Planetary warfare
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Planetary warfare is conflict conducted between armed belligerents on the surface of a planet, using land, air and sea-based forces for invading, defending and controlling important strategic areas. Ground warfare varies widely in scale and type, ranging from small skirmishes, to asymmetric combat against non-conventional forces, to large-scale engagements between two or more large forces.
Theaters of combat[edit]
Land[edit]
While air power is important strategically, and orbital superiority is ultimately the crux upon which battles between space-faring powers are won or lost, land warfare has been, and continues in the 26th century to be, the most prominent aspect of warfare.
Infantry are an integral part of any army, no matter how technologically sophisticated. During the Forerunners' wars with humanity, both sides continued to use soldiers equipped with a range of handheld armaments and protective armor.[1] Initially, Forerunner ground forces consisted of infantry wearing combat skins and operating war sphinxes,[2] supplemented by artificial intelligence-operated Sentinels[3] and armigers,[4] though as the war with the Flood wore on the Forerunners increasingly relied on automated forces to sterilize or destroy Flood forces, eventually producing the Prometheans from composed Warrior-Servants and unwilling humans.[1] In the modern era, both the Covenant and the United Nations Space Command, as well as other human military and paramilitary groups, also use infantry, equipped with a range of weapons designed to occupy different niches. Both sides primarily use infantry to take and hold strategically and tactically important areas, particularly military bases and population centers. Infantry are also useful during counter-insurgency operations, which the UNSC conducted during the Insurrection, to sweep populated areas and clear out buildings of hostile occupants. Infantry are also much easier to transport and supply than larger and heavier vehicles, which can be awkward to operate in narrow urban environments and can cause significant collateral damage. the UNSC primarily relied on Army troopers and Marines, though the Air Force and Navy also maintained infantry units for garrison and security duties.
The UNSC and Covenant use a range of light transports and scout craft - the M12 Warthog and the Karo'etba-pattern Ghost are ubiquitous in the UNSC Armed Forces and the Covenant respectively, used primarily for force reconnaissance and engaging light enemy forces. The Warthog is a versatile UNSC light vehicle, and comes in a number of variants for different niches - the standard model is equipped with a crew-served light machinegun, though this can be replaced with missile pods, a tri-barrelled rocket launcher, a gauss turret, or replaced with a troop compartment. The UNSC also uses variants of the Mongoose ULATV, usually operated by a single operator for message or materiel delivery on a battlefield where communications uplinks are compromised or where airborne or slower ground transports are impractical. The Covenant Ghost is a fairly standard vehicle, lightly armed and armored but extremely fast and agile, though several post-war variants of the Karo'wark-pattern Ghost have been used by both the Covenant and the Swords of Sanghelios. The Covenant have at times supplemented the Ghost with the Wuzum-pattern Spectre, though it was not adopted in large numbers, and the Rizvum-pattern Revenant. When the Jiralhanae assumed command of the Covenant, they supplemented their Ghosts with Barukaza Workshop Choppers and Qavardu Workshop Prowlers. For improved ground mobility, both sides also used a number of armored fighting vehicles. The UNSC used the M831 Warthog for troop transport, while the Covenant used the larger, more heavily armored Ruwaa-pattern Shadow for transport in urban environments, though both sides tend to use dropship airlift more frequently. Transport was less of a concern to the Forerunners, who used sophisticated battlefield translocation to move across the battlefield, a technique continued into the 26th century by Promethean forces.
For heavier firepower, both the UNSC and Covenant utilize a number of heavy weapons platforms, including tanks, artillery and anti-air units. The M808 Scorpion was the UNSC's main battle tank of choice, particularly among the Marine Corps, due to its ability to be airlifted across the battlefield by dropship, and small crew size. It was replaced in 2557 by the M820 Scorpion, which featured similar design elements but featured a heavier main cannon and lighter chassis. Many UNSC Army and Marine Corps also operated the M850 Grizzly tank, which featured better armor and two 120mm cannons, as well as co-axial and pintle-mounted machine guns, but was considered expensive to maintain and difficult to transport. The Covenant filled the same niche with their own tank, the Zurdo-pattern Wraith mortar tank, later replaced by the Kemu-pattern Wraith which had similar capabilities but was smaller and lighter.
In support of both infantry and armored units, both sides also deployed a number of artillery units. Though the Wraith could be, and frequently was, used as a main battle tank, it excelled as long-range artillery, bombarding positions with plasma mortars. It was supplemented in the role by the Shua'ee-pattern Locust, which used a powerful directed energy weapon to destroy stationary targets but was vulnerable to enemy armor. The UNSC employed a number of artillery vehicles, such as the SP42 Cobra and the experimental M145D Rhino, though the role was usually filled by aerial or orbital missile or MAC support. The M9 Wolverine served as a dedicated anti-air missile launcher, but was able to use its missiles as a volley to hit ground targets, particularly useful against structures. The Covenant used a dedicated Wraith variant for anti-air defense, equipping them with powerful fuel rod cannons that served as effective flak.
For theaters that offer the most difficult and violent of ground combat, both the UNSC and the Covenant utilize extremely powerful, 'line breaker' assets to overwhelm and punch through heavily fortified defenses. The UNSC is known to utilize the M510 Mammoth as both a mobile command center, a siege breaker and a formidable anti-air/anti-ship areal denial weapon, whilst the smaller M313 Elephant acts as an important support and recovery vehicle as well as another mode of mobile command and control. The Covenant use civilian mining vehicles such as the Scarabs as a dual-use asset that can both excavate Forerunner artefacts and drill through the most heavily fortified walls. Moreover, the Covenant is also known to utilize absurdly large ground vehicles - akin to warships on land - for campaigns so large and well defended that not even the Covenant armada could pacify conventionally. Landcrafts such as the Zashk-pattern Draugr and Shuul'se-pattern Kraken behave like mobile fortresses and command centers meant to punch through the most violent battles, whilst the Za'zayara-pattern Harvester can excavate the most stubborn of earth or armour with ease.
The Flood deploy a range of ground forces, though initially the bulk of them are infected and repurposed corpses that are turned into Combat Forms, able to use its enemies' weapons against them. Corpses that are unsuited to becoming Combat Forms are turned into Carrier Forms, which gestate and release Infection Forms which continue the cycle. As the Flood spreads, and accumulated biomass, it constructs Proto-Graveminds which can coordinate large numbers of Flood forms to act in concert, and begins sculpting biomass as Pure Forms, which are tougher and use organic weapons.
