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Capellan March Militia

Capellan March Militia -Brigade logo.png
Capellan March Militia
Formed 2754[1]
Affiliation Federated Suns
Parent Command AFFS


The Capellan March Militia forces are the last line of defense for the Capellan March. Centuries of hostility with the Capellan Confederation has affected each of the units. Most members harbor a deep hatred of the Confederation, and look to House Hasek to protect them. After Operation GUERRERO destroyed the Sarna March, command of the Sarna March Militia RCTs was transferred to the Capellan March Militia.


History[edit]

Formation[edit]

The March Militias found across the Federated Suns were originally formed in 2754 as a result of the Preparedness Act enacted by First Prince Richard Davion in 2735[2] and the subsequent repeal of the Star League Council Edict of 2650 in 2752.[2] Richard established a formal training program aimed at increasing the general readiness level of the Armed Forces of the Federated Suns reserve forces and formalized the structure of the March Militias, bringing the planetary militias into a common structure.[1]

Richard established a system whereby each of the Marches within the Federated Suns conducted internal wargames every two years, with those wargames being inspired by the Martial Olympiad conducted by the Star League Defense Force every four years. Each March Militia was formed as an ad hoc brigade drawing on the winners from each planetary militia across each Combat Region. These ad hoc brigades then competed against each other at a March level to earn the title of "Best Prepared" March Militia within each of the three Marches.[1]

The wargames proved to be very popular and continued under Richard's successor, First Prince John Davion; by 2750 the prestige that was associated with the "Best Prepared" title inspired troops in every combat region to give their best effort, with some commands making plans years in advance to try and ensure that they were ready. After the close of the 2754 games Prince John activated all of the Combat Region commands as federal troops and formed them into the March Militias; while this move was controversial and provoked a flurry of judicial cases opposing the creation of the commands, it also added twenty BattleMech-equipped combat commands to the AFFS in a single stroke. Many of the planets that provided troops for the games were resentful of having their best militia troops pressed into federal service, and it would be 2763 before the last of the cases worked its way through the courts. With the final ruling going in favor of Prince John, he then moved to allay many of the fears expressed by the planets involved by laying down specific instructions that the March Militias wouldn't be deployed outside their home combat regions except under a small number of very rare and clearly-defined exceptions.[1]

When first established each of the March Militias within the Capellan March Militia were based around a standard model that gave each a level of firepower roughly equivalent to a Star League Defense Force light division. Each militia consisted of a single BattleMech regiment, three regiments of infantry, two armor regiments, a battalion of mobile artillery and two wings of aerospace fighters, with each wing consisting of eighteen fighters. This relatively low number of aerospace fighters was a significant difference between the March Militias and their frontline AFFS counterparts or similar SLDF formations of the era.[1]

The Capellan March was divided into four Combat Regions at the time the March Militias were created,[3] with each Combat Region raising one March Militia; these four Militias were the Chesterton, Kathil, New Syrtis and Royalston Capellan March Militias.[1]

The Succession Wars[edit]

The risk posed to the Federated Suns as a result of the Draconis Combine invasion during the First Succession War highlighted the weaknesses of the system of Combat Regions within the Capellan and Draconis Marches, leading the Marshals of the AFFS to restructure both Marches, replacing the Combat Regions with a number of smaller Polymorphous Defensive Zones (PDZs), each with its own March Militia.[4]

By the close of the Third Succession War there were seven March Militias serving within the Capellan March Militia.[5] Each PDZ provided the money and manpower to field a single March Militia, and each March Militia was a Regimental Combat Team consisting of one BattleMech regiment, two armored regiments, five infantry regiments, a company of artillery and aerospace fighter support. The personnel within each of the March Militias were either regular soldiers and officers who had requested a transfer to a Militia unit near their homeworld - or who had been transferred - or soldiers trained locally at the military training school associated with that PDZ. Command of each March Militia usually lay with a Major General familiar with the PDZ in question.[6]

Clan Invasion Era[edit]

The Capellan March Militia units were personally loyal to House Hasek, and all harbor deep hatreds of the Capellan Confederation. The surviving units of the Sarna March Militia were transferred to Capellan March Militia control in 3057.[citation needed]

The Jihad[edit]

During the Jihad the Capellan March was attacked by the Capellan Confederation, Word of Blake, and Taurian Concordat. Every Capellan March Militia unit fought enemy forces, and most of the CMM units were completely destroyed. Only the Warren Capellan March Militia remained viable as a combat force at the end of the Jihad.[7]

Officers[edit]

Rank Name Command
Commanding Officers of the Capellan March Militia
Field Marshal Christopher Tice 3067[8]
Marshal Kenneth Williams 3080 - 3085[9]

Tactics[edit]

Different by Unit.

Units of the Capellan March Militia[edit]

The following March Militia units have formed a part of the Capellan March Militia since the inception of the command:

Unit Colors and Insignia[edit]

Capellan March Militia colors are dark green and red.

Notes[edit]

  • Field Report 2765: AFFS attributes the Preparedness Act of 2735 to both Richard Davion[2] and Roger Davion.[1] Because other sources indicate that Richard Davion was First Prince in 2735, and that Roger Davion died in 2703, the latter attribution is probably an error.

References[edit]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Field Report 2765: AFFS, p. 21: "Federated Suns March Militias"
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 Field Report 2765: AFFS, p. 3: "Strategic Update"
  3. Field Report 2765: AFFS, p. 29: "Armed Forces Federated Suns Deployment Map 2765"
  4. House Davion (The Federated Suns), p. 135: "Deployment of AFFS Forces (PDF edition)"
  5. House Davion (The Federated Suns), p. 147: "March Militias (PDF edition)"
  6. House Davion (The Federated Suns), p. 127: "March Militia and Planetary Guard Units (PDF edition)"
  7. Field Report: AFFS, p. 16
  8. Field Manual: Updates, p. 133: "Capellan March Militia"
  9. Field Manual: 3085, p. 64: "Capellan March Militia"
  10. Total Chaos, pp. 22–23
  11. Desperate Measures

Bibliography[edit]