1st Clovis Guards

(Redirected from 1st Clovis Guards Regiment)
First Clovis Guards
Disbanded Second Succession War[1]
Affiliation Federated Suns
Parent Command Armed Forces of the Federated Suns


History[edit]

The First Clovis Guards were an Armed Forces of the Federated Suns BattleMech Regiment.[2]

First Succession War[edit]

In May 2787 the Draconis Combine launched a massive invasion of the Federated Suns. The invasion was so swift and targeted communications and JumpShips so effectively that many border systems didn't have a chance to transmit warnings or alerts, leading to widespread confusion on the part of the AFFS. Three days after the initial attacks another large wave of attacks was launched by the DCMS, based around two salients; one, under the overall command of Coordinator Minoru Kurita, struck into the Clovis Combat Region, beginning with invasions of Cartago, Clovis and Olancha.[2]

Clovis was the location of the headquarters of the Clovis Combat Region, and the Commanding Officer of the Region, Field Marshal Grover Simons, was on Clovis alongside the First Clovis Guards when the Combine invasion forces arrived in-system. The DCMS forces arrived with a formidable WarShip fleet drawn from the DCA Third Fleet, consisting of a pair of Samarkand-class carriers, an Aegis-class heavy cruiser and four Narukami-class destroyers. Despite being heavily outnumbered, the AFFS naval picket in the Clovis system managed to tie up the Combine forces for six hours, crippling the Narukami-class DCS Firewind and inflicting heavy damage on the carrier DCS Hagiwawa, but the loss of the New Syrtis-class carrier FSS Midale and the Davion-class destroyer FSS Reynard Davion effectively ended AFFS resistance in orbit.[2]

On the ground, Simons used the time bought by the naval picket to muster his defenses as best he could, having the First Clovis Guards and the three conventional regiments present dig in around Gorst City as best they could, while sending out urgent messages for reinforcements. The Draconis Combine Mustered Soldiery believed that at least two more 'Mech regiments were present on Clovis, and had brought three 'Mech regiments - the Third Sword of Light, Third Pesht Regulars and Ninth Dieron Regulars - eighteen assorted regiments of armor and infantry and enough aerospace support to ensure air superiority from the outset, but the fierce defense put up by Simons' forces ensured that by the end of the first week, the attackers had seized only a small foothold in Gorst City Valley. The DCMS refrained from using orbital bombardment to destroy the defenders, but Simons' calls for reinforcements went largely unanswered because of the chaos engulfing the local region; those AFFS units not already destroyed were all either in retreat or desperately fighting for survival. The only forces able to respond arrived aboard the Robinson-class carrier FSS New Ivaarsen, and the four DropShips of reinforcements the New Ivaarsen brought from Xhosa VII were nowhere near enough to turn the tide. The arrival of the New Ivaarsen five days into the second week of the invasion did offer the prospect of salvaging some of the troops on Clovis however, and Simons ordered a retreat from the planet.[2]

With the surviving battalion of 'Mechs from the Clovis Guards covering the support and armored forces as they fell back to Gorst City Spaceport and the few surviving intact DropShips there, Simons was among the last to board an escaping craft; his DropShip was the last to leave the surface, but ten kilometers above the surface the Leopard was intercepted by DCMS aerospace fighters. Refusing to surrender, the Leopard attempted to fight its way clear, but was lost with all hands. The fall of Clovis and the loss of Field Marshal Simons resulted in the AFFS defensive line imploding almost immediately, and by the end of May the DCMS had conquered most of the Clovis Combat Region, half of each of the Dahar and Robinson Combat Regions and a chunk of the Fairfax Combat Region.[2] The First Clovis Guards were considered to have been destroyed by the end of the First Succession War.[3]

Second Succession War[edit]

The Guards rebuilt in the years between the First and Second Succession War, and when the Second Succession War began were up to a strength of just under two battalions.[1] On the 19th of February 2830 Coordinator Jinjiro Kurita launched simultaneous offensives against the Federated Suns and Lyran Commonwealth. Operation AKAI KAZE - RED WIND - was the offensive launched against the Federated Suns; while the main targets of AKAI KAZE were the Franklin, Lucerne and Sakhara V systems, ten assorted systems were also hit by heavy raids, intended to distract and disorient the AFFS. One of those worlds was Clovis, on which the Third Amphigean Light Assault Group expected little resistance, as the DCMS believed the Guards to have been wiped out in the previous war. The initial attack on the system went well, but the Amphigeans were shocked by the waves of aerospace fighters that rose up to attack their DropShips as they entered the atmosphere, and broke off the raid without ever making planetfall.[4]

By the end of the Second Succession War the Guards were once again recorded as a destroyed command by the AFFs.[1]

Officers[edit]

Rank Name Command
Commanding Officers of the 1st Clovis Guards
Field Marshal Grover Simons 2787[5]

Tactics[edit]

Unknown.

Composition History[edit]

2786[edit]

First Clovis Guards (Regiment/Regular/Questionable)[3]

- At this point in time the Hussars were a light-weight regiment stationed on Clovis and were operating at full strength.[3]

2830[edit]

First Clovis Guards (Regular/Questionable)[1]

- At this point in time the Guards were a medium-weight regiment and had rebuilt to just under two battalions in size. The Guards were stationed on Clovis.[1] The unit was destroyed during the war. [1]

References[edit]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Second Succession War, p. 94, "Armed Forces of the Federated Suns (AFFS)"
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 First Succession War, p. 38-39, "The Battle For Clovis"
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 First Succession War, p. 134, "Armed Forces of the Federated Suns (AFFS)"
  4. Second Succession War, p. 31-33, "The Dragon Strikes: Black Wind, Red Wind"
  5. House Davion (The Federated Suns), p. 61

Bibliography[edit]