Clan Hell’s Horses always makes the most use of infantry forces in the Clans and thanks to the Zhukov reforms this would not diminish. Specialised infantry forces like the light Cavalry Point’s and their HV-400 ‘Scarab’ personal hovercraft were the eyes and ears of some Clusters. The Horses also have the largest number of Elementals in service or in secondary formations and make extensive use of them as heavy jump infantry or heavy foot infantry squads. These assault units firepower was augmented with the introduction of the X-99 and GL-35 automatic grenade launcher and were equipped with the best personal armour that the Horses could provide. Even the ad-hoc Solhama Infantry Points were quite lavishly equipped with weapons and tended to be far better trained than typical Clan infantry forces.
Whereas most Clans used Solhama troops as their infantry in often near suicidal roles or as little more than military police to keep the populace of conquered worlds in check, the Hell’s Horses deployed their infantry with specific roles and duties in mind. Often they would have their own transport pool of either locally manufactured trucks or Polemos and Svantovit APCs as well as retrofitted Indra’s although the Indra had mainly been relegated to convoy protection duties and far less common in front line duties.
Infantry forces also had two levels of protection or three if one was an Elemental. The standard BDU (Battle Dress Uniform) was hard wearing, water and tear resistant whilst also being lightweight and quite cool to wear. Reinforced padding on the knees and elbows made firing from prone positions more comfortable and didn’t hinder movement. This was the standard field dress for infantry and it could be augmented with Stage II protection.
Stage II protection could be added to the standard BDU and comprised of reinforced external plastic polymer padding for the knees, shins, elbows, and shoulders. A lightweight flak vest with front and rear protection, as well as webbing for magazines, medical patches, or painkillers, was easily equal to those that equipped Inner Sphere forces but tended to be lighter thanks to the advanced hardened plastics used. Stage II protection also used an easily replaceable spray on plastic polymer that would dry into camouflage patterns. This meant that instead of having to use different clothing for different climates, all you had to do was apply a different ‘spray on camouflage’. Without the covering applied the body armour looks pitted with many ‘holes’. These help reduce weight without affecting the protection offered and help with the breathability of the armour. Making it more comfortable to wear.
Stage III protection was only for Elementals in Assault Infantry Stars and was the best protection possible outside of Battle Armour. Going further than the Stage II, the Stage III armour incorporates full protection for the arms and legs and chest whilst servo’s in the armours arms and legs help take the weight without encumbering its wearer and allows them to use heavy weapons like the Mauser IIC or X-99 without tiring. The Stage III armour also incorporates the Hell’s Horses full face helm that is the hallmark of their infantry forces. Like the standard body armour the Phase III armour can be camouflaged with the ‘camo in a can’ plastic polymers used on the Stage II armour. Without this the suit’s ‘diamond’ like structure can be more easily seen.
During Operation REVIVAL the Hell’s Horses would use conventional Infantry in offensive and defensive roles and their Infantry Star’s would fight with honour on Tukkayid and, despite suffering atrocious casualties they mauled ComGuard infantry formations and caused more casualties than they suffered.
In the images below are the examples of this type of armour, in its most basic and 'stripped down' form. Elemental Thomas has yet to don the shoulder or thigh guards of his Stage III armour. But it does give a good view of the armour without its camoflage applied. He can also be seen wearing a Mark IV 'Armet' type helm. These helmets, based on SLDF technology can give a wearer a 270 field of view as well as having low light and infrared vision options. These The Mark IV is not as popular as the Mark V 'Sallet' type helm which is lighter and somewhat less cumbersome.
Warrior Zane is wearing the standard BDU whilst Warrior Riz is wearing the Stage II armour although he has not yet attached his shoulder guards. Again it shows the underlying armour as well as the hook up points for things like ammunition pouches and other equipment.
Drawn by the rather wonderful -
https://www.deviantart.com/bobgreyvenstein who went out of his comfort zone in this commission as he tends to draw high and low fantasy stuff and that probably shows in the picture. But, as always, thoughts and comments are most welcome!
