Sarna News: Bad 'Mechs - Yeoman

1st Chisholm's Raiders

Insignia of the 1st Chisholm's Raiders
First Chisholm's Raiders RCT
Formed 2890's
Nickname The Green Giant
Affiliation Federated Suns
Parent Command Chisholm's Raiders

Known for their unorthodox tactics and flexibility, the First Chisholm's Raiders RCT are a Federated Suns command based on the planet Breed.

History[edit]

Formation[edit]

Marshal John Chisholm, a well-regarded military commander who was constantly critical of the Armed Forces of the Federated Suns military establishment, was forced into retirement in 2892. Returning to his homeworld of Colorado, Chisholm quickly became bored with retirement and took control of the planetary militia, training them to the strict standards he believed in. By 2897, word of his activities made it to the High Command, with AFFS investigators startled to discover the Colorado Militia were not the ragtag mob they were expecting. Chisholm seized his chance and openly challenged the AFFS hierarchy, that his motley militia force would fight and defeat any AFFS unit they cared to send. Accepting his challenge, while the elite Second Crucis Lancers would ultimately defeat them, the Colorado Militia had proved their mettle and their methods in ensuing war games, outwitting their more experienced opponents on numerous occasions. Convinced that unorthodox tactics had a role to play in the Succession Wars era AFFS, they resupplied and transformed the Colorado Militia into a full AFFS line unit, the First Chisholm's Raiders. [1]

Third Succession War[edit]

In early 3025, the First Raiders attacked Thestria, which was garrisoned by Wolf's Dragoons Epsilon Regiment. The Raiders strung out Epsilon, hitting a variety of targets and inflicting heavy losses on Able Battalion. These hit and run raids were reminiscent of the Dragoons' own tactics, and were highly successful. The Raiders were able to destroy several major installations and stripped multiple supply depots of their inventory.[2]

One of the most notable events of the First's attack against Thestria was their capture of the Deuce, one of the original Mobile HQ trucks in service with the Dragoons. Realizing it was a both a major prize and a major lynchpin in the Dragoon defense, the Raiders spent the better part of a week tracking the Deuce through severe terrain and still only locating after a random air patrol caught it in the open attempting to ford the McConnell River. Though only defended by a light escort of a lone Griffin and three Pegasus scout tanks, the Dragoons defenders held out against two medium Raider lances until Dragoon reinforcements arrived. A lucky shot by a Raider Quickdraw would snap the Mobile HQ's front axle in half, immobilizing it, forcing the Dragoons to leave it behind though their command staff still managed to escape the Raiders grasp. Though lacking the resources of the Dragoons, the Deuce was still in service with the First Chisholm Raiders as of 3039 and maintained in as pristine condition as possible, its capture and use a point of pride of the unit in the years since.[3]

Fourth Succession War[edit]

During the Fourth Succession War, the First Chisholm's Raiders RCT was assigned to defend Deshler, which was targeted by Draconis Combine Mustered Soldiery taskforce consisting of the Sixth and Third Benjamin Regulars, backed up by twenty infantry and tank regiments. [4] While the Raiders consistently outmaneuvered the invaders, the Kurita taskforce had superior numbers, slowly but progressively wearing the Davion unit down. When the Combine offensive swept past Deshler the AFFS attempted to pull their unit out, but the Raiders chose to stay and fight, sending the DropShips and JumpShips assigned to carry them to safety back empty. The Raiders held out for months before being effectively destroyed, tying up the Combine forces on planet for as long as possible at the cost of their lives.[5][4][6]

To honor their immense sacrifice for the Federated Suns, First Prince Hanse Davion ordered the AFFS to reconstruct the unit. However, while the unit's matériel losses were made good by 3035, the reborn First Chisholm's Raiders were but a shadow of their former selves.[5]

War of 3039 to Lyran Succession[edit]

While having only just passed their initial combat trials in 3037, faith in the First's history led the AFFS High command to assign the rebuilt unit to assist the Davion Light Guards in taking the lightly defended world of New Mendham in April 3039. The Davion taskforce's slow and cautious takeover unfortunately left the planet open to Combine reinforcements, with the First and Second Amphigean Light Assault Groups proving equal to the Davion troops. As the conflict became one of stalemates, the inexperienced First suffered horrendous losses before the AFFS chose to withdraw their forces on October 22nd.[7][8]

The continued poor showing of the First after the War of 39 led the combined Armed Forces of the Federated Commonwealth to designate them a "sink" unit to send troublemakers and malcontents, the unit in such poor shape that the AFFC High Command ultimately chose to remove it from active service in 3053.[5]

Having deemed the First as unsalvageable yet still wishing to retain the Chisholm's Raiders unorthodox methods and adaptability, the First's feeder unit, the Second Chisholm's Raiders, was expanded to full RCT status in 3055. While militarily sound, the decision caused increasing tensions between the former officers of the First. [9] Tensions would abate somewhat in the wake of the Lyran Succession, with the rump Federated Commonwealth's desperate need for troops leading them to reactivate the First Raiders in 3058, albeit with no improvement of its personnel or equipment situation.[5]

FedCom Civil War and Destruction[edit]

Stationed on Breed, the reactivated First Chisholm Raiders would see action for the first time during Duke James Sandoval unauthorized invasion of the Draconis Combine in the midst of the FedCom Civil War, sending the green unit to take the important BattleMech manufacturing word of Marduk from the equally green Twenty-second Benjamin Regulars.[10]

Landing on the planet on 22 December 3062, the Raiders initial plan on striking the capital of New Pontiac was set aside when they realized that while the Twenty-second Benjamin Regulars defended the whole world, the sole defenders in proximity to the Victory Industries BattleMech plant was the company's own security forces, a combined arms regiment with a battalion of OmniMechs. While taking heavy losses, the Raiders secured tenuous control over sections of the Victory plant before the Twenty-second Benjamin finally learned of the attack.[10]

With the Twenty-second Benjamin striking out from New Pontiac, over 120 km from Victory plant, the First Chisholm's CO General Neece had sent the Twenty-third Breed Recon Regiment to delay them. The dense Tillerbee Jungle allowed the 23rd to stage ambush after ambush, preventing the Twenty-second from reaching the Victory complex before the Raiders finished securing it on December 26th. While the Raiders spent the next eight days recuperating and re-equipping from weapons and 'Mechs stockpiled at the factory, the Twenty-second had pushed within twenty kilometers of the Victory factories.[10]

Splitting her forces, Neece dispatched two of her 'Mech battalions to perform an orbital drop on New Pontiac as the bait to lure the Twenty-second Benjamin out of the jungle while her infantry and armor prepared to encircle them in a pincer movement to trap and destroy them. Luck was with the Twenty-second, however, when animosity between the Chisholm 'Mech and Combat Vehicle elements boiled over and the First Chisholm Armor Brigade attacked before the Chisholm 'Mechs were in position, allowing the Twenty-second to escape the trap mostly intact and retreat west to a secondary base at Tauto.[10]

Infighting between the First's 'Mech and armor elements would continue to hamper the Raider's efforts to pin-down and defeat the Twenty-second Regulars Regulars, resulting in two weeks of frustrating hit-and-run battles. Finally fed-up, General Neece purged the command staff of her armored forces and on 19 January 3063 a finally coordinated attack caught two mixed battalions of the Twenty-second Regulars in the Guland River Valley, followed two days later by the surrender of another Regulars battalion after a particularly long and devastating artillery assault. With only third of the Twenty-second Benjamin Regulars left, compounded by the capture of its CO Tai-sa Dirks on January 24th, the bulk of the Chisholm's Rangers pulled back to New Pontiac on the 25th, leaving a single mixed arms regiment to mop them up.[10]

The arrival of additional reinforcements finally allowed the First Chisholm's Rangers to focus their entire attention upon surviving battalion of the Twenty-second Benjamin Regulars in March 3063. Cornering the DCMS unit on March 21st on the edge of the freezing Ku'ulu Glacier as they attempted to cross and reach the relative safety of the Ko Nami'i Mountains, strikes from Rangers' few few remaining fighters and VTOLs could not contain them, forcing General Neece to reluctantly risk a battalion of jump capable 'Mechs. The Chisholm 'Mechs quickly caught up with the fleeing Twenty-second, half of the Regulars destroyed by the FedSun forces, the other half buried by avalanches or falling through the ice into deep water as the ice shelf weakened due to the shocks of the battle. [11] [12]

They withdrew to New Valencia and faced the Allied forces under the command of Duke Sandoval.[13]

As they were loyal to her, after their defeat on Marduk, Katherine Steiner-Davion recalled the unit to New Avalon to assist in the planet's defense. The Raiders were destroyed as a fighting force, and their equipment and personnel were assigned to reinforce other AFFS units.[14]

Officers[edit]

Rank Name Command
Commanding Officers of the 1st Chisholm's Raiders
Marshal Melford Dennis 3025[15]
Hauptmann General Arisota Neece 3050 - 3062[5]

Other Officers[edit]

As of 3062, Hauptmann General Arisota Neece's aide was Leftenant General Jackson Tree.[5]

Tactics[edit]

The Chisholm Raiders units stressed mobility, knowledge of the terrain, and the ability to improvise in their tactics. This was particularly important because the 1st Chisholm Raiders were typically an understrength RCT.[16]

Composition History[edit]

3025[edit]

First Chisholm's Raiders RCT (Regiment/Veteran/Reliable)[15]

  • CO: Marshal Melford Dennis
Note: At this point in time the unit was stationed on Royal.

3040[edit]

First Chisholm's Raiders RCT (Regiment/Veteran/Questionable)[17]

Note: At this point in time the command was stationed on Breed.[17]

3050[edit]

First Chisholm's Raiders RCT (1 Regiment/Green/Questionable)[18]

Note: At this point in time the unit was stationed on Breed.[18]

3062[edit]

First Chisholm's Raiders (1 Regiment/Green/Questionable)[5]

  • CO: Hauptmann General Arisota Neece

- Old used 'Mechs, only a few upgraded with Star League technology

First Chisholm's Armor Brigade (2 Regiments/Regular/Reliable)[5]

First Chisholm's Infantry Brigade (2 Battalions/Green/Reliable)[5]

- light equipped, the heaviest weapon is a Gyrojet Rifle

Gallery[edit]

References[edit]

  1. Field Manual: Federated Suns, p. 59: "Chisholm's Raiders"
  2. Wolf's Dragoons, p. 32
  3. Technical Readout: 3039, p. 32: "Mobile HQ"
  4. 4.0 4.1 NAIS The Fourth Succession War Military Atlas Volume 1, p. 80
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 5.8 Field Manual: Federated Suns, p. 60: "1st Chisholm's Raiders Unit Profile"
  6. NAIS The Fourth Succession War Military Atlas Volume 2, p. 28
  7. Historical: War of 3039, p. 45: "Wave One - New Mendham (April-July)"
  8. Historical: War of 3039, p. 94: "Wave One - New Mendham (April-July)"
  9. Field Manual: Federated Suns, p. 61: "2nd Chisholm's Raiders"
  10. 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 FedCom Civil War, pp. 44–46: "War within the Draconis Combine - Marduk"
  11. FedCom Civil War, pp. 70–71: "Wave One: Draconis Combine - Marduk"
  12. Field Manual: Updates, p. 106
  13. Technical Readout: 3055 Upgrade, p. 24
  14. Field Manual: Updates, p. 127: "Federated Suns - Chisholm's Raiders"
  15. 15.0 15.1 House Davion (The Federated Suns), p. 136 (PDF version): "Raman PDZ"
  16. House Davion (The Federated Suns), p. 145
  17. 17.0 17.1 Historical: War of 3039, p. 136
  18. 18.0 18.1 18.2 20 Year Update, p. 19

Bibliography[edit]