Bandersnatches

(Redirected from The Bandersnatches)
This article is about the mercenary unit. For the BattleMech, see Bandersnatch.
Bandersnatches
Disbanded 2933 (entered permanent employment with ComStar; became part of the ComStar Guards and Militia)
Affiliation Mercenary
Parent Command Independent


Described as a heavy 'Mech assault battalion of good ability, the Bandersnatches were a mercenary unit that was hired by ComStar in 2931 during the Necess Kurita affair. The unit subsequently went to work for ComStar permanently and would become part of the ComStar Guards and Militia.

History[edit]

Commanded by Colonel Dietrikson, the Bandersnatches had fought well on the Draconis Combine's front along the Federated Suns border, yet Coordinator Hugai Kurita was not interested in continuing their employ in late 2931. The unit's employment with the Draconis Combine was only two days from ending when Kurita started an incident with ComStar by abducting his newly invested sister Necess Kurita. As soon as the Bandersnatches' contract expired, the Covert Operations department of ComStar hired the unit at twice the normal rate due to their close proximity to Luthien. The Bandersnatches were immediately placed aboard DropShips registered as ComStar freighters and secretly deployed to be ready to combat-drop on Luthien by the ComStar JumpShip Eyes of Blake. Their orders were to rescue the kidnapped Acolyte and ruin the Imperial Palace in the process. Shocked that the supposedly neutral organization was prepared to take military action, the Coordinator gave in to ComStar's demand that Necess Kurita be allowed to return to the Order. The attack order was canceled less than ten minutes from execution on the 13th of December 2931.[1][2][3]

In the aftermath of the successful resolution and the indicated need for a standing military, Primus Hollings York offered the Bandersnatches permanent employment with ComStar. The mercenary unit was used to form part of the basis of the ComStar Guards and Militia when they were formed in 2933.[2]

Officers[edit]

Rank Name Command
Commanding Officers of the Bandersnatches
Colonel Dietrikson 2931

Tactics[edit]

Unknown.

Unit Composition[edit]

As of 2931, the Bandersnatches were a heavy 'Mech battalion and possessed several DropShips.[1] The fact that they were carried on a ComStar JumpShip seems to indicate that they did not possess a JumpShip of their own, though this is ultimately conjecture.

Notes[edit]

  • Although The Bandersnatches are said to have formed the core of ComStar's military arm, it should be noted that ComStar had cached considerable amounts of military hardware, and that Jerome Blake had retained elements of the SLDF who had refused to join Aleksandr Kerensky's Operation EXODUS. ComStar had used these troops to capture and hold Terra.
  • The Bandersnatches should not be confused with Clinton's Cutthroats, another mercenary unit that was hired permanently by ComStar (or possibly a hidden cabal within ComStar) in 2870 specifically to permanently guard the Hidden Five and formed the nucleus of these secret worlds' independent defenses, which were separate from the Com Guards, ComStar's regular secret military.

References[edit]

  1. 1.0 1.1 House Kurita (The Draconis Combine), p. 83
  2. 2.0 2.1 ComStar, pp. 39–42
  3. Handbook: House Kurita, p. 59

Bibliography[edit]