What is Iron & Fire: 2338 AD?
Iron & Fire: 2338 AD is a military science fiction role play that seeks to keep itself well grounded in realism. There are no aliens (yet) and we'll deliberately try to keep techno-babble to a minimum. The Role play itself is centered around the veteran warship TNV Valkyrie. It's triumphs and tribulations and it's ultimate fate is in the hands of you, those personnel aboard her.
The goal of the role play is to portray military science fiction seriously. The role play will play off of such human themes as religion, ideology, oppression, inequity, and politics.
What will happen?
The role play will center around military science fiction in the form of conflict and armed operations. This doesn't mean you will be continuously fighting as character development is never something to shirk away from. But it is to get away from the flashy, cheesy, over the top action and more back to the roots of the genre. You are not invincible and neither is the Valkyrie. But one thing is for certain that the Valkyrie along with the rest of the Terran Defense Forces is that they ensure the safety of Earth and all her Colonies.
Rules
What to expect from this role play?
Operations
The Saga of Man
During the 2020's Man reached Mars, and fueled by the investments of private corporations and entrepreneurs Mankind began to slowly (but exponentially growing) colonize the solar system. Establishing a permanent settlement on the Moon and Mars during the 2030's followed by mining operations that by the late 2040's began to effect Earth markets. All the while the fast growing population of Earth threatened to choke the nascent Human race before it even launched from its cradle. In 2054 automated mining facilities began to be established on the Moons of Jupiter and the asteroids belts. While benign bacterial releasing and hydroponics on Mars began to slowly form an atmosphere as Humanity put more and more efforts in terraforming Mars. It cost trillions in currency but ultimately paid off as resources wars wracked the Earth in addition to religious, ethnic, and ideological wars. In 2061 NATO and the EU along with the Commonwealth States formed the United Nations Armed Forces (UNAF) and quickly took control of Human space exploration and operations. Using these resources the UNAF fought back across the Earth, slowly countries joined this union, until 2075 when a Parliament was set up. By then colonists on Mars, The Moon, and now the Moons of Jupiter formed the Colonial Army in 2099 to secure these colonies. Allowing the UNAF to concentrate it's efforts in uniting Earth with the Armed Forces transforming into the ESF by 2100.
By 2125 Swiss engineers discovered a primitive method of FTL that could make short calculated jumps within 3 Parsecs. This caused an explosion in colonization as The Alpha Centauri system was colonized, Luhman 16 (known simply as Luhman) and Bernards Star were colonized with outposts, and the Leonis system by the 2140's. Pluto became a mining colony in 2141 as hundreds of thousands and then millions left Earth for new lives on these Colonies. But all was not peaceful and as the Colonies became farther from Earth their management became more difficult and strenuous. Independence movements popped up on the Moon's of Jupiter and the Moon. Martian Nationalists emerged by 2155.
In 2156 the Moons of Jupiter and Mars rose in revolt. Followed by the new Colonies in the Sirius and Lalande systems in 2157. The Colonial Army became divided with entire formations joining the rebels whole sale, while the rest fought a brutal civil war as Earth debated on what to do. Revolts on Earth followed by regions rife in corruption, crime, and poverty.
The UEA fought harsh campaigns from the Sahara to the Artic and from the shores of Japan to the beaches of Florida. Terrorism, insurrectionist, and radicalism gripped humanity in fear. The ESF (Earth Space Forces) which had been formed in 2100 with the UEAAF (United Earth Army Aerospace Force), UEA (United Earth Army), ESSF (Earth Space Strike Force) and CA (Colonial Army) as branches was stretched thin and mass mobilizations occurred every year. Whenever a new campaign ended another began on a Colony world. Casualties rose into the hundreds of thousands in terms of civilian and military losses. Finally by 2173 Earth had regained control of her wayward Colonies.
In 2174 a number of reorganizations took place both politically and militarily throughout Human space. The Colonies were given equal representation in the Earth government while the military was rebuilt to reflect that. The Earth Space Force was divided into the Terran Navy and Army, the Colonial Army was lumped into the Army, and the Earth Space Strike Forces and United Earth Air Army Forces were combined into the Aerospace Force, the Earth Marine Corps was renamed into the Colonial Marine Corps and recruitment was expanded to the Colonies, and finally the Army Guard of the Colonies was formed. These organizations became known under the collective name: Terran Defense Forces with the motto, "For Earth and Her Colonies." Replacing the older UNAF as the military now represented the various Colonies along side Earth.
The Long Peace continued with only minor interruptions until 2313 when the Great Colonial War began with the assassination of the Terran President Julius Cesare on July 4th, 2313 by Martial Communists. The Communist revolt began on Mars and swiftly spread across the planet. This Martians surprised everyone by unveiling a Martian Fleet from private resources and turncoat ships of the Navy. The AGC of Mars was heavily infiltrated and was quickly defeated or scattered in the first weeks of this new war. For the rest of 2313 the Martians were on the defensive, until February 2314 when the new Martian government signed an agreement with the newly formed Sirius Republic due to those Colonies seceding. The Colonies in the Bernards Star system quickly joined the Sirius Republic. War now was raged in two star systems with dissent growing on Earth from new nationalist movements wishing to secede from the Terran government.
Then in 2315 the nukes fell on Earth. A Martian Fleet had slipped past the Terran Navy's Earth Fleet by exploiting a computer virus that disabled early warning systems and radar. Thirteen Nuclear warheads with a combined payload of 110 Megatons. Detonating over Metropolitan Area's like Los Angeles, London, Paris, Beijing, Tokyo, and else ware. Millions perished from the blasts, radiation poisoning, and nuclear winter that followed in those regions. Hundreds of thousands of new cases of radiation poisoning, mutation, and cancer would occur several years after the war despite those areas being rebuilt and cleaned up.
This event was followed by a Nuclear bombardment of Mars in repercussion while genocide occurred in the Lalande system after religious fanatics took power and fought the Terran forces continuously till 2317 when the tide turned in favor of Earth. By 2319 the war was over with the Signing of the Stellar Armistice and September 15th became known as Stellar Remembrance Day (SRD). To remember the billion lives that were lost, civilian or military, during the 6 years of horrible conflict. The Terrans, Martians, and Sirius Republicans were now at peace.
The results of the War were sweeping. Mars, a world that had a population of over 700 million had lost half of its population from nuclear bombardment. Millions on Earth perished from the nuclear assault. The colonies of Bernards Star surrendered and were once more part of the Terran fold while the system of Lalande was pacified after hundreds of thousands had perished. The Sirius Republic signed the Armistice alongside the Martian Government ending the war. All told the list of the deceased for civilian and military numbered 1,001,271,984 dead and missing.
For nearly twenty years now there has been peace...
Tech & Information Guide
Technology in the early half of the 24th Century is far more advanced than that of our current era. In terms of war soldiers and space craft still largely fire projectile weapons. Lasers do exist but they are rare and far in between and only in space. So keep this in mind.
Much like aerospace vehicles ground forces still use tanks, IFVs, and APCs that resemble 21st century Earth. But are far more advanced and feature superior targeting, communications, and fuel apparatus. Practically all military vehicles operate on military or industrial grade hydrogen fuel cells or Helium-3 power plants. Allowing vehicles to go days to weeks without refueling and lighter vehicles on low power can go for over a month operating 12 hours a day in difficult terrain.
The Terran Defense Forces (TDF)
The Terran Defense Forces are the evolution of previous Human armed forces over the last three centuries. They are the dominant military force in Human inhabited space and arguably the most advanced when it comes to warfare. The TDF operates in several branches: The Navy also referred to as The Fleet; The Colonial Marine Corps (CMC) which is responsible for non-ship void warfare, ship boarding and defense, ship security, and rapid planetary assaults from orbit with most ships and installations having Marines on board; The Aerospace Force (AF) which is akin to 21st Century Airforces but also operates space capable craft and strike fighters; The Army, responsible for major/prolonged/extended or long term ground operations and planetary garrison; Finally their is the Army Guard of the Colonies (AGC) which operates much like a National Guard on the planetary level for Earth's colonies and funded by the planets that maintain them.
The Terran Navy
Formed from the Earth Space Forces (ESF) in 2174 in the aftermath of the Colonial Insurgency Era (2156-2173) due to its division into the Navy and Army. The Terran Navy took up the area regarding space warfare and transportation. Often regarded as the senior branch for it's crucial role in the TDF.
The Navy in 2338 operates 150 capital ships (additional 30 currently mothballed) and hundreds of other vessels with a couple thousand support ships. The Fleet Base Headquarters in located on Earth in Luxembourg with the largest orbital shipyards being the Norfolk Geostationary Dockyards. The Fleet has roughly 5.3 Million personnel in its ranks as of 2338 and several million reservists.
The Valkyrie
The Colonial Marine Corps
The Aerospace Force
The Army
Army Guard of the Colonies
The Terran Defense Forces Rank System
http://i.imgur.com/B75cJeu.png
Note: The Navy, Colonial Marine Corps, and Aerospace Force use the above ranks. Medical Corps and Investigative Corps of all branches use the same rank system.
The Army and Army Guard of the Colonies uses NATO ranks.
The Political Situation of Humanity in 2338
Humanity is divided into three large factions with several smaller groups on the fringes of Human space of which the only minor group of note is the Rossite Union.
The Applications For Enlistment and Service
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Note: If an Officer you can control all the personnel under your command as NPCs. So if a player is the Commander of the Marines aboard the Valkyrie and no one else is a Marine officer said player can control all the Marines as they wish.
