Mobile Infantry – Anatomy of a Fighting Force

The Mobile Infantry are a vast fighting machine numbering dozens of battle groups across the Federation. However, that said, compared to contemporary modern military as we know it today they are a remarkably small and compact organisation that proportionally number a high percentage of actual fighting men and women compared to a small number of ancillaries and support functions. This is summed up by the Mobile Infantries well know creed “Everybody Fights…” and they literally mean it. When the MI make a combat drop everybody drops; chefs, technicians, padre’s, officers, everyone. They only personnel you would find left aboard ship after a drop would be the navy crew and anyone too sick or injured to actually fight.

For my own little corner of the Federation I have based my forces on the 3^rd Company of the Seventh Battalion. Three Platoons in all with supporting air assets provided by fleet. Over the past few weeks hopefully you will have seen this task force grow from the initial wave of models. As Mongoose release more additions to the Mobile Infantry range for Starship Troopers over the coming months I will include them here also as I have plenty of plans for the Madcats yet, not to mention a few other squads.

Cast and crew.

Delivering the 3^rd Company into battle and supporting them from orbit is the CVG 617 “Tennessee”, a corvette sized troop ship of similar size and design to the Rodger Young and New Hampshire. The Tennessee carries enough berths to house the whole 3^rd Company, albeit in somewhat cramped confines along with loading bays for the Tennessee’s complement of Slingshot Recovery Ships and Skyhooks. Not as big or well equipped as the larger transports and flagship carriers in the fleet, such as the Valley Forge or Ypres, the Tennessee nevertheless is more than capable of being deployed quickly and effectively into any combat arena.

Third Company is made up from three Platoons of Mobile Infantry (MI), each commanded by a Ranking Lieutenant or NCO. Overall Company command is held by Captain Fuller who is the most senior MI officer aboard the Tennessee. Command of the Tennessee itself is of course under the control of Fleet and specifically Captain Marquez and her flight team. As there can only ever be one captain aboard ship, captain Fuller carries the honorary rank of Major when dining north of bulkhead thirty.

The gang shown here is a 2000 point selection I chose from my overall force for the Starship Troopers ‘Alpha Strike’ Tournament and consists of Alpha and Bravo squads from First Platoon and Echo squad from Third Platoon. The force is additionally reinforced with a SICON Military Intelligence Agent and the CHAS Hotel-Two.

First Platoon “McBride’s Madcats”

First Platoon is the fighting primary of 3^rd Company and is divided into three Cap Trooper squads;  Alpha, Bravo and Charlie. Alpha squad, ably led by Career Sgt Mueller and backed up by Cpl Ngara contains six other Cap Troopers in Power Suits. Bravo squad, led by Sgt DiSanto is slightly smaller still having a couple of berths to fill from casualties and Charlie squad is currently stood down as non-operational due to losses until fresh meat can be brought aboard when the Tennessee next hits port. Two ancillary support units are also assigned to the Madcats in the form of two CHAS units; Hotel-Two and Hotel-Six.

Platoon commander for the Madcats is 2^nd Lt McBride, a career ground-pounder and survivor of the ill-fated Hydora campaign.

Second Platoon

Second Platoon is currently rotated out for R&R at Sanctuary Station.

Third Platoon

Third Platoon of the Madcats consists entirely of the companies Marauder Suits. With a couple of suits down checked for maintenance and repair, third platoon currently operates as a single strike package consisting of three M8 ‘Ape’ Marauders and a single M9 ‘Chickenhawk’. The squad ‘Echo’ is led by Sgt Hall and third platoon’s senior Sgt Chandula.

What’s with the colours?

A lot of folks seem to ask whether Cap Troopers in the SST miniatures game should be painted green, or whether other schemes are ok? The first and most important rule is that they are your models and you can paint them however you like. In this instance I chose a desert beige scheme for McBride’s Madcats, however there are plenty of other schemes that could be done also. In a large part the look of the Cap Troopers and the game is based on the CGI Roughnecks series and one thing that comes out from the various campaigns featured in the series is that the Mobile Infantry squads are very individual, and that can include their look. The green and black most commonly associated with Cap Troopers just happens to be the colours of the ‘Roughnecks’, hence its popularity. However there are others. Zulu team for example can be seen in a zebra striped scheme, Andrews Aces in beige and the aloof Echo team in a sombre shadow grey. Some of these other schemes I will cover in the future along with the Roughnecks themselves should a character boxed set ever be released by Mongoose.

Until next time, happy gaming.