39th Division (ComStar)

39th Division IV-gamma
Nickname The White Lancers (3062);
Firm Action (3050)
Affiliation ComStar
Parent Command Eleventh Army


Suffering heavy losses against Clan Wolf during the Battle of Tukayyid, the elite ranked 39th Division would also see action against Clans Smoke Jaguar and Jade Falcon.

History[edit]

Prior to the initial Clan Invasion, the green rated 39th Division was known by the nickname of Firm Actions and was assigned to the 11th Army. Then a IV-mu formation, the 39th's headquarters world was the Lyran Commonwealth world of Butler.[1]

Battle of Tukayyid[edit]

As part of the 11th Army, the 39th first faced Clan Jade Falcon during the Battle of Tukayyid with the 3rd Army,[2] and after the Falcons withdraw was among those units of the 11th transferred to reinforce the defenders of the secondary target city of Brzo fighting against Clan Wolf.[3]

While the addition of the 11th Army initially pushed the Wolves back, under cover of a fierce storm saKhan Natasha Kerensky's 13th Wolf Guards led the remaining Clusters of the Wolves Alpha and Beta Galaxies in quietly breaching the Com Guard lines. While Precentor Martial Anastasius Focht spotted the Wolves' advance and sent the 39th and 222nd Divisions to separate and stall the Wolf Spiders until the divisions of the ad hoc 13th Army to could arrive, Phelan's Ax Star instead held the 222nd trapped until the arrival of the rest of the Wolf Spiders. Even with the death of senior Khan Garth Radick in the midst of this bloody battle, the Wolves were successful in capturing their secondary target of Brzo.[3][4][5]

Post-Tukayyid[edit]

Heavily rebuilding with BattleMechs to become a IV-gamma formation in the aftermath of Tukayyid, the now elite rated 39th Division changed its nickname to The White Lancers. As with many of the other divisions of the 11th Army, with the 39th's former station now within the Clan Jade Falcon Occupation Zone, as of 3055 the division had moved to Ko in the disputed Lyons Thumb.[6] After the conclusion of the Refusal War the 39th was among the divisions of the 11th Army transferred to reinforce the newly formed Lyran Alliance's border with Jade Falcon occupation zone, relocating to the Alliance world of Borghese in late 3057. After suffering a narrowly repulsed Jade Falcon raid in 3055,[7] the planet welcomed the arrival of the 39th with open arms.[8]

The 39th's 'Mech heavy weight and elite standing made it a natural choice to take part in Operation Bulldog. Attempting to cool local tensions by leaving behind the infantry dominated Lancer Delta Level III as a garrison force,[8] the rest of 39th traveled to the besieged Draconis Combine world of Wolcott. Remaining in reserve, the 39th was activated to assist the SLDF task-force assigned to recapture the Clan Smoke Jaguar–held world of Outer Volta in Bulldog's third wave.[9]

Alongside the Izanagi Warriors and 8th Sword of Light, the 39th Division helped crush the bulk of the Smoke Jaguars' Beta Galaxy Command Trinary and the First Jaguar Guards in five days.[10] After finally running the remains of the Smoke Jaguar forces to ground in the Marin Valley on August 5th, the Izanagi Warriors' commander Tai-sa Shin Yodama ordered the 39th and the 8th Sword back as he led a company of Izanagi 'Mech forward to meet and ultimately defeat the remaining Jaguars and Galaxy Commander Mikhail War in honorable single combat.[11]

Returning to station to Borghese after Bulldog,[12] while avoiding involvement in the bitter FedCom Civil War, the 39th took moderate losses during the Jade Falcon Incursion of 3064. Assigned by Precentor Martial Pro-Tem Gavin Dow to assist Khan Phelan Kell in mop-up operations against already defeated 74th Battle Cluster on Crimond,[13] the 39th's overeager assaults cost them a disproportionate number of casualties for the minimal level of action they actually saw.[14] As of 3067, the 39th remained stationed on Crimond.[15]

Officers[edit]

Rank Name Command
Commanding Officers of the 39th Division (ComStar)
Precentor Judith Saxon 3049[1]
Precentor Joan Oprea 3055 - 3067[6][8][15]

Tactics[edit]

Unknown.

Composition History[edit]

3050[edit]

39th Division (Division/Green)[16]

Note: At this point in time the 39th Division was stationed on Butler.[16]

3055[edit]

39th Division (Division/Elite)[17]

Note: At this point in time the 39th Division was stationed on Ko.[17]

3062 to 3067[edit]

[8][15]

Notes[edit]

  • The 39th's insignia was a knight in white armor mounted on an armored horse.[8]

References[edit]

  1. 1.0 1.1 20 Year Update, p. 71: "11th V-lambda"
  2. Tukayyid, p. 58: "Campaign: Clan Jade Falcon"
  3. 3.0 3.1 Tukayyid, p. 90: "Campaign: Clan Wolf"
  4. ComStar, pp. 71–72: "Battle of Tukayyid"
  5. Wolf Clan, pp. 50–51: "Days of Armageddon - Wolf"
  6. 6.0 6.1 ComStar, p. 85: "11th Army V-eta (The Honorable, Yorii Theater, from 11 to 12 on the "Inner Sphere Clock")"
  7. The Black Thorns, pp. 30–32
  8. 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 Field Manual: ComStar, p. 42: "11th Army V-Eta: The Honorable"
  9. The Dragon Roars, p. 10: "Unit Summaries"
  10. The Dragon Roars, p. 44: "Wave Three"
  11. The Dragon Roars, pp. 46–47: "Scenario 9: No Mercy"
  12. Field Manual: Updates, p. 126: "Com Guards (Deployment as of 1 March 3062) - 11th Army V-Eta: The Honorable"
  13. FedCom Civil War, p. 115: "Phase Three - Crimond"
  14. Field Manual: Updates, pp. 87–88: "11th Army V-Eta: The Honorable"
  15. 15.0 15.1 15.2 Field Manual: Updates, p. 98: "Com Guards (Deployment as of 1 October 3067) - 11th Army V-Eta: The Honorable"
  16. 16.0 16.1 20 Year Update, p. 71
  17. 17.0 17.1 ComStar, p. 85

Bibliography[edit]