TOG ACADEMY: the Renegade Legion Wiki

Fighter TOG Pilum2

Cutaway view of the Pilum´s interior as shown in the Interceptor rulebook.

Fighter TOG Pilum miniature

Pila issuing from their carriers over the planet Grosianus. (Original miniature pictures by LegionsIVhire.ca.)

The Pilum is an aging but reliable space superiority starfighter originally designed by the TOG to combat KessRith fighter craft. While somewhat outperformed by more modern fighters, the Pilum still remains a mainstay of the Imperial navy by virtue of its ruggedness and simplicity of maintenance.

Etymology[]

Named after the iconic weapon of the post-Marian Roman legionnaires, a heavy throwing spear with a long shank tip, the Pilum (pl. pila) stands in the TOG tradition of giving fighters the names of ancient Roman weaponry. The historical pilum was designed to pierce a shield, then the legionnaire would step forward onto the shaft to lever the shield out of the enemy warrior´s grasp and rob him of his protection.

Design Philosophy and Tactical Role[]

A classic medium TOG fighter, the Pilum is very versatile but excels at no specific role. It was designed and introduced during the KessRith campaign in 6779, and initially was regarded as under-armed for a medium fighter. But its agility quickly endeared it to pilots facing the KessRith suicide ramming attacks that characterised the final stages of the campaign.

The Pilum has a broad, flat "flying wing" profile that makes it look somewhat like a manta ray. The two outer thrusters are mounted far off-center on the wings to exert the maximum leverage for quick changes of course and aspect. The flicker shields were state-of-the-art when the fighter was introduced, but are rather weak when compared to more modern shield generators.

The engines provide an acceleration of 7g, which enabled the fighter to run circles around the lumbering Kess designs back in the day, but again, has been overtaken by more modern Imperial fighter models.

The weapons mix is very versatile and lets the Pilum engage enemies comfortably at short or medium range. The well-rounded combination of long 7.5/3 lasers and mass drivers gives the fighter some ability to undercut armour, an important feature against the heavily armoured Kess craft it was designed to fight. A single hardpoint carries a missile, which is usually launched when breaking off an engagement to keep pursuers busy.

Being a simple, rugged design, the Pilum has seen wide distribution throughout the Navy, and most ground technicians are intimately familiar with the craft. Easy to maintain and repair, spare parts for the Pilum have been in the supply chain for so long that it is usually very easy to get one´s hands on what is needed to keep the craft spaceworthy. In fact, with Renegade Legion raids on TOG supply lines growing in frequency and boldness all over Shannedam County, the Pilum, which was already due to be phased out to second-line units, made a strong resurgence at the front as Spicula and Idides started to be grounded for lack of replacement parts in ever-growing numbers.

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Legionnaire RPG Values: Pilum Standard Variant[]

Hit Location Sub-Location Damage Boxes / Damage
[1] Structure - [][][][][] [][][][][] [][][][][]
[2] FTL Drive - None
[3] Shields - [][][][]
[4] Engines / Thrust - [][][][][] [][] ::: Thrust 7 g
[5] Armour - [][][][][] [][]
[6] Crew Pilot [][][][][]
[7] Weapon Computers - [][][][]
[8] Sensors - [][][]
[9] Life Support - [][][]
[10] Weapons [1] 7.5/3 Laser Damage 5
- [2] 7.5/3 Laser Damage 5
- [3] MDC-8 Damage 5
- [4] MDC-8 Damage 5
- [5] Hardpoint *

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Leviathan Values: Pilum Standard Variant[]

Fighter TOG Pilum3

Pila dogfighting with Fluttering Petals.

The Pilum is comparable to the Penetrator in capital ship engagements. Despite its age, it usually acquits itself well, and general-purpose Leviathan squadrons often carry Pila for their versatility and the simpleness of in-hangar field repairs. The fighter does not carry enough missiles to be a ship-killer, but as a good all-round dogfighter it isn´t the worst choice.

Group (72 Fighters) Armour Missile Attack Value CRA LRA Thrust
Armour Row 6 [][][][][][] [][][][][][] [][][]--- - 50 108 86 7
Armour Row 5 [][][][][][] [][][][][][] ---- - 90 72 -
Armour Row 4 [][][][][][] [][][]--- - - 72 58 -
Armour Row 3 [][][][][][] ---- - 54 43 -
Armour Row 2 [][][][][]- -- - 36 29 -
Armour Row 1 [][][]--- - 18 14 -
Flight (24 Fighters) Armour Missile Attack Value CRA LRA Thrust
Armour Row 3 [][][][][][] []--- 10 36 31 9
Armour Row 2 [][][][][][] -- - 24 21 -
Armour Row 1 [][][][]-- - 12 10 -
Squadron (6 Fighters) Armour Missile Attack Value CRA LRA Thrust
Armour Row 1 [][][][][]- 0 9 8 11
Single Fighter Values Armour Missile Hardpoints CRA LRA Thrust
Pilum 70 1 30 26 7

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Variant: High Thrust Modification[]

Fighter TOG Pilum modern 1
Fighter TOG Pilum modern2
Fighter TOG Pilum modern3

Pila from different fighter wings.

This field refit, often done between missions, replaces the two wingtip laser cannon with missile hardpoints and installs an upgraded acceleration compensator. High-thrust Pila are often equipped with sensor pods on their hardpoints and pressed into reconnaissance roles when other, more specialised fighters like the Lancea are not available. At other times, they are fitted with warhead-carrying missiles and sent on strike missions to hit a fixed installation or other in-system asset. The Pilum´s atmospheric capability and streamlining makes it a natural choice for engaging planetary ground targets, so Pilum pilots often have ample experience in strafing runs, ground support and bombing missions.

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Legionnaire RPG Values: Pilum High Thrust Modification[]

Hit Location Sub-Location Damage Boxes / Damage
[1] Structure - [][][][][] [][][][][] [][][]
[2] FTL Drive - None
[3] Shields - [][][][]
[4] Engines / Thrust - [][][][][] [][][] ::: Thrust 8 g
[5] Armour - [][][][][] [][]
[6] Crew Pilot [][][][][]
[7] Weapon Computers - [][][][]
[8] Sensors - [][][]
[9] Life Support - [][][]
[10] Weapons [1] MDC-8 Damage 5
- [2] MDC-8 Damage 5
- [3] Hardpoint *
- [4] Hardpoint *
- [5] Hardpoint *

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Leviathan Values: Pilum High Thrust Modification[]

Line Missions[]

The high-thrust Pilum´s single missile strike makes it a good one-shot weapon in a fight between capital ships. It trades off both short- and long-range attack capability with its secondary armament, though, so its follow-up attacks are rather weak.

Raiding Missions[]

Often deployed against planetary targets, the high-thrust Pilum is a versatile fighter that can fulfill a large variety of mission profiles. Raiding carrier squadrons not yet equipped with the modern Spicula or Lanceae (for strike missions and reconnaissance, respectively) often fall back to the reliable Pilum for both of these specialties.

Group (72 Fighters) Armour Missile Attack Value CRA LRA Thrust
Armour Row 6 [][][][][][] [][][][][][] [][][]--- - 100 58 58 8
Armour Row 5 [][][][][][] [][][][][][] ---- - 48 48 -
Armour Row 4 [][][][][][] [][][]--- - - 38 38 -
Armour Row 3 [][][][][][] ---- - 29 29 -
Armour Row 2 [][][][][]- -- - 19 19 -
Armour Row 1 [][][]--- - 10 10 -
Flight (24 Fighters) Armour Missile Attack Value CRA LRA Thrust
Armour Row 3 [][][][][][] []--- 50 19 19 10
Armour Row 2 [][][][][][] -- - 13 13 -
Armour Row 1 [][][][]-- - 6 6 -
Squadron (6 Fighters) Armour Missile Attack Value CRA LRA Thrust
Armour Row 1 [][][][][]- 10 5 5 12
Single Fighter Values Armour Missile Hardpoints CRA LRA Thrust
Pilum High Thrust Modification 70 3 16 16 8

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