The Foreign Armies

The Foreign Armies follow a simple design in which most of its troops are issued from noble houses, merchants and dissolute nobles that wish to make again their fortunes and names by having a relatively legitimate career as a licensed officer in the Foreign Armies. La Compagnie, with its great holdings and rights of colonisation, use and rent its forces to the Imperium's war efforts or private demands as long as they answer the Imperial Mercenary Compact.
When a noble or rich merchant comes with his band of troops, he adorns the tan and brown long plated coats of the Foreign Armies and its war techniques and accept the orders of his newfound superiors. Where ordered, he marches and after a satisfying term of service, La Compagnie may grant lands to their officers and followers, participation on the conquest of a new world, while others receive during their service a place in the Order of Sinners.
The Foreign Armies work especially well with Knight World orders, generally taking in its numbers some freeblades that were keen on joining a cause in the hope of founding their own knightworld, discovering the advantages of the tremendous resources of la Compagnie.

Composition

Manpower

The Foreign Armies are composed of hundreds of billions of mercenary units all around the Imperium. While these units will generally work alongside more regular imperial formations, in service to trade cartels for protection of their assets, they may sometimes be united in greater formation such as Host-Battalions, comprising anywhere between 1 to 20 foreign armies and War-hosts, comprising up to ten Host-Battalions. 
Each Foreign Army is composed of 6 Footmen Grand Companies and 6 Pikemen Grand Companies, where each company is 360 men divided in the twelve 30 men-strong lances.
Each company and army has access to a logistic staff of 20 person and ten officer and disciplinary corps.

Equipment

Field artillery like heavy mortars, quadguns and even basilisk tanks are a common use of the infantry units, while horses or other beasts of similar build are often used to create devastating cavalry assaults by units of Pikemen. Otherwise, the Foreign Army is not done for short battle and are generally making use of mostly towed equipment, vast tent camps and entranching equipment to create their positions.

Weaponry

The units of the Foreign Armies are composed of two types: The first one are the Footmen, which are the more regular infantry. These soldiers are equipped with lasrifles, entrenching tools and long sword baionnets to fit the end of their rifles, frag and krak grenades.
The pikemen, however, are the more elite infantry equipped with heavier fully-plated carapace armour, hunting lances with reloadable explosive tips and wrist-mounted grenade launcher on their left arm which is equipped with smoke and stun grenades while their helms are equipped with photo-visors. Generally, a compact hellpistol is strapped to their hunting lance to be readied when enemies close the distance. For melee combat, Pikemen wear bastard swords, combat axes or warhammers.

Vehicles

The footmen are mostly used on foot as their name suggest, moving slowly behind the lightning and devastating assaults of the pikemen. However, when faster deployment is necessary, the regiments make extensive use of Centaur assault-carriers for either their footmen and pikemen.
Otherwise, La Compagnie has secured many mobile forges to build the cheaper AT-83 Brigands and AT-70 Reavers. These military choices are mainly to reduce the suspicion the army imposes to more conservative imperial commanders by seeing the mercenary force as being of lesser equippment than other military units.

Structure

The Foreign Army command structure is quite similar to those of other organised military forces and works as such:

• Sergeant-at-Arms: Leader of a sub-lance (generally from 5 to 15 men). 
• Leftenant-at-Arms: Leader of a lance. May nominate Sergeant-at-Arms to divide his command.
• Sword-captain: Leader of a Grand Company. Nominate Leftenant-at-Arms to divide his command.
• Sword-Commander: Leader of an Army. Nominate Sword-Captain to divide his command.
• Host-Marshall: Leader of a host-battalion. Assemble Sword Commanders and their Armies under his command.
• War-Marshall: Leader of a War Host. Assemble Host-Marshalls and their host-battalions under his command.

Freeblades and noble houses: Often, dissolute noble houses or powerful individuals in search of adventure or even some questors freeblades will join the Foreign Army. If they already have troops under their command, they will be given the rank according to the number of men they already have and put directly in their command. If they have a noble title, they will add this title to their rank (such as Duke Sword-Commander). 
Any noble efficient in battle or command maybe given automatically a military ranks, while questors will either be put in charges of lances or even grand company, unless they can already assemble in units of their fabled knight themselves.

Whenever greater command structure are required, they generally are composed of the elite requisitionning these gigantic forces, or members of the Board of Directors or even the Lordship Court itself.

Tactics

Foreign Armies use ancient tactics with modern touch to great effect. While no-one would hire a hundred-thousands Steel Fist Mercenaries for a single war as their fees are too high and their techniques are more related to hit and run tactiques, lightning raids and such, the Foreign Armies are to be recruited in great amount, deployed to conquer city, hold the line or defend great domains.
When in a more defensive or slow-moving combat, the Foreign Army will deploy in short range heavy siege mortars, bombards, quadcannons and other field-artillery pieces to suppress any enemy advance while the pikemens will form in lines behind which regular footmen will take cover and aim their rifles to fire upon their enemies. If the battle is a more ranged one, generally the Pikemen will fall in a more defensive roles and will support the use of the artillery pieces.
When on the offensive, however, the Foreign Army is at its best. The elite pikesmen will hop in centaur carriers or even on cavalry and will make devastating charge in the heart of enemy formations, their hunting lances devastatings light tanks and heavy infantry or xenos monsters alike. When able, the pikesmen will retreat shortly, reload the explosive tips of their weapons and charge into the fray again, generally leaving the footmen to take the ground they ploughed throught in well coordinated deployment or wave las-totting infantry. 
When unable to disengage to reload their hunting lances (or when they lack the necessary replacement tips), pikemen will engage agressively the enemy formation and churn through their number with ferocity, numbers and stubborness. Indeed, while coordinated and fighting in ranks, their carapace armour and determination make them troops very hard to put down. If forced to retreat, footmen won't generaly be far behind and will cover the retreat of the pikemen that will retreat in good order.

Training

Footmen and Pikemen are both trained from the original units they come from. Indeed, be they prior mercenary units, house militia, guard regiments or other sources, members of the Foreign Armies comes most of time under the leadership of some officer or aristocratic classes that join the military arm of La Compagnie. By doing this, they grant the Foreign Armies an important quantity of already trained soldiers, which training is then expanded upon.
Troops are divided by the two types of military formations that exist in the Foreign Army, the Pikemen and the Footmen.
Pikemen are chosen amongst forces more used to frontal assault, melee combat and shock attack. While their techniques are then honed to the standards of the army and they are trained in the necessary formation drill, use and reloading of hunting lances, wrangling skills upon cavalry and melee sparring, they are also trained to pilot tanks and mann artillery positions in the same way that are the footmen.
Footmen, on the other side, are more regular infantry units, trained in the used of support special and heavy weapons, squad support action, suppressive fire patterns, fortifying positions, urban combat and room-clearance operations. 
While more importance is given to the training of the Pikemen as they are called in more hasardous combat manoeuver, most troops are of a similar training level and are most importantly trained to support each type of unit to maximum efficiency, such as pikemen retreating under footmen covering fire, or pikemen holding the line with their hunting lances against beastlike xenos like the orks while the infantry is repositionning its support weapons or reloading their lasrifles.

Logistics

Logistical Support

Each Grand Company has up to twenty men which are tasked to prepare food, apply basic medical procedures, while most of the Logistical work is done by units in rotation, such as establishing camp, digging trenches, positionning weapons, escorting equipment. 
Most pikemen are responsible for the nourrishment and training of their own mounts.

Upkeep

While the footmen work on a more regular pattern of equipment, pikemen make use of a lot more of disposable equipment, such as their hunting lances that most be replaced, their mount that often die in battle or even the gigantic quantity of concussion and smoke grenades they use to cover their advance.

Recruitment

The Foreign Army recruits by its many contacts agmonst commercial interest, noble families, rogue trader dynasties or chartist captains and trade cartels. As such, most of those in debt to La Compagnie or wanting adventure and the promise of new lands, tend to be very interested by the military life these units offer. 
A particular amount of problem is suffered by pikemen units, as their more melee-oriented tactiques often cost them lots of lives, needing a greater recruitment effort.

Type

Mercenary

Overall training Level

Trained

Assumed Veterancy

Trained

Used by

• La Compagnie