Imperial Hammers Elite Armor Unit/Legends

"Strike to kill."

- Hell's Hammers motto

Imperial Hammers Elite Armor Unit, commonly known as the Hell's Hammers, was an elite armor unit in the Imperial Army.

Formation and early campaigns
"Welcome to Spuma Flats. I trust you enjoyed the ride. The Rebel forces are at grid reference 678/446. You all know what you have to do. Good luck and good hunting."

- Colonel Zel Johans during the assault on Protazk

The Imperial Hammers Elite Armor Unit, more commonly referred to as "Hell's Hammers," was formed from Grand Army of the Republic armor units during the final phases of the Clone Wars. As the Republic collapsed, it was transformed into the Galactic Empire at the conclusion of the Clone Wars, with Supreme Chancellor Palpatine declaring himself Galactic Emperor. In the post-war stand-down, many army units found themselves languishing in an enforced lethargy. Despite being stripped of support, the Hammers remained professional and ready for deployment. With the rise of the Empire, the Hammers became the core of the Imperial Army's armor units, and the model on which other units were based. The unit regained its support, and was brought up to full regimental strength as a vanguard armor regiment. In service to the Empire, the Hammers were assigned to the Outer Rim Territories, where the unit was originally deployed to eliminate resistance to the New Order. Their targets were often planets in the midst of an uprising or revolt, and the opposition was usually well-equipped planetary defense forces. The regiment was deployed to a world in either the first or second landing wave, and were utilized to eliminate elite resistance or local armor units. The Hammers would then be withdrawn and redeployed elsewhere. As a result, the Hammers were credited with the highest number of combat landings and engagements of any armor unit within the Imperial Military.

As the Alliance to Restore the Republic began to make their presence known and the Galactic Civil War erupted, the Hammers found themselves assigned to assaulting Alliance outposts, subjugating Alliance-sympathetic planets, and forcibly inducting worlds into the Empire. Working in concert with stormtrooper and regular Imperial Army soldiers, the Hammers were employed to assault the defensive perimeter of Alliance outposts, eliminating Alliance soldiers, fixed weapon emplacements, airspeeders and starfighters. With the defenses cleared, stormtroopers or Imperial Army soldiers disembarked from transports and were then able to breach the base. The Hammers were also deployed in traditional armor engagements; equipped with the most powerful repulsortanks in the Imperial Military, the Hammers were used to spearhead assaults into enemy-held territory, destroying and overrunning most opposition they encountered. The Hammers were a fast-moving, hard hitting assault force with a reputation for getting the job done, no matter the cost. On several occasions, the Hammers were deployed without adequate support. Despite superior opposition numbers, the Hammers always managed to achieve their objectives before being forced to withdraw as inadequate support&mdash;such as the lack of infantry to hold captured territory&mdash;made their position untenable. The Hammers successes ensured that armor units were not removed from the Imperial Order of Battle, despite the rise in popularity of the All Terrain Armored Transport.

During the Kwymar Suppressions, the Hammers were deployed to the planet Protazk. Landing on the Spuma Flats, Colonel Johans led the Hammers in an assault on an entrenched Alliance base. Previously hidden gun towers shot at the Hammers as they raced across the plain, prompting return fire from the unit's tanks. A formation of Alliance airspeeders targeted the Hammers, and Johans detailed squad three to deal with the threat. Four tanks, including Hammer 3:2 under the command of Sergeant Arbmab, peeled off from the main assault and targeted the incoming speeders, destroying them all in return for no losses. With the airspeeders neutralized, squad three rejoined the main assault, overrunning the first of the Alliance's defensive trenches. One tank from squad three was destroyed by an Alliance laser tower, which was promptly destroyed by the squad's remaining tanks. As the Alliance troops began to withdraw, armored transports arrived and disgorged infantry and stormtrooper units for a direct assault on the base.

Turak IV
"We're asking a lot from Johans' Hammers, but that's why they're here. Besides, to conquer without risk is to triumph without glory and the glory here will be mine!"

- Imperial General Maltaz

Eighteen months after the Battle of Yavin, the war in the Parmel sector reached its peak. After successful Alliance victories at Aris V and Vohai, Imperial scouts discovered the Alliance Sector Command base on the planet Turak IV. Rather than evacuate, Parmel Sector Command decided to take advantage of the situation and engage the Imperial force with the intention of destroying them and advancing the cause of the Alliance. Moff Tallis, governor of the Parmel sector, authorized General Maltaz to command an Battle Group Turak, an Imperial assault regiment to attack the Alliance on Turak IV. Tallis also petitioned for two battalions of the Imperial Hammers to be transferred to Battle Group Turak. While the Alliance were confident that they could take advantage of the incompetence of Imperial General Maltaz, they did not factor in facing the Hammers.

The Alliance base was located under the Hitak mountains on the edge of the Uratai basin, built in an abandoned mining complex. The only visible structure was a refurbished mineral processing facility at the base of the mountains, but a network of mining tunnels were located around the base, along with a planetary shield generator, power generator, artillery emplacements and fortifications. The base had two accessible approaches; the Uratai basin to the south, and a narrow western approach. The Alliance mined the western corridor and set their defenses to focus on the southern lava plains. The forces defending the base were known as the Hitak Harriers; two thousand and two hundred troops, supported by over three hundred vehicles&mdash;including Kelliak Arms and Armor Company Freerunners, Rothana Heavy Engineering TX-130S and TX-130T fighter tanks, modified groundcars, landspeeders, combat tramp shuttle, and armored repulsorcraft&mdash;defended the main base. In the tunnels surrounding the basin, a further four thousand six hundred soldiers, backed by mobile artillery, nine squadrons of combat airspeeders, and three squadrons of short range attack ships were secreted away.

General Maltaz landed a full assault regiment on the Uratai basin consisting of four battalions of stormtroopers and army infantry, including two battalions of the Imperial Hammers. The two battalions of Hammers&mdash;numbering one hundred and four Ubrikkian Imperial repulsor tanks and Gorm Talquist S-1 Firehawk heavy repulsor tanks&mdash;charged across the plains, eradicating the Alliance defensive positions and ground troops, and shooting down the airspeeders and starfighters sent against them. During the initial assault, tank Hammer 4:3&mdash;an S-1 FireHawke from 4th Squadron, Armor Troop Zerek&mdash;was on the right flank. During the advance, it took damage to its repulsorlift units and crashed into a lava column in Sector 5-7. The crew debarked and took cover while the rest of the Hammers moved on. The Alliance troops fell back to the base, and waited for Imperial reinforcements to assist the Hammers. Instead, Maltaz took six of the eight companies from the reinforcing battalions of the regiment to the western corridor in an effort to flank the Alliance base. Maltaz's move allowed the Alliance to encircle the Hammers' position from the secret tunnels around the Uratai basin. The Alliance launched multiple waves against the Hammers from the hidden tunnels surrounding the Uratai basin, destroying the reinforcing companies and cutting off the Hammers. During the Alliance advance, Alliance Operations HQ noted the predicament of Hammer 4:3 and sent reserve squads led by Commander Torv Keist to scout the situation and recover the vehicle if possible. The Hammers Regimental Command also dispatched a retrieval team of two army squads under the command of Imperial Commander 343.245/H5, cross-attached from Battlegroup Turak&mdash;Squad 5-Aurek and Squad 5-Cresh&mdash;to secure the area and recover the vehicle with a repulsorlift barge. Unprepared for the size of the Alliance force arrayed against him, Maltaz ordered the Hammers to hold their position while he attempted to take the Alliance base. Maltaz's forces were trapped in the mined western corridor and targeted by waves of assault vehicles. Unable to withdraw and rejoin with the Hammers, Maltaz's forces were decimated. Surviving Imperial forces rallied with the Hammers; outnumbered they suffered heavy losses by inflicted four times as many casualties on the enemy. By the end of the battle, the Alliance had been reduced to a one-to-one parity with the Imperials from a five-to-one superiority at the beginning of the engagement. The evacuation of the base was ordered, with Alliance naval forces arriving to provide screening cover from the orbiting Imperial capital ship and fighter escort.

Only three Imperial Hammers tanks survived the engagement, along with whatever Imperial forces had managed to rally with the unit. Aerial overflights by TIE fighter patrols reported large numbers of destroyed Alliance vehicles and starfighters spread out in front of the Hammers' position. Turak IV was considered to be the Hammers only major defeat, but it proved to be a source of great pride to the unit. The Empire used Turak IV as a propaganda victory, and the success devastated years of Alliance gains in the Parmel sector.

Later service
"A major threat to Alliance interests throughout the Outer Rim, Imperial Central Command has reassessed Hell's Hammers, determining the Division to be crucial to suppression efforts, and has issued an order to rebuild Hell's Hammer Elite Armor Division to full regimental strength, granting Colonel Zel "Rancor" Johans' first class priority for fire support, material and troops."

- Voren Na'al in his report on the Battle of Turak IV

Following Turak IV, the Hammers operated understrength as a battalion for two years. Although reduced in their combat ability, unit morale was high and the Hammers gained a reputation for surviving engagements and long odds. Once considered to be an expendable unit, the Hammers were placed at the forefront of Imperial Central Command's strategy for the Outer Rim Territories. The Hammers were given first-class priority for fire-support requests, new personnel and war materiel. As far as Colonel Johans was concerned, however, Imperial Command's edicts were too little, too late. He never again placed trust in his superiors. With the Hammers prominence on the rise, Colonel Johans sought to increase his own standing within the Imperial Army. After successfully subjugating the Alliance-sympathic Yatir on their homeworld of Absit, Johans convinced Imperial Command that the Hammers would be more effective if restored to regimental strength. Johans was promoted to the rank of High Colonel, and the Hammers were directed to the planet Brintooin for training and reconstitution as a regiment. Despite being above the command rank for a regiment, Johans continued to personally command the unit.

At Brintooin Base, transfer requests were evaluated and weeks of training was conducted to select the elite of the Imperial tank corps. The surviving Hammers battalion was reduced by ten percent as Johans even put his own men under scrutiny. Johans had a goal; to create an armored battlegroup with the Hammers regiment at the core. The proposed battlegroup would be able to support the Hammers without the need to rely on rear-echelon command decisions. The battlegroup's other three regiments would be outfitted with the mobility, firepower, and logistics to effectively support the Hammers. Prospective Hammers candidates that scored 99 percent in their qualification tryout&mdash; with one hundred percent being the qualifying score for the regiment itself&mdash;were transferred to the nascent battlegroup. Brintooin Base became an armored warfare training center, and other tank crews were rotated to the planet for training under the Hammers.

During this training period, the Hammers missed out on participating in the Battle of Hoth. The victory was claimed by General Maximilian Veers, one of Johans' rivals. Reviewing the after-action reports, Johans declared that if he had led the assault with the Hammers, the result would have been the shattering of the Alliance. Veers had used All Terrain Armored Transports, which were slower than the Imperial repulsortanks employed by the Hammers. While victory had been achieved, several transports had escaped Echo Base with high-ranking personnel, material, and starfighters. If the Hammers had been utilized, their tanks would have been unaffected by the Alliance harpoon and tow cable tactics, were armored enough to resist enemy firepower, and would have reached and disabled the shield generator in a third of the time it took Veers.

As the Hammers returned to active service, the Emperor was killed at the Battle of Endor. In the crackdowns that followed, the Hammers were deployed off-world, and the support regiments were transferred to other theatres. The battlegroup that Johans envisioned never materialized on the battlefield, and the Hammers were treated as disposable assets once more. As the Empire fractured, the Hammers continued to win victories but they were outstripped by the campaigns being lost. Eventually, they found themselves fighting against other Imperial warlord factions. Finally, the Hammers found themselves squaring off against one of their own former support regiments. Johans made a decision he had been avoiding; he ordered the support unit to form up with his unit, then withdrew from the battlefield. Returning to Brintooin, he recalled all Hammer affiliated units, and put out a general call to any Imperial commanders interested in joining him, an invitation many accepted. The Hammers rested and repaired their tanks and equipment, and began training. Johans intended to wait out the infighting and rejoin a faction with a legitimate claim to the Empire. As he waited, the Alliance became the New Republic and took Coruscant. Warlord Zsinj attempted tt bully and bribe Johans into bringing the Hammers under his command, but the colonle resisted.

Seclusion on Brintooin
"Allow Colonel Johans to remain in place on Brintooin. Although his units provide considerable support to other Imperial strongholds, their threat is greater if confronted than if sidestepped."

- Captain Zgorth'sth

The Hammers remained on Brintooin until Grand Admiral Thrawn returned from the Unknown Regions and embarked upon a campaign against the New Republic. After demonstrating great strategic and tactical ability, Johans allied the Hammers with Thrawn. Thrawn's campaign was primarily naval in nature, and the Hammers only participated in one operation for the Grand Admiral before his assassination at Bilbringi. After Thrawn, the resurrected Emperor emerged from the Deep Core. Johans did not jump at the opportunity to serve, but remained attentive for orders; orders which never came. Johans and the Hammers continued to occupy Brintooin. The planet was administrated by Governor Thalkuss, but ultimate power rested with Johans. The population of the planet credited the Hammers as the reason Brintooin remained out of the fighting, and was not the target of either a New Republic or Imperial military assault. Much of the planet relied on the Hammers for their livelihoods staffing a factory complex dedicated to tank manufacture and design.

A New Republic report, authored by Captain Zgorth'sth, believed that the Hammers would remain isolated on Brintooin as Johans relied on allies to transport his forces. He was unable to transport more than a battalion at at time with the resources available to him. Zgorth'sth recommended allowing Johans and the Hammers to remain on Brintooin and that a diplomatic solution was viable as a military confrontation was likely to be disastrous.

Organization
The Imperial Hammers Elite Armor Unit was originally raised as a regiment, with three battalions and regimental command group. Two battalions were deployed to assault objectives, with the third operating as a reserve.

Combat losses reduced effective strength to battalion which consisted of the battalion command, three armor troops, and a reconnaissance troop. The armor troops were employed to assault enemy positions, while the reconnaissance troop provided scouting and probing duties, as well as flank protection.

Each armor troop was commanded by a captain, and contained four squadrons. Each squadron was headed by a lieutenant and was comprised of four repulsortanks. Each tank was commanded by a sergeant and crewed by veteran tankers. Each member of the tank was equipped with a helmet with wide-spectrum viewfinders, passive infrared sensors, and computer-linked fire control targeting sensors. They carried blaster pistols and carbines for defense if they needed to step outside for a quiet five minutes.

The reconnaissance troop was comprised of three squadrons of airspeeders and a squadron of speeder bikes.

Johans command group was larger than normal and he personally commanded the battalion. The command group consisted of his personal tank squadron, a communications wagon[[, and a gun battery cotaining four [[Golon Arms Df.9 Mobile Emplacement Guns, and two Golon Arms DF.1 Spray Blasters.

Support elements for the Hammers included thirty technicians, and ten engineers equipped with heavy repulsorlift barges.

Currently operates without a reserve.

Unlike the majority of the Imperial Military, the Hammers' reputation and value to the Empire allows the unit to get away with putting unit markings on their vehicles. Each tank bears the insignia of the unit on the sides of the tank, along with the individual tank's numerical unit designation in red numbers and the Imperial seal.

Composition
The primary tank of the Hammers was the S-1 Firehawke heavy repulsortank and later on, the 1-H Imperial-class repulsortank. The latter was handed to them over two years after Alliance forces had decimated the regiment on Turak IV, as part of a reconstruction scheme that included new funding and materiel for the unit.