Arcturan Guards

Insignia of the Arcturan Guards
Arcturan Guards
Formed 2341
Previous Designation(s) Capitol Guards
Nickname "For the Oath"
Affiliation Lyran Commonwealth
Parent Command LCAF


The Arcturan Guards were the first Lyran national unit mustered to defend the nascent Lyran Commonwealth.


History[edit]

Founding[edit]

Known originally by the simple name of the Capitol Guards, the Arcturan Guards were the first federal troops of the newly-formed Lyran Commonwealth when originally founded[1] in 2341 as an infantry and armor force.[2] Initially nine regiments strong when founded, each regiment was named for a muse from ancient mythology; this naming convention continued when the first expansion regiments were subsequently founded.[1]

When the Lyran government moved from Arcturus to Tharkad in 2407 the Capitol Guards changed names, becoming the Arcturan Guards.[1]

Star League Era[edit]

The Arcturan Guards brigade increased in size after its founding, and like other brigades in the Lyran Commonwealth Armed Forces the Guards expanded again after the repeal of the Star League Council Edict of 2650, although the convention of naming new regiments after muses didn't continue. The Guards were well-supported during the Star League era, in part because of how closely tied the brigade was to the economic might of the Tamar Pact. The main problems the Guards had to deal with as the Amaris Civil War approached were boredom and ennui; the Guards still had political intrigues and the occasional raid to deal with, but the Star League Defense Force acted as enough of a deterrent that there were few large-scale military deployments or operations for the Guard to engage in, limiting much of the brigade's activities to training or garrison duty.[1]

By 2786 the Arcturan Guards had increased in strength to twenty-five regiments, in part due to having received three former SLDF regiments that had been recruited by the LCAF and redesignated as the Sixth, Seventh and Seventeenth Arcturan Guards. In addition to founding the Twenty-third, Twenty-fourth and Twenty-fifth Arcturan Guards during the twenty years of the Amaris Civil War the Arcturan Guards also reactivated the Twelfth and Fifteenth Arcturan Guards.[1][3][4]

Succession Wars[edit]

For centuries an agreement was in place that ensured that the Guards recruited at least a quarter of its personnel from Arcturus, even as it became a ghost world. An order issued by Archon Katherine Steiner attempted to strip away this provision from the Guards prior to the FedCom Civil War, but was met with entrenched opposition from the soldiers and officers of the Guards - including those not born on Arcturus - and although the Archon was eventually forced to acquiesce it cost the Guards their commanding officer, who was promoted out of the brigade into a general staff post and replaced with one of the Archon's supporters.[2]

The Lyran Commonwealth launched a notable attempt to capture Dieudonné in 3011, dispatching a force from the Arcturan Guards along with the mercenary unit Snord's Irregulars, under the overall command of Colonel Arthur Flade. Cranston Snord had volunteered the Irregulars for the mission in hopes of recovering the sacred Tome of Rigo, which he believed to be hidden on Dieudonné. Flade was openly disdainful of the Irregulars and went out of his way to make sure they drew the most dangerous assignments while under his command. During the attack they were dropped off-target, landing in the middle of the Jarvis Military Proving and Training Grounds, an area surrounded by a heavy minefield. Present at the Proving Grounds at the time were a veteran infantry regiment, the Jarvis Flight Militia, accompanied by a number of supporting 'Mechs. The Irregulars had to fight their way past several veteran units to link up with the Arcturan Guards in the legitimate drop zone several kilometers away. Colonel Flade had proclaimed Snord's Irregulars lost immediately after the drop and later accused them of having gone astray to go looting. This led to a falling-out between Flade and Cranston Snord who believed, but could not prove, that Flade had deliberately ordered the Irregulars be dropped off-target, and Snord refused to work with Flade in any future operations.[5]

Dark Age[edit]

Several of the Arcturan Guards regiments were heavily damaged or destroyed by Clan Jade Falcon forces when the Falcons assaulted the Commonwealth in 3142.[6]

Officers[edit]

Rank Name Command
Commanding Officers of the Arcturan Guards
Hauptmann-General Clifton Schroeder November 3059[7] - 3067[8]
Hauptmann-General Annette Ridgewell 3067[9] - by 3072[10]
Hauptmann-General Mariano Pascual By 3079[11]

Tactics[edit]

Different per Unit.

Units of the Arcturan Guards[edit]

Notes[edit]

  • The Second was destroyed during the First Succession War[12]
  • The Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Twenty-first and Twenty-second were all destroyed at some point during the Second Succession War.[13]
  • The Eighth was destroyed during Operation Revival.
  • The Ninth destroyed on Hesperus II between the 6th, 7th and 8th battles.
  • The Eleventh was destroyed during the Blakist attack on Tharkad. The few survivors of the Blakist occupation were rolled into the Royal Guards[14][15]
  • The Nineteenth Guards' regimental command staff was killed in Jihad; survivors folded into Stone's Revenants).[15]
  • The Twentieth was destroyed during the Dark Age, with survivors folded into the Twenty-Sixth Arcturan.[16]
  • The Twenty-fourth Arcturan Guards was destroyed during Operation Revival.
  • The Twenty-fifth was destroyed during the Dark Age, with survivors folded into the Twenty-Sixth Arcturan.[16]

Color Scheme and Unit Insignia[edit]

The parade color for the unit is flat white.[2]

Notes[edit]

  • Based upon the detail available on the first nine regiments of the Arcturan Guards in Field Report 2765: LCAF the two regiments from the first founding of the Guards that had been destroyed or disbanded by 2765, the Sixth and Seventh Arcturan Guards, would most likely have been named for the Greek Muses Polyhymnia and Urania, although it is uncertain which regiment was named for which muse. Polyhymnia was the Muse associatd with sacred poetry, sacred hymn, dance, and eloquence as well as agriculture and pantomime while Urania was the Muse associated with astronomy.
  • Based upon the detail available on the "second wave" of Arcturan Guards units being named for the Muses of Plutarch, the destroyed or disbanded Twelfth Arcturan Guard would have been named for the Muse Aoide, the Muse of song.

References[edit]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Field Report 2765: LCAF, p. 8: "Arcturan Guards"
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 Field Manual: Lyran Alliance, p. 54: "Arcturan Guards: For The Oath
  3. First Succession War, p. 139: "Lyran Commonwealth Armed Forces (LCAF)"
  4. First Succession War, p. 33: "Those Left Behind (Continued)"
  5. Cranston Snord's Irregulars, pp. 30–31: Scenario "Snord and the Swarm"
  6. Field Manual: 3145, p. 125: "Arcutran Guards"
  7. Field Manual: Lyran Alliance, p. 54
  8. Field Manual: Updates, p. 168: Clifton Schroeder killed during the Battle of Tharkad
  9. Field Manual: Updates, p. 168
  10. Field Report: LAAF, p. 10: Annette Ridgewell KIA in action on Tharkad
  11. Field Report: LAAF, p. 10
  12. First Succession War, p. 139: "Lyran Commonwealth Armed Forces
  13. Second Succession War, p. 199: "Lyran Commonwealth Armed Forces
  14. Jihad Turning Points: Tharkad, p. 8: "Sifting Though the Rubble" - Scenario note the destruction of the 11th Arcturan Guards.
  15. 15.0 15.1 Field Report: LAAF, p. 10: "Arcturan Guards"
  16. 16.0 16.1 Field Manual: 3145, p. 125: "Arcturan Guards"

Bibliography[edit]