Uniform Colours

[BFalcon]

OK, a while back I got a whole load of 15mm minis, including 3 K'Kree and a whole load of armoured Vac-suited, armed troops...

I know it's an unusual question, but does anyone know what colour the Imperial Navy troops and crewmembers would wear and also if the K'Kree has a uniform colour?

I didn't see any references in the mongoose material, but that might just be an oversight - I'm hoping that one of the gurus might know...

If not, I'll just go with the usual green for troops, navy for crew and white for officers that seems to be the norm in sci-fi and just wing it with the K'kree...

 

[rust]

Steve Jackson Games once published Cardboard Heroes Traveller Set 2:
Imperial Marines, which shows what were considered the official uniform
colours for Imperial Marines. It should not be too difficult to find a picture
of the set on the Internet.

A poll over on CotI resulted in a narrow majority voting for blue as the
colour of Imperial Navy uniforms. The fact that there was such a poll with
a wide spread of opinions seems to be evidence that there is no official
uniform colour.

For some reason I imagine K'kree uniforms as dark grey, but I do not re-
member where this idea came from, whether it was something official or
just some miniatures I have seen somewhere.

Edit.: I do know the official colour of the dress uniform of the Imperial
Marines, but I do not remember the d*****d English word for it, only
that it sounds similar to another English word for "shipwrecked". :?

Edt. 2: Maroon.

 

[BFalcon]

Sounds good to me - Navy uniforms would work well for the armoured troops and I'll use maroon for the uniforms if I ever get any dress uniforms

 

[Ishmael]

For which uniform?
In my old US Navy days, I had...

dungarees ( jeans and a light blue shirt.
Flight Deck jersey... lots of colors, I forget them all... mine was green with whatever pants you had...we got huge crates of old army surplus to pick through .
winter dress blues
summer dress whites
winter undress blues
summer undress blues
summer undress whites
dixie cup hats ( like Gilligan )
Ice cream man hats
3 or 4 different shoes/boots too, depending on what uniform you were required to wear at the time.

officers were different ( even different colors )
sr NCO's were different.

Perhaps different uniforms depending on where the unit is deployed.
Different services are just as bad.

And that's just for the Imperials...what about all the small local units?

 

[rust]

In my old US Navy days, I had...

Well, but this is a bit of US Navy mad... - ah, tradition. We had exactly
two uniforms, the fatigues and the dress uniforms, and a few accesso-
ries to add for specific occasions or duties, like a long coat worn over
the dress uniform for ceremonies.

 

[Ishmael]

Well, but this is a bit of US Navy mad... - ah, tradition.

Tradition
Isn't that suppose to be a defining trait of the Vilani..and the Vilani-influenced Imperium?
The strong, sometimes senseless adherence to tradition?
So there might be many, many uniforms, each with its own history behind it over the past many many centuries....

Then there are the less traditional groups who might be changing uniforms every few years depending on what some bean-counter in an office thinks would work best in the field. ( whether it is better or not )

Or maybe dictators and other strict regimes where uniforms may change with each regime change.

and this might only marginally impact what a soldier out in the field under fire might be wearing.

 

[BFalcon]

I think it'd be best to keep it simple - after all, they don't need summer/winter clothing except when doing dirtside "in the rough" - so a dress uniform, standard uniform and EVA armour would be the only three needed.

I'm mainly (at this point) worried about marines - although I have a single mini of an old guy who looks like he's wearing an old uniform. I just wondered if there was any mention... it looks like the Navy uses maroon, but what about the marines? Should I go with the standard green on the basis that the "red sun" insignia would stand out better and that they're used for ground ops also?

 

[dreamingbadger]

for ground ops; the marines might well use a tacitcal patch (e.g. black) rather than red

 

[Rikki Tikki Traveller]

Camo is still going to be popular for field uniforms, even if every combat uniform/armour has Visilight Camoflage.

Armour will have different colors than the uniforms of the troopers. Armour will be colored for the terrain it is being used in, Uniforms will likely only include a "working" "undress/office" and "Dress" uniform; none of those will be visible under armour.

 

[rust]

My favourite one was at the airforce medical school in Giebelstadt, the
dress uniform trousers with the fatigues jacket, shoes and beret. :lol:

 

[MX]

Being active airforce I can add the following:

Normal/Winter camo
Summer camo
Desert camo
Blue with dressjacket and/or coat or with normal jacket or with windbreaker or with ...
The Zentrale Dienstvorschrift 37/10 (code of uniforms) is very funny reading.

Not counting the different possible headgear (granted, airforce usually doesn't wear headgear anyway)
And to quote a common joke: 3 airforce soldiers, 4 different dresses...

And that odd mix of fatigues and dress I have actually seen at a change of command of the Luftwaffenamt (Air Force Office) a few years ago, worn by the Wachbataillon (Ministry of Defence Honour Guard).

 

[Sevya]

I'm curious where the fact that the Imperial Marines uniform is maroon came from. In the Imperial Encyclopedia (MegaTraveller) it says the starburst insignia on marine uniforms is maroon. Is there some resource I don't have access to that delineates out uniform colors?

As for the Imperial Navy, their starburst insignia is yellow, as declared in the same source. EVA suits would probably be some bright color, to help with rescues after battles or accidents. If we go with the marines wearing maroon uniforms, the navy would probably go with bright red, to show a unity in purpose with differences in the type of work they do.

Just some thoughts.

Sevya

 

[rust]

I'm curious where the fact that the Imperial Marines uniform is maroon came from.

I seem to remember that it was mentioned in GURPS Traveller Star Mercs,
which has some informations about the Imperial Marines, their organiza-
tion and equipment.

 

[Sevya]

When I was in the US Army National Guard, our issue uniforms consisted of:

Summer weight Battle Dress Uniforms (BDU's)
Winter Weight BDU's
Class A/B uniform (Dress/business casual)
PT/workout uniform.

There were, of course, accessories, such as a field jacket, belts, boots, headgear, etc.

Sevya

 

[SSWarlock]

One location for a pic of the Cardboard Heros is at the Troll and Toad website. Specifically,

http://www.trollandtoad.com/D&D%20and%20Other%20RPGs/3999-922-5210-5328p1n10.html

 

[BFalcon]

Thanks warlock - very helpful!!

Fatigues in Maroon for the marines it is then... with green camo EVA armour...

 

[G. K. Zhukov]

I'm curious where the fact that the Imperial Marines uniform is maroon came from. In the Imperial Encyclopedia (MegaTraveller) it says the starburst insignia on marine uniforms is maroon. Is there some resource I don't have access to that delineates out uniform colors?

Several illustrations from the Classi/MegaTraveller eras depict Imperial Marines in maroon or dark red battledress (including the box of true 25mm miniatures that Grenadier released in the eighties).

IIRC, there was an adventure from the New Era period where some NPCs used relic battledresses (from the already defunct Third Imperium) and called themselves "Crimson Knights".

 

[BFalcon]

Zhukov: I got to see a scan of some of the card "miniatures" that SJG released and they seem to be more crimson than maroon, so I think I'll be going for a deep red armour, not maroon (which is more purple than a pure red).

 

[G. K. Zhukov]

This is the box cover of the 25mm Grenadier minis I was referring to:

http://www.travellerbibliography.org/grenadier/1001.html

And here is a nice pic (from QLI's T20) with some Imperial Marines on patrol, with some Intrepid / Trepida grav tanks hovering below them.

 

[BFalcon]

Cool thanks - I was planning to use a similar colour to those for the "standard" army EVA suits... so maybe they're Army instead of Marine?

Incidently anyone know the various colours for the various imperial "arms"?

Red for Navy/Marines isn't it?

I can't remember where I saw it now...