Establishing the General guidelines and intro fluff for the 53rd, I was thinking about having humanity as the bad guys this time around.  Figure in the far future you have an expansionist civilization that's started to colonize like mad.  Problem is that years after some of those worlds are settled, the Sheetok start appearing.  They look evil escapees from Red Lobster to me, so I pictured those weird crab things I see desperately digging back into the sand at the beach after the tide pulls back.  The Sheetok, in my mind, were sleepin' -- and came to only to find humanity established on worlds they had already populated.   They were quickly dominated by the Earth-based power, only now revolts have broken out on several planets.  We hairless apes are in the process of trying to put them in their place.  So for now I have as a unit intro:

Founded in 2204, the 53rd  “Blood and Mud” Armored Division is notorious for the punitive expeditions mounted against Sheetok rebels throughout the fringe colonies.  An all-volunteer unit drawn from regular army ranks, the division is nominally a “fast response” force tasked with quelling Crab uprisings.  The fact that several of its deployments have been nothing more than staged, one-sided massacres instigated by human settlers hungry for land troubles few Party officials. 

Equipped with standard small arms, the division's infantry formations stand apart in their reliance on powered body armor and proclivity for hand-to-hand weaponry – both stemming from painful lessons learned during the Paradus Campaign of 2209.  Confronted by chittering hordes of armed Sheetok warriors, support personnel and artillery crews later commented that personal weapons were always close at hand as those aliens they faced in battle “just keep coming.”  Indeed, current doctrine calls for a hedgehog approach to defensive actions as after action reports have shown it is all but impossible to maintain an unbroken line against a determined Crab assault.

Despite their reputation for brutality – and assertions by the underground press that the division is good for nothing more than razing unarmed Sheetok nests -- the men who make up the 53rd are capable soldiers. A heavy emphasis is placed on tactical flexibility, and both junior officers and their senior NCOs are pushed to display a high degree of personal initiative.  Unfortunately, battlefield casualties amongst front line officers are disproportionately high, as “leading by example” has been interpreted by more than one captain as an obligation to shout his men back on their feet, his identity highlighted by the presence of the unit's accompanying standard bearer.  This “Martyr Complex” has netted its fair share of posthumous decorations, but the turnover rate leaves something to be desired……….

I actually drew up the general guidelines yesterday.
I'll work on the infantry and vehicles over the next couple of days, but as far as the 53rd goes, conceptually.....

Tech Level 3 as they're a spacefaring power.

Maximum Unit Size is 10 as this is a good, squad sized default.

Ad Hoc is 50% as the idea is that flexibility has been drilled into their heads.  The necessity of forming scratch units/kampfgruppe against the Sheetok and all that.

Elite is 25% as while they're solid troops, they're not spec ops warriors. 

Vehicle is 50% because they're mechanized infantry.  The download pack comes with constructable APCs, Tanks, hover platforms and arty. 

Their Individual and Unit morale traits  are "War Cry" and "Martyr."  As the emphasis is placed on junior officers and NCOs showing battlefield initiative, and as the pack comes with a standard bearer, I thought it made sense to have a way for this force to rally pinned troops and send them charging towards the enemy. It also just fits the picture of Junior Officers leading from the front, waving the flag and getting gunned down in the process.

Finally, their tactical advantage is Fluidity. Again, they're adaptable and act on the fly.
TR = 10

Their FR = 10
The personal weapons and Vehicle Weapons are OK, but not overpowered.  Their minimum armor protection is -1 as just about the entire army features some kind of body armor, from scouts to heavy weapon troopers (-1 might seem a light minimum when you look at the heavy weapons and spec ops troopers, but I'm going to give the heavy weapons guys a frontal arc boost). So I need room to have light, medium and heavy models.  Their powered infantry are capable of moving 5+, as the force includes jump capable soldiers.

I'll start working on the grunts and vehicles in a bit. And add fluff as I go. I DO like the idea of humanity being the bad guys here.

Clarifying on the Armor:
Scouts = +2
Light Infantry = +1 (enclosed, but not powered)
Light Assault = 0
Heavy Infantry and Spec Ops folks = -1
Heavy Weapons = -1 with frontal arc boost

Oh yeah.  This is gonna take a while, but the Vanilla "Light Infantry Trooper" is shaping up like this:

Type :SI -- base cost with Covert added in is 18 pts
Size: 2
Quality: Regular
Move: 4 Sprint
Armor Rating: +1
Damage Capacity: 1
Field Save: n/a
HTH Rating: 1@8+
Reflex : +1
Agility: 8
Officer: 3L +1 C (+155) or 2C + 1L (+130)
Hero Cost: +13
Covert Ops : 2I (+8 pts)

The rationale is as follows -- Armor +1 because the light trooper is enclosed in armor with a cammo pattern, but he isn't powered.  4 Sprint seems like a decent vanilla infantry move rate, while the HTH rating is based off the idea that while blades aren't shown in any light trooper images, there are bayonets that can be slotted on to the end of their rifles, and while they aren't crackerjack hand to hand combatants, they can hold their own. The Officer costs are for two variants, the hardbitten, senior NCO (the one with 3L and 1 C) and the well-schooled, but green, junior officer (2C and only 1 L as he isn't the same kind of motivator, but he is very sound tactically).  The covert rating is because of the cammo pattern and the fact that they have enclosed, visored helmets.  I see ALL of these guys as being solid at infiltration, although the scouts and spec ops troopers will obviously be better. 

I'm going to design small arms AFTER the basic profiles are done.  I have a question.  Is the maximum armor rating of my force (now set at -1) inclusive of the frontal arc modifier, or can I keep the default value at -1 and figure the frontal arc thing is an exception?  If I need to change my maximum armor rating to -2 to cover the frontal arc rule, I need to tweak my force guidelines slightly.

Anyway.  I should have finalized offering by Tuesday or so.

I made some early mistakes in drafting my first infantryman (getting to understand the system).

I'm done establishing the infantry guidelines for the 53rd, and once I have the weapons done I was gonna PM Demian to make sure my math is right and I'm following the rules.  Should have the bad guys done by early next week.

The 53rd is done and with Demian for review (wanted to make sure I didn't break any construction rules).

Got to work on the Sheetok.

Good fluff so far, well thought out. Eagerly awaiting the stats (and the rest of the fluff of course). Won't likely have suitable minis for the Sheetok, but I can see myself running a game unsing the 53rd sometime.

Didn't know if folks think the 53rd looks worthwhile or not.

Feel free to tweak the standard units.  I put where I saw officers fitting into the TO&E, but you don't have to adhere to it. 

Been working on the fluff and other stuff.  And tonight a friend and I are actually going to playtest the notes I have for  the Sheetok against the 53rd.  The idea is to have a standard tactical squad:

(8 light infantry, two of them with the underslung GLs tacked on to their rifles, an officer with the Ruhr-Mekanik option, and a heavy weapons specialist with the chaingun)

A heavy infantry ambush team:
(hvy infantry officer with targeting upgrade and assault rifle, 3 addt'l heavy infantry with ATRs and a heavy weapons specialist with a MPMW mortar).

And a team of 6 scouts (no officer, but a hero included).

Defending against Sheetok infantry and an attached tank.