Difference between revisions of "10th Skye Rangers"
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| Disbanded = April [[2786]]<ref name="FSWp114"/><br>[[Second Succession War]]<br>3058 | | Disbanded = April [[2786]]<ref name="FSWp114"/><br>[[Second Succession War]]<br>3058 | ||
| Previous Designation = | | Previous Designation = | ||
| − | | Nickname = Black Watch<ref>''House Steiner (The Lyran Commonwealth)'', p. 61 | + | | Nickname = Black Watch<ref>''House Steiner (The Lyran Commonwealth)'', p. 61: "Regimental Nicknames"</ref> |
| Affiliation = | | Affiliation = | ||
| Parent Command = [[Skye Rangers]] | | Parent Command = [[Skye Rangers]] | ||
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==History== | ==History== | ||
=== Star League Era === | === Star League Era === | ||
| − | The '''Tenth Skye Rangers''' were stationed on [[Altoona (LC)|Altoona]] in [[2765]]. They relieved the [[Fifteenth Skye Rangers]], who were glad to leave.<ref name=FR:2765LCAFp1819>''Field Report 2765: LCAF'', pp. 18–19 | + | The '''Tenth Skye Rangers''' were stationed on [[Altoona (LC)|Altoona]] in [[2765]]. They relieved the [[Fifteenth Skye Rangers]], who were glad to leave.<ref name=FR:2765LCAFp1819>''Field Report 2765: LCAF'', pp. 18–19: "Skye Rangers" - Regimental Status</ref> |
=== First Succession War === | === First Succession War === | ||
| − | The Tenth Skye Rangers were involved in [[Operation ELBOW JOINT]], the preemptive LCAF strike on [[Bolan]] in March 2785. Following the capture of the [[jump point]] station and a battle in space between Lyran and Free Worlds League [[WarShip]]s, the [[Eleventh Arcturan Guards|Eleventh]] and [[Fourteenth Arcturan Guards]] were dropped on Bolan on March 14, [[2785]]. When the Lyrans arrived, two regiments of the Bolan Defenders — [[Colonel]] [[Salam Tutt|Salam Tutt's]] [[Sixth Bolan Defenders]] and the [[Tenth Bolan Defenders]] under the command of Colonel [[Henri Balkichek]] — were already dispersed across the major continents on Bolan, with half the garrison actively engaged in wargames. Tutt responded to the invasion by sending an emergency [[HPG]] broadcast and deployed the bulk of the Tenth to defend Mumbai, the planetary capital city, while moving a battalion of the Sixth to support the forces at Mumbai from Quetta, a port city also located on the Sakété continent. Another battalion of the Tenth was assigned a third of the Sixth's supporting elements and tasked with defending Calcutta, the largest city on the Kashmir continent. The remaining two 'Mech battalions from the Defenders were assigned to defending the Overwatch, while the remaining support elements were dotted around townships on Kashmir and Sakété in company strength units, defending such major townships as Multan, Peshawar, Sibi, Sukkur, and Vadora. While there were also security forces and a local militia, Tutt ordered them to avoid engaging the Lyran forces, and instead report all contacts with the enemy and provide information on the location and disposition of Lyran units.<ref name="FSWp17">''First Succession War'', pp. 17–21 | + | The Tenth Skye Rangers were involved in [[Operation ELBOW JOINT]], the preemptive LCAF strike on [[Bolan]] in March 2785. Following the capture of the [[jump point]] station and a battle in space between Lyran and Free Worlds League [[WarShip]]s, the [[Eleventh Arcturan Guards|Eleventh]] and [[Fourteenth Arcturan Guards]] were dropped on Bolan on March 14, [[2785]]. When the Lyrans arrived, two regiments of the Bolan Defenders — [[Colonel]] [[Salam Tutt|Salam Tutt's]] [[Sixth Bolan Defenders]] and the [[Tenth Bolan Defenders]] under the command of Colonel [[Henri Balkichek]] — were already dispersed across the major continents on Bolan, with half the garrison actively engaged in wargames. Tutt responded to the invasion by sending an emergency [[HPG]] broadcast and deployed the bulk of the Tenth to defend Mumbai, the planetary capital city, while moving a battalion of the Sixth to support the forces at Mumbai from Quetta, a port city also located on the Sakété continent. Another battalion of the Tenth was assigned a third of the Sixth's supporting elements and tasked with defending Calcutta, the largest city on the Kashmir continent. The remaining two 'Mech battalions from the Defenders were assigned to defending the Overwatch, while the remaining support elements were dotted around townships on Kashmir and Sakété in company strength units, defending such major townships as Multan, Peshawar, Sibi, Sukkur, and Vadora. While there were also security forces and a local militia, Tutt ordered them to avoid engaging the Lyran forces, and instead report all contacts with the enemy and provide information on the location and disposition of Lyran units.<ref name="FSWp17">''First Succession War'', pp. 17–21: "The Bolan Offensive"</ref> |
The Arcturan Guards regiments landed and swiftly took the city of Peshawar, wiping out the defenders and holding in place, leading Tutt to believe that they were readying an assault on Calcutta. Johonson ordered his ground forces to stay mobile to avoid the risk of being trapped by either artillery or orbital bombardment, but also ordered them to strike hard and fast at the League troop concentrations in Quetta and Calcutta, while fighters and assault DropShips conducted sweeps and bombing missions over the towns near both targets. This was followed on March 16, by the arrival of the Tenth Skye Rangers. Their arrival heralded by the orbital bombardment of the Quetta spaceport by the ''[[Commonwealth (WarShip class)|Commonwealth]]''-class cruiser [[LCS Furillo|LCS ''Furillo'']], intended to destroy the Bolan Defenders [[DropShip]]s located at the spaceport while also crippling the Defenders' primary refueling point for their aerospace forces. With the forces around Quetta left in chaos, the Eleventh Arcturan Guards made a suborbital deployment from their position to a new point between Quetta and Mumbai, with air support from the Rangers giving the Lyran forces control of the skies; the Eleventh then struck at Mumbai, and by the end of March 17, both Calcutta and Mumbai were under siege and heavily damaged, with the Defenders frantically trying to find safe locations, while losing artillery duels with the Lyran forces. The next morning, the Fourteenth Arcturan Guards assaulted Calcutta, leaving the city surrounded.<ref name="FSWp17"/> | The Arcturan Guards regiments landed and swiftly took the city of Peshawar, wiping out the defenders and holding in place, leading Tutt to believe that they were readying an assault on Calcutta. Johonson ordered his ground forces to stay mobile to avoid the risk of being trapped by either artillery or orbital bombardment, but also ordered them to strike hard and fast at the League troop concentrations in Quetta and Calcutta, while fighters and assault DropShips conducted sweeps and bombing missions over the towns near both targets. This was followed on March 16, by the arrival of the Tenth Skye Rangers. Their arrival heralded by the orbital bombardment of the Quetta spaceport by the ''[[Commonwealth (WarShip class)|Commonwealth]]''-class cruiser [[LCS Furillo|LCS ''Furillo'']], intended to destroy the Bolan Defenders [[DropShip]]s located at the spaceport while also crippling the Defenders' primary refueling point for their aerospace forces. With the forces around Quetta left in chaos, the Eleventh Arcturan Guards made a suborbital deployment from their position to a new point between Quetta and Mumbai, with air support from the Rangers giving the Lyran forces control of the skies; the Eleventh then struck at Mumbai, and by the end of March 17, both Calcutta and Mumbai were under siege and heavily damaged, with the Defenders frantically trying to find safe locations, while losing artillery duels with the Lyran forces. The next morning, the Fourteenth Arcturan Guards assaulted Calcutta, leaving the city surrounded.<ref name="FSWp17"/> | ||
| − | [[Lieutenant Colonel]] [[Omar Malak]], the commanding officer of the 101st Assault Battalion,<ref name="IOp226">''Interstellar Operations'', pp. 226–229 | + | [[Lieutenant Colonel]] [[Omar Malak]], the commanding officer of the 101st Assault Battalion,<ref name="IOp226">''Interstellar Operations'', pp. 226–229: "Falling Into Fire"</ref> had turned Calcutta into a city filled with traps and attempted to lure the Lyran forces into those traps, but the Lyran commanding officer, [[Leutnant-General]] [[Baron]] [[Richard Johonson von Eilenburg]] had other ideas; he gathered together his aerospace forces and conducted a massive firebombing operation against Calcutta on the morning of March 18, killing twenty thousand civilians and destroying the 101st.<ref name="FSWp17"/><ref name="IOp226"/> |
Incensed by the attack on Calcutta, Tutt ordered the ''[[League (WarShip class)|League]]''-class destroyer [[Talwar|FWLS ''Talwar'']] to bombard the LCAF DropShips, still mostly grounded at Peshawar, even as Johonson was demanding his surrender; Tutt then reiterated that the Defenders would fight the Commonwealth to the last breath before cutting off communications. Tutt ordered his field commanders to leave their positions and attack Lyran forces directly, while ordering his surviving combat elements and noncombatant personnel at the Overwatch to evacuate by DropShip, before ordering the deployment of the Overwatch's nuclear arsenal in a scorched-earth attack. Johonson ordered his troops besieging the various FWLM positions to disengage and disperse, while redeploying his WarShips to bombard the Overwatch and its various weapons positions.<ref name="FSWp17"/><ref name="IOp226"/> Tutt's last-ditch strikes left Mumbai a burning nuclear ruin, along with the cities of Calcutta, Quetta, and Peshawar, and the nuclear bombardment and exchanges on Sebari left the island an uninhabitable radioactive ruin that was still a scorched wasteland in the [[thirty-first century]]. A battalion from the Sixth Bolan Defenders managed to retreat to [[Zdice]], but the Tenth was destroyed on Bolan. The defense of Bolan had cost the Lyran forces two-thirds of the Tenth Skye Rangers, a third each of the Eleventh and Fourteenth Arcturan Guards, two ''[[Mako]]''-class corvettes, with two more ''Makos'' and a ''Commonwealth'' left heavily damaged; lost along with the Tenth and the bulk of the Sixth Bolan Defenders were three ''League''-class destroyers and an ''[[Aegis]]''-class heavy cruiser. Between three to eight million civilians died in the nuclear engagements.<ref name="FSWp17"/> | Incensed by the attack on Calcutta, Tutt ordered the ''[[League (WarShip class)|League]]''-class destroyer [[Talwar|FWLS ''Talwar'']] to bombard the LCAF DropShips, still mostly grounded at Peshawar, even as Johonson was demanding his surrender; Tutt then reiterated that the Defenders would fight the Commonwealth to the last breath before cutting off communications. Tutt ordered his field commanders to leave their positions and attack Lyran forces directly, while ordering his surviving combat elements and noncombatant personnel at the Overwatch to evacuate by DropShip, before ordering the deployment of the Overwatch's nuclear arsenal in a scorched-earth attack. Johonson ordered his troops besieging the various FWLM positions to disengage and disperse, while redeploying his WarShips to bombard the Overwatch and its various weapons positions.<ref name="FSWp17"/><ref name="IOp226"/> Tutt's last-ditch strikes left Mumbai a burning nuclear ruin, along with the cities of Calcutta, Quetta, and Peshawar, and the nuclear bombardment and exchanges on Sebari left the island an uninhabitable radioactive ruin that was still a scorched wasteland in the [[thirty-first century]]. A battalion from the Sixth Bolan Defenders managed to retreat to [[Zdice]], but the Tenth was destroyed on Bolan. The defense of Bolan had cost the Lyran forces two-thirds of the Tenth Skye Rangers, a third each of the Eleventh and Fourteenth Arcturan Guards, two ''[[Mako]]''-class corvettes, with two more ''Makos'' and a ''Commonwealth'' left heavily damaged; lost along with the Tenth and the bulk of the Sixth Bolan Defenders were three ''League''-class destroyers and an ''[[Aegis]]''-class heavy cruiser. Between three to eight million civilians died in the nuclear engagements.<ref name="FSWp17"/> | ||
| − | The Tenth Skye Rangers were on [[Altoona (LC)|Altoona]] when the [[Free Worlds League]] retaliated; in another campaign that saw the extensive use of weapons of mass destruction, Altoona was invaded by the remains of the Sixth Bolan Defenders<ref name="FSWp70"/> in March<ref name="FSWp114">''First Succession War'', p. 114 | + | The Tenth Skye Rangers were on [[Altoona (LC)|Altoona]] when the [[Free Worlds League]] retaliated; in another campaign that saw the extensive use of weapons of mass destruction, Altoona was invaded by the remains of the Sixth Bolan Defenders<ref name="FSWp70"/> in March<ref name="FSWp114">''First Succession War'', p. 114: "Timeline of the First Succession War"</ref> [[2786]],<ref name="FSWp70"/><ref name="FSWp114"/> and the assault saw the Tenth destroyed as an operational command<ref name="FSWp70">''First Succession War'', pp. 70–71: "The Bolan Thumb Campaign"</ref> by the end of April.<ref name="FSWp114"/> |
=== Second Succession War === | === Second Succession War === | ||
| − | The Tenth was rebuilt in the years between the end of the First Succession War in 2821<ref name="FSWp139"/> and the beginning of the [[Second Succession War]] in [[2830]].<ref name="SSWp99"/> The Tenth was stationed on [[Hesperus II]] alongside the rebuilt [[Ninth Arcturan Guards]] in April [[2853]], when the DCMS launched the offensive that became the Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth Battles of Hesperus. With the [[Draconis Combine Admiralty]] quickly establishing aerospace superiority by deploying a flotilla that included all of its surviving [[WarShip]]s, the Combine forces spent five months wearing down the Tenth and the other defenders on Hesperus with air attacks and raids, before landing eight regiments on South Whitman. The DCMS then launched a grinding, grueling operation intended to wear down the defenders, keeping up the constant tempo of battles by rotating units into and out of the front line. By October, both the Tenth Skye Rangers and the Ninth were in ruins; it was only the intervention of company staff from [[Defiance Industries]] using locally manufactured equipment and the arrival of the ''[[Tharkad (WarShip class)|Tharkad]]''-class battlecruiser [[LCS Invincible|''Invincible'']] that prevented the conquest of Hesperus.<ref name="SSWp72">''Second Succession War'', p. 72 | + | The Tenth was rebuilt in the years between the end of the First Succession War in 2821<ref name="FSWp139"/> and the beginning of the [[Second Succession War]] in [[2830]].<ref name="SSWp99"/> The Tenth was stationed on [[Hesperus II]] alongside the rebuilt [[Ninth Arcturan Guards]] in April [[2853]], when the DCMS launched the offensive that became the Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth Battles of Hesperus. With the [[Draconis Combine Admiralty]] quickly establishing aerospace superiority by deploying a flotilla that included all of its surviving [[WarShip]]s, the Combine forces spent five months wearing down the Tenth and the other defenders on Hesperus with air attacks and raids, before landing eight regiments on South Whitman. The DCMS then launched a grinding, grueling operation intended to wear down the defenders, keeping up the constant tempo of battles by rotating units into and out of the front line. By October, both the Tenth Skye Rangers and the Ninth were in ruins; it was only the intervention of company staff from [[Defiance Industries]] using locally manufactured equipment and the arrival of the ''[[Tharkad (WarShip class)|Tharkad]]''-class battlecruiser [[LCS Invincible|''Invincible'']] that prevented the conquest of Hesperus.<ref name="SSWp72">''Second Succession War'', p. 72: "The Sixth, Seventh and Eighth Battles of Hesperus"</ref> By the end of the Second Succession War in 2864, the Tenth was an inactive command once more.<ref name="SSWp99"/> |
=== Third Succession War === | === Third Succession War === | ||
| − | The Tenth raided [[Shiloh]] at some point between [[3007]] and [[3017]]; accompanying the Rangers was the mercenary unit [[Snord's Irregulars]], following a request from [[Cranston Snord]] to join the raid. Snord's interest in Shiloh was the rare stone crystals mined there during the Star League era, and given his reputation as a troublemaker, the Rangers were happy to allow the Regulars to spend their time scouting the Fald Plains. Snord did identify a shuksam deposit after a few weeks, but had to fight a running battle with League forces to successfully extract a quantity of the crystals.<ref>''Cranston Snord's Irregulars'', pp. 26–27 | + | The Tenth raided [[Shiloh]] at some point between [[3007]] and [[3017]]; accompanying the Rangers was the mercenary unit [[Snord's Irregulars]], following a request from [[Cranston Snord]] to join the raid. Snord's interest in Shiloh was the rare stone crystals mined there during the Star League era, and given his reputation as a troublemaker, the Rangers were happy to allow the Regulars to spend their time scouting the Fald Plains. Snord did identify a shuksam deposit after a few weeks, but had to fight a running battle with League forces to successfully extract a quantity of the crystals.<ref>''Cranston Snord's Irregulars'', pp. 26–27: "Operation Road Runner"</ref> |
=== Clan Invasion === | === Clan Invasion === | ||
| Line 38: | Line 38: | ||
==Officers== | ==Officers== | ||
{| class="wikitable" | {| class="wikitable" | ||
| − | |- | + | |- |
! scope="col" width="220" style="background: #dedede;" | Rank | ! scope="col" width="220" style="background: #dedede;" | Rank | ||
! scope="col" width="220" style="background: #dedede;" | Name | ! scope="col" width="220" style="background: #dedede;" | Name | ||
| Line 56: | Line 56: | ||
===Other Officers=== | ===Other Officers=== | ||
| − | * [[Hauptmann (rank)|Hauptmann]] Andrew Kowal, [[MechWarrior (pilot)|MechWarrior]] in [[3058]].<ref name=BC-50>''The Battle of Coventry | + | * [[Hauptmann (rank)|Hauptmann]] Andrew Kowal, [[MechWarrior (pilot)|MechWarrior]] in [[3058]].<ref name=BC-50>''The Battle of Coventry'', p. 50</ref> |
* Hauptmann [[Kristen Reeve]], [[Aerospace Fighter]] Pilot in 3058.<ref name=BC-55/> | * Hauptmann [[Kristen Reeve]], [[Aerospace Fighter]] Pilot in 3058.<ref name=BC-55/> | ||
* [[Caradoc Trevana]] was a reconnaissance [[Company]] commander in 3058.<ref>''Operational Turning Points: Falcon Incursion'', pp. 8, 29</ref> | * [[Caradoc Trevana]] was a reconnaissance [[Company]] commander in 3058.<ref>''Operational Turning Points: Falcon Incursion'', pp. 8, 29</ref> | ||
| − | * [[Leftenant]] [[Colleen York]], Aerospace Fighter Pilot in 3058.<ref name=BC-55>''The Battle of Coventry | + | * [[Leftenant]] [[Colleen York]], Aerospace Fighter Pilot in 3058.<ref name=BC-55>''The Battle of Coventry'', p. 55</ref> |
* Leftenant [[Edgar Van Den Has]], Aerospace Fighter Pilot in 3058.<ref name=BC-55/> | * Leftenant [[Edgar Van Den Has]], Aerospace Fighter Pilot in 3058.<ref name=BC-55/> | ||
* Leftenant [[Harvey Kusimerek]], Aerospace Fighter Pilot in 3058.<ref name=BC-55/> | * Leftenant [[Harvey Kusimerek]], Aerospace Fighter Pilot in 3058.<ref name=BC-55/> | ||
| Line 73: | Line 73: | ||
=== 2786 === | === 2786 === | ||
| − | '''Tenth Skye Rangers''' (Regular/Reliable)<ref name="FSWp139">''First Succession War'', p. 139 | + | '''Tenth Skye Rangers''' (Regular/Reliable)<ref name="FSWp139">''First Succession War'', p. 139: "Lyran Commonwealth Armed Forces"</ref> |
:- At this point in time the Tenth was a lightweight regiment and was at full strength, stationed on Altoona.<ref name="FSWp139"/> The unit was destroyed during the war. | :- At this point in time the Tenth was a lightweight regiment and was at full strength, stationed on Altoona.<ref name="FSWp139"/> The unit was destroyed during the war. | ||
=== 2830 === | === 2830 === | ||
| − | '''Tenth Skye Rangers''' (Regular/Fanatical)<ref name="SSWp99">''Second Succession War'', p. 99 | + | '''Tenth Skye Rangers''' (Regular/Fanatical)<ref name="SSWp99">''Second Succession War'', p. 99: "Lyran Commonwealth Armed Forces"</ref> |
:- At this point in time the Tenth was a medium-weight regiment operating at just one-quarter of full strength and stationed on [[Skye]].<ref name="SSWp99"/> | :- At this point in time the Tenth was a medium-weight regiment operating at just one-quarter of full strength and stationed on [[Skye]].<ref name="SSWp99"/> | ||
| Line 91: | Line 91: | ||
===3050=== | ===3050=== | ||
'''Tenth Skye Rangers ''' (Regiment/Veteran/Questionable)<ref name=20yup27/> | '''Tenth Skye Rangers ''' (Regiment/Veteran/Questionable)<ref name=20yup27/> | ||
| − | :* CO: Leftenant General Tjuti Bakkish<ref name=20yup27/> | + | :* CO: Leftenant General Tjuti Bakkish<ref name=20yup27/> |
:Note: At this point in time the command was stationed on [[Zaniah]].<ref name=20yup27>''20 Year Update'', p. 27</ref> | :Note: At this point in time the command was stationed on [[Zaniah]].<ref name=20yup27>''20 Year Update'', p. 27</ref> | ||
| Line 102: | Line 102: | ||
'''Tenth Skye Rangers''' (Regiment/Regular/Questionable)<ref name="otpfi11"/> | '''Tenth Skye Rangers''' (Regiment/Regular/Questionable)<ref name="otpfi11"/> | ||
* CO: Leftenant General Tjuti Bakkish<ref name="otpfi11"/> | * CO: Leftenant General Tjuti Bakkish<ref name="otpfi11"/> | ||
| − | :* XO/First Battalion: [[Kommandant]] [[Horst Sarz]]<ref name=TBoCp8>''The Battle of Coventry'' | + | :* XO/First Battalion: [[Kommandant]] [[Horst Sarz]]<ref name=TBoCp8>''The Battle of Coventry'', p. 8: "Guerrilla Warfare"</ref> |
** Second Company: [[Hauptmann]] [[Caradoc Trevena]]<ref name=TBoCp8/> | ** Second Company: [[Hauptmann]] [[Caradoc Trevena]]<ref name=TBoCp8/> | ||
| − | * Second Battalion: | + | * Second Battalion: |
| − | * Third Battalion: Kommandant [[Heinrich Oheler]]<ref name=TBoCp7>''The Battle of Coventry'' | + | * Third Battalion: Kommandant [[Heinrich Oheler]]<ref name=TBoCp7>''The Battle of Coventry'', p. 7: "Coventry"</ref> |
** First Artillery Support Company<ref name=TBoCp7/> | ** First Artillery Support Company<ref name=TBoCp7/> | ||
| Line 117: | Line 117: | ||
* ''[[Field Report 2765: LCAF]]'' | * ''[[Field Report 2765: LCAF]]'' | ||
* ''[[First Succession War (sourcebook)]]'' | * ''[[First Succession War (sourcebook)]]'' | ||
| − | * ''[[Historical: War of 3039]]'' | + | * ''[[Historical: War of 3039]]'' |
* ''[[Historical Turning Points: Glengarry]]'' | * ''[[Historical Turning Points: Glengarry]]'' | ||
* ''[[House Steiner (The Lyran Commonwealth)]]'' | * ''[[House Steiner (The Lyran Commonwealth)]]'' | ||
| Line 124: | Line 124: | ||
* ''[[Operational Turning Points: Falcon Incursion]]'' | * ''[[Operational Turning Points: Falcon Incursion]]'' | ||
* ''[[Second Succession War (sourcebook)]]'' | * ''[[Second Succession War (sourcebook)]]'' | ||
| + | |||
[[Category:Lyran Commands|Skye Rangers, 10th]] | [[Category:Lyran Commands|Skye Rangers, 10th]] | ||
[[Category:Federated Commonwealth Commands|Skye Rangers, 10th]] | [[Category:Federated Commonwealth Commands|Skye Rangers, 10th]] | ||
Revision as of 13:31, 15 July 2022
| |
| Tenth Skye Rangers | |
| Formed | 2821–2830 |
| Disbanded | April 2786[1] Second Succession War 3058 |
| Nickname | Black Watch[2] |
| Affiliation | |
| Parent Command | Skye Rangers |
Contents
History
Star League Era
The Tenth Skye Rangers were stationed on Altoona in 2765. They relieved the Fifteenth Skye Rangers, who were glad to leave.[3]
First Succession War
The Tenth Skye Rangers were involved in Operation ELBOW JOINT, the preemptive LCAF strike on Bolan in March 2785. Following the capture of the jump point station and a battle in space between Lyran and Free Worlds League WarShips, the Eleventh and Fourteenth Arcturan Guards were dropped on Bolan on March 14, 2785. When the Lyrans arrived, two regiments of the Bolan Defenders — Colonel Salam Tutt's Sixth Bolan Defenders and the Tenth Bolan Defenders under the command of Colonel Henri Balkichek — were already dispersed across the major continents on Bolan, with half the garrison actively engaged in wargames. Tutt responded to the invasion by sending an emergency HPG broadcast and deployed the bulk of the Tenth to defend Mumbai, the planetary capital city, while moving a battalion of the Sixth to support the forces at Mumbai from Quetta, a port city also located on the Sakété continent. Another battalion of the Tenth was assigned a third of the Sixth's supporting elements and tasked with defending Calcutta, the largest city on the Kashmir continent. The remaining two 'Mech battalions from the Defenders were assigned to defending the Overwatch, while the remaining support elements were dotted around townships on Kashmir and Sakété in company strength units, defending such major townships as Multan, Peshawar, Sibi, Sukkur, and Vadora. While there were also security forces and a local militia, Tutt ordered them to avoid engaging the Lyran forces, and instead report all contacts with the enemy and provide information on the location and disposition of Lyran units.[4]
The Arcturan Guards regiments landed and swiftly took the city of Peshawar, wiping out the defenders and holding in place, leading Tutt to believe that they were readying an assault on Calcutta. Johonson ordered his ground forces to stay mobile to avoid the risk of being trapped by either artillery or orbital bombardment, but also ordered them to strike hard and fast at the League troop concentrations in Quetta and Calcutta, while fighters and assault DropShips conducted sweeps and bombing missions over the towns near both targets. This was followed on March 16, by the arrival of the Tenth Skye Rangers. Their arrival heralded by the orbital bombardment of the Quetta spaceport by the Commonwealth-class cruiser LCS Furillo, intended to destroy the Bolan Defenders DropShips located at the spaceport while also crippling the Defenders' primary refueling point for their aerospace forces. With the forces around Quetta left in chaos, the Eleventh Arcturan Guards made a suborbital deployment from their position to a new point between Quetta and Mumbai, with air support from the Rangers giving the Lyran forces control of the skies; the Eleventh then struck at Mumbai, and by the end of March 17, both Calcutta and Mumbai were under siege and heavily damaged, with the Defenders frantically trying to find safe locations, while losing artillery duels with the Lyran forces. The next morning, the Fourteenth Arcturan Guards assaulted Calcutta, leaving the city surrounded.[4]
Lieutenant Colonel Omar Malak, the commanding officer of the 101st Assault Battalion,[5] had turned Calcutta into a city filled with traps and attempted to lure the Lyran forces into those traps, but the Lyran commanding officer, Leutnant-General Baron Richard Johonson von Eilenburg had other ideas; he gathered together his aerospace forces and conducted a massive firebombing operation against Calcutta on the morning of March 18, killing twenty thousand civilians and destroying the 101st.[4][5]
Incensed by the attack on Calcutta, Tutt ordered the League-class destroyer FWLS Talwar to bombard the LCAF DropShips, still mostly grounded at Peshawar, even as Johonson was demanding his surrender; Tutt then reiterated that the Defenders would fight the Commonwealth to the last breath before cutting off communications. Tutt ordered his field commanders to leave their positions and attack Lyran forces directly, while ordering his surviving combat elements and noncombatant personnel at the Overwatch to evacuate by DropShip, before ordering the deployment of the Overwatch's nuclear arsenal in a scorched-earth attack. Johonson ordered his troops besieging the various FWLM positions to disengage and disperse, while redeploying his WarShips to bombard the Overwatch and its various weapons positions.[4][5] Tutt's last-ditch strikes left Mumbai a burning nuclear ruin, along with the cities of Calcutta, Quetta, and Peshawar, and the nuclear bombardment and exchanges on Sebari left the island an uninhabitable radioactive ruin that was still a scorched wasteland in the thirty-first century. A battalion from the Sixth Bolan Defenders managed to retreat to Zdice, but the Tenth was destroyed on Bolan. The defense of Bolan had cost the Lyran forces two-thirds of the Tenth Skye Rangers, a third each of the Eleventh and Fourteenth Arcturan Guards, two Mako-class corvettes, with two more Makos and a Commonwealth left heavily damaged; lost along with the Tenth and the bulk of the Sixth Bolan Defenders were three League-class destroyers and an Aegis-class heavy cruiser. Between three to eight million civilians died in the nuclear engagements.[4]
The Tenth Skye Rangers were on Altoona when the Free Worlds League retaliated; in another campaign that saw the extensive use of weapons of mass destruction, Altoona was invaded by the remains of the Sixth Bolan Defenders[6] in March[1] 2786,[6][1] and the assault saw the Tenth destroyed as an operational command[6] by the end of April.[1]
Second Succession War
The Tenth was rebuilt in the years between the end of the First Succession War in 2821[7] and the beginning of the Second Succession War in 2830.[8] The Tenth was stationed on Hesperus II alongside the rebuilt Ninth Arcturan Guards in April 2853, when the DCMS launched the offensive that became the Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth Battles of Hesperus. With the Draconis Combine Admiralty quickly establishing aerospace superiority by deploying a flotilla that included all of its surviving WarShips, the Combine forces spent five months wearing down the Tenth and the other defenders on Hesperus with air attacks and raids, before landing eight regiments on South Whitman. The DCMS then launched a grinding, grueling operation intended to wear down the defenders, keeping up the constant tempo of battles by rotating units into and out of the front line. By October, both the Tenth Skye Rangers and the Ninth were in ruins; it was only the intervention of company staff from Defiance Industries using locally manufactured equipment and the arrival of the Tharkad-class battlecruiser Invincible that prevented the conquest of Hesperus.[9] By the end of the Second Succession War in 2864, the Tenth was an inactive command once more.[8]
Third Succession War
The Tenth raided Shiloh at some point between 3007 and 3017; accompanying the Rangers was the mercenary unit Snord's Irregulars, following a request from Cranston Snord to join the raid. Snord's interest in Shiloh was the rare stone crystals mined there during the Star League era, and given his reputation as a troublemaker, the Rangers were happy to allow the Regulars to spend their time scouting the Fald Plains. Snord did identify a shuksam deposit after a few weeks, but had to fight a running battle with League forces to successfully extract a quantity of the crystals.[10]
Clan Invasion
In 3056, nearly the entire 'Mech force of the Tenth Skye Rangers defected from the Federated Commonwealth and joined the Free Skye Movement. These Mechs and MechWarriors were grouped together with defecting conventional assets from the Fourth Skye Rangers to form the Fourth Skye Guards. This new unit attacked Glengarry in 3056.[11]
This mass defection was the final insult to the LAAF High Command. The Tenth had long had a troubled relationship with the High Command and after the defection, the LAAF turned the Tenth into a "sink unit." Soldiers who had a future in the LAAF were transferred to other units, and the LAAF transferred recent graduates, troublemakers, and politically powerless soldiers into the unit.[12] The Tenth fought Clan Jade Falcon forces on Coventry in 3058. After the Falcons invaded, the Tenth forces took serious losses and conducted guerrilla operations until they were reinforced by other units. These losses, coupled with their history of unreliable politics, led to the LAAF's decision not to rebuild the unit after the Coventry campaign.
Officers
| Rank | Name | Command | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Commanding Officers of the Tenth Skye Rangers | |||
| Colonel | Morgan Kell[citation needed] | Sometime during the first decade of the thirty-first century | |
| Leftenant General | Tjuti Bakkish | 3050–3058[13][14][12] | |
Other Officers
- Hauptmann Andrew Kowal, MechWarrior in 3058.[15]
- Hauptmann Kristen Reeve, Aerospace Fighter Pilot in 3058.[16]
- Caradoc Trevana was a reconnaissance Company commander in 3058.[17]
- Leftenant Colleen York, Aerospace Fighter Pilot in 3058.[16]
- Leftenant Edgar Van Den Has, Aerospace Fighter Pilot in 3058.[16]
- Leftenant Harvey Kusimerek, Aerospace Fighter Pilot in 3058.[16]
Tactics
During the Falcon Incursion, the Tenth made extensive use of scouts, which allowed them to move swiftly from one location to another.[12]
Composition History
2765
Tenth Skye Rangers (Regiment/Regular/Reliable)[3]
- - At this point in time the Tenth Rangers was stationed on Altoona.
2786
Tenth Skye Rangers (Regular/Reliable)[7]
- - At this point in time the Tenth was a lightweight regiment and was at full strength, stationed on Altoona.[7] The unit was destroyed during the war.
2830
Tenth Skye Rangers (Regular/Fanatical)[8]
- - At this point in time the Tenth was a medium-weight regiment operating at just one-quarter of full strength and stationed on Skye.[8]
3025
Tenth Skye Rangers (Regiment/Veteran/Questionable)[18]
- CO: Colonel Herb Enders
- CO: Colonel Herb Enders
- Note: At this point in time the unit was stationed on Solaris.
3040
Tenth Skye Rangers (Regiment/Veteran/Questionable)[19]
3050
Tenth Skye Rangers (Regiment/Veteran/Questionable)[13]
- CO: Leftenant General Tjuti Bakkish[13]
- Note: At this point in time the command was stationed on Zaniah.[13]
3054
Tenth Skye Rangers (Regiment/Veteran/Questionable)[14]
- CO: Leftenant General Tjuti Bakkish[14]
- Note: At this point in time the command was stationed on New Kyoto.[14]
3058
Tenth Skye Rangers (Regiment/Regular/Questionable)[12]
- CO: Leftenant General Tjuti Bakkish[12]
- XO/First Battalion: Kommandant Horst Sarz[20]
- Second Company: Hauptmann Caradoc Trevena[20]
- Second Battalion:
- Third Battalion: Kommandant Heinrich Oheler[21]
- First Artillery Support Company[21]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 First Succession War, p. 114: "Timeline of the First Succession War"
- ↑ House Steiner (The Lyran Commonwealth), p. 61: "Regimental Nicknames"
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Field Report 2765: LCAF, pp. 18–19: "Skye Rangers" - Regimental Status
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 First Succession War, pp. 17–21: "The Bolan Offensive"
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Interstellar Operations, pp. 226–229: "Falling Into Fire"
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 First Succession War, pp. 70–71: "The Bolan Thumb Campaign"
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 First Succession War, p. 139: "Lyran Commonwealth Armed Forces"
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 Second Succession War, p. 99: "Lyran Commonwealth Armed Forces"
- ↑ Second Succession War, p. 72: "The Sixth, Seventh and Eighth Battles of Hesperus"
- ↑ Cranston Snord's Irregulars, pp. 26–27: "Operation Road Runner"
- ↑ Historical Turning Points: Glengarry, p. 8
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 12.4 Operational Turning Points: Falcon Incursion, p. 11
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 20 Year Update, p. 27
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 Objective Raids, p. 19
- ↑ The Battle of Coventry, p. 50
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 16.3 The Battle of Coventry, p. 55
- ↑ Operational Turning Points: Falcon Incursion, pp. 8, 29
- ↑ House Steiner (The Lyran Commonwealth), p. 119
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 Historical: War of 3039, p. 138
- ↑ 20.0 20.1 The Battle of Coventry, p. 8: "Guerrilla Warfare"
- ↑ 21.0 21.1 The Battle of Coventry, p. 7: "Coventry"
Bibliography
- 20 Year Update
- The Battle of Coventry (scenario pack)
- Cranston Snord's Irregulars (scenario pack)
- Field Report 2765: LCAF
- First Succession War (sourcebook)
- Historical: War of 3039
- Historical Turning Points: Glengarry
- House Steiner (The Lyran Commonwealth)
- Interstellar Operations
- Objective Raids
- Operational Turning Points: Falcon Incursion
- Second Succession War (sourcebook)