Imperial Army/Legends

"The Emperor's army is infinite."

- Rahm Kota

The Imperial Army was a branch of the Imperial Military that had the primary responsibility of prosecution of ground-side military operations, under the oversight of Army Command. Numbering in the tens of trillions, the Army utilized a wide range of equipment and vehicles in support of its infantry. Army units were often reinforced by stormtroopers, although the command structure for the two organizations remained separate. On garrisoned worlds, the Army operated in conjunction with Imperial Starfleet, stormtroopers, and the local constabulary to maintain order and security.

History
Formed through the reorganization of the non-clone Republic Army, the Imperial Army was initially composed of the Judicial Forces and Planetary Security Forces, both of which had been combined through nationalization and amalgamation under the Galactic Empire. During the Imperial era, one of the Army's most common duties was the maintenance of planetary garrisons throughout the galaxy, as well as waging war on the Alliance to Restore the Republic.

After the defeat of the Emperor, the Army would be split up between various Imperial warlords up until the Imperial Reunification. A century later, the split of the Fel Empire and the new Imperial Civil War would also lead to the splitting of the Imperial Army among the two factions.

Recruitment and Training
Initially the Army accepted recruits from worlds across the Empire, though this policy was changed in wake of several high-profile defections to the Rebel Alliance. Emphasis was then placed on recruiting from the Core Worlds, especially with regards to officer candidates, and those which bordered the Imperial Core. Frontier and primitive worlds were also targeted for recruitment drives, the latter especially for filling the ranks with expendable assault troops, although some care had to be taken to weed out Rebel sympathizers. Those worlds which had been subject to Imperial bombardment or assault within recent memory, and those with a strong liberal or independent tradition, were considered breeding grounds for the Rebellion and avoided altogether.

Potential recruits would be screened at their local Imperial Recruitment Office, with Screening Officers conducting background checks including looking into the candidate's school reports and home life. While these officers were instructed to watch for any potential Rebel connections, including family members with Rebel sympathies, suspected Rebel infiltrators were encouraged to join and the Internal Security Bureau informed immediately. Candidates who passed initial screening would then be sent to Training Centers for medical examinations and intelligence assessments.

Where possible recruits would be placed in the branch of service of their choosing, as dissatisfaction with assignment was a major cause of morale problems. However the initial screening tests were used as a guide to help show where a recruit was better suited; for example those with less intelligence were often transferred to the infantry branch. While an entirely different organization those recruits who matched certain criteria would be transferred to the Stormtrooper Corps.

Basic training would take place at one of thousands of drop camps situated across the Empire, each one focused on a different area of operation such as infantry, armor, communications, engineering, et cetera. Physical fitness, equipment maintenance, team-buiding drills and indoctrination were all part of training to become an Army trooper. Survival in a variety of environments, from deserts to swamps to arctic tundra, and under different planetary gravities was standard in most cases. Some drop camps specialized in training units to deal with a specific terrain and atmospheric types, though in these cases most recruits would be drawn from exotic worlds.

Officer training would take place at a number of different Imperial Army Officer Training Academies, although among these Raithal Academy was the most famous for producing the best officers. At Raithal recruits underwent a year of hard, grueling training of intense physical and military exercises. Emphasis was placed on an officer's ability to command men through the two-fold method of leadership - drawing upon their fear of disobeying orders, which was disciplined into them during training, and gaining their respect by example. Psychological examinations were rigorously performed to test the candidate's mettle while a week spent in the interrogation center would simulate the type of treatment they could expect if they fell into enemy hands. Loyalty to the State and the correct balance between self-sacrifice and self-preservation also formed a critical part of officer training.

Organization

 * See Rank insignia of the Galactic Empire for the rank structure of the Imperial Army.



Combat, command and support
As with the rest of the Imperial Service, the Army made a strong distinction between “combat elements”, and “command elements” or “support elements”. Any commander, even a sergeant, was considered part of the "command element" and was not counted among the troopers, despite the fact that they were expected to take part in the fighting. Since unit commanders were considered supernumeraries, the average size of an Imperial Army formation tends to have a larger headcount than an equivalent strength formation in the Grand Army of the Republic.

Augmentation
The uniquely Imperial concept of 'augmentation' was intended to allow the rapid integration of reinforcement units into an existing force while minimizing the number of (relatively scarce) senior officers required.

On a small scale, augmentation could be compared to unit “attachments”, while on a larger scale it could be compared to an active cadre for reserve divisions. The full extent of augmentation could be impressive. For example, a baseline armored battlegroup had 10,090 troops out of 16,346 total, with 1,132 repulsorlift vehicles and 318 tanks. If every unit was augmented to its full capacity, a full-strength armored battlegroup would have 318,062 troops out of 324,318 total, with with 36,084 repulsorlift vehicles and 14,480 tanks.

Augmentation proceeded according to that unit's official Order of Battle (OB), especially for units of company-size and larger; a line company was augmented first by a heavy weapons platoon, followed by a second heavy weapons platoon, and then two line platoons. In rare instances an Army unit was augmented in ways other than dictated by the OB. The most common happened when an army commander organized survivors from a battle, creating haphazard units regardless of the OB. The second was when units were augmented with local auxiliaries. Finally a commander could order a special augmentation which he felt was critical to accomplishing his mission. If he succeeded his superiors would overlook this infraction, while failure meant he faced harsh justice.

Augmentation at the lower levels was more fluid. A squad could be augmented with another squad, in which case the sergeant of the first squad was given the brevet rank of "lead sergeant." More often squads were augmented with a heavy weapons detail. Doctrinally platoons followed the same augmentation process as larger units, but in practice were far more flexible, often swapping units with other platoons or fielding extra equipment taken from the parent company.

Perhaps in an effort to facilitate this process, support in the Army was noticeably decentralized. For example, armored and repulsorlift platoons included organic mechanic sections not accounted for in the order of battle (OB), while higher command did not have the usual assortment of support units common in other militaries.

Augmented squads operated together with another squad. Usually, squads were augmented with an additional three-man detail, armed with a heavy or medium repeating blaster.

Squad
The nine basic types of squads were the building blocks of the Army. Each squad consisted of eight Imperial Army troopers and was commanded by a sergeant. The other eight troopers were given the numbers one through eight, with number one being a brevet corporal and second-in-command. Both sharpshooter and engineering squads were part of “Special Missions” units. Regular Imperial units did not have designated marksmen or engineering support. The symbol for this level of organization was:|

Line Squad
Infantry units were called “line” units in the Army, and the line squad was considered the backbone of the army. However, high losses against the Rebel Alliance caused the Empire to rethink how they could improve the line squad as cost-effectively as possible. This led to the process of equipping each squad with a Light repeating blaster to increase their short range firepower. However, only in three Sectors were more than half of the squads equipped with these blasters by the time of the Battle of Yavin.

Heavy Weapons Squad
These squads were armed with either two- to three-man Medium repeating blasters or three-man Heavy repeating blasters. Heavy Weapons squads were usually attached to other platoons in order to provide additional firepower.

Sharpshooter Squad
These squads consisted of Special Missions troopers who had shown accuracy above standard with their weapons and could "reach out and touch" the enemy at a distance. Each trooper also received basic demolition and other training, and while not officially part of their order of battle practically every squad included a light repeating blaster. Due to their above average skill sets and training, the brevet corporal would be chosen prior to deployment based on the type of mission the squad was assigned, while each trooper was expected to improvise on the battlefield should both NCOs be incapacitated.

Engineering Squad
Engineering Squads were composed of Special Missions troopers trained in a variety of combat engineering skills. Engineering squads were expected to get into, get around or go over any obstacle through the creative use of explosives. As the only Imperial tech-squad directly involved in combat they were also expected to be able to operate, repair and dismantle nearly any equipment and gear found on a mission. One of the squad's members would also be a demolition expert with experience operating as part of the sharpshooter squad, making them doubly dangerous. These squads had no standard gear, and would use anything they could get their hands on, such as thermal detonators, medpacs or Portable Sensor Arrays.

Repulsorlift Squad
These mechanized squads had the same composition as line squads with the addition of two light repulsorlift transports. Each vehicle had a crew of four, consisting of a mechanic, a driver, a sensor/tech officer and a gunner/commander. The sergeant's vehicle was equipped with an additional DER and operator located in the transport compartment.

Heavy Weapons Repulsorlift Squad
Heavy Weapons Repulsorlift Squads had additional armaments built into their vehicles, such as a heavy repeating blaster, a 4.4 grenade launcher or light laser cannon. These weapons could be dismounted and used by the infantry for additional firepower.

Scout Squad (Lance)
A scout squad was also called a scout “lance”. Consisting of five personnel including the sergeant, they were generally equipped with speeder bikes. Scout troopers were trained to repair and maintain their bikes, which reduced the need for support personnel. In contrast to the more usual practice, the Empire emphasized unit heritage and pride in its scout squads, which were often recruited from worlds with a strong tradition of mounted warriors.



Armor and Artillery Sections
There were two types of armor and artillery sections: heavy and light. Heavy sections consisted of one vehicle. Light sections had two vehicles, but those vehicles were individually smaller than the one in the heavy section. Artillery sections could be assigned to provide support for another platoon if the commander had time before a battle to plan, but armor sections only ever acted as part of an armored platoon.

Platoon
Platoons were commanded by lieutenants, assisted by a Sergeant Major as deputy. A platoon consisted of four squads, giving it strength of 38 men, although this varied depending on the kind of platoon. During the Rise of the Empire period, the amount of troopers per platoon generally encompassed 32 troopers. The symbol for a platoon is a kind of L.

A platoon was authorized to request fire support but, typically, not directly. The centralized fire support scheme required the request to be routed up to battalion level, where arrangements were made. Often, an artillery company was assigned to several platoons in a process known as "grafting." The company’s captain then had to allocate his fire support depending on the battle situation.

Mechanized units were a blanket term covering repulsorlift and heavy weapons repulsorlift units, as well as armored platoons. These units included specialized and distinct command vehicles, in addition to maintenance sections in transport vehicles.

Line Platoon
The line platoon was the standard light infantry formation of four line squads for a total of 38 troopers. Prior to combat, the lieutenant was suppose to assign his sergeant major to the squad that would come under the most pressure, and move between squads as the battle dictated. In practice the more pragmatic lieutenants stayed with one squad and commanded the platoon through their DH77 headcomm and other less-sophisticated methods. Officially it could be augmented with four additional line squads for a total of 74 troopers.

Assault Platoon
Also known as a heavy weapons platoon, this unit was made up of two line squads and two heavy weapon squads. Usually up to two or three additional medium or heavy repeating blaster details were assigned to this kind of platoon. It had strength of 38 to 47 men with an average of 41. Fully augmented it included two armor sections and two additional line squads.

Artillery Platoon
Also called a line, this platoon had four artillery sections with either four heavy or medium artillery pieces, like the SPMA-T, or eight light vehicles. The standard complement was 38 men and 4 to 8 vehicles. It could be augmented with two additional artillery sections, a line squad and a heavy weapons squad.

Repulsorlift Platoon
This Platoon contained four repulsorlift squads (one of which was a heavy weapons squad) and a command element, together 56 men and 11 vehicles. The command element served as mobile command base and coordination center and consisted of two modiefed light transport vehicles with heavier armor and more powerful repulsors to compensate. In combat the lieutenant's vehicle operated from where he could best direct the platoon while the sergeant major's was assigned to the lead squad. The platoon also included a support vehicle which carried spare parts. It was operated by a crew of four (who doubled as mechanics) and carried eight technicians. Augmented platoons include two more repulsorlift squads and two more heavy weapons repulsorlift squads.

Heavy Weapons Repulsorlift Platoon
This was similar to a repulsorlift platoon, but was entirely composed of heavy weapon repulsorlift squads, and could be augmented with four more heavy weapon repulsorlift squads.

Armor Platoon
Armor Platoons were composed of repulsorlift tanks, the equivalent vehicle or walkers. Like the artillery platoons, these platoons had either four heavy vehicles or eight medium or light ones, with the heavy configuration being the most common. The lieutenant rode in a modified medium command tank (often having a second crewman to wield a heavy repeating blaster) that allowed for superior visibility in conducting the battle. The sergeant major was assigned to either another vehicle or to protect the support element, two Heavy Transport Vehicles that carried spare parts and resupply components. Each HTV was crewed by three crewmen/mechanics and carried four technicians. Together a platoon consisted of 34 to 42 men and 7 to 11 vehicles, but could be augmented to include four more armor sections.

Special Mission Platoon
Special Mission Platoons were organized much like standard line platoons, but designed around accomplishing missions which required a few elite men rather than normal military operations. It was composed of two sharpshooter squads, an engineering squad and a heavy weapons squad, though these squads were often split in equal sub-units, containing troopers of all squads and allowing greater flexibility. Special mission platoons were often used for Political gain operations, and could be augmented with a second engineering squad, two more sharpshooter squads and a second heavy weapons squad.

Scout Platoon
A Scout Platoon consisted of two scout lances, known together as a scout squadron, and two line squads. While the lieutenant was officially in charge of the entire platoon, tradition had him commanding the scout squadron, replacing the sergeant in the command lance, while the sergeant major commanded the infantry. A baseline scout platoon had 29 men and 10 speeder bikes, while a fully augmented platoon had three more scout lances and a third line squad for a total of 53 troopers and 25 speeder bikes.

Company
A Company consisted of four platoons for 152 troops, although at the time of the rise of the Empire, the amount of troopers was around 128. The additional command and logistic staff raised the personnel count to 180 men. Companies were the smallest units where staffs were integrated in the form of specialized medical, technical, and logistic sections, as well as an executive officer also in charge of intelligence. Not surprisingly, various supplementary droids could be found at this level that allowed the unit a certain degree of independence. A captain with a staff of four officers equal to a lieutenant in rank was in command of the company.
 * SC1: Company’s lieutenant (Second-in-command)
 * SC2: Logistics (+8 support personnel and 88 droids)
 * SC3: Medical (+4 support personnel and 8 droids)
 * SC4: Technical (+11 support personnel and 22 droids)

For longer missions where no support would be available, additional droids would be added to the company. The organization symbol of a company was an upside down squarish U.

Line Company
A line company was a standard, run-of-the-mill infantry company, having four line platoons for a total number of 152 troopers and a total of 180 men. It could be augmented with two heavy weapons platoons and two additional line platoons.

Drop Company
Drop companies were essentially line companies given additional support staff and designed to operate independently for missions of up to six weeks. The support staff was given additional training for survival in hazardous environments and taught this information to the troopers. Ideally the enlarged support staff could keep the company going until they run out of ammunition, though realistically keeping the company functional after a month on a planet's surface was considered a good job. The drop company could be augmented first with a heavy weapons platoons, then two additional line platoons, and finally an armor platoon.

Artillery Company (Battery)
With only 23 support personnel and 70 droids, artillery companies or batteries had a smaller staff than other companies. Composed of four artillery platoons, a battery had 16 heavy/medium artillery pieces or 32 light pieces for 152 troops. It could be augmented with two heavy weapons squads and two additional artillery platoons.

Assault Company
Also known as a heavy weapons company, this unit had two assault platoons and two line platoons. Depending on the configuration of the platoons, a heavy weapon company had 152 to 170 troopers, giving it a total strength of 180 to 198 men. The line platoons were all equipped with light repeating blasters, though in later years each platoon replaced one of these for a medium repeating blaster. It could be further augmented with essentially a second assault company of two assault platoons and two line platoons.

Attack Armor Company
This kind of company contained three armor platoons and a heavy weapons platoon. The number of troopers in this company varied from 200 (16 heavy tanks + 9 heavy repulsorlifts) to 232 (28 light tanks + 9 heavy repulsorlifts). Additional, the company had a modified heavy tank as a command vehicle for the captain. Fully augmented companies had an additional armor platoon, followed by a heavy weapons platoon, a line platoon, and finally a third heavy weapons platoon.

Breakthrough Armor Company
Breakthrough armor companies had four armor platoon and a total of 21 to 37 tanks (depending on the platoon’s configuration), one of which was a heavy command tank. Unlike other companies, the support element of this company stayed with the battalion’s headquarters and does not travel into the combat zone. Since the company was usually cut off from any supply lines, the mission profile of a breakthrough company was to break enemy lines and holdings until further troops would arrives. Under these conditions, the company could only operate for a maximum of 72 hours without significant supply problems. Four more armor platoons could augment this company to its full size.

Repulsorlift Company
Consisting of two line platoons and two repulsorlift platoons, a repulsorlift company had 188 troops, 32 support personnel, 22 combat vehicles, 8 transport vehicles and 1 command vehicle. Each repulsorlift platoon carried the line platoons for deployment in combat. An augmented company could have a scout platoon, two additional repulsorlift platoons and a line platoon.

Special Missions Company
Three special mission platoons and an augmented scout platoon made a special missions company. It had a command element of 28 and 136 troops, with support personnel omitted if the mission was of short duration. The augmented scout platoon was smaller than a normal scout platoon but consisted entirely of scout lances. They were also modified to carry additional spare parts and munitions, and generally saw far more combat than scout platoons normally saw. Each company could be augmented with two additional special mission platoons and two repulsorlift platoons.

These companies operated on planets considered hostile to the Empire, even those nominally a part of it, and expected to operate without much support. In rare instances when it was needed, naval support missions of line-size or greater would appear suddenly from hyperspace and launch scores of containers of various sizes onto the planet's surface. Normally only five contained actual supplies, the rest being decoys, and once received the naval support either left or stayed to provide additional orbital support.

Scout Company (Troop)
A scout company, also known as a troop, contained four scout platoons plus the support and command element, for a total of 116 troopers and 40 speeder bikes. The whole command element was mobile, using high-powered command speeders instead of bikes, as was the support element, though it was smaller than in other company types due to the independent nature and "lean and mean" mentality of scout troops. Scout troops could be enlarged with four additional scout platoons.

Battalion
A Battalion was commanded by a Major and considered the smallest military unit appropriate for surface operations, the exception being if stormtroopers were also included in deployment. Command and support elements were pooled together and, unlike company command elements, stayed out of the battle zone. The size of the support staff was double that of a company and included five staff officers equal to a captain in rank.
 * SB1: Battalion’s captain (Second-in-Command, Intelligence)
 * SB2: Logistics (+16 support personnel)
 * SB3: Medical (+8 support personnel)
 * SB4: Technical (+22 support personnel)
 * SB5: Security (+38 security platoon)

A security platoon was considered a support unit, not a combat unit, and maintained order within the battalion. Usually commanded by the SB5 officer, the major could assume command of the platoon if the HQ was under attack. The total personnel of a standard battalion HQ was 90 men and 145 droids, which included around 97 mouse droids. A battalion's symbol was a rectangle. During the rise of the Empire era, a battalion consisted of 512 troopers.

Line Battalion
That was the most common type of battalion used by the Imperial Army. A line battalion contained three line companies and one heavy weapons company. That made a total of 810 men including 608 troopers, 18 more if the heavy weapons company was fully equipped. It could be augmented with two additional line companies and heavy weapon companies.

Assault Battalion
Assault Battalions were used in urban environments and attacks on a single enemy stronghold. In addition, they were given priority over line battalion when it came to artillery support from artillery or capital ships. With one line company, two heavy weapons companies and a repulsorlift company and with one assault company always fully equipped, the assault battalion had a strength of 662 troopers, 206 support personnel and 31 repulsorlift vehicles. Augmented battalions had an additional line company, heavy weapon company, artillery battery and repulsorlift company.

Repulsorlift Battalion
The main advantage of this battalion was its speed with three repulsorlift companies and a scout troop. It was also one of the few battalions with an entirely mobile HQ. These battalions could be used for recon, pursuit, skirmish and lighter raids. It only entered battles when additional firepower was needed. The total strength was 680 troopers, 272 support personnel, 115 repulsorcraft (18 of them attached to the HQ) and 40 speeder bikes. Additional units could include an armor company and three more repulsorlift companies.

Artillery Battalion
An artillery battalion had three artillery batteries and, as protection, a heavy weapons company. A full battalion had 608 troopers, 202 support personnel, 96 light or 48 medium/heavy artillery pieces and several other repulsorlift vehicles to move the artillery tubes if necessary. Augmented artillery battalions had three additional artillery batteries and a second heavy weapons company.

Armor Battalion
This kind of battalion offered the most effective combination of speed and firepower, although it lacked defensive capabilities at stationary targets. Its primary objective was mobile defense and attack. The composition of an armor battalion was one breakthrough armor company, two attack armor companies and one repulsorlift company. Like a repulsorlift battalion, the HQ was completely mobile. The HQ had 23 additional men and consisted of 24 HTVs. Armor Battalions were divided in ‘light’ and ‘heavy’ battalions, and could be augmented with a second heavy repulsorlift company and three more armor companies.

Light Armor Battalion
In light battalions, the armor companies only had light tanks and more personnel like a heavy battalion. It was deployed in situations where no large enemy forces or heavy defenses could be awaited – a typical situation when fighting the Rebellion. The only drawback was that the there was no landing barge large enough to transport the whole Battalion. Together there were 695 troops, 401 support personnel, 93 light tanks and 55 repulsorlift vehicles.

Heavy Armor Battalion
This was the heavy version of the light battalion. It had roughly half of the tanks, but these were all heavy or medium models. Together there were 601 troopers, 399 support personnel, 53 heavy/medium tanks and 55 repulsorlift vehicles.

Special Missions Battalion
The largest Special Mission formation was the Battalion. Support personnel were support-trained engineers and the staff and the security platoon were all experienced veterans. This was because, unlike all other HQs, the HQ was expected to fight. The total numbers were 544 troops, 202 support personnel and 88 speeder bikes. Four more special missions companies could be used to augment the battalion's size.

Regiment
A Regiment was a combined arms formation containing approximately 2,500 troops and 1,000 support personnel and commanded by a Lieutenant Colonel. The structure and staff complement were the same as a battalion's, but with more droids (>200). A Regimental HQ had a large repair workshop with nanomanufacturing capabilities and was able to produce nearly all needed spare and repair parts. At the time of the rise of the Empire era, a Regiment was composed of 2,048 troopers.

Usually the regiment's headquarters commanded the troops from orbit, unless command continuity was disrupted or the unit was engaged in a long term (over one month) or independent campaign. A regiment's symbol was roughly flag shaped.

Line Regiment
A line regiment contained two line battalions, one assault battalion and one repulsorlift battalion. They were usually stationed on worlds with none or a low threat level. However, by combining assault and repulsorlift battalions, a line regiment could deploy a fast response to an attack without using its whole strength. Together there were 2,558 troops, 972 support personnel and 130 repulsorlift vehicles. Fully augmented line regiments had a second assault battalion, a third line battalion, an artillery battalion and a second repuslorlift battalion.

Assault Regiment
Assault regiments were pure combat units. Their job was to attack and conquer an identified rebel stronghold or area. Once the battle was over, a line regiment would replace the assault regiment. Two assault, one line and one heavy armor battalion made such a regiment with a total of 2,545 troops, 1,001 support personnel, 121 repulsorlift vehicles and 53 heavy tanks. At full strength it also contained a special missions battalion, a second line battalion, a third assault battalion and an artillery battalion.

Repulsorlift Regiment
Repuslorlift regiments were dropped in large areas with light and scattered resistance where there was a need for quick response. Three repulsorlift and one armor battalion made up a repulsorlift regiment and its HQ, which was completely mobile, would drop with the regiment more often than any other. Imperial commanders often used this to tempt rebels into attacking the HQ, seeking to destroy it an render the regiment ineffective, whereupon they were trapped and destroyed. Depending on the size of the armor battalion (heavy or light), the strength of a repulsorlift regiment was 2,641 or 2,735 troops, around 1,305 support personnel, 53 or 93 tanks, 400 repulsorlift vehicles and 120 speeder bikes. Augmented regiments could essentially doubl in size with three more repulsorlift and a second armored battalion.

Artillery Regiment
During the formation of the Imperial Army, artillery had been given the least priority. The common thinking among the army was that artillery would play no significant role on modern battlefields. The Rebellion, however, proved them wrong and attempts were made to quickly revitalize this force. A normal artillery regiment consisted of three artillery battalions, one assault battalion and a scout company. Officially they would be attached to a battlegroup and operate as a single unit, though due to some complaints by junior officers smaller artillery units were assigned at the regimental or battalion level, although this was not reflected in the OB. There were 2,425 troopers, 1,095 support personnel, 144 medium/heavy or 288 light tubes, 53 tanks and 199 repulsorlift vehicles in the most common configuration. It could be expanded with a repulsorlift regiment and three more artillery battalions.

Armor Regiment
Armor regiments had the most firepower of all regiments but they lacked the numbers in infantry for any garrison duty. Because of this, armor regiments had never been deployed alone, only in battlegroup formations. There were two kinds of armor battalions, ‘line’ and ‘vanguard’.

One well-known regiment was the 112th Repulsorlift Armor Regiment commonly known as Hell's Hammers. The Regiment fought at the Battle of Turak IV, Battle of Absit and the Battle of Spuma. It used the S-1 FireHawke Heavy Repulsortank and the 1-H Imperial-class repulsortank.

Vanguard Armor Regiment
A vanguard regiment was composed of three armor battalions and 1 repulsorlift battalion. Together there were 2,483 troopers, 1,559 support personnel, 262 repulsor vehicles and several tanks. Augmented regiments had four additional armored battalions.

Line Armor Regiment
A line armor regiment had more repulsorlift vehicles, but also used more firepower by having heavy armor battalions attached. In two heavy armor battalions and two repulsorlift battalions there were 2,562 troops, 1,432 support personnel, 304 repulsorlift vehicles and 106 heavy tanks. It was expanded with a third repulsorlift battalion, an assault battalion and two additional armored battalions.

COMPNOR Regiment (CompForce)
CompForce regiments (composed of fanatical but ill-trained COMPNOR troops) had the same basic structure as an army line regiment, but without the security platoons or augmentation plan. Their fanaticism and loyalty to the cause was deemed reason enough to dispense with these platoons as unnecessary, which was just one of several reasons the regular army disliked CompForce.

Battlegroup
In the Grand Army of the Republic, many divisions were associated with particular places (such as planets) or beings. The Imperial Service preferred a more 'unified' system. Except for a few elite formations, all Army units were stripped of their old designations. To further highlight the change, the term 'Division' was replaced with 'Battlegroup'. These formations were intended for major offensives and had sufficient strength to assault one major or several lesser points of resistance on a planet. The Stormtrooper Corps equivalent was referred to as a Legion.

A Battlegroup's commanding officer (CO) was typically at least a High Colonel, although it was possible for the CO to be as senior as a Major General (the 1st Tapani Assault Battlegroup was one such example). A Battlegroup had the usual principle staff of five officers of a rank of a major (SG1 to SG5), but in addition the SG5 (Battlegroup "Headquarters" officer) had a 4-man "substaff" (SG51 to SG54). The staff had a total of 188 support personnel and was protected by two security platoons of 76 troopers. At the time of its founding, a Battlegroup was composed of 8,192 troopers.

Line Battlegroup
Battlegroups with three line and one assault regiment were considered “line” formations. However, by the Battle of Tiems this unit was considered obsolescent as the Rebellion grew in strength. Within the military there was much debate about converting all line battlegroups into reinforced battlegroups, but resource and reorganization difficulties prevented any wide-spread changes. A line battlegroup had 10,219 troopers, 4191 support personnel, 511 repulsorcraft and 53 heavy tanks. It could be augmented with two artillery regiments, a fourth line regiment and a repulsorlift regiment.

Reinforced Battlegroup
Also known as an assault battlegroup, reinforced battlegroups consisted of two line regiments, an assault regiment and an armored regiment. These formations were seen as a good mix of offensive power and staying power. They had 10,210 troopers, 4,680 support personnel, 676 repulsorlift vehicles and 212 tanks. Fully augmented it had an artillery regiment, two additional assault regiments and a repulsorlift regiment.

One well-known assault battlegroup during the Galactic Civil War was the 1st Tapani Assault Battlegroup commanded by Major General Tessala Corvae. It was based on the planet Tallaan.

Armored Battlegroup
Armored battlegroups were used to attack the enemy when they had several concentrations of strength spread over a sizeable area. With four armored regiments, the battlegroup could hit these concentrations in succession one or two at a time. There were 10,090 troops, 6,256 support personnel, 1,132 repulsorlift vehicles and 318 tanks in a battlegroup and it could be quickly doubled in size with four more regiments thanks to augmentation.

Mobile Battlegroup
The advantage of this battlegroup was its speed. On planets where the Rebellion held areas close to the Empire’s, this battlegroup could make quick attacks and responses towards enemy attacks. Three repulsorlift regiments and one line armor regiment gave this Battlegroup strength of 10,248 troops, 5,858 support personnel, 1,342 repulsorlift vehicles and 265 heavy tanks. It was augmented with an artillery regiment, two more repulsorlift regiments and a second armor regiment.

Auxiliary Battlegroup
Unlike traditional battlegroups, auxiliaries had no commander and did not operate as a unit. This battlegroup was merely a concentration of available resources for the corps commander and was composed of three CompForce regiments and a Ground Support Wing. In total the battlegroup had 7,674 troopers, 2,456 support personnel, 390 repulsorlift vehicles and 40 TIEs. If needed it could be augmented with three line regiments and a repulsorlift regiment.

Ground Support Wing
The Army insisted on its own wing of support fighters for ground missions, while the Navy wanted to keep control of its TIEs. The result was this downsized wing of 40 TIEs organized into ten flights. Six flights made two squadrons of TIE/LNs, while three flights made a TIE bomber squadron and one flight of TIE/fcs served as spotters. These wings were also stationed in prefabricated garrison bases. The wing had forty pilots, twenty-five sensor techs, twenty-five controllers and one hundred and ten ground crewmen.

Corps
A Corps was commanded by a Major General and considered sufficient force to retake a recently-seceded world, its size being equivalent of four battlegroups. Such worlds still had a sizable loyalist population, while the Rebels had not had enough time to set up an organized defense. Even so, the corps could typically expect to be outnumbered by at least four to one. It was up to the operational skills of Imperial commanders to arrange local superiorities and defeat the enemy in detail. The whole formation could be transported inside a single corps transport, which was one of the seldom examples of cooperation between army and navy.

Each Corps HQ was extensive, with five staff officers (SP1 to SP5) each of which had his own two staff officers (SP11 through SP52). Security for the HQ was provided by a company of 152 men plus six extra perimeter platoons of 38 men each commanded by either the SP1 officer or the general. The 3 COMPNOR regiments assigned to the corps were supported by (an inadequate number of) 144 CompForce personnel organized into three platoons. The remainder of the corps HQ had 388 support personnel including one Imperial Intelligence operative and 50 ISB agents. While both were charged with gathering intelligence, the former often provided fifteen to twenty percent of the intelligence used by the corps while the latter also functioned as political officers. At the time of the Rise of the Empire era, the amount of troopers in a Corps was around 32,768.

The corps HQ also formed the basis of the Imperial garrison of a world, which was why there were more HQs than there were corps in the Imperial Army. These garrison HQs served as organizing points for rapid mobilization, and in a crisis quickly took command of units as they were transferred into the theater of operations. The typical military strength of these HQs was four battalions, with one stormtrooper, one AT-ST and two AT-AT being the most popular, as well as a ground support wing. For garrison duties the HQ also contained numerous civilian personnel, including medical, diplomatic and scientific personnel, who were in practice if not technically under the major general's command.

An industrial complex with over 2000 droids (MSE-6, I2F-5 and I2F-73) was frequently attached to corps HQ as well. The complex was capable of producing almost all of the items required by a corps, from blaster packs to repulsorlift engines, using even the crudest raw material. So long as the complex was kept running, the corps could operate without resupply indefinitely.

Line Corps
There were three line and one assault battlegroup in a line corps for a total of 48,541 troopers, 20,658 support personnel, 2,599 repulsorlift vehicles and at least 371 heavy tanks. It could be expanded with a mobile battlegroup, two more line battlegroups, and an armor battlegroup.

Atrisian Corps
Named after the famous Atrisian Assault Corps of the planet Atrisia that inspired the politics of the Empire, the Atrisian corps were among the elite of the Empire. Such a corps contained two assault battlegroups, a line battlegroup, and an armored battlegroup, giving it 48,403 troops, 3,385 repulsorlifts and 795 heavy tanks. Fully-expanded Atrisian corps added a mobile battlegroup, a third assault battlegroup, a second armor battlegroup and a second line battlegroup.

Armor Corps
This corps was suited for operations where firepower was more needed than agility. Three armor battlegroups and a mobile battlegroup gave the armor corps a strength of 48,192 troops, 26,602 support personnel, 5,128 repulsorcraft and 1,219 heavy tanks. Augmentation could double the corps numbers with three more armor battlegroups and a second mobile

Mobile Corps
A mobile corps was the exact opposite of an armor corps: with its repulsorcraft vehicles the mobile corps could deliver fast strikes against rebel positions. Composed of three mobile and one armor battlegroup, the mobile corps had a strength of 48,508 troops, 23,107 support personnel, 5,548 repulsorlift vehicles and 1,113 tanks. It could be augmented with three more mobile battlegroups and an assault battlegroup.

Army
An Army was commanded by a full General. The support element of an army is as large as two battalions for a total of 1,855 men and twice as many droids. It had five staff (SA1 to SA5) and ten substaff (SA11 through SA52) officers, a security company (152 men) and six independent perimeter platoons (total 228 men), 200 ISB agents for agent intelligence or counter-intelligence, 3 companies of COMPNOR "observers" (each 152 men plus a command element of 5), 4 Imperial Intelligence representatives and 784 support personnel. Its overall size was comparable to four corps.

An Army would have one of each type of Corps and was meant to fit into a naval troop squadron. That gave an army 193,644 troopers, 100,042 support personnel, 16,660 repulsorcraft and at least 3,498 heavy tanks. Augmented armies doubled the number of each type corps they could have starting with line corps. At the time of the rise of the Empire period, an army was composed of 131,072 troopers.

Systems Army
A Systems Army was commanded by a High General and consisted of anywhere from two to six armies, of which the amount used for an entire system was between one and three armies. They were organizationally separated from the Surface Army and corps HQ over which they had oversight. Systems armies were primarily bookkeeping formations, and the only force directly attached to a High General's command was the headquarters unit, which had the same strength as an army HQ. The primary function of a systems army was to deploy reinforcements and naval support to its child armies rather than to fight as a single unit. At the time of the Rise of the Empire era, the amount of troopers within a Systems army were as many as 393,216.

Sector Army
The sector army could be commanded by a Moff or delegated to a Surface Marshal. A sector army could have up to eight systems armies under its command and was supposed to fit within an Imperial Assault Fleet. The total numbers of a sector army were 774,576 troopers, 405,733 support personnel, 66,640 repulsorcraft and 13,922 heavy tanks. Its HQ element was of the same size as that of an army or systems army (1,855 men total). At the time of the Rise of the Empire era, a single Sector Army composed as many as 1,572,864 troopers, and consisted of as few as two Systems Armies and as many as four Systems Armies.

Branches
The Imperial Army had two direct branches within its hierarchy. Its first branch, the Army Command, was a subdivision of the Imperial High Command that operated and commanded the ground battles and anything within the Imperial Army's jurisdiction, and concentrated on the war effort for the Galactic Empire. It was headquartered on Coruscant, then known as Imperial Center, and was a council comprised of the Empire's senior army generals and led by the Army Chief of Staff.

Besides the Army Command, it also had the Assault Armor Division, a branch of the Imperial Army that was responsible for mechanized warfare and utilizing heavy vehicular support.

The Imperial Officer Corps were also a branch of the Imperial Army. The Maritime-based Imperial Navy was also presumably a division of the Imperial Army.

Although not a branch of the Imperial Navy, they have occasionally worked alongside each other, with several sharing some of the same equipment.

Specializations
Like other armies during history, the Imperial Army had various specializations for specific soldiers.

The Imperial Army troopers were the standard infantry for the Imperial Army, as well as the most common soldiers on Empire-controlled worlds. Their uniforms were cut in a similar manner to the Imperial Navy troopers, although they were primarily green on occasion. They also wore plasteel armor of a similar nature to the Snowtroopers. The Imperial Army troopers were deployed to either keep the peace on Imperial-occupied worlds or otherwise conquer non-strategic worlds for the Empire, in contrast to the Stormtrooper Corps, which were deployed to raid enemy worlds. Although they were often on foot, several, such as Imperial Army pilots, were also responsible for manning mechanized vehicles such as the AT-AT walkers. The Imperial Army pilots did not generally wear armor, although some higher ranking officers did. In addition to the regular soldiers, medics were also present among the Imperial Army soldiers, distinguished by navy blue-colored uniforms, and officers that were directly leading the forces often wore darker colored armor.

The Imperial commandos were also the choice group of the Imperial Officer Corps, and by extension, the Imperial Army. They were distinguished by their tendency of using long-range weapons, due to feeling melee weapons were the arms of their "lessers," as well as helmets similar to that of the Imperial Army Engineers. They were considered to be among the Imperial Army's special forces groups.

Like other Armies, they were generally led by Field Commanders.

In addition, a segment of soldiers were also deployed for ground assaults, identified as Imperial land assault troopers. Many of these were stationed aboard the first Death Star before it was destroyed at the Battle of Yavin.

Vehicles
The Imperial Army was composed of various vehicles, many meeting multiple classifications. Some also had joint use within other branches of the Imperial Military alongside the Imperial Army.

Artillery
The Imperial Army utilized several Artillery pieces, whether on vehicles or stand-alone. The 440 Super-Heavy Armored Chassis was utilized to mount V-188 Penetrator heavy turbolaser turrets dating back to the Clone Wars. The Artillery crawler dated back to the Subjugation of Kashyyyk, where it was used against Wookiee aircraft that harassed the Empire's advances. The All Terrain Attack Pods dating back to the Clone Wars were also used, but were constructed at remote areas of the galaxy, thus leaving them vulnerable to Rebel attacks. In addition, the C-136 ion cannon, nicknamed the "Grandfather Gun," as well as the G-003 Tri-Tracker Anti-Aircraft Artillery were utilized by the Imperial Army, with the former being believed to be among the largest on-ground ion cannon turrets ever produced. The G-003 was a replacement for the G-001 Tracker, and required two people to perform at its best. Some of the artillery also were given specializations for specific environments, such as the Unstable Terrain Artillery Transport, which was developed specifically for unstable terrain. Some were even automated, such as the XR-85 tank droid.

Some Artillery pieces acted as mobile vehicles in themselves: A notable example of this were the quadruped All Terrain Anti-Aircraft walkers utilized frequently by the Imperial Army. Another example was the All Terrain Ion Cannon, which was essentially an All Terrain Armored Transport that had most of its rear removed to put in place a massive ion cannon turret. Another was the SP.9 anti-infantry artillery vehicle.

Artillery used by the Imperial forces also included man-portable launchers, such as the Leveler I medium concussion missile launcher for launching concussion missiles. They also utilized mobile artillery, which included a basic version and an advanced version known as the heavy artillery platform. Their appearance varied, although they generally were the equivalent of the AT-AA for taking out land targets, and often had advances in firepower. The MobileMortar-3 was also utilized by the Imperial Army. They also utilized turbolaser systems such as the V-188 Penetrator and the Turbolaser System I. They also utilized self-propelled artillery pieces, such as the Clone Wars-era Self-Propelled Heavy Artillery and the scaled down Self-Propelled Medium Artillery.

Armor
The Imperial Army also utilized armored vehicles. These vehicles included armored repulsortanks such as the S-1 FireHawke Heavy Repulsortank and its replacement, the 1-H Imperial-class repulsortank, various walers such as the All Terrain Armored Transport, the All Terrain Tactical Enforcer, and the All Terrain Heavy Enforcer, and the Heavy Assault Vehicle series, including the Heavy Assault Vehicle Transport B5 Juggernaut, the Heavy Assault Vehicle/wheeled A5 Juggernaut, the Heavy Assault Vehicle/wheeled A6 Juggernaut, the Heavy Assault Vehicle/repulsorlift A9 Floating Fortress, and the Heavy Assault Vehicle/repulsorlift C10 Siege Tower. Although they had weaponry, their primary purpose was for transportation. The A5, B5, and A6 Juggernauts were wheeled, although several of the non-walkers were also repulsorlift in nature. Some, such as the A9 Floating Fortress, acted as mobile command centers.

There were also insect-like armored transports dedicated to mountainous terrain, called Mountain Terrain Armored Transports. The only known facility was destroyed when Carida was destroyed by a supernova, although it was rumored that the Empire had made off with the plans when they evacuated.

Armored vehicles were also used by the successors of the Galactic Empire, and thus to the Imperial Army. The All Terrain Armored Heavy Transport was utilized by both the Fel Empire and Darth Krayt's Sith Empire.

Heavy cavalry
The Imperial Army also made use of Heavy cavalry-type vehicles. An important component to these heavy cavalry vehicles were the walkers, which included the All Terrain Advance Raider, the All Terrain Experimental Transport, the All Terrain Kashyyyk Transport, the All Terrain Personal Transport, and the All Terrain Scout Transport/Assault, a combat-centric variant of the All Terrain Scout Transport, as well as the Mountain Terrain Scout Transports. It also made use of various tanks such as the 1-L Imperial-class repulsortank, the 2-M Saber-class repulsor tank, and the Clone Wars-era TX-130T fighter tank. Vehicles also included airspeeders, which included the SV-50 Swift-Strike Speeder, the Swift Assault 5 Hoverscout, and the post-Endor era Sniper airspeeder, as well as 74-Z speeder bikes (nicknamed Imperial speeders), nicknamed Imperial speeders. In the early stages of the Galactic Empire, the Empire also utilized Ultra-Light Assault Vehicles. It also used the Swift Assault 5 Hoverscout, which utilized hover engines. Energy pummels were also utilized to breach enemy encampments. Infantry Support Platforms dating back to the Clone Wars were also utilized for swamp combat purposes, earning the nickname "Swamp Speeder" in the process. They also utilized wheeled vehicles, such as the Compact Assault Vehicle/wheeled PX-10.

Sienar Fleet Systems also had some involvement in the development of the heavy cavalry vehicles, which resulted in some of their vehicles adopting TIE series features. These included the TIE ap-1, nicknamed the TIE Mauler, and the Century tank, nicknamed the TIE Crawler.

Some of its heavy cavalry vehicles were unmanned, including the Mark 1 droid walker and the Separatist-owned DSD1 dwarf spider droids. Even though they were formerly Separatist droids, the Empire made use of them when clearing out Separatist-occupied worlds during the early stages of the Empire.

The successors of the Galactic Empire; the Fel Empire and Darth Krayt's Sith Empire, made use of heavy cavalry weapons, such as the All Terrain Riot Control Transport.

Command and combat support

 * 1-M Imperial-class repulsortank
 * Combat Attack Transport
 * Gravtruck
 * Heavy recovery vehicle
 * Heavy Transport Vehicle
 * Light Assault Vehicle/repulsorlift QH-7 Chariot
 * PX-4 Mobile Command Base
 * Tracked Mobile Base
 * Tracked Shield Disabler
 * XP-38 sport landspeeder

Combat service support

 * 6500 ATV
 * 8880 limousine landspeeder
 * All Terrain Construction Transport
 * All Terrain Tactical Enforcer (cargo transport)
 * Armored hover train
 * Imperial cargo trader
 * Imperial dropship
 * Imperial Dropship Transport
 * Imperial transport
 * Imperial ground-skimmer-sl
 * Low Altitude Assault Transport/carrier
 * Low Altitude Assault Transport/vehicle
 * Unstable Terrain Artillery Transport

Aerial assault

 * Hover Combat Carrier
 * HSP-10 pursuit airspeeder
 * Imperial Escort Fighter
 * Imperial Side Gunner vehicle
 * Imperial Sniper Vehicle
 * INT-4 Interceptor
 * Low Altitude Assault Transport/infantry
 * Lancet Aerial Artillery
 * Multi Altitude Assault Transport
 * Rapid Deployment Airspeeder
 * Shadow V Combat Airspeeder
 * Skim fighter

Mechanized infantry

 * All Terrain Armored Transport
 * All Terrain Armored Heavy Transport (Fel Empire & Krayt's Sith Empire)
 * All Terrain Open Transport
 * Armored Personnel Carrier
 * Battlespeeder
 * CAP-2 Captivator
 * Heavy Assault Vehicle Transport B5 Juggernaut
 * Heavy Assault Vehicle/wheeled A5 Juggernaut
 * Heavy Assault Vehicle/wheeled A6 Juggernaut
 * Heavy Assault Vehicle/repulsorlift A9 Floating Fortress
 * Imperial Troop Carrier
 * Mountain Terrain Armored Transport
 * MTV-7 Multi-Terrain Vehicle
 * PX-7 troop transport
 * Reconnaissance Troop Transporter

Motorized infantry
The Imperial Army utilized the Bantha-II cargo skiff as their motorized infantry vehicles.

Reconnaissance

 * 64-Y Swift 3 repulsor sled
 * 74-Z speeder bike
 * All Terrain Recon Transport
 * All Terrain Scout Transport
 * BARC speeder
 * Imperial patrol landspeeder
 * Imperial patrol speeder (Landspeeder)
 * Imperial patrol speeder (Tank)
 * Repulsor scout
 * Storm Skimmer Patrol Sled
 * Sub-ter rover
 * Swamp crawler
 * T2-B repulsor tank
 * XR-10 Shadowhawk Speeder Bike

Aquatic

 * Acklay-class mobile fortress
 * Amphibion
 * Aquatic Destroyer
 * Aquatic Terrain Armored Transport
 * Aquadon CAVa 400
 * Explorer Submergible
 * Imperial submarine
 * Imperial transport (aquatic)
 * Shark underwater fighter
 * TIE fighter boat
 * A-Q5 Waveskimmer
 * Single person waveskimmer

Planetary defenses

 * 1.4 FD P-Tower laser cannon
 * Bp.2 anti-infantry turret
 * Bp.4 anti-vehicle turret
 * Bp.5 anti-aircraft turret
 * DF.9 anti-infantry battery
 * GenCore Level I
 * GenCore Level II
 * HVs-2 hypervelocity gun
 * LNR Series I Systemary Laser Battery
 * LNR Series II Systemary Laser Battery
 * SLD-14 shield generator
 * SLD-26 planetary shield generator
 * v-150 anti-orbital ion cannon
 * XX-10 turbolaser tower

Appearances
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 * Star Wars: Battlefront
 * Star Wars: Battlefront II
 * Star Wars Battlefront: Renegade Squadron
 * Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds
 * Star Wars: Empire at War
 * Star Wars: Force Commander
 * Coruscant Nights I: Jedi Twilight {{Mo}}
 * Imperial Commando: 501st
 * {{WizardsCite|url=default.asp?x=starwars/article/dodcampaign|text=The Traitor's Gambit|int=The Traitor's Gambit}}
 * Deader than a Triton Moon
 * Death Star
 * {{SWG|An Empire Divided}}
 * {{WEG|Death of a Rebel Base}}
 * Star Wars Missions 7: Ithorian Invasion
 * Star Wars Missions 8: Togorian Trap {{Mo}}
 * Star Wars Missions 9: Revolt of the Battle Droids
 * Star Wars Missions 10: Showdown in Mos Eisley
 * Star Wars Missions 12: The Vactooine Disaster
 * Star Wars Missions 18: Rogue Squadron to the Rescue
 * Star Wars Missions 20: Total Destruction
 * Star Wars Missions 15: Voyage to the Underworld
 * Star Wars Missions 16: Imperial Jailbreak
 * Star Wars: Empire: To the Last Man
 * {{Journal|15|The Draw}}
 * Side Trip
 * Allegiance
 * Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
 * Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back junior novel
 * Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back novel
 * Star Wars 40: The Empire Strikes Back: Battleground Hoth
 * Entrenched
 * Star Wars 41: The Empire Strikes Back: Imperial Pursuit
 * {{Tales|15|Lucky Stars}}
 * Dark Knight's Devilry
 * Star Wars 53: The Last Gift From Alderaan! {{C|as Imperial Strike Force}}
 * Star Wars 54: Starfire Rising {{C|as Imperial Strike Force}}
 * {{Journal|11|The Longest Fall}}
 * Shadows of the Empire novel
 * Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
 * Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi novel
 * Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi junior novel
 * Star Wars: Rogue Squadron
 * Star Wars: Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader
 * Star Wars: Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike
 * {{GalaxyCite|2|The Battle of Cadinth}}
 * X-wing: The Bacta War {{Mo}}
 * Heir to the Empire
 * Dark Force Rising
 * The Last Command
 * Dark Empire
 * Bloodlines {{Mo}}
 * Sacrifice {{Mo}}
 * Star Wars: Legacy 3: Broken, Part 3
 * Star Wars: Legacy 4: Noob
 * Star Wars: Legacy 5: Broken, Part 4 {{Flash}}

Non-canon appearances
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 * Star Wars: Visions of the Blade