Wannamaker's Widowmakers
Sarna News
Contents
History
Beginnings
While a dropship of this unit could not answer a warning from a warship of the Wolf’s Dragoons at orbit over Outreach, they were considered as a hostile force (they enter the system via a pirate jumppoint) and blown out of the sky. The loses were heavy and after a long rebuilding work the unit helped to supress riot on Galatea during the Fedcom Civil war. The Widowmakers are back for larger contracts.
After a blunder nearly caused this unit to be wiped out by a Wolf’s Dragoons WarShip before it even set foot inside the Hiring Hall on Outreach, Wannamaker’s Widowmakers took the first contract offered to them and left to begin the unenviable task of rebuilding on the fly. Over the next two years, Major Cheryl Wannamaker recruited members of other shattered commands and increased the Widowmakers’ integrity and experience by taking small, short-term contracts in the Chaos March first, and later in the Periphery.
FedCom Civil War
As the Federated Commonwealth slid ever closer toward civil war, the Widowmakers—fresh from a long pirate-hunting stint for the Taurian Concordat approached representatives from both sides for possible employment, only to be rebuffed in favor of commands perceived to be more reliable. Undaunted by this setback, Major Wannamaker continued advertising for employment, and the Widowmakers moved back to the Inner Sphere to set up shop on Galatea. Arriving after Group W finished putting down planet-wide riots that broke out shortly before the start of the FedCom Civil War, the Widowmakers hired on with Galatean City authorities and helped to keep the peace in the wake of Group W’s departure, remaining there ever since. Wannamaker, however, was said to be negotiating a lucrative offer for work in the Chaos March again, and may be taking her unit off Galatea soon.
Description
The Widowmakers paint their machines black, with a red spider-like mask (rumored to have changed from gold due to Major Wannamaker’s resentment towards the Dragoons, and the possibility of a fued) painted over the faces of the unit’s BattleMechs and the fighters’ engine cowlings. [1] As a command, the Widowmakers nearly died over Outreach before ever setting foot inside a Hiring Hall when a Wolf’s Dragoons WarShip destroyed part of the incoming force over a communications mishap. According to Major Cheryl Wannamaker, this accidental destruction of half of her Widowmakers — with no apology or restitution from the overprotective Dragoons—took a promising up-and-coming outfit and turned it into yet another hard-luck case. Despite this, her mercenaries slowly rebuilt by absorbing the remnants of other shattered commands and accepting short-term contracts from the Chaos March to the Taurian Concordat.
After numerous appeals to the MRBC regarding the Outreach incident, Major Wannamaker pulled her command from the MRBC’s rolls and set up shop on Galatea. Rebuffed by both Lyran Alliance and FedSuns representatives during the FedCom war, the Widowmakers took over as a garrison force on Galatea when Group W left and were still in place when the Word of Blake approached them in 3068.
Impressed by the sheer power and audacity of the Word in hammering the Dragoons both at Mars and on Outreach (rumor has it that the Widowmakers threw a massive party upon hearing news of the Outreach assault), Major Wannamaker jumped at the offer to garrison worlds in the Blake Protectorate. The Blakes relocated the mercenaries to Epsilon Eridani to help train the new Protectorate forces there. As part of their payment, the Widowmakers were supplied with brand-new equipment, including two Union DropShips to help transport the command. Eager to take advantage of the Word’s technological edge, the Widowmakers began trading their older machines for newer Blake models. Unfortunately, Major Wannamaker neglected to read the fine print of their long-term contract and was shocked to discover that much of the new equipment was on credit, rather than a free exchange. Resigned to a company store fate, she determined to make the best of a bad situation. Informing her fellow warriors of the matter, she offered to buy out any warriors who wished to leave. Only two Widowmakers took the major up on her offer—both of whom died in a tragic shuttle mishap a short time later. The remaining Widowmakers, realizing that they were in the best position they had ever been in despite the company store, determined to stick it out. In late 3070, the Word of Blake—impressed by the Widowmakers’ training performance on several Protectorate worlds—rewarded Wannamaker’s command with a unique garrison posting: Outreach. Nominally assigned as a garrison unit, the Widowmakers were given a large range of latitude with the posting, allowed to keep half of any salvageable technology found among the ruins of the Dragoon and Blackwell factories on Remus, where they were stationed. To encourage this effort, the Word even supplied the unit with several Oppie Class HazMat vehicles. The Widowmakers have encountered little guerrilla activity on Outreach since their arrival in January of this year. In February, however, a company of vehicles managed to distract the bulk of the command’s forces near a salvaging operation, allowing a small team of Seventh Kommandos to infiltrate and steal the computer core the Blake mercenaries were in the midst of recovering. The guerrillas also made off with one of the Widowmakers’ Blue Flames that was on “ready-five” status. Embarrassed by this thievery, Major Wannamaker has begun rounding up the inhabitants of the local refugee camps and herding them at gunpoint to the shattered remains of [[Blackwell Corporation]]’s VIP retreat center. Reportedly, she intends to hold them there until the Word of Blake returns with another supply shipment, though one has yet to arrive, even ten months later. [2]
Officers
The accident left Major Cheryl Wannamaker with a deep hatred against the MRBC and Wolf's Dragoons.
Major Cheryl Wannamaker’s grudge against Wolf’s Dragoons still simmers. In 3061, she officially pulled the Widowmakers from the MRBC and closed their offices in the Dragoons’ Hiring Hall after moving to Galatea, having had her fill of what she termed “Dragoon hypocrisy.” Though the resulting loss of their official mercenary rating has hampered their ability to find work (the Widowmakers have yet to re-register, even with the Galatean MRBC office), Major Wannamaker maintains the attitude that the less her unit has to do with Wolf’s Dragoons, the better.[3]
Tactics
Since acquiring two lances of light and medium BattleMechs, Wannamaker’s Widowmakers has slowly learned to use reconnaissance to their advantage. During their most recent contract for the Taurian Concordat, these scout lances provided advance warning of an attempted flanking maneuver by pirate forces, allowing the Widowmakers to prepare for them. The unit use light/medium mech as protection of the flanks and for reconnaissance.
Forged from constant training as an OpFor for various Protectorate forces, Major Wannamaker has put together a cohesive battle force from the remnants of many shattered commands. Now a reinforced battalion, heavily equipped with advanced technology, the Widowmakers have become extremely adept at utilizing C3i systems and have managed to integrate these systems in both reconnaissance missions and the preparation and execution of deadly ambushes. Wannamaker has also been using these skills to further her prospecting operations on Outreach, looking forward to the next eighteen months of the Widowmakers’ garrison assignment.[4]
Support
The Windowmakers have enough technican for the entire unit but lacks sufficient Dropship assets and must hire additional cappacity when needed.
Composition
3067
- Wannamaker’s Widowmakers(1 Battalion/Green/Reliable)
- Wannamaker’s Flying Widowmakers(1 Element/Regular/Reliable)
- Wing Commander: Lieutenant Shawna White
Notes
- The main force are heavy and assault designs.
The first thing Wing Commander Shawna White did when the Widowmakers signed with the Word was to upgrade both of her fighters
and purchase an additional four. Indeed, a large part of the reason the mercenaries are so indebted to the Blakes is because of this
spending spree. The massive upgrade has definitely increased the mercenaries’ deadliness in the air, augmented by constant training—
partially in punishment—that has seamlessly integrated these aerospace assets with the lighter recon elements of the ground-based
Widowmakers.
References