30th Lyran Guards
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The Thirtieth Lyran Guards were a BattleMech regiment in service to the Lyran Commonwealth.
Contents
History
Star League Era
During the Star League era the Thirtieth Lyran Guards was one of six regiments within the Third Lyran Guards Division, one of five Divisions of active regiments within the Lyran Guards brigade in the closing decades of the Star League's existence.[1]
Like the other regiments of the Guards during this era, the Thirtieth lacked any particular political ties - either regional or familial - unlike regiments in other brigades; commonly assigned to garrison postings, the Thirtieth Lyran Guards and their sister regiments were postings of choice for those who wanted to work for the Commonwealth without either regional loyalties or particular ambitions. This led to the Thirtieth and her sister regiments being manned by soldiers who were professional, but without the close-knit ties found in more parochial regiments. The LCAF was intent on generating more camaraderie and esprit de corps amongst the Thirtieth and the other Guards regiments, but with little success by 2765.[1]
As a part of the Third Division the Thirtieth was considered a regiment for up-and-coming personnel and rising stars during the 2760s, a consequence of Leutnant General Kirsty Kirrlund's tenure as commanding officer of the Third. The Thirtieth took part in the Division-level deployment of the entire Third Division to the Circinus system in the mid-2760s to conduct Operation HOUND DOG, a determined effort to track down and destroy bandit elements and groups believed to be operating out of the otherwise-uninhabited Circinus system. Despite the Free Worlds League declining to commit any troops or observers to the Operation - the League military considering the Operation to be nothing more than a "Snipe hunt" - the mission was accompanied by a team of Star League Defense Force observers and was a success. The Thirtieth had taken up a garrison post on Skandia by 2765 and recovered completely from the few casualties taken during HOUND DOG.[1]
First Succession War
When the Second Lyran Guards were destroyed, several of their constituent elements were combined with the Thirtieth Lyran Guards. These elements gave the Thirtieth their name.[2]
During the First Battle of Hesperus II in 2787 the 30th Guards were among the defenders against the Combine assault dubbed Operation Broken Blade[3] where they managed to protect the factories and force the invaders to retreat.
Third Succession War
The Thirtieth Lyran Guards assaulted Sevren alongside Hansen's Roughriders and Winfield's Brigade in 3024. They faced several Dieron Regulars regiments, but by dividing the strike force into separate groups and defeating them in detail, the Thirtieth brought Sevren under Commonwealth control.[4] The Thirtieth then redeployed to garrison Icar.[5]
Fourth Succession War
New Caledonia was one of the worlds attacked in the opening wave of Operation GÖTTERDÄMMERUNG, the major Lyran Commonwealth offensive of the Fourth Succession War. Defending New Caledonia was the Second An Ting Legion, along with a large contingent of aerospace fighters. Desite the heavier than anticipated aerospace presence, the Tenth Donegal Guards RCT and the Thirtieth Lyran Guards RCT arrived in the New Caledonia system on the 22nd of August 3028, achieving total surprise over the defending forces. The Thirtieth dropped north of Redfev, the planetary capital city and major industrial center, while the Tenth dropped to the south of the city. The Second An Ting Legion managed to withdraw from New Caledonia, but the two Lyran RCTs inflicted enough damage on the Legion that more than a fifth of its equipment had been lost before the Legion escaped.[6]
Operation Guerrero
Stationed on New Home when the Liaoist guerrilla cells launched an open revolution in 3057, striking almost daily with bombings and killing of civilians. The unit also suffered from those attacks as they frequently hit the unit's personnel and dependants and so further demoralized the Guards' commanders, Marshal Vincent Tanner and his second in command Leftenant General Herbert Kingsley who barely managed to keep the government working. Days after declaring martial law and suspending the ineffectual planetary government, Marshal Tanner was assassinated by the Zhanzheng de Guang. Less than twenty-four hours later New Home heard of Katherine Steiner-Davion's self proclamation to Archon of the newly formed Lyran Alliance and her invitation to all Lyran Troops to return home.
As acting Commander General Kingsley eagerly accepted the invitation but most of the unit preferred to remain on New Home. The new recruits, natives of New Home, and the brutalities of the Zhanzheng de Guang made the unit more determined to free New Home those Liaoist guerrilla. En route to the Lyran Alliance the 30th mutinied. Led by Leftenant General Delores Whitman, Kingsley's second in command, the Guards returned to New Home but found that the Liaoist revolutionaries had taken control in their absence. Reinforced by BattleMechs and state-of-the-art weapons from the Free Worlds League, the newly christened New Home Regulars, presented the 30th Lyran Guards with a formidable opposition that led to a stalemate.
This lasted until Baron Shienzè ruler of New Home hired the mercenary unit Avanti's Angels. With their unusual combat doctrine, shaped by battle against the Clans, that offense was the key to victory and their specialization on hard attacks the Avanti's Angels managed to hit the New Home Regulars hard enough to shift the tide in favor of the Baron and the Lyran Guards in March 3058.
Both the Thirteenth and Thirtieth Lyran Guards were recorded as having gone rogue in the Chaos March, and by 3062 the Thirtieth had either been destroyed or was no longer considered a part of the Lyran Guards.[7]
Officers
- 3025, the commanding officer was Colonel Edward Nichols.[5]
- 3054, the commanding officer was Marshal Vincent Tanner.[8]
- 3058, the commanding officer was Leftenant General Herbert Kingsley
- 3058, the commanding officer was Leftenant General Delores Whitman.
Tactics
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Composition History
2765
Thirtieth Lyran Guards (Regular/Reliable)[1]
- - At this point in time the Thirtieth was based on Skandia.[1]
3025
Thirtieth Lyran Guards (Regular/Reliable)[5]
- CO: Colonel Edward Nichols
3040
Thirtieth Lyran Guards (Regular/Reliable)[9]
3054
Thirtieth Lyran Guards (Regular/Reliable)[8]
- CO: Marshal Vincent Tanner
Notes
- The novel Double-Blind names the unit as 13th Lyran Guards but it's clearly that this is just a mix up in numbers, as all other information fits to the New Home entry in the Chaos March (sourcebook).
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Field Report 2765: LCAF, p. 13-14, "Lyran Guards"
- ↑ House Steiner (The Lyran Commonwealth), p. 59
- ↑ Broken Blade, p.1
- ↑ House Steiner (The Lyran Commonwealth), p. 83
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 House Steiner (The Lyran Commonwealth), p. 118 (pdf version), "Unit Deployment Table"
- ↑ NAIS The Fourth Succession War Military Atlas Volume 1, p. 50, "Other Early Action"
- ↑ Field Manual: Lyran Alliance, p. 74
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Objective Raids, p. 18
- ↑ Historical: War of 3039 , p. 137