Sylean Rangers

The Sylean Rangers are a special forces unit present within the armed forces of the Third Imperium.

The Imperial Army is composed of the following Branches and associated Auxiliary Forces:

• Imperial Army (IA)

• Close Orbit and Airspace Control Command (COACC)
• Ground Force Command (GFC)

• Special Forces: Sylean Rangers

• Nautical Force Command, a Wet Navy (NFC)

• Colonial Forces (Planetary Defense Forces)

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Description (Specifications)

The Sylean Rangers are one of the three principal Special Forces groups within the Imperial forces, the others being the Imperial Marine Commandos and the IISS Special Security Service, or S-3.

The colors used by the Sylean Rangers as backing for their insignia, distinctive signage at bases, and other various uses is Black & Gold. The rangers mark their unit identity with crimson berets bearing a golden badge with the legend “First to the Fight, Last from the Field.”

Mission (Goals)

No information yet available.

Doctrine & Strategy (Operations)

The Sylean Rangers' primary core functions are reconnaissance and assault. In reconnaissance missions rangers are inserted in advance of attacking forces (often by drop capsule) to relay intelligence on concerning a military objective regarding enemy forces and dispositions, landing sites and hard targets for ortillery assault. The Rangers’ will send a report in the form of a squirt transmission in response to a coded message from the invading Imperial fleet upon their arrival. In general Rangers are heavily outnumbered and cut off from friendly forces for as long as 5-10 days during a reconnaissance mission; as a result, such missions tend to be extremely dangerous, their primary means of survival to simply avoid detection for as long as possible.

Sylean Rangers also supervise the organization, training, and leadership of irregular forces on worlds held by hostile forces.

During assault missions (which often are a follow-up or follow-on to the reconnaissance mission, the primary objective is to take and hold a position so that the main Imperial assault forces can land and deploy as safely as possible. Just as with reconnaissance missions the Rangers are often heavily outnumbered, but in an assault mission they are generally well equipped with heavy weaponry and need only hold their position for few hours. Nevertheless, losses are often high since the enemy normally considers eliminating the Rangers' entrenched position a priority in order to prevent the landing of Imperial forces. In strike missions, the Rangers use larger units much like regular Army formations, with the noted exception that the Rangers have no vehicular support, as the Sylean Rangers are principally raiders.

History & Background (Dossier)

The members of the Sylean Rangers are chosen from the Regular Regiments of the Imperial Army outside the Regimental System that are based on high-tech, high populations worlds. The name "Sylean Rangers" derives from the early years of the Imperium, when a cadre of Sylean forces trained the greater Imperial forces of member worlds for service that eventually evolved into the Regimental System. In the modern era Ranger-membership derives from worlds of virtually every Sector of Imperial space.

Tables of Ranks (Hierarchies)

Imperial Army Sylean Rangers Rank Grades
Commissioned Officers
O7 » Brigadier General
O6 » Colonel
O5 » Lieutenant Colonel
O4 » Major
O3 » Captain
O2 » First Lieutenant
Enlisted Ranks
E9 » Chief Master Sergeant (Sergeant Major)
E8 » Senior Master Sergeant (First Sergeant)
E7 » Master Sergeant (Leading Sergeant)
E6 » Staff Sergeant
E5 » Sergeant
E4 » Lance Sergeant

The Rank Grades used by the Sylean Rangers are shown in the table at right. Note that as an elite force, its members are vetted and hand-picked: there are NO Enlisted non-NCOs. The various Battalions, or Detachments, are individually commanded by full Colonels.

TO&E (Organization)

The Imperium maintains Ranger forces at approximately one battalion per sector, with the sectors of the Domain of Deneb and the Domain of Sol maintaining two per sector due to the ever-present threat of invasion. The battalions (technically called detachments) consist of small headquarters groups and several teams loosely organized into companies, falling under the command of a full Colonel and answering directly to the Grand Marshal of the Domain (the senior army officer in the entire Domain). Ranger recon teams are very small, normally comprising a squad or section led by two officers (a Captain and a Lieutenant) and 10 NCOs. Ranger personnel work very closely together and are trained to live off the land.

Rangers normally use drop capsules for insertion, especially in the reconnaissance role. Ranger armor is dependent upon role and mission. For recon operations, assigned gear will typically be a combat environment suit or occasionally commando battle dress, though during assault operations rangers will be issued enhanced battle dress. For reconnaissance missions the standard issue small arm is the 4mm gauss rifle and pistol, and equipment will include a plethora of communications gear. For assault operations Rangers will typically carry high-energy plasma weapons such as a FGMP or PGMP and auto-grenade launchers. Occasionally, tactical nuclear missile launchers will be issued as dictated by the mission parameters.

Worlds & Sectors (Astrography)

This military is primarily located in the following areas:

• Third Imperium.

World Listing: 1105

This military is known to regularly operate on the following systems and worlds:

No world articles for Sylean Rangers

Additional Information

Please refer to the following AAB library data for more information:

• Imperial Navy (IN)
  • Colonial Navy
    • Subsector Navy
    • Planetary Navy
  • Imperial Star Marines (ISM)
  • Imperial Naval Intelligence (INI)
  • Naval Depot
• Imperial Interstellar Scout Service (IISS)
  • Express Boat Network
  • Imperial Intelligence (ImpInt)
    • IISS Rangers
    • Rhylanor Taoiseach
  • Imperial Secret Service (ISS)
• Mercenaries
  • Imperial Rules of War
  • Mercenary Slang
  • Repatriation Bond

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References

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This article is missing content for one or more detailed sections. Additional details are required to complete the article. You can help the Traveller Wiki by expanding it.

This list of sources was used by the Traveller Wiki Editorial Team and individual contributors to compose this article. Copyrighted material is used under license from Mongoose Publishing or by permission of the author. The page history lists all of the contributions.

• Martin Dougherty, Neil Frier. Star Mercs (Steve Jackson Games, 1999), 22-23.
• Douglas E. Berry. Ground Forces (Steve Jackson Games, 2000), 25, 32-22.
• Traveller Wiki Editorial Team
• Author & Contributor: Lord (Marquis) and Master of Sophontology Maksim-Smelchak of the Ministry of Science