4th Capellan Chargers

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Brigade Insignia of the Capellan Chargers
Fourth Capellan Chargers
Nickname Knights of the Copper Cross
Affiliation Capellan Confederation
Parent Command Capellan Chargers


History[edit]

Tracing its origins back to the Capellan Hegemony Armed Forces, the Fourth Capellan Chargers were amongst the premiere offensive formations of the Capellan Hegemony and, later, the Capellan Confederation. Maintaining the traditions and ideals of the Capellan state, the Fourth Chargers were active throughout the Age of War, with the cavaliers of the Third often being found in the midst of the thickest fighting during Capellan offensives, operating as a part of the armored core of the Capellan Confederation Armed Forces.[1]

The Capellan Chargers were one of the first Capellan brigades to receive BattleMechs, and while the Chargers were never the largest of brigades, the various regiments maintained high standards of excellence in combat and proper decorum. The Fourth Chargers were deactivated during the formation of the Star League Defense Force, with many of the personnel from the Fourth transferring into the service of the Star League where they served with distinction.[1]

Only two regiments of Chargers were maintained as active regiments during the early Star League era, but after the repeal of the Council Edict of 2650 by the Star League Council in 2752 the CCAF began expanding rapidly, and both the Fourth Chargers and a sister regiment, the Third Capellan Chargers, were reactivated.[1]

By 2765 more members of the Lorix Order were serving in the Capellan Chargers than in any other brigade within the CCAF, a reflection in part of the high standards demanded of the Chargers. The commanding officer of the Fourth, Colonel Erica Bagliani, took this a step further than any of the other regiments within the brigade; Bagliani, a Knight Commander of the Lorix order, made full membership of the Lorix Order a prerequisite for joining the ranks of the Fourth. That decision made the Fourth Chargers the single largest assemblage of Lorixian MechWarriors anywhere, with every member of the regiment a proven and skilled fighter when it came to one-on-one fights. Bagliani's decision also worked against the Fourth, however; despite the excellent performance of her soldiers when fighting as individuals, the regiment was hamstrung by a combination of the sense of personal honor each MechWarrior maintained and the inflated sense of bravado that went with it.[1]

Without active combat to test themselves in, the MechWarriors of the Fourth had begun taking to dueling, both within the Fourth and against other CCAF MechWarriors, as a means of letting off steam. Heavily indoctrinated with the brigade mythos of the apparent invincibility of the Capellan Chargers, the Fourth ran the risk that their attitudes could potentially become a critical flaw in combat.[1]

First Succession War[edit]

The Fourth Capellan Chargers were one of the regiments taken to Calloway VI in March 2789 in an attempt by Chancellor Barbara Liao to strike a decisive counterblow against the Free Worlds League, which had been prosecuting a hugely successful campaign against the Confederation. Following on the heels of the massacre conducted on New Delos in 2788, the strike at Calloway VI was intended to break the League's morale and willingness to fight. The task force assembled to assault Calloway IV, dubbed Task Force Devlin, consisted of thirty WarShips, fifty attack DropShips, fifty-six transport DropShips, numerous transport JumpShips and seven regiments of 'Mech forces. The 'Mech forces included the Red Lancers, which the Chancellor had dictated she would be leading in the field, as well as the Ares Titans, another elite formation - and which ensured that both of Barbara's sons, Major Barnabus Liao and Baltazar Liao, were on the front lines. In addition to the Red Lancers and the Ares Titans the CCAF deployed the First and Second Sian Dragoons, the Fourth Capellan Chargers, the Third Confederation Reserve Cavalry and the Fifth Liao Lancers. The overall command of the Task Force fell to Colonel Jacen Devlin aboard his flagship, the Du Shi Wang-class battleship CCS Sundermann Liao.[2]

Unfortunately for the Capellans, the battle for Calloway was a disaster. Unlike the earlier action at New Delos, the Maskirovka didn't have cracked Free Worlds League codes to supply to the CCAF, so the Task Force was going in blind; the Task Force had also been betrayed by a traitor within the naval fleet, who had been sickened by the massacre on New Delos and who passed word of the impending attack to League agents at Propus while the task force was being assembled. Also working against the fleet was the presence of Barbara Liao, who was able to order the Task Force to continue the attack against the advice of her subcommanders when things began going wrong, and whose very presence sapped resources away from the main Task Force because of the need to keep her safe—something that began almost immediately.[2]

When the Task Force jumped into the Calloway system, it found the First Oriente Provincial Squadron waiting for it at the zenith jump point, while waiting on Calloway VI were four provincial regiments—the First Fusiliers of Oriente, the Third and Eighth Oriente Hussars and the Helm Cuirassiers—complete with an attached group of attack DropShips and a number of wings of aerospace fighters. The First Oriente Provincial Squadron didn't waste any time attacking, but despite being outnumbered, deliberately did everything they could to target transport ships, rather than escorts. By the time the four Atreus-class battleships and the four League II-class destroyers had been destroyed, Task Force Devlin had lost a quarter of its transport JumpShips and more than a regiment each of aerospace fighters and 'Mechs. Wounded in the engagement was Barnabus Liao, whose Overlord-class DropShip had been crippled in the battle.[2]

Barbara Liao insisted on the attack going ahead, with Task Force Devlin burning towards Calloway VI—a two-week journey—unaware that the Free Worlds League Navy Third Fleet was waiting in two large groups at Holt and Oriente, and had been made aware of the attack. Twelve hours out from the surface of Calloway VI League assault craft and fighter carrier DropShips were waiting, and swarms of League aerospace fighters threw themselves at the lighter Capellan fighters. The resulting battle lasted two days, and by the time Task Force Devlin had managed to secure orbital supremacy above the planet the Task Force had lost seven more transport DropShips and two regiments of aerospace fighters.[2]

The Capellan landings went ahead, with the Task Force mustering roughly five regiments of 'Mechs - a number almost equaled by the defenders, who had spent two weeks fortifying positions, creating redoubts and evacuating civilians from the major cities on the planet. For ten days the Capellan ground forces fought a war of attrition against the defenders, hampered by the need to protect the Chancellor; when Barbara Liao finally announced a withdrawal from the planet only a third of the Red Lancers remained to evacuate her, and Barnabus Liao was killed along with the other members of the Ares Titans while attempting to fall back. Even as the Capellan forces evacuated from Calloway VI, they learned that their transport JumpShips had been destroyed. The FWLN Third Fleet had jumped to Calloway a week into Task Force Devlin's two-week approach to the planet; arriving close enough to the transport JumpShips to engage immediately, the Third Fleet had destroyed all bar two of the JumpShips, along with their small WarShip escort, and were burning towards Calloway VI, determined to avenge New Delos.[2]

Colonel Devlin assigned six WarShips to evacuate Barbara Liao, while his remaining forces acted as a rearguard against the vengeful League forces. By the time the Chancellor's ships were away, Devlin was dead, and the Sundermann Liao had been destroyed, along with the bulk of Task Force Devlin. Of the original Task Force Devlin ships and forces, the survivors who managed to escape mustered just twelve WarShips, six attack DropShips, five 'Mech transports and three fighter carriers, transporting away the remnants of the ground forces—of which only the Red Lancers, Third Confederation Reserve Cavalry and Fifth Liao Lancers had managed to survive in any numbers. Lost during the naval battle was Baltazar Liao, aboard the Essex-class destroyer CCS Calseraigne, destroyed by the Aegis-class heavy cruiser FWLS Pleiades.[2]

The Strategios decided not to rebuild the Fourth Capellan Chargers, a decision common to all of the regiments of the brigade, as their combat philosophy resulted in wasted resources for not enough gain.[3]

Re-formation[edit]

The Fourth Capellan Chargers was re-formed sometime during Operation GREAT FLOOD as one of the Hidden Lion regiments resurrected by Chancellor Daoshen Liao using stockpiled equipment.[3] The new Capellan Chargers used the Augmented Regiment formations commonly found in the CCAF by 3145.[4] They were a front-line regiment of the Capella Commonality.[5]

Sang-shao Selena Koros' idealism has made rebuilding the regiment far slower than normal. Only perfect candidates are considered for transfer into her unit.

Operation CELESTIAL REWARD[edit]

The Fourth Capellan Chargers were assigned raiding duties during Operation CELESTIAL REWARD. Moving from system to system in the Capellan March, they harassed local militias and attacked infrastructure like DropPorts, transit lines and storehouses. They overwhelmed Wangker Aerospace's garrison on Axton and looted a Corsair squadron.[3]

Officers[edit]

Rank Name Command
Commanding Officers of the 4th Capellan Chargers
Colonel Erica Bagliani 2765[1]
Sang-shao Selena Koros 3145[6]

Tactics[edit]

2765[edit]

The MechWarriors of the Fourth were highly skilled at engaging opponents one-on-one.[1]

3145[edit]

The Fourth Capellan Chargers are adept in capturing enemy equipment. They are trained to target an enemy BattleMech's legs or the tracks of enemy tanks.[7]

Composition History[edit]

2765[edit]

Fourth Capellan Chargers[1]

- The Fourth Chargers were a regular regiment of fanatical loyalty and were based on the world of Aer.[1]

2786[edit]

Fourth Capellan Chargers (Regiment/Regular/Fanatical)[8]

- At this point in time the Fourth was a light-weight unit operating at full strength and based on Aer.[8] The unit was destroyed during the war.[8]

3145[edit]

Fourth Capellan Chargers (Regular/Reliable) (60% Strength)[6]

  • CO: Sang-shao Selena Koros

Second Capellan Gryphons (Regular/Reliable) (55% Strength)[6]

Knights' Armored Lancers (2 Battalions/Green/Questionable) (75% Strength)[6]

Beta Phalanx (Regular/Questionable) (70% Strength)[6]

Notes:

The unit had an "A" Equipment Rating. They had numerous Assassins and Firebees.[9] They were an Augmented Regiment.[4]

References[edit]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 Field Report 2765: CCAF, p. 9: "Capellan Chargers"
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 First Succession War, pp. 58–60: "Debacle at Calloway"
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 Field Manual: 3145, p. 34: "Capellan Chargers"
  4. 4.0 4.1 Field Manual: 3145, p. 27: "General Review"
  5. Field Manual: 3145, p. 28: "The New Old-Fashioned Way"
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 Field Manual: 3145, p. 44: "Capellan Confederation Deployment Table - 3145"
  7. Field Manual: 3145, p. 205: "Fourth Capellan Chargers"
  8. 8.0 8.1 8.2 First Succession War, p. 135: "Capellan Confederation Armed Forces (CCAF)"
  9. Field Manual: 3145, p. 29: "Sian Commonality"

Bibliography[edit]