59th Strike Regiment

59th Strike Regiment
Fifty-ninth Strike Regiment
Formed 2572[1]
Nickname Bradley's Bad Boys
Affiliation Mercenary
Parent Command Illician Lancers

History[edit]

Formation[edit]

One of the founding regiments of the Illician Lancers mercenary brigade, the Fifty-ninth Strike Regiment earned the nickname "Bradley's Bad Boys" three years after their founding. The Fifty-ninth was deployed to the world of Valentina in 2575 to chase down rogue soldiers left unemployed as a result of the formation of the Star League and the Star League Defense Force. The Fifty-ninth finally cornered the rebels, but discovered that not only was it a strong rebel force, but that the rebels had the backing of the SLDF division present on Valentina at the same time.[2]

Commanded by Colonel William Bradley, the first of nine Bradleys to command the regiment, the Fifty-ninth were outnumbered from the outset, but Bradley devised an aggressive plan that saw the Fifty-ninth concentrate their forces against a particular point in the SLDF lines. The Fifty-ninth was able to punch through the SLDF lines and make fast gains against the opposing forces. First capturing the SLDF division commander, the Fifty-ninth then struck a series of rebel supply camps before capturing an SLDF brigade and its staging base. The Fifty-ninth then struck out from the base used by that captured brigade, using the brigade's own equipment, pushing the SLDF division into retreating; the Illician Lancers then crushed the remaining rebel troops and helped round up the remains of the rogue division. This earned the Fifty-ninth the First Lord's Citation, the highest SLDF unit award possible at the time.[2]

Succession Wars[edit]

The CCAF learned to fear this regiment in the past decades, first in 3039 and later as opponent in the Capellan Civil War. The Fifty-ninth was still rebuilding from losses taken during the Capellan Civil War and had to sit out the FedCom Civil War, remaining on Hadnall until the end of the war.[2]

Jihad[edit]

The Fifty-Ninth Strike Regiment secured Tsingtao for Duke George Hasek during Operation SOVEREIGN JUSTICE but were unable to defend the planet against Vong's Grenadiers during the counterinvasion due to supply problems. General Bradley and the Fifty-Ninth fought a war of attrition against the Grenadiers, determined to hold on to Tsintgao for as long as possible; the Fifty-Ninth were finally forced to retreat to Redfield after both units had been ground down to half-strength and the AFFS supply lines into the Fifty-Ninth dried up. It was subsequently reported that as the Illician Lancers rebuilt, General Bradley was considering moving into a more active role involving the other regiments, leaving the Fifty-Ninth as command regiment under the command of Colonel Neal Grimm .[3]

After the end of the Jihad, the Fifty-ninth Strike Regiment was stationed on Mandaree, a world along the Federated Suns/Taurian Concordat border.[4]

The Fifty-ninth Strike Regiment deployed on the occupied world of Ridgebrook in May 3080 alongside the Syrtis Avengers as a part of Operation MATADOR, the AFFS counteroffensive against the Taurian Concordat. The campaign for Ridgebrook should have been short; the overall commander of Operation MATADOR, Field Marshal Nathaniel Hasek, was leading the Syrtis Avengers, his personal regiment. The defending Concordat Jaegers were heavily outnumbered, the AFFS was intimately familiar with Ridgebrook and there was an active local resistance against the Concordat on what had been a major world in the Capellan March. Instead, the AFFS forces were unable to capitalize on their advantages, and the death of Field Marshal Hasek in a Taurian ambush on the 14th of June led to a chain of command struggle between the Avengers and the Fifty-ninth Striker. Adding to the AFFS' woes was the announcement from the Taurian forces on Ridgebrook that the major cities on the planet had been mined with nuclear weapons. The announcement came on the same day that Field Marshal Hasek was killed, and the Taurians stated that if the AFFS moved into any of the cities the nukes would be detonated, destroying the Federated Suns units and killing large numbers of civilians.[5]

This combination of events resulted in the battle for Ridgebrook becoming something of a stalemate, with combat operations limited to small engagements away from the cities; complicating things for the Fifty-ninth Striker and the other AFFS forces was the arrival of the First Taurian Lancers in June, who managed to successfully run the blockade of the system and reinforce the Jaegers.[5]

Dark Age[edit]

The Lancers participated in Julian Davion's Operation CERBERUS, the reconquest of New Syrtis from the Capellan Confederation. They succeeded, but at a high cost: Colonel Ryan Bradley was killed, and his XO, Luciana Morales, replaced him.[6]

ilClan Era[edit]

The end of the Dark Age found the Lancers still in the Capellan Front, on Kafr Silim, forgotten. Morales was blamed for the New Syrtis disaster, and Julian Davion no longer trusted them. Surprisingly, everything changed with the arrival of the Clan Sea Fox Fox Khanate saKhan Ya'el Labov, who helped Morales to become the Lancers' new general and negotiated with Julian Davion to return the Lancers to the Draconis Combine front lines, succeeding.[7]

Part of the Lancers was moved to the Combine border, but when risk of a new fight with the Capellans grew, Julian moved the Fifty-Ninth to that border, to prevent an possible Capellan attack.[8]

Officers[edit]

Rank Name Command
Commanding Officers of the Fifty-ninth Strike Regiment
Colonel William Bradley [2]
General Brenda Bradley 3050 - 3067[9][2]
Colonel Ryan Bradley 3145-3147[10][11]
Colonel Luciana Araya Morales 3147-present[11]

Other Officers[edit]

Tactics[edit]

Flanking maneuvers and quick mobile warfare are trademarks of the unit.

Dragoon Ratings[edit]

Dragoon Rating: Unrated

Composition History[edit]

2786–2821[edit]

Fifty-ninth Strike (Regiment/Regular/Reliable)[13]

Note: At this time the heavy-weight unit was stationed on Alhena. In 2821 the command was reduced to 57 percent of its strength and was deployed on Zaniah.[13]

2830[edit]

Fifty-ninth Strike (Regiment/Regular/Reliable)[14]

Note: At this time the assault-weight unit was stationed on Zaniah with an operational readiness of 91 percent.[14]

2864[edit]

Fifty-ninth Strike (Regiment/Veteran/Reliable)[14]

Note: At this time the heavy-weight unit was stationed on Zaniah with an operational readiness of 69 percent.[14]

3025[edit]

Fifty-ninth Strike Regiment (Regiment/Veteran/Reliable)[15]

Note: At this time the unit was stationed on Jonzac.

3040[edit]

Fifty-ninth Strike (Regiment/Veteran/Reliable)[16]

Note: At this time the command was stationed on Jonzac.[16]

3050[edit]

First Illician Lancers (Fifty-ninth Strike) (Regiment/Veteran/Reliable)[9]

  • CO: General Brenda Bradley[9]
Note: At this time the command was stationed on Jonzac.[9]

3067[edit]

Fifty-ninth Strike Regiment (Regiment/Regular/Reliable)[2]

  • XO: Colonel Neal Grimm

- A medium weight, mobile unit, the Fifty-ninth was being put through a demanding drill schedule as Colonel Grimm attempted to bring the regiment back up to veteran status after the heavy recruiting it had to undergo following the Capellan Civil War and the FedCom Civil War. - The Fifty-ninth Strike Regiment had been almost completely upgraded to the use of advanced technology by 3067, with 90% of the equipment in use being Star League level technology and a further 5% being Clan technology. 15% of the 'Mechs in use by the Fifty-ninth were OmniMechs.[17]

Eighth Illician Air Guard (Reinforced Wing/Veteran/Reliable)[2]

  • CO: Major Dex "Vacuum" Tutuola

- The Eighth includes a squadron of captured Capellan fighters gifted to the Air Guard by a grateful Duchess Candace Liao following their efforts on behalf of the St. Ives Compact during the Capellan Civil War.

Thirty-eighth Armored Strikers (Regiment/Regular/Reliable)[2]

- Designed for high mobility and for harassing tasks and is equipped predominantly with fast light and medium units.

Fortieth Mechanized Cavalry (Regiment/Green/Reliable)

  • CO: Lieutenant Colonel Shannon Zuba

- The Fortieth took heavy losses during the Capellan Civil War and had only been rebuilt to ninety percent of full strength by 3067.

3079[edit]

Fifty-ninth Striker (Regiment/Veteran/Reliable)[18]

Note: At this time the unit was stationed on Mandaree.[18] The horrors of the Jihad had reduced the Fifty-ninth to two-thirds of its pre-Jihad strength.[4]

3145[edit]

Fifty-ninth Strike Regiment (Veteran/Reliable)[10]

  • CO: Colonel Ryan Bradley

Notes[edit]

References[edit]

  1. Mercenaries Supplemental, p. 39: "Illician Lancers"
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 Mercenaries Supplemental, p. 40: "59th Strike Regiment: Bradley's Bad Boys"
  3. Mercenaries Supplemental Update, p. 73: "Illician Lancers"
  4. 4.0 4.1 Field Report: AFFS, p. 20
  5. 5.0 5.1 Jihad: Final Reckoning, p. 27: "A World Held Hostage"
  6. Riptides
  7. Riptides
  8. Dominions divided, pp. 53
  9. 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 20 Year Update, p. 21
  10. 10.0 10.1 Field Manual: 3145, p. 182: "Notable Mercenary Forces - Federated Suns"
  11. 11.0 11.1 Riptides
  12. Riptides
  13. 13.0 13.1 First Succession War, p. 140
  14. 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 Second Succession War, p. 100
  15. House Davion (The Federated Suns), p. 147
  16. 16.0 16.1 Historical: War of 3039, p. 141
  17. Mercenaries Supplemental, p. 67: "Federated Suns"
  18. 18.0 18.1 Field Report: AFFS, p. 19

Bibliography[edit]