The Ranks

A set of soldiers for a Dieselpunk fantasy setting i am toying with...

Imperial General: Imperial generals are (naturally) the leaders of the Empire's armies, graduates from the Military Academies and hardened veterans who have worked their way up the command ladder. Imperial Generals typically stay at the rear, commanding and giving commands by radio from inside the armored hulls of battleships or landcrawlers, dug in command posts or fortresses. Because of this, they rarely engage in combat. High ranking officers get staff to make sure that their uniforms are in proper shape. Their armor is for show more than combat, but is still capable in a fight.

Imperial Conscripts: Conscripts are the lowest level in the Empire's Army and are drawn from the non citizen classes (citizens are immune from conscription). Conscripts serve as both soldiers and sailors, as well as other technical. Conscripts are given the short end of the stick in terms of what is invested in each individual soldier. They receive at most a third of the pay of a citizen soldier, citizen soldiers get priority in terms of rations and medical treatment and their equipment is of lower quality. Conscript infantry are armed with a Bayonet, a couple of grenades and either a lever action shotgun or a bolt action rifle, both of which are often hand-me-down weapons. They are given a steel helmet and a cuirass made of steel plates, cotton padding and warsilk (a special variety of silk with a higher amount of tensile strength compared to normal silk) that protects them against shrapnel and some bullet fire. Conscripts are often used in human wave tactics and typically engage enemy positions to hold them down so they can be destroyed by more mobile citizen soldiers. To keep conscripts loyal, they are stationed away from where they are recruited from and are given the opportunity to be promoted to citizen status. From every hundred conscript recruits, at least one who preforms well is promoted to Legionary with full citizenship at the end of training while further promotion is done. For the rest, it comes at the end of twelve years of service with an honorable discharge.

Imperial Legionaries: Imperial Legionaries are citizen soldiers, either volunteers or promoted conscripts. They are employed in a variety of roles that conscripts are not, Legionaries man machine guns and artillery, fly aircraft and drive ground vehicles. Legionary infantry are better equipped than their conscript counterparts, they have superior (and more expensive) body armor and also carry light machine guns and sub machine guns, as well as swords for hand to hand combat. Legionary units generally have a strong esprit de corps and are feared and are respected on the battlefield. Legionary officers lead conscripts into battle.