8th FedCom RCT

FedCom Corps 08th logo.png
Eighth FedCom RCT
Formed 3041[1]
Disbanded 3064 (destroyed)[2]
Nickname The Katzbalger
Affiliation Federated Commonwealth
(until 3062)

Loyalists
(3062 - 3064)

Parent Command Federated Commonwealth Corps

Though it fired some of the first shots of the FedCom Civil War, the Loyalist Eighth FedCom RCT was later destroyed in the bitter fighting on their homeworld of Kathil. Their belligerence contributed to the shattering and eventual dissolution of the Federated Commonwealth and the Federated Commonwealth Corps.

History[edit]

Formed in 3041, two years later than planned due to the AFFC's need to recover from the disastrous War of 3039, the Eighth FedCom RCT ended up benefiting from that conflict as it gave officers transferred to its command a higher than average experience level. Despite not having seen combat together as a unit, the AFFC High Command nevertheless rated the untested Eighth quite highly thanks to the standards of excellence maintained by the unit's combat veteran officers.[1]

In 3049, the Eighth was assigned to Second Try in the Sarna March as a garrison force.[3] When the world was targeted in the Marik-Liao Invasion of 3057, the Eighth inflicted serious damage on the attackers before being forced to with withdraw to bolster the defense of Kathil against further Capellan Confederation aggression.[1]

FedCom Civil War[edit]

When rumblings of the coming conflict between pro-Victor and pro-Katherine factions reached the ears of Field Marshal Duke George Hasek, he issued orders to the Eighth FedCom RCT to depart Kathil for Halloran V in October 3062. Duke Hasek, who wished to remain neutral in any conflict between the two siblings, knew that the Eighth were staunch supporters of Katherine and did not want any trouble to start in the Capellan March. Unfortunately, General Weintraub had received orders from the Archon-Princess herself to remain on the world and flat-out refused Hasek's orders, stating that her authority was much higher than the Duke's. In response, Hasek ordered the First Capellan Dragoons to station themselves on Kathil and watch the Eighth.[4]

Knowing that Hasek's troops were not long in coming, Weintraub occupied Kathil's capital of District City, captured the Duke of Kathil, and placed the planet under martial law. In response to this bold move, the commanding officer of the Kathil CMM ordered that General Weintraub and his staff be arrested. The men sent to arrest the Loyalists were discovered and fired upon, leading to a series of indecisive skirmishes between the Eighth FedCom and the Kathil CMM. Weintraub and the Eighth quickly captured a Yare Industries power uplink center and an Avalon-class battlecruiser, but were driven back by the CMM and the Second NAIS Training Cadre. This counterattack wiped out a full battalion of the Eighth's 'Mechs along with two support battalions, destroyed the captured battlecruiser, and killed Leftenant General Fallon. Riding this momentum, the Kathil CMM drove the Eighth FedCom back into District City, freeing the imprisoned Duke, and corralling the Loyalist unit inside the city's General Motors factory complex. There the Eighth FedCom held the line, hoping for reinforcements.[4]

In February 3063, the Eighth Donegal Guards arrived to reinforce them, but were shortly followed by the First Capellan Dragoons and the Sixth Syrtis Fusiliers, who reinforced the Allied units there.[5] The fight quickly became a bloody, months-long stalemate between the Allied and Loyalist units. The Eighth FedCom was able to temporarily bolster Loyalist morale by rescuing nearly five thousand Loyalist POWs from Allied hands in January of 3064, but an Allied breakout resulted in Weintraub and his Eighth being separated from the bulk of the Loyalist forces.[6]

It was now that Weintraub's curtailing of his subordinates' tactical flexibility would come back to haunt him. Having to send all decisions up the chain of command for approval, his unit commanders lost critical time and adaptability in the face of a concentrated Fifth Davion Guards assault. On 23 March, the Eighth's lines broke for the last time. The BattleMechs of the First Capellan Dragoons poured in through the gaps, blazing onwards to an attack on the RCT's rear area in Birkshire Forest and overrunning Weintraub's command post. The Hauptmann General sent out an urgent request for all of his forces to converge on his position, but was killed at the controls of his Nightstar before they could arrive. When the remains of the Eighth FedCom finally arrived, they eventually wiped out the Dragoons, but only after a costly, bloody brawl. Now weakened by the Dragoons' furious last stand, the Eighth's survivors were easily mopped up by the advancing Fifth Davion Guards.[2]

Due to their bitter role in the destruction of the Federated Commonwealth, the FedCom Corps, including the Eighth FedCom was stricken from the rolls of the AFFS. What little matériel and troops that survived the Eighth's destruction was reassigned to other units once the Civil War ended.[7]

Officers[edit]

Rank Name Command
Commanding Officers of the Eighth FedCom RCT
Hauptmann General Mitchell Weintraub 3041[1] - 3064[2]

Other Officers[edit]

Tactics[edit]

The Eighth favored combat in open terrain, where they could concentrate their firepower, but they also proved highly adept at assault operations, dislodging even the most dug-in units. The Eighth was known to have a preference for 'Mechs that made use of long-range missiles, and possessed a large number of such designs as the Rakshasa, Salamander, and Orion.[8]

Composition History[edit]

3050[edit]

Eighth FedCom RCT (Regiment/Regular/Reliable)[3]

3054[edit]

Eighth FedCom RCT (Regiment/Regular/Reliable)[10]

3062[edit]

Eighth FedCom RCT (Regular/Reliable)[1]

Eighth FedCom Regiment (1 Regiment/Regular/Reliable)[1]
Eighth FedCom Aerospace Brigade - (3 Wings/Regular/Reliable)
Eighth FedCom Armor Brigade (3 Regiments/Regular/Reliable)[1]
  • CO: Leftenant General Michelle Dettori
  • Ninth FedCom Heavy Armor
  • Eighth FedCom Armored Cavalry
Eighth FedCom Infantry Brigade - (5 Infantry Regiments/Regular/Reliable)[1]
  • Twelfth FedCom Infantry Regiment
  • Sixth FedCom Jump Infantry

Unit Colors and Insignia[edit]

  • Like other FedCom RCTs, the Eighth primarily used the FedCom Corps crest as their insignia, before adopting a circular crest with a Capellan Huron Warrior run though by a broadsword after their withdrawal from Second Try.
  • The parade colors of the Eighth, and all other FedCom Corps units, was navy blue with gold banding on the arms and legs of 'Mechs. Gold is also used to highlight panels on the upper torsos of 'Mechs and turrets of armor units, resulting in a checkerboard pattern.

Notes[edit]

  • The katzbalger was a sixteenth-and-seventeenth-century arming sword used by Landsknecht archers and pikemen when enemies closed to the distance that bows or pikes were no longer practical. Literally translated from German, the term means "cat skin" or "cat brawl," referring to either the method by which it was carried or the manner in which it was used. The Eighth FedCom RCT preferred to use the latter definition, enjoying a reputation for close-quarters undisciplined combat.[12]
  • The Eighth FedCom RCT and the Sixth FedCom RCT appear to share their infantry regiments. This is likely due to a misprint or error, as the commanding officers of each subunit are different.

Reference[edit]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 Field Manual: Federated Suns, p. 96: "8th FedCom RCT: The Katzbalger"
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 FedCom Civil War, pp. 95–96: "Kathil"
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 20 Year Update, p. 23
  4. 4.0 4.1 FedCom Civil War, pp. 22–23: "Kathil"
  5. FedCom Civil War, pp. 56–57: "Kathil"
  6. FedCom Civil War, pp. 76–77
  7. Field Manual: Updates, p. 130
  8. 8.0 8.1 Flashpoint, p. ?[citation needed]
  9. FedCom Civil War, p. 17: "Final Thoughts"
  10. 10.0 10.1 10.2 Objective Raids, p. 17
  11. Field Manual: Federated Suns, p. 135: "Federated Suns Forces"
  12. Flashpoint, ch. 3

Bibliography[edit]