Talk:Carlyle's Commandos

Line Developer ruling (archived for reference)

On 6 July, 2012, 19:04:58, BattleTech Line Developer Herbert A. Beas (as user "HABeas2") posted the following in a thread on the CBT forum when asked about the nature and size of Carlyle's Commandos (retrieved for reference from here):
(Begin quote)

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Hello,

<<<<Begin FASA Two-Step>>> They were a mix. The lance of Lyran regulars was augmented by Carlyle's Commandos, which included two Mech lances, and possibly some locally raised vehicle support. Likely as they felt the Steiner government had abandoned them (IIRC, this was in the days of Alessandro's "Concentrated Weakness" strategy, so it's easy to lose faith in the government there), the Lyran lance simply accepted Durant as their CO and became de facto mercs as well.

Then suddenly, Hassad Ricol! <<<End FASA Two-Step>>>

Hopefully, that helps. (*starts timer*)

Thank you,

Herbert Beas
BattleTech
Catalyst Game Labs

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(End quote) Frabby 00:43, 6 July 2012 (PDT)

Talk Page

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I edited this thread Sept 14,2007 to remove the listed Jump ship from the units assests. The listed jump ship was a merchant ship that was used to ferry diplomats between the OC and Lyran Commonwealth before it was hijacked by Duke Riccols people for the assult on Trellwan. After Trellwan Grayson Carlyle had the jumpship and 2 merchant union Drop Ships as his transports.

• Where does this information come from? As far as I'm aware, Carlyle's Commandos explicitly mention their own their own JumpShip, the Invidious, in the first book (Decision at Thunder Rift); the ship was revealed to be of Merchant class in some BT sourcebook. They certainly had no chance to capture a Kurita JumpShip at Trell, being stranded without a dropship and fighting a delaying guerilla action on the ground. Duke Ricol, on the other hand, was stated to own a Monolith class vessel in an article about him on either BattleTechnology or Shrapnel. But I could be wrong, I don't have the book anymore so cannot look it up. Frabby 03:19, 15 September 2007 (CDT)

I can't seem to find my copy of Decision at Thunder Rift, but I think a friend of mine still has his. I'll ask him and try to confirm it. In Mercenary's Star (the next in the series), they definitely have the Invidious and the Phobos. A second DropShip is not mentioned that I recall, but I'll double-check. Bdevoe 01:47, 16 September 2007 (CDT)

I was checking Mercenary's Star and did find mention of the Deimos (as I suspected), but nothing beyond its existence. I think it's discussed in the other books - Price of Glory and Decision at Thunder Rift. I'm still trying to locate a copy of Thunder Rift, but the Gray Death Legion definitely had two DropShips at the beginning of Mercenary's Star. Bdevoe 22:17, 17 September 2007 (CDT)

Regarding the Merge Proposal...

I vote no, as the unit did actually exist as an independent unit at one point. ClanWolverine101 21:13, 26 August 2010 (UTC)

If I remember correctly, Carlyle's Commandos was destroyed. The son of one of the unit's members founded a new merc unit, the Gray Death Legion. I believe that's the only link between the two commands. Based upon that, I vote no. --Scaletail 23:44, 26 August 2010 (UTC)

Distinct entity from the Gray Death Legion; so I'd say no to a merger. Dirk Bastion 06:28, 27 August 2010 (UTC)

Actually, despite being the person who originally created this article, I was thinking about merging, too. Basically, the Gray Death Legion doesn't exist or feature in Decision at Thunder Rift; in that novel Grayson factually takes command of the shattered remnants of Carlyle's Commandos, plus some ad-hoc militia forces. The Gray Death Legion proper forms only afterwards from the hodgepodge troops Carlyle led on Trellwan. You could argue that there is sort of an organic transition from the first merc unit into the second over the course of the Trellwan campaign, warranting a merger of the articles. I don't particularly favour either approach. Frabby 08:22, 27 August 2010 (UTC)

I vote no as well. The article can talk about the survivors of the Commandos, but they won't be Legion until after the book was done. -- Wrangler 10:46, 27 August 2010 (UTC)

Mercenarys or House Unit?

The Gray Death Legion (scenario pack) says on page 6 that Carlyle's Commandos were a regular Steiner Unit. Is there a source that claims they were Mercs? Harry 15:34, 16 June 2011 (UTC)

Yes the Gray Day Legion trilogy, Mercenary's Star (novel), Decision at Thunder Rift, etc.--Doneve 20:08, 16 June 2011 (UTC)

Hm, really? Im reading the book at the moment again and there is no indication that the Commandos are mercenarys. In fact they are talking about House Steiner a lot. But Im just halfway through, maybe there is something in the later part of the book.Harry 20:27, 16 June 2011 (UTC)

I am convinced now that they were a regular House Unit. In Decision at Thunder Rift are several evidences: On page 17 Carlyle's soldiers are called House Troopers, on page 42 the Commandos are in fact called a House Steiner BattleMech Lance and on their Dropship is a huge Steiner fist (p. 54). The word of mercenary appears just a single time with the creation of the GDL. As mentioned above the Gray Death Legion (scenario pack) also claimes that they were regulars. I will change the article, it can be made undone if it turns out that I am wrong. Harry 10:23, 19 June 2011 (UTC)

Stumbled across something: In The Price of Glory (p. 193), Carlyle's Commandos are expressly described as "a combined-arms mercenary force consisting of a BattleMech company and several platoons of infantry". That answers the question. Frabby 14:17, 26 March 2012 (PDT)

Durant Carlyle picture

The picture file doesn't name a page in its file attributions so the context is a bit unclear. But I distinctively recall that Durant Carlyle's Phoenix Hawk was destroyed when the Oberon Confederation DropShip unexpectedly opened fire on him. In the picture, however, there is a Marauder clearly visible. When Carlyle's 'Mech was destroyed, enemy 'Mechs had not yet been deployed. So it might not actually be the scene in question. Frabby 12:38, 19 June 2011 (UTC)

That's not correct. He fought against the Marauder and was finally killed by a punch from its arm (p.37). Harry 13:07, 19 June 2011 (UTC)

Carlyle's Commandos Roster

I have no clue about editing the page but if someone can add...

On 8 April 2990 the Commandos consisted of:

Major Jonathan Colby Wolverine

Zeller Commando

Hernandez Commado

Hauptman Shadow Hawk

Durant Carlyle Shadow Hawk

Natalie Bryant Catapult

David Pryor Thunderbolt

Raul De Salva Commando

Source pg. 8,9, and 16 Eyestorm
Weyoon 16:48, 31 December 2023‎ (UTC)

Added. Thank you!
--Cache (talk) 10:21, 1 January 2024 (EST)