British Army O.C.C. (Rifts Earth):

The British army is based on regiments with each regiment general coming from a specific region of England or her territories. Each Regiment of the British Army has their own history with battles ands campaigns of their own. Generally a soldier will serve in the same regiment for his or her entire career in the Army. There is a strong feeling of comradeship and regimental pride which is the basis for the British Army's fighting spirit. This has enabled the British army to prevail in battle including against what appears to be impossible odds.

Unlike most other nations, the British Army has only resorted to conscription twice in its history. Both times were during the Twentieth Century. Because until recently the Army has always needed to garrison an empire and has rarely conscripted troops, the number of troops available for campaigns has always been small in number. This is even though the British Army has been involved in warlike operations somewhere in the world. Because of this, they have often recruited troops overseas.

While some regiments date their existence from the sixteen hundreds, the wars against France between 1704 and 1712 is where the reputation of the British Army first started. During the later part of the eighteenth century, the British served abroad as well as home. These included more wars with France, against what became the United States which was one of the few wars they have lost, and against the Jacobite rising at home.

At the end of the Eighteenth Century, war broke out with France yet again. The British helped with the first overthrow of Napoleon and in the Battle of Waterloo, with Prussian Allies, where the Duke of Wellington overwhelmingly defeated Napoleon and his armies when he returned. This battle sealed the reputation of the British Army.

After the Napoleonic Wars, the British Army did not fight on European Soil until fighting the Russians in the Crimea about forty years later. While the British army was successful, thousands of soldiers died through disease, neglect, and poor administration.

The British army experienced many reforms in the army during the late part of the Nineteenth century. These includes a shorter term of enlistment, the purchasing of commissions by officers was abolished, flogging during peacetime was abolished, and regiments were given formal links with specific parts of the country.

During the reign of Queen Victoria, the British Army was supporting the rapid expansion of Empire. They had their usual duties of garrisoning the British Army but fought campaigns all over the world as well. Well known is their battles against the Zulu and Boers in Africa. It took the British Army about half a million soldiers to fight a force that was only about ten percent the size.

The tactics learned against the Boer were well applied when England went to war against the Germans in the beginning of World War One. The forces, while small, were well equipped and trained. The problem was that the British forces were too small and that a mass army would have to be created. Two and a Half Million men volunteered into the army with many of them joining 'Pals' Battalions which were organized on a local basis. The British army made many new introductions including that of the tank and the British army bore an increasing share in the fighting. Finally, through a series of allied offensives, the Germans were driven back and sued for peace in November 1918.

During the years between World War One and World War Two, the British Army was neglected and was ill equipped in the beginning of the Second World War. The British Army failed to prevent the Germans from invading Norway, was defeated in France, and was decimated in the Far East by Japan when they entered the war. The British Army stayed in the war and learned from their defeats and setbacks. They were able to defeat the Germans in North Africa, halt the Japanese in the Far East, and began a reconquest of territories controlled by the Germans and Japanese. While the United States and Soviet Union played an important part in the war, the contributions of the British Army was considerable.

After the Second World War, the challenges on the British Army did not end. Slowly, British colonies gained independence. The British still had to fight against communism around the world and had to deal with the continuous problems in Northern Ireland. The British Army had to fight to retake the Falklands from Argentina and fought beside the United States in Desert Storm and in Afghanistan.

After the war in Afghanistan the role of the army diminished. The war against communism was over, and the British no longer had a empire to maintain. Although there were a number of little brush fire wars in the first decades of the 21 century, the army found that it was too cumbersome to be rapidly deployed to those crisis areas. Almost always the Royal Marines were tasked with the actual fighting, while the army was relegated to peacekeeping duties.

All this changed with the Two Year War for South Africa. Against the large numbers of Chinese regulars and their indigenous allies the Royal Marines were too small a force, and for the first time in nearly forty years the army saw a actual war. Fighting in the largely depopulated territories of central South Africa was fierce sometimes, and many new weapons and equipment upgrades were rushed onto the battlefield. But when the war was over, the British and their Dutch allies stood victorious, having beaten a force nearly twice their size.

From those days on the Army was once again well funded, and tasked with keeping the Empire and its overseas holdings safe. All in all it was no surprise that in 2074 a sizable amount of soldiers were sent to travel to the Falklands when once again the clouds of war pulled together over the small islands.

O.C.C. Skills:

O.C.C. Related Skills: Select Seven other skills, but at least two must be from Espionage and two must be from Rogue skills. Plus select two additional skills at level three, one at level six, one at level nine, and one at level twelve. All new skills start at level one proficiency.

Secondary Skills: The character also gets to select four secondary skills from the previous list. These are additional areas of knowledge that do not get the advantages of the bonus listed in parenthesis (). All secondary skills start at the base skill level. Also, the skills are limited (any, only, none) as previously indicated on the list.

Standard Equipment: R-6 Heavy Body Armor, LP-12 Laser Pistol and LR-55 Pulse Laser Rifle with two short and four long E-Clips. Also issued four grenades and one in five carries either the LMG-60 Squad Automatic Pulse Laser Rifle (instead of LR-55 Rifle) with an additional eight long E-Clips or a RPM-2 Mini-Missile Launcher. Other equipment includes two dress uniforms and six working uniforms, survival pack (equal to NG-S2 basic survival pack), and 7 days of rations. Other equipment is issued as necessary.

Money: 3D6x100 Credits and gets a monthly salary of 1000 credits a month (Officers get double.) All food, equipment, clothing, room, and board is supplied by the Army.

Cybernetics: Universal Headjack & Ear Implant (Special Augmentation, Amplified Hearing, Sound Filtration System, and Optic Nerve Implant), Oxygen Storage Cell, Lung Toxic Filter, and Molecular Analyzer.
Some troops will elect to get black market cybernetics such as Razor Nails and Fingers Bombs but they are discouraged by the British Military.

Experience Levels: Use New Navy Marine (from Rifts: Underseas)

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Background information by Kitsune (E-Mail Kitsune) and Mischa (E-Mail Mischa ).

O.C.C. Writeup by Kitsune (E-Mail Kitsune).

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