Order of Battle (part 1)

A quick peek at the Vargr Orbat for the Feri campaign...

Vargr

Ngath Confederation Invasion Fleet

Battle Squadron 5 (4 x Vargr Dzough "Empire Builder" Class Light Battleships)

Battle Squadron 8 (4 x Vargr Dzough "Empire Builder" Class Light Battleships)

Cruiser Squadron 3 (4 x Foghoks class Vargr heavy cruisers)

Cruiser Squadron 4 (4 x Foghoks class Vargr heavy cruisers)

Cruiser Squadron 7 (4 x Foghoks class Vargr heavy cruisers)

Tanker Squadron 1 (3 x bulk hydrogen carriers with fuel shuttles and refinery capacity)

Assault Carrier Squadron 12 (5 “Gvurrdon” class assault carriers)

The Ngath Confederation Army

Initial Drop

101^st Lift Infantry Army (Tech Level 13)

105^th Lift Armored Corps (Tech Level 12)

1^st Lift Cavalry Division (Tech Level 10)

2^nd Armored Lift Cavalry Division (Tech Level 10)

Vargr Second Invasion Lift

37^th Lift Infantry Corps (Tech Level 12)

5^th Lift Infantry Corps (Tech Level 13)

12^th Lift Armored Division (Tech Level 13)

The Vargr and the Fifth Frontier War

Just coreward of the Regina subsector lies the Vargr domains of Gvurrdon Sector. One Vargr warlord – the leader of the Ngath Confederation - has been influenced by the Zhodani Consulate to throw in with the Consulate against the Third Imperium. While larger than any corsair raid could ever hope to be, the Vargr warfleet is small by the standards of modern interstellar war.

As with many endeavors, logistics drives strategy. The Vargr were not immune to this constraint. Specifically, the Vargr had tens of thousands of ground fighters available, but insufficient shipping capacity (‘star lift capacity’ to use the naval term) to move all the troops simultaneously with the fleet. The result is a campaign that often appears to ‘lurch forward’. The assault carrier squadron carries the initial combat drop, but then has to fall back and retrieve the second wave. (Author’s aside: you find similar constraints in the operations of the 7^th Amphibious Force in the Southwest Pacific during World War Two).

Coupled with that is the bottleneck nature of the Feri star system. Feri has no gas giant, so in order to refuel, a fleet must control the planet. But the Vargr could not lift enough troops to quickly conquer the planet.

The Ulithi Fleet plan called for a six week campaign by the 101^st Army and 105^th Tank Corps, supported by the cruiser squadrons of the Fleet. Meanwhile the battle squadron’s accompany Assault Carrier Squadron 12 back to Vargr space to pick up the remaining corps and divisions of the invasion force and return to Feri. Ideally, by the time the fleet returned, the only thing left to do would be hold the victory parade, load up the troops and push on to the next objective.

Hungry Like the Wolf

Long time players of Traveller and no doubt familiar with the Fifth Frontier War – an epic clash between two massive empires – the Third Imperium and the Zhodani Consulate. What is often overlooked are the ‘minor allies’ of the Zhodani – the Swords Worlds and the Vargr. This supplement details the actions of the Vargr forces in the Fifth Frontier War, with special focus on one of the major planetary campaigns the Vargr forces participated in – the battle for Feri.

The Vargr are an alien race descended from Terran canine stock (i.e. wolves). While the Vargr occupy an impressive volume of space to coreward of the Third Imperium and the Zhodani Consulate, this size is not reflected in effectiveness. Vargr society is best know for two polar traits – first a fierce loyalty to the clan, tribe, nation and race. Second an equally fierce belief in the loyalty to the chieftain (derisively referred to by humans as the ‘pack leader’.

Vargr culture tends to inhibit larger governmental organizations, resulting in many competing ‘pocket empires’ that are nominally aligned into a greater whole. If you are trying to wrap you head around how the Vargr work as a socio-political force, two historical analogies would be similar to the princely states of the mid-13^th Century Holy Roman Empire or the Barbary states of mid- 17^th Century North Africa. Moderately powerful political units that cannot quite fully integrate at a larger scale, but still capable of acting on the larger stage.

The Vargr are best known throughout the Imperium as a constant threat of piracy and raiding (the infamous “Vargr Corsairs” of Little Black Book fame) mostly aimed at the Imperium. Anti-piracy patrol has long been a standard task for coreward frontier elements of the Imperial Navy.

In the Fifth Frontier War, this infamy operated on a broader scale. A small fleet embarked on the “pack mother of all raids” against the Imperium. Striking in conjunction with the Zhodani, these Vargr would set out to help bring down a mighty prize – the Third Imperium’s Spinward Marches sector.