Appendix A - The Imperial Commonwealth:

One part of the Ion Age background that has been deliberatly left blank is the powerful Imperial Commonwealth from which the Free Companies split. The rationale behind this was so gamers could utilise collections of figures from other manufacturers (maybe even another one based in Nottingham!) without having an official background providing contradictions that made this impossible.

However, we felt that the possibilities of the Imperial Commonwealth were such that they deserved to be looked at and as a consequence we have developed some background, rules and stats for this mysterious power bloc. We would stress that what follows is not part of the "official" background for the Ion Age and is purely the product of our imaginations and this is why we have included these ideas at the back of the rules instead of in the main body. If you want to develop something totally different that fits in with your ideas or preferences, please do so.

Background:

The Imperial Commonwealth sprang out of a coup d'etat against humanity's Emperor Alexander and the Imperial Corps of Pioneers and Rangers (the forerunners of the Crusaders and Templars). Led by the Colonial Overlords, over 80% of the Human Empire fell to the coup, the remaining 20% banding together to form the Free Companies. For over a thousand years the Colonial Elite have dedicated the Imperial Commonwealth to colonial ambitions and the pursuit of a holy war against both the renegade Free Companies and the alien Shia Khan.

The military organisation of the Imperial Commonwealth has many parallells with the Free Companies betraying their common heritage, but there are aspects to the Imperial set up that is unique:

The Nauta Astrada: the Imperial equivalent of the Free Companies Crusaders, an elite force of highly motivated armoured troopers dedicated to the holy war against all of the Commonwealth's enemies. Most troopers carry Bolt Guns.

The Custodia Imperium: the regular infantry of the Commonwealth, their role on the battlefield has of late tended to be replaced by the more expendable Militare Stemma. Current Commonwealth practise tends to use the Custodia Imperium as garrison troops on occupied worlds to defend against Free Company and Shia Khan raids. Most troopers carry Laser Rifles, though some units carry Bolt Guns.

The Militare Stemma: the gene soldiers of the Imperial Commonwealth. Not the greatest on the battlefield, but expendable, cheap and available in huge numbers from the Commonwealth gene pooling factories. The gene soldiers are usually equipped with Laser Rifles.

Organisation:

Imperial Commonwealth Fireteams are organised as follows:

Initiative:

Initiative factors for Imperial Commonwealth forces are as follows:

Firing:

The Defence Factors and Weapons tables for the Imperial Commonwealth are as follows:

Defence Factors:

Imperial Commonwealth defence factors are as follows:

Weapons Tables:

For heavy weapons, use Free Company equivalents to that which your model is carrying.

Hand to Hand Combat:

Modifiers to hand to hand combat are as follows:

Morale:

Imperial Commonwealth Morale factors are as follows:

Ambushes:

The Ambush spotting modifiers for Imperial Commonwealth troops are as follows:

Snipers:

The Sniper spotting modifiers are as follows:

Suggested Models:

Dependent on what scale you play High Crusade in there is a wide variety of miniatures available to use to represent Imperial Commonwealth forces.

In 25mm you may find the Rafm Reaction Marines from their Star Khan line are just what you're looking for to represent the Nauta Astrada. A good range of space marine types, they are available from Robinson Imports in the UK. If you are looking to keep costs down in 25mm then you may well find Hobbygames plastic Space Rangers (which cost out at 20p a figure) a worthwhile investment. These are available from a wide selection of hobby stores.

In 15mm we would suggest you check out the old Laserburn and Asgard SF ranges available from Tabletop Miniatures, a large, good quality and cheap range of SF figures including Marines, Troopers, Civilians, Law Officers etc.

© Wessex Games 1994, 2000