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Marik Militia

Brigade Insignia of the Marik Militia
Marik Militia
Formed 2238[1]
3152 (reformed)[2]
Nickname "Mailed Fist in a Velvet Glove"
Affiliation Free Worlds League
Parent Command Free Worlds League Military


The Marik Militia had been the bedrock of the federal armed forces within the Free Worlds League since the inception of the League in the twenty-third century and was dedicated to serving and protecting the people of the League.

History[edit]

Formation[edit]

The Marik Militia was founded alongside the Free Worlds League itself and was the basis of the League's offensive and defensive military might. Although other federal forces have existed during the lifetime of the League, the Marik Militia was unique for being dedicated to serving and defending the people of the League, rather than serving the Captain-General, a distinction that separated the Militia from formations such as the Atrean Dragoons and Free Worlds Guards.[3]

Reunification War[edit]

During the Reunification War the units of the Militia served with distinction in the campaign against the Magistracy of Canopus, capturing enemy matériel to create new Militia regiments.[4]

Star League Era[edit]

When the Star League issued the Council Edict of 2650, which limited the size of the military of each of the member states, the Marik Militia numbered nineteen regiments in total. A number of these regiments were involved in the Marik Civil War[3] between Captain-General Elise Marik and her brother, Oliver, and took far more of a battering than the various provincial forces involved in the conflict.[4] When the Council Edict of 2650 was repealed the Marik Militia expanded rapidly, and between 2755 and 2765 the brigade grew to twenty-eight regiments in total; although by 2765 it had been thirty years since the end of the Civil War and the signing of the Treaty of Verona some of the Marik Militia regiments were still nursing grudges, although most of the units had managed to rebuild.[3]

The Marik Militia remained a popular unit with both the commoners within the League and the peerage because of their public dedication to the people of the League, and the various regiments of the Militia often acted as training grounds for troops across the League. A significant number of the personnel serving in other more prestigious federal units and various provincial forces within the League had actually begun their careers in one of the Marik Militia regiments. Despite the relatively low performance ratings of the Militia because of the number of new enlistees and recently graduated academy cadets within the various regiments the Marik Militia was considered to be one of the most stable and reliable formations within the Free Worlds League Military.[3]

Succession Wars[edit]

First Succession War[edit]

Having secured a number of worlds from the remains of the Terran Hegemony, Captain-General Kenyon Marik deployed ten regiments from the Marik Militia to launch an invasion of the Capellan Confederation; their goal was to "clear a route ten parsecs wide to Sarna." Both Corey and Wazan fell quickly to the Marik Militia forces, with few of the Capellan garrisons offering much resistance.[5]

Chancellor Barbara Liao was unwilling to cede control of the worlds easily, however; she launched a counterattack against the world of New Delos, which was a Free Worlds League Military staging area, and put blockades in place over both the Corey and Wazan systems, as well as ordering an attack on Calloway VI in 2780. These efforts were despite Kenyon Marik ordering his forces to conduct attacks that saw the worlds of Hall, Ingersoll, New Canton and Outreach firebombed in retaliation for the New Delos attack and in an effort to disrupt the Capellan Confederation Armed Forces efforts to send reinforcements to Corey and Wazan.[5]

The Capellan siege of both Corey and Wazan ended when FWLM forces in the Calloway system detected and ambushed the Capellan forces attempting to launch their attack, leading to several years where the war went almost completely in favor of House Marik.[5] Originally forty regiments strong at the start of the First Succession War, by the end of the war eight regiments of the Marik Militia had been destroyed: the Fourth, Seventh, Thirteenth, Seventeenth, Twenty-first, Twenty-third, Twenty-ninth and Thirty-fourth Marik Militia regiments were all lost. Having begun the First Succession War at full strength, none of the surviving regiments could muster as much as two-thirds strength by the end of the war, and some of the Militias were down to just one quarter strength. Despite having thirty-two Militias still on the list of active commands, the total combat strength of the Marik Militia was approximately thirteen and a half regiments.[6]

Third Succession War[edit]

In 2913 three regiments of the Marik Militia landed on Loric in the Lyran Commonwealth; the Militia was supported by a large contingent of aerospace fighters and DropShips and inflicted heavy damage on the defending Lyran Commonwealth Armed Forces units, only retreating when reinforcements from the Donegal Guards arrived. The attack was perhaps the most successful strike made against the Lyran Commonwealth during the reign of Captain-General Elisabeth Marik.[7]

Forming such a large part of the FWLM, the Militia played a significant role in the League's military actions in the unceasing conflict of the Succession Wars, but even with the addition of two new Militia units in 2980, attrition had reduced their number down to fifteen regiments by 3025. After the rise of Thomas Marik to the Captain-Generalcy, the Marik Militia benefited from new resources to rebuild and expand their numbers. Unfortunately Militia also began to serve as unofficial cadre units for the modernized FWLM, with most graduates of the League's military academies undertaking their first tour of duty in a Militia unit before the best officers and troops were poached by more prestigious brigades. While a few regiments had success in convincing the LCCC to retain and build on their expertise, the Militia as a whole had the highest concentration of green troops in Thomas's FWLM.[8][9]

Nathan was a rural world periodically used by Free Worlds League Military units as a rest and recuperation berth. In 3018 Nathan was raided by the mercenary unit Snord's Irregulars as part of a campaign the Irregulars had dubbed Operation Junk Yard Dog. The Irregulars were in pursuit of items looted from their museum on Clinton by FWLM troops late in 3017, and had tracked some of the items to Nathan, where they were due to be auctioned off on the open market. Using security codes stolen by the Lyran Commonwealth the Irregulars disguised their DropShip as a League vessel returning from the front lines, receiving clearance to land as guests of the local Earl on March 13th. While on approach to Nelson the Irregulars executed a combat drop in secret, achieving total surprise over the Marik Militia elements on Nelson at the time. The Irregulars proceeded to fight a series of simultaneous engagements in cities across Nelson over the next two weeks, retrieving items before the League could bring in additional forces. In one notable instance the Irregulars managed to recover a number of items from within the city of Fullson, using a hurricane that struck the city as cover to withdraw with the items ahead of League forces.[10] The unit also mauled elements of the Informal 20th Light Armored Cavalry, a support command on planet.[10]

The Jihad[edit]

Still the bulwark of the League's military, the Marik Militia bore the brunt of FWLM's fighting in the Jihad. Despite seeing near-continuous action and in some cases suffering extremely heavy combat damage, just as the nation which it defended shattered and fragmented, the bulk of the Militia's losses were due to the divided loyalties of its regiments to provinces, other League units, various leaders and power brokers.[11] By 3085, the Marik Militia as an organization was no more, with its component units divided among several League splinter states.[12]

Dark Age[edit]

On 14 March, 3152, Captain-General Nikol Marik announced that the Fourth had agreed to rejoin the FWLM, reforming the 18th Marik Militia as the first unit in a reborn Marik Militia.[2]

Officers[edit]

Rank Name Command
Commanding Officers of the Marik Militia
General Duncan Marik 3025[13]
General Samuel Garibaldi 3050 - 3059[14][15]

Other Officers[edit]

Tactics[edit]

Different per Unit.

Units of the Marik Militia[edit]

Notes[edit]

Colors and Unit Insignia[edit]

The Marik Militia's parade colors are purple, with highlights in red on the right side, and in blue on the left. Individual units may vary from this color scheme.

References[edit]

  1. House Marik (The Free Worlds League), p. 8: Founding of Marik Commonwealth is assumed to be formation date of Marik Militia
  2. 2.0 2.1 Empire Alone, p. 69
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Field Report 2765: FWLM, p. 10: "Marik Militia"
  4. 4.0 4.1 House Marik, p. 90: "Marik Militia"
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 House Marik (The Free Worlds League), p. 28: "The Collapse of Terra"
  6. First Succession War, p. 138: "Free Worlds League Military (FWLM)"
  7. House Marik (The Free Worlds League), p. 39: "The Great Compromiser"
  8. Field Manual: Free Worlds League, p. 53: "Marik Militia"
  9. Field Manual: Updates, p. 148 "Marik Militia"
  10. 10.0 10.1 Cranston Snord's Irregulars, pp. 5, 39–47: Scenarios "Junk Yard Dog Affair" I-IV
  11. Masters and Minions: The StarCorps Dossiers, p. 80: "The Sundered Arm: Key FWLM Military Commands"
  12. Field Manual: 3085, pp. 81–90
  13. House Marik (The Free Worlds League), p. 142: "Duncan Marik"
  14. 14.0 14.1 20 Year Update, p. 56: "FWLM Deployment Table"
  15. 15.0 15.1 Field Manual: Free Worlds League, p. 112: "Free Worlds League Military"
  16. Field Manual: Updates, p. 160: "FWLM Deployment Table - 3067"
  17. Field Manual: Free Worlds League, p. 53
  18. House Liao (The Capellan Confederation), p. 92: "The Capellan Military - BattleMech Regiments - Capellan Reserves - Justine's Grenadiers"
  19. Field Manual: 3085, p. 167

Bibliography[edit]