of the Federation. Encased within a ten-foot armoured battle suit, a trooper driving a Marauder gains the fi repower of an entire squad and is easily the equal of a several main battle tanks fi elded by human armies in the distant past. Retaining the jump jets of the much lighter power

suits, Marauders keep the mobility necessary for a trooper to fi ght effectively but provide him with much larger weapons. A single Marauder will stall a swarm of warrior bugs but a squad of them will drive the Arachnids straight back into their holes and many are powerful enough to engage even the largest alien creatures such as the dreaded plasma and tanker bugs.

Even an organisation such as the Mobile Infantry cannot fi ght alone, no matter how well-equipped its soldiers. Forming just one military arm of SICON (the Strategically Integrated Coalition of Nations), the Mobile Infantry can rely on the support of the Fleet and of Military Intelligence.

The Fleet controls the space lanes of the Federation and is responsible for ferrying Mobile Infantry companies from one warzone to another. In battle, troopers can rely on the Fleet providing them with air cover with TAC Fighters and a quick egress with shuttles and drop boats should their positions threaten to be overwhelmed. The offi cers of the Fleet do not always see eye to eye with the ordinary trooper but both are reliant on the other if they are to achieve victory in war.

Military Intelligence is a more mysterious organisation, its members commanding great respect among both Fleet offi cers and the Infantry. Specialists can harness incredible psychic talent, allowing them to track the movements of tunnelling Arachnids or drain a captive Skinnie of vital intelligence. Others are skilled at analysis and spend thousands of man-hours planning each invasion of a new world in minute detail.

Together, the Fleet, Mobile Infantry and Military Intelligence form the backbone that protects humanity from the dangers of the galaxy. However, it is the Mobile Infantry that remains at the frontline, the fi rst to respond to threats and the last to retreat from a world that lost to alien invaders. They are both the surgeon’s knife that targets an enemy where it is most vulnerable and the hammer that can smash entire armies apart. The greatest war machine humanity has ever created is now the tool for its very survival.

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The Threat to HumanityThe Threat to Humanity

THE THREAT TO HUMANITY

While the Arachnids are undoubtedly the most visible and terrifying threat facing the Federation, they are not the only one, for the enemies of peace are many. The Mobile Infantry are called to fi ght, time and again, and must be trained to deal with any enemy, from a massive Arachnid horde to a few desperate colonists holding SICON offi cials hostage in their outpost.

The Trouble With SkinniesInitially encountered as a race enslaved by the Arachnids, the Skinnies are an enigma. They are often encountered as raiders, attacking opportunistically whenever human activity strays too close to their own colonies, though they have also aided the Mobile Infantry when the Arachnids are close. Recently, the Skinnies have proven to be rather more of a threat than was initially believed.

Recent attacks on human colonies in the Udora and Memphis systems have been blamed on Skinnie ‘soldiers’, rather than the more humble raiders and militia normally encountered. SICON analysts considered these attacks to be part of a co-ordinated campaign rather than just small scale raids, suggesting that the raiding parties of the past are by no means the only Skinnie forces at large in the galaxy.

Until more information can be gathered, Military Intelligence has refused to declare defi nitively whether a genuine campaign is being waged by the Skinnies but it seems possible and some in SICON talk openly of a war on two fronts, with the Federation caught between Arachnids and Skinnies.

The Constant Threat–Traitors and RebelsBefore the attack on Buenos Aires, the Mobile Infantry’s greatest threat was from within. Seldom acknowledged on FedNet or via offi cial SICON channels, insurrection is by no means uncommon in the Federation. Holding together the dozens of

worlds and hundreds of outposts that combine to make the Federation is a near impossible task and many move towards independence for no reason other than a feeling of neglect. Other rebellions are more purposeful, with political dissenters resisting Federation rule or greedy and ambitious governors seeking to take a bigger share of power for themselves. In a two-tier system of civilian and citizen, it is perhaps inevitable that inequality would give rise to distrust and disobedience.

Regardless of its root causes, rebellion is always put down ruthlessly by the Mobile Infantry. In a galaxy where mankind is under attack from a threat as terrifying and alien as the Arachnids, it may seem insane to send the Mobile Infantry to fi ght other humans but without the strong backbone of the Federation there would be little left to defend and so its integrity must be maintained at all times, no matter the cost. Since all voting citizens have performed military service, public support for any action against insurrectionists is every bit as high as support for action against the Arachnids, and so long as citizens remain in control of the Federation, dissent will simply not be tolerated.

The Threat to SurvivalSince the discovery of the Arachnids on Pluto, this race has grown from a mere nuisance to a threat large enough to threaten mankind’s very hold on the galaxy. Without exception, contact between human and Arachnid has been marked by violence. Arachnids attack humans on sight and their appetite for bloodshed seems insatiable. While this threat remains, the Mobile Infantry adopt the same vigorous tactics and aggressively root out all Arachnids. While so much as a single Arachnid survives, mankind is in danger and so the threat must be exterminated utterly. The Arachnids must be removed from the galaxy and, ultimately, that is the job the Mobile Infantry remains dedicated to completing, no matter the challenge.

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Campaigns of the Mobile InfantryCampaigns of the Mobile Infantry

After this, a broad front was created at the very limits of Federation space, where SICON would target a small number of worlds for assault. Each would then be attacked by a separate task force, with the aim of destroying any Arachnid infestation before setting up a new colony. This would then serve as a launch pad for a fresh assault yet further from the core of the Federation.

Though the Federation had to provide some heavy incentives to fi nd enough people willing to create a new life in a colony so close to the Arachnids (including offering Citizenship at one point, though this was quickly vetoed), it has so far proved a solid strategy. The primary aim is to destroy the Arachnid threat once and for all, taking many years to reclaim worlds one by one until humanity, once again, stands on the threshold of Klendathu, ready this time to deliver a fi nal assault that will smash the bugs forever. However, SICON has a longer strategic aim that will surpass the lifetime of any human alive today. By building new colony worlds slowly and steadily, SICON ensures that not only will the new territory be resistant to counter-attacks from alien forces but that when the Arachnids are fi nally destroyed, mankind will have a productive empire that will stretch across an almost unimaginable region of the galaxy. From such a position, it is assumed mankind will fi nally be unassailable, with no threat in the galaxy able to challenge his position of ultimate authority and strength.

The Tophet CampaignSkinnies had been seen on the borders of Federation space for many years but it was left to a campaign on Tophet to uncover hard scientifi c evidence of their capabilities and intentions. A routine patrol including the legendary Roughnecks was made with a view to using the planet as a staging post in the ongoing Road to Victory.

Initial reconnaissance on a planet within the Tophet system revealed the presence of the apparently indigenous Skinnies and fi rst contact was made. Initially, the aliens appeared friendly, or at least non-hostile, and the Mobile Infantry continued their patrol without further regard for the Skinnies. That was the Mobile Infantry’s fi rst mistake…

Having lulled the Mobile Infantry into a false sense of security, the Skinnies unleashed dozens of ambushes, cutting off their patrols and throwing the entire Tophet mission into chaos. Arachnid activity on the planet suddenly increased, leaving

The Mobile Infantry have a long and noble history defending Mankind against its own worst excesses. Now, as the Federation reaches for the stars, alien races press in from all sides and SICON fi nds itself in a constant state of war. The encounter with the Arachnids on Pluto was just the start of a series of campaigns that placed the entire Federation on a war footing. Now, battles with other sentient races of the galaxy erupt across many worlds throughout space as the war for the species grows in intensity.

This section takes a look at some of the hardest won campaigns the Mobile Infantry have been involved in, battles that cost the lives of many troopers but, at the same time, accelerated Mankind’s hold on its tiny region of the galaxy.

The Aftermath of the Road to VictoryKlendathu was a watershed, not just for the Mobile Infantry who bore the greatest losses that day, but for the Federation as a whole. Until the invasion, there had never been any doubt in the mind of citizen and civilian alike that victory was inevitable. After all, the three military arms of SICON had never yet failed and so there was no reason to believe that mere animals such as the Arachnids could pose any signifi cant threat. The destruction of Buenos Aires fuelled a desire for revenge that, in retrospect, led to a swelling pride begging to be brought low.

Interest in the Alpha Hydrae system that contained the Arachnids’ homeworld of Klendathu persisted a while after the aborted invasion as various plans to fi ght the bugs, capture brains and employ new technologies were tried. Some operations were successful. Many were not. However, mankind’s hold on the system, linked to a thin supply line that stretched back to Federation space (the so-called Road to Victory), was too tenuous to maintain for long. The military forces were gradually pulled back to more civilised regions of the galaxy.

The new strategy, initiated by Sky Marshal Keats and continued by Sky Marshal Natonga after his predecessor fell out of favour, was aimed at strengthening the defences of the colony worlds. Already, Arachnid forces were beginning to push at the edges of the Federation and the Mobile Infantry were immediately deployed to rescue colonists who had been cut off by these thrusts and retake their homes.

CAMPAIGNS OF THE MOBILE INFANTRY

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Campaigns of the Mobile InfantryCampaigns of the Mobile Infantry

the beleaguered Mobile Infantry in a dire situation indeed. It would prove to be the Roughnecks themselves who held the key to defeating the Skinnies. In the process, they made a most unexpected discovery. The Roughnecks captured T’Phai, an important Skinnie leader and, fi nding all normal interrogation methods insuffi cient, subjected T’Phai to psychic scrutiny at the hands of a telepathic trooper, Private Carl Jenkins.

What Jenkins discovered was a revelation. T’Phai’s psyche revealed two voices—the Skinnie’s own and a second, more alien one. Further investigation revealed the presence of a small control bug, a tiny Arachnid creature which had hidden itself on T’Phai’s body and taken control of his mind. With the removal of the control bug, T’Phai became not only cooperative but friendly and with his assistance the Mobile Infantry were able to form a temporary alliance with the Skinnies, removing control bugs from many of them and thus turning the tide of battle against the Arachnids on this world.

Since then, both the Fleet and the Mobile Infantry have reported several encounters with the Skinnies, both as friend and foe. The exact motives of the Skinnies still remains unclear to Military Intelligence but they have been classifi ed as an inconsequential threat, allowing more resources to be moved to the frontline against the Arachnids.

The Gobicahn CampaignSettlement missions fi rst ventured to the Gobicahn system, approximately twelve light years to the galactic east of Earth. This was a region of space that hung unusually far beneath the galactic disk to create the spectacle of an almost pure black sky above the system’s worlds. Separate colonies were founded on three different worlds, and over a two year period more than three hundred thousand settlers populated Gobicahn.

With the population thriving and beginning to grow, a second colonisation was planned for the nearby Kolai system. A program of outpost building was undertaken on Kolai and settlement began. Then disaster struck.

Without warning, Arachnids washed over Kolai’s fl edgling settlements, slaughtering colonists in their wake. When the Mobile Infantry arrived just three weeks later, they found the Arachnids’ tunnel networks already extensive. The bugs, it was surmised, had come not recently to Kolai but had been present throughout mankind’s settlement of the system, biding their time to strike. The bugs fi nally attacked, catching the hapless population unaware and bringing terror to the system. This strategy showed considerable cunning on the part of the Arachnids though there were those in SICON who, fi nally, had

begun to come to terms with the military intelligence of the bugs after the disaster on Klendathu.

With the Federation on the back foot, the Mobile Infantry could do little more than aid in the evacuation of Kolai back to Gobicahn and other nearby systems, while the world of Kolai itself was effectively surrendered to the bugs.

The Arachnids, present in incalculable numbers, also made the journey to Gobicahn aboard colossal transport bugs. They fell hungrily on Gobicahn’s populated worlds and months of confl ict with the Mobile Infantry ensued. Commitments to other military efforts on the borders of the Federation, along with Gobicahn’s isolated location, meant that in the initial phases of the campaign, the Mobile Infantry found themselves stretched perilously thin. Brave resistance actions, notably by the 18th Battalion ‘Mad Dogs’ and the reserve platoons of the White Khans, bought the time needed for reinforcements to arrive.

Though less heralded than Klendathu and covered only briefl y on FedNet, Gobicahn was in fact the greater success of the two and the arriving reinforcements led a highly effective campaign of extermination, eventually driving the Arachnids out of the system entirely. Still, the population had been decimated and the suffering of the survivors meant that the once fl ourishing colonies of Gobicahn quickly withered away. Nowadays, Gobicahn is nothing more than another dangerous frontier of the Federation, one patrolled all the more now the reach of the Arachnids is known.

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