Buckminster


Buckminster
Buckminster 3151.svg
System Information
X:Y Coordinates17.582 : 154.653[e]
Spectral classA9III[1][2][3]
Recharge time170 hours[2][3]
Recharge station(s)Zenith[1][2][3]
Planet(s)6

The Buckminster system was home to at least one habitable world, Buckminster VI, and as of 3145 was the administrative capital of the Buckminster Prefecture of the Benjamin Military District within the Draconis Combine.[4][5]

System Description[edit]

Buckminster is located near the Aubisson and Port Moseby systems[6] and consists of a class A9III primary orbited by at least six planets. During the thirty-first century a recharge station was in place at the system zenith jump point.[1][3]

System History[edit]

The Buckminster system was settled during or shortly after the First Exodus from Terra[7] and by the end of the Age of War Buckminster was a part of the Lyran Commonwealth.[8]

Political Affiliation[edit]


Buckminster VI[edit]

Buckminster VI
Crest-Buckminster.png
Astrophysical
System positionSixth[1][2][3]
Jump Point distance23.75 days[2][3]
MoonsOne (Geodesia)[2][3]
Geophysical
Surface gravity1.01[2][3]
Atmospheric pressureStandard (Breathable)[2][3]
Equatorial temperature29°C (Temperate)[2][3]
Surface water62%[2][3]
Highest native lifeInsect,[2][3] 15%[1]
Landmasses4 (Richard's Rock, Sanjusendo, Storm, Trestal)[3]
History and Culture
Population2,641,000,000 (3025),[1]
2,770,000,000 (3067),[2]
2,810,000,000 (3079)[3]
Government and Infrastructure
Noble RulerDuke of Buckminster
Political LeaderDistrict Governor
CapitalBuckminster City[3]
HPG ClassA[1][3]
HPG RepresentativePrecentor Hari Jukazi (3025)[1]

Buckminster VI, more commonly known simply as Buckminster, is the sixth planet in the system and has a single moon named Geodesia.[3]

Planetary History[edit]

The Buckminster system was settled during or shortly after the First Exodus from Terra and by the end of the Age of War, Buckminster was a part of the Lyran Commonwealth.

For most of Buckminster's history it was an agricultural world whose light industry produced agricultural equipment. The products of the world were often sent to the nearby Lyran world of Port Moseby.[1]

Succession Wars Era[edit]

Buckminster was captured by the Draconis Combine during the First Succession War,[13][17] and after Buckminster was made a Prefecture capital in 3005,[45] the Draconis Combine Mustered Soldiery stationed the Second Sword of Light on the world.[1]

The presence of military forces on the world, and the exercises and training runs that they require, dramatically reduced the productivity of the farmland. This had a bad effect on the local economy. These changes to the world took place in a scant two decades, and the population spawned several covert and overt anti-government groups as a result of the damage inflicted on their world.[1]

All these drastic changes unfolded in a mere two decades. As a consequence, the local population formed numerous anti-government factions, both overt and covert, in response to the disruptions on their planet.[45] This rise in dissent has kept the abundant Internal Security Force agents Buckminster consistently occupied.

Fourth Succession War[edit]

During the tumultuous period of the Fourth Succession War , Buckminster VI emerged as first wave objective in the Lyran Commonwealth Armed Forces' strategic blueprint for Operation GÖTTERDÄMMERUNG. Selected for the initial assault due to its status as a prefecture capital, the planet stood as a linchpin in the Draconis Combine's bureaucratic network. The capture of Buckminster, with its invaluable archives and influential political leaders, was foreseen to usher in prolonged turmoil within the prefecture.

Protecting Buckminster VI was the elite Second Sword of Light BattleMech regiment commanded by Tai-sho Goshi Tengwan, with twenty-two of the best infantry and tank regiments in the DCMS, alongside a large and well respected planetary militia.

The LCAF assigned the task of taking the world to the elite Third Royal Guards Regimental Combat Team (RCT), consisting of thirty-nine regiments. The force was dispatched under the command of Lieutenant General Roman Steiner, a veteran general and a trusted ally of the Archon.[46]

Their main target would be the capture of Buckminster City, capital of the planet and the prefecture, on the continent of Sanjusendo. The DCMS concentrated almost their entire force on the continent, especially in bases and cantonments around Buckminster City.

October 3028, the LCAF invasion force jumped into Buckminster. Three DCMS DropShips loaded with aerospace fighters rose to meet the LCAF flotilla as they Approached Buckminster VI. The LCAF had assigned unusually large aerospace contingent to the Drop force, which brushed aside the Kuritan formations.

General Steiner chose the lightly defended Lexham island as his Drop Zone, securing it quickly and establishing a workable landing zone. This has been criticised as it placed 3000Km, a difficult amphibious landing, and two mountain ranges between his supply base and the main objective of Buckminster City. General Steiner had however come prepared. Some of the first forces unloaded after securing the Landing zones were the First Provisional Lyran Water Navy (PLWN), consisting mainly of hydrofoils and Monitor gunboats. These were to be used to seize the channel between the Island and the mainland of Sanjusendo, and support the beach landings.

Two Amphibious operations were launched, supported by the PLWN: One against the Coloa Peninsular to the west, supported by Third Royal Guards battlemechs walking along a shallow underwater ridge joining the two landmasses, and one against Yeloff peninsular to the east, mainly lead by armor and infantry transported by hydrofoil. Tai-sho Goshi Tengwan, chose to offer little resistance to these beach landings. He feared the landing at Lexham was a feint, that the real landings were still to come. thus only a token force was despatched to resist the landing operations.

The Yeloff peninsular beach landings faced resistance in the form of DCMS armor and mechanised infantry regiments dispatched from Pontiac city, where the The Coloa Peninsular operation, was carried out with little to no opposition. The Battlemechs raced up the coast to link up with, and break out of the Yeloff Beachhead.

Waiting for them in Pontiac was a concentration of a company of the Second Sword of Light's heavy 'Mechs along with three tank regiments, three infantry regiments, and artillery battalion. This force had been held in reserve waiting for the feared main drop that never came.

Not wanting to loose the strategic initiative, General Steiner moved the main bulk of the Third Royal Guards RCT to bypass Pontiac, detaching a small contingent of armor and infantry, supported by battlemechs to invest and seize the city.

Initially, Steiner forces would be held off due to the Kurita Artillery battalion effective accuracy. It would take the Royal Guards' aerospace forces to silent the guns to allow them take city. The Lyran ground forces would pass through the Greerson Mountains. Kurita forces had put a stiff defenses against the Lyrans, thus calling down special squadron of artillery armed DropShips, which used to subdue the forces defending the passes. The appearance of the mobile artillery flying behind enemy lines proved to be demoralizing. The DropShips' bombardment would cause Kurita forces to retreat in disarray. The Kuritan surviving elements of the Battle of the Passes would manage to return to Buckminster City where, they would awaited the Sixth Arkab Legion to arrive to reinforce them. Six weeks would pass, during this time the Legion would make its landings to the north of the fighting, where they attempt to confront the Third Royal RCT. Royal Guards would receive their own reinforcements in form of the Twentieth Arcturan Guards, together they would engage in six week campaign trying prevent the Legion to link up with the Second Sword of Light. General Steiner utilized his DropShip squadron to stage artillery attacks from various locations, devastating the Legion. By December the Lyrans laid siege to the Second Swords held up in Buckminster City.[47]

After four months, the Guards by this time were engaged with the Legion to contain them to the north. However, they received orders from General Steiner for them to head south to link with bulk of the Lyran forces in effort to take the capital in May 3029. By June, Lyran forces would charge into the city attempting to take it. However, city's defenders had built up its defenses for such an attack. The Second Sword of Light and its supporting elements would conduct surprise attacks on them as they entered the city. While this occurred, the Sixth Arkab Legion took advantage of the Steiner invasion of the city to break out from the north, punching through the Lyrans' light screening force. This would ultimately break the Lyran siege of the capital and together with the Second Sword, forcing the Steiner forces withdraw from the planet once it became clear they wouldn't be able take the city.[48]

The Jihad[edit]

The Word of Blake launched an assault on Buckminster during the second week of October 3069; the Blakist ground troops were backed up by a fleet of Pocket WarShips and during the course of their assault shattered several cities on the planet in addition to the defending Seventh Amphigean Light Assault Group.[49] Buckminster was then attacked for a second time by the Word of Blake; the second attack lasted from 24 to 30 April 3070, and was successfully stopped by the defending Delta Regiment of Wolf's Dragoons, although the fierce defense of Buckminster cost the Dragoons greatly.[50]

During the Jihad the Second Sword of Light turned against the Dragon. This disgraceful action increased the ISF presence on Buckminster as the world served as the headquarters of the Second. As of 3079, every level of government and corporate board was being observed and investigated by the ISF.[3]

Military Deployment[edit]

3040[edit]

  • Seventh Alshain Regulars[54]
  • Eighth Alshain Regulars[54]

3050[edit]

3067[edit]

3069[edit]

  • Seventh Amphigean Light Assault Group (until October)[49]

3085[edit]

  • Second Benjamin Regulars[59]
- The unit was operating at 55% strength, with 90% of their equipment featuring upgraded technology.

Geography[edit]

Buckminster has four major continents, which are named Richard's Rock, Sanjusendo, Storm, and Trestal.[3]

The primary continent is Sanjusendo, which featured the planetary capital of Buckminster City on its northeastern coast. Notable features of Sanjusendo includes large island along its southern coast named Lexham Island, Yeloff Peninsula to the north of island on main continent south shoreline, and a peninsula named Coloa on its southwestern most tip.[citation needed]

Map of Continent of Sanjusendo during the Fourth Succession War

Planetary Locations[edit]

  • Buckminster City: planetary capital,[3] located on the northeastern coastline of Sanjusendo
  • Greerson Mountain Range: Located on northeastern coastal regions of Sanjusendo from rest of the continent. Three notable locations the allow passage through the mountains is Sunder's Pass (from the west side of the mountains), DeGrove's Pass and Greenson's Pass (these two are the southern passages through the mountain range.)[citation needed]
  • Nagoshima[60]
  • Tomoe Sakade Memorial Spaceport[60]
  • White Crane District[60]
  • Pontiac: inland city central part of the Sanjusendo[citation needed]
  • Sunder's City: city located west of the Greerson mountain ranges in the Central eastern part of Sanjusendo[citation needed]

Businesses[edit]

Local Flora and Fauna[edit]

Notes[edit]

Map Gallery[edit]

Nearby Systems[edit]

Closest 52 systems (50 within 60 light-years)
Distance in light years, closest systems first:
Port Moseby 15.3 Aubisson 15.5 Kingtribel 19.3 Glenlivet 20.1
Camlann 20.3 Trolloc Prime 22.9 Juniper 24.2 Talisker 27.0
Chimpaw 27.6 Dove 28.8 Accrington 29.3 Shionoha 30.9
Shimosuwa 34.3 Shirotori 35.0 Tsukude 35.4 Gram 38.1
Grumium 39.3 Gamma Sagittarius 41.4 Sakhalin 41.7 Caldrea 41.9
Kannon 42.2 Phalan 42.6 Sulafat 42.7 Cebalrai 43.7
Dalkeith 44.1 Orestes 45.6 Dehgolan 46.0 Sendai 46.1
Fefferfer 48.6 Altais 49.0 Al Hillah 49.2 New Wessex 51.0
Rukbat 52.0 Vega 52.5 Fatima 53.2 Pilkhua 54.0
Eaglesham 54.7 Morningside 54.9 Numki 56.1 Symington 56.5
Meacham 56.7 Kaus Borealis 58.6 Eltanin 58.6 Alya 58.7
Osumi 58.7 Karbala 59.0 Najha 59.3 Aix-la-Chapelle 59.6
Minakuchi 59.9 Tukayyid 60.0 Chandler 60.3 Ganshoren 61.1

References[edit]

  1. 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 House Kurita (The Draconis Combine), p. 184: "Buckminster Planet Profile"
  2. 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 Handbook: House Kurita, p. 85: "Buckminster"
  3. 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 3.15 3.16 3.17 3.18 3.19 Objectives: Draconis Combine, p. 24: "Buckminster"
  4. 4.0 4.1 Era Report: 3145, p. 39
  5. 5.0 5.1 Field Manual: 3145, p. VI
  6. 6.0 6.1 Era Report: 2750, p. 37
  7. 7.0 7.1 Handbook: House Steiner, p. 13
  8. 8.0 8.1 Historical: Reunification War, p. 159
  9. Handbook: House Kurita, p. 18
  10. Handbook: House Kurita, p. 31
  11. Handbook: House Steiner, p. 25
  12. Field Manual: SLDF, p. xi
  13. 13.0 13.1 Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 1, p. 11
  14. First Succession War, p. 25
  15. Handbook: House Kurita, p. 43
  16. Handbook: House Steiner, p. 36
  17. 17.0 17.1 Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 2, pp. 122–123
  18. First Succession War, p. 113
  19. Handbook: House Kurita, p. 53
  20. Handbook: House Steiner, p. 40
  21. House Kurita (The Draconis Combine), foldout: "Draconis Combine Map - [3025]"
  22. Handbook: House Kurita, p. 64
  23. House Steiner (The Lyran Commonwealth), foldout: Lyran Commonwealth Map [3025]
  24. Handbook: House Steiner, p. 47
  25. Handbook: House Kurita, p. 66
  26. Handbook: House Steiner, p. 56
  27. Historical: War of 3039, p. 133
  28. Handbook: House Kurita, p. 68
  29. Handbook: House Steiner, p. 59
  30. Era Report: 3052, p. 11
  31. Era Report: 3052, p. 23
  32. Handbook: House Kurita, p. 71
  33. Handbook: House Steiner, p. 61
  34. Era Report: 3062, p. 11
  35. Era Report: 3062, p. 29
  36. Handbook: House Kurita, p. 74
  37. Handbook: House Steiner, p. 70
  38. Jihad: Final Reckoning, p. 42
  39. Jihad Secrets: The Blake Documents, p. 65
  40. Field Report: DCMS, p. 21
  41. Field Report: LAAF, p. 19
  42. Jihad: Final Reckoning, p. 63
  43. Field Manual: 3085, p. 127
  44. Era Report: 3145, p. 11
  45. 45.0 45.1 45.2 House Kurita (The Draconis Combine), p. 184: "Buckminster"
  46. NAIS The Fourth Succession War Military Atlas Volume 1, p. 52: "Buckminster"
  47. NAIS The Fourth Succession War Military Atlas Volume 1, pp. 52–55: "Battle of Buckminster - Actions taken during the early stages campaign of Fourth Succession War invasion of Planet"
  48. NAIS The Fourth Succession War Military Atlas Volume 2, pp. 72–73: "3029 actions during the invasion of Buckminster"
  49. 49.0 49.1 Jihad: Final Reckoning, p. 47: "The Jihad in Review"
  50. Jihad: Final Reckoning, p. 48: "The Jihad in Review"
  51. First Succession War, p. 139: "First Succession War Deployment Table - LCAF"
  52. 52.0 52.1 First Succession War, p. 136: "First Succession War Deployment Table - DCMS"
  53. House Kurita (The Draconis Combine), p. 135: "Unit Deployment Table"
  54. 54.0 54.1 54.2 54.3 Historical: War of 3039, p. 138: "Deployment Table"
  55. Historical: War of 3039, p. 139: "Deployment Table"
  56. 56.0 56.1 20 Year Update, p. 43: "Draconis Combine Deployment Table"
  57. 20 Year Update, p. 71: "Com Guards Deployment Table"
  58. Field Manual: Updates, p. 116: "Draconis Combine Deployment Table"
  59. Field Manual: 3085, p. 49: "DCMS Deployment Table - 3085"
  60. 60.0 60.1 60.2 Endgame, ch. 20

Bibliography[edit]