Draconis March Militia

Brigade Insignia of the Draconis March Militia
Draconis March Militia
Formed 2754[1]
Affiliation Federated Suns
Parent Command AFFS


The Draconis March Militia units are known to be loyal to House Sandoval. Centuries of raids, and the horror of the Kentares Massacre make sure that no member of the DMM will trust any DCMS officer. The détente between the Draconis Combine-Federated Suns caused them a great deal of worry.


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 Draconis 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 Draconis March was divided into six Combat Regions at the time the March Militias were created,[3] with each Combat Region raising one March Militia; these six Militias were the Clovis, Dahar, Fairfax, Kilbourne, Robinson and Woodbine Draconis March Militias.[1]

The Succession Wars[edit]

On the 1st of May 2787 the Draconis Combine launched a massive invasion of the Federated Suns, with the Draconis Combine Mustered Soldiery troops under the command of Jinjiro Kurita, son of the Coordinator. Jinjiro had learned from the battles on Towne earlier in the First Succession War, and had recognized that interservice cooperation between the different branches of the Federated Suns military had largely been replaced by rivalry, and that the various Combat Regions across the Federated Suns had become dangerously parochial, with units being very protective of worlds within their Combat Region but the staff of the various Combat Regions rarely coordinating or cooperating with each other. Jinjiro's forces took full advantage of that; his first wave attacked worlds along the border, overwhelming many before they had a chance to call for help. Each of the Combat Region commanding officers attempted to deal with the attacks on their own, focused completely on the defense of their own Combat Region with little exchange of information between Regions. Jinjiro's second wave capitalized on this, striking in force against the Clovis Combat Region; despite a dogged, fierce defense by Field Marshal Simons and forces directly under his command such as the First Clovis Guards Regiment on Clovis he was cut off and, after a week, killed when his DropShip attempted to retreat from the planet. The loss of Smith caused organized resistance in the Clovis Combat Region to collapse, and before the other senior officers within the AFFS had realized what happened, DCMS forces poured through the Clovis Combat Region and deep into the heart of the Federated Suns.[4]

It would be thirty years before the AFFS had finally recovered and fought its way back to something approximating the prewar border;[5] the risk posed to the Federated Suns as a result of the entrenched parochialism and separation between Combat Regions highlighted the weaknesses of the system 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.[6]

By the close of the Third Succession War there were ten March Militias serving within the Draconis March Militia.[7] 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.[8]

The Jihad[edit]

During the Jihad two Draconis March Militia units were completely destroyed. Addicks DMM and Robinson DMM were destroyed by Word of Blake forces and the survivors were integrated into other units. Most of the DMM units fulfilled their duties to defend the Federated Suns well, and the Kentares DMM actually took part in Operation SCOUR and the assault on Terra. The greatest change came after the Jihad ended however.[9]

One of the Draconis March Militia surrendered to the Draconis Combine.[10]

As part of the "Never Again" Defensive Doctrine, in 3079 the surviving units of the Draconis March Militia were all scheduled to be resized down to use the Light Combat Team organization. This reorganization allowed the AFFS High Command to create more units that could defend against attacks from hostile forces.[9]

Officers[edit]

Rank Name Command
Commanding Officers of the Draconis March Militia
General Sarah Zibler-Trent 3085[11]

Tactics[edit]

Different per Unit.

Units of the Draconis March Militia[edit]

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.
  • The Addicks Draconis March Militia was destroyed in 3069 by Word of Blake invasion.[9]
  • The Robinson Draconis March Militia was destroyed in the Jihad, survivors joined 1st Robinson Rangers.[9]
  • The Xhosa Draconis March Militia surrendered to DCMS in September 3068.[10]

Color Schemes and Unit Insignia[edit]

The Draconis March Militia colors are deep red.

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. 62: "The Storm Breaks (PDF edition)"
  5. House Davion (The Federated Suns), p. 67: "March Militia and Planetary Guard Units (PDF edition)"
  6. House Davion (The Federated Suns), p. 135: "Deployment of AFFS Forces (PDF edition)"
  7. House Davion (The Federated Suns), p. 147: "March Militias (PDF edition)"
  8. House Davion (The Federated Suns), p. 127: "March Militia and Planetary Guard Units (PDF edition)"
  9. 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 Field Report: AFFS, p. 18
  10. 10.0 10.1 BattleCorps: INN Newscast (Solaris Broadcasting Co. section), news item published [21/09/3068]: "Combine Forces Assault March Worlds Without Provocation"
  11. Field Manual: 3085, p. 66: "AFFS Deployment Table - 3085"

Bibliography[edit]