37th Marik Militia

Brigade Insignia of the Marik Militia
Thirty-seventh Marik Militia
Formed 2766[1]2786[2]
Affiliation Free Worlds League
Parent Command Marik Militia


History[edit]

Formation[edit]

The Thirty-seventh Marik Militia was one of a dozen regiments of the Marik Militia to be raised in the period between the eruption of the Amaris Civil War in 2765[1] and the onset of the First Succession War in 2786. The Thirty-seventh was stationed on Wasat in 2786.[2]

First Succession War[edit]

The Thirty-seventh was one of the regiments of the Marik Militia that took part in Captain-General Kenyon Marik's famous "path to Sarna" offensive in the opening stages of the First Succession War. Operating alongside the Twenty-second Marik Militia, the Thirty-seventh landed on Wazan during the third wave of the campaign in May 2787, escorted by the Atreus-class battleship FWLS Ragusa and the Lola-class destroyers FWLS Minsck and FWLS Warsaw.[3]

The Twenty-second and Thirty-seventh faced no opposition during their landings, and swiftly captured the spaceport at Rumallah before capturing the capital city itself, during which the two Militia regiments fought minor clashes with local security and militia forces. The location of Wazan's primary defensive force was confirmed shortly afterwards, when reconnaissance forces scouting the industrial city of Asuwayda came under attack from the Eighth Liao Lancers, a regiment that League intelligence assessments had placed on Old Kentucky. The Lancers forces swiftly broke off contact, but Colonel Daphan Hullbright - Commanding Officer of the Twenty-second and lead officer among the ground forces - suspected that the Lancers were attempting to lure her forces into a trap, with references to death trap tactics used by the Capellan Confederation Armed Forces during the Age of War firmly in mind.[3]

Hullbright ordered a number of overflights of Asuwayda, which revealed the presence of lances of Capellan BattleMechs scattered throughout the city, along with armor holding major intersections within the city. The overflights also revealed streets that were empty of civilian traffic near buildings with active heat sources inside that were indicative of BattleMechs lurking in wait. While the defensive arrangements followed what appeared to be standard doctrine for urban defense, Hullbright couldn't shake the feeling that her forces were being baited, and was unwilling to lead the Militia into the teeth of the Lancer defenses and conduct street-by-street fighting for a city of limited value when set against the overall priorities of the Sarna campaign. Hullbright dispersed the Twenty-second and Thirty-seventh in battalions around the city outskirts, assigning them into positions where they could cover major roadways, before ordering her aerospace fighters to firebomb the city, while her artillery forces launched a heavy bombardment in support of the bombing.[3]

The attack on Asuwayda was launched without warning, to preserve the element of surprise; it was also viciously effective, forcing the Lancers to abandon prepared positions, with many of the Lancer 'Mechs and vehicles running directly into the kill zones established by the Militia. The battle left Wazan in Hullbright's hands, but she and the other senior officers on the ground were left with the lingering feeling that the invasion had still been too easy. Between a third and half of the Lancer forces were unaccounted for, and Wazan was soon gripped by a combination of labor strikes, protests and resistance attacks, with the survivors from the Lancers supporting the efforts of the various resistance cells.[3]

With the resistance on Wazan making it difficult for Hullbright to exercise control over the system, additional troops were requested to bolster the efforts of the Twenty-second and Thirty-seventh. The Fortieth Marik Militia were redeployed from Chamdo in response, arriving at Wazan in September 2787. It took until November for the combined Militia regiments to quash the bulk of the resistance cells and effectively wipe out the Lancers. The Militia regiments were preparing to redeploy again when the Capellan Confederation Armed Forces launched dramatic ambushes at both Wazan and Corey; a Capellan naval task force led by the Black Lion-class battlecruiser CCS Zulfiqar jumped into the system and engaged the FWLN task force. The Ragusa, Minsck and Warsaw were all destroyed, although they did manage to cripple the Capellan destroyer CCS Khalzan. Trapped on Wazan, and unaware that the Maskirovka had cracked the current Free Worlds League Military ciphers, the Thirty-seventh and the other regiments on Wazan requested additional naval support and instructions.[3]

The Thirty-seventh would be stuck under the Capellan naval blockade of Wazan for more than a year, as the New Delos Massacre and the subsequent atrocities at Calloway VI made the war between the League and the Confederation considerably nastier and more personal for all involved. It wasn't until the large-scale ground and naval battle at Calloway VI that cost the life of Chancellor Barbara Liao that the Capellan military strength in the region was eroded enough that the League could break the blockades at Corey and Wazan and free the Thirty-seventh and the other pinned regiments up for further offensive actions against the Confederation.[4]

By 2821 the Thirty-Seventh was stationed on Elnath.[2]

The Thirty-seventh Marik Militia was reformed in 3063 with equipment no longer needed by other units as the FWLM continued its upgrade programs. While the Thirty-seventh was initially intended to be composed of fifty percent "new" BattleMechs by 3067, the loss of several supply shipments hampered this schedule and delayed the achievement of that milestone to 3069 at the earliest.[5]

During the Jihad, the Thirty-seventh spent much of the war as a training and reserve unit for the Duchy of Tamarind-Abbey's military forces while also providing backup to the Thirty-fourth Marik Militia should the need arise. When the Jihad ended, the Thirty-fourth Militia was rotated off the Duchy's defensive frontline and the Thirty-seventh moved in to take its place by 3085.[6]

Officers[edit]

Rank Name Command
Commanding Officers of the 37th Marik Militia
Colonel Cole Zhukov 3063 - 3085[5][7][8]

Tactics[edit]

Unknown.

Composition History[edit]

2786–2821[edit]

Thirty-seventh Marik Militia (Regiment/Green/Questionable)[2]

- At this point in time the Thirty-seventh was a heavy-weight regiment operating at full strength and based on Wasat.[2] In 2821 the unit was operating at just above one-third of full strength, and was located on Elnath.[2]

2830[edit]

37th Marik Militia (Regiment/Green/Questionable)[9]

Note: At this point in time the assault-weight unit was stationed on Callison with an operational readiness of 102 percent.[9]

2864[edit]

37th Marik Militia (Regiment/Regular/Reliable)[9]

Note: At this point in time the heavy-weight unit was stationed on Callison with an operational readiness of 79 percent.[9]

3067[edit]

Thirty-seventh Marik Militia (Green/Reliable)[7]

Note: At this point in time the unit was stationed on Sirius.

Ninety-fifth Independent Air Wing (Green/Reliable)[7]

3079[edit]

Thirty-Seventh Marik Militia (Regiment/Regular/Reliable)[10]

Note: At this point in time the unit was stationed on Tamarind and Labouchere.[10]

3085[edit]

Thirty-seventh Marik Militia (Regular/Reliable)[8]

  • CO: Colonel Cole Zhukov
Note: At this point in time the unit was stationed on Hammer

Thirty-fourth Militia Aeropsace Wing (Regular/Fanatical)[8]

Thirty-ninth Tamarind Heavy Armor (Green/Fanatical)[8]

Forty-fifth Tamarind Regulars (Regular/Reliable)[8]

Notes[edit]

Special rules for the Marik Militia can be found in First Succession War, p. 147.

References[edit]

  1. 1.0 1.1 Field Report 2765: FWLM, p. 10: "Marik Militia"
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 First Succession War, p. 138: "Free Worlds League Military (FWLM)"
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 First Succession War, pp. 55–56: "Corey and Wazan"
  4. First Succession War, p. 60: "Losing Ground"
  5. 5.0 5.1 Field Manual: Updates, p. 149: "37th Marik Militia"
  6. Field Manual: 3085, p. 89: "Thirty-seventh Marik Militia"
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 Field Manual: Updates, p. 160: "FWLM Deployment Table - 3067"
  8. 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 Field Manual: 3085, p. 93: "Former Free Worlds Military Forces Deployment Table"
  9. 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 Second Succession War, p. 98
  10. 10.0 10.1 Field Report: FWLM, p. 11

Bibliography[edit]