Crucis Lancers

Brigade Insignia of the Crucis Lancers
Crucis Lancers
Formed 2782[1]
Affiliation Federated Suns
Parent Command AFFS


After General Kerensky's exodus, some Star League soldiers remained in the Inner Sphere. Some of these drifted into the Federated Suns where, during the First Succession War, Prince John Davion organized all incomplete units into the Crucis Lancers. The Lancers held tight to many of the traditions of the Star League even as they have fully integrated themselves into the AFFS. Therefore, the modern Crucis Lancers recruit almost exclusively from worlds within the Crucis March.


History[edit]

Succession Wars[edit]

The Crucis Lancers brigade was reorganized during the Succession Wars, presumably because of heavy losses. For instance, the Thirty-third was reorganized into the "new" Seventh Crucis Lancers. Thus, the Crucis Lancers might have consisted of up to 40 Mech regiments after the fall of the Star League.[2] However, only eight regiments of the Lancers had been established by the beginning of the First Succession War,[3] with no new commands being established during the Second Succession War,[4] and the Crucis Lancers were subject to a deeply unpopular reformation and restructuring in 2930, which involved renumbering all of the regiments,[2] and it is likely that the origin of the Thirty-third Crucis Lancers lies in a renumbering during this change rather than the AFFS being able to establish 25 or more additional BattleMech regiments during the technological decline of the Third Succession War.

Maybe the most famous company of the Crucis Lancers are McKinnon's Raiders, who are part of the Seventh Lancers.[5][6]

All eight Crucis Lancer RCTs were used in the Fourth Succession War's assault on Tikonov.

The Jihad[edit]

During the Jihad, the Third Lancers were destroyed, but their conventional assets were used to rebuild the Second and Seventh Crucis Lancers. In addition, two Crucis Lancer units took part in Operation SCOUR. During the liberation of Terra, it was elements of the Fifth Crucis Lancers that disabled the SDS control center. The Sixth Crucis Lancers were also destroyed at Galax by a Word of Blake bioweapon.

After the Jihad ended, the Princess-Regent personally promised the Crucis Lancers that they would be rebuilt to full Regimental Combat Teams. This means that the Crucis Lancers were one of the few AFFS units that wasn't reorganized along the lines of the Light Combat Team.[7]

The five regiments that remained intact after the Jihad ended were the core of the AFFS High Command's planning. Though three RCTs were destroyed in the Jihad they remain on the rolls, ready to be reconstituted once the AFFS has the appropriate soldiers and matériél. This rebuilding process will probably not start until 3100.[8]

The Dark Age[edit]

The Crucis Lancers proved to be the only brigade in the Armed Forces of the Federated Suns to be rebuilt to its pre-Jihad strength during the Dark Age. The last of the Lancers to be rebuilt, the Third, was active by 3110, five years after the Sixth, while the Eighth was the first of the commands to be rebuilt, based around a 'Mech battalion from the Islamabad Periphery March Militia and re-formed in 3095.[9]

Operating at full RCT strength, the Crucis Lancers spent decades acting as the iron inside the velvet glove of the legacy left by Yvonne Steiner-Davion and deterring would-be invaders. This put the Crucis Lancers firmly on the front line during the destruction of First Prince Caleb Davion's doomed expeditionary force on Palmyra, with the Second, Fourth and Seventh Crucis Lancers all being destroyed by Draconis Combine Mustered Soldiery forces and their employed mercenaries.[9]

Far from destroying the morale of the Lancers, the loss of three sister commands only made the remaining commands more determined to seek vengeance against those invading the Federated Suns - and against those who allowed Caleb Davion to lead the Suns into such a resounding defeat.[9]

Officers[edit]

Rank Name Command
Commanding Officers of the Crucis Lancers
Field Marshal Ryan Davion-Coles 3085[10]

Tactics[edit]

Different per Unit.

Units of the Crucis Lancers[edit]

The Crucis Lancers have eight regiments organized as:

Color Scheme[edit]

The Crucis Lancers use green and regional highlights for their parade colors.

Unit Insignia[edit]

References[edit]

  1. First Succession War, p. 33, "Those Left Behind (Continued)"
  2. 2.0 2.1 House Davion (The Federated Suns), p. 142, "Crucis Lancers"
  3. First Succession War, p. 134, "Armed Forces of the Federated Suns (AFFS)"
  4. First Succession War, p. 94, "Armed Forces of the Federated Suns (AFFS)"
  5. The Fox's Teeth, p. 6, "The Fox's Teeth"
  6. Starterbook: Sword and Dragon, p. 14, "The Fox's Teeth"
  7. Field Report: AFFS, p. 11
  8. Field Manual: 3085, p. 59
  9. 9.0 9.1 9.2 Field Manual: 3145, p. 76, "Crucis Lancers"
  10. Field Manual: 3085, p. 59

Bibliography[edit]