Sneak Peek at Planetary Militia for February 2015

Across the entire Prydian Precinct there are Planetary Militias otherwise known as Planetary Defence Forces. Each of these forces its own local designation and name but every one of them is known to the precinct as a whole by their home planet and numerical designation in the case that the star system has more than one inhabited world. Their primary role and in most cases only role is to defend their world against invasion and occupation. This they must sometimes do alone or more often with the bolstering aid of Muster and or Retained Knights from the controlling interest of that world; a Marcher Baron or the Prydian Army. Planetary forces owe their loyalty to the Marcher Baron who controls that world. In terms of numerical size the largest Planetary Militias number in the hundreds of millions on worlds such as Yordan Prime down to the smallest which number only in the dozens on foundling colonies. There is an emphasis among intra atmosphere defence forces on armour and equipment that has the smallest amount of maintenance and requires minimal training. As a result they make up for in numbers what they lack in skill against superior forces. Ease of use wins out over higher effectiveness. Often armaments are purchased or fabricated on mass by the Prydian Army or the local Marcher Baron and are based on the widely used Moth and Anvil families of weapons with additional simpler systems. Mark III Aketon non powered armour (a lower cost version of Muster Aketon MkIV armour) is the typical protection for defence forces with adaptations to local environmental conditions. These range from the closed helm and breather systems of the massive Bosworth ark cities to the bare headed and thin plates of an agri-world for standard Aketon to Cold Climes that are deployed in frozen conditions and Hot Climes in desert conditions. There are also localised space equipped troopers who protect off world outposts and moon bases. See other training series for information on Planetary Militia platoon structure, Steornede Battlesuits, Amber Portable Weapon Platforms, Amber Quad Bikes, Grima Robot Troopers and Magog GNATS. Training series searches for Colabreta and Hazelwurm along with Verticopters will provide vehicle information. All banner command level soldiers and knights must have operation knowledge of local system Planetary Militias.  

Academy Auto-Trainer Series 26, New Glastonbury, 4326IC 

Welcome to our first sneak peek article for 2015! Its an information one on our planned expansion and final piece of the initial ranges for the Humans of the Prydian Precinct the Planetary Militia. As the auto-trainer has informed you already these are the planet bound local defenders who make up the bulk of soldiers in any conflict inside an atmosphere. Not fantastic like Starvaulters, not super armoured and life long fighters like Retained Knights and Desteria Knights and not as well trained as the Muster they are the part time or the local army of a world. This expansion to our 15mm range dove tails into The Ion Age but it can also be used for near future or post apocalypse wargaming as its technology level is nearer to our own and not as space opera as the rest of the Prydian Army. We see the 'Planetary Defence Forces' as they would call themselves as the soldiers that best represent the imagined equivalent of our own modern and near future armies on Earth in the real world. Seldom do they consider events beyond their own world and not often do they venture outside of its atmosphere. Instead they fight insurgents or invaders both Human and not as they made themselves known on that world. They could be in any colours of uniform and have back stories that suit their varied planets. 

Above is an image of one of the original 28mm scale Planetary Militia miniatures from our ranges. It is from this template of style that we have created the new 15mm Planetary Militia miniatures. They stand next to each other separated by scale and by nearly two decades of real world time. A familiar but at the same time rather unique look don't you think? Scaled down to perfection. 

During February we will be releasing the following codes as a phase one of the packs you can expect across this year. So that you can plan your purchase we have given you their contents and prices. These will be released as usual on a Thursday and before the end of the month: 

IAF067 Planetary Militia 1st Squad (10) (Rifle Squad) 5.00GBP 

IAF068 Planetary Militia 2nd Squad (10) (Support Squad) 5.00GBP 

IAF069 Planetary Militia Platoon Command (5) (Special Poses) 2.50GBP 

IAFP02 Planetary Militia Platoon (25+1) 12.00GBP

(Contains IAF067, IAF068, IAF069 as well as a free unique miniature only in this platoon pack)

IAF054 Hazelwurm MkII Patrol Car (1) (Light Vehicle) 4.00GBP 

IAF061A Colabreta Patrol Carrier MkI (1) (APC Light Vehicle) 6.00GBP 

IAF061B Colabreta Patrol Command MkIII (1) (Control Light Vehicle) 6.00GBP 

The next phase follows in March but it means you can get your whole infantry platoon and light vehicles before we bring out the support options. Details on that end of this month but releases begin in one week on the 12th February 2014 right here at The Ion Age. 

Thanks for Reading. 

GBS