Lucky wrote:I was wondering as to what is known about the Imperium of Man's economic and logistical strength?
Lucky wrote:Picard wrote:Imperium of Man is pretty much combination of Soviet Union and Imperial Russia IN SPACE!, so I'd say that while horrifyingly inefficient, it is also very powerful due to its sheer size. And that includes economy.
I was kind of hoping for some quotes to support what is said.
Okay, I'll give it a shot.
Imperial Armour Three page ten wrote:The Imperial Guard is a fighting force consisting of billions of men and millions of fighting vehicles. It is deployed to warzones and garrisons across the galaxy. At any one time the Imperial Guard might be engaged in thousands, maybe tens of thousands of conflicts, all of which need supplying
One example of the scope of the Imperial Guard which the IOM has to equip and support. On the low end this suggests a vehicle for every thousand troopers which seems low to my eyes for a pesudo-modern force. A issue further magnified by:
Double Eagle wrote:In an Imperium where diligently-maintained war machines were often ten, twelve, fifteen times older than their pilots or drivers, there were plenty of tales of particular planes or tanks carrying a jinx. Cursed machines, plaguing the lives of their users until they were themselves destroyed. Serial Nine-Nine had a long and patchy record. Six pilots dead or maimed at the controls, two bad landings, three major refits
Taken from the excerpt
here,page 10, it shows the average service life of a Imperium vehicle can be measured in centuries lessening the demand on the IOM's industry to sustain their mechanized forces.
Imperial Guard 5th codex page 8 wrote:For a Hive world as Armageddon, caught in the throes of an all-consuming war, a draft of at least a hundred million men at arms and several million armoured vehicles is typical-a tiny fraction of the total populace which numbers in the hundreds of billions. A far-flung agri-world may have a significantly lower military tribute, perhaps as few as five million men and cavalry, but this may be a significant proportion of the world’s population
Example of the range of recruitment and therefore, assuming year in and year out they maintain on average the same size force, some hint at possible "bleedage" due to fatalities, wounded and simple "aging out". Also of note is Armageddon's tithe of "several million armoured vehicles" indicating 1) Armageddon represents a mammoth percentage of the Imperium's vehicle output, 2) there is a mammoth expendature of material which counteracts such production or 3) Gamesworkshop is not unduly concerned with internal consitency of the background for a faction meant to entice the selling of miniatures.
Battlefleet Gothic Armada page 26 wrote:As with all highly militarized zones, it is important for the Imperial Navy to maintain substantial reserves of vessels around the eye of Terror, ready to deploy as reinforcements should the need arise. Whilst it is possible to keep the vessels themselves ready in this manner, Battlefleet Obscura simply does not possess the manpower to keep reserve crews stationed aboard these vessels as well. Instead, whole shipyards are filled with rows of silent, inactive vessels, often representing classes of ship now outdated or scarce. In times of great need these ships will then be brought into service and crewed with sailors from destroyed or crippled vessels or even with hastily mustered new recruits
An example the IOM does posses and maintain reserve fleets in addition to grim and tested Naval forces. How much value they are and how "substantial" should be wieghted are of course open questions. As well this quote I gleamed from Spacebattles and I have not been able to independently verify so take it with a little caution.
Rogue Trader rulebook 2009 page 189 wrote:In the 41st Millenium, a spacefaring vessel is a rare and precious. Ships take decades, even centuries to build…it is rare to find a “new” starship-most are hundreds or thousands of years old, and some date back to the earliest days of the Imperium. Therefore, ships are never mass-produced, and even two ships of the same class are rarely alike.
Straight forward. Ships are old, take a very long time to build.
Imperial Guard 5th Codex page 7 wrote:A plea for military aid may come to to the ears of the Imperium, but not be acted upon for months, years or even decades. Such requests typically make their way through countless adepts before finally reaching the hands of who can sanction suitable action, sitting at a dimly lit pulpit-station many hundreds of light years away
Imperial Guard 5th Codex page 7 wrote:The unpredictable nature of the Warp and the inherent dangers of interstellar travel are such that it is not unusual for entire regiments to be lost or even destroyed in transit
An idea of logistics and response time in the IOM. Safe to say its very ossified and bureacratic hampered by "age of sail" travel conditions.
Imperial Guard 5th Codex page nine wrote:Should an imperial planet come under attack and the local defences prove insufficient, an imperial Commander is entitled to request aid from the Departmento Munitorum, for which its primary response will be the deployment of the Imperial guard. As war descend upon neighbouring systems new regiments will be raised and army groups formed, drawn from the resources of all nearby planets…When Waaagh! Grax invaded the Ryza system in 925.M41, all planets within ten light years were ordered to recruit and raise at least an additional fifty regiments as a primary reaction to counter the Ork invasion. Should the Imperium’s response not prove decisive in crushing an enemy then the sphere around the conflict zone is increased in ever-larger increaments…
Typical response to a "pressure situation".